Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas! ...on a plate


The star of the show: a ham of delicious and epic proportions. ahh I'll just stare at this when I get lonely



Mashed potatoes: courtesy of ample sour cream, butter, milk, food mill, and heavy cream


Mustard vinaigrette green beans

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Christmas Eve


Potato Gratin: looks fancy, tastes fancy...ridiculously simple


A bread of lovely texture and over yeast-ness


Oh Haddock, I miss you! Leave the skin on my friends.


Not pictured for Christmas eve: strawberry shortcake with cream biscuits and fresh whipped cream

All the Christmas Eve stuff was pretty easy. I made some 1 hour dinner rolls which really called for far too much yeast...but I did use it after all!

Potato Gratin: so easy and I'll so make it again Just slice up some Yukon Gold potatoes and layer them in a pan with salt and pepper..pour on some milk (don't skimp and use anything but whole) and in an hour...viola! crispy soft good ones...garnish with parsley


On to Christmas!

I'm really excited about the ham choice. We originally had some lame-o foil wrapped ham from the grocery store but I was difficult and wanted to get the one at the little market in town (of the more free rangey persuasion) and sooo worth it. I'm addicted and excited to later make soupppppe.

It got nice and crispy..but SO juicy. I made a glaze out of honey, brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, and dry mustard. Once you've had zis ham you never go back.

Vegetables: roasted onion, parsnips, and carrot with olive oil and thyme accompanied by roasted beets, green bean with vinaigrette, mashed potatoes (if you can call them vegetables)

top it off with raisin sauce!

For desert: banana bread pudding and pear pie (more about that later)

Ahh I'm quite full right now and I shall relish leftovers in the near future.


I think this is pretty all encompassing so Happy Winter Solstice!

S.

HOLIDAAYYYZE...or I'm back with a food coma vengeance


Michelle made a pear tart and pecan pie


Oh jeez. The Spread: in plate form. Glazed carrots two ways, kale with nuts and raisins, crispity turkey, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, biscuits, chestnut stuffing, peas n' corn, and cranberry sauce. nice to quaff: Pimm's winter and cider with a dash o' lemon

Seriously? Here's what was still in the garden on Thanksgiving day. Adorable wee carrots and some robust heads of kale!

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I'd like to blame my camera issues on why I've been so lazy with the posting but really I've just been to unorganized/busy/not making much that's fabulous! Although there have been gems that I've wanted to document:

Lapin moutarde at Balthazar OH YES it's so worth it. tender tender rabbite with wee onions, whole grain mustard, over papardelle

tea and sympathy Christmas pie followed by apple crisp with m'azing custard

artery-land chorizo arepa at Caracas

Splendid cheese plate and fizzly lambrusco at Bar Veloce

roasted port with cabbage and dumpling chased by a .5 er of Staropramen and shot of zelena at Koliba


Anywho..about the above pictures hah this is from Thanksgiving, nearly one month ago. Just thought I'd be festive and prelude the Christmas food fest with something.

S.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Home To-Make Pt.II

Spiced Honey Orange Sorbet

yeah just one more thing, but thought it was worth mentioning.

-R

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Chocolate Review


I'm not a Lindt chocolate person. SORRY! My heart beats only for Valrhona, which you can find in giant chunks at Whole Foods. Those Lindt "truffles"? No way. No flavor, the chocolate middle is a tasteless goo.

HOWEVER.

Lindt has a new product on the market: A Touch of Sea Salt bar

oh my oh my. they made mommy very happy. the smooth, buttery dark(ish) chocolate is very appealing and then suddenly BAM, a lovely burst of salty-sweet in thy mouth.

not unlike a chocolate covered pretzel minus the pretzel.

delicious. still not sure why lindt's packaging has to look like a 1980's power trip, though.

-R

Friday, December 18, 2009

Homemade Burgers, Fries and a Shake



1.Umami burgers (beef from Grazin' Angus Acres at Greenmarket) spiked with fish sauce and black pepper, topped with smoked cheddar cheese (Millport Dairy, also Greenmarket), caramelized onions and homemade ketchup. I went skimpy on the fish sauce in the beef 'cause I was afraid, but don't be! The burger was nice and juicy, but needed a bit more salt/umami. The buns were sesame kaiser rolls from Bread Alone, Greenmarket again! Important to toast bun in same cast iron skillet that beef was cooked in so it soaks up all the juices.
2.Oven fries crisped with some garlic salt, olive oil, and paprika.
3.Chocolate shake made with milk and organic chocolate ice cream.

-R

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Han Bat Korean Restaurant













a Kat & Cat adventure in K-town. 53 35th st.

A few questions:

1. How did Korean food get so expensive in a mere 3 years of my residing here?

2. Why did the famed New York 24 Hour close?

3. Why can't you write on the walls of every Korean restaurant?


Nevertheless, the food was tasty. My bibimbap was pretty great, and considering the starters and finishing orange segment, a 15 dollar bill isn't so bad, although certainly not a steal. I was mighty stuffed afterwards. For those of you who aren't familiar with the wonders of bibimbap, it's basically a bowl of yummily seasoned vegetables, beef, and cookeed egg that you dump a bowl of hot sticky rice into, squeeze on chili sauce, mix up, and eat. If you wanted to pay two dollars extra you could get the more special 'bap served in a scorching hot pot with a raw egg on top. You get the idea.


Kat got the Japchae (clear noodles) and Cat the Mandoo (dumplings)!
-R

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Heather's Southern Coconut Birthday Cake







It's triple layer, it's pink, it's Heather's birthday cake. It's a southern coconut cake with a cream cheese buttercream frosting. That's right: cream cheese buttercream. As weird as it sounds, it's a variety on a real Italian buttercream involving quasi candy-making and real meringue. So even though it looks like a giant Hostess snowball, this is actually the real deal.

Recipe: http://tendercrumb.blogspot.com/2009/02/southern-coconut-cake-cake-slice.html

-R

Sunday, December 6, 2009

No Knead Bread


Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery's famed No-Knead bread dough = SUCCESS!

So easy. Recipe here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

My adjustments:

1. More salt.

2. I used dry active yeast and activated it with a bit of warm water and sugar first. I've read in a few places that it still works just adding the dry active, but I wanted to be safe.

3. No 300 dollar dutch oven... I used a 12 dollar pizza stone. I did the 2nd rise on a flat pan with lots of cornmeal and flour and a towel covering. Preheated the stone with the oven (very important), and then slid my fully puffed dough onto the pizza stone and baked for 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure to cut a few slits into the dough to let out steam and prevent huge holes after baking.

4. Filled a small loaf pan with boiling water from a kettle and put it in the oven with my dough to create some sort of steam.


It's really the perfect crusty white loaf. Great for soups, great with butter, just great. You know when you get that bread served at a restaurant that looks really good, but then it's cold and stale, and you wonder what it tasted like when it was fresh. This is that.

-R

WINTER HOLIDAY TO-MAKE!




My list of to-makes for my winter break at home.

1. No Knead Olive Bread: http://www.macheesmo.com/2009/10/olive-bread/

2. Soft Pretzels: http://www.pinkbites.com/2009/10/pretzels.html

3. Poulet a la Fermiere: http://wineguyworld.blogspot.com/2009/08/le-vengeance-du-grand-mere.html

More to come!

-R