January Dinner Party!

Good Day everyone! The first month of 2012 is trucking towards an end...already! I mentioned just over a week ago, my goal for 2012. A dinner party each month...and a blog post about it. So here goes.

The January Dinner Party.

Planning: Planning started before Thanksgiving on this one. A friend of ours wanted to introduce us to two friends of hers. They happened to have just moved to our town and were getting settled in and our friend thought it would be nice to introduce us. I jumped, at the time, at the opportunity to host, something I do love to do. But, the problem was, Thanksgiving was in the middle, plus a trip to Italy for the spouse and I!!!! (AH-MAZE-ING!) So the soonest we'd be able to host was January. That gave me plenty of time to think about what to make, even though I didn't get myself all the time.

I like my guests to feel comfortable with the food, so I always ask if there are any major dietary restrictions. If I have vegetarians coming for dinner, I'm not going to make a huge beef roast. No major restrictions this time around, but there was a preference for chicken, which I'm supper cool with.

Menu: Having just come back from 10 days in Italy, I knew I wanted to make something with an Italian spin to it. After flipping through several of my cookbooks, I settled on a chicken saltimbocca. Traditional saltimbocca is veal. I'm not fond of veal, so this chicken variation was perfectly awesome. For side options, I went with basil risotto and roasted green beans. Dessert would be something we had in Italy and it was incredible; Crema di Mascarpone.

I would also put out a few small nibbles to get us started and I made a great focaccia. Plus plenty of wine!

The focaccia was a standard recipe I've made before, but topped with caramelized onions and rosemary. It's awesome. The dough is pretty simple to pull together and it doesn't take a full day to make.

The table set for our guests. Not much will change over the coarse of the year. This is what we have. If we have more than four people, the table needs to be opened up and the tablecloth doesn't really fit. And with one main set of plates, this is it. That being said, I like to have the table ready to go before people arrive. Have as much stuff as you can ready. When your guests arrive, you want to talk with them, not say hello and have to run away.

I mentioned small nibbles. Any small nibble for me will include some cheese, nuts and cracker. These little crackers were awesome. They had black pepper in them, but they were wafers, not crackers. Fun. Also, I love marcona almonds. Also included, but not seen, I sliced a pear to go with it all. The guests brought more cheese! One thing I've learned over the years, don't over do the nibbles. I have been known to make so many nibbles, we don't really need to eat dinner! So, only a little bit of nibble per person, just hold off the stomach rumbling while we wait for dinner.

The main plate. It was pretty darn delicious! Risotto can be found here. Don't miss read the recipe and make twice as much as you intend! SO MUCH RISOTTO. The green beans were washed and dried. Tossed with olive oil and put on a rimmed baking sheet and into a hot oven, I think 400-425. Roast until they are al dente, about 15-20 minutes. Toss them half way through. When they are done, toss with caramelized shallots for more goodness.

The chicken. Super simple. Take a boneless/skinless chicken breast. Make sure it's cleaned up of any excess fat and then kind of manipulate it into a uniform shape, with the other pieces. Season with salt & pepper. Lay 1-2 leaves of fresh sage on the chicken, then wrap with 1-2 slices of prosciutto, tucking the ends under the cutlet. I then put the cutlets back in the fridge, until I was ready to cook. The extra cool allowed them to firm up a bit.

When you are ready to cook, in a large skillet, over medium-high heat, get 2 TB of olive oil nice and hot. Quickly and lightly dust the wrapped cutlets with flour and place in the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes per side, or until cooked thru. This will depend on the thickness of the cutlets. If things start to burn, lower the heat.

When the chicken is done, remove to a clean plate and deglaze the pan with 3/4 cup of dry white wine and 1/4 cup of chicken broth, reduce by half. Season with salt, pepper and a few chopped sage leaves. Swirl in one to two TB of butter. Add any accumulated juice from the cooked chicken, back into the pan. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, when you serve it.

A note on dinner. I prepped everything in advance. 30 minutes before we were ready to eat, I started cooking the risotto, beans and chicken. Everything, miraculously, was done at the same time +/- a minute of two! It was awesome.

Enjoy dinner and your company!

Dessert! Dessert was something special! Here, you're getting the actual recipe:

Creme di Mascarpone
Serves 6
3 eggs, separated
3 TB fine white sugar* (fine texture, not classy ohh la la)
1 1/3 cups mascarpone cheese
1 tsp orange zest
2-3 TB rum
Garnishes

Beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold the mascarpone into the yolks, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the orange zest and rum.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into the yolk mixture. Fold whites into the yolk/cheese mixture. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Garnish with shaved dark chocolate, fresh berries and light, crisp cookies!


*The sugar...my sugar does have a vanilla bean split and stored in it...so the sugar does have some vanilla essence. If you want, feel free to add a drop or two of vanilla extra for further awesome flavor.


There we go folks. My first proper blog posts in 10+ months. My first proper dinner party of 2012! Cin cin!

Pissaladière

Here's a yummy little snack I pulled together using leftover pizza dough. I'll certainly be making this again!

Pissaladière is a French-style, tart-like form of pizza. This is almost a pissaladière. Hailing from the southern part of France, traditional pissaladière is a flaky style crust with onions, olives and anchovies.

That was my inspiration.

I had a leftover portion of pizza dough (from here.) I stretched it out into a rectangle and brushed with melted butter. I added about 1 TB dried Italian herbs to the butter. Perhaps some French herbs next time. Thyme, Tarragon, Parlsey...Herbs de'Provence.

I caramelized one medium onion, which I spread out over the top of the buttered dough. I would add a second onion next time.

On top of that, I added freshly grated Parmigiana. Being anti-olive and anti-anchovy, those won't be making an appearance.

I baked for about 17 minutes at 450, on a baking sheet. The last few minutes, I removed the pissaladière to the baking stone in the oven to get the crust more crispy.

Slice and serve. I'd show you a picture, but I was too excited to serve this to my guest that evening, that I forgot. This was tasty and I will certainly make this again.

Cinnamon Bread

I'm not even going to tease you with exposition...

Cinnamon Bread!

To start you need to warm up some milk and butter. Use only the best stuff you can get. The butter of course was Kerrygold...my all time favorite! Let this cool down, you want it to be warm, but not hot and not cold.

I was tired when I made this, but there are the little yeasts dying a horrible miserable death. Instead of taking a warm bath in butter and milk, activating their delicious gas...I scalded and murdered each and everyone of them. "Too hot" they were screaming.

This recipe is a sweet bread, so you need some sugar. And why the heck not, use some vanilla sugar if you have it lying around.

Butter, milk, sugar, eggs, flour and dead yeast. That's my dough there. A little sticky, waiting to rise. 90 minutes later, it's still sitting there, just a little flatter and more sad looking. I really did kill the yeast. Yeast needs a moist, warm environment to start the rising process. You kill the process with extreme heat and slow the process with cold. So what to do? After that 90 minute rest I proofed new yeast in warm milk, with a pinch of sugar. I waited a few minutes for the mixture to get foamy and start to smell super--the smell of fermentation! With that, I poured the happily proofed yeast into the boring dough and started kneading in the mixer again. And I started adding new flour. I total, I probably had to add an additional cup of flour, give or take. the dough now felt like proper dough and within a few minutes of resting, was rising! Woo hoo...I fixed it!!!!

90 minutes later, the blob was about to pour over the giant bowl I had it in.

I just tapped the top of the dough and it started to deflat, belching all the day down the bowl.

I nudged the dough out of the bowl, onto a floured surface and started to press it out into a large rectangle. Hold up your bread pans to make sure the size it going to fit. This was for two loafs.

Dump a bunch of cinnamon sugar on the dough, going all the way to the edge.

Roll the dough up and drop it into the pans, seam side down. Allow to rest for another 90 minutes to two hours.

Brush the loafs with an egg wash...liberally!

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. My loafs overflowed and started kissing each other. Make sure to invite guests over to your house at this time. The cinnamon aromas wafting about will drive people nuts!

Let the loafs rest for a few minutes to cool, then slice with a large bread knife. If you can, toast it. Or, just eat it warm, with more Kerrygold butter!

Mmmm, butter! Seriously...I started giggling and had tears in my eyes when I had my first bite. So good.

Cinnamon Bread
From The Pioneer Woman Cooks
For 1 loaf

1 cup Milk
6 TB Butter
2½ tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 whole Eggs
1/3 cups Sugar
3½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/3 cups Sugar
2 TB Cinnamon
Egg and Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it’s warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool.

OMG So Happy!

Fresh cinnamon bread! Stay tuned for more fun!!!!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Time to make biscuits! The other night, for whatever reason, I decided to make Buttermilk Biscuits for dinner. Actually, I had decided to make Biscuits and Gravy for dinner, but didn't have my fall back--biscuits in a tube! Guilty pleasure, I love them. So buttery and processed! So, biscuits and gravy, and no biscuits. So, let's start making the biscuits!

The recipe I used called for 2 types of flour, regular all-purpose and extra soft cake flour. I didn't have cake flour, so I used a super fine Italian style pasta flour. The results seemed ok!

What's a good biscuit without plenty of butter!

Whiz the flour, butter, salt, baking soda and baking powder until it resembles course meal and can be squeezed into a shape when pinched together.

Pour in the buttermilk and process until it just comes together. It will be super soft and sticky.

Start to carefully knead the dough together with additional cake flour. Be gentle. If you knead too much, the biscuits will be tough hockey pucks.

I don't have a proper biscuit butter, so I just formed my dough into a rectangle and cut out 8 triangles--similar to scones.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden and tempting!

The biscuits will be smiling at you when they are done!

Here's a biscuit with some sausage gravy on it. Tasty. I like to serve my biscuits and gravy sloppy, so extra gravy!

And here's a biscuit being a little naughty for dessert. Homemade mixed berry jam we got at the farmer's market. Drool!

Buttermilk Biscuits
from Williams-Sonoma Bread

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) cake flour, or white pastry flour
1 TB sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup, plus 2 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Process briefly to mix. Add butter and, using pulse, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the buttermilk all at once, and pulse just to moisten all ingredients. The dough will stiffen during mixing. It should be slightly shaggy, but not overly sticky or wet. Do not overmix.

Sprinkle a board with cake flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the work bowl and turn out the dough; it will be very soft. Sprinkle the top with cake flour. With floured hands, gently knead the dough just a few times. Press and pat the dough into a loose rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. With a plastic dough scraper or large rubber spatula, fold the rectangle like a letter, overlapping the short sides in the middle to make 3 layers. Roll or pat out the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick, sprinkling a little flour beneath the dough as needed to prevent sticking. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out the biscuits by pushing the cutter straight down and lifting up without twisting. Cut as close together as possible for a minimum of scraps. Pack together and reroll the scraps to cut out additional biscuits.

Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until the biscuits are firm to the touch and the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes, then serve hot.

Eat Me!

Homemade buttermilk biscuits with freakin' ridiculously good mixed berry jam from the Cheverly Community Market. Stupid Good! More on the biscuits soon...stay tuned.

Cobbling It Together

It happens every year. Usually it starts mid to late May and goes in fits and starts through July & August. It's my ongoing love affair with Summer. Warm weather, flowers; all good. Hot weather, humidity; all bad. But them something that speaks only in the language of summer comes along and woos me, and as soon as it seduces me it runs off and leaves me for another year. Leaving me sitting and soaking in the oppressive humidity.

Well, here we go. Peaches. Blueberries. Together in perfect harmony and lightly spiced.


Peach & Blueberry Cobbler
by way of Smitten Kitchen

Fresh peaches and blueberries from some of our local farmers. The peaches were stupidly juicy and just the right amount of tart. The blueberries were bursting with sweetness. Add a little flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt.

The ingredients for the buttermilk cornmeal topping. Mix until resembling lumpy sand. Add buttermilk. Spoon on top of the peach/berry mixture.

I gilded the lily...sprinkled a pinch of coarse demura sugar. Bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes.

When your kitchen is full of the heady, fruity aroma, you know things are gonna be good. Allow to cool for a bit.

Dig in. Serve with some whipping cream, ice cream or even some yogurt if you like. We skipped all and just enjoyed the delirious fruit flavors and tender biscuit topping.

Ooops, all gone. Good thing I made four individual cobblers...I'll have one for breakfast, with the yogurt.




This recipe will make a 9x13 baking dish full of goodness. I halved the recipe and made four small ramekins...portion control!


Peach Blueberry Cornmeal Cobbler
Via Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern

For the fruit
1 1/2 (about 4 cups) pounds peaches, pitted and cut into slices*
1 pint (about 2 cups) blueberries, rinsed and dried
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the biscuit topping
3/4 cup (3 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal (yellow or white)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).Toss peaches with blueberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in the bottom of a 2-quart ovenproof dish.

Make the biscuit dough: Stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, a fork or a pastry blender. Stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula until a wet, tacky dough comes together.

Plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the filling; don’t worry about covering entire surface. Bake until the cobbler’s syrup is bubbly and the biscuit tops are browned, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly and scoop it into bowls. Top with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, of if you’re having an accidental run-in with this cobbler before noon, plain yogurt.

*Want to peel your peaches? Here’s how: Cut a small “x” in the bottom of each peach. Dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds, and the skins will slide right off.

Easter Cheesecake!

I made a cheesecake! This is only the second time I've made a cheesecake from scratch. I LOVE IT. It's actually pretty darn easy and this recipe works! All you need is some time, the proper amount of time for prepping (not much time at all!), baking (an hour), cooling (another hour or two) and then an overnight rest in the fridge.

You know I love Fine Cooking magazine and I really love the recipe builder they provided for cheesecake. They give you the step by step to make a basic cheesecake, then the instructions needed to mix it up a bit and create new flavors. The magazine gave something like 18-20 different versions. I kept drooling over the Cannoli Cheesecake. I had to have it! So, I made it. It was a little less Cannoli Cheesecake and a little more Cheesecake with orange and chocolate chips. Regardless, it worked!

Cannoli Cheesecake
or
Cheesecake w/orange & chocolate chips

I placed a cheese of parchment on the bottom of my springform pan. IF I wanted to transfer the cake to a serving plate, this would be necessary to help move the cake without it breaking. It will also help with sticking, should that be a problem.

The crust. The Cannoli recipe called for a crust made with Vanilla Wafers. My vanilla wafers were stale. I managed to dig a few out that were a little crunchy, so I used those, graham crackers and some ginger snaps. What the heck, a little fun doesn't hurt anyone. Grind them up in the food processor, add some sugar and butter.

Make sure the pan is put together properly and add the crumbs into the pan and press into the bottom and sides. I used a flat bottom measuring cup to help make the bottom and sides smooth. Very helpful tip. Bake for about 12 minutes, then cool.

Mix up the filling. 3 blocks of cream cheese, 1 cup of ricotta cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange zest (I think I used too much, which made the orange flavor much more dominate than I intended), chocolate chips and eggs. Make sure all the ingredients are whipped up nice and smooth before adding the eggs. If the eggs get whipped too much, there will be too much rising in the oven and extra cracking on the top of the cake. That's not a bad thing; it's asethetics. And a little texture; too much air and the cake will feel airy, I prefer cheesecake that is dense and creamy. Bake for about an hour until jiggly.

Fresh out of the oven. I got some crackage, but not bad. Not like the last cheesecake I made. Allow the cheesecake to rest on the counter for about 2 hours, so it can cool completely. Make sure it won't be moved around and otherwise disstressed while resting. Once cool, cover and place in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Overnight is best.

When you are ready to serve, carefully unmold. Make sure the crust doesn't stick to the pan anywhere. To slice. Use a large chef's knife that has been run under warm water. Slice, whip the knife clean, dip in warm water or whip with a hot, wet cloth and continue. A clean knife will give you nice clean slices. This cake can serve 10-12 people.

I garnished the cheesecake with some orange segments. The orange and chocolate played really well together. And with the creamy cheese flavors as well. Another topping suggestion might be a chocolate ganache, but that will certainly give you a rich cake. I think this was just about perfect; the right texture, flavor, sweetness. One slice filled me up and didn't make me feel gross and nasty afterwards. I'm very happy!

Cannoli Cheesecake
From Fine Cooking, April/May 2010, No. 104
Cheesecake; Variations on a
Serves 10-12

Step 1:

If going with a non-Cannoli variation...

Choose Your Ingredients and read thru the recipe completely before starting.
CLICK here for ideas.


Step 2:

Make the Crust

8 oz (2 cups) cookie crumbs (I used a combo of graham, vanilla wafers and ginger snaps)
3 TB granulated sugar
3 1/2 oz (7 TB) unsalted butter, melted

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, stir the cookie crumbs and sugar. Mix in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moist and clump together slightly. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the pan (to press, use your fingers or a flat-bottomed measuring cup). Bake until the crust is fragrant and slightly darkened (this will be more obvious with lighter crumbs, but even even the ginger and chocolate crumbs will darken a bit), 9 to 12 minutes. Let the pan cool on a rack. Lower the oven temperature to 300F.

Step 3:

Make the Filling

3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup of ricotta cheese
2 TB all-purpose flour
Pinch of table salt
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 TB pure vanilla extract
1 TB orange zest
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
4 large eggs, at room temperature


In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and ricotta, flour and salt on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle frequently, until very smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure the cheese has no lumps. Add the sugar and continue beating until well blended and smooth. Add the vanilla, orange zest and chocolate chips, and beat until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. (Don’t overbeat once the eggs have been added or the cheesecake will puff too much and crack as it cools.) Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top.

Step 4:

Bake the cake

Bake at 300F until the center jiggles like Jell-O when nudged, 55-65 minutes. The cake will be slightly puffed around the edges, and the center will still look moist. Set on a rack and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours and up to 3 days.

Step 5:

Garnish

If you like, you can garnish the cheesecake with orange segments, powdered sugar or a chocolate ganache.

White Chocolate-Cherry-Pistachio

The other day I made my Cherry Blossom Festival Cookies for an informal cookie contest at work. This time around I added some chopped pistachios to the mix as well. Delicious.

Blueberry Cream Pie

There was pie the other day. Very simple, pre-made crust. Frozen berries. A little whipping and a little improvising and we had pie. Very tasty, but the texture was way off...sad sad sad frozen berries. Bummer. But again, the taste was great. Will certainly try it again with fresh blues.

Blueberry Cream Pie

Frozen blueberries mixed with a little sugar and some warm spices. Cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamom. This wasn't a part of the recipe, but I thought it would be fun. It was!

The blues are then mixed with a "cream" filling. Sour cream, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla and sugar.

Pour into a pre-made pie crust. Bake for awhile.

Before the pie is done, remove and sprinkle on the topping.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Refrigerate before serving so it's nice and chilled and it sets.

Click here for the recipe.