Enter King Arthur's Esteemed Court

While I was galavanting around the snowy state of Vermont this weekend, I managed a quick visit to the King Arthur Flour Baker's Store. I've spoken about the necessity of good all-purpose flour, and King Arthur's flour is some of the best, but they don't stop there...no sir!

Not only does this wonderful place carry all sorts of flour (wheat, white, durum, pastry, etc) but they have tons of different boxed mixes, ingredients, bakeware, and gadgets too. And if that wasn't enough, they also have a bakery and cafe, where you can order lunch, or have a coffee and just wrap yourself in the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen! Because of the recent arrival of the Breadman,  I wanted to pick up a few bread mixes. I also needed to replenish my supply of Perfect Pasta flour, as well as the flour we use to make pizza dough.

Because they offer a 15% discount if you purchase five or more mixes at one time, I opted to take the deal. I decided on French Herb,  Brown Sugar Cinnamon,  Semolina Herb and Cheese, Six Grain, and Brioche. I figured this was a good start, and who knows when I'll get to the store again. Not to say that I won't be making my own concoctions for dough as well, but it's nice to be able to throw a mix in there and just let it go on a busy evening. I don't normally recommend boxed anything, but the mixes from King Arthur Flour really taste so delicious, and you know from the their seal that it's a quality product (and...they're all natural!).

Look at all my goodies!

Aside from the store, there is also a separate building where the company holds all sorts of baking classes. If you are in the area, stop in and get a schedule. You can also find the schedule, along with all sorts of other wonderful information online at www.kingarthurflour.com. I definitely suggest signing up for their catalog as well...or just browse online. If you can get your friends in on an order, you'll save on shipping!

Murphy's on the Green

This weekend, we took another trip up to the ol' V-T to celebrate a few birthdays, among them, my father-in-law's special day! We decided to take him out to lunch to celebrate, before heading to a special little lady's fourth birthday bowling party! We decided on Murphy's On The Green, in Hanover, NH. This pub-like establishment is located on the main drag of Dartmouth's little college town, and it sure is delicious! They were doing a helluva business on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm, but they were able to find us a table for four rather quickly.

A few minutes passed, and the waitress came over to take our drink order and recite the specials, which consisted of Salmon Chowder and a Red-Pepper Fettuccine entree (mmm, more on that later because that's what I decided to order!) Since a toast was in order, we all ordered drinks, and I opted for a glass of white wine, the Glass Mountain Chardonnay, out of a vineyard in California. I found it to be crisp, and reminiscent of apples. The description also described notes of butterscotch, which I think I tasted when I concentrated on it.

When we had all made our decisions, we placed our order. I decided to start with the Grilled Heart of Romaine Caesar. I don't see this on a menu all that often but when I do, I tend to lean towards ordering it. I know you are thinking, grilled lettuce? But yes sir, GRILLED LETTUCE. It's delicious. The grill pulls a smokiness from the lettuce that you wouldn't expect, and the heat wilts the leaves slightly, giving it what I can only describe as a heartier consistency. The romaine heart was drizzled with a fresh Caesar dressing, as well as parmesan flakes and garlicky croutons. The plate was decorated with a lovely red pepper aioli as well as an accompaniment of kalamata olives. I don't normally think of olives as a garnish for a Caesar salad, but in this case, the saltiness of the olives went really well with the smokiness of the grilled lettuce.

For my entree, as I mentioned earlier, I decided to go with the special of the day. The base for this delicious meal was a plate of red-pepper fettuccine from Vermont Fresh Pasta (and you know how I feel about fresh pasta). Check them out at their website, and if you can find their products in a store near you, I highly recommend giving them a try. They are seriously delicious. On with the dish, right? :) This delicious, fresh fettuccine was topped with a bacon and cream sauce, as well as grilled littleneck clams. The clams were a great size (I was expecting much smaller), they were perfectly cooked and fantastically sweet! There was a lovely bacon flavor to the sauce, and the bits of bacon throughout added a great little crunch to each bite. The whole plate was really very well seasoned and totally delicious.

We've visited this restaurant before, and I'm always thrilled with my meal, but this was an especially delicious visit! I think I chose a nice pairing between the wine, the salad and the entree, and I was so satisfied when we walked out that door. If you are ever in the area, definitely check out Murphy's On The Green, located at 11 S. Main Street in Hanover, NH. You won't be disappointed!

Drink!

In the almost 50 posts that I've written, I haven't really touched on the art of cocktail concoction, which is most assuredly a part of the culinary universe. Mixing the correct concoction of alcohol and mixers is an art form that most of us can only dream of perfecting.

Tonight, I visited one of my favorite cocktail concocting sites, Drink! Owned by Barbara Lynch, of Number 9 Park, Sportello, Menton, B&G Oyster, The Butcher Shop, and of course the most mentioned cookbook, Stir, this unique venue introduces us to the real cocktail.

By Flickr - by www.jan-peter.com

The tenders of the bar at this establishment can literally be referred to as brilliant. Tell them what you feel like, and they will concoct something based on your most recent whim. Tonight, I asked for something gingery, and the result involved the best Dark and Stormy I've ever tasted. I actually didn't even recognize it as a Dark & Stormy until I was told that's what it was. It was super gingery, and the rum was only a memory of my last sip. I could drink these all night long!

In the past, I've even walked in with the name of my newest drink, and asked my assigned tender to concoct something based on that name. That's always a fun adventure! The wonderful people who work at Drink! are so personable and extremely interactive. Tonight, my friends and I walked in with a purpose. We were waiting to determine the winner of our "craziest calendar" contest! Before entering the bar, we wondered who would judge our competition, but once we sat down and interacted with the wonderful employees, we decided that they would be our best judges! And judged they did! They had such a great time rating our entries, and determining our winner that we decided they should receive the winning calendar as their prize! In return, the winner in our group, Annie (with Hot Boys and Baby Animals) received Thumb-Wrestling Masks from these amazing people. I know, they actually wrapped a PRIZE for our winning competitor!

from Flickr - by VancityAllie

The camaraderie in this bar, as well as the phenomenal drinks they present, makes for an amazing atmosphere. You just don't want to leave! At the end of our visit, one of my friends had asked for a drink that anyone could enjoy...and we received the most delicious shot I've ever had. I can't tell you what was in it, because that's what they do - they concoct - but it was amazing, and each and every one of us enjoyed it thoroughly. I promise you that you will not be disappointed by a drink ordered at Drink!

Be sure to arrive early and save seats...if you don't have a seat, you won't be served.

North African Comfort Food

It was a long day at work today, and I'm not feeling fantastic this evening, but I had one last menu item to create, and today was as good a night as any. The fact that comfort food is actually in the title helped a little bit too! :) So this meal is another excerpt from A Platter of Figs and other recipes by David Tanis. Remember my New Mexico post? Yup, it's from the same book. This guy gets around. In the introduction to this, the twenty-fourth menu in his book, he discusses the meaning of comfort food, and how it is interpreted by different cultures. To us, hearty soups and stews, as well as warm, gooey dishes like macaroni and cheese conjure up those images of a "comfort food," and in North Africa, the thoughts of hearty stews isn't far off-base.

From Flickr - by bocavermelha

The entire menu consists of:

Carrot and Coriander Salad

Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas

Walnut Cigars

I scrapped the thought of making the cigars, even though I had thawed my phyllo dough and everything. I just wasn't in the mood for another baking catastrophe this evening. I put the chickpeas on to boil since they had to cook for over an hour and then got to work on the rest of the ingredients. This dish was fairly easy to complete, as the recipe really went step by step, and there wasn't much multi-tasking involved. 

I cooked up some diced onions in butter and oil, until they were golden. These onions became the bottom layer of my casserole dish (since I don't have a tagine...yet!) After that, I laid large slices of seasoned butternut squash on top of the onions. I couldn't find pumpkin...I think it's a tad past the season for those, but the butternut squash worked out swimmingly. After that, I layered on my seasoned chicken thighs and drumsticks. Finally, I poured some of the liquid that the chickpeas were cooking in on top of this concoction and stuck it in the oven! 

From Flickr - by visiting-africa

While that was cooking, I prepared the Carrot and Coriander Salad, which, I have to say, was just eh. It was raw, and I probably didn't leave enough time for the acidity of the lemon juice to soften the carrots, but it was just okay. The flavors melded well with the main course but I'm not a huge fan of raw carrots to begin with. 

And back to the main event! The chicken skin browned nicely by the time it was time to take my casserole dish out of the oven, and the chickpeas had just finished cooking. I mixed those with some butter, parsley and cinnamon (I think that was my favorite part - SO GOOD!) and then it was time to plate! I put a chicken drum and thigh on each of our plates and then spooned on some onions and butternut squash which was cooked until it was so soft it was falling apart! I spooned a little of the liquid over it and then topped it all off with some of those delicious chickpeas! VOILA! 

Now that's what I call comfort food! It might not be what I thought of first but going forward, it will be!

Go-Go Gadget: Mandoline

I have to say that the mandoline is one of my favorite gadgets, and I'm not talking about the musical instrument! So many recipes call for thinly sliced vegetables, but it's so difficult to do that with a knife. Either they aren't all the same thickness (which means they don't all cook at the same rate) or you've sliced up your fingers trying to get the whole piece cut! But I have the solution to all of your woes, and then some!

There are many versions of mandonline slicers out there, and depending on how much you want to spend will determine what you get for your money. The OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer that I have is a mid-range choice, and has lots of great features. The slicing guard is key for getting those small pieces sliced. The blade, which I find to be perfectly sharp for the jobs at hand, can be raised or lowered depending on the thickness you're looking for.

This gadget also allows for julienne cuts! What's a julienne, you ask? This is a knife technique that results in "matchstick" pieces of whatever you are slicing. This can be quite time consuming with a knife (although I find knife work strangely calming), but the mandoline can help you save time in this department as well. You'll quickly have a growing pile of matchstick veggies to throw into whatever recipe you're following!

From Flickr - by Gino LoCascio

Lastly, I like that this particular mandoline has rubber feet and a little prop stand so I don't have to hold it while it's in use. I can place a cutting board underneath to catch my slices and have my hands free to concentrate on the task at hand. There are quite a few handheld mandolines out there, but I can only imagine that they are a bit unwieldy.

Now, what can you MAKE with a mandoline? Homemade potato chips, marinated cucumber salads, and of course, a quicker mise en place are only a few of the uses for this wonderful invention. I find it easy to use and easy to clean! This gadget is one of my favorite things that I registered for when I got married, and it came from two of my favorite people! xoxo Lauren and Sara! :)

From Flickr - by SmithsEdgeWare

From Flickr - by Paula.X

Everyone Makes Mistakes!

So...tonight's dinner did not go as planned. All I can really say is that sometimes we all make mistakes, and not every meal will come out perfectly. I should have known that this wasn't going to go well when my mise en place took way longer than expected...but I plowed forward, nonetheless. The plan was to make Lia's Pork Tenderloin with an Artichoke Tart, from Top Chef's Quickfire cookbook. How she did this in an hour, I can't be sure!

Yikes! That's some mise en place!

Because this quickfire challenge's purpose was to use a store-bought frozen pie crust, the recipe also called for a store-bought frozen pie crust, which I allowed to thaw. The instructions asked me to use a pie weight while baking the unstuffed crust, but as I've said in past posts, I'm no baker...so I googled what I could use as a pie weight. The website I found said rice...but I didn't even think about putting something in the lining of my crust before adding the rice! Because of this mishap, my crust CRUMBLED when I tried to pour the rice out! :( (I'm adding a pie weight to my Amazon shopping cart tonight!)

I pieced the larger pieces of the crumbled crust back together in the pan, and poured the artichoke mixture in anyway, but it was a mess! Look what happened!!!

Can I have a do-over!?

The fennel and pear salad came out well, and the Meyer Lemon reduction sauce that went over the pork tenderloin was syrupy and tartly delicious. My pork tenderloin didn't cook completely in the time the recipe called for, so I left it in a little longer, and I ended up with some very juicy, perfectly cooked slices of pork in the end.

All in all, dinner was tasty, but it looked pretty messy, and I think it could have been MUCH better. Too bad I didn't think to thaw both of the crusts I had purchased...I could have started over if I had...but as it was, I made the best of a bad situation, and it all goes down the same way, right? Normally, after I complete a recipe to my satisfaction, it gets a check mark so that I know it's a keeper...but this one hasn't earned its check mark yet...I'll have to give it another go in the near future. I need a few weeks to get over this attempt first! :)

A Successful Attempt at a Korean Favorite

Remember my recent post about all different types of Asian cuisine and their differences? Well, tonight I made an attempt at a Korean favorite of ours, Bibimbap. Traditionally, Bibimbap is a dish served in a warm clay pot, consisting of rice, vegetables, thinly sliced beef and a fried egg, topped with a Korean red chile paste. The recipe I decided to use is a part of The Professional Chef, a textbook from The Culinary Institute of America. I usually use this book as a reference guide, in order to master techniques, but I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, and I'm very glad I did!

From Flickr - by Eunmi Han

This particular version of Bibimbap called for some skirt steak to be marinated in some soy sauce, garlic, ginger, green onions, sesame oil, crushed sesame seeds and pepper. The marinade was really tasty and added some great flavor to the dish. Once I'd made the marinade, I put the vegetables together. The recipe called for daikon, radish, carrots and cucumbers all julienned. One of my cucumbers had gone bad in the refrigerator :( and I didn't have any daikon, but I used some jicama instead, and also added some julienned shiitake mushrooms as well. Even though the recipe called for raw vegetables, I threw them in the wok with some peanut oil for a few minutes, just to soften the carrots and take the chill off the rest of the veggies. Everytime I've ever had Bibimbap, the vegetables have been cooked so I altered that part a little bit. I threw them in a stainless steel bowl and topped it with a pot lid so that steam could continue to cook the veggies a little bit while I finished off the rest of the dish.

While my rice cooked in my wonderful rice cooker, I threw the marinated beef into the wok with a bit of vegetable oil. It didn't take more than a few minutes for the small pieces to cook through, and while that was happening, I fried two eggs in a skillet, keeping them "sunny-side up" so that they would be runny when the yolk was broken over the dish. My rice cooker clicked when it was finished and I spooned some sticky rice onto each plate. I topped the rice with my steaming carrots, jicama, radish and shiitake mushrooms. I sprinkled some chiffonade of iceberg lettuce on top of that, and as it started to wilt from the heat, I piled on some beef. Lastly, I laid the fried egg on top of all of this!

For the sauce, the recipe really just called for Korean Red Chile paste but I wanted to thin the paste a bit so I mixed in some fish sauce, some rice wine vinegar and a little bit of sweet rice wine. It did exactly what I wanted it to do, and thinned down to more of a sauce...which was great for dripping over the already delicious concoction.

Normally, this dish is served in a clay dish that stays warm for an extended period, and continues to cook the rice while you eat, making it crispy and crunchy on the sides of the bowl. It adds something special to the dish, but even without those clay dishes, I really think I nailed the authenticity. It was so delicious and reminiscent of our trips to Korean restaurants! It's always a good feeling when you know you can make something that you love to order out - less money spent, more confidence in my culinary achievements! Try making your favorite restaurant dish at home...and share your experiences with us! We're rooting for you!

Also, check out my new and improved Stock Your Kitchen page. I've renovated it so that you can automatically add my recommendations to your Amazon shopping cart, should you be interested in purchasing something that I've mentioned in any of my posts. Hopefully, this will be more convenient!

The Breadman TR2700

Cue epic introduction music...

It's here! The Breadman TR2700 has arrived! My kitchen is starting to look like a home-goods store, and I'm loving it! Our stainless steel breadmaker arrived on Thursday evening, and we've already had a loaf of Portuguese Sweet Bread, made with a mix we had from King Arthur Flour's bakery store. I'd post a picture of the beautiful loaf but...um, we ate it already. It was delicious and I probably won't be using store-bought bread anytime in the near future, which is an exciting prospect for me! Homemade bread is just so much fresher, and even tastier! We made toast, french toast, and sandwiches with this, our first loaf of homemade bread!

This particular model of the Breadman (heehee, it sounds so epic, doesn't it!?) seems to be able to do it all, just with the touch of a button! It can make white, wheat, french, sweet, low carb and gluten free breads. It also makes pizza dough, along with other types of dough, as well as JAMS! There's even buttons for adding stuff to the bread, like fruits and nuts!

You'll be hearing a lot more about the Breadman TR2700, I promise you that!

Radhika's Kebab Sausage with Tomato Jam

Tonight, I'm making sausages! Well, it's a loosely based version of a sausage, as there's nothing being stuffed into any sort of skin, but still...Quickfire Challenge here I come! (For all you Top Chef fans, you know exactly what I'm talking about, but for everyone else - it's from the Quickfire Cookbook, which includes recipes created during challenges on the show, Top Chef.)

This specific challenge was to create a signature hot dog. Radhika, from Season 5, made these great Kebab Sausages, and here we are, making them ourselves! You can find the recipe here. This recipe also calls for a bunch of accoutrements for the sausages. I'm sure these sausages would be wonderful on a roll, like the recipe describes, but I decided to serve them over a delicious, parsnip puree instead! A little heartier, and more ... dinner-like! :)

The first thing I did was make the sausage mixture. For this, I mixed 1 pound of ground lamb, 1/2 a pound of ground pork, and 1/2 a pound of ground beef with a tablespoon of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of Tandoori Masala, kosher salt and ground black pepper. Once the mixture was blended, I put half of it into a food processor until it was finely ground. Then I mixed the finely ground portion back into the rest of bowl, and mixed some more. I then formed the mixture into the shape of logs, sort of like bratwurst.

Once that was done, I turned the oven to 350 degrees to preheat while I made the sides. I chopped a red onion into slices, and put them in a pan with a little canola oil to cook down for about 20 minutes. These browned onions sweeten as they cook and make a lovely topping for the sausages. In another bowl, I put a cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced), cilantro, white wine vinegar, capers and a little salt and pepper to taste. I set this aside to macerate for 20 minutes. In a third bowl, I made a tomato jam, which consists of mayonnaise, tomato paste, cumin and a little bit of heavy cream. I only used enough cream to thin the concoction, rather than the amount that the recipe depicts.

I browned the sausages on all sides in a skillet and then added them to a baking sheet I had waiting in the preheated oven, and then cooked them for another 10 minutes.

Once they were done, I plated the parsnip puree and piled two of the kebab sausages on each plate. I served the sides separately, allowing us each to choose our toppings appropriately. Once I added my toppings, I took a picture so you could see the finished product!

Voila! And this just goes to show, you don't even need a special tool to make your own sausages. They tasted a bit meat-loafy when cooked, and the sides were the perfect accompaniment to the flavors in the sausage. I really liked my pairing of the parsnip puree. I think it added something that a sandwich roll couldn't have contributed to the dish!

A Mortar and a Pestle...You'll need one of each!

The mortar and pestle is an elusive tool for a lot of people, I think. For a long time, I would see that it was used to complete a part of a recipe, and just...well, improvise, since I didn't have one. That's fine, improvising is a great thing, but I had no idea how much more difficult I was making it until I decided to buy myself one of these mystical kitchen tools.

They come in all shapes and sizes, and some of them are smoother, while others are as rough as sandpaper.  I bought a nice, little marble one about a year and a half ago, from Sur La Table. It's really cute, and it gets the jobs that I need it for done well.

Isn't it cute!? :)

The inner sides of the mortar are ridged for easier grinding with the pestle. Sometimes, the larger version of a spice, when ground together with others, produces more flavor than the ground version easily purchased in stores. Jamie Oliver does this in quite a few of his recipes. For example, he'll add cumin seed, rather than ground cumin, along with some minced garlic, and other spices to a mortar and grind the flavors together into a paste, which is then thrown into the dish. The flavors are melding as you grind, so even before the spices have hit the pan, they are stronger than each spice alone.

If your mortar is big enough, you can also use it to make homemade guacamole. Since all of the ingredients are just mashed up together, this is a perfect vessel for combining the flavors! Mine is not big enough to do that, but there are a few mortars I've seen that would be perfect, and I have my eye on those!

From Flickr - by ScribeSevenThree

A Soup-er Sandwich

I love the day on my menu that calls for a delicious panini and a nice, steaming bowl of homemade soup! And that's exactly what tonight was - Soup and Sandwich night! I took that kickboxing class again (ouch!) so I got home a bit later tonight. Good thing I made my soup last night while we enjoyed our 'Za!

From Flickr - by AmberNectar 13

Soups are great because you can throw everything in the pot and then just let it go! I have recipes that call for only 1/2 an hour of real simmer time, while others call for 2-3 hours of the heat. Either way, you'll have a heartwarming bowl of goodness when the time is up! I knew I'd be getting home later tonight so, rather than eat dinner at 10pm, I decided it would work well to simmer that soup for the 2 hours it needed last night. I did all the necessary spice adjustments, blended it with my immersion blender, and strained it through a sieve to remove all the lumps. I let it cool a bit and then put it in the fridge, in anticipation of tonight's meal.

Tonight, when I came home, I assembled my paninis, turned on my panini grill (which I love! Thanks Bill and Heidi!), and started to heat up the soup...within 30 minutes, we had a delicious, comforting meal of steaming soup and a gooey panini!

Stir's White Bean Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts is a creamy, velvety soup, with none of the fatty dairy ingredients you'd think to find! It's just water, and white beans, and sage, but the depth of flavor would make you think there's 20 ingredients in there! As for the panini, I thought the soup would pair well with a Rustic Turkey Sandwich, with Apples and Brie. Once heated through, the few slices of Brie on each sandwich just started to ooze and get all gooey and delicious! I used a delicious seeded, wheat bread for this sandwich, and it really worked the rustic effect quite well!

Soups and sandwiches, or salads, make for a great, hearty meal. And if you plan ahead, it can most definitely work in your favor when you need something quick and easy. Heat up your soup, grill your panini and sit down to enjoy! Just like that! Making a pot of soup is a great weekend activity, and it makes your house smell SOOOOO good! Try it this weekend! :)

Mmmm...Za!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope all of you are sharing the love in some gourmet-rific way tonight! Matt (my husband) and I have our own tradition for this, the 14th of February. We try and avoid the craziness that surrounds this day with some takeout from a very special pizza joint near us. Pizza and our DVR...does it really get any better than that?

This special pizza joint I speak of is called Za and it's located on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, MA. My favorite part of this restaurant's concept is that many of their ingredients are locally sourced and the menu rotates based on what's growing in the area. They even serve locally brewed beer, along with some wines.

We frequent this establishment quite often but we've made it a special tradition to get takeout on Valentine's Day. The menu consists of salads and pizzas, both interesting and unique combinations. Their trademark chalkboard depicts the seasonal specials up on the wall, and we usually choose from those, rather than the regular varieties available on the everyday menu.

From Za's website

While the pizzas are on the small side, we've found that getting one salad and one pizza works well for a two-person meal. On special occasions, like today, we usually add a dessert or two as well. Tonight, we opted for the Crisp Iceberg Lettuce salad with tomatoes, red onions, grated carrots, Applewood Smoked Bacon, and blue cheese. It's all topped off with a Creamy Buttermilk Dressing. As our main course, we chose one of the special pizzas, per usual. Pears, gorgonzola, fontina, toasted walnuts, cranberries, thyme  and scallions top this yummy 'Za! They had some really interesting special desserts on the menu so we decided to try one each - and try each other's! :) I decided on the Lemon Tart with Organic Strawberries, and Matt opted for the Chocolate Goat Cheesecake.

The salad is from the regular menu, and we order it all the time. I'm not sure how they do it, but they've managed to get the dressing to drip in-between each layer of iceberg lettuce, making each bite totally delicious. The pizza was piled high with nice big pieces of crisp pear, and I thought the dried cranberries were really a lovely touch. The flavors meld so well together in all of their combinations. Dessert was yummy, and mine was quite colorful wasn't it?! I found that the tartness of the lemon went really well with the light, fluffiness of a slight bite of whipped cream. Yummy!

We washed all this down with a lovely bottle of white wine. It was a very enjoyable dinner, and everything is packaged nicely for take-out. I find the restaurant itself endearing as well. The owner has an adorable collection of different pigs on all the shelves in the restaurant: piggy banks, pig statues, pig collectibles, you name it. The walls are adorned with local artwork that's also for sale and rotates on a regular basis. It will always be a different scene when you walk in! The staff is super-friendly and welcoming, and the surroundings are cozy in the winter, airy in the summer. I love when they open all the windows!

If you haven't visited Za, I highly recommend it. They can be found at 138 Massachusetts Avenue. They don't take reservations, but I do think they'll take a call-ahead on busy evenings.

Hug someone special tonight!