Bob's takes the cake

I'll never forget Christmas at my sister's house this year (2008). Neither will she. Within 15 minutes of eachother she had managed to burn her hand on the element of the oven (impressive blistering), and I had sliced open my thumb with a brand new knife that I had bought her as a gift. (No screaming or panicking - I AM a farmer after all - and whatever stops me from working completely is the only thing I will go to outpatient for).

In any event, I knew the routine - keep the wound dry and tightly bound for days. But at heart, I'm a bit of a kid, in that what was missing from the equation was a lollypop - or maybe that groovy prescription you get when you go to a real doctor. This I had to provide for myself, and thus began my reluctant dependence on Bob (again) for what I craved: chocolate cake.

The mix made a batter that looked like real cake batter (unlike the "bread mix" from a few weeks ago).

I wasn't really prepared to make cake, having thrown out all the old cake pans and muffin tins, etc. that harbored microscopic amounts of flour from my wheat baking days. I did have disposable pie pans on hand, but no cooling racks, so I improvised.



Meet my new BFF, he's tasty, this could be a great and long-lasting relationship. I'd have made my own frosting, but the cut in my thumb hurt fierce (nerves firing) and I needed to give it a rest.


It looks like real cake.

It tastes like real cake. A winner! Chocolatey, fudgy, and it made me forget about my thumb for a while.

Monday Menu: Mushroom Risotto

Dan and I go to Burlington one day each month to make deliveries. Afterward, we go to our favorite speciality markets and scope out what the new cheesemakers are offering (covert operations), as well as perusing produce aisles to see what can't be had at the local Hannaford. This time, we found some fresh Enokitake and Porcini (there was no label on the package, only a price). I immediately thought of making a risotto - I haven't had one in months - and purchased the requisite Parmesan (I could have used my own Tomme Collins cheese, but we are sold out for the year).



The mushrooms were sliced (or in the case of the enoki, simply pulled apart), sauteed in grapeseed oil and set aside. The holiday season seemed a good reason to buy some Vermont Butter and Cheese butter for finishing the risotto. Mmmm, butter.



It's a challenge to pick something fresh and create a recipe around it, rather than shop by a list with coupons in hand (though I do plenty of that). But, this is was a treat, not daily victuals. I need to stretch those wanna-be-cheffy muscles sometimes.

Arborio rice (one cup) from the local co-op goes in to the pot with some grapeseed oil.



Stirred around on medium heat until most of the grains change color (to white) and look toasted. Then, additions of chicken stock (organic and wheat-free) that had been warmed in the microwave, about 1/3 a cup at a time. (3 - 4 cups in all).



Stir, stir, stir. Let it simmer and absorb the stock, using the time in between additions to grate the cheese (about 3 ounces)...



...and chop the refreshed chanterelles (they came from the pantry - how long they had been stored there, I don't recall) with 6 cloves of garlic.



The chanterelles created a mushroom stock that was saved and frozen for another use.



At the point where the rice has fattened up and is nearly cooked, the previously sauteed mushrooms make a reappearance, and those garlicky chanterelles go in.



Just about finished.



When the rice was done absorbing liquid, I turned off the burner and added the butter (2 Tb) and Parmesan. Done!



The result was very mushroomy; the enoki and porcini had the texture of calamari, and the chanterelles were still very firm. Very creamy and warming for a cold winter's day!

I love making risotto because you don't need a recipe or saffron, just technique and inspiration.

Everything old is new again

When I was a kid, these always made an appearance on the table around the holidays.

To 12 hardboiled yolks (HB recipe is below this post) in a food processor fitted with a blade add:

1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp smoky paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp white pepper

Whizz until the yolks are the size of a lentil and the ingredients are combined, then add 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and process to incorporate. Add more mayo 1/4 cup at a time until the consistency is mousse-like (decadently fluffy, stiff, not slack). Note how high the mixture is over the egg in the photo above - that's the consistency you are looking for.

I happened to run out of mayo after 1/4 cup, and added about 1/4 cup of Newman's Own Ranch dressing (a.k.a. Cheetah dip) for the remainder.

Put this mixture in a disposable Ziploc style bag, twist one corner until the bag is tight, cut off the opposite corner (1/4 to 1/2 inch) and squeeze mixture into white portion of the eggs.

In homage to my mother, I sprinkled the eggs with more paprika, just like she does.

HB Eggs

For New Year's Eve I fixed an easy-do dish: HB (hardboiled) eggs as shown to me by Julia Child via PBS so many, many years ago.

I like this method in that it fits it with the way I cook (set-it-and-forget-it until an alarm (or a timer) goes off).



Place eggs in a pot with cold water to cover. Burner on High, bring to the boil; cover; remove from heat for 15 - 17 minutes (17 if it is just starting to simmer, 15 if you get distracted and suddenly notice the water is boiling). Tip the hot water out, place the pot under the tap and run cold water into the pot for 10 minutes. They are now cool enough to peel.

New Year's Eve

We wish you full bellies and many successful cooks in the New Year, thank you for visiting!

Christmas Eve: T-loin in Bacon

It was some kind of cold to be out on the porch but for Christmas Evening Dinner at the in-laws, I cooked up three beef tenderloin roasts wrapped in bacon on the Big Green Egg.



It was a real hassle to trim up the roasts, so the shapes are all weird. I've broken down whole chickens and turkeys, cleaned calamari and shrimp, even knifed lobsters in the head - and still this took me a while.



That's our own bacon.



Roasts are on the 300 degree cooker until they are done. Here's the weird part. On the last cook, I calibrated the tall thermometer and one of these white ones. All three gave different temperatures (which is within the realm of reality, just very annoying).

I could only do my best and set all of them to alarm at 131f. I figured this would give me some leeway in case I had to reheat slices afterward.



Pulled them off at 131f and blanketed in aluminum foil and a towel for an hour. Then I removed the bacon and sliced them.



The cuts varied from rare to med-well and a few were well-done. Awesome selection and the bacon was just the way to inject some flavor into this (select) grainfed beef.



Did I mention the cold?


ps. For the next week or so there will be more posts than usual due to an unfortunate incident involving a carving knife, a chicken, and a finger (not the chicken's) so there is no cheesemaking for me and lots of time to cook and write.