Another "Cook's Illustrated" success

One successful recipe after another causes me to agree with my husband - Cook's Illustrated IS pretty darn awesome! Tonight, I made a couple of roasted veggie dishes to go with some leftover Cook's Illustrated Hungarian beef stew. The roasted carrots in particular were superb - you know they're good when carrot-disliking G loves 'em - and easy to make!

I sized down the recipe for just the two of us, see below, but the base recipe is from Cook's.

Roasted Carrots for Two
Serves 2. Adapted from Cook's Illustrated. 

3/4 lb carrots, peeled, halved crosswise, and cut lengthwise if necessary to create even pieces *
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Move oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine carrots with butter, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to a foil-lined jelly roll pan and spread in a single layer.
2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook for 30-35 minutes longer, stirring a couple of times. Transfer to a serving platter, season with salt and pepper if necessary, and serve.

* Note on cutting carrots:
1. If carrot diameter is < 1/2 inch, then cut crosswise only.
2. If carrot diameter is between 1/2 and 1 inch, then cut crosswise, and cut thicker piece lengthwise in half.
3. If carrot diameter is > 1 inch, then cut crosswise, and quarter thicker piece lengthwise (halve thinner piece if appropriate).

Tourtiere experiment #2

Having spent the morning feeling a bit down about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to revive the holiday spirit by making tourtiere - in a nod to G's French-Canadian roots - and my special cranberry sauce - in a nod to all that is good about Thanksgiving (in my opinion).

Unfortunately, there was a small mishap while making the cranberry sauce. I had a good cry on G's shoulder, G went to work cleaning the oven, and... We had meat stuffing rather than a pie pastry-clad tourtiere. It was good though. I think I've nailed the recipe for the tourtiere filling! So without further ado...

Tourtiere (Jieun’s experimental recipe #2)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces

¾+ cup beef broth, divided into ¼+ cup and ½ cup

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

½ onion, chopped

¼ tsp clove

< ¼ tsp cinnamon (I used about 3/4 of the ¼ tsp spoon)

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook potatoes in saucepan with enough water to just cover, until tender. Mash the cubed potato with ¼ + up to an additional 1/8 cup of the beef broth. Set aside.
2. Cook the beef, pork, onion, remaining ½ cup of beef broth, clove, cinnamon, Bell’s seasoning, bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste over medium-low heat. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Place bottom crust in 9” ungreased clear glass pie plate and trim. Add meat filling, and top with second crust. Fold top crust over the edges of the bottom crust, and flute the edges. Cut steam vents into the top of the top crust.
5. Cook 15 minutes in preheated 400 F oven, then place foil around outer edges. Replace pie in oven and bake another 15-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Surviving my first layer cake - and dinner party

Until last Friday, I had never baked a layer cake. I had made plenty of cupcakes, bundt cakes, sheet cakes, and pound cakes, but never a layer cake. So, two weekends ago, I decided my college friends' impending visit would provide me a convenient set of guinea pigs for my first layer cake attempt. Unfortunately, that weekend comprised a series of minor kitchen debacles, including a couple related to The Cake.

I was initially a little upset by the very minor issue of a single cracked layer - minor because it would have had a very simple fix. I could have just made that my bottom layer and shellacked it with plenty of cream cheese frosting. I say could have, because I didn't have a chance to give that solution a try. As I went to flip one layer of cake from the cooling rack to a plate, I dropped the plate, cake and all. *sigh* So instead of a red velvet layer cake, we had a red velvet non-layer cake. It was still a quite yummy single layer of cake.

This past weekend, G and I hosted our first non-family dinner party. In honor of the occasion, I decided it was time for red velvet layer cake, take 2. This time, the experiment - very carefully conducted - was a success. Unfortunately, the dinner party itself, while not a failure, could have been better. One of our guests is a vegetarian. Featured prominently on the carefully-crafted (but apparently not very well thought out) menu: beef stew. Oh dear... At least there was a trio of vegetarian side dishes (mashed sweet potatoes, caramelized pan-roasted brussels sprouts, apple-pear-fennel-arugula salad) that she could enjoy!

And now, it's time to face down Thanksgiving. Note that I say "face down" rather than a more positive word like "anticipate." Ordinarily, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands down. I just love the season, the food, the family time, the feast... Everything about it. Unfortunately, this year, some behind-the-scenes drama, misunderstanding, miscommunication, etc. have somewhat soured the Thankgiving experience for me. I'm just going to make a pie or two - at the risk of their being redundant, since I wasn't asked to bring them or anything else - and make the best of it, and enjoy the day as much as possible. Besides, there's always next year...

An autumny coleslaw

Tonight, I made a(nother) Cook's Illustrated recipe - Hungarian Beef Stew, aka goulash. And it was yet another Cook's Illustrated recipe keeper. I opted to pair this rich beefy dish with some coleslaw - with an autumn flavor. My husband, who has quite vocally expressed his life-long dislike of coleslaw and of cabbage, loved it. Here's the recipe.

J's Autumn Coleslaw
(serves 4+)

3 C cabbage, shredded (about 1/4 of a large head or 1/2 of a small head)
1/4 C onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 medium onion)
1/4 C green bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1/4 large pepper)
1 large apple, cut into matchsticks (I used a Fuji apple)
1/4 C dried cranberries (aka craisins)
3 Tbsp lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
1/4 C mayonnaise
1/8 - 1/4 C sour cream
1/2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp coarse-grain mustard (I used Grey Poupon Harvest Coarse Ground Mustard)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Combine the cabbage, onion, and green bell pepper.
Combine the apple and dried cranberries, then toss with lemon juice.
Add apple mixture to cabbage mixture.
Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, mustard, salt, celery seed, and pepper.
Add dressing to cabbage-apple mixture, and toss to combine.
Drizzle apple cider vinegar over coleslaw mixture and toss to combine.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving, to give the flavors time to meld.

Tourtiere experiment #1

G's family is French-Canadian, which means a whole bunch of fun cultural traditions. One of these is the traditional holiday meat pie, called tourtiere.

Two Christmases ago - the first Christmas I spent with G's family and my first time meeting the B clan - I cut my fork into my very first piece of tourtiere, a bite comprising flaky pastry crust, savory meat-and-spice filling, and tomato ketchup out of the bottle as a finishing touch. I wasn't at all surprised to discover I really enjoyed this traditional holiday dish.

Fast forward to Christmas 2010, my first as an official, married-into-the-family member. I had been toying with the idea of trying my hand at making homemade tourtiere. (G's mom purchases hers from a local restaurant.) I was reminded of this half-baked (haha) plan by my sister-in-law to be. So I pestered MomB to pass along her sister's recipe, which is included below.

Tourtiere (Auntie J’s recipe)

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

1 small potato, mashed

¼ onion, chopped

Very little clove

Pinch cinnamon

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook the beef, pork, onion, salt & pepper, clove, cinnamon, and Bell’s seasoning to taste.
2. Drain fat.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Put mixture in pie crust.
5. Top with second crust.
6. Cook 30-45 minutes at 400 F.

Well, after consulting with my chief taster, aka G, I decided to combine elements of some of the other recipes I'd researched. My experimental recipe (#1) follows.

Tourtiere (Jieun’s experimental recipe #1)

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces

1 ½ small yellow (waxy) potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise

¾ cup beef broth, divided into ¼ cup and ½ cup

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

½ onion, chopped

¼ tsp clove

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook potatoes in saucepan with enough water to just cover, until tender. Mash the cubed potato with ¼ cup of the beef broth. Dice the waxy potatoes. Set aside.
2. Cook the beef, pork, onion, remaining ½ cup of beef broth, clove, cinnamon, Bell’s seasoning, bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste over medium-low heat. Add diced potatoes and combine. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Place bottom crust in 9” ungreased clear glass pie plate (I have a Pyrex) and trim. Add meat filling, and top with second crust. Fold top crust over the edges of the bottom crust, and flute the edges. Cut steam vents into the top of the top crust.
5. Cook 15 minutes in preheated 400 F oven, then place foil around outer edges. Replace pie in oven and bake another 15-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

*ETA G's advice:*

• reduce amount of cinnamon
• make the mashed potatoes more "runny"
• omit the diced potato - this meat pie was too starchy / potato-y

Checking the "M" box

What an odd feeling, to check off the "M for married" box on an official form for the first time! Especially when that is accompanied by filling in "G. B., husband" in the emergency contact section of the same form...

The season's first batch of pumpkin bread...

...just came out of the oven and we are both (all - since there are two loaves) currently cooling our heels, waiting for G to come home so we can sample the yummyness together. After a dinner of crock pot chicken noodle soup, that is. Very cozy for a chilly fall day!

I'm not sure how the end result will taste - will keep you posted - but here's the recipe I came up with and used for this batch, after much online research:

Pumpkin Bread  (makes two 8" loaves)

1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 C white sugar
1 C dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 (15oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1/8 C (approx) unsweetened applesauce

Sugar & Spice Blend
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 Tbsp white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine sugar & spice blend ingredients. Butter two 8" loaf pans, then sprinkle sugar & spice blend evenly on bottom and sides, about 1 Tbsp each pan.
3. Cream butter and sugars together, then add eggs one at a time while mixing. Add vanilla extract and mix in.
4. Combine all dry ingredients together, then gently stir into butter mixture until just combined.
5. Stir in canned pumpkin and applesauce.
6. Distribute batter evenly between prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle sugar & spice mixture on top.
7. Bake approximately 50 min to 1 hr, until cake tests done.

*Note:* I added about 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to half the batter for one of the loaves.

*ETA:* Not too bad a first attempt... Got the sweetness/sugar amount right, but could bump up the spices a bit.

First dinner of September (2010)

On the menu tonight:

• Raspberry-Balsamic Chicken (from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook)
• Savory Polenta (Alton Brown's recipe)
• Sauteed Mushrooms (improvised)

Our thoughts:

• The raspberry-balsamic glaze/sauce is a tish on the sweet side for our liking. Shocker, right? Should've known.
• I used regular cornmeal for the polenta; I think we'll locate, buy, and try the coarsely-ground stuff next time.
• I used a bit of marjoram and thyme (dried, not fresh) for the sauteed mushrooms. Yum. I want to buy some wild mushroom varieties and Madeira next time, in an attempt to recreate Cork's yummy sauteed mushrooms.

Our wedding after-party, in pictures (part 5)

Many thanks to all of my friends - and especially my sister Laeun - for passing around my camera and taking these photos.

Our wedding after-party, in pictures (part 4)

Many thanks to all of my friends - and especially my sister Laeun - for passing around my camera and taking these photos.

Our wedding after-party, in pictures (part 3)

Many thanks to all of my friends - and especially my sister Laeun - for passing around my camera and taking these photos.