Tiramisu and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Matt and I are waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square. We're not in the cold. We're someplace warm. I thought I'd leave you with some tiramisu- my favorite dessert.

My mother-in-law made tiramisu for Christmas. I've made it, too. But hers looks so pretty that I had to show it to everyone.



Tiramisu
Source: The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook 1999, compiled and edited by Julie Fisher Gunter
Prep: 37 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Chill: 8 hours

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese*
1 3/4 cups heavy cream, whipped
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1/4 cup brandy
2 (3-ounce) packages ladyfingers, split
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 teaspoon grated unsweetened chocolate

Combine egg yolks and sugar in top of a double boiler. Beat at medium speed with a handheld electric mixer until thick and pale. Bring water to a boil; reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring contsantly, 8 minutes or until mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat.

Beat 1 3/4 cups heavy cream at medium speed until soft peaks form; fold into cheese mixture.

Combine water, coffee granules and brandy; brush cut side of ladyfingers with 1/2 cup coffee mixture.

Line sides and bottom of a 3-quart trifle bowl with 36 ladyfingers, cut side in; pour in half of fillng mixture. Layer remaining ladyfingers on top; drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup coffee mixture. Cover with remaining filling. Garnish with remaining whipped cream and grated chocolate. Cover and chill 8 hours.
Yield: 12 servings.

*As a substitute for mascarpone cheese, combine 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, 1/3 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup heavy cream; beat well. Use 1 1/4 cups mixture for recipe, reserving remainder for other uses.

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Christmas meal 2009

On Christmas, I ate and ate and ate and ate. We had a rib roast, twice-baked potatoes, cranberry relish, drop biscuits, roasted asparagus and a salad. We had pecan pie and tiramisu for dessert.



Rib-eye roast
Source: my mother-in-law
6-pound rib-eye roast
garlic powder
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season rib roast with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover the ends of the roast with tin foil so they don't get charred. Cook the rib-eye for two hours, or about 20 minutes a pound.

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Twice-baked potatoes
Source: my mother-in-law
10 large russet potatoes
8 strips bacon
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pound sour cream
half a large onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake potatoes for about an hour or until soft. Bake bacon in the oven, about 7-10 minutes. Then turn bacon over and cook for a few more minutes, if needed. Watch the bacon, so it doesn't get too crispy. Then crinkle the bacon. Set aside.

Cut the baked potatoes in half length-wise. Scoop out the insides of each potato half.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Whip the cooked potatoes in a mixer or with a hand mixer. Mix in the cheese, sour cream and bacon bits.

Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato shells. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes.

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I made soft and fluffy drop biscuits.  My father-in-law kept eating them.

We also had cranberry relish with chopped oranges and apples. (I plan on making it later.)

After the meal, I decided to wait a little bit before I tackled the tiramisu.

Pecan pie

We had pecan pie as one of our desserts during Christmas time. I love the gooeyness of the filling, and the best part is the nuts.

Pecan Pie
Adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, Compiled and edited by Julie Fisher Gunter 1999
Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 58 minutes
Yields 8 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup light or dark corn syrup
4 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pie crust (see recipe below)
1 1/3 cups pecan halves or 1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine first 3 ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Cool slightly. Add eggs, vanilla and salt to mixture. Mix well.

Pour filling into unbaked pastry shell, and top with pecan halves. Bake in oven for 55 minutes or until set. Serve warm or cold.

Rum pecan pie: Prepare recipe as directed above, adding 3 tablespoons dark rum with the eggs. Mix well.

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Pie crust
Source: Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten
Makes two 10-inch crusts
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6-8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Directions:
Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

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Orange-soy braised pork ribs, Gourmet January 2005

Orange-soy sauce braised pork ribs (Gourmet January 2005) and Spinach salad with oranges and warm goat cheese (Gourmet January 2001)

As rain pounded on our windshield, my husband and I drove from LaGuardia Airport to Dutchess County in New York in the middle of the night. We had just gotten back from visiting Matt's parents in Illinois. The roads were pitch black. Turning on high beams made the road look even more foggy as the moisture in the air was reflected back at us. We arrived home at 3 a.m. this morning.

I woke up later in the morning, ready to get groceries and start cooking. Matt and I had one day together before we headed off to work on Monday. I already picked out Gourmet recipes at www.epicurious.com that I wanted to try.

Although it isn't Jan. 1 yet, I'm going to send this to Gourmet, Unbound, a site that features recipes from Gourmet month by month since its publication was canceled. Three devotees of the magazine began the project.

Since there was already orange juice in the braising liquid for the pork ribs, I thought spinach salad with oranges would go well with them. It did!

I'm glad I got bone-in pork ribs (the recipe didn't say) because the meat was very tender and fatty near the bone. The pecan-crusted goat cheese cut through the sweet/tartness of the orange salad.



Orange-soy braised pork ribs
For the recipe, click here.

Spinach salad with oranges and warm goat cheese
For the recipe, click here.

Here's how I cut the orange:
Cut peel and white pith from oranges with a sharp small knife. Cut segments of the orange in between the thin membranes.

The orange will look like an accordion. Squeeze the juice out of it for your vinaigrette and set aside.


Note: Compared to the original recipe, I added 2 tablespoons of orange juice to the dressing. Instead of red onion, I used a shallot.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pumpkin oatmeal drops

My mother-in-law made these pumpkin oatmeal cookies today. They're not too sweet and they're soft. The cookies are a favorite of my brother-in-law's.

I asked my mother-in-law where she got the recipe. She pulled out a cookbook from her shelf. It was called Homemade Cookies by the editors of Farm Journal. The book's spine had totally fallen off.


"It's page 119," she said.

I opened the book to the page.

The page was worn with spots on it. She had creased a corner of it. I knew by looking at the page that this was a recipe that became a family tradition.

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Roast beef and homemade noodles over mashed potatoes

Noodles simmering in beef broth

Homemade noodles over mashed potatoes are all about comfort. My mother-in-law makes them and the dish is a favorite of mine. She pairs the noodles with roast beef. My mother-in-law got the recipe from her mother.

Matt and I visited his parents for Christmas. We relaxed and ate a whole lot of food.


Roast beef


From left to right: Beef, slaw, noodles over mashed potatoes, cranberry-orange-apple relish.


Homemade noodles
Source: Grandmother-in-law

Ingredients:
2-3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
milk- Use 1/2 eggshell to measure milk- about 3-4 eggshells

Directions:
Combine ingredients in a stand mixer, using a dough hook. Divide the soft dough and roll on a floured surface like you would pie dough. Dry about 4-5 hours. But after 2 hours, turn over the dough.

Slice into strips, about 3-4 inches wide. Stack together and cut into thinner strips, so the noodles are 3-4 inches long. Let dry about another 1-2 hours. You can make ahead and freeze or refrigerate if using the same day.

To cook in broth: Bring 5-6 cups of beef or chicken broth to a boil. (You can use beef broth made from roast beef. See recipe below.) Slowly stir in noodles. Bring to boil and then lower heat and simmer until tender. Cover, while simmering.

Stir frequently because flour will thicken broth and the noodles will stick to the saucepan. You may need to add more broth or water if the broth thickens too much. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Roast beef for noodles
Ingredients:
3-4 pound chuck roast
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season chuck roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sear in hot vegetable oil until browned on all sides. Cover with sliced onions and about 4 cups hot water in a deep pot.

Cover and bake in oven about 2-3 hours until roast is very tender.

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Rick Bayless' Roasted tomato-green chile salsa

Salsa de molcajete

To go along with my skirt steak tacos with roasted poblano rajas, I decided to make salsa using another one of Rick Bayless' recipes.

The recipe for salsa de molcajete, or roasted tomato-green chile salsa, calls for hot peppers, but the jalapenos I bought had gone bad. I substituted roasted poblano peppers instead, but I'd highly recommend using hot peppers.

I used leftover salsa to make huevos rancheros a few days later. Yum!

Salsa de molcajete, or roasted tomato-green chile salsa
Adapted from Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 pound tomatoes (2 medium-large round or 6 to 8 plum tomatoes)
Fresh hot green chiles to taste (2 medium jalapenos or 4 serranos)
3 garlic cloves, not peeled
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
salt
Vinegar or lime juice to taste

Directions:
Roast the tomatoes on a baking sheet covered in tin foil 4 inches below a very hot broiler until they're darkly roasted, about 6 minutes. (They'll be blackened in spots.) Flip them over and roast the other side about 5 to 6 minutes more. Cool the tomatoes.

Working over the baking sheet, pull off and discard the blackened skins. For round tomatoes, cut out the hard cores where the stems were attached.

Roast the chiles and garlic in a dry skillet or on a griddle over medium heat, turning them occasionally, until they are soft and darkened in places, about 5 minutes for the chiles, 15 minutes for the garlic. Cool, then slip the papery skins off the garlic.

Chop the garlic and chiles in a food processor. Add the tomatoes and pulse until the salsa is a little chunky.

Scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake to remove excess moisture.

Transfer the salsa to a bowl, stir in the onion and cilantro and season with salt, usually a generous 1/2 teaspoon. Add vinegar or lime if you prefer.

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Step-by-step photos:
Roast the tomatoes on a baking sheet covered in tin foil.


Place the baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until they're darkly roasted, about 6 minutes. (They'll be blackened in spots.) Flip them over and roast the other side about 5 to 6 minutes more. Cool the tomatoes.


Working over the baking sheet, pull off and discard the blackened skins. For round tomatoes, cut out the hard cores where the stems were attached.


Roast the chiles and garlic in a dry skillet or on a griddle over medium heat, turning them occasionally, until they are soft and darkened in places, about 5 minutes for the chiles, 15 minutes for the garlic. Cool, then slip the papery skins off the garlic.


Chop the cilantro.


Scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake to remove excess moisture.


Transfer the salsa to a bowl, stir in the onion and cilantro and season with salt, usually a generous 1/2 teaspoon. Add vinegar or lime if you prefer.

Rick Bayless' skirt steak tacos with roasted poblano rajas

Skirt steak tacos with roasted poblano rajas with salsa de molcajete

I recently started watching Mexico One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless after I saw him on Top Chef Masters. The way he is on his TV show is exactly the way he is in real life. Bayless is just a very positive person.


I bought Bayless' companion cookbook to his TV show as a present to myself. You can see I've bookmarked a lot of recipes already. My husband perused through the cookbook and began singing "Ahhhhh.." like a choir boy every time he saw a pork dish.

I decided to make steak tacos last weekend with salsa de molcajete or roasted tomato-green chile salsa.



Matt skulked around the kitchen as I made the steak, roasted the poblano peppers and made the salsa. When I was finally finished, Matt sat at the table and ate one taco after another without speaking.

He liked them and so did I.

Skirt steak tacos with roasted poblano rajas
Adapted from Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless
Ingredients:
2 medium white onions, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (keep the rounds intact for easy grilling or broiling)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
salt
1 pound beef skirt steak, trimmed of surface fat as well as the thin white membrane called "silverskin"
3 medium fresh poblano chiles
vegetable or olive oil
lime wedges for serving
12 warm, fresh corn tortillas

Directions:
For the meat:
In a food processor or blender, combine one-quarter of the onions, garlic, lime juice, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt and process to a puree. Place the skirt steak in a nonaluminum baking dish. Using a spoon, smear the marinade over both sides of the skirt steak. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

Making the chile-and-onion rajas:
Note: This is where I deviated from Bayless' recipe. It's easier for me to broil meat and vegetables rather than cook them on the cast-iron grill pan that never gets clean no matter how hard I try.

Preheat your broiler. Place poblano peppers on a sheet pan that has been covered in tin foil. Broil peppers on one side for 4-5 minutes. Then turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes, depending on how charred you want the skin to be. Put the peppers in a plastic bag, so the steam loosens the skin, about a couple minutes. Peel the skin off the peppers.

Broil the onions about 10 minutes or until you think they are soft enough.

Scrape out the seeds of the peppers. Slice the poblano peppers into thin strips. Mix the onions and the peppers in a bowl. Season with salt.

Cooking the steak:
Remove the excess marinade from the steak. Oil the steak well. Broil the steak 4 minutes on each side. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

Serving the tacos: 
Cut the steak into sections of 3-4 inches. Then take a section and cut it into thin strips across the grain, meaning you're cutting the steak parallel with the full length of it.

Have people choose portions of steak and poblano pepper and onion rajas for their tacos. Serve with roasted tomato-chile salsa (optional).

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Step-by-step photos:
For the meat:
In a food processor or blender, combine one-quarter of the onions, garlic, lime juice, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt and process to a puree. Place the skirt steak in a nonaluminum baking dish. Using a spoon, smear the marinade over both sides of the skirt steak. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.


Making the chile-and-onion rajas:
Preheat your broiler. Place poblano peppers on a sheet pan that has been covered in tin foil.


Broil peppers on one side for 4-5 minutes. Then turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes, depending on how charred you want the skin to be. Put the peppers in a plastic bag, so the steam loosens the skin, about a couple minutes.


Peel the skin off the peppers. Take out the seeds. Then cut into thin strips.


Broil the onions about 10 minutes or until you think they are soft enough.


While you broil the onions, place corn tortillas on a sheet pan and put it in the oven for a minute or two to warm them up.


Take the onions out from under your broiler. Mix the onions and the peppers in a bowl. Season with salt.


Cooking the steak:
Remove the excess marinade from the steak. Oil the steak well. Broil the steak 4 minutes on each side. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Cut the steak into sections of 3-4 inches. Then take a section and cut it into thin strips across the grain, meaning you're cutting the steak parallel with the full length of it.


Have people choose portions of steak and poblano pepper and onion rajas for their tacos. Serve with roasted tomato-chile salsa (optional).

Nigella Lawson's Cranberry orange pudding

I first saw cranberry orange pudding on Girlichef's blog. It looked so good. Since I still had a whole lot of cranberries, I decided to try Nigella Lawson's recipe.

Lawson made a batter that she spread on the bottom of a pie pan. She layered the cranberry sauce in the pie pan and then put the batter on top.

I looked at some of the comments on Food Network.com for the pudding. Some complained the fruit spilled over and burned in their oven. One person mentioned the pudding became a soupy mess when she used something bigger than a pie pan.

I decided to use a cake pan and put it in a sheet pan just in case stuff spilled. While the batter rose and was nice and crispy on top, the pudding wasn't cooked all the way through. I had to throw it back in the oven for a lot longer before I was satisfied that it was cooked enough.

I watched a video of Lawson making the pudding and she used self-rising flour. The recipe on Food Network.com was probably modified to use regular flour. I think that may be where the problem is.

The cranberry orange pudding was sweet and tart and crunchy and cookie-like on top.

Cranberry orange pudding
Modifed from Nigella Lawson's cranberry orange and almond pudding
Ingredients:
For the fruit:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups cranberries
1 orange
3 tablespoons sugar
splash of red wine (optional)

For the batter:
1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt 1/2 stick butter in a wide saucepan, then add the cranberries and sugar. Add zest from an orange. Squeeze juice of half an orange into the saucepan. Add a splash of pinot noir or any other red wine. Cook over high heat until the fruit begins to pop. With fresh fruit, this doesn't take much time. With frozen fruit, this takes about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

Combine the flour, baking powder, soda and sugar in a large bowl and add the eggs, melted butter and a little bit of orange juice. Mix until smooth. Pour half of the batter into a round pie dish. Cover with the cranberries, then top with the remaining batter. The cranberries do not need to be covered completely.

Sprinkle walnuts over the batter. Put the pie dish in a sheet pan to catch any filling that spills over. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and set.

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Chicken soup

This is the best chicken soup I've ever made. The reason? A whole chicken. After three hours in the pot, the chicken was juicy, tender and fell apart so easily. The broth came out really flavorful. I had made a bouquet garni of thyme, oregano and rosemary and put in the soup as it boiled.

I lived on this soup all this past week.

Chicken Soup
1 3-4 pound chicken
Couple sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
Couple sprigs of oregano or sage
3 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 medium onions, diced
1 russet potato or many fingerling potatoes, diced (about 1 cup) 
4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Put chicken in a pot. Fill pot with water, just enough to cover most of the chicken. Bring soup to a boil. Then turn heat down to let the soup simmer. Skim off any gray matter. Skim off any oil.

Make a bouquet garni of the herbs by taking a piece of twine and tying it around the herbs. Drop the bouquet in the pot. Add the chopped garlic to the pot.

Let the soup simmer for three hours total. In the last hour, add the carrots, celery, potatoes and onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the soup is done, the chicken will break apart very easily.

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Step-by-step photos:

Put chicken in a pot. Fill pot with water, just enough to cover most of the chicken.


Bring to a boil.Then turn heat down and let the soup simmer for three hours.


Skim off any gray matter.


Skim off any oil.


Make a bouquet garni. You can use thyme, rosemary and oregano. Or, even sage.


Take a piece of twice, wrap around the herbs and tie a knot to make the bouquet garni.


Drop the herbs in the pot.


Dice up carrots, celery, onion and garlic.





Dice up potatoes. I used fingerling potatoes, but you can use any potato.


In the third hour of simmering the soup, add the onions, celery, carrots and potatoes.


When three hours are up, take out the herbs.


You can take out the chicken to break apart. Or you can break it apart in the pot. Fill up a bowl and enjoy.