Monday, August 30, 2010

Back to School Cookies

I can't tell you how many cookie recipes I've tried looking for the one that would be my go-to recipe. This Jamie recipe on page 336 might be the one. On kid's first day back to school I thought it might be motherly of me to make some cookies for after school.
It also seemed like a great opportunity to have a first cooking experience with the little guy. I measured out all of the ingredients so he'd just need to hop up on his stool and pour them in.
One of the reasons I really like this recipe is that you can whip up the dough in the food processor in no time. But, as soon as I pulled out the food processor, the baby freaked (even though we were no where near an outlet) and I found myself alone in the kitchen while he sang to himself with his hands over his ears in a distant room far from my pre-measured ingredients.
Me, myself and I poured the pre-measured ingredients into the food processor, whizzed it around for a minute and I had my dough. It chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes and then I sliced it and stuck it in the oven. It was so easy! For this one I mixed in lemon and orange zest but I will definitely try it again with another mix in. Everyone loved the cookies and they were a big hit at the school lunch table the next day too.
Recipes cooked: 49
Recipes left: 124
Days left: 193

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Basil Run

The neighbors that live two doors down started a garden this summer. "Help yourself!," my friend told me. Well, when it comes to garden fresh, convenient veggies you don't have to ask me twice. We helped take care of the garden for two weeks earlier this summer while they were away which was lots of fun and great for the kids. I had high hopes that this was going to "sell" the baby on the idea of eating his veggies but no such luck. I've always wanted a garden of our own but our yard is not particularly friendly to the idea. It’s too shady in one spot, and too wet in another. I've never even been able to find a good spot to plant even a single tomato so our neighbors garden has been a real treat.
We've enjoyed lots of yummy tomatoes, squash, red hot chili peppers (funny!) and my favorite, lots of great herbs such as basil, sage, oregano and cilantro. I hate buying a whole package of a particular herb for a recipe, only to use a little bit and then eventually throw the rest away. So this summer it was so great to walk down the sidewalk, grab a small bunch of whatever the recipe called for and walk home to make it. This perk came in SUPER handy on Sunday when I totally screwed up and had to make a second basil run. While making the dressing for Grilled Tuna and Asparagus, pg. 261, I added too much chili and burned my mouth off when I tasted it. Thank goodness I tasted it before putting it on our dinner plates! I put husband on clean-up and kitchen re-prep duty while I jogged down the sidewalk, grabbed another handful of basil and returned home to whip up a second batch of dressing. This one turned out great and I definitely think it could be used on top of a lot of other dishes.
A huge thanks to my neighbors for their contribution to my Food Revolution this summer.

Grilled Tuna and Asparagus – Serves 2
from Food Revolution by: Jamie Oliver, pg. 261
A bunch of asparagus

Olive oil

2 tuna steaks (about 7oz each, ½ inch thick)
Dressing

A small bunch of fresh basil

½ a fresh red chili

A small handful of sun-dried tomatoes (the type packed in oil)

1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Put a large grill pan (or BBQ) on a high heat and let it get screaming hot. Finely chop the basil, the sun-dried tomatoes and put them into a bowl. Add the chili which has been seeded and finely chopped. Halve the lemon and squeeze all the juice into the bowl. Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and mix together. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and put to one side.
Bend the asparagus gently until the woody bottoms of the stalks break off. Discard these woody ends. Drizzle a little olive oil over the tuna steaks and then season with salt and pepper and rub into the fish. Place the asparagus tips on the hot, dry grill pan. Turn them every minute or two, letting them char a little but not burn.
After a few minutes, push the asparagus to one side and add the tuna to the pan. You will be able to see the heat cooking up the tuna from the bottom. After a minute or so, when the tuna has cooked halfway through, flip both steaks over and cook for another minute or two. The tuna should be “blushing” inside – still slightly pink in the middle.
Pile a few asparagus spears on each plate and spoon some of the tangy dressing over them. Lay the tuna fillets over the asparagus and spoon another dollop of the dressing on top. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive before serving. Ta-da!!
Recipes cooked: 48
Recipes left: 125
Days left: 195

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Birthday Cake

Yesterday was my birthday! What better way to celebrate my summer birthday than by making Jamie's "Cheat's Sponge Cake with Summer Berries and Cream" on page 340 of Food Revolution. The recipe looked really simple since its just assembling some ready made ingredients into a sort of strawberry shortcake layer cake. The cake he calls for is panettone, the Italian bread that comes in the pretty box. I was pretty sure I could find one of these at a local Italian specialty store and if worst came to worst, I'd drive to Trader Joe's in the next town over since I know I've seen them there. So the day before my birthday, while out running errands with the kids, I stopped at the aforementioned Italian specialty store 3 minutes up the road from me. The shelves were very bare but I asked anyway and she said "No, we usually just have panettone around the holidays." I decided before dragging the kids around I'd make some calls during naptime. So, later that afternoon I started by calling our local, favorite Italian specialty store (the one with everything you'd ever need) and the lady said, "Oh no, we only have that at the holidays." It wasn't looking good but I kept searching and called two grocery stores, three more Italian specialty stores, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I got the same answer from everyone. When I told the nice lady at Whole Foods that I needed it for a recipe she said I should try Challah since it has a similar consistency and she knew they had that. Phew! What a relief! I had the rest of the ingredients on hand: sweet dessert wine, strawberries, raspberries, sugar, vanilla extract and some sliced almonds so all I really needed was heavy cream and this panettone. Since, I had a busy night I decided these main ingredients could wait until the next day, my birthday. I woke up to torrential rain outside and weathermen warning that there was no end in sight. If you didn't need to go out, don't, they said. Well, I couldn't risk the lives of my two kids for my birthday cake so I waited until late afternoon when husband got home and the rain had subsided to head to Whole Foods. I picked up the heavy cream I needed and a Dagoba chocolate bar (garnish for the top) and headed to the Bakery. Now, the directions and photos show Jamie cutting a round cake-bread thing and then layering the homemade whipped cream and strawberries in between. The only Challah that the Bakery had was the twisty kind…not going to work! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!? I tried to remain calm but the truth was that I really wanted to yell. "I CAME OUT IN THIS AWFUL WEATHER….ITS MY BIRTHDAY AND THIS IS NOT, I REPEAT, NOT WHAT I WANTED. AS FOR YOU JAMIE OLIVER, WHY THE H--- ARE YOU MAKING A SUMMER BERRY CAKE WITH A STUPID BREAD THAT ONLY COMES OUT AT CHRISTMAS!"
Then, remembering it was my birthday and I was suppose to be another year older and wiser, I pulled it together, grabbed a ready made angel food cake and headed for the Express Check out.
After dinner, my sweet family worked together to assemble my yummy birthday cake, sang happy birthday and it turned out to be one of the best birthday cakes I've ever had. And I'm sure one I'll never forget.

Cheat’s Sponge Cake with Summer Berries and Cream

from “Jamie’s Food Revolution” by Jamie Oliver
What you’ll need:
(serves 10-12)

1 cup sliced almonds

Vin Santo or sweet dessert wine

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tbsp superfine sugar

1 vanilla bean OR 1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 x 16oz container of strawberries

1 medium or large panettone

1 x 6oz container of raspberries

1 x 4oz bar of good quality dark chocolate
To prepare your cake:

Put a small dry frying pan on a low heat and add the almonds. Shake the pan around every now and then to toast the nuts, making sure they don’t burn. Once they start to turn darker, take the pan off the heat and put them aside to cool. Pour about 1/3 cup of Vin Santo or sweet dessert wine into a wineglass. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. If using the vanilla bean, halve it lengthways and drag the blade of your knife along the inside of the bean to scrape all the vanilla seeds out. Add the seeds or the vanilla extract to the bowl, and whisk until the cream is thick and forms peaks. Slice the strawberries, removing any stalks.
To make your cake:

Peel any paper off your panettone and carefully cut it across into 3 round slices, each about 3/4 inch thick. Put a slice on a serving plate and spoon a few tbsp of the Vin Santo or sweet dessert wine over it (there’s no need to soak the panettone: you just need enough to flavor it). Spoon a good dollop of the cream on to the panettone slice and smooth it out to the edges, using a metal spatula or similar. Lay over half your sliced strawberries and top with a second slice of panettone. Repeat the wine, cream and berry steps until you get to the top layer. Pat this down gently, spoon over the remaining wine, and top it off with the rest of the cream, smoothing it over the top and sides of the cake so it’s completely covered – don’t worry about getting it all perfect, as it c an look messy and still taste delicious! Squeeze a handful of your toasted nuts to crumble them up, then gently pat them against the side of the cake until all the sides are covered.
To serve your cake:

Pile the raspberries on top of the cake and sprinkle with some chocolate shavings (simply use a vegetable peeler or a knife and drag it across the bar of the chocolate)

Recipes cooked: 47
Recipes left: 126
Days left: 199

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A Parcel of Goodness

During my Revolution hiatus I think I mentioned that we watched a lot of Jamie Oliver Cooking shows. In addition to reruns on the Cooking Channel I also checked Netflix. The only Jamie Oliver thing on Netflix is something called "Jamie Oliver: Happy Days Live." Its like a live Jamie "concert." Husband and I were shocked that there were cooking concerts. On stage was a full set of his apartment with a kitchen and sitting area. Guests were called up to help cook and there were a few videos too. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Some of the story lines were a bit silly but I enjoyed every minute of Jamie. As always he was charming, funny and great with his audience. One of the meals he makes is a meal in a bag for his wife and this recipe is a bit like that one, Salmon Baked in a Foil Parcel with Green Beans and Pesto, pg. 248. It was simple, good for you and it was such a big hit I didn't make enough! I was sure my daughter wasn't going to go for it. She loves seafood and all kinds of fish but salmon has never been her favorite so I just made two parcels. She loved it and we had to share with her. I hope you'll give this one a try too. You won't be disappointed. Just a quick note, I had to stick one of them back in the oven twice for about 10 extra minutes, probably because it was pretty thick. Jamie says cook for 15 minutes but allow extra time in case you need to stick them back in the oven.
I was really bummed to see that this one wasn't on the website for me to link to, luckily Sky TV in England has it on their website. Here's conversion info:
2x 7 oz salmon fillets
oven temp: 400F

http://www.skytv.co.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=615&art_id=19138
Recipes cooked: 46
Recipes left: 127
Days left: 209

Monday, August 16, 2010

Try this!

This is a great recipe! So simple, easy and great flavor. You can probably substitute any kind of pasta but I liked trying the lasagna noodles not in lasagna. Its so great I'm even going to post the recipe AND skip the commentary AND tell you to get to the store and give it a try tonight! I know you'll add it to your "favorites" list.
Cherry Tomato Sauce With Cheat's Fresh Pasta
by: Jamie Oliver
Food Revolution pg. 55
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 Pints ripe grape or cherry tomatoes
• 4 Cloves of garlic
• A small bunch of fresh basil
• 1 lb of fresh lasagne
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 2 Pats of butter
• 1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
• 4 Oz Parmesan cheese
Method
1. Cut the tomatoes into halves
2. Peel and slice the garlic
3. Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and put them to the side
4. Finely chop the stalks
5. Grate the Parmesan
6. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil
7. Put a large frying pan over medium heat
8. Add a couple Tbs of olive oil and the garlic
9. Add the butter
10. When the garlic browns add the tomatoes
11. Add the basil stalks and half the leaves
12. Add the vinegar and add salt and pepper to taste
13. Break your sheets into strips and drop them into the boiling water and cook for 3 min.
14. Drain the pasta and reserve some of the cooking water
15. Add the pasta to the frying pan w/ a splash of the cooking water and half the Parmesan
16. Add the rest of the Basil and Parmesan right before serving
Recipes cooked: 45
Recipes left: 128
Days left: 214

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Cooking Pork Chops with Confidence

Jamie's Pan-Fried Glazed Pork Chop recipe (pg. 230) totally freaked me out when I first read it. Jamie hardly ever gives "warnings" or "hang in there" advice and he did on this one which made me quite leery. He also has you make crackling. Really? Crackling? It reminds me of a Little House book I read when I was eight where they eat every part of the pig and the fat is like a "treat" to the prairie girls. Doesn't sound appetizing, Jamie.
But, its in the book and I have to make it, so with some reluctance, the fam sets out to do the grocery shopping together. We got our pork chops from Whole Foods along with some applesauce to serve as the glaze. The other ingredients are easy: olive oil, sea salt, pepper, lemon and a bit of fresh sage.
I did a terrible job trimming the edges so my crackling didn't start off on the right fat, I mean foot. (sorry, bad joke.) So, I added the strips to a pan over high heat. They sizzled and crackled and spit at me and it was totally not worth it and I took those suckers out of the pan and threw in the pork chops. So you cook the chops for about 5 minutes on each side and then put a large dollop of applesauce on top and then keep turning so they are nicely coated. Here's where he says, "Have the confidence to cook them until almost a dark reddy-golden color and wonderfully thick and sticky." Why do I need to be confident? Sounds like I'm doing battle and need to stand my ground. After the crackling spit and burned me I'm really not sure how this is going to end up but I get the fire extinguisher and aloe plant handy and hold tight just like Jamie says. They do turn a pretty golden color and I serve them with more applesauce on the side.
Not our favorite recipe but after my first reaction, they were better than expected. And most importantly, neither the fire extinguisher nor the aloe plant needed to be used. (not for this recipe anyway!)
Recipes cooked: 44
Recipes left: 129
Days left: 216

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Feeling the Heat of Summer

It's really hard to have a Revolution in the summer. It is such a hot, lazy time of the year. The thought of "revolutionizing" makes me want to take a nap. But I guess many Revolutions have actually taken place in the heat of the summer months like, oh, our own 4th of July as well as Bastille Day (July 14) and Canada Day (July 1). So maybe it's just cooking revolutions and the thought of turning on the oven or stove that make me want to curl up with a good book. Honestly, many dinners during the summer for us consist of a trip to the local produce stand and then coming home to cook a great meal of red tomatoes, corn on the cob, zucchini and squash. Yum! So, over the last month the revolution hasn't been so, um, revolting. But I have been watching reruns of Jamie's Home Series on the new Cooking Channel and we have cooked up a few yummy dinners that I can't wait to tell you about. As we have shopped for school supplies, registered for fall activities and life has slowly begun to turn back to the calendar, my gusto for my kitchen makeover has come back. I'm ready to go and boy do I have some catching up to do! So, clean the cobwebs out of the Kitchenaid, it's go time!