Cheese Souffle with sauted Leeks

OK, so clearly I am not cut out for daily blogging!! Tonight after much running around I whipped up some individual cheese souffles for my daughter and myself - served them with leeks sauteed in butter ...was going to make cheese and leek souffles but my daughter wanted her leeks on the side.

At any rate, these were fun and she enjoyed watching them puff, and later watching them fall...tasted really great too! I started the base early in the day, and cleaned and sliced the leeks also, then when we came home from her swimming all I had to do was cook the leeks, beat the egg whites, fold them in and cook the cheese souffle -

Individual Cheese Souffles

• 2 Tbs unsalted butter
• 2 Tbs unbleached flour
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 Tbs grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup milk (whole or 2%)
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or any hard cheese you like)
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Melt butter in small sauce pan, stir in flour and cook over medium heat stirring constantly
for about 30 seconds. Add milk and keep stirring until smooth and thick, about 2 more minutes
Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan, spices and egg yolks - stir vigorously to incorporate eggs and not cook them. Add grated cheese. Let cool to room temperature, or refrigerate up to a day, covered.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter four small ramekins, coat with Parmesan if desired. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (add 1/4 tsp cream of tarter if you have it, skip it if you don't). Add a few spoonfuls of egg whites to cheese mixture to lighten it and then fold cheese mixture into egg whites, gently. Spoon into buttered ramekins and bake for about 30 mins or until puffed and golden. Do NOT open oven door for first 20 mins of cooking. Serve souffles immediately with sauteed leeks.

Leeks

Slice leeks in half lengthwise, discard top tough dark green parts. Thinly slice leeks into half moons, wash thoroughly. Melt 2 Tbs butter in a cast iron skillet and add leeks, stirring to coat. Cook over medium heat for 5 mins, add 1/4 cup chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste and stir. Continue to cook until chicken broth has evaporated, about another 5 mins.

March 1st - it snowed! Fast dinner needed

I am back, again, once again filled with resolve to actually do something with this blog!
Tonight for dinner I made a very simple chicken stir fry...which was ideal, because I was busy driving my daughter to her various activities and had very little time to get dinner on the table once we were finally home. By prepping some earlier in the day, it was really easy.

And yes, I forgot to take a picture!! Will do this tomorrow, I promise!
Here's my pseudo recipe -
get some nice veggies, i used broccoli and cut the florets fairly small so I wouldn't have to blanch them, some baby corn, fresh - but canned works too, some canned sliced water chestnuts, some snow peas, some carrots cut real thin, chunks of red onion and chicken, boneless, skinless breast sliced into strips about 1/4 inch thick. Oh the aromatics - a few cloves of diced garlic and a few chunks of peeled minced ginger. White pepper, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, cornstarch and chicken broth.
Ok, marinate the chicken early in the day in a few Tbs of soy sauce in one of those wonderful plastic bags, i added some garlic and a few Tbs of rice wine also. Cut up your onion, broccoli and baby corn if desired, and carrots. Have everything ready to go in little bowls in your fridge. You can even mix up the sauce ahead of time and the glaze too.

When you walk in the door and want dinner in 30 mins, get the rice going first. I usually use basmati - 1 cup rice (rinse it please) to 1.5 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a bare simmer and cover. Leave it be for 25 mins. Heat your wok, use a flame tamer if you have one and add 1-2 Tbs peanut or canola oil. Now, add the chicken - do this in batches if you have more than 1 lb of chicken, and stir fry it for a few mins until no longer pink inside. Remove to a plate, wipe out wok and add 1-2 Tbs more oil, heat. Add onion first, then ginger and garlic, stir fry for a minute or two, next add broccoli and carrots, stir fry for 3 mins, if broccoli isn't cooking add a splash of chicken broth and cover the wok to let it steam for 3 mins. Next turn up the heat a little to evaporate any broth and add snow peas and baby corns. Some water chestnuts (sliced) are nice too. Return chicken to wok, stir, add a simple sauce of 1/4 cup soy sauce mixed with 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1/4 tsp white pepper and a touch of sesame oil. Stir. Add a glaze to thicken it all up - 2Tbs chicken broth with 1 Tbs cornstarch stirred in. Stir it all together until sauce thickens and everything is coated and glossy. Fluff your rice and serve the stir fry on top.

MEMORIAL DAY PICNIC

So yesterday we went to the park, both dogs in tow. We had burgers on the grill, homemade coleslaw, caprese skewers, corn on the cob and a really spectacular red, white and blue jello mold.

The skewers are alot of fun, I just marinate some mozzarella in a little olive oil, salt, chopped fresh oregano and pepper and then thread the cubes with a cherry tomato and a basil leaf on toothpicks, fun to eat and really yummy. For easy corn on the grill I parboil it first, coat it with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper and then wrap in foil. Just heat it up on the grill while you do the burgers. The coleslaw we favor these days has a light dressing, about 2 Tbs lite mayo, 1 Tbs lite sour cream, 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar and a tsp of celery seed...

The jello mold was alot of fun, I used white cranberry juice (4 cups) 1/2 cup sugar, 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin. (Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup juice, then heat remaining juice and sugar to boiling, remove from heat and stir in softened gelatin until completely dissolved) Then I placed 2 cups of cut up strawberries in the bottom of a fancy 8 cup mold I had coated with cooking spray and poured 2 cups of the jello mixture on top and let set in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour. Then I added 2 cups of blueberries to the remaining jello mixture and gently spooned that on top of the strawberries. Chilled the whole thing overnight, dipped in hot water and unmolded. Served with whipped cream

More Memorial Day Fare

OK, So I didn't post last night - and I really meant to. I would like to record my dinners for 30 days straight. Anyway, I made a German potato salad, with bacon so its always a hit...I firmly believe that bacon makes everything better. Some simple steamed brocolli and of course the smoked chicken. I had brined the chicken overnight, so I rinsed off the brine and patted the chicken halves dry, then made a simple dry rub and rubbed them, under the skin as well - then smoked them for about 4 hours, really good...Then for dessert I did a red, white and blue mix of berries and puff pastry stars with real whipped cream ...which my daughter loved!

Berries with puff pastry stars

• 2 cups strawberries, cut up
• 2 cups blueberries, cut up
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 2 Tbs sugar crystals (or plain sugar)

Combine berries and sugar, stir and let sit 15 mins.

Whip chilled cream in a chilled bowl with chilled beaters add 2 Tbs sugar and vanilla.

Cut out stars from puff pastry rolled to about 1/8" thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake about 10 mins, remove from sheet to wire rack brush lightly with water and sprinkle with sugar. Place berries in pretty serving bowls, add a dollop of whipped cream and a star or two.

German Potato Salad

• 2.5 lbs red skinned potatoes
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 6 Tbs white vinegar
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 1 Tbs paprika
• salt and pepper

Cook potatoes with skins on in boiling salted water to cover until tender but not mushy. Drain, cool a little and chop into 1" chunks. Peel first if you want. Saute bacon, drain on paper towels and crumble into small pieces. Pour off all but 2 Tbs bacon fat, in remaining hot fat saute onion, celery and bell pepper until onion is soft. Add vinegar, sugar, paprika and salt and pepper - cook and stir briefly, return bacon to pan. Pour dressing over potatoes in a pretty bowl and toss gently to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

More

Memorial Day Weekend...cooking and a resolution

OK, I am back, and this time I am going to seriously try to a least record what I cook daily for the next 30 days.

Today is Saturday, so I'll start here (and not mention much the timpano I just made the other day, the wonderful panna cottas with a raspberry sauce, and so much more...)

Today I made dinner with a spring theme. I did a classic white risotto and it was fabulous, making me and my family wonder why I don't make this simple dish more often. I paired it with a salad of watermelon, feta and baby arugula dressed with a citrus ginger dressing and also some green beans with almonds toasted in butter. For dessert I made a blueberry pie with a twist! I covered it with butter cookie stars in 2 different sizes...

It was a lovely meal and not all that hard to put together. Then I made a quick brine for a chicken which I will smoke tomorrow and serve with some caprese skewers and corn on the cob and a simple salad. Oh, I also made a fruit salad encased in jello - but with unflavored gelatin and juice, I used strawberries and blueberries and attempted to layer it in a pretty mold. I'll see if I can actually unmold it tomorrow.

Recipes:

Basic White Risotto

(this is a great dish on its on and the basis for so many other risotto's)

• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1 finely chopped shallot if you have one, or not
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 stalk celery finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup carnaroli rice
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 Tbs additional butter

Heat olive oil and butter in a cast iron skillet. Saute onion, shallot and garlic over low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not at all browned. Stir in rice and coat each grain with oil. Add wine and stir until mostly evaporated. Add 1/2 cup hot stock and stir until almost all incorporated, continue until all stock is used and rice is creamy, stir firm but not hard. remove from heat and stir in parsley, cheese and additional butter. Serve immediately (risotto does not hold well)

Blueberry Pie with Star cut outs

• Pie crust
• 4 cups blueberries
• 1/4 cup instant (minute) tapioca
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter
• 
  
• 1/4 cup very cold butter cut in small pieces
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1-2 Tbs ice cold water

Preheat over to 400 F. Mix berries with tapioca, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Let sit 15 mins. Pour into crust and dot top with butter. Bake in 400 over for about 1 hour, use foil to cover edges if they start to brown too much. Let pie cool completely on wire rack.

Combine flour, sugar and a touch of salt in food processor. Cut in butter. Add water and process until dough forms a ball. Shape into a flattened circle and refrigerate 1 hour. Roll out on lightly floured surface and cut out stars in two sizes, 2 inches and 1 inch. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for about 1o mins or until edges start to turn golden. Cool on wire rack. Randomly arrange stars on top of cooled pie.

Watermelon, feta and Arugula Salad

Cut 1/8 of a seedless watermelon into 1 inch chunks. Combine with 8-12 oz of crumbled feta and about 6 cups of baby arugula. Mix 1/2 cup orange juice with 1 Tbs lemon juice and 1 tsp ginger juice. add 1 tbs honey. Using a whisk or shaking in a jar with a lid add 1/2 cup olive oil. Pour about half dressing over salad. Serve remainder on the side.

Valentine's Dinner

OK - So busy getting dinner together, for an impatient husband and child I had no time to take any pictures, but here is the menu I made:

Valentines Day Dinner

February 14th, 2011

Starter: Veggies (cut up in heart shapes where possible, including red pepper, green pepper, cucumber, carrots, celery) with roasted red pepper dip

First Course: Oyster Pan Roast
(fabulously decadent dish - easy too, but you really should shuck the oysters yourself)

Main and Sides:

Grilled Filet Mignon with green peppercorn sauce

Steamed Asparagus

Heart Shaped mashed potatoes

Dessert:

Red Jello Hearts with whipped cream

Fun, and not that hard at all...

I printed out the menu on some fancy template you can download for free if you use word, and my daughter really liked that

I really would like to post each night (with pictures if possible) what I make for dinner, because other than the very rare occasion where I go out I pretty much cook a full dinner every night - I resolve to try and actually post each night