This Week for Dinner – Weekly Meal Plans, Dinner Ideas, Recipes and More!: Way Gourmet

Category: Way Gourmet

Friday, August 27

Adobo Chicken…and some darn good tortillas

I am finally writing about the spice from this week’s menu post. As some of you guessed, it is annatto seed, also called achiote seed. And I made adobo chicken with it. And it was GOOD.

Nate came home one day saying how good the adobo chicken at work is, so I started searching for recipes. Oh my, there are so many recipes and they are all so different from one another…so I just picked one that sounded good and went for it. And the result was delicious! Different than what Nate had at work, but delicious just the same!

Before I get to the recipe, I have to talk about the tortillas we used with our chicken. Tortilla Land sent me some of their uncooked corn tortillas to try out. I’m a tough corn tortilla critic and, I have to say, I’m so glad Tortilla Land sent me their corn tortillas. They are wonderful! They are not dry at all and don’t fall apart or break, which is what you normally get with store bought corn tortillas. I saw Tortilla Land at Costco just this week, so keep an eye out next time you go!

Okay, back to annatto seed and adobo chicken. I used a recipe from About.com, but I’ve changed it up and written it out for you below. I know the recipe looks long, but honestly, this was an easy recipe, so don’t be scared!

The sweet but spicy sauce is oh so yummy, and grilled chicken is always the best. We served the chicken with tortillas, tomatoes and avocado. You could serve over rice if you like (which I think is how it’s generally served), or just eat straight up!

Adobo Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts (I actually used 3 drumsticks and 3 boneless thighs b/c that’s what I had on hand!)
- Salt (pref. kosher)

Rub:
- 1/2 Tbsp. annatto (achiote) seeds
- 1 Tbsp. orange juice
- 4 Tbsp. white vinegar
- 1 tsp. cayenne
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves

Sauce:
- 1/3 of the rub above
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- a splash or two of white vinegar
- a few shakes of cayenne pepper
- a few shakes of black pepper
- about 1 tsp cornstarch, whisked with some cool water

Directions:

Cover annatto seeds with boiling water. Cover and let sit overnight.

Drain seeds. Place seeds along with the rest of the “Rub” ingredients in a food processor. Grind until you have a coarse paste, without too many large pieces of seed left.

Place chicken in a casserole dish and sprinkle all over with kosher salt (or regular salt if that’s what you have). Cover pieces with about two-thirds of the achiote rub. (Note on the picture below: I just sprinkled salt and pepper over a few extra pieces of chicken for my girls, so they would be less spicy – they still ate the sauce, but the chicken had less heat for their younger palettes.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator for a few hours.

Preheat grill. Grill chicken about 10 minutes on each side over a medium flame or until done. (Click here with even better directions for grilling chicken pieces – this follows closely to what Nate did over a charcoal grill, he’s smart like that.)

To make the sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch) and bring to a boil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture during the simmer.

Pour sauce over grilled chicken and enjoy!

By the way, if anyone out there DOES have an adobo chicken recipe they love, please share! Would love to try it out!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:00 am 10 Comments
Categories: main dishes
Tuesday, June 15

Faye’s Spanish Nut Tart

Remember this Spanish-inspired nut tart?

I am finally sharing the recipe with you! This one is pretty gourmet…which means I didn’t actually make this recipe…I just ate it. But it was delicious, so I have to share it with you just the same. I had the pleasure of enjoying this nut tart about a month ago when my friend Faye, the pastry chef, made these tarts for her son’s elementary school class (lucky class, eh?). This tart is based on a Spanish (specifically Catalan) treat. Faye was nice enough to sit down and write the recipe out for us, which is quite the task actually. Everyone tell Faye “Thanks!” next time you see her.

Faye’s Catalan Nut Tart
From Faye Stein, Pastry Chef and Friend Extraordinaire
The dough (pate sucree)
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbs sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 stick butter, cubed
- 1 yolk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbs cream

Mix the last three wet ingredients and place in the fridge so that it’s cold and ready to go. Prepare the butter and refrigerate also. In a food
processor, pulse the dry ingredients. Add the butter and pulse to crumble. Add the wets and pulse until you have a cohesive dough, like a cookie dough. Smoosh into a disk in plastic wrap, and allow to rest for at least 1/2 hour.

Filling
- 4 oz dried pears
- 4 oz dates
(could do any combo, such as; apples/dates, apricots/figs, cherries/figs, etc.)
- 1/3 cup pear juice (or juice to your taste)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar

In a sauce pan, allow the juice and sugar to dissolve. Add fruit. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Then process the mixture to form a thick paste. cool.

Topping
- 6 Tbs butter
- 6 Tbs sugar
- 3 Tbs corn syrup
- 6 oz total of dry roasted nuts of your choice. I used 2 oz pistachios, 2 oz cashews, 2 oz almonds.
- 1 1/2 Tbs cream

Preheat the oven to 400. Roll out your dough , fill your tart shell, and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes. It should be fully baked. To blind bake, place a piece of parchment in the tart and fill it with beans. This will keep it from bubbling up. Remove the parchment and beans at the end and put it back in the oven for a few minutes. Now its ready to fill.

Cook first 3 ingredients in heavy large saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Boil vigorously 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add nuts and cream.

Spread fruit filling in crust; smooth top. Set tart on cookie sheet. Spoon nut topping over. Bake until filling bubbles, about 20 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, loosen tart pan sides but do not remove. Cool tart completely in pan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Remove pan sides. Cut tart into wedges.

Lucky me…a few friends are getting together on Thursday and Faye is bringing goodies. What deliciousness will I be ‘subjected’ to, I wonder?

Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:00 am 11 Comments
Categories: sweet things
Friday, June 11

Party Food: Pork Tenderloin, Crostinis & Grilled Radicchio

In addition to all of the amazing desserts at my little party for my friends, I had some pretty fun recipes to work with as well. As I mentioned in the original party post, Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma gave me two beautiful non-stick skillets and Michael Symon’s debut cookbook, Live to Eat. I used a few of Michael Symon’s recipes for the party after happily tasting them at a technique class at Williams-Sonoma.

For an appetizer I served Grilled Crostini with Goat Cheese and ‘wichcraft Tomato Relish, a recipe from Williams-Sonoma. These were SO easy to make and delicious. The ‘wichcraft Tomato Relish went very nicely with the goat cheese and was a big hit!

For the main dish, I served Michael Symon’s Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad alongside Grilled Radicchio with Orange and Balsamic. Fancy schmancy, right? They were actually pretty straightforward recipes but still made me feel all gourmet and stuff.

So, there you have it. You have virtually experienced the entire party. Thanks for joining us!

Click here to download a lovely PDF with more of Michael Symon’s recipes.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:00 am 3 Comments
Categories: the goods
Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad

Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad
From Michael Symon
Marinade
- 3 tsp coriander seed (I just tossed in some ground coriander)
- 3/4 tsp cumin seed, toasted (I just tossed in some ground cumin)
- Zest and juice of 6 limes
- 9 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 tsp. salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 shallots, minced

- 1 1/2 C chicken stock (which I forgot when I made this – still came out, but I recommend using it!)
- 3/4 C red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil

Heirloom Tomato Salad
- 9 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (whoah – I didn’t use that many…would taste good, but now that I’m typing this out I realize I TOTALLY didn’t read the recipe carefully when I made it!)
- 6 C watercress
- 3/4 C mint leaves
- 3/4 C toasted almonds

Cut pork int 1 1/2 – 2 inch thick medallions. Whisk together coriander, cumin, lime zest and juice, olive oil, salt, garlic and shallot. Pour over pork and marinate for 2 hours (no longer).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Preheat a Calphalon Unison Grill pan with Sear Nonstick over medium heat, remove pork from marinad, reserving marinade. Sear pork for 3 minutes per side. When pork is seared, transfer pan to preheated oven for 3 minutes.

(If you don’t have a grill pan, feel free to sear in a regular griddle. And if your griddle can’t go in the oven, just transfer to a cookie sheet to bake the meat for 3 minutes. I actually used the regular griddle so that when I reduced my sauce later it would be easy to whisk. You don’t get those grill marks, but it tastes the same.)

Remove pan from the oven and place the pork on a platter. Add marinade, stock, vinegar and honey to pan and bring to a simmer, reducing by 1/3. Whisk in 1 1/2 C olive oil. Mix tomatoes and watercress, mint and almonds. Toss warm dressing over tomato salad and serve with the pork.

Serves 12-18.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:59 am 1 Comment
Categories: main dishes
Grilled Radicchio with Orange & Balsamic

I’m so bummed. I totally forgot to photograph this recipe! And it was beautiful! Oh well. You can kind of see it in that bowl next to the small bouquet of pink roses.

Grilled Radicchio with Orange & Balsamic
From Michael Symon
- 6 heads of radicchio, quartered through the core (I think I used only 3 heads)
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- Grated zest and juice of 3 oranges

Drizzle the radicchio with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Preheat Calphalon Unison Grill pan with Sear Nonstick over medium-high heat. (I actually did use the grill pan for this recipe…but you could use a regular griddle, too.)

Place the radicchio in the pan and cook for 2 minutes per side.

Transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle the radicchio with salt and pepper. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic, orange zest and juice together and drizzle over radicchio.

Once the radicchio were grilled, I salt and peppered them as directed, but then I cut out the hard piece of core near at the bottom and then sliced the radicchio. I then put the radicchio into a bowl and drizzled with the oil dressing.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:57 am 2 Comments
Categories: simple side dishes
Wednesday, June 9

A Little Party for My Friends

Last Saturday I threw a little party for my friends. It all started when I received a PR blast from Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma. They were wrangling up food bloggers to throw parties on June 5 all across the country. They provided me with two of their new pans, a few little goodies and $100. I decided this was a good excuse to do something for a small group of close friends who deserved a fun afternoon out with the girls.

The party ended up being lovely for so many reasons. The weather was perfect, time spent with friends was so lovely, and the food was fabulous!

Normally parties are a chore for me, I’m not really the party-throwing type. But I had a blast doing this party! I was able to wrangle up some of my own contacts to really step things up. Sure, a Calphalon spoon was nice to give to my friends, but they deserved more. We ended up with some amazing food, and goodie bags that I was bursting at the seams to give to my friends. I wish I could have invited all of you, but my patio just isn’t big enough!

So…on to the fun stuff! Tomorrow and Thursday I’ll share the recipes from the party with you, but today it’s all about the goods.

Cambria Cove was amazing. They sent a cake from Elegant Cheese Cakes, filled with three layers of delicious cheese cake. Elegant Cheese Cakes is based in Half Moon Bay and the cake gets shipped to you. Can you believe this cake gets shipped in the mail? It’s a miracle!

Cambria Cove also sent a giant box of Norman Love chocolates, which are not only completely gorgeous but also really fun and tasty to eat.

And both of these gorgeous serving trays? Cambria Cove again. Without them, my serving table would have been only half as beautiful!

A few words about the cheese platter while we’re here. Alouette sent their Extra Creamy Brie, which was very tasty with a thin, mild-flavored casing. I also bought some Honey Goat Cheese from Trader Joe’s (there in the back)…it’s my new favorite cheese.

Now for the gift bags.

What could be in there? I can’t wait to show you!

Dillon Rogers was AMAZING and gave everyone a triple wrap bracelet. I have a few things from Dillon Rogers, including my own triple wrap bracelet and this lovely necklace. Everyone loved their bracelets.

P.S. Dillon Rogers is offering a special discount for all of you! Use the code DINNER to receive 20% off the entire website! I suggest you get shopping! I honestly, truly love their stuff and am so happy to be able to help get the word out about this great company.

Cambria Cove also stepped up and gave each guest one of these beautiful Voluspa candles and this Cherub Collage journal. The Cambria Cove signature gift box is almost gift enough on it’s own! But of course the things inside are just lovely.

I emailed my dear friend Ree, The Pioneer Woman herself, to see if she could swing some cookbooks. She did, because she’s awesome like that. And she even signed them. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…Ree Drummond is hands down the best lady. LOVE HER. Okay, my daily Ree worshipping is done.

Scharffen Berger sent each person one of their folios….mmmmmm….

…Alouette sent everyone their own Extra Creamy Brie to take home…and Calphalon provided everyone with a non-stick-friendly utensil.

Phew. Are you tired yet? Seriously…it was SO FUN giving everyone all these lovely things. Thank you to all the companies who shared so generously!

Like I mentioned, the original idea for the party came from Calphalon. They sent me the Unison Non-Stick Griddle & Grill Pan set (which I am actually loving, by the way) and Michael Symon’s debut cookbook Live to Cook, which is where I got several of my recipes for the party. I will definitely share recipes during the rest of this week, including my own rice and grain concoction that ended up being sooo yummy.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:51 am 42 Comments
Categories: the goods
Friday, May 14

Interview with Mireille Guiliano…and a giveaway for “The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook”!

This giveaway is now closed. However there is a really fun interview with Mireille Guiliano in this post, so keep reading!

Two weeks ago I had the chance to do a phone interview with Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat and The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook, among many other books. Mireille is a lovely person with lovely books and I was so excited for the opportunity. Not surprisingly, we had a lovely conversation! I wish you could have all had a chance to chat with her. She was friendly, sincere, kind and gracious. I’m pretty much in love and ready to do anything she tells me to do. Eat my veggies? Done!

In conjunction with the interview, we are giving away two copies of Mireille’s new cookbook, The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter. The book is beautiful and full of wonderful stories and recipes. Comments must be posted by Midnight, Wednesday, May 19. Two winners will be randomly selected and announced on May 20. (U.S. mailing addresses only, please.)

On to the interview with Mireille Guiliano! (In case you’re wondering, her first name is pronounced Meer-ray, with that great French “R” sound. By the way, talking with Mireille made me want to jump on the next plance to France!)

(more…)

Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:01 pm 159 Comments
Categories: interviews
Wednesday, May 5

Interview with Jody Adams from Top Chef Masters
I recently had the chance to do an email interview with Chef Jody Adams, one of the chefs from Top Chef Masters. I was super excited about this opportunity because I have eaten at her restaurant and it was one of the best meals of my life! When Nate and I were pennyless newlyweds in Boston, my boss gave us a hefty gift certificate to Rialto, Jody’s restaurant in Harvard Square. We used the certificate for our anniversary and it’s a night I’ll never forget. We enjoyed our dinner for well over 3 hours (luxurious!) and every bite was perfect. It was a special night that I’ll always cherish.

Jody is a fantastic chef who is committed to supporting local farmers and charitable work. It’s been fun watching her on Top Chef Masters…and even more fun thinking up questions to ask her directly. I hope you enjoy the interview!

Q: The culinary world is traditionally male-dominated. Was it hard as a woman to break into the field? Has being a woman in this field been generally frustrating or empowering?

Jody: Mercifully, the days when a woman would be excluded from a kitchen because of her sex are mostly behind us. Even three decades ago my first restaurant job was in a kitchen under a female chef, Lydia Shire, one of the most successful chefs in Boston. My first big step up in the game was as sous-chef, for Gorden Hamersley, who had once been Lydia’s sous-chef. Kitchens are meritocracies; at the minimum, you have to be able to do the physical labor. To advance, you need more than that–you need drive, ambition, talent and a willingness to push yourself outside your comfort zone. I’m a hard worker and I knew if I could get in the door I’d have a chance. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never been employed by some moron with dinosaur attitudes toward women. That said, I think the current media tends to spin culinary culture in a way that doesn’t serve women well. It has to do with the whole I’m-a-bad-boy-chef-cooking-with-lots-of-pork affect. The press loves it, it makes good t.v., male cooks know it, and the public eats it up. It’s an easy sell. Not many female chefs enjoy playing in that arena; most of the male chefs I know don’t either. Women are just as tough as men, we work just as hard, but what we’re about as cooks is often a little more complicated. That means writers have to dig a little deeper, and the story’s a harder sell. My hope for the future is that the work I and other women chefs have done for the last 30 years will build a diverse culinary culture that moves forward toward the light rather than standing still or going backwards.

Q: You do a wonderful job of supporting local farms at your restaurant Rialto. Given the growing importance of eating and growing locally, do you think other restaurants will adopt this practice in a timely manner? As consumers, what is the best way we can support this movement?

Jody: The good news is that we ARE in the middle of a local food movement and chef/owners of restaurants like Rialto have been buying from local farmers for over 25 years. We do it because the food tastes better, we are committed to supporting and possibly saving farms and because we can. But not everyone has access to local food, and making sweeping statements about what consumers, in the broad general sense, should be doing is something I like to be careful about. We as a members of the American community that eats food, that would be all of us, should do everything we can to ensure that all members of the community have access to fresh local healthy food. People like Michael Pollan, Anne Cooper, Mark Bittman, Jamie Oliver and of course, Alice Waters are not quiet about this.

So on the personal direct level, I say, buy from local farms and producers, support chefs and restaurants that do the same and enjoy it!

On a community level–and this is going to be political–educate yourself about school lunches, urban food deserts, portion sizes, industrial food, government subsidies. Recognize that these problems are ours and belong to our community and are therefore ours to fix.

Q: We know you can’t give any spoiler alerts, so without getting too detailed, what has been your favorite part of being on Top Chef Masters?

Jody: Finding out how much fun it was. I was scared going into it–no support staff, no “do-overs,” none of the second chances I’d get in my own kitchen. But my competition and I shared an enormous amount of mutual respect. In some cases we’ve cooked at each other’s restaurants or worked fund-raisers together. Although each of us was trying to win, there was a kind of we’re-all-in-the-same-leaky-lifeboat camaraderie, so it ended up being fun, everyone in the same kitchen cooking for their lives.

Q: Any fun kitchen tips for at-home cooks?

Jody: Buy one really good knife–it’s an investment in your culinary life–and learn how to use it. Here’s my cheap tip: get a Microplane–what it can do with garlic alone is worth many times the twelve or fifteen dollars it will cost you.

Q: One final quick question I have to ask…it’s fast, but maybe impossible to answer! What is your favorite food?

Jody: It depends on the time of the year and the circumstances. A lot of what I love about particular foods is the way they evoke people and circumstances with whom I’ve eaten them, and I like calling up those feelings whenever I can. Down at the Cape where I spend time with my family every August, my favorite food is striped bass or bluefish, fresh out of the water, grilled at a picnic with friends, accompanied by local corn and tomatoes. On Christmas, it would be roast goose, followed by my mother’s plum pudding, and then a couple of days later, goose and cranberry risotto we’ve made from at my sister’s house from leftovers.

Be sure to check out Top Chef Masters Wednesday nights. And here are a few recipes from Jody!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:00 am 8 Comments
Categories: interviews
Thursday, April 8

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

As good as the cake I shared with you yesterday was (and it was mighty good), I simply could not resist pairing that heavenly white chocolate cream cheese frosting with some real chocolate. And since two cakes are certainly better than one, only a week after I made the raspberry cake I went ahead and threw this puppy together. I used the recipe that my friend Lindsay uses for her chocolate ganache cake and it worked beautifully.

The frosting tasted just as good on this chocolate cake as it did on the raspberry cake. The subtle flavor of raspberry in the frosting complemented the richness of this classic chocolate cake very nicely. I can’t decide which cake I liked better. Nate voted for the raspberry cake, although he had to really think about it. The jury’s still out for me. What I do know is I need to stop making cakes pronto. This is downright reckless behavior!

Chocolate Cake
From the Chocolate Ganache Cake recipe on Epicurious
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
- 1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder (I didn’t have any on hand, so I left it out – I’m certain it would deepen the chocolate flavor, though…so if you’ve got it, use it!)
- 1/2 cup whole milk (I only had 2% milk, and things worked out just fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 (7- or 8-inch, 2-inch-deep) round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess. (My oven is too small to bake three cakes at once, plus I don’t have three of any one size. I used 2 9-inch cake pans.)

Whisk together water, cocoa, and espresso powder until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing at low speed until just combined. (This batter is TASTY. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

Divide batter among pans (about 2 1/3 cups per pan for 3 pans), smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes for 7-inch pans or 20 to 25 minutes for 8-inch. Cool in pans on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.

White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting
– 6 oz white chocolate (melt as directed on package, then cool 5 mins)
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 tsp raspberry extract (I’m thinking of leaving this out sometime to use with other cakes/rolls/etc)
- 2 cup confectioners sugar

Beat cream cheese and buter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium (I used my KitchenAid) until well blended. Add cooled white chocolate and raspberry extract. Mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy (I let the KitchenAid go for several minutes and the frosting truly got light and fluffy).

Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:00 pm 8 Comments
Categories: sweet things
Wednesday, April 7

White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

A few months ago, my friend Rachel’s babysitter, Maria, made a cake for Rachel’s birthday. I couldn’t stay for the whole party, so Rachel sent me home with a generous amount of cake (that’s a good friend, eh?). The cake was white, the frosting was white…I knew it would be good, but I wasn’t that excited since there was no chocolate involved. Then we ate the cake. Oh. My. Goodness. It was wonderful, and the frosting was amazing…and completely mysterious. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was made of. As soon as we finished our cake, I emailed Rachel asking her to beg Maria for the recipe.

Thankfully Maria likes to share. Below is the recipe for the most wonderful White Chocolate Raspberry Cake this side of anywhere. I hope you love it as much as I do. (Sorry, no picture of a cut slice…we had friends over that night to enjoy this cake with us and the whole thing was gone by the end of the evening, no joke!)

P.S. – I will have a follow-up cake recipe tomorrow. You won’t want to miss that one either.

Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate
- 3 oz White chocolate; chopped
- 3/4 cup Milk; divided
- 1 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/3 cup Butter; at room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Raspberry Extract
- 4 Eggs
- White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting {Recipe Follows}
- 1/8 tsp Red Food Color
- 1 cup Raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round baking pans.

Melt white chocolate with about half of the milk in a small, heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate starts to melt. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Stir in remaining milk. Let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until soft and smooth. Add sugar and raspberry extract; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until well-combined. Alternately add flour mixture and white chocolate mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

Spread batter in pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely.

Stir food color into 2/3 cup of the frosting until well blended (I actually didn’t do this part…I just kept all the icing white, mostly because I didn’t read the recipe carefully ). Place 1 cake layer on serving plate. Spread with the tinted frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and side of cake with remaining frosting. Top with raspberries just before serving. Store cake in the refrigerator.

White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting
– 6 oz white chocolate (melt as directed on package, then cool 5 mins)
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 tsp raspberry extract (I’m thinking of leaving this out sometime to use with other cakes/rolls/etc)
- 2 cup confectioners sugar

Beat cream cheese and buter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium (I used my KitchenAid) until well blended. Add cooled white chocolate and raspberry extract. Mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy (I let the KitchenAid go for several minutes and the frosting truly got light and fluffy).

Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:48 pm 24 Comments
Categories: sweet things
Friday, March 26

San Francisco International Chocolate Salon

Last weekend Nate and I attended the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. It was a LOT of fun. We went without the kids, the weather was spectacular, and we stuffed ourselves silly with chocolate.

Pictured: Chocolates from Marti Chocolatt

The Chocolate Salon is an open-to-the-public event where oodles of chocolatiers and confectioners come show off all their chocolatey goodness in a hugemongous room at the Ft. Mason Center.

We tried some very “interesting” chocolates (chocolate bacon, anyone?) and some really great stuff. I have to share some of that goodness with you!

There are so many companies I could write about, but I’m going to focus on our favorite. Marti Chocolatt is based in Los Angeles and is the one company we actually purchased something from. Marti does a fantastic job integrating chocolate with very unique and sometimes unexpected ingredients. Our favorite Marti chocolate was the ube flavor, purple yams in dark chocolate.

The umeshu flavor, Japanese plum wine in white chocolate, was also quite amazing. And the jasmine citron? The only word I can think to describe this chocolate is intriguing. I am normally not a fan of flower-infused foods, but this jasmine chocolate was very appealing. When you eat it, it’s more like you’re smelling flowers than tasting them. It’s hard to describe. Marti Chocolatt took first prize in our book.

Of course there were many other amazing companies, and I just can’t write about all of them. Here is a small sampling!

As an artist, I absolutely adored these truffle bars from Sterling Confections. The truffles do in fact taste great, but I love the visual concept more than anything.

Plumeria Flours makes these beautiful chocolate covered Oreos. I’m not a big fan of Oreos, but I actually did like these. Plus, they’re so cute!

I couldn’t help but snap a shot of these pretty (and tasty!) white chocolates with flowers from Robyn’s Chocolates and Confections.

I have to tell you about one more chocolate we tried. By far the CRAZIEST chocolate we tasted was from Vice Chocolates. It was called “Vixen” – a passion fruit truffle with Thai chili, jalapeno, and cayenne, decorated with white chocolate and a caramelized red pepper on top. I’m pretty sure she said it had all the different taste flavors – Sour, Sweet, Salt, Bitter, and Spicy. And BOY was it spicy. I have a pretty high tolerance, but that one got me for sure. I’m glad we tried it!

We were completely chocolated out 2 hours into our venture. I don’t think that has ever happened to me! I am so happy that the event was at the Ft. Mason center…beautiful views of the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, downtown and the Bay Bridge. Such a lovely spot and a morning to be remembered!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 11:27 am 6 Comments
Categories: travels
Wednesday, March 24

Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

I am over the moon for today’s recipe murgh makhani, more commonly known as butter chicken. Our favorite Indian restaurant in Palo Alto, Darbar Indian Cuisine, has the BEST butter chicken. I can’t get enough of it. I’ve been trying to find a recipe so that I can make it at home, but all recipes have come up far too short. So, I did a lot of research, compared about 6 different recipes and have created my own. And I am here to tell you (in all humility, of course!), I nailed it. My version isn’t identical to Darbar’s, but it is darn close and they are equally as good. Success! (To add to the elation, both girls inhaled their dinner! This is a not-too-hot Indian dish, nice for kids. Increase the heat with more chilis and cayenne if you so desire!)

The key to this dish is using tandoori chicken. Almost all of the recipes I found were skillet recipes that simply add plain chicken breasts to the sauce. Using tandoori chicken makes ALL the difference. A delectable, mouthwatering difference. Not only is there more depth to the flavor, but the meat is oh so tender. Using tandoori chicken requires planning ahead, but it’s worth it.

Without further ado, I give you murgh makhani!

Murgh Makhani, i.e. Indian Butter Chicken
From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner

Tandoori Chicken:
Adapted from a recipe on About.com – this is a good American kitchen adaptation that doesn’t require a tandoor (clay oven) and works perfect for cooking tandoori chicken to go in a sauce
- 3/4 C plain yogurt
- 2 T lemon juice
- 2 cloves minced garlic (I use my garlic press)
- ~1 inch ginger root, peeled and crushed (it was hard to crush, I squeezed the juice out with my garlic press and threw in some of the mangled pieces of the root)
- 1 T cumin
- 1 tsp. coriander
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp. salt
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (this is the amount you’ll need for the butter chicken sauce below – you can make this recipe with bone-in, skinless, dark & white meat chicken cut into pieces – my personal preference are boneless, skinless chicken breasts and they worked great)
- 1-2 T canola oil

The night before you want to make butter chicken, mix the above ingredients (except the chicken) in a bowl. Take the chicken breasts and stab them a bunch with a fork, then make some gashes with a sharp knife. This part is fun, especially if you have some frustration to vent. Marinate the mutilated chicken in the yogurt mixture overnight and until you’re ready to cook the next day.

To cook the chicken, pat off some of the marinade, brush with oil and place in a pan (I used my 9X13 metal pan). Roast in a 450 oven for about 20 minutes, or until juices run clear. Let cool a bit then cut into chunks.

Butter Chicken Sauce:
Adapted from 6 different recipes! Katie from GoodLifeEats and this YouTube video deserve a special shout out!
(no need to carefully chop these ingredients, you’re going to blend them eventually)
- 1/3 sweet onion, chopped
- ~1 inch of ginger root, peeled and julienned
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 green chili (membranes and seeds removed), chopped
- 6 T butter (divided – 2 T and 4 T)
- 6 medium tomatoes, cut into large pieces
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. coriander
- 2 shakes cinnamon
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken or veggie broth
- 1/2 C cream
- 4 cooked tandoori chicken breasts (above) cut into chunks

Sautee onion, ginger, garlic and green chili in butter until onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes and let simmer for ~5 minutes. Add spices (garam masala, chili powder, cumin, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon) and simmer another 5-10 minutes or so. Add tomato paste and broth, stir. Blend everything in a blender until smooth then return to pan. Add tandoori chicken, cream and butter.

Serve with basmati rice and naan bread. Yum!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:53 am 23 Comments
Categories: main dishes
Tuesday, February 9

Truffles Recipe to Die For…and a Giveaway from Scharffen Berger!

This giveaway is now closed. But be sure to scroll down for the amazing truffle recipe!!!

I love Scharffen Berger. Why, you may wonder? Maybe because they sent me free chocolate to make these amazing truffles. Or maybe because their milk chocolate is absolutely to DIE for, so rich, yet so creamy…how is it even possible? Or maybe just because it’s fun to say their name. Scharffen Berger. Scharffen Berger. Scharffen Berger. Fun, right?

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Scharffen Berger is hosting a giveaway! One randomly-selected winner will win a copy of the cookbook Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate, in addition to a Scharffen Berger 9.7-oz 99% Cacao Unsweetened Baking Bar and a 70% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Bar to get you started with your gourmet chocolate baking!

To enter the contest, simply add a comment to this post by Midnight PT, Tuesday, February 16. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, February 16. Good luck!

Click (more…) below for the Scotch Truffle Hearts recipe pictured in this post, just one of the amazing recipes from the cookbook you just might win!

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Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:47 pm 253 Comments
Categories: sweet things
Friday, December 11

Vanilla Bean

Today I cut open my very first vanilla beans! (Sidenote: I’m almost ashamed to admit this. Seems like something I should have done before, right? Sometimes this blog feels more like confession than a food blog!)

I can’t tell you exactly what I am using this vanilla for (you’ll find out next week!), but I can share the vanilla itself with you today.

The point of this post is that using vanilla beans is EASY. I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess I thought the beans would be harder to cut through, and that the seeds might be tricky to get out. I was happy to discover that using fresh vanilla beans is a simple and painless process – just slice down one side (it cuts easily) and scrape out the seeds. And it sure smells good while you’re doing it! So, if you are scared like I was…don’t be!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 4:23 pm 7 Comments
Categories: the goods
Friday, June 12

Cinnamon Exposed!

Okay, so an exposé on This Week for Dinner is definitely not as exciting as one on Entertainment Tonight…but it’s an exposé nonetheless! Did you know the cinnamon in your cupboard is not really cinnamon? Shocking, I know! The stuff pictured below is “true” cinnamon, called canela or ceylon. What most of us have lying around (ground or in sticks) is called cassia. (There’s a nice side-by-side photo on Wikipedia.)

Years ago, Alton Brown from Good Eats went on and on about how cassia cinnamon stinks and that ceylon, the “true” cinnamon, is the only way to go, blah blah blah. I thought it was interesting and then forgot the different names for everything. Until Lindsay (my super gourmet friend) pulled out her ceylon cinnamon to grind one day. Then it all came rushing back to me.

You may be asking yourself, what IS the difference and does it matter? If you really want to know, click “more” and keep reading!

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Posted by Jane Maynard at 10:13 am 7 Comments
Categories: the goods
Friday, April 3

Aaron and Lindsay’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Extravaganza

Remember Lindsay? I think it’s about time I start sharing some of her recipes with you!

Today it’s Aaron and Lindsay’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Extravaganza! I’m going to start adding the word “Extravaganza” to the end of all my recipes. It’s just so festive! (Aaron is Lindsay’s husband, by the way…who is one of the maybe five male commenters on this site. Thanks, Aaron!)

Lindsay actually fries up her own tortilla strips for the soup. She is WAY more gourmet than I am.

Lindsay has the most beautiful spices. She puts them all in matching containers. And how cute is her bowl of salt? I always feel like I’m in the audience of a cooking show at her house.

I no longer live next door to Lindsay. I so miss our afternoons of her cooking and me photographing. Those were the days…

And now, for the recipe!

Aaron and Lindsay’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Extravaganza
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- olive oil
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
- ½ bag frozen corn
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 lime (one extra for garnish)
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
- 4-5 corn tortillas, cut into strips
- 1 avocado, diced
- cayenne pepper
- chili powder
- cumin
- salt and pepper
- cheddar or jack cheese, shredded
- sour cream

Sautee onion in olive oil until soft, then add garlic, green onions, cayenne, chili powder, and cumin. Sautee until fragrant (a minute or two). Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add tomatoes, corn, black beans.

Grill up chicken spiced with cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (You can also pan-fry it, but it won’t add the smokiness that the bbq does). Cut up or shred chicken and add it to the soup. Try the soup and add more seasonings according to taste, if needed. Add lime juice, cilantro, and avocado.

In large fry pan over medium-high heat, crisp up tortilla strips. Add salt. You may do this with oil or cooking spray. (For a shortcut, use tortilla chips instead).

Serve soup garnished with cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, and a lime wedge.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:25 am 20 Comments
Categories: main dishes
Wednesday, October 8

Way Gourmet Kitchen Tip: Smoothing Ganache

I’ve got a Lindsay post for you, and you know what that means – it’s gonna be Gourmet and Yummy. Today it’s a baking tip.

Ever wonder how to get your ganache all smooth and shiny-like? It’s simple. Get out your blow dryer! Turn the heat up, bump the speed down and blow dry your cake, while simultaneously smoothing it out with that there cake spreader tool.

I tried to get a good action shot of Lindsay blow drying the cake, but I they didn’t come out the way I wanted. Hopefully you can get a good idea of how to smooth out your ganache from the pictures!

Thanks, Lindsay! The ganache cakes of the world just got prettier, thanks to you!

And for those of you would like to make the amazingly delectable Chocolate Ganache Cake with Raspberry Coulis that was featured in this post, click ‘more’ for the recipe (and more pics)!

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Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:40 pm 8 Comments
Categories: Way Gourmet
Thursday, March 6

Chocolate Lava…What Could Be Better?

Today’s featured recipe is one of my most favorite recipes ever – Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes. Oh so good. Better than any lava cake I’ve had at any restaurant, except Rialto in Harvard Square, although it looks like the lava cakes are no longer on the menu. SO SAD. It is still an excellent restaurant. I mean excellent.

Okay, focus Jane, back to the recipe. It comes from the Better Homes & Gardens New Baking Book. It’s way gourmet but super easy to make. Definitely one of my favorite desserts. Of course this is coming from a person who doesn’t eat dessert unless chocolate is involved…and my tolerance for rich chocolate desserts is OFF THE CHARTS. But that means I’m picky about my chocolate, and these cakes get an A+. Click on over to the Recipes-Sweet Things and scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe.

A few quick notes:

Before I had my KitchenAid I would just use my hand mixer to beat the egg mixture. That worked just fine…but the KitchenAid is pretty awesome at getting the eggs oh so light and fluffy.

The recipe calls for melting the chocolate & butter in a heavy pan on low heat, but I usually use a double boiler (pyrex bowl over slowly simmering water). I trust myself more this way…less chance of me burning the chocolate. Also, you can just use chocolate chips – they taste great. I’m sure fancy chocolate would taste even better, but the chocolate chips work very well. If I wasn’t the cook, I would never guess it wasn’t the highest quality chocolate being used.

I use 6 small Crate & Barrel ramekins for this recipe. It’s the perfect ramekin:batter ratio. Don’t forget to butter and sugar the ramekins before pouring in the batter. When you invert your cakes onto plates after cooling, they’ll come out pretty nicely (sometimes you need a knife to loosen them around the edges a bit first). The sugar also gives the cakes a nice outer edge.

The only tricky part is taking them out of the oven at the right time. I used to always cook them too long, turning them into plain old cakes, no molteness to be found. Now I tend cook them too short, making them too reminiscent of a real live volcano. It you find that happy medium, you end up with the perfect amount of molten goodness. The edges should looked cooked and the center should be firm, but not as cooked as the edges. You just need to experiment with your oven to get it right. The picture here is of a lava cake that is NOT cooked enough. Hopefully that can help you gauge correctly! I know, so helpful. Sorry! If you don’t cook them long enough, inverting them onto a plate will be disastrous…still tasty, but not so pretty. We usually just eat them right of the ramekins, anyway…less dishes to wash. And, unless you burn them or completely undercook them, they are still mighty good even if they’re not perfect.

I’ve been wanting to share these cakes with you for some time. Enjoy!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:53 pm 4 Comments
Categories: featured recipes
Thursday, February 28

Featured Recipe: 60-Second Brussel Sprouts

Remember my friend Lindsay? Today I’m finally sharing one of her recipes with you! It’s a simple recipe actually…but delicious!

Cate and I got to eat dinner at Lindsay & Aaron’s house the other evening when Nate was working late (the PhD is ALMOST DONE!). Anyway, everything tasted awesome, as usual. Even these brussel sprouts! Who’d have thought? Seriously, I actually like brussel sprouts pretty well, and these are the best ones I’ve had. Aaron just talked trash about how they smelled…yeah, he doesn’t like them. So, I’ve warned you – if you hate brussel sprouts, this recipe still may not be for you. But I thought it was yummy.

Click here to learn how to make 60-Second Brussel Sprouts. Lindsay was saying one of the reasons they are so good is because you don’t have to cook them for very long, so they don’t get that sulfur-y flavor. Plus, anything with butter is bound to be good.

Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:12 pm 8 Comments
Categories: featured recipes
Thursday, February 21

Truffles cont’d…the secret ingredient

While my attempt at chocolate truffles may not have been stellar, I did forget to mention something I discovered that I HAVE to share with you all…something I did RIGHT.

I’ve always heard that coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate. I’m not a big coffee fan, so usually when a chocolate recipe calls for it, oops, I left it out. However, I decided to give it a try this time around. Let me tell ya, what they say is true. The truffles do not taste like coffee at all AND the chocolate taste is so much richer. (As if you need to make truffles as rich as possible…but if you’re gonna go, go all the way, right?) ANYWAY…it’s true, it’s true. The coffee definitely gave the chocolate taste more depth. It’s an amazing little trick.

For all you coffee drinkers out there, yes, I used nasty instant granules. I know, I know. NASTY. But when you only need 1 tablespoon in a recipe AND you know you’re not going to taste the coffee anyway…well, instant granules here I come.

If your truffle recipe doesn’t have coffee in it, you could probably just add 1 Tbsp and be safe. I would just add it at the end when you add in the other flavorings, like liqueur or oils.

So far my friend Dottie is the only one to share a recipe and truffle techniques (thank you, Dottie!!). I know there are more experts out there! Get over to my original truffle post and help me out already!

Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:20 pm 6 Comments
Categories: Way Gourmet