Category: Way Gourmet

1. Tuesday, August 23

   Beyond Lovely Cocoa

   I’ve been using Scharffen Berger cocoa for about two years now. Once I started using it, I just couldn’t go back to buying cocoa at the regular grocery store. (Same with chocolate chips. Let’s just say the chocolate chips I buy never go on sale. And it’s worth every extra penny!)

   

   I ran out of cocoa recently and headed over to Draeger’s to pick up another can of Scharffen Berger (which I still love, by the way). While I was there I spotted this Cocoa Rouge Cocoa Powder by E. Guittard. I decided to live on the edge, go a little crazy, buy something different.

   My friend Ana was over the first time I opened the Cocoa Rouge to make some mini molten chocolate cakes. Once the lid was off, we were both taken aback. The powder is so rich in color, with red undertones. This cocoa is downright gorgeous. The loveliest cocoa I’ve yet laid eyes on.

   

   And the lava cakes? They turned out awesome as usual, but with an even richer chocolate flavor than I’ve had before. Mmmm mmmm mmmmmmmmm…

   

   Great. Another expensive chocolate product to send us to the poorhouse. I just can’t help myself. If I were Mother Hubbard, my cupboard would be bare…except for some dang good chocolate, of course.

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:33 pm   14 Comments
   Categories: fab faves, the goods, Way Gourmet

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2. Thursday, July 21

   Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Cucumber

   Last Friday night I did something I haven’t done in a while…I actually picked up a magazine (in this case Martha Stewart Living) and read it cover to cover. And I’ve decided I should do that more often because I was inspired to make a fabulous dinner on Sunday night. Of course, by the end of preparing all the food my sciatic nerve was literally screaming at me and I hobbled around the rest of the night (yes, I’m officially a hobbling pregnant woman…no more heels for me, boo-hoo!), but our dinner was worth the pain.

   

   One of Sunday night’s creations was a Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Cucumber. There was a recipe for this salad featured in the magazine that involved making a fancy basil oil. I’m sure it’s wonderful, but I simplified things a bit in my preparation. I loved the salad – super easy to prepare and the oh-so-summery flavors all blended so nicely together. I wasn’t entirely sure what the girls would think. They love watermelon, and this savory twist on a favorite fruit seemed a bit risky. But I’ll tell you what…every person in the family happily gobbled down the salad! It was a great success! Will definitely be adding this salad to the rotation, at least during the summer when all of these lovely ingredients are fresh and in season!

   

   Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Cucumber
   Adapted from a recipe in the August 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living
   - Half a watermelon, cubed (I know, so exact…my watermelon was medium in size)
   - 2-3 handfuls of small tomatoes, or 2-3 larger tomatoes sliced into wedges (I used a bunch of baby tomatoes we have growing on the back porch)
   - One cucumber, chopped into bite sized pieces
   - Olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons)
   - Salt and Pepper
   - Fresh Basil, about 5-10 leaves chopped
   - Original recipe calls for 4 oz crumbled goat cheese – I left this out because we were having another cheese-based side dish, but also I just wanted straight up produce in the salad

   Combine the watermelon, tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to cover the fruit and veggies. Sprinkle with the chopped basil, about 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat evenly and serve!

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 8:09 am   9 Comments
   Categories: eat less meat, Healthy Eats, Martha Stewart, Recipes, side dishes, simple side dishes, Way Gourmet

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3. Friday, June 24

   Cupcakes! And Take Two with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

   For Nate’s birthday this week Anna wanted to make him cupcakes. Pink cupcakes, specifically. Her latest obsession is Pinkalicious, which I am pretty certain played a major role in her decision for how we should celebrate Nate’s birthday.

   

   The girls had lots of fun decorating. Cate, the 6-year-old, was very organized in her approach. She also wanted white cupcakes because Dad is a boy. So funny. Anna, the 3-year-old, initially came at the decorating with a lot of energy and then petered out halfway through. It was really cute seeing how different their approaches were.

   

   This was my second time making Swiss Meringue Buttercream. And it came out just as good as it did the first time I made it. My sister Anne is visiting and when I was making it she said, “Wow, that’s an involved recipe.” But, in all honesty, while there is a bit of technique involved, it really is easy and anyone can do it. Trust me. And the frosting is heavenly. It is buttery, creamy and easy to work with. And since I liked it as much the second time around, I had to let you know!

   

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 11:07 am   4 Comments
   Categories: fab faves, sweet things, Way Gourmet

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4. Wednesday, June 1

   Roasted Garlic Bulbs

   When I went to college in Boston a while ago, there was an Italian restaurant called Vinny Testa’s (I frequented the locations on Boylston Street and in Lexington). Vinny Testa’s was similar in style to Buca di Bepo, except not a national chain, so automatically more awesome. I think maybe the best thing they served was roasted garlic bulbs with bread. The first time I saw those bulbs I thought, “What the?!?” But I tried it. And it was seriously amazing. For some reason you think the garlic will be overpowering and strong, but it’s surprisingly not and is in fact divine.

   

   Side note: I think Vinny Testa’s might be closed. Can you Bostonians fill me in? I have a sneaking suspicion their roasted garlic bulbs will now forever be a memory.

   

   This weekend we went to Monterey for a day trip and, on the drive home, we stopped in Gilroy to buy cherries. And of course I had to buy some garlic, it is the garlic capitol after all. With four garlic cloves on my hands this week I decided it was the perfect time to try out roasting some bulbs on my own! And the result was fantastic…Cate was seriously sitting at the dinner table last night after all the bread was gone salivating and chanting in a low, obsessed voice, “Garlic, garlic, garlic.”

   It is SUPER easy to make and such a great side to serve with dinner. Your house (and your breath) will probably smell pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty garlicky (any Larry David fans in the house?), but it will be worth it! Spread this garlic on your bread and you will be eating hands-down the best garlic bread ever.

   I tried roasting the garlic two ways – wrapped in foil and not wrapped in foil.

   

   As you can see, the bulb that was not wrapped in foil went kind of nutso…beyond caramelized, the bulbs popping out of the bulb. It also cooked much faster this way.

   

   I personally liked the bulb cooked in foil better. The taste wasn’t different, but I felt like the cooking was more controlled, albeit a little slower. You still get a bit of caramelization on top, but all the bulbs behave themselves. Here’s a side-by-side, cooked with no foil on the left (after I cut the crazy tops off) and cooked in foil on the right.

   

    

   Roasted Garlic Bulbs
   - Garlic bulbs (as many as you think you’ll eat…probably two small or one large is enough for several people at a meal)
   - Olive oil

   Peel off the papery outside of the garlic bulb, leaving the cloves in tact and their individual skins attached.

   

   Cut off the top of the bulb so the cloves are exposed, probably about 1/2″ or so. Sometimes you get a few bulbs around the outside that are too low to make the cut, so I just cut their tops off individually.

   If you are going to cook the garlic in foil, place the bulb in a piece of foil, then slowly drizzle olive oil all over the bulb, letting it seep down into the cloves. Wrap the foil around the garlic and place on a baking pan or dish.

   If you are not going to use foil, place bulb on a baking dish and drizzle slowly with oil as described above.

   

   Bake garlic in a 400-degree oven for approximately 30 minutes in foil or 20 minutes if not in foil. You basically cook the garlic until the cloves are nice and soft.

   Let cool a bit then serve with a knife. Dig the cloves out of the bulb with the knife then spread on your bread.

   You could also use the roasted garlic for cooking (think sauces, vegetables, the possibilities are endless!).

   

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:07 am   17 Comments
   Categories: Healthy Eats, Recipes, side dishes, simple side dishes, Way Gourmet

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5. Thursday, April 14

   CSA Fun: Green Garlic

   I officially have my first item from a CSA bag that I have never eaten before. And the winner of this coveted title is…green garlic.

   Here she is.

   

   I felt like I had to get it. After all, the farms where my produce comes from are in an area that is the garlic capital of the country. Green garlic is essentially young garlic that is often pulled by farmers to thin out the crop (although also harvested on purpose as it gains popularity). Green garlic has a milder flavor than garlic and is, apparently, delicious.

   

   So, what am I gonna do with this here green garlic? I don’t even know what it will look like when I cut into it! I’m thinking I might chop one up and sauté it with the asparagus we received in the same CSA bag. If any of you have ever used it and have ideas, please share! I need your wisdom!

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:36 pm   18 Comments
   Categories: CSA, eat less meat, Healthy Eats, the goods, Way Gourmet

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6. Thursday, March 10

   Swedish Semla

   Our neighbors are Swedish and they invited us over this past Tuesday night to enjoy some semlor (plural for semla), a cream-filled bun with almond paste. The pastry is a Fat Tuesday tradition in Sweden. Rebecca and David told us that people love the buns so much they start appearing as early as Christmastime and are enjoyed for months rather than just one day. Click here for a fun article about semla.

   

   The semlor were scrumptious. Essentially it’s a cardamom bun with almond paste and cream. You slice off the top, scoop out the insides, mix it with almond paste and milk, then add it back to the bun. Top with whipped cream and some powdered sugar and you are ready to party it up Fat Tuesday style. Cate, like a true Kindergartener, barely touched hers. Which means I ate two. And only an unusual amount of will power kept me from finishing off Anna’s as well!

   

   Rebecca and David did a great job making the buns and Rebecca kindly translated her recipe for me to share on the blog. My brain almost exploded converting the measurements, so I hope you appreciate all the hard work that went into this recipe. Translating, converting…Rebecca and I are ready for a nap! (Also, big thanks to Nate the scientist for making sure I kept my decimals in the right spots!)

   I’m including Rebecca’s original measurements so that you can’t blame me if I got the conversions wrong. Which I’m pretty sure I got right. Remember, I didn’t even take one math class in college. But Nate helped, so we should be good.

   Semla
   From Rebecca and David Montag, our great Swedish neighbors

   Buns (12-16 pcs):

   • 75 grams of butter = 5.3 tablespoons butter
   • 2.5 dl of milk = 1 cup milk
   • 25 grams by weight soft yeast = 1 pkg dry active yeast (Rebecca used one envelope dry yeast, which was 7 grams)
   • 1.5 ml salt = 1/3 teaspoon salt (so, a little more than 1/4 tsp)
   • 0.5 dl sugar = 1/4 cup sugar
   • 7.5 dl flour = 3 to 3 1/4 cup flour
   • 5 ml ground cardamom = 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
   • 1 beaten egg for “coating”

   Bun Filling:

   • 300 grams almond paste = 1 1/3 cup (Rebecca used half a tube of almond paste from Safeway, which was less than 300 grams)
   • ~1 dl milk = 1/3 – 1/2 cup milk

   For serving:

   • 3 dl of whipped cream = 1 1/4 cup whipped cream
   • Powdered sugar for sprinkling on the finished product

   Melt the butter, add milk and heat to 37C / 98.6 F (optimal yeast temperature). Put the yeast in a bowl and add a little bit of the butter/milk mix to dissolve the yeast. Then add the rest of the mix, along with salt, sugar, cardamom and most of the flour (save some for making the buns). Work up a good dough that’s not too sticky. Let it rise under a towel for 40 minutes.

   Make 12-16 round buns and place them on a baking tray, which preferably has been covered with parchment paper. Cover them with a towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

   Set the oven heat for 225C / 437 F. Brush the buns with the egg. Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes. Let them cool off under a towel.

   To prepare for serving:

   Cut a lid off each bun, quite high up on the bun. The lid should only be a flat hat. Take out some of the insides of the buns and put them in a bowl. Crumble the almond paste into the bowl and work it together with the bread. Add milk until the mix is very moist and gooey. Put the filling in the cavity in the buns. Whip the cream and put a large scoop on each bun. Put the lids back on and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top. (Rebecca found this link so you can see a traditionally-made semla bun.)

   We asked Rebecca and David how to eat the semlor. They said many people have strong opinions about this and laughed. They like to eat the top and then just pick the bun up and bite right in, which worked well for us!

   

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:00 am   10 Comments
   Categories: fab faves, featured recipes, holidays, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet

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7. Tuesday, December 21

   Pink Elephant on Parade…and Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

   For her birthday, Cate selected the elephant cake from my handy dandy Cakes for Kids book. Honestly, I think the main reason she picked the cake was because it was pink. I was happy to oblige – it was a straightforward design and super cute. And I could make cupcakes for all the kids, topped with Circus Peanuts to tie it all together (see photo near the end of this post). The cake and the cupcakes were a hit!

   

   Like I mentioned on Sunday, Cate’s elephant cake tasted light years better than Anna’s ghosty cake. And not just because chocolate cake will kick angel food cake’s patootie any day of the week. But the icing I used for the elephant cake is to die for. The book had suggested frosting the cake with a recipe that uses shortening, because it’s easier to handle and would work for creating texture on the elephant’s skin. But, uh, hello? Shortening? Blech. I promptly picked up the phone and called my good friend Faye, the pastry chef in my life. She suggested I whip up a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which would also be easy to work with and have the added benefit of actually tasting like food.

   

   I’m not exaggerating. Swiss Meringue Buttercream is the creamiest, smoothest, most flavorful frosting I’ve made. I don’t even usually like frosting that much. I love this stuff.

   And, sure enough, I was able to gently press a sieve into the surface of the icing to create a super cute texture that every pretty pink elephant aspires to.

   

   Swiss Meringue Buttercream
   As described over the phone to me by my friend Faye Stein
   - 4 egg whites
   - 1 cup sugar
   - 15-20 ounces butter (american style, the regular stuff you get at the store), room temperature
   - 1 tsp vanilla

   Combine the egg whites and the sugar in a KitchenAid bowl. Place over a pan of simmering water. Whisk thoroughly until the temperature reaches 165 degrees (which actually happened faster than I was expecting). The mixture will be shiny and the sugar dissolved. Remove from heat, place on mixer.

   With the whisk attachment, whisk at high speed until it’s a meringue, stiff peaks forming. Stop whisking, let mixture cool until bowl is cool enough to touch and the mixture is room temperature.

   Whisk at medium high speed, breaking off pieces of butter and adding, mixing after each addition. The mixture will stay quite soupy and you’ll think there’s no way that this is going to turn into frosting…and you’ll get ready to grab your phone to call me and find out what you’re doing wrong even though I told you it would work (that’s what I did with Faye)…but you just keep whisking and whisking, and then all of the suden it’s right. It suddenly turns into creamy frosting wonderfulness. (I added about 15 ounces of butter total the first time I made it, 12 ounces the second time I made it). At the point that it looks like actual frosting, add your vanilla and any food coloring and whisk again for a few minutes.

   Leftover frosting can be frozen for future use. Once you’ve refrigerated or frozen the frosting, if you want to mix it in the mixer again you should use the paddle attachment, not the whisk attachment.

   For the cupcakes, I stuck with my usual buttercream frosting, which is also very tasty and delicious.

   

   Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
   From How to Cook Everything
   - 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
   - 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
   - 6 tablespoons cream or milk (cream is better)
   - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

   Use a fork or electric mixer (I use my KitchenAid with the paddle attachment) to cream the butter. Gradually work in the sugar, alternating with the cream and beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. If the frosting is too thick to spread, add a little more cream, a teaspoon at a time. If it is too thin (which is unlikely), refrigerate; it will thicken as butter hardens.

   Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:00 am   11 Comments
   Categories: Faye, kids, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet

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8. 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   12 Comments
   Categories: featured recipes, main dishes, Recipes, Way Gourmet

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9. 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: Faye, featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet

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10. 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: Recipes, the goods, Way Gourmet

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