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Category: way gourmet

  1. Tuesday, December 4, 2012

    {Biscotti Week} Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

    Every December I’m on the lookout for a holiday treat to give to friends and teachers. It has to be scalable, delicious AND look cute! It’s a tall order but I believe I have found the perfect special something for this year: biscotti.

    I’m not some big biscotti person. I don’t ever buy it and rarely eat it. I mean, it’s good, but I just don’t think about it much. Last week I made biscotti with friends for the first time and have decided that homemade biscotti is a completely different thing. An amazing, crispy but fresh-tasting and wonderful thing. A thing that I can now add to my “can’t resist eating it” list. Because I really needed to add something else to that list.

    Last week my amazing friend Natalee organized a Christmas craft night. She got four of our friends to each take a station and teach us: wreath making, holiday card display wreath, Christmas glitter ornaments and biscotti. I, of course, signed up to make biscotti. If there’s food involved, I am there! My other friend Erika directed our biscotti making efforts and she did a wonderful job. It was delicious, fun and informative (did you know biscotti bakes twice? I had no idea!). It was such a great night!

    Since I loved all of the biscotti we had that night, I thought I would share the recipes with you this week! Perhaps biscotti will make it to your holiday cookie plate this year, too!

    Today’s recipe is Chocolate Cherry Biscotti, which is adapted from Gourmet and Joy the Baker. It is AWESOME. That is all.

    Chocolate Cherry Biscotti
     
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    Adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook and Joy the Baker
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • - 1⅓ cup dried cherries
    • - 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
    • - 1 cup sugar
    • - 2 tablespoons honey
    • - ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • - ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • - ½ teaspoon salt
    • - 3 large eggs
    • - 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • - 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
    • - 1 large egg beaten with one teaspoon of water, for an egg wash
    • - milk and/or dark chocolate for melting and drizzling
    Instructions
    1. Soak cherries in boiling water to cover in a small bowl until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain, then pat them dry with a paper towel.
    2. Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet, knocking off excess flour.
    3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and honey and mix with an electric mixer at medium speed until dough forms. Add cherries and chocolate chips and mix at low speed.
    4. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead several times. Halve dough. Using floured hands, form each half into a slightly flattened 13-by-2-inch log on baking sheet, spacing logs about 3 inches apart. Brush logs with egg wash.
    5. Bake until golden 25 to 30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack for 10 minutes. (Leave oven on.)
    6. Transfer logs to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut diagonally into ½-inch thick slices. (Click here to see a diagram for how to cut biscotti.) Arrange slices, cut side down in one layer on a baking sheet (it’s fine if slices touch each other). Bake, turning once, until golden and crisp, 20-25 minutes. Transfer biscotti to racks to cool.
    7. Once cool, drizzle biscotti with milk chocolate, dark chocolate or both! Let sit until chocolate sets, about an hour.
    8. Please note, Joy's recipe for honey pistachio biscotti says 1½ cups of flour, but you need to use 2½. The original Gourmet recipe calls for 2½ cups and Erika said the first time she made it with less flour and the dough didn't work.

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:54 am   10 Comments
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  2. Wednesday, November 28, 2012

    Holy Long Recipe, Batman! (Confiture de Lait)

    Remember a few years ago when I went to the Fancy Food Show with my lovely French, food-blogging friend Vanessa? And how she introduced me to confiture de lait, a.k.a. milk jam, a caramel sauce made from milk that is a specialty item from Normandy? And how my life was never the same because from that moment on I knew milk jam existed but had no way to actually buy it? You don’t remember? Well, trust me. It’s all true.

    You may be wondering even after my roundabout description above, what the heck is milk jam? It’s just that…a jam of sorts made from milk and sugar. It’s kind of like sophisticated sweetened condensed milk. And it’s heavenly.

    Since you can’t buy it in the States, I decided to make confiture de lait myself once. And I failed. Miserably. This past month, however, I felt like I needed to give it another try, maybe using a slower cooking technique. I followed this recipe for confiture de lait exactly because it looked like it would turn out very nicely. I had a day where I was going to be home all morning and doing a bunch of other cooking anyway, so I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. If I started cooking the milk around 9 am, it would be done by the time I had to pick kids up at school at 2 pm. No problem. Easy peasy.

    Yeah, not so much.

    ELEVEN hours later I had a small pot of confiture de lait. Yes, you heard me. Eleven. I picked Anna up at school then rushed home to stir. I picked Cate up at school then rushed home to stir. I dropped the girls off at dance then rushed home to stir. I picked up the girls from dance then…you guessed it…rushed home to stir. It was bananas, people. Bananas.

    So, was it worth it? Nope. It wasn’t. My milk jam just wasn’t the same as the stuff from Normandy. Mine is still good, but just not the same. And, to top it all off, once I refrigerated the confiture de lait after it had cooled, I ended up with a giant, hard, sugary lump of milk jam in the center of the container. Only half of the batch ended up being useable. Quel horreur!

    It’s story-sharing time! Tell us about the most time- or work-intensive recipe you’ve ever made. And tell us if it was worth all that time, labor and love. And, if it was worth it, please share the recipe because it must be amazing!

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:46 am   25 Comments
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  3. Tuesday, November 20, 2012

    {Thanksgiving Prep} Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

    Today’s post might be a little controversial. Maybe even more controversial than the 2012 presidential election. I know. Are you ready?

    I don’t like green bean casserole. You know, the casserole that practically everyone else in America seems to LOVE except me. The casserole that graces many a Thanksgiving table every November. I appreciate that it is a staple and I love that other people love it. But, yeah. I’m just not that into it and always pass when it’s available.

    See. Controversy. I may as well just tell you who I voted for for president. That might actually cause less of a stir! So, I voted for…

    What, did you REALLY think I’d fess up about my secret ballot? Yeah right!

    Back to casserole. I decided to invite green bean casserole into my life this year. But I also decided I wanted it to be made completely from scratch. Fresh green beans and mushrooms, no canned soup, homemade onion rings. The task was daunting, but I have to tell you, I am SOOOOOO glad I tackled this challenge. Because the end result was unbelievably delicious. And I am NOT speaking in hyperbole here.

    Our friend Brandon, a renowned casserole hater, took a bite and said, “Where have you been all my life?”

    Is that enough of a build up for you? Are you ready to cast aside the canned soup and the store-bought french fried onions and throw a little blood, sweat and tears into your green bean casserole? Good. Here you go.


    {Thanksgiving Prep} Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
     
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    Adapted from two recipes, one from Williams Sonoma the other from Cook’s Illustrated
    Author:
    Recipe type: Side Dish, Thanksgiving
    Cuisine: American
    Ingredients
    • 1½ pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 2”³-3”³ pieces
    • 1 cup water and a large bowl of ice water
    • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
    • 3 tablespoon butter
    • 1 small onion or ½ regular-sized onion, chopped
    • ⅓ cup flour
    • 1½ cups chicken or veggie stock/broth
    • 1 cup cream
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • 3 shallots, sliced very thin
    • ¼ cup flour
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon pepper
    • ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    2. In a large skillet with a lid, heat 1 cup water to boiling over medium-high to high heat. Add green beans. Put on lid and cook for three minutes. Remove beens and place in ice water. Set beans aside.
    3. Pour water off of the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and melt butter. Add mushroom and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chopped onion and cook an additional 5+ minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle ⅓ cup flour over the mushrooms and onions and stir well, cooking for a minute or so. Slowly stir in the chicken broth. Slowly stir in the cream. Mix well. Add ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir well then mix in green beans. Transfer to 9×13 casserole dish and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes (you will put fried shallot rings on top for the last 5 minutes of baking”¦see below).
    4. While casserole is baking, heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Mix flour, ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper in a medium to large bowl. Mix shallot rings in the flour, coating well. Use your hands to mix the shallots in the flour so you can break the rings up and get them coated really well. Transfer floured shallots with tongs to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until shallots are crisp and golden.
    5. Sprinkle fried shallots over the top of the casserole at the 25 minute baking point. Bake 5 more minutes. Serve hot!
    6. If you want to make this ahead of time, I would do everything except the fried shallot rings and put the casserole in the fridge BEFORE baking. Bake 5-10 minutes longer since the casserole will be going into the oven cold and make the fried shallot rings while the casserole is baking.

    green bean casserole from scratch by @janemaynard from thisweekfordinner.com

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 9:16 am   26 Comments
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  4. Wednesday, November 7, 2012

    {Kitchen Tips} Caramelized Onions

    Last night we had honey goat cheese and caramelized onion pizza for dinner. This is one of my FAVORITE recipes, so if you haven’t tried it, hop to it! Anyway, as I was caramelizing the onions yesterday to prep for the pizza, I was thinking of maybe writing a post about my technique. We had a couple of friends over last night and one of them mentioned that whenever she tries to make caramelized onions, she burns them and it makes her so mad. That sealed the deal…I decided a post was in order!

    I have made a few batches of caramelized onions that go the way of burned onions myself. I had tried techniques from reputable sources, but always ended up burning some of the onions. After much trial and error, I finally have the process down and they come out GREAT, not a burned onion to be seen! I am no longer scared of caramelizing onions…yep, I was scared of them before. 😉


    Caramelized Onions
     
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    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 2 onions
    • Olive Oil
    • Sugar
    Instructions
    1. Cut off the ends of your onion and remove outer layer. Cut onion in half (so the cut ends are facing out on the sides when you do the cut) and lay the large cut sides down on your cutting surface. Slice onions very thinly, starting from one of the small cut outer edges and going straight across the onion.
    2. Heat about 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick, wide pan (that has a lid) over medium heat. Add onions. Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir and cook onions until soft. Reduce heat to medium-low. If the pan surface seems a bit dry, add a little bit of olive oil and toss to coat. Put lid on the pan and let onions cook, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Total cook time will be about 20-30 minutes. Go head, do other stuff, just remember to lift the lid and stir periodically. Cook until onions are a nice dark brown color and have reduced in volume significantly.
    3. Here is why I do what I do. I like to add a bit of sugar to help with the caramelization. I use a non-stick pan, which has worked better for me than stainless steel. The lid being on the pan during the long cooking portion of the program is key. By keeping the lid on, enough water stays in the pan to keep the onions from drying out and burning. Please note that I don't think this is the traditional way to cook caramelized onions, but I'm a busy mom who can't mess with high-maintenance onions...I need a foolproof way to cook them without burning them and this works for me!
    4. Voilà! Caramelized onions!

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:15 am   23 Comments
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  5. Wednesday, May 30, 2012

    Super Cute Shower or Outdoor Party Idea: A Gourmet Picnic!

    I have a group of friends here in the Bay Area that are fancy dancy, super awesome party throwers. If I know one or more of them are hosting a party or shower, then I know I will be well fed and surrounded by beautiful ambiance. I admire these ladies and their parties. And I know I will never throw a party that is quite that awesome because I’m just too lazy, but I do find great inspiration from all the lovely things they do.

    The most recent baby shower hosted by these friends may have been my favorite yet. Our friend Katianne just had her fourth baby…which was her very first baby GIRL! In anticipation of the impending ‘girliness’ in Katianne’s life, our friends threw her a Pinknic! (You know, a pink picnic…get it? Cute cute!)

    I only took one lame photo on Instagram (see above), but Andy (one of my friends) saved the day and sent a bunch of pictures, so this post suddenly got 100% better!

    Here are a few of the party highlights for me, things I want to remember for my own party-throwing escapades:

    • The party was a picnic! They spread several quilts on the ground, with a few chairs set up around the edges. Most of the guests sat on the blankets, which was fun because we ended up in small groups that made for nice conversation.
    • They hung gorgeous paper pom-poms from the trees, as well as a clothesline across the entrance with Katianne’s old baby clothes dangling from clothespins. It was SO cute. (Click here for the pom-pom tutorial.)
    • For the food, each blanket received a GIANT picnic basket. The baskets were wide and open and filled with a delicious lunch, which included: a large glass serving bowl filled with a dinner salad (the main dish), a large cup or vase filled with fruit kebobs, a cloth napkin tied around homemade rolls, two pastry boxes filled with lemon tarts and mini cupcakes and tied with pretty ribbon, pretty plastic plates, cups and utensils wrapped in napkins, and the prettiest bottles of lemonade you ever did see. Each basket included a cute card listing all the food, a nice touch.

    It was such a nice party and I loved how they executed the picnic theme. It was super classy and I stuffed myself silly with all that good food. (Yes, I’m getting some of the recipes and will be sharing!)

    Here’s the cute (and delicious!) lemonade I told you about. I found it at Draeger’s and it sat on my counter for a few days because it was just too pretty to crack open!

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 9:34 am   4 Comments
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  6. Thursday, May 10, 2012

    Le Creuset, How I Love Thee

    This giveaway is now closed. Thank you!

    It’s almost Mother’s Day. Do you know what you’re getting your mama? Or have you told your husband what you want? I’ve decided that if I were to get a box that says Le Creuset on the outside, I would probably be more excited for it than a little turquoise box with a white ribbon and bow. Not kidding.

    In anticipation of today’s giveaway, Le Creuset gifted me with a Round French Oven and a Heritage Covered Rectangular Casserole. The day that box arrived on my doorstep I was GLEEFUL. Because, you see, I’ve been coveting Le Creuset from afar for many years. I cracked the box to discover the beautiful cookware that I was expecting…and I used both pieces that very night when making dinner!

    For real, have bell peppers ever looked more stunning? I think not.

    And I can’t WAIT to try baking artisan bread in my French oven. My friend Lindsay swears it’s the best thing ever. I’ve eaten her bread. And she’s right.

    Want to gussy up your stuffed peppers just like me? Now’s your chance! Le Creuset is giving away a Heritage Covered Rectangular Casserole in Marseille Blue (retail value $90) to one of you very lucky, randomly-selected people. Winner’s shipping address must be in the U.S.

    Here’s how to enter!

     

    You must leave separate comments to get the extra entries. All comments must be added before Midnight PT on Wednesday, May 16.

    Good luck!

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 11:47 am   423 Comments
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  7. Tuesday, August 23, 2011

    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 Wallin at 3:33 pm   14 Comments
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  8. Thursday, July 21, 2011

    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
     
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    Adapted from a recipe in the August 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living
    Author:
    Cuisine: Side Dish
    Ingredients
    • 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. Commenter Jennifer below mentioned using Ricotta Salata instead of goat cheese and that is what I'm going to use from now on!
    Instructions
    1. 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 ½ tsp salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat evenly and serve!

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 8:09 am   19 Comments
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  9. Friday, June 24, 2011

    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 Wallin at 11:07 am   4 Comments
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  10. Wednesday, June 1, 2011

    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
     
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    Author:
    Cuisine: Side Dish
    Ingredients
    • 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
    Instructions
    1. Peel off the papery outside of the garlic bulb, leaving the cloves in tact and their individual skins attached.
    2. Cut off the top of the bulb so the cloves are exposed, probably about ½”³ 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.
    3. 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.
    4. If you are not going to use foil, place bulb on a baking dish and drizzle slowly with oil as described above.
    5. 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.
    6. Let cool a bit then serve with a knife. Dig the cloves out of the bulb with the knife then spread on your bread.
    7. You could also use the roasted garlic for cooking (think sauces, vegetables, the possibilities are endless!).

     

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 9:07 am   20 Comments
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