CEiMB and Barefoot Bloggers - Chicken and Pizza, But Not Together (but it would totally work!)

These two recipes, chosen for Craving Ellie in My Belly and Barefoot Bloggers, had the misfortune of being chosen while I was a little under the weather. So neither looks as great or will have the write up it deserves.

First up is Ina's Indonesian Ginger Chicken, chosen by Todd of A Cooking Dad. I looked at this recipe and thought "teriyaki." But it is so not in the same zip code as teriyaki chicken. Using fresh grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce and honey, you marinate the chicken overnight and bake it in the same pan. It makes a fabulous pan sauce and moist, delicious chicken. I chose to use boneless skinless breasts as that was what I had in the freezer so it looks a little uninspiring in the photos, but this had tons of taste. Even though I had made half the recipe, it made a ton, and since I wasn't keen on solid food at the time, I used a lot of it in a pot of chicken vegetable soup--and what great flavor it gave to the soup. This was another Ina recipe that was easy and surprisingly delicious. Todd's chicken looks glorious so make sure you visit him to see how well his turned out.

Next up is this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly, chosen by Maria at Half Meatball Half Matzoh Ball Children, is Arugula, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizzas. I was half dead when I made this recipe, coughing, etc. It was gross to me and I was doing it. As I mentioned above, food wasn't appealing to me (truthfully, it still isn't, though I hope my appetite will come back now that I've taken my last antibiotic), but for some strange reason I wanted to make this recipe. Maybe it was because Kayte was Tweeting about it. I had no red onions, my arugula was one day away from dead, and my goat cheese was one day past dead, but I made this anyway and subbed mozzarella and a yellow onion. And it came out great, was delicious, and was basically the only cooked food, other than that pot of chicken soup, that passed my lips in the last two weeks. Now THAT'S a ringing endorsement!

So there you have it, two great recipes, even if I am a day late posting!

TWD - Mrs. Vogel's Scherben

I can't lie. I looked at the name of this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe and thought "Mrs. Whose What?" I had never even heard of scherben. But they involved deep frying. All of a sudden, I was anxious.

If you stop by here from time to time, you know that I don't always follow instructions to the letter, and that usually leads to drama. Ever hopeful, I persevere believing that one day I will learn my lesson. Deep frying involves large pots of bubbling oil over a flame which, if not properly monitored, can boil over, ignite and mess up your precious kitchen burn down your house. Caitlin of Engineer Baker successfully baked her scherben, and at one point I tweeted that I might do a side by side comparison of baked and fried.

I don't think I was the only one who looked at this recipe and had a visceral reaction of I'LL BURN DOWN THE HOUSE!!! but I didn't and these were simple to make. I literally made my 1/4 recipe in a large soup bowl. The frying was uneventful, so much so that I turned off the oven and fried all of them.

I don't own a little duster thingy, so I sprinkled on the cinnamon sugar with my fingers. I used regular sugar, and that gave it a nice crunch. M. pronounced them a success, but I may have neglected to tell him they were fried. Maybe even on purpose.

This week's recipe was picked by Teanna of Spork or Foon? Teanna is flat out one of the funniest bloggers out there, whether she's entertaining you with her preparation of Top Chef dishes, thousands of cookies or custom made ice cream. Trust Teanna to select a recipe that many of us might not have noticed until the very end. Thanks, Teanna!

Lemon Rosemary Flatbread

This flatbread is a snap to prepare and is beyond versatile. I found this on Tracey's Culinary Adventures, and made it while tweeting with my Twitter buddy, Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table. Kayte made it with thyme, as did Tracey, but I went with rosemary as that's what I have in the garden. I also used lemon olive oil from my adopted tree, and sprinkled it with fleur de sel.

After combining flour, rosemary, salt and baking powder, you add water and olive oil to form a dough. After dividing the dough in three pieces, you roll out each piece of dough on a piece of parchment, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and salt. Bake until browned and enjoy!

If you'd like the recipe, you can find it here or here or even here. Once you make it, you'll start thinking of all the ways you can change it up. Go ahead, give it a try!

CEiMB - Sweet and Spicy Peanut Soup

You know how fantastic this soup is?

I have bronchitis. And a sinus infection. I'm running a fever. I had to go out to buy peanut butter.

And I still made this soup.

Not much wisdom to impart for this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly except this:  When pureeing hot soup in the blender, just like the recipe says only fill it 1/3 of the way, and hold down the top with a dish towel before you blend. Unless you need to clean your kitchen cabinets. With the way I'm feeling, that wasn't at the top of my to do list. Now it is.

Pamela at Cookies With Boys mentioned it was very spicy with the 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne the recipe called for, and I thought about going easy on it. But we love it spicy and I figured it would help me breathe easier. It did. Plus it's loaded with sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, carrots and more, good nutrients to help me get better.

Thanks go to Mary at Popsicles and Sandy Feet for picking this one for us. I love Mary and her blog. She has a great sense of humor.

You'll find the recipe here. Make it soon. You won't regret it.

TWD's 2nd Birthday - Tarte Tatin

Two years ago, when Laurie at slush got Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan for Christmas, she put out a message on her blog. She planned to make one recipe from the book each week, and invited others to join her. Tuesdays with Dorie was born, and hundreds of us have glommed on to her idea and aspiration.

Two years ago, I really didn't know what a blog was (no, I hadn't been living under a rock). I found Tuesdays with Dorie six months later, and wished I could participate, but not only did I not have a blog, but I was about to be without a kitchen. That's when Laurie threw down the gauntlet...join by Oct. 31 2008 or forever be on the outside looking in.

Kitchen or no, blog or no, I knew I couldn't let TWD escape me. I set up my blog and joined. Two weeks later, my kitchen was demoed. Two months later, my dream kitchen was finished and I rejoined my online buddies in making recipes from the quintessential book for the discerning home baker. I never dreamed that blogging would merge my old love of writing with my perpetual love of baking and sharing.

As Laurie is nothing if not inclusive, she queried the group about which recipe should be chosen for the two year anniversary (Dorie herself chose the first anniversary recipe). Laurie ultimately picked two recipes for our second anniversary.

Now, if I could still fit into my favorite jeans, I would probably have made both of these recipes, but I chose the Tarte Tatin. After all, Dorie and I share a love of Paris and its food, and it's a dessert I've never made. For me,TWD has been all about trying new things and honing my craft and it just seemed right. Many of my fellow TWDers are making the Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake, and some are even making both.

This dessert is (please don't throw things in my direction) pretty easy, unless you're forgetful like I am. It requires you to make caramel in a cast iron pan, layer apples and then top with puff pastry. I rolled out the puff pastry with the paper still on one side, and it was extremely hard to peel off after I set it on top of the tart. After baking, you face the most difficult step--flipping the tarte tatin onto a serving platter. Even that is manageable with your third hand. What, no third hand? No worries. You're certainly a neater flipper than I am. Seriously, this requires one pan and a knife to peel and cut the apples. The results are a spectacular, unctuously gooey caramel apple experience that will earn you many fans. Even over-caramelized like mine, the apples are the star. If you make this, think about sprinkling a little Vietnamese cinnamon on the apples before putting the puff pastry on. If you'd like the recipe, you'll find it here. Even better, buy the book and discover your baking muse.

Thank you, Laurie, for all you do for us. And especially for inviting us on this journey.

BBA - Kaiser Rolls

Times are tough in the Lethally Delicious kitchen. I'm off work until January 5th. I know that sounds like a good reason for a big celebration, and I don't disagree. But it also means fewer people to dump share my baked goods with. But these Kaiser rolls, the next bread in the rotation for the Slow & Steady subgroup of the Bread Bakers' Apprentice blog event, don't create a gifting dilemma. The recipe yields a few rolls suitable for making sandwiches, not enough for sharing, but perfect for the freezer.

Even though it took 2 days, this recipe wasn't that hard, and I again tried, unsuccessfully, to screw it up. I was eager to make these because of the swirly tops, and I bought a Kaiser cutter to ensure a perfectly swirly top. My advice: don't bother with the cutter. Make these by hand as Peter Reinhart does in the book. Some of my swirls didn't and some did but only in the center of the rolls. I would have liked a shinier crust, so I'd advise you to use an egg wash in lieu of spraying the rolls with water before they go in the oven. This would also make the seeds stick to the rolls better. I'd also spray the walls of the oven with water a second time for a crisper crust.

Now I need you native New Yorker Kaiser roll purists to look away for a moment.

You could substitute some garlic butter for the vegetable oil, or use fruity olive oil and herbs d'Provence, or top them with caramelized onions. I know I've finally gone mad but these things all sound good to me.

While these were good, they didn't approach these or this or even this for flavor. So I probably won't make them again unless I do some flavor variations.

Next up:  Lavash crackers (I know! I can hardly wait!)

CEiMB - Half Baked Lemon Bars

I'll admit, I've been a baaad Ellie-ista. It's been weeks since I've participated in Craving Ellie in My Belly, and judging by how my jeans are fitting, that's not a good thing.

So when Amy of Playing House selected Ellie's No-Bake Lemon Bars for this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly post, I resolved to make the recipe. I even intended to make it as written. Then something went terribly wrong. Trader Joe's didn't have plain graham crackers. And I was determined not to go to Safeway. So I bought a container of TJ's low-fat Ginger Cat Cookies. They're like crunchy gingersnaps. I thought they'd go well with the lemon.

I had the other supplies: Cream cheese (not light), sweetened condensed milk (ditto), eggs (not Egg Beaters) and (Meyer) lemons were all ready for the recipe. I had recently made this cheesecake in the food processor, and I liked how easy it was, so I used the FP for this recipe. I just wiped it out after crushing the cookies for the crust. Speaking of the crust, I baked it for 8 minutes and let it cool before pouring the filling in. I just think a pre-baked crust is so much tastier than one that isn't.

The resulting bars were more of a dessert you eat with a spoon than pick up with your hand (unless if you froze it for, say, 20 minutes before serving). But it was tart and creamy, and the ginger crust  was perfect with the tangy lemon cream. My only problem was with the crust. Since Ellie's recipe called for 7 sheets of graham crackers, it was hard for me to figure out how many cookies to use. I used WAY too many cookies, had to add extra butter, and ended up with a bit too much crust, some of which was a little crumbly. Not to worry. Those lovely crumbs pair well with the creamy lemon to make an easy dessert. Thanks, Amy, for a fabulous find from the new cookbook!

Here's my take on the original recipe:

Half Baked Lemon Bars - adapted from So Easy by Ellie Krieger
1 cup cookie crumbs (gingersnaps, Lorna Doones, etc.)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined. Pat into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool on a rack while making the filling.

8 ounces of light cream cheese
14 ounce can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (I used 2 Meyer lemons)
2 teaspoons gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water

Place gelatin and 3 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl; stir until combined and set aside.

Place cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process for two minutes. Scrape down bowl and add condensed milk and egg. Process for another minute, then add the lemon zest, juice and gelatin. Process for 30 seconds. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Chill for 8 hours (or overnight) before serving.

NOTE: Ellie's recipe calls for using hot water to bloom the gelatin, but hot water always gives me lumps.

TWD - Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake

Margaret of Tea and Scones chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake. I was excited about this one because a.) it's chocolate, and b.) it's cheesecake.

I didn't used to like cheesecake (the same could be said about burgers, and I now love them, too), but that was before Dorie Greenspan's Tall and Creamy Cheesecake. It won me over (and most everyone at work--they love that cheesecake so much that when I ask what they'd like me to make, it's always the cheesecake).

This chocolate cheesecake is so easy to make, and so low maintenance it doesn't even require a water bath. I made it as written, and baking it was completely uneventful. Yay for the absence of trauma!

I discovered that although I love chocolate and I love cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake doesn't make my heart beat faster. I like my chocolate chocolatier and my cheesecake cheesecakier (is that even a word?) And though my coworkers liked it, and ate it, they much prefer the Tall and Creamy.

Can you believe that the photo at the top of the post is the only one I have of this cheesecake?? But I have dozens of pictures like this one...

Thanks for an easy, tasty pick, Margaret!

TWD - My Favorite Pecan Pie

There are pecan pies, and there are transcendent, life changing, mood lifting, swoon-worthy pecan pies.

This one is one of the latter. Universally LLLLOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEDDDD by the gang at Thanksgiving dinner. Not all of them are pecan pie lovers (or even likers), but virtually all 15 people present had some and proclaimed it the sleeper hit of Pie Day Thanksgiving 2009. And that's not surprising as this one, with its notes of cinnamon, coffee and secret sweet pockets of chocolate, is sublime on a plate.

Me? I was prepared to be underwhelmed. I've been making the same pecan pie for over 20 years (yes, I started making pies when I was 6...not). So my pecan pie is obviously the best.

Uh, no. Dorie's is. By miles. So much so that I can't bring myself to consider cheating on it by making another pecan pie.

This pie was SO popular that the only piece left was a crumpled up sliver that I couldn't bring myself to show at the top of this post. So I made it again for yesterday's potluck for our last day in the office until January 5th. Since I was also bringing Dorie's Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, after much angst, I broke down and bought a pre-made pie crust from Trader Joe's. Butter was listed before palm oil, but it was just OK. Since I used a smallish pie plate, I had extra filling left over, which I poured in a buttered ramekin and baked along side the pie.

We have Beth at Someone's in the Kitchen with Brina to thank for picking this one. She went through Dorie Greenspan's book Baking from My Home to Yours and picked out this recipe for us to make this week.

The woman is brilliant. And Dorie? I already *heart* Dorie. Now only more so.

Barefoot Bloggers - Bread Pudding

Eek! I'm late with this post! I bailed on the last Barefoot Bloggers pick (Company Pot Roast) since I can't stomach large cuts of meat and am not a big fan of beef in general. Or wine.

For this one, I couldn't picture myself buying croissants to make a bread pudding I wasn't going to eat. After all, aren't there enough cookies, pastries and other delicacies floating around? But after I made Portuguese sweet bread this weekend, I eyed the stale loaf and thought its sweet notes of orange and lemon would be perfect for this recipe.

It was very fast to assemble (not counting the time I spent picking shards of egg shell out of the bowl) and baked in much less time than specified since I made a quarter of the recipe. I didn't have half and half, so I mixed whipping cream with 1% milk, but that made it a trifle oily. I also substituted dried cranberries for the raisins as I felt they would be nice with the citrus flavors of the bread.

I'm so glad I made this one with the Portuguese sweet bread. It added so much flavor to a dish I think would have been overly rich and bland. While it was still overly rich, the warmth of the citrus flavors was a nice touch.

Many thanks to Peggy of Pantry Revisited, who hosted this week. I love Peggy's blog and her sense of humor. Be sure you visit her...her bread pudding looks amazing! Peggy has the recipe, or you can find it here.

TWD - Cafe Volcano Cookies

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was chosen by one of my favorite bloggers, MacDuff of Lonely Sidecar. I have to be honest with you. When I saw the name of this recipe I said "what?!?"

Cafe. Volcano. Cookies. All interesting in their own ways, but together? How does that work?

It works pretty well. This is flat out the easiest cookie you'll ever make...even easier than a no-bake cookie. The hardest part is separating the eggs, but that's not a big deal. You use one pan. A bowl for the egg whites. And something to stir the mixture in the pan. The P&Q proved that this one is a blank canvas, with Nancy suggesting maple sugar, and Caitlin swapping cocoa for the espresso powder. After toasting the nuts (I used the suggested almonds and walnuts), you combine all of the ingredients in a pan (I used espresso powder and cinnamon for flavoring) and heat until it's warm. Then scoop out to a prepared cookie sheet. After baking, I could hear the cookies crackling as they cooled. Their texture was crisp and the flavor deliciously nutty due to the concentration of the browned nuts.

This may have been the most fun I had making a Dorie recipe. Stop by MacDuff's if you'd like the recipe, or, even better, buy the book, Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. You'll discover more improbable hits like this one.

BBA - Italian Bread

I am officially a bread snob. Even though I felt like making a sandwich the other day, I couldn't do it. See, we didn't have any bread in the house. I don't buy bread anymore. It just doesn't measure up, even to my pathetic loaves, and certainly not to the loaves that fill me with pride and disbelief.

So I jumped ahead of our Bread Bakers' Apprentice posting schedule and made this several weeks ago. We needed bread. The preparation was similar to the French bread we recently made. I had heard rumblings that this bread wasn't as good as the French, but I thought it was pretty great, especially in a sandwich. Even though this was a hearth bread (like the dismal ciabatta fail a while back), I didn't freak out.

I used my Italian olive oil and let it rest in the fridge for a couple of days to build flavor. Right after I made this one, I bought a lame (for slashing the loaves) and a peel (for transferring the loaves to the oven). I still naively believe that the right tools will solve all my baking problems.

This bread comes from the book The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. Next up: Kaiser rolls!

TWD - Sables, and what's REALLY been keeping me busy

Do you have any idea how hard it is to do anything, like bake cookies, when you have two uber adorable kittens in the house? I want to cuddle them part of the time and make sure they aren't killing each other the rest of the time.

Say hello to Pearl (top) and Joy (bottom). Joy is 5 1/2 months old and Pearl is 3 1/2 months old. I adopted them both from the Humane Society within a week of losing Allie. It was the first time in over 20 years that I didn't have a cat, and I couldn't take it. M. travels a lot and I get lonely.

Oh, did you come here looking for sables? Sables from Baking From My Home to Yours? For Tuesdays with Dorie? Of course you did. And I did make them, but how cute is this...

Moving on to the sables...

It was Bungalow Barbara's turn to pick. These sables were easy to make, though hard to roll into round logs and mine ended up looking more like flat tires than perfect circles. I opted to make mine cinnamon, and with almost 2 teaspoons of my favorite Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon, they were redolent with bold, spicy cinnamon flavor. They had a lovely, sandy texture and delicate crumb which was highlighted by the crunchy Turbinado sugar along the edge. They are perfect with a steaming cup of chai on a cold day.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I hear a commotion in the bedroom...

Ad Hoc Book Signing

Yesterday, my friend Susan and I waited in line in 41 degree weather for almost two hours (OK, we were indoors half of the time) to buy Ad Hoc At Home and have it autographed by Thomas Keller. Even though we were told he wouldn't do personal photos, yadda yadda, he was delightful in person and insisted on personal photos. If you bought Ad Hoc at Williams-Sonoma, he would sign it and any of his other cookbooks, regardless of where they were purchased. As you can see above, his signature is a beautiful addition to a fantastic cookbook. He was gracious and kind, and as down to earth as his food is ethereal.

CEiMB - Confetti Chili

I'm enjoying yet another bowl of this wonderful chili as I write this post. This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly was chosen by Lauren of I'll Eat You. Lauren also selected this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick. What are the odds of that happening?

I love a good chili when the weather turns chilly. I live in California, so my idea of cold is much different than others who live in truly cold climates, but I was happy to see that Lauren had picked a chili. I'm not a fan of beef, unless we're talking burgers, so I used lean ground turkey. The recipe in the book is slightly different from the one on the Food Network website, calling for corn and only two kinds of beans. I didn't have frozen corn, so I used three beans (pinto, kidney and garbanzo). I added some chipotle chili powder for extra kick, and I used diced tomatoes instead of crushed. All of the above worked fine except the last one. I think using crushed tomatoes would give this a chili-er consistency.

We were very happy with this one and I'll definitely make it again. And again. And again. So thanks, Lauren!

If you'd like the recipe, you can find it here.