Hello Cupcake!

Mission = To Bake!
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I promised at the start of this blog that I would conquer the impossible, which among many things for me is....BAKING! I can't actually remember the last time I baked. The schedule of late has been so hectic, I've not premeditated a baking day in weeks and weeks!!
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Well here is the end to the non-baking drought. Finishing my most recent attempts on a high note, I had confidence and experience on my side.
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I chose to try creating the beautiful cupcakes pictured in Ad Hoc.

I've been dying to learn a great sugary frosting recipe as well and figured I could not go wrong with Keller guiding me.

For the first time in at least a month, I had daylight to work with.

A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT!!!

Not yet complete, this is just the first step of the batter, which consisted of dry ingredients + butter.

Interestingly enough, Keller does not use the whole egg in this batter.

Instead egg whites are whipped up and folded into the dense batter starter pictured above.

The combination creates a lighter batter with that egg white sheen.

Rather than use the typical cupcake/muffin pan, I pulled out the big guns!

My jumbo muffin tins :o)

Of course, being double the size meant a different cooking time.

I overcooked them just a bit, but felt I did alright.

Going from done to over done in baking gets me almost EVERY TIME!

Once cooled I tried for the White Buttercream from Ad Hoc. The attempt was somewhat successful. I did end up with something to put on the cupcakes, but it was not quite the consistency pictured in Keller's finished product.

Pretty disappointed with my end result being so far from perfect, Hubs came to the rescue. As we tasted one of the frosted cakes, a light bulb went off. I mentioned that I thought the taste was very similar to a dense angel food cake and the frosting similar to whipped cream. Then Hubs mentions that strawberries on top would be good.

Well he was right!

They weren't just a good addition...but a freakin' great addition!!!

Strawberry Shortcake-Cupcakes!
This taste of summer really hit the spot!!

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With some help from Hubs, this baking attempt was rescued.

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I think that had no one known what my initial goal was, they might just assume this was all intentional haha!!

Preamble to Cooler Full-o-Lisai's: Part III

Who could not love a dinner party...especially when it's with fun, food loving, friends like B&A?!?!?!

Preamble to Part III of Cooler Full-o-Lisai's...

APP-PLATTS (APPetizer + PLATTerS)

Had this not been the same lazy Saturday that Hubs and I made our hearty breakfast, I might have aimed a bit higher on my APP-PLATTS...but I have no regrets to the laziness, or lack of planning. Nope, none whats so ever!!

This day at home, with no where to go and nothing to do, was just what the doctor ordered as we approached and prepared for the final push of March Madness.

Sweet Potato Dippers

I stumbled upon some sweet potato crackers/chip things on sale at the grocery store. This sight of these immediately triggered memories of a small micro brew-pub that serves awesome sweet potato fries accompanied by a sweet homemade chive-sour cream type of dipping sauce.

My attempts at recreating this wonderful dipping sauce, which I have such fond (yet vague) memories of included:

Creme Fraiche + Chives + Honey + Salt/Pepper

There you have it.

Store bought sweet potato chips and sweet chive dip...really labor intensive eh?

While I did add just a touch too much honey, the dip was pretty good. It seems this is yet another dips that improves over time and one that I suspect would be delicious on all sorts of things!

Green Salsa & Red Hots

B&A have gifted us much of their homemade bottled goodness over the months. As amazing as the fact that they bake their own bread each week (inspiring The Bread Project), they also create wonderful canned goods straight from their garden!!

Here is some of their wicked good Green Salsa. I had some Red Hot Blues in the cupboards and decided the two would make a great spicy pair.

Shrimp Cocktail & Smoked Clams

Other than arranging these plates, there is not too much for me to take credit for. The shrimp cocktail was a must, since B (of B&A) was so wild about them at our New Years get together.

As for the smoked clams, these were sort of after thought, but appropriate. B&A are among the few and far between fans of smoked shellfish!

This LAZY GAL's APP-PLATTS

Cooler Full-o-Lisai's: Part II

I am off and running folks!

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I've been on the road all week and as a result have been sadly ignoring my blogger duties.

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Turns out I am headed out again today for another 3 days away, but this time for coaching some hockey! The trip should be a great time and we've been working hard all month for it...but what is just as exciting is that it marks the end to my March Madness!!

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After this weekend life should resume as normal, with nightly meals being cranked out of my recently neglected kitchen :O)

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Cooler Full-o-Lisai's Continued

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For me patty sausage is the ultimate breakfast meat and I will always choose it over bacon, ham, etc. On Day II of Cooler Full-o-Lisai's we tried their breakfast sausage patties alongside some scrambled cheddar-n-steak eggs.

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When the breakfast cooking first began, the intention was to make a cheddar-n-steak omelet from my leftover rib eye and cook up the butcher made sausage. I have never been very good at making omelets, mostly because of my poor technique. Relying on Hubs' help, we tried to 'flip' the egg over with a swift wrist movement...but all we managed to do was splatter egg all over the kitchen. Haha, it was pretty funny!!

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To salvage what was left, we turned it into a scramble.

Cheesy-onion-beefy goodness!

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As for the sausage...it was okay.

I felt the seasonings were a bit off and the texture was a bit too coarse for my preference.

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The best part of this meal was not actually the food. What was so amazing about this meal was that this was the first Saturday morning in months where Hubs and I were both home with no where we had to be :o)

My Cooler Full-o-Lisai's: Part I

Often synonymous with the thought of VT are Maple Syrup, (white) Cheddar, the Green Mountains and COWS...many, many cows.
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As a child, whenever my family would drive the farm flats of the next town over during the spring, Dad would always take the opportunity to say...Smell that Westminster Perfume.
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My Aunt and Uncle also own a small farm where they raise own cows. The meat is soooo good that Hubs (whose most favorite thing of all time are burgers), was given a few pounds of their ground treasure for the holidays. Best Burgers EVER!!!

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The strangest thing about where we live in VT now, is our access to fresh meat. We've moved to the BIG (VT) City where we have ready access to just about anything you may need or want....well everything but a must shop, butcher shop!!! Hubs and I just cannot get over this fact. Where are the cooler lined hole in the walls with the fresh, local meats we so desire?!?!
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Here in the BIG (VT) City, unless you know someone or buy a cow yourself, it is very hard to get some really good fresh meat! Sure, there are the healthy/natural food stores that have a wonderful selection of "local" meats (aka from within state), all freshly vacuum packed in plastic with labels boasting organic, grass fed, hormone free, yada, crunchy hippi, yada...it's still not the same!
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When I made the Keller Meatballs, I did go to the Meat Market in the next town over (which happens to also be one of the more wealthy, overpriced towns of our area). While the meat is better than that from the grocery store, there is a very limited selection and it's still not worth the entire price.
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Could it be that I just have not looked hard enough? Have I not searched far and wide into every nook and cranny of our town? No matter the reason, I am currently living a life of butcher-less disappointment.
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The reason for this coming series of posts is a recent (and somewhat fortunate) work trip South. Since we'd be passing by my hometown, I for once had the foresight to pack a cooler and then successfully convinced my office road buddy that we needed to stop in on the way home.
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My hometown go to called Lisai's Cash Market. A local family's business, these guys do meat right! Their Rib Eyes are my most favorite item to get, so beautifully red and fatty, these steaks will not cost you a small fortune.
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In addition to picking up a couple beautiful Rib Eyes, I also purchased 3+ lbs of the (famous) house marinated steak tips, 2 pork tenderloins and breakfast sausage. Total cost for cooler Full-o-Lisai's freshness...about $40.
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These are the rib eyes :O)

With a piece of meat this good, you only need salt and pepper.
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Having been on the road, I had to rely on what my cupboards could offer for sides.

As you know, brown rice is something I am swearing by these days.

I did the usual cooking in chicken broth and then added some leftover red peppers, vidalia onion, and pepperoncinis.
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Our grilled Rib Eyes came out just perfect!

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I know everyone has their own theories on grilling, but here is what I do in a nutshell.

Preheat grill to 425+ degrees.

Plop steaks on between your hottest and coolest zones;

slightly closer to the hottest (direct heat) area.

Drop gas to low and cover.

After 4-6 minutes (depending on thickness) flip once.

Cook until done.

I gauge my doneness by look and touch,

probably no longer than 8-10 minutes for a good medium rare.

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Hubs absolutely LOVED this meal and he actually managed to eat his entire HUGE steak!

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Cooked to a great medium rare, these Rib Eyes were melt in your mouth delicious.

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The rice, other than being a little under done, was pretty tasty as well! I think the pepperoncini made an excellent accent to the otherwise boring brown rice.

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I do have to say that a nice grilled Rib Eye has got to be one of my most favorite things in the world to indulge in!

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So simple and wicked good!!!!

Food Therapy with Thomas Keller

With March Madness pushing me to the edge of sanity, I truly did need my Food Therapy. I chose to give myself a personal day from work and life to spend at home.

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As one could imagine, my expectations were very high for these first kitchen encounters with Ad Hoc a Home. Beginning with the Pistachio Butter earlier in the day, I decided to also break in this beaut of a book by tackling:

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AD HOC'S SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Meatballs and Pappardelle

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OVEN ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

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I am a huge, and I mean HUGE, fan of homemade tomato sauce. Thomas Keller offers, what is for me, a rather unique variation...from its ingredients to its cooking method.

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Some unlikely ingredients:

Leeks, Fennel, Red Wine Vinegar, Brown Sugar

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Unusual cooking method: Oven Roasted in my Le Creuset

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This very easy, no fuss sauce and done all inside your oven!

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I did venture off Keller's directed path just a bit. The recipe actually directs you to drain some canned tomatoes and chop them up, removing seeds. Now if you ask me that sounds like a lot of unnecessary work, so instead I just dumped the two cans directly in and used my masher to break them up. I also added just a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

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Another override was to not use the herb sachet, which is just an herb/spice bundle wrapped up in some cheese cloth. At this stage in my cooking, I do not have cheese cloth on hand, have actually never bought it...not sure I'd know where to look for it! Instead I improvised...

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HERB SACHET UNDONE

Whole Black Peppercorns - Fresh Ground Pepper

Fresh Thyme Sprigs - Dried Thyme

Bay Leaf - Dried Bay Leaf

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Everything simmers uncovered in the oven until thickened (about 1.5 hours). Now just walk away...this super simple sauce works itself, only requiring you to stir a few times during the cooking process (Keller says every 30 minutes). Just remember to remove the bay leaf before serving.

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MEATBALLS AND PAPPARDELLE

(or rather Bucatini)

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I didn't find any Pappardelle at my grocery store and didn't really feel like trying to make it myself, since I don't have a pasta maker to make easy the rolling/thining part.

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Instead I decided to substitute Bucatini, which is like a spaghetti straw. The nice part of this pasta is it traps the saucy yumminess inside.

*Since I had the day to myself, I made a special trip to the meat market (aka butcher shop) in the next town over. Keller calls for chuck, sirloin, pork butt, and veal. As I informed you in my pork cutlet entry, I cannot seem to bring myself to buy veal and decided to override yet again by replacing the call for veal with extra sirloin.

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Another first-time of this cooking session was pulling out our wedding gifted meat grinder!
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All of the meats are cubed, salted and run through...then run through again.
Absolutely awesome!!
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Sauteed onions/garlic, panko breadcrumbs, parsley and egg are mixed in.

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Baseball sized meatballs are rolled, stuffed with a cube of fresh mozzarella, and baked in the oven.
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The pasta is mixed up with melted butter, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

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Finished meatballs plated atop the oven roasted sauce.

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These are GIGANTIC and filled with melted cheesy goodness!

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Ad Hoc's Spaghetti and Meatballs at home.

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DELICIOUS!

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Keller does not disappoint with these two recipes.

They are both rather easy and super tasty!

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Onto the next Ad Hoc attempt...

thinking about some cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

Greek Yogurt taken to the Next Level!

Since so many of you seem to be such HUGE fans of our Greek Yogurt Dip, I thought I'd add an extra level of dippy goodness to the mix.

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Mark Bittman, in his NY Times - The Minimalist column explains transforming your own traditional/typical yogurt into a thick, cut with knife, greek style yogurt!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/dining/17mini.html?ref=dining
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I have not tried this myself yet, but hope to the next time we make up the dip.
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Moldy Cheese Dip

(great on veggies, wings, etc)

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Greek Yogurt
Crumbled Gorgonzola or Blue Cheese
Red Onion or Shallots
Scallions
Salt/Pepper
Lemon Juice
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Mix it all together to taste and voila!
*Does get better if you give the dip time to set and the flavors to meld together.
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Enjoy!

Alaea - Hawaiian Sea Salt

Has anyone else noticed the recent salt craze in popular foodie media? Salts are haute!
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Truffle Salt is one thing I've been eyeing at the local William Sonoma. Especially since Sounding My Barbaric Gulp's planned wedding menu, where they will sprinkle it on popcorn!

One night while cutting up the spice aisle in the grocery store, something colorful and well packaged caught my eye.

Some haute salts!

Curious enough, I decided to purchase Alaea, Hawaiian Sea Salt. Can you really taste a difference? Or is salt just salt?

Online I discovered this about Alaea Salt - In ancient Hawaii, on the island of what is now Kauai, red volcanic clay sediment was washed into the ocean by heavy rains, and from this Alaea “met” sea salt.

A traditional Hawaiian sea salt used to season and preserve, it is non-processed and rich in natural seawater minerals (80+ unique minerals!) and naturally enriched with Iron-Oxide (from the clay).

In order to test whether or not this salt would taste differently, I kept my chicken rather simple and used Alaea Salt, pepper and a touch of olive oil. The salt looks like tiny gems!

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Additionally, since watching a high speed video of the bird de-boning process at Extreme Cooking Blog, I've decided I would like to know how to do this. Beginning with baby steps, I decided to start with a package of chicken thighs. For the most part this first attempt went pretty well, but there certainly is some technique to be learned here.
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I also decided to see how the Alaea Salt would work in other dinner components...

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...like salad dressing.

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Just a simple lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and dash of rice vinegar.
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I even used some in yet another version of brown rice (and perhaps my favorite yet).

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Beginning with the same process as in previous posts, I cooked up the rice in chicken broth and once nearly all of the liquid was absorbed, added some lightly sauteed baby button mushrooms, parsley flake, Alaea Salt, pepper and a touch of garlic powder.

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Holy YUM, was this some good stuff!

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The marinated chicked was grilled up.

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Salad dressed and rice plated.
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Our Alaea Salt Plates.

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The dinner was good and perfect for a weeknight.

Neither Hubs or I could notice any significantly unique flavor from the salt.

Hubs did comment the chicken was a bit salty, which was very likely due to me being carried away with sprinkling on those pretty little red crystals.

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Final Observations: Alaea, Hawaiian Sea Salt does not seem to have a specific taste or smell. It does offer an intensely crunchy texture (like in our salad dressing) and can add a vibrant color if sprinkled on when finishing your dishes.

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All in all, I feel these natural salt varieties are like fine wines.

You have to have a really sensitive, or well trained, palate to taste a difference.

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I will not rule these natural salt varieties out, but do think the flavored salts (truffle salt, basil salt, lemon salt, etc) are more up my ally to experiment with.

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Hmm...I do like where this one is going -

Haute at home!