Vanilla Sugar

I am a big fan of vanilla.  The only scented body or hand soap I'll use willingly is vanilla, the only kind of scent or perfume I've ever used is vanilla, and just opening a jar of vanilla extract (real, please, not imitation) in another room is a great way to get me rushing in to look over your shoulder.  I think it's unfortunate that the word "vanilla" has come to mean "plain" to so many minds, because true vanilla is anything but plain.  Consider that vanilla is the seed pod of a tropical climbing orchid, and "plain" starts to go out the window.  Vanilla Sugar is not a cheap product to make and have on hand, but I think it's worth the occasional splurge because of the way it elevates sweet baked goods.

• 2 C granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean

1.   Pour sugar into a bowl and set aside.  Slice the vanilla bean down the center to open it.  Scrape the inside of the bean with the side of a small knife to remove the seeds. 
2.  Add seeds to the bowl of sugar, and use your fingers to rub the inside of the scraped bean with some of the sugar, to coax out any additional seeds that you may have missed while scraping.  Stir together seeds and sugar to get the seeds as well mixed as possible.
3.  Pour sugar and seed mixture into an airtight container, burying the bean in the sugar as well.  It will take 1-2 weeks for the flavouring to infuse fully.

Yield: 2 Cups vanilla sugar

Robyn's notes: once the vanilla sugar has combined, it can be used in place of sugar in sweet recipes, without needing to adjust measurements.  It's also good in coffee or tea, sprinkled on oatmeal or fruit, or as a simple but elegant gift-in-a-jar for friends who bake.  To make this more cost-efficient, used beans work fine, too.  If you've made a custard or sauce with a vanilla bean, you won't be eating the actual bean as part of that dish.  So once you've removed the bean from its previous use, pat it dry gently and put it into the sugar.  As the bean dries in the sugar, give the canister a shake from time to time, it'll break up any clumps that may have formed and help loosen any remaining "vanilla caviar" (the seeds) that may still be in the bean.  In the photo above, I used half of a new bean and half a bean that had already been used for another purpose.  Vanilla sugar can be stored indefinitely in an air-tight container, just as regular sugar can, and just needs to be topped off with additional sugar and more seeds or another bean as you use it up. 

***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I will make this repeatedly

Raspberry Gratin

Sometimes when the original recipe is bad, there's nothing you can do to fix it. 

• 1 C milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 C raspberries
• 2 Tbsp flaked almonds

1.  In a small saucepan over low heat, combine milk and split vanilla bean.  Stir until warmed through, then remove from heat and allow to infuse.
2.  Mix sugar and yolks until the mixture turns white.  Remove the vanilla bean from milk and set it aside.  Stir sugar mixture into milk and heat on low, stirring constantly, until cream thickens.
3.  Heat broiler.  Spoon raspberries into cocottes or individual casserole dishes, top with cream mixture, and sprinkle with almonds.  Cook 3-4 minutes, or until almonds are golden.

Robyn's notes: I really hoped I could fix the recipe I found, because a raspberry gratin sounded so great.  The original recipe was missing instructions, was formatted poorly, and had things in the wrong order.  Here's an example:  "Divide the into the mini casserole dishes, squeezing and sprinkle the lot with flaked almonds."  HUH?!  Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any fixing this one, and if I want a raspberry gratin I'll have to write it from scratch.  Also, clearly I don't put any effort into food styling when the dish doesn't come out well, haha!

* 1 Star: Not Too Good. Neither of us liked this enough for me to bother making it again without complete overhaul

 

Mini Cocotte Frittatas

When I received those Le Creuset mini cocottes, I said I would be going crazy writing recipes just to use them, and, yes, it has begun.

• 2 eggs
• 4 Tbsp Gruyere, divided
• 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
• 2 Tbsp diced ham
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 C frozen southern-style hash brown potatoes
• 2 C baby spinach

1.  Set cocottes on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven; preheat oven to 450°F.  While oven is heating, melt oil in a small skillet, add potatoes and cook over medium-high heat, covered, for about 4 minutes, or until brown on one side.  Reduce heat to medium-low, turn potatoes, push to one side of the skillet, and add spinach to the other side.  Cook, uncovered, until spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
2.  Whisk together egg, 2 Tbsp cheese, milk, ham, salt, and pepper.  When spinach is cooked, stir it into the egg mixture.
3.  Remove heated dishes from the oven and coat with cooking spray.  Spoon half of the potatoes into the bottom of each cocotte, and immediately pour in egg mixture, topping with remaining cheese.  Bake until frittata is puffed up and golden, about 15 minutes.

Robyn's notes: these came out quite small, which is fine as long as they're served alongside some fresh fruit or whatever is preferred.  I do not recommend increasing the amount of egg.  Every time I've tried to do so, the outside has cooked through, but as soon as it's pierced with a fork the center is discovered to be raw liquid egg.  I end up having to stir the top inch and cook, stir and cook, for another 6-8 minutes, which overcooks the sides and makes the cheese flavour disappear.  For those without cocottes, ramekins or individual casserole dishes should work fine.  I can't eat spinach, so mine is the one on the left in the picture above, I just poured in my part of the egg mixture before stirring in the spinach.  I always keep a bag of these potatoes in the freezer, to use when I'm making breakfast burritos, and the brand and style I use (Ore-Ida) is gluten-free.  An additional option for those who are able to eat such things is to use either the hash brown potatoes with peppers and onions, or to add a little diced shallot/onion and pepper when cooking the potatoes.  These were good.  Moist and tasty, and easy to add things to if desired.  

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Birthday Gifts

My gifts from my beloved this year weren't food- or cooking-related, but we did my belated birthday celebration with my folks this week and the gifts from them were.  Here's the lovely selection of Le Creuset items in my favourite colour: 

I love the petite casseroles (or mini round cocottes), and I'm working on some recipes specifically so that I can use them (definitely a creme brulee, possibly a little potato dish, not sure yet what else). 

Marshmallow Fondant

Since I recently had a birthday, this week we're doing the late celebration with my folks.  My mom has always been one to make special cakes in different shapes to match some event going on in life or the theme of the party.  When I was in the 8th grade, for example, my party was midnight bowling and then (after sending the boys home) a slumber party.  So the cake she made was a bowling ball striking a bowling pin.  When my sister was 25, my mom drove down to visit and made a campfire cake using sheets of melted hard candies shattered into flames, with marshmallows on skewers sticking up as if they were roasting.  This year she's making me a knitting-themed cake, and in brainstorming the best method it was decided that she would make a basket out of cake (frosted), and then round Rice Krispies Treats frosted to look like balls of yarn (she doesn't have and didn't want to buy any round cake pans and the other option was to put two cupcakes together and cut off the edges to make them round).  She will be frosting with buttercream, since I basically consider cake to be a vehicle for conveying frosting, but I decided to try and see if I could make marshmallow fondant work as another option.  I used ratios and instructions from about.com.

• 1 C miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 Tbsp water
• food colouring
• 1 C powdered (confectioner's) sugar

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.
2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated.
3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.
4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smooths out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

Robyn's notes: I did not end up incorporating all of the powdered sugar, and I didn't dust either my workspace or my hands with sugar, so I used a lot less sugar than this recipe instructed.  I was fairly nervous about it, but the fondant was the proper consistency, not sticky, and I didn't want to add more sugar unnecessarily and make the fondant crack.  I did lay down wax paper, and turned the bowl out onto that, there was enough unused sugar to keep my fondant from sticking to the wax paper.  This was really easy and definitely tastes better than store-bought fondant (ever tried it? it's nasty--like cardboard).  I was just making a test batch, so there's only one colour, if I'd made more colours I could add a stripe onto the cupcake, or a small flower, or whatever.  What's shown in the picture at the top of this post is almost the entire batch.  I pinched off and tasted about a half-inch ball before covering the cupcake.  Keep in mind that fondant is not meant to stick onto a cake on its own, if using it to frost something you'll need to put down a thin layer of another frosting (buttercream or whatever) as an adhesive, otherwise the fondant will just lift right off. 

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

How to Whip Cream

Take a look at the ingredients list of a package of whipped cream.  Don't have one nearby?  Here's what I found on the side of a tub of Cool Whip: water, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavor, modified food starch, xanthan and guar gum, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 65, sorbitan monostearate, sodium hydroxide, beta carotene.  That's really not the slightest bit appetizing to me, and honestly I never have need of 8oz (more than 3 Cups) of whipped cream.  Interestingly, it takes less time to whip cream from scratch than it does to drive to the store and buy Cool Whip, assuming you have heavy cream in the house.

• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

1.  About 10 minutes before you plan to start, place a whisk and a medium metal bowl in the freezer so that they'll be cold when you begin.

2.  Pour cream into bowl and begin whisking as quickly as you can keep up with.  Be sure to rotate the bowl so that you access every bit of the cream.

3.  As soon as you see the beginning of soft peaks forming (they'll look like wavy streaks), add the sugar and vanilla.  Continue whisking until soft peaks have formed, being careful not to overwhip.  The cream should hold its shape when dolloped onto something.

Yield: approx 1 Cup 

Robyn's notes: It's best to use a bowl that's somewhat deep, instead of one with a wide mouth, and keep in mind that the cream will about double in size, so pick a bowl that can accommodate that.  I can't give estimates on how long to whisk each stage because I'm relatively weak from my health problems, so the speed at which I whisk may be completely different from what someone else would do.  Just watch for the strength of the peaks and it should be fine.  This should be used right away, but if it needs to be refrigerated for a couple hours, just give it another quick whisking before using, to re-incorporate it all.  When I'm making an ingredient that calls for cream, I buy it in a one-pint carton and get a package of strawberries or raspberries or similar at the same time.  Then, when I've used as much cream as I'll need for the recipe in question, I can whip up most of the rest of the carton into whipped cream and serve it on fruit (or even as part of a quick fruit shortcake).  If you're used to Cool Whip, real whipped cream may not be sweet enough for your taste, in which case feel free to increase the amount of sugar incrementally until it's the way you like it.   

***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I will make this repeatedly

Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Brownies

Today is National Butterscotch Brownie Day. This recipe is not a traditional butterscotch brownie, which is more of a blondie, having no chocolate to it. But, frankly, I'll take any opportunity to write a recipe that includes both chocolate and butterscotch.

• 1.3oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 C butter, cubed
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 C all-purpose flour
• 1/3 C 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips
• 1/2 C butterscotch chips

Glaze:

• 1/3 C 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp butter, cubed

1. Prepare baking pan: line a loaf pan with non-stick foil. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a microwave, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and chocolate mixture. Stir in egg white and vanilla. Gradually add flour to chocolate mixture. Stir in chips.
3. Spread into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
4. For glaze, in a microwave, melt chips and butter; stir until smooth. Immediately spread over brownies. Cool before cutting.

Robyn's notes: Rich! This makes two large brownies and would probably make a good base for some vanilla ice cream. The photo above includes the glaze, so I'm also showing the brownies without glaze, as I know some people think it's not a brownie if it's frosted in any way. I used "non-stick foil", which is not regular aluminum foil. It's a more expensive version sold by the Reynolds company that doesn't stick to anything. I didn't test any other methods (greasing pan, regular foil, etc.) so I can't speak to how well they'd work, I can only say that there's a good amount of fat in the recipe and greasing the pan might mean too much. 3 stars instead of 4 because it really is so very rich that we won't be wanting it too often.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Red Potato Gratin Dauphinois

• 3/4 C heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 small to medium red potatoes
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 C Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1/2 C fontina cheese, shredded

1.  Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, Dijon, and garlic; add salt and pepper. Cut the potatoes as thin as possible using either a mandoline or your sharpest knife and place them in the cream mixture to marinate.
3.  Rub the olive oil all over the sides and bottom of two gratin pans and then begin shingling the potato slices in a single layer on the bottom of the pans. When the first layer is finished, sprinkle a thin layer of both Fontina and Gruyere on top of the potatoes (it should be about 1 Tbsp of each, depending on the shape of your pan). Repeat this process until you have 3 layers of potatoes, then pour the cream mixture over the top, filling it up about halfway; make sure you reserve enough of the Gruyere to liberally coat the top layer of potatoes.
4.  Bake, uncovered, at 400°F for 30 minutes, then turn on broiler and broil for 2 more minutes.  Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: this is another recipe I'm quite proud of.  It came out fabulously.  When the first 30 minutes of cook time had finished, I took the pan out of the oven, turned on the broiler, and poked through all three layers of potatoes with a toothpick, to see how tender they were.  If any part of them had been still crunchy, I would have broiled for longer than the 2 minutes, to get them nice and tender.  Fortunately all three layers were perfect, so the 2 minutes under the broiler was just right to give it an extra browning on top.  Since I'm not allowed to eat potato skins, I peeled my half of the potatoes.  I served this as a meal, but it can also be a side, though I'd recommend getting all the smallest potatoes possible if serving as a side.  

***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I will make this repeatedly

Guide to Using Up Ingredients

I've added a page to the top of the blog entitled "Using Up Ingredients".  This is a cross-reference of the recipes by certain ingredients, so that if you've made something that called for, say, 1/4 C of plain yogurt, and still have the rest of the container to use up, you can look up yogurt on that page and find other recipes that call for it. 

The page is under construction, because it means I have to think of the ingredients that this is often a problem with, and search, list, and link each recipe for each, but it should be useful despite being incomplete.

No-Roll Chicken Cordon Bleu

Note: plan ahead, chicken needs to refrigerate before cooking

• 2 Tbsp ham, cut to a fine dice
• 2 Tbsp Gruyere, shredded
• 2 Tbsp cream cheese
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 C flour 
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 C panko 

1.  In small bowl, stir together ham, Gruyere, and cream cheese.  With sharp knife, cut a pocket in each chicken breast half; stuff with ham and cheese mixture.  Place chicken on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet or pan.
3.  Spread flour in bottom of a shallow dish.  Beat together egg and Dijon, pour into another shallow dish.  Put panko in a third shallow dish.  Dredge chicken in flour, turning to coat.  Dip in egg mixture, covering well, and then dredge in panko, pressing with fingers to help panko stick to chicken all over.
4.  Place chicken breasts on wire rack set in pan.  Spray the top of each with a short burst of cooking spray (optional).  Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: I'm quite proud of this recipe.  I was thinking this morning "I've still got quite a bit of ham left, what should I do with it?" and then sat down and wrote this recipe for an altered chicken cordon bleu.  It came out very well, served over rice.  Swiss cheese can be used in place of the Gruyere, but it won't have the strength of flavour.  I made this a second time in May 2013, entirely because I needed a better photo for a project I'm working on.  That's the photo at the top of this entry, and it shows the chicken served alongside red quinoa. 

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Crustless Mini Quiches

• butter, for greasing pans
• 2 Tbsp bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 C milk
• pinch of salt
• dash of pepper
• 1/3 C diced ham
• 1/3 C Gruyere, shredded, divided

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Butter the bottom and sides of two mini tart/quiche pans and dust with bread crumbs (1 Tbsp of crumbs into each).  Set aside.
2.  In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs together; add the milk, salt, and pepper. Add ham and all but 2 Tbsp cheese.
3.  Pour egg mixture into the prepared pans and scatter remaining cheese over tops.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until eggs are set.

Robyn's notes: this is very close to a Quiche Lorraine, but uses ham instead of bacon (mainly because I had ham in the house I wanted to use up).  I'm a big fan of breakfast for dinner, obviously this can be served basically any time of the day.  If you do not have mini tart pans, prepare a regular sized pie pan in the same manner and bake for 25-35 minutes, watching for the eggs to set.  It may be a much thinner quiche that way, I can't say for sure how far the egg mixture will go in a single large pan.  This turned out very well and I'm pleased with it because I always have bread crumbs in the house but rarely have prepared crusts or the energy to make a crust from scratch.  Good way to use up Gruyere if you've made Gnocchi Mac n Cheese recently.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Easy Berry Yogurt Muffins

Note: check yield before starting, this is a full-size recipe, makes 12 muffins

• 1 1/2 C flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 C packed brown sugar 
• 4 Tbsp melted butter 
• 1 large egg 
• 3/4 C plain yogurt 
• 2 Tbsp milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 C blackberries, frozen or fresh

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line muffin tin with 12 paper cups.
2.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.  In another bowl, combine the melted butter, egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla until well mixed.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir.  Add in the blackberries and stir until just combined.
3.  Spoon batter into paper cups and bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, serving while still warm.

Yield: 12 muffins

Robyn's notes: I may eventually cut this recipe down, but sometimes you just have to make it once at full-size in order to determine the best method for halving the single egg.  These muffins definitely need the paper linings for the tin, they wouldn't have come out of a tin that's just been sprayed or greased.  When combining the wet ingredients, I melted the butter in the microwave, let it sit to cool while I combined the rest of the wet ingredients, then slowly drizzled in the butter while stirring.  If you add melted butter to cold egg, the egg will start to cook in the bowl.  For me, the 20 minute cook time was perfect, it definitely could not have come out any sooner and shouldn't go much longer, but some ovens might need one or two minutes more.  I used fresh berries.  The berries, by the way, are somewhat molten when the muffins first come out of the oven, so be careful.  Would make a good brunch muffin.  

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

 

Food Holidays

I really enjoy so-called Food Holidays, and you'll see me providing recipes that fit them now and then. Obviously, none of them are actual US Holidays (partly because even federal holidays that are designated by Congress are technically not state holidays unless a given state chooses to participate). Some are official observances, designated by Congress, the President, or certain executive departments. These are generally calling attention to a food or food-related industry that's economically important to the US, which is why the US Department of Agriculture regularly selects foods to have their own special day.

As for the rest? Marketing. The pork industry can only get so far with slogans like "the other white meat" and "be inspired". Dairy farmers of America did great with "got milk?" but they need to remind the consumer of all the other things their cows produce. So their PR departments and marketing execs give us holidays that aren't holidays, excuses for us to eat their products and keep them in the forefront of our minds.

And I'm ok with that. There are more food holidays than there are days in the year, so we certainly don't celebrate all of them. At the beginning of the month I take a look at the food holiday calendar and if there's anything upcoming that I want to eat, I plan it for that dish's special day. In this house we enjoy our food, and silly little things like Lima Bean Respect Day (April 20th) are one more way to do that.

Mini Carrot Cake

It's my beloved's birthday, and the only kind of cake he really enjoys is carrot cake.

• Unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing the cans
• 3/4 C + 2 Tbsp sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the cans
• 1/4 C + 2 Tbsp buttermilk
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• yolk of 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 C grated carrots
• 2 Tbsp raisins
• 2 Tbsp chopped pecans or walnuts
• 2 Tbsp sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh or canned pineapple, well drained (optional)
• Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease the insides of the cans and lightly dust them with flour, tapping out the excess. Place the cans on a baking sheet for easier handling, and set aside.
3. Place the buttermilk, oil, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir to mix.
4. Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-size mixing bowl and whisk to blend well. Add the buttermilk mixture and whisk just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the carrots, raisins, nuts, coconut, and pineapple if using.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared cans, dividing it evenly between them. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 37 to 39 minutes.
6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the cans to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then run a thin, sharp knife around the edge of each can, and invert the cans to release the cakes. Turn the cakes upright and let them cool on the rack. (The cakes can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days)
7. To frost cakes, cut each in half horizontally. Spread a layer of the Cream Cheese Frosting about 1/4 inch thick on the cut side of one cake half, then stack the other half on top of it. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Repeat with the remaining cake and frosting. (Frosted cakes can be stored loosely but well covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days)

Robyn's notes: I can't eat many of the ingredients in carrot cake, so instead of making two mini cakes in recycled cans, I made one mini cake in a 4 inch springform pan. This left a little leftover batter, but not too much. I did not use the pineapple, and I chose walnuts over pecans. The cake, possibly because of the difference in pan, had to cook for 46 minutes. The picture below is prior to frosting the cake. I (obviously) did not frost according to the instructions given, because he's not a big fan of frosting. I just cut the rounded top off and frosted the top in a single layer, then added the frosting carrot.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Small Batch Cream Cheese Frosting

For frosting Mini Carrot Cake.

• 4 oz cream cheese, cubed, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 C confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium-size bowl, and cream them with a fork or a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 45 seconds. Sift the confectioner's sugar over the cream cheese mixture; then beat, using a hand-held mixture on medium speed, until the frosting is creamy. Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

Robyn's notes: the recipe says this makes 1 Cup. It made a lot more than that, which is something I've noticed with this author's frosting recipes. She always says they make one cup, they always make significantly more than that. I spooned out a few Tablespoons of the completed frosting into two small bowls. To one I added a drop of green food colouring and stirred; to the other I added one drop red, one drop yellow and stirred. When I had a small bowl of green frosting, a small bowl of orange frosting, and a large bowl of white frosting, I used the white for frosting the cake as usual, then dropped a small amount of orange frosting onto it in the shape of a triangle. At the fat end of the triangle I dropped a small amount of green frosting, using a toothpick to shape it until I had a tiny carrot made out of frosting.  This can be seen in the photo of the frosted cake, linked above.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Grilled Triple Cheese Sandwiches

Today, April 12th, is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. When I was growing up, our dad had only two meals in his repertoire, and one of them was grilled cheese sandwiches served with tomato soup. His version involved Wonder bread, Kraft singles, margarine, and Campbell's condensed (with Goldfish crackers swimming on top). As I've gotten older, my tastes and skills have moved on a bit, and while I still enjoy a good Goldfish cracker, the rest of those brands have fallen by the wayside.

So in honor of this very important holiday, I present a recipe and some tips for grilled cheese sandwich success.

• 4 slices Cheddar Cheese Bread
• 2 oz favourite cheese, grated (I used Kerrygold Dubliner)
  
• 1 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Heat nonstick pan over medium heat. Pile chosen cheese evenly onto two slices of bread. Top with remaining bread.
2. With pastry brush, coat top piece of bread on each sandwich with melted butter. Sprinkle Parmesan loosely onto buttered bread. Turning sandwich upside-down and holding both sides carefully closed, place into hot pan.
3. Brush melted butter over new top of sandwich and sprinkle Parmesan loosely onto buttered bread. Cover pan and cook over medium heat, checking bottom of sandwich often to ensure it doesn't burn.
4. When bottom of sandwich is golden, flip sandwich carefully with spatula. Cook, uncovered, until new bottom of sandwich is golden and center cheese is melted through.

Robyn's notes: I didn't use exactly as much cheese as I prepared, but close to it. Because the bread comes from a mini-loaf, if the sandwiches aren't served alongside anything else, a single sandwich won't be enough for each person. In that case, double this recipe and make two sandwiches per person. This was served, of course, with Quick Herb-Tomato Soup.

The above is all pretty standard; I think most of us know how to make a basic grilled cheese. The following tips, however, should help with making the most of the meal. First: grate your chosen cheese. Cheese is easiest to grate (and slice) when it's cold, but easiest to work with (and melt) when at room temperature. So grate the cheeses early on, and then allow them to come to room temperature or close to it (being careful not to just leave cheese lying around for too long, for safety's sake). Grated cheese will melt faster and more easily when making the sandwich. Second: do not slice the bread too thickly. The general rule of thumb is no thicker than 1/2inch, especially if the bread is particularly dense. The heat has to get through it to melt the cheese, after all. When you're piling the grated cheese onto the bread, don't be afraid to give it a good mush with your (clean) fingers. This helps in getting enough cheese into the sandwich, and also keeps it from falling out during the all-important flip. Third: use a non-stick pan. Cast-iron has its place, but not with grilled cheese. Start heating up that pan in advance, so that you place the prepared sandwich into a hot pan to begin with. Fourth: use real butter, not margarine or spreads. Salted butter supposedly has a nice flavour to it for this use, but I don't keep it in the house, so I can't confirm that. Butter the bread, not the pan. In the case of the recipe above, you must butter the bread in order to give the Parmesan something to stick to, but in all cases you want the sandwich holding the fat, not the pan. I've recommended brushing the butter on in melted form, because it's easier than trying to spread solid butter across bread without tearing the bread, and because it helps the butter coat the bread so that it cooks evenly. If this is not an option (no brush, for example), bring the butter to room temperature before beginning. Soft butter is easier to spread. Fifth: cover the sandwich as it cooks the first side, but not the second. Covering the sandwich helps retain heat to melt the center cheese before the bottom bread burns. The second side will cook faster, so it's best not to cover the sandwich after the flip as it may cook too fast to catch. Sixth: press down on the sandwich with the flat of the spatula after the flip, it helps the center cheese spread evenly. Finally: don't be in a rush. There is no reason to ever heat the burner to "high", keep it at medium or below.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Quick Herb-Tomato Soup

• 1 (14.5 oz) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 C roasted garlic hummus
• 1 tsp crushed dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning blend, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp pepper (coarsely ground preferred)
• 1 Tbsp snipped fresh parsley (optional)

1. In a small saucepan, stir together all the ingredients except the parsley. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Carefully pour into a blender and process until smooth (or remove from the heat and use an immersion, or handheld, blender).
2. Return to the pan. Heat over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until just simmering. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with the parsley.

Robyn's notes: this was far too strongly herb flavoured. If making this again, I'd actually halve the amount of all of the herbs. It was quite easy and quick, though. Shown with Grilled Triple Cheese Sandwiches.

** 2 Stars: Acceptable. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, if I make changes

Nutritional Facts: Exchanges = 1/2 Starch, 2 Vegetable, 1 Fat. Calories 125; Calories from Fat 55; Total Fat 6g; Saturated Fat 1.1g; Trans Fat 0g; Polyunsaturated Fat 2.4g; Monounsaturated Fat 2.7g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 200mg; Total Carbohydrate 16g; Dietary Fiber 5g; Sugars 7g; Protein 4g

Singular Rice Krispie Treat

I'm a big fan of Rice Krispie Treats, but the standard recipe makes 24 squares, and I find it challenging to have a pan of them in the house and not return to it over and over until they're all gone in one evening. This recipe makes 3 squares if you cut them the size Kellogg's bases their nutritional analysis on, but it makes one big square to my way of thinking.

• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 6 large marshmallows
• 1/2 rounded C Rice Krispies cereal

1. Melt butter and marshmallows together in microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute, stirring well to combine. Move on to step 2.
OR
1. In saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows together over low heat. Move on to step 2.

2. Stir in cereal until well coated. Place on a square of plastic wrap and fold up, molding the treat into a square. Allow to cool.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Millionbøf

We've just returned from a trip to Solvang, an old Danish colony on the Central California Coast (Santa Barbara County). One of the real joys of a visit to a place like Solvang is experiencing the food. Scandinavian cuisine in general doesn't seem to get enough credit, but fortunately most people are well aware of the quality of Danish pastries and baked goods. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, being sure to visit some bakeries and to get æbleskiver alongside breakfast one morning.

Coming back, though, I decided that while we'd taken advantage of plenty of sweet treats (Danish waffles with buttercream and raspberry, eclairs, cheese bread, butter ring, etc.), we hadn't had much in the way of Danish entrees. My dietary restrictions made it somewhat difficult, but I knew there must be traditional dishes we hadn't stumbled across that I'd be able to eat. So upon returning home I did some research and discovered the dish known as millionbøf. Literally translated it means "million steak", as the meat is minced into many small pieces. I adapted this recipe from several informal versions I found and translated online. I do own one Scandinavian cookery book, and our local library has one other, but both are from the 1960s and focus mainly on herring dishes, so I had to rely on Google and myself for this (in other words, Danes, sorry if it's not exactly as it would be traditionally).

• 2 Tbsp finely diced onion
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 2/3 C beef stock
• 1 heaping Tbsp flour
• 1/2 C water
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp kitchen bouquet
  

1. Sauté onions in fat of your choosing (I used butter). Add ground beef and brown for 3-4 minutes, until no longer pink, breaking up the beef completely with wooden spoon into tiny bits. Drain.
2. Add beef stock, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Whisk flour and water together and pour into beef mixture, stirring until mixture becomes thicker. Season with salt and pepper. Add kitchen bouquet and stir until fully combined. Serve over Mashed Potatoes.

Robyn's notes: before beginning, I patted the ground beef all over with a paper towel, to dry it. Drying beef helps it brown and in this case also made it easier to break up the meat into the small bits, so that it didn't clump together as ground beef sometimes will. Onions make me ill, so instead of finely dicing mine, I coarsely chopped them. Makes it easier to find them when I'm picking them out of my portion later. I might add some paprika when making this again, paprika being a common addition to the dish. Kitchen bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce found in US grocery stores.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Final note: we took the photo at the top of this entry just outside of the Village Spinning and Weaving store, where the owners were kind enough to spend a good half hour with me so that I could try out every spinning wheel they had assembled. I can easily recommend their shop, as well as Danish Mill Bakery, Mortensen's Bakery, and The Red Viking Restaurant.

Book Review: Yes, Chef

Author: Marcus Samuelsson
Published: June 26, 2012 by Random House
Available for Pre-Order: Amazon, Powell's

This was a seriously good book. Before I received it I didn't know a lot about Marcus Samuelsson. I haven't watched any of the seasons of Top Chef Masters, and I missed season 7 of the regular Top Chef (which is when he appeared as a judge), so my awareness of him as a chef has been name recognition only. I'm very glad that has changed with reading this memoir.

Immediately upon finishing the first chapter, I started checking the copyright page, "about the author" paragraph, and author's note to see if he had written the book entirely on his own or with a ghostwriter. Less than 5 pages in, I was that struck by the writing. After brief Google searches I still can't be sure, but I suspect that the acknowledgment of Veronica Chambers 'helping to tell his story' and 'the fine touch on the words being all hers' tells the reader that she was a big part of the writing. Either way, whoever was involved should be proud.

About six or seven chapters in, I was told that I was reading with a very expressive face. Smiling gently most of the time, occasionally furrowing my brow (I can only assume this was as I read a scene that took place on the playground). That has to be because the story of Samuelsson's life is truly fascinating and strangely accessible, considering how vastly different it is from my own experiences.

In tone Yes, Chef reminds me a bit of Jacques Pépin's The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, which is a real compliment from me. Both memoirs show the same respectfulness toward family and kitchen staff, the same underlying sense of humor, and the same gratitude, optimism, and hard-working sensibility. One of the things I enjoyed most about Pépin's memoir was his humbleness and focus on the positive things in life, the ways he'd been fortunate. Samuelsson showed the same traits here.

I have no idea why someone would read a chef's memoir if they weren't interested in food, but for those of us who are: don't worry, there's plenty of gastronomic talk to satisfy most any foodie. I was especially pleased because there is so much discussion of dishes and flavour components of various countries and cultures around the world, which is wonderful. Most chef memoirs seem to focus on French cooking nearly to the exclusion of all else. While I understand that French traditions are the backbone of most restaurant work in the West, and I believe French food has a strong place in the culinary world, I don't believe that place is the only place.

I'm also a big fan of holding your head high enough and keeping yourself to a high enough standard to not feel the need of calling out your detractors in print when writing a book about yourself. Yes, Chef does not avoid this trap entirely. There are two professional clashes that are discussed, but the persons involved are not insulted and enough positive had been said about them in the previous mentions of them that it comes across not as a spiteful hit, but as a needed explanation of why those professional clashes happened. The incidents in question could not have been left out, so they were written about in the best way possible without attacking, and I appreciate that Samuelsson acknowledged his own responsibilities instead of placing all blame on the other involved parties. The only person truly called out in the entire book is a celebrity chef who conducts himself publicly in a style that I don't personally care for, so I can't be annoyed about seeing him taken down a peg. Even in that case, Samuelsson let the other man's words speak for themselves.

I live with enough privilege to have never thought of food careers as an arena where race would be a particular issue. My experiences growing up in California have been such that the idea of a professional kitchen being almost exclusively white chefs and Latino line cooks seems ridiculous (when I eat shawarma, qorma, adobo, mole, udon, mochi, tajine, phat thai, tandoori chicken, etc., I don't expect those restaurants' kitchens to be full of white faces, and in California those items are more available to me than coq au vin). I had my eyes opened to prejudices that still exist in the cooking world, and I appreciate that Samuelsson discussed it in a way that was clear and honest about the effect on him, but without changing the tone of the book from that of a story about a Chef who is black to a Story About a Black Chef. Race has been a factor in his life and his career, but it is not the entirety of the story, and I'm grateful that it wasn't written as if it were (though the last two chapters did start to get that way).

The quality of the book broke down suddenly and strangely for about 17 pages a few chapters before the end. Anecdotes that weren't relative or interesting were forced in with a shoehorn, then left lying there with no follow-up or reason for being. The writing through this section was choppy and backed me out of what I was reading, as I flipped backward and forward to see if maybe I'd accidentally skipped a page. It was this section that also made me think the book might be better off as a whole without titles to the chapters. Most of the chapters' content related directly to their titles, but others only tangentially or only 2 pages out of 10. The last two chapters were a lot of "wrapping up" language. They mused, felt nostalgic, and seemed to be trying to impart a lesson, when there was still more story to tell. It's unfortunate that this departure from the feel of the rest of the book is what the reader is left with, walks away with, as it's not the supremely enjoyable experience I had from the first 270-some pages. Fortunately it's not bad enough to dispel the good feeling, and I definitely feel good about recommending the book overall. As for me, I'm now off to watch Top Chef Masters Season 2, so I can see the man in action!

I received this book as an uncorrected proof "Advanced Reader's Copy" through a giveaway, from Random House, with no obligation to review or recommend.

Soup-er Easy Chicken Pot Pie

In celebration of Pi Day (π = 3.14...), a quick and simple way to bring pi(e) to the dinner table.

• 1 can (18.6 oz) Progresso® Rich & Hearty chicken pot pie style soup
• 1 C mixed vegetables (see notes)
• 1 oz sliced Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, cut into 4 slices
• 2 Pillsbury® Grands!® frozen buttermilk biscuits (from 25-oz bag)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray insides of 2 ovenproof 2-cup bowls with cooking spray.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, heat soup and vegetables to boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Into each serving bowl, pour half of the hot soup mixture. Carefully place 2 cheese slices in center on top of soup in each bowl. Place biscuits over cheese; spray biscuits with cooking spray. 4. Place bowls on baking sheet for easier handling; bake 38 to 43 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and soup bubbles around edges. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: for vegetables, either use 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies, or 1 cup total of fresh vegetables of your choice (peas, diced carrots, chopped celery, green beans, etc.). This was not exciting, but it was simple and filling. The cheese that I used made the finished product look quite greasy, and I'm not sure it added much flavour, so I might switch to sprinkling shredded cheese over the top of the biscuit if making again.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Feel like having something else for π Day? Maybe try one of these:
Mini Cottage Pies
Tamale Pie

Gnocchi Mac n Cheese

See notes below for yield information


I came across this recipe on The Cutting Edge of Ordinary, who in turn got it from Noble Pig.

• 1 pound purchased or homemade gnocchi
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C milk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 C shredded Gruyere cheese
• 1/4 C shredded fontina cheese
• Salt and white pepper to taste
• 1/3 C shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
  

1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a single-layer in a 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk and Dijon. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Combine Gruyere and fontina, then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all cheese is melted, season sauce with salt and pepper.
4. Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano over top. Bake gnocchi until they puff and the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Robyn's notes: this is fantastic, absolutely wonderful. The spots where the sauce has crisped in the oven are absolutely the best parts, and our forks fought over the last few gnocchi to get that bit of crunch. I've made the recipe twice, actually, because I had some question about the yield. The recipe calls for 1 pound of gnocchi, which is definitely more than 2 servings, but the amount of cheese in the sauce didn't seem like enough to create a sauce for 4 servings. Many of the commenters on the blog where I found this mentioned making this recipe and serving themselves, their spouse, and their children, which indicated that it served 4 people, but I still didn't trust the sauce to go that far. So I made the dish once just for me, using the full amount of sauce but half as much gnocchi. Tasted great but way too much sauce. According to the gnocchi package (I was lazy and used store-bought), 1 pound is 3 servings. When I made the full recipe, as listed above, the two of us polished it off easily and would not have left any for another person, so I'm not reducing any of the measurements. Be aware that this should probably be considered a treat or a splurge, and is more than 2 servings but less than 4.

***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I will make this repeatedly

Cookbook Review: Healthy Cooking For Two (Or Just You)

Author: Frances Price, R.D.
Subtitled: Low-Fat Recipes with Half the Fuss and Double the Taste
Published: 1995 by Rodale, re-released 1997 with a different cover but same contents
Available for Purchase: Amazon, Powell's


Within the first few months of purchasing this cookbook I had made around 50% of the recipes, and have since increased that to nearly 80%. There were only two occasions where we felt that a dish shouldn't go on the 'repeat' list, which is a great record, especially as compared to the other 'cooking for two' books I have. Great results come with basic skills, and the focus is on fresh ingredients as opposed to canned or frozen.

I love that this cookbook is focused on the recipes. There are two sections in the beginning with tips and techniques, and the occasional in-depth ingredient explanation fleshing out a recipe, but there is no space that's wasted that could better be devoted to recipes.

Each entry is listed in column format, with a column for the measurements to serve 1, and a column for the measurements to serve 2. A few recipes have a column for 2 and a column for 4, but they are the exception.

I never give cookbooks as gifts, because people have such different tastes and needs when cooking, but made an exception for this one. I bought a second copy for a friend and have considered buying copies for my sister and mom. All three households have two or fewer people and the variety of recipes would allow everyone to find dishes that satisfy them.

The only photo in the book is the one on the cover, so for those who need pictures of the completed dish to guide or inspire them, that may be a problem. This is actually the cookbook that cured me of that stumbling block, and I'm a better cook for it. Basic nutritional information is included for each recipe.

Recipes I've made from this cookbook:
Hong Kong Primavera with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Baked Potato Soup with Broccoli & Cheddar
Bachelor's Prize Chicken

***** 5 Stars: Excellent. A favourite for both of us, I cook from this repeatedly

Chicken Saté with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Note: this recipe includes a 15 minute marinade. Be sure to allow for that time in planning.

• 2 1/2 tsp creamy peanut butter
• 1 to 2 tsp and 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, divided
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 tsp firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce (lowest sodium available)
• 8 oz chicken breast tenders, all visible fat discarded

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, 1 to 2 tsp lime juice, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a shallow dish, stir together the remaining 2 Tbsp lime juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Add the chicken, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Meanwhile, soak two 6- to 8-inch wooden skewers for at least 10 minutes in cold water to keep them from charring, or use metal skewers. Preheat the broiler.
4. Remove the chicken from the dish. Thread half the chicken accordion-style onto each skewer. Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the center. Brush the chicken with the peanut sauce.

Robyn's notes: I love chicken in peanut sauce, and have several recipes from the simple (buy Thai peanut sauce in a jar, marinate the chicken, broil it) to the complex (ask the owner of our favourite Thai restaurant how they make their pra ram long song). This one is a perfectly acceptable version. If it's not terribly exciting that may be because it's from a book specifically geared toward heart-healthy dishes. It's still good. I served this with steamed white rice (not included in Nutritional Analysis below), and I made minor changes. I cut boneless skinless chicken breast into long strips, instead of purchasing chicken tenders. I threaded onto more than just two skewers, because I find that getting one skewer with 4oz of chicken feels like less than getting the same 4oz of chicken spread across two or three skewers. I also used the broiling pan, not a baking sheet, as I always do when broiling. Personal preference there. I used barely a pinch of pepper flakes, because I can't eat spicy foods, that probably made a difference for how exciting or not the dish turned out. I was most surprised that the chicken wasn't cooked in the peanut sauce, that it was applied after cooking. What that mostly meant is that the sauce was very difficult to "brush" onto the chicken, as it maintained the peanut butter consistency. GF if you use GF soy sauce.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Nutritional Facts: Exchanges = 1/2 Carbohydrate, 3 Lean Meat, 1/2 Fat. Calories 180; Calories from fat 55; Total Fat 6g; Saturated Fat 1.4g; Trans Fat 0g; Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6g; Monounsaturated Fat 2.6g; Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium 190mg; Total Carbohydrate 5g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 3g; Protein 26g

Cookies and Cream Zoku Pop

• 3 chocolate sandwich cookies, twisted apart into halves
  
• 1 recipe vanilla base
• 2 Tbsp crumbled chocolate wafers (see notes, below)

1. Dip the decorative side of half a sandwich cookie in the vanilla base. Using tweezers, apply the dipped cookie to the wall of the pop maker mold. Insert the stick and repeat with remaining molds.
2. Combine vanilla base and crumbled wafers. Immediately pour into prepared molds until you reach the fill line. Let freeze completely.

Robyn's notes: When I twist apart my Oreos (which were Double Stuf because they're the best, but I'd recommend using regular Oreos for this recipe, as the Double Stuf were a bit too big), I always have one plain chocolate cookie side and one side that's chocolate cookie and all the creme. Instead of buying additional wafer cookies for crumbling, I just crumbled the half of the Oreos that didn't have creme on them. These popsicles were really very good.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Zoku Pop Vanilla Base

• 4oz vanilla pudding (1 individual serving cup)
  
• 1/4 C water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together all ingredients until sugar has dissolved.

Robyn's notes: this makes enough vanilla base to be used with other ingredients for 3 popsicles. No star rating because it's not eaten on its own.

Baked Ravioli with Tomato and Cheese Sauce

• 7oz marinara sauce
• 8oz fresh ravioli, tortellini, or other stuffed pasta
• 3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  

Cheese Sauce:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/2 C grated Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat marinara sauce. Spread it in the bottom of a large, shallow ovenproof dish. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain. Turn into the dish containing the marinara sauce.
3. Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a medium pan over low heat. Stir in the flour until it has all been absorbed. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, and cook over medium heat, still stirring to thicken. Add the cheese and continue cooking until it has melted. Season to taste.
4. Spoon the cheese sauce over the pasta in its ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling. Serve from the dish.

Robyn's notes: this went very quickly and was well-received. He ate all the sauce that was left on my plate when I was done, even. I heated the marinara sauce in a bowl in the microwave to save time, but it can just as easily be done on the stove, and any tomato-based pasta sauce works. No photo because he'd just gotten home from the gym and was too hungry to wait for me to make it pretty and snap a picture.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Product Review: Zoku Quick Pop

One of my xmas gifts this year was a Zoku Quick Pop Maker (Amazon link). It had been on my wishlist for quite awhile because one of the most frustrating things about my health problems is how often I have to be on a liquid diet. Liquid diets allow me to eat popsicles, but most popsicles don't have a lot of nutritional value, so I end up eating a Dreyer's Strawberry Fruit Bar once a day and drinking Ensure and juice the rest of the time. After a couple days of this, I am absolutely dying to chew things.

Enter the Zoku.

The point of the Zoku is that it takes ice cream maker technology and rearranges it to work for popsicles. The Zoku sits in the freezer empty (for at least 24 hours before you use it the first time, then just leave it in there between uses), then you remove it from the freezer, pour in the ingredients, and wait. 7 to 9 minutes later, you have 3 popsicles.

Now, I've read all the reviews, I know that the Zoku doesn't work fabulously with anything that has a low sugar content (or is made with artificial sweeteners), but I also know that I can use it to make a popsicle out of fruit juices or yogurt thinned with milk, and these are things that are staples of my diet when I'm not feeling well.

So far I've made four batches of popsicles with the Zoku. All have been edible, but there have been varied levels of success.

Batch one: strawberry Yoplait yogurt thinned with milk. Worked fine. Froze into a popsicle in about 8 minutes, wasn't terribly exciting but, then, strawberry yogurt isn't exactly the most exciting dish when it's in yogurt form.

Batch two: milk chocolate Ensure. I did this with the full expectation that it wouldn't work. Ensure is a nutritional drink (meal replacement), and while "sugar" is high on the ingredients list, the liquid consistency made me question its suitability for Zoku pops. I waited 11 minutes, then tried to remove the first popsicle I'd poured. It absolutely would not come out, which the instruction manual says is a sign that the sugar content is too low or the ingredients were too soft. I left that one alone, waited a 4 or 5 more minutes, then tried to remove the other two popsicles. Both came out fine. Again, they weren't exciting, but again the ingredient was something that isn't great when eaten in its usual form, so it wouldn't make sense to expect a popsicle made out of it to be fabulous. For the popsicle that wasn't to be, I filled the sink with hot water, placed the Quick Pop Maker into it, and the popsicle came out. The Quick Pop Maker had to refreeze for 18 hours or so after that intentional defrost before I could use it again.

Batch three: Naked Juice Power-C Machine. Another that I suspected might not work, because there's no sugar added. Since I love Naked Juices so much and I rarely get them (they're not cheap), I only filled one popsicle form with the juice. That way if it didn't work, I wouldn't have wasted the rest of the juice. Worked fine, froze in about 10 minutes. It was more noticeably tart as a popsicle than as a juice, but was still good.

Batch four: Kern's Strawberry-Banana with banana coins. Here I decided to branch out into the fancier popsicles. I sliced the banana coins very thinly, carefully placed them in the popsicle forms (difficult, because as soon as the banana touches the side of the form it freezes to it), then poured in the juice. It took about 14 minutes to freeze completely, but worked perfectly and tasted wonderful. The photo at the head of this entry is these strawberry-banana popsicles.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the Zoku. My biggest complaint is the need to separately purchase a popsicle storage container. Without that item, I have to either eat all three popsicles or make less than three at a time, because you can't leave the popsicles in the Zoku to eat later. Considering that a single serving of yogurt thinned with about 1/4 C milk (I didn't measure it) made 3 popsicles, it's not as if I'd be gorging myself to eat 3 at a time, but I would like to be able to eat one, then eat the next an hour later. Basically, the product is exactly what it's advertised as: a quick and easy popsicle maker.

No compensation received for this review, product was a gift from a family member and all ingredients were purchased by me. No endorsement by any named company is implied.

Peach-Glazed Chicken

• 1/2 (15.25oz) can sliced peaches in fruit juice, drained with 1/4 C juice reserved
• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried basil, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 4oz each), all visible fat discarded, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
• olive oil spray
• 1 tsp olive oil

1. In a small bowl, stir together the peaches, reserved juice, brown sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice. Set aside.
2. In another small bowl, stir together the basil, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle over both sides of the chicken. Lightly spray both sides with olive oil spray.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until browned on the outside and no longer pink in the center. Push the chicken to one side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to the pan, reserving the juice. Cook for 1 minute. Turn the peaches over and cook for 1 minute, or until lightly browned.
4. Pour in the reserved juice. Stir to combine the juice, chicken, and peaches. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the juices are slightly caramelized and glaze the chicken and peaches, stirring occasionally.

Robyn's notes: this went quickly and was quite good. The peaches, to me, seemed to soak up quite a bit of vinegar, but I was the only one who felt that way, and I'm sensitive to the taste (and smell) of vinegar, so most people probably wouldn't notice. The chicken was great. I served this over couscous (not included in Nutritional Analysis below), which I prepared by replacing some of the water with the leftover peach juice from the can. Usually I won't use recipes that call for "half a can" of anything, but when it's canned fruit it's not as big of a deal to me. I just put the remaining peaches into a container in the fridge and can have them as a side dish with lunch or as a snack the following day.

**** 4 Stars: Very Good. Enjoyed by us both, I will make this frequently

Nutritional Information: Exchanges = 1 Fruit, 1/2 Carbohydrate, 3 Lean Meat. Calories 250; Calories from Fat 45; Total Fat 5g; Saturated Fat 1.1g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9g; Monounsaturated Fat 2.6g; Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium 360mg; Total Carbohydrate 26g; Dietary Fiber 2g; Sugars 23g; Protein 25g

Panko Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

• 1/3 C low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 C panko
• cooking spray
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 4oz each), all visible fat discarded
• 1/4 C fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp fat-free sour cream
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp dried tarragon, crumbled

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish. Put the panko in another shallow dish. Lightly spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Set the dishes and baking pan in a row, assembly-line style.
3. Dip the chicken in the buttermilk, turning to coat. Roll each piece in the panko, lightly shaking off any excess. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the baking pan. Lightly spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
5. Meanwhile, pour the broth into a small saucepan. Heat to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Whisk in the sour cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until smooth and heated through, whisking constantly. Pour the sauce over the cooked chicken.

Robyn's notes: this is a heart-healthy and diabetic-friendly recipe, thus the "fat-free" qualifiers in the ingredients. Substituting the regular version of each of those would likely be fine, though obviously the nutritional information below would be inaccurate. This was fine, but not exciting for me, mainly because I'm not a big fan of Dijon mustard. But it went quickly and the chicken turned out well, moist inside but with a crispy coating. I served it over plain couscous (not included in the nutritional analysis below).

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Nutritional Facts: Exchanges=1 starch, 3 lean meat. Calories 195; Calories from fat 30; Total Fat 3.5g; Saturated Fat 0.9g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7g; Monounsaturated Fat 1.2g; Cholesterol 70mg; Sodium 280mg; Total Carbohydrate 11g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 2g; Protein 27g

Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache

• 6 oz premium-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 oz premium-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 C plus 3 Tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

1. Place the chocolates in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium power until glossy, 2 to 3 minutes; stir until smooth. Let cool; whisk in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Let stand until thick enough to spread.

Robyn's notes: there were many problems with this recipe. It's hard to give it a rating, because two of the problems were on my end, but overall I'm still rating it down because neither of them should have made that much difference. First, my microwave will not allow "medium power". If I press the button for power level, the display says "power level may not be changed at this time". I don't know why. However, I have melted chocolate in the microwave every year for at least 25 years. I always do it on high for a minute or less, stir, then another minute, stir, repeat if necessary until the chocolate is melted. Second problem that may have been on my end was that the semisweet chocolate I had in the house was a little on the old side. Not out of date, but close to it. That should not have made a difference, but I acknowledge it for what it's worth.
The chocolates would not melt properly. The semisweet chocolate would do nothing but solidify into clumps. I eventually gave up, because it is possible to over-melt chocolate, even in the microwave. As a result, the final product was not smooth, it was lumpy and unattractive. It tasted ok, but not exciting. The recipe says the yield is 1 Cup, but after I used it to frost two mini cakes I poured the leftover into a plastic storage container and still have more than a cup of frosting. Since I feel that the point of using a small-batch cookbook for frosting is to not have leftovers, that was the final straw.
I will probably try the recipe again sometime with fresher semisweet chocolate, just for fairness, and if it comes out better I'll remove the above notes.

** 2 Stars: Acceptable. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, if I make changes

Classic Chocolate Cakes

This recipe comes from Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans. She has a full page of instructions for cooking individually-sized cakes in clean cans (14.5 or 15 oz cans that once held diced tomatoes or beans or soup, for example). I am not including those instructions. More information about that is in the notes after the recipe.

• unsalted butter for greasing cans
• 1/4 C whole milk
• 1 1/2 Tbsp well-beaten egg
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 C plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/3 C plus 1 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the insides of two clean 14.5oz cans and lightly dust them with flour, tapping out the excess. Line the bottoms of the cans with rounds of parchment paper and set them aside. Alternatively, line 4 regular-size muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a fine-mesh sieve placed over a small, deep mixing bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl. Add the butter and half of the milk mixture; beat with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium, and beat until the batter has lightened and increased in volume, about 45 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining milk mixture, and beat until well blended, about 20 seconds.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared cans or muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean, about 20 minutes for cupcakes and 27 to 29 minutes for cakes. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen the edges of the cakes from cans using a small sharp knife; invert the cans and remove the cakes. Cool completely. Cut in half crosswise with a sharp knife. Frost with the Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache, between layers and on the tops and sides of the cakes, or on the tops of the cupcakes.

Robyn's notes: this recipe is way too complicated for what you get. It comes out as two perfectly acceptable small chocolate cakes. Not great cakes, not special cakes, just fine. I cooked the cakes in the cans, to see how well it would work, and it wasn't worth the trouble. Yes, the final product came out looking like actual mini cakes instead of like cupcakes, but to have to remember to set aside empty cans, clean them, remove the labels, store them, then grease them, flour them, cut parchment paper rounds just the right size to sit inside the bottom of the cans...too much hassle. Cupcakes are fine.
In one of the Amazon reviews for the cookbook, someone complained strongly about the suggestion to use cans, because Maugans does not mention anything about the BPA that is in most cans. The reviewer felt this was very irresponsible, as they feel it's a health risk. I don't really care about that aspect, because I'm re-using cans that I've already eaten the contents of, which means I've already been exposed to the BPA of that can once. If I were seriously concerned about BPA, I wouldn't have commercially canned foods in the house and therefore wouldn't have cans to use for this recipe, thus would be using muffin tins.
In step 3 of the recipe, I didn't bother with any of that sifting through a fine-mesh sieve. Doing it the way she's described doesn't change the measurements (sifting dry ingredients through a sieve before measuring them does, sifting them afterward does not), and the dry ingredients incorporated with each other just fine without sifting, so I didn't need to use yet another tool that I'd later have to clean (this recipe already uses a bowl for beating the egg, fork or whisk for beating the egg and whisking the wet ingredients, a bowl for the milk mixture, the main bowl, beaters, two measuring cups, four measuring spoons, a spatula, a muffin tin or cans, and that's before making the frosting).
The one thing I can't really speak to is the size of the finished cakes. My sweetheart prefers cake batter to cake, so he kept dipping a spoon into the bowl and then into the filled cans. When I finally got them away from him and into the oven, they came out different sizes, one about 2.5" tall, the other about 3.5" tall.

** 2 Stars: Acceptable. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, if I make changes

Green Bean Un-Casserole

Most Americans are familiar with the 56-year-old Thanksgiving side dish that calls for cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions. This is a much lighter and healthier version, sized, of course, for two.

• 1 tsp butter
• 1/4 C panko
• 1 1/2 tsp dried minced onion flakes
• 1/4 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut
• 1/3 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced

1. In a small pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add panko, onion flakes, and salt. Saute about 6 minutes or until crumbs are slightly toasted.
2. At the same time, steam green beans and mushrooms for 6 minutes.
3. Place green beans and mushrooms in serving dish, top with crumb topping.

Robyn's notes: as a refresher, to steam the vegetables with a steamer basket, place a pot on the stove and add about an inch of water. Place steamer basket into pot so that the veggies are not touching the water, but with the water almost reaching the bottom of the basket. With the lid on the pot, bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and steam for the required time.
This recipe is obviously not as rich as the original, but my taste-testers both enjoyed it.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often