bakerchef

Cream Cheese Brownie

February 2, 2020

February 2, 2020–I have made these numerous times so I was really surprised when I saw that I did not have it posted on my blog. I made the brownies from scratch the last time but this time I had a box of Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix that was about to expire. Using a brownie mix definitely reduces the preparation time.

You prepare the brownies as described on the package. Of course I added a bit of bourbon to the batter.

For the cream cheese mixture you beat softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar, the egg, and vanilla mixing well after each addition.

Pour the brownie batter into a pan then top with dollops of the cream cheese mixture. Swirl the cream cheese into the brown mixture making a marbling effect.

Since you can never have enough chocolate I added some additional white and dark chocolate chips to the top.

This dessert never fails and is always perfect to bring to a party.

Three Meat Chili (Venison, Beef, & Turkey)

January 16, 2020

January 16, 2020–The spouse of my good friend KSR always has extra venison and duck from his hunting trips. I normally make meatballs with the ground venison but since it is winter I decided I would do a chili instead. Although it is 3 meats there were actually four since I also made a combined venison/ground beef mixture. This is your basic chili recipe: onions, peppers, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, and minced garlic.

The meats…ground venison, ground beef, and ground turkey,

I combined all of the dry ingredients and mixed half of the ground beef and venison.

In a separate bowl I combined fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies and some green chilis.

Sauté the onions, peppers, and spices until softened.

Everything goes pretty fast at this point so I set up my mise en place.

Once the vegetables were soft, I cooked the meats, breaking up the clumps with a spoon, until there was no pink. To the meat mixture I added drained kidney beans.

Next came the tomato mixture, tomato puree, and a couple of guajillo chilis that I had laying around. Bring everything to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your preferred toppings. I like cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions.

Red Wine Pasta

January 12, 2020

January 12, 2020–So I received a bottle of red wine that actually tasted more like grape juice. In my infancy of drinking I probably would have enjoyed this particular bottle but my palate has slightly increased. While looking for ideas of what to do with the wine I ran across a few recipes that used red wine in place of some of the water when cooking pasta. You basically cook the pasta in a 3 to 1 ratio of wine to water. Once the pasta is done, you drain it and reserve about a 1/4 cup of the liquid.

A few minutes before the pasta is done, you sauce some grated garlic and chili flakes. Once you smell the garlic, deglaze it with the reserved liquid and add the pasta.

Enjoy. There is also another variation from Bon Appétit that sounds tasty.

Farro Salad w/Fried Cauliflower & Jamon Iberico de Bellota

January 11, 2020

January 11, 2020–I said I was going to start eating healthier in the new year. As if a sign from the food gods I say this recipe on the Food & Wine website. All of the ingredients looked health. I never use all of the celery in a bunch so I did not add it to the dish. I also added some white mushrooms and peppers (not pictured) because I thought they would add some additional flavor and color.

In a large pot, add the farro, carrots, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the farro by 1 inch. Bring everything to a simmer over high heat, reduce the heat to moderate, and cook until the farro is tender but chewy. Drain, discard the solids, and spread the farro on a rimmed baking sheet to cool.

While the farro is cooling fry the cauliflower until it is crispy.

VCB received a Jamon Iberico de Bellota for Christmas so I decided to replace the prosciutto with some Jamon.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota is traditionally sliced very thin but since I wanted some texture we sliced it on the thicker side.

After dicing the jamon I prepped the remainder of the ingredients.

In one bowl I combined the sautéed mushrooms and peppers. To the cooled farro, I added the cauliflower, jamon, olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs.

I thought it need some more crunch so I added some toasted, chopped pecans. Season with some salt and pepper. Bon Appetite!

Carrot Cake-Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping (Gluten Free)

January 10, 2020

January 10, 2020–I’ve made this particular cheesecake once before in May 2016 (see Yes, Please!) when I lived in Miami. One of my employees asked me if I could make a birthday cake that included both of the favorite cakes–carrot cake and cheesecake. I’m always up for a challenge so adapted a recipe I found on the Food Network website.

I’m not one to brag, who am I kidding, but that looks pretty good! Flash forward a few years and I receive a similar request but this time the carrot cake needs to be gluten free!!! The carrot cake uses 1 cup of flour and the cheesecake uses 3 tablespoons. Since I normally have almond flour in my pantry I decided to use it as a replacement for my AP-flour. In my research on the inter webs it recommends that start off by replacing the volume of flour in the recipe with the same volume of almond flour. It also stated that I may need to slightly increase the amount of baking powder and/or baking soda to accommodate the heavier weight of the almond flour. Finally, I may need to using either more almond flour or less liquid to help balance the extra moisture from the almond flour. The carrot cake is baked ‘twice’. First by itself, then with the cheesecake batter on top. Surprisingly, the carrot cake does not dry out but you do recommend that you slightly under bake it.

Now that I’m armed with the knowledge I put my miseducating en place in place; try saying that fast five times. The wet ingredients for the carrot cake included eggs, oil, sugar, and shredded carrots. I grated my own carrots to ensure that I could control the consistency and texture.

Dry ingredients: Almond flour, baking powder, nutmeg, kosher salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamon, and chopped toasted pecans.

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

Add the shredded carrots to the wet ingredients. Stir until combined.

Fold the carrot-egg mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Since there is no flour you do not have to worry about building up the gluten content but I think it is a good practice to never over mix your batter.

Since I wanted to make the cake easily sliceable I used a 9-inch square cake pan instead of a springform pan. To ensure that I could get the cakes out of the pan I lined it with lightly greased parchment paper. The batter is baked in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean; 20-25 minutes.

While the carrot cake baked I prepared the cheesecake. In the bowl of my mixer, I beat the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until it was smooth.

Once it was smooth, I added 3 eggs one at a time; scarping down the bowl after each addition.

To this mixture I added the almond flour, lemon juice and zest, vanilla paste.

Pour this mixture on top of the carrot cake, place in a water bath, and bake until the center is slightly jiggles. I always rotate my cakes at the halfway cooking time mark. Also, if you are using a springform pan you would need to wrap it in foil to ensure that no water enters the pan.

Once the cheesecake is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a rack. Once it is cool, cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Prepare the sour cream topping; about one hour before you will serve the cheesecake, by whisking together confectioners’ sugar, sour cream, salt, and vanilla extract/paste and/or bourbon.

Spread this mixture on top and garnish with chopped toasted pecans. Since this was going to be a birthday cake I slightly stepped it up. I made the cupcakes with some of the extra batter and to ensure that the birthday girl got to enjoy her cake since I knew the actual cake would be gone!

As I said earlier, I am not one to brag but….

Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Andes Mint Cookies

December 12, 2019

December 12, 2019–I was invited to my first ever Holiday Cookie Exchange…I know right. I foolishly thought that previous non-invitations was due to the fact that others knew of my prowess in the kitchen; I could not have been more wrong. The first mistake I made was being cocky. The second mistake I made was not using my trust ATK cookie book. After scouring the inter webs I decided to do an adaption on a holiday cookie I found on the Two Peas and Their Pod website (https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/oreo-white-chocolate-pudding-peppermint-cookies/). The ingredient list is pretty straight forward but I added Andes Mints and mini-chocolate chips. Although I did my mise, if you look closely at the picture you will notice that I used bread flour INSTEAD of AP flour!!!! Attention to detail only works if you are paying attention.

While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees I creamed the butter and sugars, sifted the <incorrect flour> with the baking soda and salt, and prepped the cookies and Andes mints.

After creaming the sugars and butter, I added the dry ingredients. At this point everything looked pretty good so I continued to not be aware that I used the wrong flour.

To this mixture I added the crushed peppermints, mini chips, and mints.

Once those ingredients were incorporated, I added the white chips and cookies.

The cookies baked well; although upon reflection they do look dry.

They looked pretty good but the taste was meh!!! Suffice it to say, I DID NOT WIN!!

Creamy Tomato Soup

December 2, 2019

December 2, 2019–I was starting to feel a nip in the air so knew it was time to return soup to my life. Having lived in warm environments for the past four years (GTMO and Miami) I missed out on the pleasures of a warm bowl of soup or bisque. I’ve made this soup before but for some reason never added it to the blog. As with most of my cooking I went to one of my trusty ATK cookbooks. This particular recipe is from their 2011-2015 TV Show Cookbook. Although there are a lot of steps, everyone adds a depth of flavor.

You first need to drain and deseed your tomatoes. Reserve the juice since you will use it later. Line a baking sheet with foil, spread the tomatoes on top, then sprinkle them with brown sugar. Roasting the tomatoes in the a 350 degree oven will evaporate the liquid and concentrate the flavor while the sugar will promote caramelization.

While the tomatoes are roasting, dice your shallots. In a large Dutch oven melt the butter with the allspice. Once melted add the shallots and tomato paste. When the shallots are soft, add the flour, and cook until everything is well combined.

Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, the reserved tomato juice, and roasted tomatoes. Cover, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to low then cook for about 10 minutes.

Drain the mixture reserving the liquids. Add the solids to a blender with about a cup of the liquid. Puree until smooth.

Return the pureed mixture and remaining liquid to the Dutch oven; stirring to combine.

Combine your brandy or dry sherry and heavy cream.

Gradually add this mixture to the soup, stirring to combine.

Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste. I normally make a pretty big batch because it freezes well and tastes awesome.

Enjoy alone or with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich!

Baked Banana Pudding

November 24, 2019

November 24, 2019–A good friend of mine needed some motivation so I bribed him with one of his favorite desserts–Baked Banana Pudding! There are numerous recipes on the inter web. I used one from Alton Brown.

Separate eggs, placing the whites in the bowl and the yolks into a saucepan with sugar, salt, and flour. Whisk the mixture until just combined.

Splash in about 1/4 of the half-and-half and start blending mixture with a whisk. Continue to add the milk and whisk until smooth and the temperature is between 172 and 180 degrees. Remove then custard from the heat then add vanilla extract and cold butter. Whisk until butter dissolves. Set custard aside. Ignore the drink in the back of the picture, it is not part of the recipe 🙂

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and slice the bananas to your preferred thickness and toss with the lemon juice. Spread a small amount of the pudding in the bottom of an oven-safe dish. Cover with a layer of vanilla wafers, followed by a layer of banana slices. Pour 1/3 of the remaining pudding on top of the bananas and repeat, ending with a layer of pudding.

Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form.

Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue over the warm pudding ensuring you cover the edges.

Bake until the meringue is evenly browned. Remove the pudding from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Let it cool completely before refrigerating. Remaining pudding can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Ikarian Braised Pork with Honey, Orange, and Rosemary

November 15, 2019

November 15, 2019–“Timing is everything.” It is amazing how that phrase fits in so many different situations. I wanted to cook a meal for my birthday weekend in the Shenandoah Valley. It had to be something that could feed 12 people while also being hands-off. This preparation did not necessarily completely fit the hands-off criteria but it sounded amazing. The recipe was published in the November-December 2019 issue of Milk Street.

The part that took the longest was breaking down the boneless pork shoulder into 2-inch chunks. This process was further extended by cooking each chunk until all sides were browned. Although the recipe says that you only need to cook about three-quarters of the pork I cooked it all. I can say that the effort of cooking all of the pork definitely paid off.

In the Dutch oven that you browned the meat in, you add the onions and cook until they are soft. I then deglazed the pot with the white wine until most of the wine has evaporated. Once this has occurred I added the rosemary, bay leaf, oregano, fennel seeds, and honey. Milk Street recommended that you use a “strong, dark honey, such as buckwheat” because it holds it own when combined with the other ingredients. If you can’t find buckwheat honey they recommended orange blossom honey as an alternative.

Once all of the ingredients are added you add the cooked pork back into the Dutch oven, including the juices; cover and cook in a 325 degree pre-heated oven until a skewer meets little resistance when inserted into a piece of meat.

Once the meat is done, you remove it to a large bowl and cover to keep warm. Skim off all of the fat then add the orange juice and remaining honey. Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce to medium, and cook until a spatula leaves a trail. Off the heat, add the remaining oregano, rosemary, and vinegar. Since I had the zest from the orange, I also added that for a little extra punch!

I then added the meat back to the pot and stirred it to coat each piece with the sauce. When it is ready to serve, sprinkle some fresh parsley on top and enjoy it with an Orange and Herb Orzo or rice. Although it took some effort I will definitely be making this again!!!!

Limoncello Balls

November 12, 2019

November 12, 2019–The second item in my gift bag for by birthday weekend was Limoncello Balls. I still had a half bottle of open limoncello and cookies from the lime sugar cookies I messed up so why not. As you can see the in the picture below the ingredient list is pretty short. I basically adapted it from a Fabrizia Spirits recipe and the bourbon balls that I made.

I combined the cookies, almond flour, and powdered sugar in a food processor until it was fine crumbs. Poured this mixture in a bowl then added the limoncello, corn syrup. After it is well mixed I allowed the batter to sit for about an hour to allow the cookie crumbs to soften.