Words of Whiskdom

Braised Brisket

wordsofwhiskdom — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:43:49 +0000

Few things are worth cooking all day…but brisket is one of them. It cooks for hours, smells amazing and is never disappointing.

Most people in the south think of brisket as something you order at a bbq joint. It gets smoked and bathed in sauce, which is delicious, but not easy to recreate at home. What IS easy to do at home is braised brisket. Old Jewish grandmother style.

This recipe is from Saveur.com and was originally written by someone’s grandmother, Lil. I have changed a few details, but not too much. Lil knew what she was doing.

Braised Brisket

Adapted from Lil Pachter’s Jewish-Style Braised Brisket (Saveur.com)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp paprika (Funny story- One time I accidentally substituted cayenne pepper for the paprika. Almost killed us both from the pepper fumes. Had to frantically air out the house before party guests arrived. I do not recommend this.)

1 tsp dried oregano

2 1/2 lb. flat cut brisket (If they do not have this out at the store, just ask them to cut it for you. I almost always have to ask for this size.)

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 14-ou can low sodium chicken broth

1 14-ou can beef broth

1 14-ou can stewed tomatoes

2 bay leaves

2 small yellow onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Mix together the salt, pepper, paprika and oregano. Rub on the brisket.

Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a dutch oven. Brown the brisket for about 7-8 minutes on each side. It may look a little burnt, but that is ok, the crust adds flavor and texture.

Add the chicken broth, beef broth, tomatoes (first cut them up with scissors while still in the can) and bay leaves. Sprinkle the onions and garlic over the meat.

Cover and cook in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Then, remove the cover, baste the meat and cook another hour.

Re-cover and continue to cook and baste at 30 minutes intervals until the brisket is tender, usually about 2 more hours (or 4 hours total cooking time). Slice and serve with mashed potatoes. Drizzle some of the braising liquid on top.

Stone Fruit Crostada

wordsofwhiskdom — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:34:04 +0000

Well, it is still only ALMOST Fall. In fact, Fall doesn’t start until Friday. So, I decided to sneak in one more Summer recipe, but this is the last one, I swear.

You see, I have the BEST intentions every time I go to the grocery store. I stock up on things like kiwi fruit and salad greens. I imagine myself eating these things. And sometimes I do. Sometimes.

Most of the time, I find lots of other things to eat until the fresh healthy produce that I bought starts to look less fresh and I frantically try to incorporate it into something that I may actually eat. Like a crostada. Yep, cook that produce with some sugar and fold a buttery pie crust around it and I somehow manage to get around to eating it.

And that is exactly what happened this week with the nectarines and plums that I ambitiously purchased last week. I made a pie crust and then rolled it out until it was real ~~ugly~~ rustic looking. Then, I filled it with cooked fruit.

I sliced my remaining piece of fresh fruit and laid it on the top. I folded the crust over, brushed the outside with cream, sprinkled it with sugar and baked it. And then ate three pieces. Well, only two that counted. The last one I ate over the sink when no one was looking.

Stone Fruit Crostada

(Crust adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)

Crust:

3 Tbs. ice water

1 Tbs. plus 1 1/2 tsp. sour cream

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

cream for brushing

raw sugar for sprinkling

Whisk the ice water and sour cream together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Sprinkle the butter on the top and then cut it in with a pastry cutter (or fork or food processor) until the chunks are the size of small peas and are starting to incorporate into the flour. (Try to do this quickly so your butter doesn’t get too warm.)

Make a well in the middle of your flour/butter mixture and pour in the sour cream/water mix. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry mix into the liquid until a dough forms. Take the crust out of the bowl and knead on the counter for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just to finish incorporating the flour. Pat dough into a round patty and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hr. Meanwhile, make the filling.

Filling:

2 plums

2 nectarines

1/2 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

Peel, pit and chop the plums and one of the nectarines. Put chopped fruit in a medium-sized sauce pan with sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat 10-20 minutes or until fruit has cooked down and thickened enough that it will hold its shape when placed on the crust.

The cooking time will vary depending on the amount of water in your fruit. The amount of sugar and lemon juice may also need to be adjusted depending on the ripeness and flavor of your fruit. Just start with these measurements and add until the filling is to your taste.

Take the fruit off the heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, take the crust out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface. Try to keep a round shape. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet. Then, brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Scoop the cooked fruit into a mound in the center of the crust. Slice the remaining nectarine (you can leave the skin on) and lay the slices on top of the cooked fruit, overlapping them in a spiral.

Begin folding the dough over the filling. Leave about an inch between the crease in the dough and the filling, as the filling will spread during baking. Start on one side and make small folds all the way around until you have folded in all of the dough. Be careful not to tear the dough. If you do, try to press it back together as best you can so the filling will not leak out.

Brush the top with cream and sprinkle again with sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and holds it shape when touched.

Cottage Pie

wordsofwhiskdom — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:32:53 +0000

Its September and I am ready for it to be Fall. I want to put on my sweaters, watch some football (ok, watch is probably too stong of a word…its more like turn it on and wear the right colors), and toast some marshmallows. So, this week I chose to ignore the fact that it is still 90+ degrees outside. I planted cabbages and turnips and broccoli in my garden and made cottage pie.

Cottage Pie is just another name for Shepherd’s Pie. Martha says that you should call the dish “Cottage Pie” if it is made with beef and “Shepherd’s Pie” if it is made with lamb. And I am not one to disagree with Martha. So, cottage pie it is.

I got this recipe from a Martha Stewart magazine and made a few changes. Traditional cottage pie is made with mashed potatoes, but this recipe is made with crispy sliced potatoes instead. Very tasty in my opinion and not as fattening for sure.

I started by sautéing the vegetables with butter and adding tomato paste. Then, I added ground beef, wine, and thyme and thickened it with flour. Then, I put in the peas and was relieved the see that it made the mixture look a lot less like Alpo.

I poured it into my dish and topped it with sliced potatoes that I had tossed with melted butter.

Then, I just baked it until the potatoes were all brown and crispy and Fall-like.

Cottage Pie

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

3 Tbs. butter

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 tsp. dried (or 2 tsp. fresh) thyme (I was being lazy, so I used dried)

1 cup red wine

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1 cup water

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 Tb. red wine vinegar

1-2 yukon gold potatoes, sliced very thin (try not to cut your finger off)

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt 1 Tb. butter over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Add the onion, carrots and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes or until soft, but not dead. Add the tomato paste and try to work it into the vegetables.

Add the ground beef and brown, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula and incorporating it into the vegetables and tomato paste. Add thyme and wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Add water and cook until thickened, about 2 more minutes. Add peas and red wine vinegar and cook about one more minute or until peas have thawed. Taste the mixture and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Pour mixture into baking dish (1 1/2 to 2 quarts). Melt the remaining butter and toss the potato slices in it. Start in one corner and overlap the potatoes in rows until the entire top is covered. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put it in the oven. Bake about 45 minutes or until the potatoes look done and are soft if poked with a fork or knife. Try to let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Buttermilk Biscuits with Tomato-Basil Marmalade

wordsofwhiskdom — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:54:38 +0000

Last Christmas I received a copy of Thomas Keller’s “ad hoc at home.” Then for the next 8 months, I thoroughly enjoyed staring at it.

How are the recipes, you ask? I have no idea. I have never tried any of them, despite the fact that it has a permanent seat on the cookbook holder on my kitchen counter. The truth of the matter is that it’s a very intimidating book. It has recipes for things like, “mushroom conserva.” What the heck, is a conserva? I don’t know. And to make it even better, the ingredient list calls for 1 teaspoon of piment d’Espelette. Oh..well.. let me just grab that at Publix?!

However, I decided this week, that I would not let this book intimidate me any longer. So, I made not one, but TWO ad hoc at home recipes.

First, I made a delicious tomato-basil marmalade. And then, I didn’t have anything to put it on. So I made biscuits! And although originally an afterthought, the biscuits were every bit as tasty as the tomato marmalade. In fact, they were awesome.

I started by chopping up some fennel, onions and garlic and caramelized them in a pot in the oven.

Then, I added vinegar and brown sugar and let that cook down.

Then, feeling very Julia Child-like, I took it out of the oven and stuck my face in the pot to take a big whiff. Although this seemed like an awesome idea at the time, it was not. The hot vinegar fumes caused me to cough and sputter in a most unattractive and unJulia-like manner.

After the sniffing incident, I pureed the mixture in the blender and poured in back in the pot and added the tomatoes. Then, I roasted it again for another hour. Finally, I put it in a jar with lots of basil and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I made the biscuits, following Keller’s recipe, but modifying, since I do not own a food processor. I sifted my dry ingredients.

Then, I chopped up the butter and cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter.

When, the butter chunks were pea-sized, I added the buttermilk.

Then, I patted the dough out and cut out the biscuits.

And baked them.

Tomato Marmalade

Adapted from Thomas Keller’s ad hoc at home

1/2 cup fennel, roughly chopped

1/2 cup onion, roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic, sliced

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

4-5 tomatoes, seeded and chopped, but not peeled

6-8 fresh basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the fennel, onion, garlic, vegetable oil and salt in an oven-safe sauce pan. Roast, stirring every 15 minutes, in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until vegetables soften and turn brown around the edges. Stir in the vinegar and sugar and roast for another 20 minutes or until half of the liquid is absorbed.

Pour the contents of the pot into a blender and blend until smooth. (This step is unnecessary if you prefer a chunkier marmalade.) Pour back in the pot and add the tomatoes. Roast for another 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Taste the marmalade. If it is still too vinegary, continue cooking until marmalade has a rich, sweet, tomato-ey flavor.

Spoon into a jar, placing basil leaves throughout. Cover and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

Remove the basil before serving. The marmalade will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from Thomas Keller’s ad hoc at home

2 cups cake flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbs., plus 1 tsp. kosher salt

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 in. cubes

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, plus extra for brushing

2 to 3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted for brushing

Sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Sprinkle the butter cubes on top. Use a pastry cutter or fork to work the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are about the size of small peas.

Then, make a well in the middle of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a rubber spatula, fold the buttermilk into the flour/butter mixture, just until the flour is all incorporated and the mixture forms a ball.

Dump the dough out onto a floured counter top and knead for about 1 minute. Pat into a rectangle about 3/4 in thick. Cut biscuits with a cutter or knife and place on a baking sheet. (You can keep pushing the remaining dough together and cutting out more until you have used all of the dough.)

Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk and bake for 8 minutes on 475. Then, rotate the pan and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Take the biscuits out of the oven, brush with remaining butter and serve warm.

Piedmont Park Green Market and Peach Muffins

wordsofwhiskdom — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:10:59 +0000

This weekend we went to the Piedmont Park Green Market.

This market is a little smaller than some of the others, but has some quality vendors and is in a fun location. I bought some awesome produce (shown below) and smelled the handmade soaps while Higgins (shown at top) also participated in two of his favorite activities: pulling us down to say hi to other dogs and begging the treat lady for more snacks. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

After our market visit, we ~~strolled through the green grass of the park enjoying the summer sunshine and listening to the sweet whistling songs of the bluebirds building their nests.~~ practically ran to the car because it is August in Atlanta and about a million degrees outside. And sticky. However, we have been to this market in cooler months and actually taken a walk in the park afterwards. It was quite nice and I recommend it… in May, unless you enjoy heat stroke.

So, anyway while I was there, I bought these…

…(which I was pretty excited about, since most of the peaches I have seen lately have been about the size of a golf ball and all spotty) and decided to make them into muffins.

I started with a recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book called, “Big Beautiful Muffins” mostly because that is a great name and also because America’s Test Kitchen rarely lets me down. Then I added a few twists. I substituted mascarpone cheese for some of the yogurt and added cinnamon and (of course) peaches.

Then, I sprinkled them with sugar.

And baked them.

Mmmm….

Peach Muffins

Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book’s “Big Beautiful Muffin” recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt

3/4 cup mascarpone cheese

2 eggs

1 stick (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted

2 cups or about 3 whole peaches, chopped

Turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw) for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mascarpone cheese and eggs. Fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Then, fold in the butter. Finally, fold in the peaches.

Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to portion the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, spinning the pan halfway through. The muffins are done when they spring back when touched.

Allow muffins to cool in pans for 5 minutes. Then, carefully remove from pan and place on cooling rack to finish cooling. I recommend serving still warm with butter or leftover mascarpone cheese.

Note: I am not always the most productive person first thing in the morning on Sunday, so actually I made the batter the day before, put it in the pans, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator overnight. Then, I just pulled them out, sprinkled them with sugar and baked them in the morning. Oh, and ate them.

Scalloped Potatoes and Tomatoes

wordsofwhiskdom — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:17:16 +0000

I LOVE the farmers’ market. I get a real kick out of buying produce that was grown just down the road. I should probably go into a long-winded rant here about carbon footprints and the cost of shipping produce around the world and use words like “locavore” and “farm-to-table” (which I guess is three words). But, I will spare you. I will say however, that eating local produce and meeting the farmers that grow it is fun. And you would probably like it too, if you haven’t already tried it.

So anyway, I went to the Morningside Farmers’ Market yesterday and bought tomatoes. DELICIOUS HEIRLOOM TOMATOES. And I made them into a dish that I am calling Scalloped Potatoes and Tomatoes, mostly because that is what it is and also because it rhymes.

So, I started by slicing and seeding the tomatoes.

Then, I salted them and laid them out on a paper towel to sit and release some of their liquid.

While I was waiting on them, I made a cheese sauce with onions, garlic and oregano.

Then, I layered it like a lasagna. First tomatoes, then sauce, then potatoes.

And finally, sprinkled cheese on top and baked it.

Before:

And After:

The final product was pretty delicious. And since I substituted half of the potatoes for tomatoes and used 2% milk instead of heavy cream, this recipe is relatively light compared to other scalloped potato recipes. So, you can enjoy it and still be able to button your pants!

Scalloped Potatoes and Tomatoes

4-5 tomatoes (I used a variety of heirlooms, but you can use any tomatoes you like. I also used a handful of cherry tomatoes in place of a fifth tomato.)

3-4 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 slices

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 Tb. All-purpose flour

1 cup 2% milk

1 1/2 cup cheese (I used a fancy kind that I got at Whole Foods called, Piave Nord Straveccio, but this recipe could be made with almost any kind of cheese as long as it has a good flavor.)

1 Tb. fresh oregano, chopped

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and seed the tomatoes by cutting them in half at the equator and scooping out the seeds and the goop around them. Then, slice them into thin slices and lay them out on a paper towel. Salt the tomatoes and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes and release some of their liquid.

In the meantime, make the sauce. Sautee the onion in 1 Tb. of the butter on medium high until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Push the onions and garlic to the side and melt the other Tb. butter. Add the flour to the butter and mix to form a paste (or roux). Cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes or until paste starts to slightly turn color. Mix with onions and garlic and add milk. Cook until sauce starts to thicken, then remove from heat and add 1 cup cheese and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover the tomatoes with another paper towel and push down to squeeze the excess liquid out of the them. Spray the dish with cooking spray and begin layering. Start with a layer of tomatoes. Cover that with a third of the cheese sauce and then a layer of potatoes. Season potatoes with salt and pepper and then repeat layers twice more.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top and cover. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes or until the middle is soft when poked with a knife and the top is brown and crispy. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Raspberry Icebox Cake

wordsofwhiskdom — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:52:13 +0000

Woo-hoo! My first post! And its a pink cake! My mother has been making icebox cake forever and I suspect her mother made it before her. It is made by layering Nabisco chocolate wafers with whipped cream…or chantilly (insert lace and a pretty face here) …if we are being fancy. Then, you leave it in the icebox or your refrigerator until the cookies soften and turn into a cake.

I love the original (which tastes a lot like a giant Oreo), but thought I would try to give it a little twist by flavoring the whipped cream. I debated the flavor, thinking mint or caramel or even peanut butter would be nice, but finally decided on raspberry because it is pink and delicious and summery.

The “Famous” chocolate wafers can be a bit elusive. I have found them at both Publix and Kroger hiding in the ice cream topping aisle. They look like this:

I made a raspberry puree to flavor the whipped cream. To do this, I strained the seeds from my puree by pushing it through a tiny hand strainer. This is not the technique I would use if I were Martha Stewart. However, I have a limited supply of gadgets in my kitchen and I use what I have. You could just as easily strain it through cheese cloth or with a china cap, but you would be missing out on so much fun…

After I added the puree to my whipping cream,

I stacked my cake layer by layer. However, you could also just sandwich the whipped cream and wafers into a roll and cover the whole thing with whipped cream at the end.

Raspberry Icebox Cake

Adapted from recipe of Famous Chocolate Wafers box

12 ounce bag frozen raspberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cup regular whipping cream (You could use all heavy whipping cream, but it makes me feel slightly better about the calorie count of this cake to use half regular. I mean it is practically health food this way.)

2 T powdered sugar

2 boxes Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers

fresh raspberries for decorating

Put frozen raspberries, sugar, brown sugar and liqueur in pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Pour goop into blender and blend on high until goop has formed a smooth puree (will still have lots of seeds.) Strain puree using either tiny strainer method or some other smarter method that you have thought of all on your own.

In a large mixing bowl, whip heavy cream and regular whipping cream on medium speed until slightly thick. If you try it on high speed you will end up with cream all over your kitchen…don’t ask me how I know this. Once it has thickened, add puree and mix. Then taste to determine if extra sugar is needed. If so, add powdered sugar to taste. I used 2 Tablespoons. Continue whipping on high until whipped cream holds its shape, about 1-2 minutes.

Smear a little whipped cream on your plate in a round shape. Place wafers on top of whipped cream in a circular pattern. Add another layer of whipped cream and spread to cover wafers. Repeat until you run out of whipped cream or wafers. Decorate the top with crushed cookies, raspberries, chocolate chips, chocolate shavings or whatever you like. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until cookies have softened.

Recipe for a new blog

wordsofwhiskdom — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:17:06 +0000

Ingredients:

tons of inspiration

approximately 1 million name suggestions, most of which are terrible

several days spent trying to figure out wordpress

Mix ingredients together and let simmer until done or until you can’t wait anymore and you post something.