Dill Mayonnaise

Ty just decided that a turkey sandwich with a big slice of tomato and dill mayonnaise would be good tomorrow.  So, with an egg from our chicks, he made his own mayonnaise:

 

Popovers

A couple of months ago, Ty and I were watching "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network when they profiled the popovers by a place called BLT Steak.  If I remember, it is a restaurant in New York.  When you eat there, they bring you a basket of their popovers instead of bread and they include the recipe so you can make them at home too.  The next day, I swung by Sur La Table and bought a popover pan...  and then waited for an occasion to use it!!  

Here's the recipe I found online:

4 cups mile
8 eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
2 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In it put two popover pans (enough for 12 popovers).

In a saucepan, warm the milk over gentle heat.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy.  Slowly whisk int he milk (so as not to cook the eggs).  Measure the flour and salt into a sieve and sift onto the egg mixture.  Combine until mostly smooth.  

Remove the popover pan from the oven.  While the batter is still slightly warm or at room temperature, fill each popover cup three quarters full.  Top each popover with about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the grated cheese.  Return the pan to the oven and bake for approximately 50 minutes, rotating the pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking.  


Remove the pan from the oven, remove the popovers from the pan and serve immediately.  


Since I only have the one popover pan and we were only hosting dinner for six people, I halved the recipe - it seemed to work and I thought they were delish!! 

Crab Dip

We made this for Isaac's birthday party and for Thanksgiving.  Both times, we served it with artichokes and, let me tell you, the combo is fantabulous!!

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup cooked crab meat
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar or 1 1/2 teaspoons of dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper


Combined everything in a bowl and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Cranberry Sauce

I made this cranberry sauce on Wednesday night and served it with our Thanksgiving dinner.  It got rave reviews...

1 pound fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 whole orange, unpeeled, seeds removed and chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Sprinkle of ground cinnamon


Wash cranberries and set aside.  Bring sugar and water to a boil.  Add cranberries, oranges and cloves (I thought I had cloves but then it turned out that I didn't so I omitted this ingredient and it was fine).  Simmer over a high flame, stirring frequently, until berries pop open.  Add crushed pineapple, walnuts and cinnamon and blend.  Cool and serve.


This only took me about 15 minutes total to make.  The flavor a billion times better than anything you could ever buy in a can so it is totally worth making it from scratch.  It was bright and tart with just a subtle amount of sweetness.  I hope you enjoy! 
 

Udon Soup

Wow - Ty just whipped up this udon soup with lots of veggies and shrimp.  Apparently, he looked at a couple of recipes online but we didn't have all the right broth ingredients so he just made something up.  It was delish!  His culinary skills never cease to amaze me... 

Stuffed Mushrooms

Here's the recipe that I used for the stuffed mushrooms for Isaac's party.  I really liked that they are light - some recipes that I've used end up feeling really heavy and greasy.  

Stuffed Mushrooms by Giada De Laurentiis

1/2 cup Italian-style dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup EVOO
28 large white mushrooms, stemmed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir the bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano, garlic, parsley, mint, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a medium bowl to blend.

Drizzle a heavy large baking sheet with about one tablespoon of EVOO, to coat.  Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities and arrange on the baking sheet, cavity side up.  Drizzle remaining EVOO over the filling in each mushroom.  Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top,about 25 minutes.  Serve.


When I made this, I didn't measure very carefully and ended up having enough filling left over to fill a bell pepper which I baked off the following day for lunch.  Also, I had a sous chef, Hailey, to do the actual stuffing for me - this was super handy...  she'll have to come and help out at our next party!! 

Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Molly LOVES coconut.  And, she's full term preggo - hopefully delivering any day now!  So, I figured that she might want a cookie or two after alla that hard work...  

I can't remember where I found this recipe but it is delish:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until well combined.  Stir in oats, coconut and chocolate chips.  

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto Silpats and bake for 10 - 12 minutes.  Cool for a minute on baking sheet than remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

As I type this, Molly's dozen sits in my freezer...  just waiting for Baby Girl to get around to making her grand entrance!!!  

Uwajimaya

There's an Uwajamaya on the way home from the bootcamp that we are taking.  Neither of us had been to one before today so we had a really nice time browsing the aisles.  I was starving from the workout so I munched on two BBQ pork hum bao while we were shopping:).  The original plan was to make lumpia (or Ty's version of lumpia) for lunch and udon soup for dinner.  But, we were both so full after the lumpia, we decided that the udon can wait until tomorrow.  Check these bad boys out:

 

Pesto Palmiers

Pesto Palmiers by Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa)

I am posting this recipe first because it was both one of my favorite things from Isaac's party and the biggest surprise in that they turned out so well.  

1 package frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1/4 cup pesto*
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese**
1/4 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts


Lightly flour a board and carefully unfold one sheet of puff pastry.  Roll the pastry lightly with a rolling pin until it's 9 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches.  Spread the sheet of puff pastry with half the pesto, the sprinkle with half the goat cheese, half the sundried tomatoes and half the pine nuts.  


Working from the short ends, fold each end halfway to the center.  Then fold each side again towards the center until the folded edges almost touch.  Fold one side over the other and press lightly.  Place on a Silpat.  Repeat the for the second sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes**.  


Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  


Cut the prepared rolls in 1/4 inch thick slices and place them face up 2 inches apart on Silpats.  Bake for 14 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve warm.  


* We grow lots of basil in our kitchen garden and also get a lot from our CSA.  All summer, we make big batches of pesto and then freeze it in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, the cubes can be popped out and put into a freezer bag to be used the rest of the year in recipes like this and in pastas.  You'll have to wait until next summer to get my recipe:).  


** I used feta this time but I think I'll try chevre next time just to lighten it up a bit.


*** I apparently did not read this part of the recipe until sitting down to type it out.  Mine seemed to turn out just fine but I'll do this next time and let you know if there's a discernible difference. 

Isaac's BIrthday Party

There's never a dull moment in the Casa D'Engvall.  On Saturday night, we hosted a birthday party for our dear friend Isaac.  After my long run, I met Jewel at New Seasons to get all the party supplies.  We bought plenty of food and booze to enjoy with Isaac's out of town family who trekked down from the Seattle area and lots of local friends.  

After many canning days, it is obvious that Jewel and I work well in the kitchen and Saturday was no exception.  Per usual, we were fairly ambitious and super lucky for the out of towners who showed up early and ended up rolling up their sleeves to help with the last minute details.  Isaac's niece, Little Miss Hailey, was my personal sous chef and she rocked out an amazing looking cake!!  

Here's a pic of our finished work.  This week, I'll be posting recipes for the individual items that made up the buffet.  From left to right, they are fennel parm shortbreads, baked brie with tomato cashew chutney, sweet relish over cream cheese, a variety of crackers, waldorf wontons, stuffed mushrooms, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, deviled eggs, pesto palmiers and sliced bell peppers with crab dip.  

On the bar, we also had a wine station with smoked salmon dip, steamed artichokes with more crab dip and nibblers of dried bing cherries, dark chocolate chips, cashews and chocolate covered almonds.