The way to the stomach is through the mouth .

.............and the way to the heart is through the stomach.

Christopher and I made a southern style dinner to celebrate our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. We had an amazing time cooking together in the kitchen. This was the first time we made corn oysters, a fried puff of corn batter. They have an amazing tender and delicate consistency with a dynamite fresh corn and salty flavor. We wondered why this side dish isn't more popular, way tastier than hush puppies (and I like hush puppies!)

The fried catfish was very good but I didn't post a recipe for it since I want to try making a batter that has a spicier seasoning mix (I also enjoy the Zatarain's fish fry breading.) We also planned to serve a vegetable as a side but opted to cook it the next day instead to save some room.

For dessert we made a southern specialty into jumbo cupcakes- Buttermilk-Caramel Cake.
The tang of the buttermilk cake is well balanced by the sweetness of the frosting. A glass of milk is welcomed as an accompaniment here.

Corn Oysters
Recipe from America's Best Lost Recipes Cookbook

Serves 6

• 4 medium ears corn, husks and silks removed (make sure to use fresh corn, frozen or canned is too dry to produce a creamy batter)
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 quarts vegetable oil

1. Grate the kernels from the corn into a medium bowl using the large holes of a box grater. Using the back of a knife, scrape any pulp remaining on the cobs into the bowl with the grated corn. Stir in the flour, cornstarch, eggs, salt, and baking powder until well blended.
   
2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven (large pot) (or us a deep fryer) over medium heat until it registers 350 degrees. Carefully drop 13 to 15 heaping tablespoons of batter into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until the corn oysters puff and are golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add more oil to the pot if necessary and heat to 350 degrees. Repeat with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the corn oysters with salt. Serve immediately.
   

Buttermilk-Caramel Cake
Recipe from America's Test Kitchen Baking Book

Cake

• 2 3/4 cups (11 ounces) cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Caramel Frosting

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed (7 ounces) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 13 by 9-inch baking pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
   
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.
   
4. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into a prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
5. Let the cake cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours. Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake and flip the cake out onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment paper, then flip the cake right side up onto a serving platter.
   
6. For the Frosting: Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is foamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the milk, return the mixture to a bried boil, then remove from the heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla with a wooden spoon and beat the frosting until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Spread the warm frosting evenly over the surface of the cooled cake and let set, about 25 minutes, before serving.
   

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!!!

A few thoughts on food from across the pond

Menu:

-Main Course-
Toad in a hole
Mashed Potatoes
Minted peas

-Dessert-
Spotted Dick!
*snicker*

-Late night snack-
Indigestion Remedy


I was looking forward to the UK dinner party Christopher and I were having with friends but

I have to admit, although I generally like to try new foods, I had some reservations about this menu.

• For starters, British food has less sodium than American foods- I like salt.
  
• Second, I don't really like peas and questioned whether or not mint would be a good accompaniment for them. (The thought of peas covered in toothpaste came to mind.)
  
• Also, I've never made these dishes before, I had reservations as to whether or not I could get them to turn out since I hadn't any idea what they should taste like. (If you've ever eaten American food made by natives at a resort in the Caribbean you know exactly what I am talking about.)
  
• Lastly, while all good desserts contain fat- I usually prefer mine in the form of butter, egg yolks, or vegetable oil. Instead, spotted dick contains a form of fat called suet- the structural fat surrounding the kidney of a cow. I had doubts as to whether this belonged in a sweet dessert.
  
• Now that I've completely turned you off to English food I am going to bring you back to why I ended up absolutely loving it!

• Toad in a hole- OMG! Such a simple dish to make, it looked amazing, and is an ultimate comfort food! The American notion that all comfort foods have to be drenched in cheese (pizza, nachos, macaroni and cheese, mozzarella sticks) is a lie straight from Uncle Sam himself. Toad-in-a-hole is a dish of tender sausages baked in an amazing delicate, eggy, toasted, bread-like batter. Top it off with some onion gravy and....wowza! Or shall I say, it was bloody marvelous! Besides, I didn't miss the salt and my heart will probably thank me for it later anyways.

• The mashed peas with mint were amazing...not amazing looking but certainly amazing tasting- be generous with the butter. Fresh mint is the perfect accompaniment for peas! I never really like eating warm peas but I've made peas several times since because the mint balances the flavors and makes them much more enjoyable to eat.

• As for the lovely Spotted Dick- this was a recipe our guests brought over. Partly because I was afraid of the suet and partly because I thought I might contract and STD from making it. It is a hearty, steamed fruit pudding served with custard. It tasted great and the suet didn't surprisingly didn't give it an off taste. What a deliciously satisfying end to a wonderful meal. What wonderful friends for bringing this tasty end to an awesome meal! Thank you for sharing a bit about your country with me. My taste buds were happy to take a vacation to the U.K. and look forward to going back for another visit sometime soon.

• Our guests were right about the selection for the final course- Indigestion Remedy. This was the one side effect the wonderful meal. Our stomachs simply aren't used to suet and we all sat around the table with a shot full of the thick pink liquid to remedy our stomachs.

Here is the recipe we used for Toad-In-a-Hole. My notes are in green.
Enjoy!

Toad-In-a-Hole Recipe from Nigella Lawson

(Nigella is a way famous UK Food Network personality. In addition to making great food, she is also known for being a little seductive. She can best be described as the UK equivalent to what Giada De Laurentis is here on the Food Network in America)

Ingredients

350ml full-fat milk

4 eggs

pinch salt

250g plain flour

400g good pork sausages- 6 in number (Irish, Cumberland, or Lincolnshire sausage are typically used. We opted to buy pork meat and used a seasoning recipe online to make Cumberland sausages since we could not find anything comparable in the super markets here)

1 x 15ml tablespoon goose fat, vegetable shortening or oil (1 Tablespoon)

4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for serving if wished

1 x round roasting tin approx. 28cm diameter, or small rectangular roasting tin approx. 30 x 20cm (I used a 9 by 13 casserole dish)

* we used a digital scale to weigh the flour in grams and used a Pyrex measuring cup to get the milk readings in ml.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7 (about 425 degrees) Whisk the milk and eggs together with the salt, then whisk in the flour, beating to make a smooth batter. I find this way round makes for a lighter batter.
2. Press the sausage meat out of its casing (you may need to nick the skin with a knife), half a sausage at a time, rolling it in your hands to form a ball and then squash gently to make a little, fat patty. You should get 12 patties from the 6 sausages.
3. Heat the fat or oil in a heavy-based, flame-safe roasting tin on the hob and brown the patties for about 1 minute each side: you need do no more than make them look enticingly brown.
4. With the patties and oil still hot, pour in the batter and quickly drop in the sprigs of thyme. Absolutely immediately put into the oven for about 40 minutes or until the edges of the batter have risen and turned golden, and the eggy middle has set.
5. Serve immediately, scattered with a thyme sprig or two or just a few leaves and with gravy if you feel you can only properly enjoy Yorkshire pud when it’s sauce-sogged.

Onion Gravy from Jamie Oliver

2 large red onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 knobs of butter
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 level tablespoon
good-quality vegetable stock powder or 1 vegetable stock cube (I used chicken broth)

For the onion gravy, simply fry off your onions and garlic in the butter on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until they go sweet and translucent. You could add a little thyme or rosemary if you like. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to cook down by half. At this point, I do cheat a little and add a stock cube or powder. You can get some good ones in the supermarkets now that aren't full of rubbish. Sprinkle this in and add a little water. Allow to simmer and you'll have a really tasty onion gravy.

Best Lost Recipes

I love recipes that take me back to a different culture or era. The Pagache also known as Polish Pizza and this hearty beef and barley soup accomplish just that. Both recipes are from America's Best Lost Recipes cookbook.

The Pagache was a cross between a large pierogi and a potato and cheese calzone. Pagache features cheesy mashed potatoes encased in a light, yeasted crust. I've never been good at making foods that involve yeast so it was clear C would be making the dough.

Here are the steps:

Roll out the dough into a 14 by 20 inch rectangle on a floured work surface and evenly put potato cheese filling on half of the dough.

Fold in half and pinch sides closed.

Place in 9 by 13 inch buttered pan and poke holes in the top to vent.

Brush top with melted butter, let cool about 10 minutes, cut, serve and enjoy!

I love making soup because it usually involves me cutting up vegetables in front of the television and then going to bed and awaking to an alarm clock to turn the stove top off when the pot of soup is done simmering. Soup means meals for a week and extras to freeze to enjoy the fruits of your past labors on a relaxing no cooking day. Soup is inexpensive, healthy, and good for your soul.

Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks with Avocado-Orange Salsa

This is one of my favorite quick and healthy dinners. (Last Tuesday C and I were in a hurry to get out the door, we had this meal prepared and eaten in 30 minutes so I mean it when i say this meal is quick to prepare.) The heat from the jalapenos, the sweet from the orange, and the creaminess of the avocados in the salsa compliment the texture of the tuna and the flavors of the toasted sesame seeds. I love the salsa so much that I typically make a double batch of the salsa and opt to not serve this meal with a side starch.


I would recommend this recipe to someone who loves sushi and likes the idea of eating rare fish with a pink center. The center should be very pink. If you try this recipe and cut the tuna steak open to find an all white center then I feel sorry for you, as you mine as well serve the orange salsa over a can of tuna as it will taste the same.

I own several cookbooks but this recipe comes from my go-to book, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (pg 265.) My copy of the book is seasoned with remains from past recipes i've made, it's really gotten it's use. As I try recipes I put a check mark by them in the book and leave notes in the side margins rating the recipe (all of the recipes i've tried from this book have been winners) and tips to try when making the recipes a second time.

Avocado-Orange Salsa-

1 large orange, peeled and pith removed, segmented and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 ripe avocado, diced medium
2 tbsp minced red onion
4 tsp fresh lime juice
1 small jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and minced.
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro leaves
Salt, to taste (be generous, it brings out the flavor)

Combine all ingredients in small bowl.

Pan-seared Sesame Tuna-

3/4 cup sesame seeds (a large bag is under $2 in the Indian aisle of your local produce market)
4 tuna steaks, 8 oz each and about 1″ thick (2 large yellow tail tuna fillets are approx. $5 at Trader Joe's, this is the best price i've seen)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and ground black pepper

1. Spread sesame seeds in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Pat tuna steaks dry with paper towel; use 1 tbsp oil to rub both sides of steaks, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Press both sides of each steak in sesame seeds to coat.
2. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just beginning to smoke; swirl to coat pan. Add tuna steaks and cook 30 seconds without moving. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue to cook until seeds are golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using tongs, carefully flip tuna steaks; cook, without moving steaks, until golden brown on second side, about 1 1/2 minutes for rare (opaque at perimeters and translucent red and cool at the center) or 3 minutes for medium-rare (opaque at perimeters and reddish-pink at center). Serve immediately (there is no making the salsa in advance or reheating the fish, it will ruin the recipe) with orange salsa on the side.

A Study in Italian Cooking

I'm off work this week and i've spent some of my free time experimenting with Italian foods. It all started the day before Easter standing in a long check out line at the produce market. An old Italian man behind me in line commented on how many people "were buying out the whole store." He pointed out some Feng Shui brand rice crackers and recalled a random story with me about how a prospective buyer wouldn't buy a house he was selling because it didn't have the proper Feng Shui. He was buying two cans of Escarole soup and a ball of cheese. Could canned soup be good enough to stand in such a long line? I had to find out. Needless to say, I made a pot of escarole soup today.

I love making soup, I love how you can not use a recipe and just go with your senses and it usually works. My escarole soup was basically a head of leafy escarole, one potato, some chicken thighs and the other typical brothy soup ingredients: bay leaves, water, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, parsley. I boiled the heck out of it and the broth was a rich brown color and fantastic!

My next Italian food was some pasta sauce. At the produce store I found some tomatoes in the discount bin: 10 luscious reds for $1.26. I added some hot pancetta, fresh basil, jalapeno, onion, and garlic to make some chunky Arrabiatta sauce. A few years ago my friend M and I went to a cooking class at Pina's Culinary Experience in Roselle. M later went to a sauces class offered there and had a pasta party making this recipe. It's a great sauce that i've made several times since. Served over Pina's favorite noodle: Buccatini (very thick spaghetti noodle with a whole running vertically through the middle) delish! I'll freeze the sauce to save it for a quick weekday meal.

The star of my Italian cooking experiences this week has been the Panini Sandwiches! All the comfort of a grilled cheese sandwich but with more sophisticated flavors. I tried to make some Rustic white bread...didn't turn out so well. My breads never turn out quite right (does anyone have any suggestions?) so I settled for store bought Turano bread which is a tried and true panini basic. Here are some combos I tried:

• Brie, honey, pecans, raisins, and apple slices
• Gruyere cheese, arrabiatta sauce, basil leaves, and hot pancetta
• Cheddar, turkey, pecans, and cranberry sauce
• Brie, dark chocolate, and basil leaves

Giada, of Food Network fame, made chocolate, brie., and basil panini's on the Oprah show over the holidays. I was reminded of the recipe when I stumbled upon it once again while searching for panini combination ideas on the food network website.

There is something sexy about this odd combination that received a 5 star online rating. Cheese and chocolate are sexy foods, Giada is a sexy lady, just had to try it. C and I agreed it was fantastico! Rich flavors of the brie cheese and Lindt Semi sweet chocolate blended well while the fresh taste of the basil cut the sweetness of the chocolate.

I have to admit, by the end of today I reached my cooking limit, I washed enough dishes today, tomorrow I think i'll take a break.

(Picture of Panini with Chocolate and Basil complements of foodtv.com I've been trying to use more pictures of foods I actually made but C didn't have his camera with him today and I lost mine but regardless hopefully you'll bee seeing more authentic pictures from here on out.)

Iron Chef Secret Ingredient: Yogurt

On Friday Christopher and I got together with some friends to cook an Eastern Indian feast and to watch Slum Dog Millionaire for the first time. We made two types of Naan, Samosas, Chicken Tikka Masala, Indian Spiced Rice Pilaf with Dates and Parsley, and Mango Lassis. I used recipes from the Spring Entertaining edition of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
The flavors were fantastic but the food was Americanized in many ways. For example the Samosas had a beef filling. Due to the sacred status of cows to many Hindus, a more traditional filling would've been lamb or potato and peas. Also Cook's Illustrated noted that Tikka Masala is the most popular Indian dish at Indian restaurants in America (the spaghetti of Indian food if you will) but is not traditionally served in India.
Every recipe, except the rice, contained yogurt; a common ingredient in Indian dishes.
With the rise of Eastern Indians moving to the U.S., I wonder if Indian cuisine will ever catch on and be adapted to the American palate as much as Mexican food has been. In the International Foods aisle at Meijer food stores there is a "Hispanic" section filled with authentic items and a "Mexican" section filled with Taco Bell and Old El Paso items. Who knows, in the next few years perhaps Pillsbury will sell canned Naan next to canned croissants and Stouffer's will sell a frozen family sized Tikka Masala next to lasagna. The verdict is still out as to whether or not that would be a good or bad thing: sacrificing quality and flavor to bring a less exotic cuisine version of this cuisine to the palate of the American masses.
To be honest, I've only eaten Indian food a handful of times and this was my first time making Indian food from scratch. Feel free to leave a comment naming your favorite dish to order at an Indian restaurant. You don't need to create an account to leave a comment either, that's the great thing about blogger.com!