pieces

I don’t have a picture of this, but a couple of my friends have requested the recipe.

(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ Tuscan White Bean Soup)

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, diced
1/4 tsp ground sage
2 (15-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup cream
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, butte,r and shallots. Cook five minutes, until shallots are softened, stirring occasionally. Add the sage and beans and stir. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add garlic and simmer 10 minutes, or until garlic is softened. Pour the soup into a large bowl, and ladle half the soup at a time into a blender. Holding the lid tightly, puree until smooth. Return puree to pan, add cream. Add pepper to taste and keep warm until ready to serve (do not let it return to simmer).

Here is my no-fail beef fajitas recipe:

(Adapted from the recipe at La Margarita)

Marinade:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 bay leaf
freshly ground pepper
salt

1 2lb skirt steak

Veggies:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 yellow onions chopped into large pieces
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, cored, sliced into large pieces
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, sliced into small pieces
2-5 serrano peppers (optional), cored and sliced, with the seeds removed if you don’t like it too spicy

1. Put the diced onions into a large glass pan (big enough to hold the steak - I usually use a 9×13 glass cake pan). Add the vegetable oil and the next three ingredients. Mix well, salt and pepper to taste. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and marinate overnight.

2. After meat has marinated, heat grill until coals are hot. Remove meat from dish and grill over the coals, turning once, 4-6 minutes total fro medium rare, about 8 minutes for medium. Transfer meat to cutting board and let it rest.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are cooked but still crunchy, 3-4 minutes.

4. Thinly slice meat against the grain (this is key for skirt steak; otherwise, it will be too tough to bite through), and add to skillet with the veggies. Stir until heated through, 1-2 minutes.

Enjoy!

I was in New Orleans a few weeks ago, and unfortunately wasn’t able to eat any Cajun food. I came back craving a little spice, and this crawfish boil really hit the spot.
It was easy too!

Here’s my (completely not precise) recipe. I started by boiling water in my two biggest pots. I added cayenne pepper and Old Bay seasoning and let that boil for about five minutes before adding red potatoes, onions, and andouille sausage. I let that boil for ten or fifteen minutes, then added the corn. I added the crawfish about five minutes later (after rinsing them in the sink and making sure to get rid of the dead ones). The crawfish were done in about five minutes. I drained the whole pot and dumped it on the table. Yum!

I definitely prefer both shrimp and lobster to crawfish, but these were really yummy. Old Bay is one of the few things I miss about Maryland, and the sausage added a great kick as well. Next time, I would definitely add more cayenne and Old Bay - but hey, I like things spicy.

I recently joined the Daring Bakers group. This month’s challenge: a Danish braid.

It was a lot of fun. The dough took five hours to make (after the first hour, it just involved taking it out of the fridge and refolding, but you still had to be around), but I’d definitely make it again.

Cardamom is one of my new favorite spices and the real vanilla bean had such an amazing fragrance, but when I made the individual pastries, there was too much citrus for my taste. It went well with the chocolate, but was too overpowering for both the cream cheese and apple fillings.

I used half the recipe for the Danish braid, using 1/3 apple filling and 2/3 cream cheese filling, since I don’t care for baked apples but my husband loves them.

With the other half of the dough, I made a variety of pastries, with three fillings: apple, cream cheese, and chocolate. As you can see, the came out really light - I neglected to use an egg wash for the pastries:

I obviously need some work on my photography.

But they were yummy - especially the chocolate.

And then I made the braid. And it turns out that the egg wash did more than just make the finished product a lovely golden brown. It also made the braid the perfect combination of chewy and crispy, and cut the citrus flavor immensely. Yum!

Danish Braid

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Dough:Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

Butter block: Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
- After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. - Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Danish Braid:
Makes enough for 2 large braids
1 recipe Danish Dough
filling of your choice

- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
- Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
- Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

At this point, the braid looked like this:

Proofing and Baking
- Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
- Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Rebecca just wrote this post commenting on America’s Top Twenty Most Hated Foods, as taken from this article.

The list is surprising to me, as it includes some of my favorites.

The list: blueberries, maple syrup, cilantro, onions, cooked carrots, raisins, peas, oysters, pea soup, sour cream, jello, tuna, brussel sprouts, beets, okra, eggs, mushrooms, mayonnaise, lima beans, and liver.

In her post, Rebecca challenged me to post a recipe for each food, so, over the next few weeks, I’m going to create 20 recipes, each featuring one hated food.

So, I have half of what I promised. I have a great recipe, but unfortunately, forgot to take pictures until after dinner was over. But man, it was yummy!

I created this recipe after reading at least ten different ways to make paella. It’s definitely something that can be tweaked to fit the fresh veggies and seafood you have on hand.

This turned out great using a Cuisinart Chef’s Classic skillet , as I don’t have a classic paella pan and needed something that was both large enough and could go in the oven.

Paella

8oz bottle of clam juice

1 cup of chicken broth

2 cups of water (the recipes generally called for about half this much, but I had to add more to let the rice finish cooking)

Small pinch of saffron threads, ground

4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

7/8 cup of Texmati “Jasmati” rice (long grain Jasmine)

6 oz chorizo, sliced (I could have added a little more - maybe I’ll do 8 oz next time)

4 boneless skinless chicken tenders (maybe equivalent to 1 1/2 chicken breasts), cut into small pieces

1/2 pound of shrimp (with the size I chose that was ~12 shrimp)

12 mussels

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped

1 medium red pepper, chooped

5 garlic cloves, 4 minced and 1 chopped

3/4 tsp paprika

Course Ground Salt

6 cherry tomatoes, sliced

1. In a medium-size saucepan, bring the clam juice, chicken broth, and water to a simmer over medium heat. Add the saffron. Keep this warm (simmering) until you need it. (Note: Keep this at a simmer and not a boil if you want there to be any left when you get ready to use it.)

2. Add 3 Tbsp olive oil to a large (oven proof) skillet and heat on medium. Add the chicken and chorizo and cook for about 4 minutes, until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken and chorizo from the pan.

3. Add the onion and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add paprika, salt, and garlic and cook for another minute.

5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

6. Add the tomatoes to the center of the pan and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirrring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes.

7. Add the rice and stir until thoroughly combined.

8. Add approximately 2 cups of the stock mixture. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture should be at a low boil.

9. Add the chicken and chorizo back to the top of the dish - do not stir.

10. Add the mussels without stirring.

11. Cook 2-3 more minutes, making sure you have enough liquid to continue cooking the rice. I had to add another cup of liquid at this point, but it will depend on the type of rice you’re using.

12. Put the paella in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. The mussles should open and the rice will be almost done. Keep checking to make sure there is still enough water for the rice to cook. I added about half a cup while the paella was in the oven.

13. Remove the paella form the oven and discard any unopened mussels. Cover with foil and let sit for five minutes, to finish cooking the rice.

14. While the paella is sitting, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to a small saute pan over med-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, turning often, for 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp is no longer pink.

15. Uncover the paella and add the shrimp. Stir and let sit for 5 more minutes (to finish the rice), then serve.

While it might seen otherwise, I have not given up on blogging.

But while I will probably have some future entries about my life (complete with photos of events that took place six months before!), I have decided to change the focus of this blog. It’s now going to be centered around food, with recipes and pictures (because how are you supposed to know if you want to make something if you can’t see a picture?). I’ve joined a couple of food blog groups with monthly “challenges,” but otherwise it’ll be a fairly random smorgasbord.

Enjoy!

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