Tag Archives: winter

Mar12

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo – Mardi Gras Feasting

Posted on March 12, 2014 by athaidek

Remember the king cake from last Mardi Gras? Due to a bit of laziness and a lack of cream cheese, I decided to go a different way with Mardi Gras this year. I decided to try my hand at a traditional gumbo recipe and impose a significant amount of frostbite on my hands trying to peel 2 pounds of semi-frozen shrimp. Note to self: thaw for a few HOURS, not a few MINUTES!

I LOVE having people over for dinner. This is so early-20s of me, but I was getting really excited the other day for beginning to form a collection of my own go-to entertaining recipes that I can trust on for each season. I’ve starting writing down my versions of recipes on notepads that I’ve stored on a cloud of dreams for my future cookbook. Here’s a GREAT one if you’ve got some time.

There’s a lot of talk about the essential roux for gumbo on the internet. If you’re like me, and you’re absolutely not going to buy another one-time-use spice for one darn recipe, you’re not going to make a gumbo requiring file powder. Although now that I’m reading its description, I’m sad I didn’t get to use the word “sassafras” in a sentence :(. After throwing out the recipes with file powder. I used one from America’s Test Kitchen The New Best Recipe book. And I paid a LOT of attention to roux-making.

You cook the flour and oil until you absolutely can’t stand to think anyone would want to eat something so brown that isn’t chocolate. Some people suggest baking the flour and oil for 2 hours to let it form a roux on its own. I followed the Cook’s Illustrated example and heated the oil first so the flour doesn’t burn as if you were to start heating them at the same time. I gently stirred them together for about 20 minutes and really had no smoking, burned bits, or clumps. As long as you are conscious of this fragile mixture, I honestly believe you can do it too. Stir constantly, heat gently, and watch carefully.

And then, you cook a whole bunch of yummy veggies, stock, shrimp, and sausage and everything comes together QUITE smoothly.

Make your seafood stock in advance, please. It’s a mess. I was going to show you a picture, but I’m positive you’re not interested in my picture of shrimp shells.

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo, adapted from The New Best Recipe ( I doubled it for a dinner party)

1 1/2 lbs frozen shrimp with shell on

4 1/2 cups water

1 cup bottled clam juice

3 1/2 cups ice water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 medium onions, chopped fine

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped fine with all the seeds and ribs removed

1 medium celery rib, chopped fine

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 large bay leaves

1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds on a bias

1/2 lb turkey kielbasa, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds on a bias

1 big ole handful of fresh parsley leaves chopped fine

4 scallions, both white and green parts, sliced thin

8 oz. frozen okra

White rice to serve

1. Thaw your shrimp in a large colander. You can speed up this process by rinsing the shrimp with colder water. I say colder because if its too cold it might just make more ice on the shrimp but if it’s too warm it will cook them. Peel the shrimp over a large pot with a top with the 4 1/2 cups water in it and drop the shells into the pot. Boil the water and watch for the bubbles that will run up over the top! Once boiling, reduce heat so that only little bubbles are forming (a simmer) and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid through a sieve/colander into a bowl with the ice water and claim juice and stir mixture (throw the shells away). If you’re making this in advance, let cool and store in the refrigerator in a tupperware. Then store the raw shrimp in a plastic gallon bag in the refrigerator as well until the next day.

2. In a cast iron skillet, Dutch oven or wide pan with a thick bottom, heat your oil for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the flour at a medium heat with a wooden spoon. Like I said, watch carefully and continue to stir until the roux turns a deep coffee ish color but redder (see picture). This takes about 20 minutes.

getting darker

3. In a stockpot or large pot, transfer the roux and add in the onion, okra, bell pepper, celery, garlic, thyme salt and cayenne. Saute until fragrant and all the veggies are soft, about 10 minutes.

4. If you made the stock the day before, warm it up to room temperature before you add to the mixture. Once at room temp, slowly add in about half the stock, stirring the mixture constantly. Then add in the rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and skim foam from the surface (a lot of this is fat). Add in the bay leaves and simmer for about 30 minutes.

5. In the meantime, make your rice to have ready when the gumbo is done.

6. After the 30 minutes, add in your sausage (I used two kinds just bc I couldn’t decide at the store). Cook for another 30 minutes at a simmer. After that, place the top on top of your pot, turn off the heat and wait for guests to arrive. Take out your raw shrimp from the refrigerator if you made the stock yesterday.

7. Once you’re almost ready to serve, have a friend slice up the scallions and parsley, and heat back up the soup. Once hot, drop in your thawed shrimp and cook for just a few minutes until just pink. Drop in the scallions and parsley and serve over rice!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Mar5

Simple Chocolate Cake with Strawberries, Whipped Cream, and Chocolate Drizzle

Posted on March 5, 2014 by athaidek

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The ultimate simple dessert. Not every occasion calls for a triple decker German chocolate cake or rich decadent Paula Deen-esque work of sweet buttah. No, today we’re celebrating simplicity. A flick of your magic cooking wand and a swish of the spatula, and bibidi-bobodi-boo, a one layer chocolate cake.

I made this for a special dinner with my cousins and aunt and uncle, and let’s be real, the dessert I brought was a reflection of how I felt at the time. I had buttermilk on hand and could have made the amazing buttermilk skillet cake that you saw a few months ago with the praline topping. But I felt that kind of happiness that required no cherry on top to commemorate a celebration. I wanted to look at vibrant natural colors (enter: sliced strawberries), hang out with my cousin (assembling the cake at the dinner), and feel satisfied not stuffed after the meal (one layer not two layer cake). Made a good choice!

Here we have a half recipe of Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake topped with my favorite whipped cream concoction, sliced strawberries, and my fave chocolate ganache. I am a total fanatic for chocolate cakes with coffee in them as it always adds richness without too much sweet.

Ok so the strategy for simple dinner-at-family’s-house cake goes as follows…start with your simple chocolate cake. Use half of Ina’s, like me, or just make a devil’s food cake from a box and it’ll get all fancy with the toppings! The timing is favorable. You have time to clean up all that chocolate mess, lick the spoon and wait for the cake to come out until you prep the toppings. If I were you, I’d just go ahead and get the ganache out of the way, sometimes it can be messy.

So let’s melt some chocolate drizzle. Chop up 4 oz whatever bar chocolate you’ve got on hand (I had some bittersweet chips and a dark chocolate bar) and place in a heatproof bowl. Meanwhile warm 1/2 cup heavy cream in a sauce pan until bubbles start to form all around the edges (the cream is simmering) and pour half of it over the chopped chocolate. Let the chocolate melt for about 30 seconds then start to stir together. After it’s partly smooth add in the rest of the cream and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool and transfer to a small container.

Is your cake sitting invitingly on your counter now? Time to assemble the rest and get ready to go. Whip up some of your favorite whipped cream and slice up the strawberries. Store each separately in containers. Flip your cake (fingers crossed, seamlessly) onto a plate and cover with aluminum foil. At your friend’s house, store the whipped cream in the fridge and let your cake continue to cool. You don’t want to top the cake with the whipped cream and have it melt! When dessert time rolls around, ask your cousin to help you assemble, topping it with as much whipped cream, strawberries and ganache drizzle as you like. There’s no way to have too much or too little of either. Well, there’s always a way to have too little chocolate.

Can’t wait to try this with raspberries and maybe slivered almonds. It’d also be great to add a little kahlua to the whipped cream or dark rum! Bon appetit, chocolatiers. Tell me how it goes!

Feb18

Kimchi and Bacon Brussels Sprouts

Posted on February 18, 2014 by athaidek

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Ok so for Valentine’s Day I wanted to make heart-shaped brownies and sugary sugary cookies and drink wine and gab for hours. Well I did gab for hours on GALENTINE’S DAY! But for the amount that I’ve been baking lately, these brussels sprouts are a savory that really stands out. And it’s a secretly easy dish. Do you ever have those moments in your life where you stop breathing because you almost wonder if life could be that sweet…and you look over your shoulder to see if anyone else is going to burst your bubble? These brussels sprouts will make you look over your shoulder to see if anyone else is seeing just how simple the recipe is when it seems so exotic.

Usually I really like brussels sprouts with a sweet and salty hint, but these are more of a salty and tart combo, it’s complex! Sophisticated right?

Also, two things I realized this week that I hadn’t remembered: Joey Fatone is in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and that Butter Pecan is a way underrated ice cream flavor. Random side note aside, let’s explore these greenies.

Brussels Sprouts with Kimchi and Bacon, adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients:

3 slices turkey bacon

1 lb brussels sprouts

1-2 TBS butter

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup kimchi (they sell it at the grocery store it’s all pickle-y if you’re not familiar)

Turn on the oven to 400 degrees. I sliced up about 3 pieces of turkey bacon and fried them in a little bit of oil (due to their lack of a lot of fat they have been burning in the saute pan).

While chopping up the bacon, I sliced off the brussels sprouts’ “butts” and sliced them in half. The timing works out peeps, don’t be in a rush.

Ok, bacon’s cooked! Take it out with a slotted spoon and then add in your brussels sprouts. Add some oil to the pan if these guys are a little bit dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them get a little golden browny in the pan then transfer to the oven. Here’s where I differ from the New York Times. I let them turn green and roast for around 15 minutes but I wanted them a little crispier, so I set the oven rack on the top rung and turned up the heat to broil for a minute or two. But if you don’t want them super crispy, I think 12-15 minutes is enough time.

While these are cooking, go ahead and puree your kimchi. Put it in a bowl and set aside for when the brussels sprouts are ready.

Bacon is added back in with some butter, mmmmm. Then off to the kimchi, hello Korean goodness!

Serve aside this delicious slow-roasted salmon!

Feb13

Thomas Keller’s WHOLE Roasted Chicken with Root Veggies

Posted on February 13, 2014 by athaidek

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To some, a pantsuit means growing up. And by some, I am definitely including myself in that category. But I’d also like to add whole roast chicken to that category. Pantsuits and whole roast chicken. We made roast chicken a few weeks ago, and to be honest this was easier. So why do I feel way more accomplished? I think it’s the feeling of being able to put together one shining masterpiece as opposed to integrating a few small dishes into a cohesive meal.

That time you first tied your shoes all. by. yourself. Going completely across the monkey bars in one full swoop without having to stop. That time when your secured place to crash on the drive from Charlottesville to Miami falls through and you figure out how to desperately book a hotel at 11PM on your own in college. We can discuss later the relevance of each of these in the context of roast chicken.

But seriously, I’m proud of this accomplishment!!! As I have been watching the Olympics lately, it seems appropriate to feature something that requires precision and focus. If you can keep the few key important tips in mind, this comes together quite easily and with little mess. These are the ways to win the Gold medal if you ask me. Think: SALT, meat thermometer, patience. Too simple? Ok you can go study molecular gastronomy.

Salt: You need to be uncomfortable here. Roasting chicken requires a LOT of salt, and to make yourself more comfortable here, just keep massaging it into the skin and into the cavity. It’s really the main way to flavor here, don’t be shy.

Meat thermometer: You don’t want overcooked chicken here, so if you follow the temperature suggested (160 F in the meatiest part of the bird), be WATCHING your chicken towards the end once you’ve stuck in the meat thermometer to check

Patience: One, because it takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook all the way through. Two, because after the chicken comes out of the oven, you need to wait for it to cool before slicing. Slicing too early will let out the juices and thus let out flavor (or so I’ve been told).

No, I am not going all It’s Complicated on you and cooking Alec Baldwin’s favorite feast with mouth-watering cake involved. This is literally the whole dinner in one pan. So great. Especially if you’re into putting rich chicken on your salads, soups, and making leftover chicken sandwiches!

I followed the Amateur Gourmet’s directions for cooking Thomas Keller’s chicken and watched this video to learn how to truss a chicken. It’s worth watching, friends. I was a bit wary of rutabagas, so I replaced them with more red potatoes. I don’t have any kitchen twine so instead used regular white sewing thread that I doubled up around two or three times to make it thick enough.

One thing I did differently was to drain the pain juices after the chicken was done and return the veggies to the oven to get crispier. For me, it took desperate measures of the broiler but for you, it might only take a few extra minutes at 400 ish. Pan juices = yummy gravy.

New fave: CRISPY LEEKS. I can’t tell you how delicious the leeks were after coming out of the oven.

Veggie heaven: Very rough chop of carrots, red potatoes, a large onion, two leeks, and two turnips.

Hi caramelizy roasty thyme garlic veggies

Make a gravy at the end with the leftover pan juices, some BUTTAH, and flour

Feb7

Maple Bacon Biscuits and BRUNCH

Posted on February 7, 2014 by athaidek

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That six letter word, ladies and gents. Brunch. I think I speak for allthesingleladies when I say that brunch is THE best six letter word out there. Whether you’re a boozy brunch person, a quiet tea and crumpets kinda brunch person, or a Carrie-Bradshaw-swanky-NYC-bruncher, it’s always the best.

This past Saturday, the reason for celebrating was nothing, really. Just another attempt at making my life a Nora Ephron movie, these maple bacon biscuits and my soul sistah Claire made it a wonderful morning. Claire and I used to have this blog which you should totally check out called lachansondusoleil where we shared thoughts and art while attending different universities (<- ok am I British?) We spent the night before poring over cookbooks when of course the obvious answer was in the SmittenKitchen book.

Here’s something to remember. If you are supposed to use bacon fat as part of the shortening to make the biscuits, don’t use turkey bacon. You don’t really get pan drippings :/. But that’s ok! Because it just means you get to use more butter 🙂

When you make these, take up Deb’s suggestion to freeze the biscuits you won’t eat BEFORE baking them. Biscuits are absolutely the best the day they are made, so I would follow her suggestion and freeze the pre-baked cut out biscuits you don’t want in a freezer bag. Key part to this recipe: soaking the cooked bacon in the maple syrup for a few minutes. Um, yum!

Flippppiinnnn bacon

Cutting the butter into flour, baking powder, salt. Big debate over whether to use a pastry cutter or our hands. Our hands won the debate.

Claire, professional bacon chopper

Oh yeaaaa. This took a little bit of work, I must say. Claire was really smart to add some more of the buttermilk and ice water to get our dough to come together. While we used the rolling pin to even out the dough, I think Deb is really on point by telling you to flatten out the dough with your hands. It makes it less likely to become tough and keeps the shape relatively compact. We made them a bit thinner than she suggests!

And….