Slowing down time

I am in the foothills of Tennessee this weekend. We are brought here for both work and pleasure. The fella has a conference he is presenting at, and I am enjoying strolls through empty campuses covered in orange, red, and gold trees.

I walked all over Maryville Campus yesterday. I felt like I had the whole place to myself. The students have retreated home over fall break. It was peaceful, quiet, and perfectly crisp. The few people I did bump into were from the SWEHA conference. Truly brilliant people to sit and have a chat with.

We aren't to far from The Great Smokey Mountains. We took a drive through them yesterday and it reminded of why I love this time of year so much. The trees are putting on a vibrant show, everyone sells apple cider ( or mulled wine), and when we get home we lobotomizing two of the most perfect pumpkins you have ever seen.

Since you put up with my gaping absences I will share my favorite mulled wine recipe with you. It's on heavy rotation in our house during Autumn and Winter.

Mulled Wine

1 bottle (750ml) merlot

2 cinnimon sticks

2-3 cloves

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups water

juice of 1 small-medium orange

orange peel, careful to avoid the white pith (bitter)

In a large dutch oven or stock pot bring water and sugar to a simmer. As soon as the sugar is incorporated add the wine and orange juice. Drop the cinnimon sticks in, add cloves and orange peel.

*I push the cloves into the orange peel and little it simmer in the wine. It is much easier to pull them out this way that accidentally serve a clove up in a drink to friends. 

I simmer this for about 5 minutes and serve or I leave it on the lowest setting on my stove and let people ladle it out at their leisure for parties.  Some friends even serve it out of their slow cookers/ crock pots.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

My favorite Salsa

I whipped this up months ago when our garden started to produce more peppers than I knew what to do with. We have been making this ever since. We put it on everything.

Restaurant Style Salsa
1 can (28 oz) whole San Marzano tomatoes
1/4 chopped frozen onion (or fresh if you have it)
2 cloves garlic
3 jalapenos, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cumin, ground
1/4 cup cilantro (or to taste)
juice from 1 small lime

Combine all ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl until you get the consistency you like. Less for chunky salsa, more for smooth salsa.

Easy Dreamy Coconut Ice Cream, 3 ingredients

I am tired of winter. REALLY, really tired of it. I have seen enough snow, sleet, and ice. This is my cure...

So last night I was on baking kick, making the Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread. So, I needed ice cream to go with my short bread, naturally. There just were two problems.
1) I was much to lazy to go back to the store for ice cream
2) I don't own an ice cream maker.

What I do own is a great loaf pan. I mixed up a batch of this 3 ingredient ice cream and poured it into the loaf pan. After the mixture set (about 4 hours for me) I used a fork to fluff it up like you would rice and put in back into the fridge for the night.

I chose Coconut because I need something that reminds me of warm days on a sunny beach.

Easy Dreamy Coconut Ice Cream

1 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) can cream of coconut (find in drink mix aisle)
1 ½  cups heavy cream

1. Combine the milk, cream, and cream of coconut in the container of a food processor or blender, and mix thoroughly.

2. Add in flaked coconut if desired or mini chocolate chips. Or if its been that kind of week, both :)

Pour mixture into a loaf pan and freeze 24 hours.

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I made these last night and they are divine. I pulled it from Smitten Kitchen (a favorite foodie blog). I diverted from the recipe only slightly. I used coffee instead of espresso because its what I had and I used. 2T. I also don't have gallon size zip-lock bags so I rolled it out between cling-film, wrapped it up and popped it in the fridge. Worked fine.

ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD

MAKES: ABOUT 3 DOZEN OR 42 COOKIES

Created By: Smitten Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon boiling water
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate minced, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Notes: I often use 1-2 tablespoon of strongly brewed coffee in its place. I don’t prick the dough and it hasn’t made any difference other than it looks better.

Pizza Dough, 4 hour rise

Well, I was home alone and decided to have a pizza for lunch. I swear this is the last one...till I try it again :)

Dough:

12 oz. (by weight) high gluten flour 
7.4 oz. (by weight) cold water
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4-3/4 tsp. instant dry yeast (depends on cold or quick rise)

12 minutes in a kitchen aid mixer @ 2-speed

rise on counter for 4 hours

cook in a 500 degree oven

Makes one 16" pizza.

A lazy girls Red Sauce

It is snowing, again. It is snowing hard, again. I am comforting myself with carbs and butter on this lazy day.

I always have a package of Buitoni mushroom filled pasta in my freezer. It cooks in minutes and always satisfies my craving love of pasta. Today I wasn't in the mood for a mere drizzle of olive oil. Nope today I needed Red Sauce! But-- I already told you I was being lazy, so what gives? I have a simple recipe for the sauce that comes together quick and is super versatile.

Lazy Red Sauce
1 14.5oz tin of tomato puree
1/4 cup water
3 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
pinch of sugar
handful of Parmesan cheese

I combine all of the ingredients in that order in a sauce pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes with a splatter screen over it. Its done, go eat some pasta.
By the way, it usually keeps about 3 days in the fridge and a few months in the freezer.

baking somthing up in the oven... (White Chocolate Lemon Cake)

As if! There is no baby in there.

Actually it is the boyfriend's mother's birthday. She always makes other people a pound cake on their birthday so I thought I would make her a cake. I, personally, am a little sick of pound cake so I am making a white chocolate cake with lemon curd filling. I like this recipe because it starts with a cake mix. It is Jamie/fool proof! And really how bad can a cake be if you doctor it up with white chocolate and a layer of lemon curd?
Yes, I will post some food porn for you when it comes out of the oven.

White Chocolate Lemon Cake
by Anne Byrn


Ingredients

• Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
• Flour for dusting the pans
• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
• 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd (half of a 10-ounce jar)

Directions
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

3. Melt the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a small rubber spatula until it is smooth.

4. Place the cake mix, water, oil, whole eggs, egg whites, lemon juice and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.

5. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

7. Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes.

8. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each into a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

9. Meanwhile, prepare the Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe below).

10. Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with the lemon curd. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with frosting.

11. Place this cake, uncovered or in a cake saver, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes.

* Then store it, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.



Ingredients for the Frosting

• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

Directions for the Frosting

1. Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until it is smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.

2. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well-combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine.

3.Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and melted white chocolate, and blend on low speed until just combined. Add the confectioners' sugar and blend on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds.

4. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute more.

5. Use to frost the top and sides of the cake of your choice.

*I shaved a little of my leftover chocolate over the top of the cake for that tah-dah! effect

hip pressure cooking: Beginner Basics: Learn to pressure cook, one recip...

I received a pressure cooker for Christmas and i am so excited about this series!

hip pressure cooking: Beginner Basics: Learn to pressure cook, one recip...: "Starting mid-January I will begin a recipe series for those of you who have been sitting on the fence and waiting for an excuse to start us..."

White Monkey, yummy

*I saw this saved in my draft posts so I thought I would share this with you that way your thighs may be just as large as mine. ENJOY...

I love coconut! So much so that I will willingly try new things if it has coconut in it. One of the new things I have been using is coconut milk. I opened a can and was in love with the velvety consistency of the contents. Today I was trying to use up the last of the coconut milk and came up with this winner, The White Monkey.

White monkey
1/2 cup vanilla bean ice-cream
1/3 cup coconut milk
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup whole milk

Put everything in the blender and pulse it a few times. It will be thinner than a milkshake but still have some body. It is so freaking good. I was going to post a picture but I already finished it so, next time!

The Thanksgiving plan

I have been going to my Boyfriends ex-wife's family the last two years for Thanksgiving (there will be a whole other post about that). The number of people is high, probable 20 people at least. To say they are good cooks is putting it nicely. What can I say. I am a southern girl who owns her kitchen. I know how I want things done and if I don't see it happening I will over-rule with an iron rolling pin!

This year I want to take over the desserts. Last year I made my mother's famous pecan pie and it was a hit! This year I want to make a chocolate tart, pumpkin pie, and the pecan pie. I also would like to get the mashed potatoes done the night before and in the freezer. I will of course have my fingers in every pot on The Day. But this is my game plan.

Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

• 450 Lindt chocolate - 75% cocoa solids
• 250 ml milk
• 225g softened unsalted butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 175 g fine castor sugar
• 60 ml Cointreau (Grand Marnier is just as good)
• Blind baked sweet, short-crust shell
• Shaved dark chocolate shavings – use a thick slab or block to make good shavings
• Unsweetened cocoa powder to garnish

Method

• Pour milk into a heavy-based pot on very low heat, add chocolate and stir constantly until chocolate just melts
• Remove from stove and stir until both are well blended, setting aside to cool
• Cream butter and sugar until light and pale, using electric mixer and add yolks, one by one and whisk very well
• Whisk the chocolate mixture into the cream and butter mixture and finally whisk in the Cointreau
• Pour the filling into the blind baked shell and chill until set.
• Garnish with more chocolate, dusted cocoa.
• Serve with cream on the side if you wish.

Silky Smooth Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, November & December 2008

Ingrediants

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk (I used 2 cups of half and half instead of one cup each of cream and milk)
• 3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can (regular canned yams can be substituted)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground because I’m not a huge fan of fresh ginger)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon table salt

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll out dough on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to make 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang all around pie plate.

Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Using thumb and forefinger, flute edge of dough. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Remove pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate. Bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Remove plate and baking sheet from oven.

Make the filling: While pie shell is baking, whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream mixture slowly, until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture and transfer to warm pre-baked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Continue baking until edges are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175 degrees), 20 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. (The pie finishes cooking with resident heat; to ensure the filling sets, cool it at room temperature and not in the refrigerator.)