Blue Cheese Shortbread

Blue Cheese Shortbread


3 1/2 oz crumbled blue cheese (about 1/2 cup)
3T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped


Blend blue cheese and butter in food processor until creamy. Add flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add walnuts and process just until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment. Roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. Remove top sheet, cut using cookie cutter shapes or just cut into squares. Transfer to baking sheet, bake until golden brown about 20 minutes. Cool. Store in airtight container.

Bench Notes: These are easy easy crackers to make. I do let the dough chill more than an hour - usually over night. Made this the first time in August of 2003. How old am I? 

Creme Fraiche

the beginning

Crème Fraîche: "This matured, thickened cream has a slightly tangy, nutty flavor and velvety rich texture. The thickness of the creme fraiche can range from that of commercially produced sour cream to almost as solid as room-temperature margarine. In France, where creme fraiche is a specialty, the cream is unpasteurized and therefore contains bacteria necessary to thicken it naturally. In America, where all commercial cream is pasteurized, the fermenting agent necessary for creme fraiche can be obtained by adding buttermilk or sour cream. A very expensive American facsimile of creme fraiche is sold in some gourmet markets.

the waiting

The expense seems frivolous, however, when it's so easy to make an equally delicious version at home. To do so, combine 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees F) from 8 to 24 hours, or until very thick. Stir well before covering and refrigerate up to 10 days. Creme fraiche is the ideal addition for sauces or soups because it can be boiled without curdling. It's delicious spooned over fresh fruit or other desserts such as warm cobbler or puddings."
source: The New Food Lover's Companion, 3rd Edition, Sharon Tyler Herbst, 2001

finished

I read this "recipe" at Accidental Epicurean last week and thought since I'm making asparagus soup this week that some crème fraîche would be good to go with it. It's also ridiculously expensive in the markets. This is just stupidly easy and I had what I needed so I thought let's give it a go. Mix on cup of heavy cream with one tablespoon of buttermilk and let sit until thickened (twelve to twenty-four hours). Stir, refrigerate. Keeps for seven to ten days.
Not terribly exciting, but at least it's easy. I expect I'll be doing this on a regular basis from now on. Now on to the challenge of yogurt, or maybe even Greek-style yogurt. 

tastes amazing

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Cream of Asparagus Soup (Crème D'asperges)
yield: Makes 4 servings
source: Epicurious.com
2 pounds green asparagus
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 to 6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste


Cut tips from 12 asparagus
1 1/2 inches from top and halve tips lengthwise if thick. Reserve for garnish. Cut stalks and all remaining asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces.
Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 5 cups broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
While soup simmers, cook reserved asparagus tips in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth, transferring to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids), and return to pan. Stir in crème fraîche, then add more broth to thin soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in remaining tablespoon butter. Add lemon juice and garnish with asparagus tips.


 
Bench Notes: I didn't do the garnish thing - I know, I probably should have but I didn't. I did use home made crème fraîche - which was so easy and fun to make and super tasty as well. I also added a dallop to the soup bowl.  Yum.  

Taken by the Cowboy - Julianne MacLean

Summary: Former bounty hunter, expert gunslinger, and the toughest sheriff Dodge City has ever known, Truman Wade is a real man from the tip of his black Stetson right down to his spurs and leather boots. He's never met his match in a gunfight, but he's never met a gorgeous, gutsy woman from the twenty-first century either…
Newly single after a rocky breakup with her self-absorbed fiancé, newspaper columnist Jessica Delaney crashes her car in a lightning storm and soon finds herself dodging bullets in the Wild West. Before the night is out, she's tossed in jail for a murder she didn't commit, and if things don't seem complicated enough, the impossibly handsome sheriff in charge of her arrest has danger written all over him - and a sexy swagger to die for. Jessica knows she needs to get home, but when Sheriff Wade's enticing touch sets her passions on fire, she begins to wonder if fate has other plans for her, and soon she must choose between the life she longs for in the future… and the greatest love she's ever known. (source: Amazon)


Comments: Time travel, we all know it can't happen, but we like to suspend reality now and then. This is certainly an interesting take on it, in that while you travel time, you stay, roughly, in the same place. So you have your juxtaposition of a modern girl in the 1880s and how she must adjust just about everything to fit in in her new society - liking the changes or not. Jessica is out of her element, but is thankfully befriended by the town's attorney - he has a secret that helps him to understand Jessica's situation. 
Truman Wade is the strong, silent type, who eventually comes to realize that Jessica might be what he wants, but does she want him or her old life back.
One of the funny lines in the book was Jessica's thought that maybe Dodge was purgatory or hell..."But why the Wild West of all places? If God really wanted to punish her, He could have put her on The Bachelor." I would have to agree that reality TV certainly must be a ring in hell.
When Jessica is accused through the salacious paper of the town, there is total mob mentality in the town. Not a very complimentary portrait of people of this era - were they all really stupid in 1880s? I'd hope not.
The ending was a bit of a twist, even though I had an idea something strange would happen, the ending was different and enjoyable. 

Maldon

So where does my new salt come from?
Maldon is on the east coast of Essex where salt has been harvested for hundreds of years. Salt was being produced from the Iron Age to the Saxon times. The original harvesters, it is believed, placed vessels
in the river bank to trap the sea water at high tide and they were left to partially evaporate and then on to clay pots which were heated to complete the evaporation process leaving behind only the salt. In the middle ages, production became more sophisticated by placing the brine in lead pans to increase the speed of evaporation during boiling.
The Guild of Saltmakers dates back to 1394. In the 19th century in Essex the industry started to decline due to taxes and easier methods of production in Cheshire. Only a single company carries on the tradition - The Maldon Crystal Salt Company.
Why Essex - environmentally, there is low rainfall in this area - with less fresh water the salt concentration is higher than other areas. With the rise and fall of the tides, the sun and wind ease evaporation and leave behind salt deposits.

Salt - Is it the only rock we eat?

Celery Salt

Making your own - thanks to 101 Cookbooks

prior to baking

I have never even thought of doing something like this before, but as I was making chicken salad recently, I remembered reading this post from 101 Cookbooks and thought, let's see what happens. I used the leaves from one bunch of celery, I rarely use the leaves anyway, and placed them on a single layer of a baking sheet and baked them at 350 degrees as suggested by 101 Cookbooks and at the suggested time of five to seven minutes. That wasn't long enough for some leaves, so I took off the ones that were dehydrated, tossing a couple that had gone brown. I put the less dehydrated leaves back in the over for another five minutes and let them cool. I thought for sure they would be dehydrated, but I didn't want them to go to brown because that would ruin the whole thing.

leaves & salt mixed

But... they still weren't dehydrated.
So what to do - I took the leaves that were still too soft to crumble and put them in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time on high until they were. I think next time I'll do all of it this way and see how that works. So I'm all ready with the celery leaves and then I realize
- I don't have the type of salt recommended. Here's what 101 Cookbooks says "I've made celery salt with a number of different types of salt, and the flaky, whispers of Maldon sea salt is my current favorite. The shards are similar in size to the crumbled celery leaves which works nicely." That made good sense to me but only had a small sample of Maldon, not nearly enough to mix with my celery leaves.

ready to use

So to the interWeb I go and find a great salt resource, SaltWorks out of Woodinville Washington. Lovely company with a great number of salts and free shipping. And the best price for Maldon I could find. So I waited and in due time, it arrived and I finished my celery salt. I'm pleased with it and plan to use it to rim a glass for Bloody Marys over the weekend.* Yum.

*It's pretty bad when you're planning your weekend drinking on a Monday. Sigh. 

New Belgium Brewing - 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

New Belgium Brewing - 1554 Enlightened Black Ale was a gift from a friend who had recently been out west. If you can imagine the coffee-chocolate of a stout without being too rich or leaving a lot of aftertaste. It has an exceptional aroma and a very clean finish, but I'm starting to sound like one of those wine reviewers, so I'll just use New Belgium's own description of the beer.


"1554 Enlightened Black Ale redefines the phrase keeping time in a bottle. From an ancient, crumbling Belgian library book, our intrepid researchers found references to this obscure style dating back to the year 1554. Overcoming obsolete script and units of measure, our brewers discovered an ale with a surprisingly bright taste and a dry, chocolaty finish - one evocative of dark brews enjoyed in Belgium taverns 500 years ago."

Super Bowl - Best Bar Nuts

Best Bar Nuts
11 oz can unsalted assorted nuts
1-2 Tbs fresh rosemary, finely minced
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbs unsalted butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on cookie sheet and toast in the oven until they are lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes - don't let them burn!
Combine rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar, salt and butter in a sauce pan and heat on low until sugar dissolves. While the nuts are still warm, mix with rosemary/butter mixture. Toss thoroughly and spread on cookie sheet to dry.
Additional Ideas:
Add 1 Tbs of fresh lemon zest
Add 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Bench notes: This was from a contest of NYC bars a few years back (don't remember exactly, but I started making these in 2006), and it's still one of my favorites. I think it's the rosemary that really does it for me. This time I used 10.1 oz of Brazil nuts that were a gift at Christmas. They are one of my favorite nuts. I also added something this year that I hadn't before about a 1/2 tsp of sumac. It has a neat lemony/citric kind of taste to it and I've been waiting for something to try it in.

Super Bowl - Citrus Couscous

Let's start by saying I've made several changes to this recipe by blending it with another couscous recipe I have some where in the back of my head.


Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Yield: 24


Pastry Cups
Vegetable oil cooking spray
Flour, for dusting
Two 9" unroll and bake store-bought pie crusts
Special equipment: 24-count nonstick mini-muffin pan; 2 1/2-inch round
cookie cutter
Salad
1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Zest of 1/4 large orange
Juice of 1/2 large orange (about 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup couscous
One 11-ounce can mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Cook's Note: To toast the almonds, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 6 to 8 minutes until lightly toasted. Cool completely before using. 
For the pastry cups: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 24-count nonstick mini-muffin pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Unroll the pie crusts on a lightly floured work surface. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut 12 circles of dough from each crust. Press the dough into the prepared muffin cups. Bake until light golden, 10 minutes. Cool completely before filling, 15 minutes.
For the salad: Bring the broth, orange zest, orange juice and cumin to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the couscous and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan until the liquid had been absorbed and the couscous is tender, 5 to 6  minutes. Fluff the couscous and break up any lumps, using a fork. Toss together the couscous, mandarin oranges, almonds and parsley in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
For the dressing: Whisk together the oil, orange juice, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until coated.

Bench Notes: As mentioned, I made changes, but was pleased w/the results - first, no cups, just couscous. I left the cumin out of the broth and used veggie broth instead of chicken broth (which I do quiet often). I substituted sultanas soaked in slightly heated orange juice
for the mandarin oranges. I added 1/3 of a diced red onion that I had slightly pickled in red wine vinegar and continued with the rest of the recipe. It was great room temperature and quite pretty with a nice mix of flavors.

Super Bowl - Soppressata and Cheese in Puff Pastry

Soppressata and Cheese in Puff Pastry
Recipe Ina Garten


1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
12 thin slices soppressata salami
6 ozs Gruyere cheese, grated
1 egg beaten w/1 Tbs water, for egg wash


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Lay one sheet of puff pastry on a floured board and lightly roll into a ten inch square. Place it on the sheet pan and brush the pastry with the mustard, leaving a one inch border. Arrange the soppressata in overlapping layers on the mustard and sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on the soppressata, also avoiding the border. Brush the border with the egg wash.

Lightly roll the second piece of puff pastry into a ten inch square. Lay the pastry directly on top of the first square, lining up the edges. Brush the top with egg wash, cut three large slits for steam to escape and chill for fifteen minutes.
When the pastry is cold, trim the edges with a very sharp knife to amke a clean edge. Bake the pastry in the center of the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes, turning once while baking, until puffed and brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into squares and serve hot or warm.
Bench notes: Chilling the pastry after you've put it together is important. I used Fontina because my deli only had smoked Gruyere which didn't sound good to me on top of salami. May try a different salami in the future. The top puffed up nicely and brown even though I forgot the egg wash the top, but the bottom didn't crisp up as much so that was unfortunate. Might try with a different salami or even ham and perhaps add a minced shallot.