Second Glances - Alexa Adams

Summary: A years has passed since the conclusion of "First Impressions," and the marriages made by the three eldest Bennet ladies are prospering. Expectations are high for the two youngest sister to do equally well. Kitty, having excelled in school, receives an invitation to join Georgiana Darcy in her first London season leaving Lydia to bear the burden of the classroom alone. Will the most forward Bennet tolerate such inequity?

Kitty arrives in London prepared to be happy, but her delight is marred when she finds a most unwelcome gentleman intimate terms with her hosts. She has met the reckless Sir James Stratton before and would like nothing more than to never encounter him again, but his acquaintance she is forced to endure. Struggling for firm footing amidst the whirlwind of London society, will Kitty be allowed to follow her heart, or will her family force her hand? Join the re imagined cast of "Pride and Prejudice" as they pursue happiness amidst the ongoing obstacles of life, love, and interfering relations.

Comments: Just prior to reading this book, I went back and re-read "First Impressions" and while that is in no means a requirement, it did bring me back to Ms. Adams lovely way with words. She has a gift for being expressive without over describing scenes and her dialogue is realistic and often quite funny. While there are conflicts in the story, they too make sense and are not drawn out angst ridden affairs - they make sense in the context of the story.

This is, largely, Kitty's story and it's nice to see her become a more three dimensional character and her own woman. She still is young, but you start to see the beginnings of a solid mind, practical common sense, but still tinged with some insecurities and a lack of experience in the "real" wold of London society. She's wary, as if afraid that a wrong move will ruin all her chances, and that is largely true.

I enjoyed seeing Lizzie and Darcy as guides for her and Georgianna as a confidante. You begin to understand a bit of Kitty through her interactions with them. Sir James Stratton is a bit of an odd bird - going his own way, which is much easier for a man, a titled, wealthy man at that, to do. It may be his own oddity that makes Kitty the most conscious.

I suppose there is only one part of the book that gives me pause. I think I would have liked Lizzie to pulled Kitty aside once, but perhaps it would have taken twice, to explain that first impressions are not always what you think.

A relaxing comfortable read, "Second Glances" is fun and entertaining. I look forward to what Ms. Adams has coming out next!

I received a copy of this book for an honest review. 

Wait, what the hell?

My cooktop/oven has inexplicably gone into Sabbath mode - WTH?
This is derailing my serious cooking plans for the weekend. I had my spinach and artichoke stuffed shells ready and the oven was heating to 350 degrees when it all went pear-shaped. Bugger. 
We have it off now - supposedly for 72 hours - is the Sabbath that long? Really?  Hopefully, all sanity will be returned, but until then I'll be going to the MotH's* mom's house to finish off my plans for weekend cooking - I mean, don't mess with a girl that wants to make America's Test Kitchen Butterscotch Cookies - please. 
If this is the best the oven can do, well, I'm not impressed. 
But I am annoyed. 
Perhaps mimosas at brunch at Jaco's tomorrow will help. 
Blah.

*Man of the House (see Quiet Man)

Christmas Cooking - 2012

We'll I fell off the wagon - the blogging wagon. But I'm ready to start again and what better way than for Christmas. Here are the plans.

Christmas Eve - at my brother and sister-in-law's house. She is from Texas so we're having Mexican food - yeah. I really like that idea. I'm responsible for salsa and guacamole. I'll have to go with canned tomatoes since there are no decent tomatoes this time of year - even in Florida. I don't care what color they are they just don't taste like a tomato - it's just not right. 

Christmas Day - am - my traditional Sausage Balls w/mustard and/or grape jelly (may sound gross, but don't comment until you have tried it  - we had these every year growing up. This year, I'll be using the Cook's Country version to see if I like it better - I expect that I will. My personal favorite for Christmas - latkes with applesauce and sour cream. Finally, I plan on trying my mom's recipe for banana nut bread - we'll see how that turns out. Happily, the Boy will be in attendance. Music = Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, The Klezmatics - Jews with Horns. 

Christmas Day - pm - back to my brother and sister-in-law's house for turkey dinner - fried turkey. It's truly an amazing thing. I am responsible for cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole (more like dessert than vegetable) and a dessert - probably pecan pie from America's Test Kitchen - it is truly fool-proof. Oh, and an appetizer - mini sweet potato biscuits with horseradish cream and ham - excellent.

Then on the the list of etc.
M&M Cookies, Lemon Curd (have Meyer Lemons from my tree!!), Chocolate Croissants, Sauteed Apples, Spinach & Mushroom Quiche, Peanut Butter Fudge, Parmesan Crackers (new recipe - like I need another one).

Then it's on to planning New Year's Eve! Hot damn. 

Well

Maybe my slightly (?) superstition-ness worked. Since the storm is going to NOLA - not that I wish it upon them. 
But... It's still windy as all heck here tonight and raining, slightly, but I'll take this over a direct hit. There is still much more Season to go.  It is what it is. 

Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Bleu Cheese and Herbs

Yes, I deviate from the recipe, but only for very good reasons. Plain store-bought bread crumbs taste like ... um, crappy cardboard. Never use them. Ever.

12 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2  pieces of bread, whirred into crumbs in food processor
3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on paper towels to drain, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, gently toss the drained tomato halves in the oil mixture until coated. Marinate the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and Gorgonzola cheese (and additional garlic if you like). Place the marinated tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fill each tomato half with the bread crumb filling. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly softened and the underside of the tomatoes are brown.

Arrange the cooked tomatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Source: Food Network

Isaac - well this might be craptacular

I'm not happy - but this is the season... it's what is expected. Crap. Thank goodness the generator is in working order. And that I get mimosas tomorrow morning. It will be necessary. That is Sunday. 
And Monday will bring what it brings. It is life. 

Isaac

Spent most of today going through hurricane supplies, purchasing a few things, checking the generator, and making sure we've watched all the clothes. 
Expect to spend tomorrow putting away all said hurricane supplies, etc. Looks like it is going east of us. 
Now, we'll still get rain in bands and wind, but we're on the good (west) side of the storm as it's projected. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Three Cities of Spain Cheesecake

Literally, the best cheesecake ever. From Three Cities of Spain

1 crumb-crust recipe made with finely ground graham crackers
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
16 oz sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make crumb crust as directed. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla and sugar, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken. Let stand in baking pan on a rack 5 minutes. Leave oven on.

Make topping:
Stir together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Drop spoonfuls of topping around edge of cake and spread gently over center, smoothing evenly. Bake cake with topping 10 minutes.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.) Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side from pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

well, that did not work or at least not yet

groan ....we will not deal with this until it is past Cuba --- - or at least I will not ... that will be  Sunday ... ugh.

It's the Season

Two people in the office today requested that I start my summer superstition post haste. In my own defense, it has worked for many years now - warding off hurricanes from our area.
So what is it? I print copies of the National Hurricane Center's 5-day cone of probability and put them on the front left (if you're sitting in my chair) of my desk -- where anyone can see them as they walk by my office.
So take that Issac.
(fingers crossed)

Blueberry Crumb Cake

For the Streusel Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
For the Cake
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk, well shaken
1 1/2 cups blueberries
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make streusel topping: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender until large, moist crumbs form. Chill.
Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice. In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Add flour mixture
and buttermilk alternately until just combined. (Batter will be very stiff.) In a large bowl, toss the blueberries with remaining teaspoon flour. Fold blueberries into the batter; spoon into prepared pan.
Sprinkle cake with streusel topping. Bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before cutting into squares.

Source: Martha Stewart

Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
2 Tbs lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in lemon zest, then beat in the eggs one at a time until well-combined. In measuring cup or small bowl, combine vanilla, buttermilk and vegetable oil. Working in two or three additions, alternately add the flour mixture with the buttermilk mixture, ending with the final addition of dry ingredients. Stir only until no straks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before topping with lemon glaze (recipe below)

Serves 16

Lemon Glaze
2 Tbs butter, melted
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs lemon zest
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Croutons

We've had several dinner events at work recently, and with one meal came a loaf of country white bread that no one touched, save my single slice with butter for breakfast. So I took it home and made - wait for it, croutons.

There isn't a real recipe here, although I read Jennifer Reese's recipe from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter (p.137), and used that as a starting point. 

Heat oven to 275 degrees. In a fairly large saucepan, heat olive oil over low heat and add minced garlic. Keep on low to let garlic flavor the oil. Slice bread into equal sized pieces (they cook more evenly that way). Add herbs - I used Herbs de Provence (rosemary, fennel,
savory, thyme, basil, tarragon, dill, oregano, lavender, chervil, and marjoram), lemon zest, and black pepper to the olive oil and again left it on low in to flavor the oil. When everything started to smell nice, increase the heat to medium and add the bread cubes and turn to coat, adding more oil as needed. You're going to try to get them crisp, and then finish drying them out, for lack of a better term, in the oven.

Once crispy on the outside, put them on a baking sheet and place in the over for 35 or so minutes.

Notes: One time I added the juice of a lemon to the olive oil - excellent! A dash or three of Worcestershire Sauce is a good thing too. You can also dry the croutons by putting them in an oven where you were baking at a higher temperature, but turn the oven off and leave in for about an hour. I also leave them out over night to make sure they are really dry before storing them. I did not add any salt, but think I may put more black pepper next time. 

"Artisan" - what does it mean?

I thought this was a great explanation of the demise of the words artisan and artisanal and their vast overuse in food discussions. From the larger discussion here.

Kevin West of Saving the Season:

""Artisanal" is the Paris Hilton of food words – it went from obscurity to ubiquity in no time, and now I'd like to see that trajectory reversed. The first time I remember hearing it used frequently was in 2001, around the opening of Terrance Brennan's New York cheese-centric restaurant, Artisanal. Back then I liked the word because of its etymological roots in skilled craft – akin to "art" but with that special connotation of the practical arts, such as carpentry, iron-working, and making food.

In recent years "artisanal" has become a synonym for small, smaller, smallest – the Portlandia battle cry – and has grown shabby with overuse. Now that Domino's has unveiled Artisan Pizzas, the word is officially threadbare. Anyone who cares about food or language should put "artisanal" in cold storage for a century, in hopes that it may be restored and repaired by generations to come."

Sangria

I've been looking for a good recipe for a red sangria over the summer. I have a favorite California Mexican restaurant that serves a great sangria that is described as a Merlot with citrus, peach, and mango juices - it's heavenly, but I was hoping for something a little simpler. So after experimenting this summer, this is what I've come up with and it's pretty good. 

1 750 ml bottle of red wine 
2 oranges
2 lemons
1 lime
1 c sugar
1 c water

Put sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and let cool. 

Slice one lemon and one orange into segments. Juice the other orange and other lemon in addition to the lime. Add these juices to red wine in pitcher. Add the lemon and orange segments. When cooled, add the simple syrup. Mix and chill.
Serve over ice. 

Things I've learned:
Red wine should be something fruity, I usually use a beaujolais villages and find it works well. 
Experiment with other fruits, such as peaches when in season.

Lemon Verbena simple syrup

Flavor the simple syrup. I used some of my lemon verbena to flavor and it was a nice floral lemon flavor. 
Lots of recipes call for Triple Sec or other liquors, but to me, they can overpower the drink. 

Kitchens then and now

I was thinking recently about the things that I have in my kitchen which would have never been in my family kitchen growing up. The computer I’m working on, for example – but it would be very strange for me if I didn’t have one in the kitchen. I've gotten quite used to it being here when I need it. It’s quite useful and not just for writing posts for this blog-thing. I have a DSLR camera with an additional macro lense right next to my 12 cup food processor. My stand mixer has it’s own area on the counter with the sugar containers and flour containers nearby.

orange, lemon, lemon-rosemary, celery

I am ridiculously obsessed with salt and have kosher (of course), sea salt, Maldon salt, bourbon smoked sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, malt salt (this is outstanding on potatoes), Portuguese traditional salt, plus the four salt blends I made (lemon, orange, lemon-rosemary, celery) with the flaky Maldon. Pepper is a lesser fascination, but my list includes: India Tellicherry, Sarawak white, reunion pink, and India green.

I probably shouldn't get into the spices that I have that my mother would never have even heard of, much less tried. Maybe I will do that one day. 

One thing I totally take for granted, but am glad everyday I have is a dishwasher. When my mom built her house, the kitchen was small and there was no room to add one. She always did dishes by hand. I don't mind doing that, but I like having  the dishwasher all the same. It makes life so much simpler to set it to go off at midnight and have clean dishes in the morning. 

My digital kitchen scale is always at the ready as is my electric knife sharpener. I have learned a lot using the scale when canning and, particularly, when baking. It does make a difference to go by weight and I prefer that now that I'm used to it and it's easily done with my scale. 

It's an interesting thing that in the kitchen of my childhood with few bells and whistles, my mother made wonderful food. That's a true talent that you don't get from gadgets.

Wacky Cake

In cooking from 1945, it's hard for me to imagine going through rationing. My mom talked about it from time to time, but not much. Let's see, she would have been about eleven in 1945, so I'm certain it would have made an impact and her and the vast majority of her stories were about food rationing. 
So this week, at America's Test Kitchen, it's cook the 1940s. I suppose this is called Wacky Cake because it makes no real sense, unless you get the science. The combination of vinegar and baking soda at the last possible second is what gives the cake lift. With no eggs and/or butter, this is also vegan - first vegan thing I have made and it's from a recipe that from World War II - ironic, isn't it. 

So I made the cake one evening and planned a nice picture the next day, with good natural light and what do I find in the morning? What I should have expected. The Boy had gotten home from work late that night (or early the next day) and had helped himself. 

That said, this is a tasty cake. Chocolately, but not too much so. Since I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, that's a good thing. Wonder if there are other version as this makes a very quick cake to put together and could certainly do for a sweet tooth. 

Easy Parmesan "Risotto"

Easy Parmesan "Risotto"
Yield: 4 to 6 servings


1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
5 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade, divided
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the rice and 4 cups of the chicken stock in a Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Remove from the oven, add the remaining cup of chicken stock, the Parmesan, wine, butter, salt, and pepper, and stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes, until the rice is thick and creamy. Add the peas and stir until heated through. Serve hot.


Thank you Ina Garten. This was not a recipe that lent itself to photography. Used only 4
cups stock and used Valencia rice - a short grain rice that I also use when making sushi. It worked as well Arborio rice and was much much less expensive.

Use real Parmesan - it makes a difference. 
Was very creamy and super easy to make - will work on some variations of this. I'm thinking asparagus should be involved. 
Reheats well too. That's a plus. 

Sriracha Hard Candy

The following is a recipe that I first found on sprinklebakes.com (link below) for sriracha lollipops. Wanting to try this, but not sure I wanted an entire lollipop of the flavor, I opted for something smaller - hard candies. I haven't made hard candy in about forever, so I had to get back into again and realized how much I really enjoy it. Might have some ideas for other flavors working in my head now - this could be good - or this could be bad - we shall see.

Sriracha Lollipops
Yield: 12-17 Lollipops


Special equipment:
Candy thermometer
Lollipop Sticks
Lollipop molds


Candy:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce, divided
1/4- 1/2 tsp. orange gel food coloring


Lightly grease candy mold with cooking spray.
Stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan and insert a candy thermometer into the mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Continue to heat without stirring until the bubbling mixture reaches 244°F. Drop one
level tbsp. Sriracha sauce into the bubbling mixture– do not stir!

first addition of sriracha sauce

When the mixture reaches the hard crack stage (302-310°F). Remove pan from heat.
Stir in the remaining 1 tbsp. Sriracha sauce and food coloring. Be extra careful because the mixture will bubble and sputter with these additions.
When the mixture has stopped bubbling, pour it into molds and let harden. Wrap the cooled lollipops in cellophane or wax paper and store in an airtight container.


Bench Notes: 
Use a small saucepan or the mixture won't reach the bulb of the candy thermometer and you will end up with burnt sugar on the bottom of a saucepan - not fun and definitely not good eats.

getting a dusting of superfine sugar

Sort of one note - like something is missing, but I'm not sure what yet.
Did not use orange food color - or any food color for that matter - think they look fine. 
Rolled in superfine sugar before wrapping

Weekend Cooking

I do most of my cooking and all of my experimenting on the weekend. So that means that today - Tuesday - I start planning for what I want to make this coming weekend. When will it appear on this site - who knows? I think it depends on how excited I get by the process or by the results.
Any early contender for this weekend is Buttermilk-Lemon Chess Pie. I've not made chess pie before, but this combines two of my favorite things - buttermilk and lemon. And get this - there's buttermilk in both the crust and filling. Yes, this has potential.
There may also be biscuits in our future.
Yum.