Gumbo!

Now that the weather is starting to get colder, and the days are starting to get shorter, it only means one thing: it's time to start making soups and stews in the house again.

I try my best to be a "seasonal cooker", not just in trying to use ingredients that are in season, but cooking techniques as well. During the summer, I refuse to turn my oven on, and I barely use the stovetop. However, now that cold weather is creeping in, I *love* making soup. One of my favorites is old-school, no-nonsense chicken and sausage gumbo. There's nothing more satisfying than a delicious bowl of gumbo with some fluffy rice...I'm so happy I have some waiting for me in the refrigerator (leftovers from last night).

One of the simplest recipes ever. Just make sure your arm is rested.

2 tbsp oil
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 lb smoked sausage (andouille is best, but it is too spicy for Steph's taste so I use kielbasa), cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
4 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped green pepper
8 cups chicken stock (at room temperature)
salt
cayenne pepper
sliced green onions (for garnish)

Film the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven with the 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken, then brown the sausage in the pot. Remove the meat from the pot, and wipe with a paper towel to clean out any excess moisture. Add the 1 cup oil and heat over medium for 2 minutes. Add flour and stir, stir, stir until combined. Do not stop stirring! This is making the roux, which is the thickening agent for the soup. DO NOT burn the roux! It will be shiny and should be "like sand at low tide" (according to the CIA), and will darken in color and become nutty in aroma. Keep stirring until the roux is the color of a penny, then add the vegetables and keep stirring until they are completely coated in roux and softened nicely. SLOWLY pour in your stock and stir continuously until all your stock is added. Increase heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for an hour (or more). Serve with fluffy white rice.

DELICIOUS!

Panini Wednesday

Tonight, I made chicken with bacon, rosemary and lemon, and it was just as good this time around as it was the last time. I was able to save some time by making cutlets out of breast halves, and it was still delicious. I also added more bacon (is there any other 2-word combo better than 'more bacon' in the English language?) so it was even more delicious.

However, I want to talk about last night. Wednesday night is usually grad school night, and this semester I've fallen into the habit of making panini for dinner. This time around, I picked up "panini rolls" from Wegmans to use, as opposed to the traditional peasant-style boule I'd snag. I was picking up some roast beef and provolone for Steph's, but then I saw they had some roast pork and all I thought was "cubanos". So I helped myself to some sliced roast pork, ham and swiss, picked up a jar of dill pickles and was on my way to tasty deliciousness. We've become fans of the Kettle Brand Lightly Salted potato chips - not greasy and not overtly salty, but still a tasty accompaniment.

Seeing that I want to add more pictures to my blog, I had my wonderful wife Stephanie (who was not eating yet, and therefore free) snap some pictures as I was preparing dinner. Here we go.




Here's me spreading some sun-dried tomato relish onto both sides of Stephanie's panino. Sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and some McCormick Italian seasoning in the Cuisinart Mini-Prep.









This is Stephanie's sandwich, before closing and pressing.









This is my cubano, layered from the bottom, with mustard, ham, roast pork, dill pickle slices, swiss cheese and mayo. Absolutely delicious.









This is my "panini press". I've gotten into the habit of using a heated quarter-sheet pan, with all my pots stacked on top. It's honestly alot easier than pulling out the Le Creuset. It makes a great sandwich, that's for sure.

I Melted the Ice Queen

So yesterday, Mom and I trekked up to Short Hills Mall (or The Mall at Short Hills for you snobby folk) to meet up with Katya and get some cookbooks signed by Martha Stewart. First off, just to get the sappiness out of the way - it's great when you're friends with someone, you don't see someone for, literally, years, but when you hang out again, you can just pick up where you left off without a hitch. So glad to see Katya last night, can't wait to meet up again!

So we're standing on line, BSing about food and constitutional law and cake decorating and other randomness, and all of a sudden there were carts with refreshments getting wheeled up and down the line. Shortly after, they brought around a snack - creamy tomato soup (recipe from the new cookbook) for all to enjoy. It was better service than I've ever had on an airplane - so friendly...and delicious soup!

So finally, after like 1.5 hours, the moment arrives, and we head into Williams-Sonoma to get our books signed. I walk in, Mom goes first and says something to Martha about how all her recipes come out great and what not, then it's my turn. I tell her it was great to meet her and how happy my wife is going to be that I'm going to have new recipes to cook - she responds that it's great that I do the cooking in the house, and then asks if my mom (pointing over to Mom) is a good cook...I respond "she's good...but I'm better!" At that point...I get a wink and a chuckle...from Martha Stewart. Talk about shocking, I was not expecting emotion! I melted the ice queen!


So after getting our books signed and ogling all the cookware we don't need/can't afford/don't have storage space for, we went off to California Pizza Kitchen for some tasty pizza. We had the Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Pizza and the Mango Tandoori Chicken Pizza. The first one was pretty good, but the Mango Tandoori was UNREAL. Spicy and sweet and delicious - I'd definitely order it again.

Eating tasty pizza and hanging out with an old friend, and meeting Martha and making her chuckle. All in all, a great night.

Katya > Martha

I got a Facebook message from my friend Katya, asking if I wanted to go to a Martha Stewart book signing. Like she needed to ask - I'm always on the lookout for additions to my collection of autographed cookbooks. She replied she figured I would say yes, and she had picked me up a ticket when she had stopped by to get hers before she even asked me if I wanted to go. Talk about a great friend - THANK YOU KATYA! Tomorrow I'll be the proud owner of a brand-new autographed copy of Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook. Totally wicked - can't wait to use it.

So here's my list of autographed cookbooks - yes, I am a huge nerd:

• Louisiana Real and Rustic - Emeril Lagasse (Mom got this at a local B&N book signing some years ago)
  
• Fork in the Road - Paul Prudhomme (this was my grandmothers', it's addressed to her)
• Express Lane Meals - Rachael Ray (no personalization - I HATE YOU - this is a story for a for a whole different post)
• Williams-Sonoma Mustards - Chuck Williams (wandered into the opening at the Short Hills mall when I was 14 years old, walked away with this!!!)
• Farallon - Mark Franz (from Farallon in San Fran, a gift from the parents when they were out that way a few years ago - still haven't made anything from it yet)
  

Almond-Fruit Balls with Coconut

I'm home sick with the gout today, so I'm not doing much in the way of walking around. Fortunately, I've got flank steak marinating in the fridge (2:1 lime juice:soy sauce, chopped garlic, ginger and scallions) and Steph is going to stop for some Wegmans premade potatoes (she likes their roasted yams or their sweet mashed, but I like their garlic mashed.) Good time to write about my Sunday morning.

So I had this recipe that I can't remember where I got it from, but it was intriguing to me because A) it required no cooking and B) it was full of tasty and relatively nutritious stuff and C) I've been looking for something tasty to nosh on when the sweet tooth comes calling. Hence, Almond-Fruit Balls:

1 cup almonds (the recipe called for raw, I only have roasted and salted)
1/8 tsp salt (I omitted this since the almonds were salted)
1/4 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (I used, 3/4 tsp extract)
4 oz dried pineapple, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
4.5 oz soft Medjool dates, pitted (about 1 cup)
2 tbsp dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (I only could find sweetened at Wegmans)

Pulse the almonds in the Cuisinart until finely ground (you're supposed to add the salt and the vanilla seeds at this point. Obviously, I did not follow Bonnie's #2) Add the pineapple and dates (I added the vanilla extract) and process until the mixture holds together. Transfer to a bowl, stir in cranberries, roll into 1" balls and roll into coconut. Enjoy.

What worked: The final product is absolutely delicious. They're chewy and 2-3 are very satisfying in terms of flavor and sweetness. They have a texture that is similar to a dense DD chocolate Munchkin.

What didn't: After the processing of the dates and pineapples into the almonds (which took longer than I thought it would, I had to keep the processor going), the final 'dough' was VERY oily. As I was rolling them into balls, I had oil literally dripping off my hands. I don't know if maybe I overprocessed, or if it had to do with the fact that I was using roasted almonds as opposed to raw almonds. It was just something I wasn't expecting - although my hands were super-soft when I was done and all cleaned up. Also, the coconut did not stick to the outside of the balls as well as I'd have liked, another symptom of the excess oil on the 'dough'.

What I'm planning for next time: Raw almonds, vanilla bean (not extract), lower processing time, chopping up the cranberries before stirring them in.

It's definitely a repeat recipe, and they'll last a while since I don't have to worry about Stephanie noshing on them - she's not the biggest fan of dates or almonds.

Photos

Steph said I should have more pictures on my blog. I think its a great idea. I just don't know how to take pictures while cooking at the same time. Help?

FUDGE

How can you go wrong? It's easy - you can't with this awesome recipe I made earlier (again, courtesy of my favorite source for recipes)

15-Minute Fudge
16 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Toss the chocolate with the baking soda and salt. Add the sweetened condensed milk and tha vanilla and stir to combine. Melt over a double boiler, while stirring until most of the chocolate is melted*. Remove from heat, and keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted. Fold in the nuts, then pour and spread into an 8" baking pan, lined with foil w/ overhangs. Refrigerate for a while, then serve.

*Be careful here. If you overheat the chocolate (like I did), some of it starts to break and the oil separates out, leaving you with a greasy top on your fudge. I ended up having to blot the top of the fudge with paper towels to drain off some of the oils from the chocolate.

Delicious.