Party Prep Day 2!

Okay, so this is a few weeks late. I was packing, sorry. Without further ado, the Stout Cake with mocha frosting! Frosting recipe will be posted soon.

Layer one, ready to go.









Frosting, ready to go.









Ready, set, frost!









My great-grandmother's famous brownie recipe is essentially brownies with fudge-frosting. Three sticks of butter were harmed in the making of this dish. I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to disclose the recipe...


And, the best part: DISHES! I think we did nothing but bake (i.e. dirty dishes) and wash dishes for two whole days. But it was worth it. I'll post the picture of the whole dessert spread once I get it from my uncle.

Chocolate Dessert Party Prep, Day 1

My parents are having a chocolate party for their 50th birthdays, and the menu is: chocolate linzer torte, sacher torte, my great-grandmother's brownies, stout cake with mocha frosting, sugar-free chocolate mousse, angel food cake with ganache, and chocolate cheesecake. We made the two tortes and the angel food cake and the cheesecake today because all of those things will improve over the two days between now and the party. The linzer torte and cheesecake are family classics and the angel food cake was a mix (give us a break here, it's seven desserts!) but the sacher torte is a new recipe, courtesy of Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sachertorte-231043. Tomorrow we're making the rest; I'll post pictures and recipes from those as well.

I'm not going to type up the recipes right now because they're all long and detailed (but not terribly difficult, actually), but I will try to scan them to post later, or just type them when I'm not so tired. (Remind me.)

To entertain you in the meantime, pictures of the linzer torte's construction:
(about to fold the chocolate into the meringue to make, you guessed it, chocolate meringue)

And, completed:

The sacher torte was kindof a pain in the butt to assemble because it bakes in one layer which then has to be split into two layers. Then it gets apricot glaze, which has to soak in for a while, and then chocolate glaze, which is essentially a thin layer of very dark fudge. (But stickier.) And then you have to move it, before the chocolate sets.



Step 1: Split.













Step 2: Apricot glaze between layers and on top.







Step 3: (An hour later) Chocolate glaze.













Step 4: Move to clean doily (it takes four hands). I have a pretty picture of the completed torte, but Blogger keeps rotating it for no obvious reason. I'll mess with that and post it later.

On to the cheesecake! I only took one picture of the in-process because it's pretty much just "Throw everything in the kitchen-aid":















I'll take a picture of the cooked cake tomorrow; I forgot to do that today. It's cracked like the Grand Canyon, but it smells wonderful. (Besides, that's how you know it's homemade, right?)

In other news, my diploma finally arrived!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes!

Something had to be done with the sweet potatoes trying to grow out of a paper bag. There were probably 4 or 5 pounds of them, but by the time I cut off the dried-out and growing bits, I had just a bit over a pound, perfect for sweet potato cupcakes! I'd never made this recipe before, but it turned out to be delicious! Imagine a cross between zucchini bread and carrot cake-- not too sweet, but very moist and tender. The pictures I took turned out better than usual, so I'm posting a bunch. The recipe for both the cake and the frosting comes from the Whitegrass Cookbook, from the kitchen/cafe of a fabulous cross-country skiing place in West Virginia. (website here: http://www.whitegrass.com/cafe.html ) My family doesn't like super sweet frosting, so I always halve the sugar in this recipe. They're good without frosting too! So, here goes:















Whitegrass Sweet Potato Cake
1 c. vegetable oil
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. AP flour
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. allspice
1 lb (4 cups) sweet potatoes, peeled and grated

Blend oil and sugar. Add eggs,
one at a time, beating after each addition.









Combine dry ingredients and
mix with egg mixture.

Add grated sweet potatoes and mix well.

Pour batter into two 9" round or one 13x9x2" pans. (Or 18 muffin tins.) Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes for cake, 15-20 for cupcakes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan(s), then fully on racks. Sample. Frost. Sample again. Share.























Whitegrass Cream Cheese Frosting, half-sweet version
2 T. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. confectioners sugar (about 1.5 cups)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. grated orange peel (or a few drops of orange extract)

Beat butter and cream cheese. Add all other ingredients and beat until smooth.

Summer Soups (for Riley), or How to Not Neglect Your Blender

Riley has a lot of tomatoes. To solve such a delicious predicament, I recommend immediate application of gazpacho. And just for kicks (and because it's peach/cantaloupe season), I recommend further application of Peach-Cantaloupe soup for dessert (though perhaps not in the same day; that's a lot of pureed fruit). I've made each of these a few times, but not yet this season-- I'll post pictures when I do. The gazpacho recipe gets its basics from a recipe my Mom has (of unclear origins), but it's been altered over time and generally proceeds in an "Eh, that looks like enough X" fashion. I've tried to be a bit more useful than that here, but it's a really forgiving recipe so don't stress if you don't have exactly enough of any ingredient. The Peach-Cantaloupe soup comes directly from "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest," which is a wonderful cookbook by Mollie Katzen (of Moosewood). She has delicious ways to prepare all sorts of fresh veggies and fruits, as well as a chapter on bread which is both inspiring and easy-to-follow. Onwards and soupwards...

Gazpacho for Riley
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion or a handful of green onions, diced
3 c. tomato juice*
2 large tomatoes, peeled** and chopped
1 bell pepper or 2 poblanos, chopped
1 jalapeno, diced (or a dash of hot sauce)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
two splashes vinegar (apple cider is good, or whatever you've got)
two heavy drizzles of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


*If you're feeling particularly inundated with tomatoes, make juice out of them yourself instead of buying canned. Peel (see below), halve or quarter, scoop seeds out, and blend.

**To peel tomatoes (easily): bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add tomatoes and simmer for 60 seconds. Dunk in ice water. The skins should slip right off; if not then boil them for a few more seconds. (This also works for peaches/plums!)















Blend half of cucumber, half of onion, half of bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, tomato juice, and oil/vinegar (in batches as necessary). Add to remaining ingredients. Chill at least 2 hours. Slurp up. Really good with rosemary sourdough bread and fresh mozzarella or more olive oil. It looks pinkish when you first make it (see photo) because the tomatoes get frothy, but regains a rich red color after chilling.


Peach Cantaloupe Soup (credit: Mollie Katzen, with minimal alterations)
6 medium ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (see above for peeling tip)
1/4 c. dry white wine
6 T. lemon juice (from one juicy lemon)
1 T. honey
1/4 t. cinnamon (MORE!)
dash of nutmeg (make it two)
1 medium-sized ripe cantaloupe (5" diameter or so), seeded and diced
1 c. OJ

Place all but cantaloupe and OJ in a heavy saucepan. Heat to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Puree peach mixture with 3/4 of the cantaloupe and OJ until smooth. Pour into serving bowl. Add remaining cantaloupe chunks and chill for 2 hours. Garnish with fresh blueberries and mint. And whipped cream if you're feeling adventurous.

Coconut-Anything Ice Cream

(photo credit: Christina)

This is actually from a few weeks ago, but that's okay. It is the easiest ice cream I've ever EVER made-- three ingredients only! I have the ice cream attachment for my stand mixer, which makes it even more ridiculously easy if the bowl is pre-frozen. For best (and quickest) results, either chill the ingredients separately before mixing or chill the mix itself before churning. Any fruit could be substituted for the peaches; it takes about a cup of mashed/pureed fruit to get decent flavor. The peach-coconut combination is dynamite, but pineapple would be good too, or papaya or maybe even pear. Now, without further ado...

Chill and mix (or vice-versa) 2 cans coconut milk (NOT lite), 2 pitted and mashed peaches, and 1/2 c. sugar. Pour into ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's directions. Garnish with fresh fruit (more blackberries, anyone?) and mint. EAT!

Laura's jambalaya!

My friend Laura is amazing, and lives in Atlanta, and I think she's a bit bored recently. She emailed me her jambalaya recipe and, well, it looks delicious! Here it is...

Laura's Jambalaya (word-for-word from her email)

Ingredients:

• 1 large pepper (any kind, green makes it look prettier)
• 1 small onion
• Okra (optional/seasonal)
• 14 oz. can tomatoes (don’t drain) or equivalent amount of fresh
  
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 ½ cups rice
• 2 cups water
• Meat (see discussion below)
• 2 - 3 T oil
• Garlic (at least 2 cloves)
• Crushed red pepper
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
  
• 1 bay leaf
• Basil, oregano, rosemary as the spirit moves you
• Salt and pepper to taste (if using canned broth, no salt is necessary)

Directions:

In large pot, sauté pepper, onion and garlic until cooked a bit in oil (whatever kind you want).

Add rice, stirring until it is coated in oil (this will prevent sticking – more oil may be necessary but if you use a greasy meat it isn’t).

Add tomatoes, broth, water, PRE-cooked meat and spices.

Raise to a boil then simmer (covered) for about 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Be sure not to eat the bay leaf!

Meat:

I usually use ½ a ring of Polish kielbasa and a chicken breast or two. You can use Italian sausage or shrimp as well. Kielbasa is pre-cooked and therefore easy to add. For shrimp, it would be advisable to add it towards the end though you may want to look up proper instructions. Shrimp is too classy for me. (My note: Add shrimp when the water is all-but absorbed; they need to steam/cook for about 4 minutes. And yes, I had to look it up too.)

We be jammin'

Blackberries and strawberries and peaches, oh my! We made strawberry jam about six weeks ago (after picking 27 lbs that morning we needed to do something with them!) and with the recent influx of blackberries it was time to bring out the jars and make blackberry jam too! At the same time Mom and I made more strawberry jam-- we'd measured out and frozen 4 cups of mashed berries exactly for that purpose. Making jam (and canning in general) is really not as scary as you may have been led to believe and it only requires a few things you might not already have.

Required:

• canning jars (use jars made specifically for canning, such as Ball or Mason jars) and two-part lids (consisting of one-time use flat lids and reusable rings)
• a pot large enough for your jars to stand up in with an inch of water covering them

Optional but very useful:

• a canning funnel (or other wide-mouth funnel)
• jar-grabber tongs
• an assistant

The jars, lids and canning funnel and pectin (more on that later) can be found at a grocery or healthfood store or your neighborhood hardware store.

A great resource for home canning is here: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

Now, onto jam specifically:
Before you start, put on Bob Marley. Then sterilize your jars (boil for 10 minutes or as manufacturer indicates) and prepare the lids according to the manufacturer's directions. The actual jamming process depends on your recipe, which depends on your sugar preferences. If you want to make old-fashioned strawberry jam, here's a classic recipe:

4 c. mashed berries
4 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice

1. Mix all ingredients together and cook and cook and cook(stirring constantly all the while) until it reaches 220 F.
2. Fill jars (4-5 half-pint jars or 2 pint jars), leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
3. Place lids on and screw down bands to finger-tight.
4. Process (boil) jars in large pot for 10 minutes.
5. Remove jars and let cool. Lids will suck down (you'll hear them pop) as they cool. Any jars that don't seal should be used immediately. (Try it on ice cream!)
   

That makes excellent jam, but it's super sweet. For a less-sweet version, you'll need to buy some pectin, at which point you scrap the above recipe and follow the package instructions. Steps 2 through 5 are standard for most recipes, but do check.

For the blackberry and strawberry jams we made today we used "Pomona's Universal Pectin," which worked wonderfully. The two great things about this pectin are that you only have to cook the fruit for about 5 minutes total and you can use as little as 3/4 c. of sugar. For something like strawberries, that was just perfect-- the jam is plenty sweet and very fruity. For the blackberries we used more sugar, about 1 and 1/2 cups.

To illustrate the steps:
Step 1: Boil berries with sweetener as per recipe.
















Steps 2-3: Fill jars and screw lids on. (The canning funnel makes this a lot easier.)
















Step 4: Boil.















Step 5: Let cool. (Strawberry jam is in the front jars, blackberry in the back.)

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Once again the internet had a very timely idea-- Tuesday's NY Times Dining Section had a recipe for Watermelon or Canteloupe Agua Fresca and there was most of a watermelon simply languishing in the fridge. In my usual fashion I proceeded to throw the recommended proportions out the proverbial window, and this is what resulted:


Mom gave it a "Lovely!" on presentation and a "Delicious!" on taste.

(Oh, by the way, I'm not in Carrboro-- I'm recovering from wisdom teeth removal. Hence the yellow-house backdrop here.)

In a large blender (or multiple batches), combine:
7 cups of diced watermelon
2 cups water
1 T. granulated fructose (or about 1.5 T. sugar)
2 T. lime juice

Blend until smooth. Strain into a large pitcher to remove seeds. (I think the NY Times people used a finer strainer than I did, but I like the pulp-- suit yourself.) Sample and adjust lime and sugar. Refrigerate. Stir before pouring, as the pulp rises to the top. Garnish glasses with a sprig of mint.

Optionally, experiment with adding rum, and let me know how it goes!

Enjoy a glass on a lazy summer afternoon for a break from those tiresome mint juleps. :-)

Ooie-Gooie Vegan Chocolate Stout Cake?!?

Yes you read the title right. This cake is not only chocolaty but also just happens to be vegan and contain beer. The beer is the secret to the oh so wonderful ooie-gooie factor. This has very quickly become my favorite chocolate cake recipe. It's easy, fun, involves some interesting chemistry (my favorite part) and it's unlike any cake I've ever tasted. It's incredibly moist and rich and the beer really only serves to enhance the chocolate flavor. There is a certain element of experimentation with this recipe, I think the flavor could be greatly changed depending on the kind of beer you used. I would love to make one with a Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout but honestly it'd be a waist of a really good stout, I think you are better off just drinking that one ;) Enough chit chat, lets get down to business shall we?

Recipe(makes two 9'' round cakes, three 8'' round cakes, one 9x13 pan or more cupcakes than I care to count)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose or pastry flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used dutch process but regular is fine too)
1 tsp. salt
One 12-oz. of any stout of your choosing

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. In a separate, larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
4. With a spoon, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour oil mixture into the well. Fold together with spatula until just combined. Pour the beer and water over the mixture. Beat well with an electric mixer on low speed. The batter will be very runny, don't worry, it's supposed to be.
5. Fill desired cake pan almost completely to the top. These cakes don't rise hardly at all so you can fill the cake pans quite full. Two round cake pans take about 45mins to bake but the rule of cake applies as always, stick a toothpick in it and take the cake out when it comes out clean.

Frosting
Now some would argue that no cake is complete without frosting. I would urge them to review the pound cake recipe. This cake can swing both ways, it's great on it's own but frosting makes it that much more indulgent. For this cake rather than make the usual standby of chocolate butter cream, I decided to try an experiment seeing as we had some cream in the fridge that needed to be used. The following is a recipe of my own invention and I dare say I got it right on the first go!

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 coco powder
1/2 packed brown sugar
1/2 packed powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a large bowl. Beat on high with an electric mixer until the mixture get's a little past the 'hard' whipped cream stage. Remember, you are basically making chocolate whipping cream but you don't want it to be so soft it falls off the cake. Just whip it until you think it is stiff enough to stick but spread easily. Refrigerate for at least an hour before use, this will make it much easier to work with.

As you can see from the header picture we topped our cake with strawberries which is something I would highly recommend.

This really will be one of the best chocolate cakes you've ever had so GO! Make cake! Be happy!

Preciously Perfect Pound Cake!

As we all know it's strawberry season and in my humble opinion, good strawberries require good pound cake. And really, on the last day of exams, what could be better?

Now as far as cakes go, pound cake is one of the easiest, it doesn't even have to be frosted, just topped with fresh whipped cream. The following is the recipe I used, sorry there aren't more pictures, it was just too tasty not to break into right out of the oven!


One cake requires:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (cake flour works too)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:
1.Do not preheat oven! This cake goes into a cold oven because it needs to come to temperature gradually or it doesn't cook evenly.

2.Oil and flour a 9 inch bread pan.

3. Mix flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

4.Mix cream, vanilla and almond extract together and set aside.

5.In a larger bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

6.Add eggs and yolk one at a time, fully incorporating one before adding the next.

7.Add flour mix in three parts alternating with cream mix, start and end with flour. (progression should be 1/3flour mix->1/2 cream mix->1/3 flour mix->1/2 cream mix->1/3 flour mix) Be careful not to over beat but make sure everything is well mixed

8.Pour mixture into baking pan smoothing out the top with a spatula.

9.Put pan in oven and turn on to 350F

10.Bake for 1 hour, take out and let cool 5 mins in pan before transferring it to a cooling wrack.

11.Enjoy with strawberries and fresh whipped cream!!!

Key Lime Pie

Easy as pie! Key lime pie is so refreshing, perfect for spring/summer. It's also a great way to use up those stale graham crackers you have sitting around (and you know you do). It's one of my favorite desserts to make in the summer, and I've never heard any complaints when I announce that a key lime pie is in the works...

Crust:

• crumbs from 1 package graham crackers (not a whole box)
• about 3 T. butter, melted

Filling:

• 1/2 c. key lime juice (if you can't find it look in the mixer section of your grocery store near the seltzer and grenadine)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (NOT fat free)
• 2 egg yolks
• zest of 1/2 of a large lime (or all of a key lime)
  

Topping:

• 1 c. fresh cream
• 2-3 t. sugar

Preheat oven to 325F.
Mix together graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into the sides and bottom of an 8" or 9" pie dish. If it crumbles instead of sticking to the sides, add more butter. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove to cool but leave the oven on.

Stir together filling ingredients (use some of the lime juice to rinse out the sweetened condensed milk can). Admire the cigar-smoking smiley face.


Pour into baked crust. Bake for 12 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow pie to cool fully to room temperature.

Whip cream until soft peaks form, adding the sugar after a few seconds of whipping. You want to taste the cream, not overwhelming sweetness, so use good cream and go easy on the sugar. :-)

Spread whipped cream over pie and garnish with curls of lime rind. Serve immediately. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Pictures of the pie to follow, I haven't topped it yet.

Cranberry Walnut Muffins

It's too hot to turn on the oven, in case you were wondering! (A high of 90F today.) This recipe will proceed Cooking For Engineers style, because it's so simple... (Adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.)

Preheat oven to 4ooF. Grease 12 muffin cups (or use muffin papers).

1 egg
--> Beat for 30 seconds

3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil
1 c. chopped cranberries (frozen is fine)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 t. orange extract
-->Stir into egg

2 c. flour, a combination of AP and whole wheat pastry (or whatever you've got)
3 t. baking powder
-->Stir into wet ingredients just until moistened, batter will be lumpy. Fill muffin cups half-full. Sprinkle tops with sugar, if desired (you desire).

Bake for 20 minutes, turning once. Betty Crocker rules that muffins should be golden brown, with a slightly-domed top and an irregular but not craggy texture. I think she would be proud. Serving suggestion for a perfect muffin: warm from the oven with a cold glass of milk or lemonade.

Black and White Cookies

In case we didn't still have chocolate chip cookies left (we did), I decided that my CogSci class needed cookies. Julia decided they needed frosting, so I found: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-and-White-Cookies-106171

I altered it a bit, of course, so here's what I actually did (as Lilly looked on):

Cookies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt
• 2/3 c. milk + 2 t. white vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes to make buttermilk substitute
  
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg, beating until combined well. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Batter will be the consistency of cake batter, NOT cookie dough.

Using a tablespoon measure (or an ice cream scoop!) spoon tablespoons (ish) of batter onto a greased* baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake until tops are puffed and pale golden, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool while you prepare icing.

*Easy trick for greasing pans: use the wrapper from the stick of butter you just used. There's enough butter left on the wrapper to grease the pan if you just smear it around. (Thanks to Carter for passing on that trick.)


Icing:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 T. honey
• 1/2 t. orange extract
  
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 to 2 T. water
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Stir together all but cocoa powder. Divide in half, and add cocoa to one half. Add more water, 1 t. at a time, until the two icings are the same consistency. You're going for thick syrup consistency; it should be both spreadable and drizzle-able. It took me a while to get it to that stage, so don't be afraid to play around with it-- if it gets too thin add more sugar and/or cocoa.

When the cookies are cool, it's time to play with icing! (Over parchment or waxed paper!) The recipe tells you to flip the cookies over and ice the flat sides, so I tried that once. But the cookie wouldn't sit still on its curved side, so all the icing just slid off before it was dry. I gave up and just iced the top sides. I made some that were all chocolate or all vanilla, some that were just artfully drizzled with one or both icings, and then a few half and half. Those were the hardest, because if you put the two icings touching too soon they just bleed together. I would ice each side, one chocolate and one vanilla, leaving a small gap in the middle, and then come back a few minutes later with a toothpick to encourage the semi-solid icing to cover the gap. (You can see why I didn't make very many that way, it takes forever!) The first ones I made were really ugly because my icing was too thin and it just ran off the edges and made a big puddle. (No pictures of those!)

Lilly says: Fine, make more cookies. I'm ignoring you.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is technically a half-batch. I think it came from the White Grass Cookbook, from a fantastic cross country ski lodge in WV. (Typed and passed along by Mom.)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

2/3 c. butter or margarine (i.e. 1 and 1/3 sticks)
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
--> Cream together.

1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
--> Beat until creamy.

1 c. AP flour
3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
--> Stir to combine.

1 generous cup semisweet chocolate chips
-->Stir and sample.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until golden brown. There was some discussion here about whether cookies should still be soft in the middle when cooked or fully crunchy. Follow your cœur here. (Mine says soft.)



Enjoy with milk or Riesling. (Did I mention that I'm lactose semi-tolerant? Or "lactose judgmental," if you prefer.)

Roast Chicken with Fennel and Lentils

Weaver Street (i.e. the best grocery store in the Triangle) has some great ideas at times. Whole chickens were on sale, and they had fresh fennel. So Megan ferried these lovelies home and we set to making the house smell scrumptious:

Roast Chicken with Fennel (and Lentils)

1 whole chicken (ours was about 4lbs, but larger or smaller is fine)
1 large bulb fennel (all but feathery leaves)
1 medium onion
canola oil/butter, salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic
3 handfuls lentils
1/4 c. white wine
2 c. water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Rinse the chicken and remove the giblets/neck if present. (Reserve for giblet gravy if desired.) Chop fennel and onion. Grease the bottom and sides of a roasting pan or large cast iron skillet and layer in the veggies. Settle the chicken on top, breast side down. Rub chicken with more oil or butter and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Cover with foil, leaving a drip edge inside the edge of the pan. Bake until thigh temperature reaches 160 (90 min plus). Remove the foil and switch the oven to broil. Broil, watching carefully, for 5 minutes or until chicken is browned. Remove the chicken to another dish or board to cool/carve.

Meanwhile, transfer the veggies and drippings to a stove-safe pan (that was the idea with using a skillet). Bring to a boil and add chopped garlic, lentils, white wine and water. Cover (the foil from the chicken works well here) and cook until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.


Alternatively, cook brown rice or barley in the juices instead of lentils. Or even whole wheat pasta. (You can cook pasta in any liquid, not just a pot of boiling water!)

Internet Treasures

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3149 Squig tries to cook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hly0vuXPG-M Chago the boxer plays on a trampoline, extended edition.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=1470 Whole Foods' Morning Glory Muffins -- I'll make these next time we have carrots. In the meantime try out the recipe and let us know how it goes!

It smells AMAZING in here tonight-- we're making dinner for tomorrow, details to follow.

Citrus Honey Poppyseed Dressing

I concocted this with a little help from a recipe I had saved from I-know-not-where.

4 T olive oil
2 T honey
1.5 T cider vinegar
1 t salt
.5 t orange extract (or a dash of orange juice)
2 t lemon juice
1 shy t poppy seeds

Measure the wet ingredients in the order listed so the oil residue helps the honey come out of your tablespoon measure. Shake to combine and store in a small jar with a tight lid. If you feel the need to refrigerate it (I don't), let it sit at room temperature before using to allow the oil to un-congeal.

This only makes about a quarter of a cup so you may want to double or triple it!

Excellent on something I decided to call Aphid Salad (the poppyseeds look like aphids, don't they?):

(Butter lettuce, celery, formerly-frozen edamame, thinly sliced onion, grated carrot and dressing!)

Crispy Mango Tofu

After an extravagant excursion of excellent excitement nothing quite hits the spot like crisp, fried tofu in a mango sweet and sour sauce. This surprisingly simple recipe was quick and oh so wonderful....but enough doting, lets get down to business so you can make this little piece of wonderful for yourself.

What you'll need:
* extra-firm tofu
* 1/4 cup corn starch
* 4 Tbsp canola oil
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 Tbsp minced ginger
* 1 large green bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
* 2 large mangoes diced



For the sauce:
The sauce used in this is a sweet and sour sauce that could be used for a variety of things from tofu to sweet and sour chicken.

*Combine the following in a bowl and set aside for use at the very end
* 1/4 cup water
* 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
* 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce(tabasco works too)
* 2 Tbsp ketchup
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce
* 1 Tbsp brown sugar
* 2 tsp corn starch


What to do:
*Cut tofu into whatever size bits you desire.
*Roll tofu bits in cornstarch, hehe, they look like fondant cubes.
*Fry tofu in some canola oil until crispy, it takes longer than you think but it's worth it, this really will be the most crisp tofu you've ever tried!

*After sampling (try not to swoon) put on a paper towel covered plate to drain of excess oil
*While you're waiting for you're rice to finish cooking...did I mention the need for rice? Well you need rice and chances are, because tofu fries rather quickly, it won't be done yet. Anyways, since you already have a pan of hot oil sitting on your stove you might as well make Popcorn...at least, that's what we did.

The great Popcorn interlude, brought to you by hungry, that pesky brat that just keeps coming back:

Really? You need Popcorn? Really?

*What are you? Jiminy Cricket? Yes really we need popcorn. (In her defense, she was only trying to help...)

*Now, because we know you need some too, throw some raw corn kernels into your oil, put a lid on and shake the pan around until the popping stops. Salt and nom till your heart's content!


Getting back to the dinner at hand...
*In the little bit of oil you have left in the pan put your chopped green peppers
*Then put your ginger and garlic, we grated ours to avoid more chopping
*Put your tofu back in and then dump your sauce on top
*Let this simmer until it gets thick and then add your mango
*Stir it all around so your mango gets warmed up and you're done! (go eat now)

Lilly and Lentils

It's about time we introduce Ms. Sour Puss to you, aka Lilly. I found her like this on my bed one morning last week. A prize goes to anyone who can find her face.
On a tastier note, I made easily-vegan Curried Lentil Soup last night. I followed the voices in my head when I made it, but here's approximately what I did:

Dice 1 small onion, and saute in olive oil for a few minutes, until soft but not brown. Add 2 large cloves garlic, sliced, and 3 carrots, sliced, and turn up the heat slightly to brown the onions/garlic and start to cook the carrot. Throw in 1.3 cups lentils (I measured out a cup, but then decided it needed another handful, hence the .3 c.) and another splash of olive oil. Add two handfuls of garam masala powder (5 T. maybe??) and stir around for a minute or two. Next add 1 small can or about half of a large can of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted works well) and about 7 cups of stock (chicken, beef, turkey, mushroom, or some combination) or equivalent water and some broth powder. Simmer for about an hour, or transfer everything to a Crock Pot and leave it all day. Check periodically to make sure that you're getting curried lentil SOUP instead of just curried lentils. (Or reduce the liquid to about 3 cups and forget about making it into soup.)

Other good additions would be: mushrooms in with the onions (and some butter, of course) or leeks or celery or potatoes or any other soup vegetables you've got on hand. If you want plain lentil soup, leave out the curry and instead add 2 bay leaves, 2 pinches of thyme, and some black pepper. Easier than pie!

Not a bad pairing with a glass of merlot (somehow), and the notes from my senior honors thesis defense make a great placemat!

Also, today was the first Wednesday of the Carrboro Farmers' Market, and I got a free squash seedling. Sorry about the picture quality today, by the way.