Popovers

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Popovers...I love them; smothered in gravy, split open and cover in melted butter or simply devouring them warm and just out of the oven all on their own.

HOWEVER....

    I can't make them.  I have tried many times to make popovers, but mine just don't pop.  Sure they are tasty, yes they still have lovely flavor.  But when it comes right down to it, my popovers just don't pop.

The last time I tried making them with no success, I put the failure behind me, I vowed never again.

That was six months ago...

     And oh how those popovers haunted me over that time frame.  In my head, on the internet, and even making numerous appearance on the various food shows I watch.  One particular episode of Triple D (Diners, Drive-in & Dives) almost caused me to weep looking at the most amazing and mouth watering popovers I had even seen, that were made at a restaurant in Austin, TX called Foreign & Domestic.   They looked so good, as did everything else that they showed on the episode that I am still trying to figure out when I can get to Denver just so I can go to this place.

But still I resisted the urge to try and make them again, afraid that they would get the better of me one more.  Until the day I brought a bottle of wine over to my parents house, and shared a few glasses of red with my mom and grandma as we sat around the island in her kitchen preparing the menu for our Easter dinner that weekend and my grandmother got the bright idea to suggest we make popovers.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

     I wanted to scream it, I wanted to shout it, but I just tried suggested other things that we could make.  Not only was I outvoted 2 to 1, it's my grandma and my mom...who was I to argue that.

Because of my on going war with popovers though, we did all decide to meet that Good Friday and attempt making popovers before the big day to see if it could in fact be done.

We didn't use a fancy popover pan, or go too crazy the first go around but we did it.  Did you get that part....WE DID IT!

Those popovers popped and they popped beautifully.  I don't know if all my failed attempts in the past were the fault of my oven, my crumby muffin tins, my equally crummy attitude as my number of failed attempts grew or if by some design the popover goddesses just knew they needed to wait for this day.

A day where it was just me and my mom, my grandma and my little sister laughing and having a good time in the kitchen together, and then the popovers popped.

Enjoy.

Popovers

Makes: 20 (in a muffin tin)

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter, melted

6 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cup milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more for sprinkling

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp ground thyme

1 tbsp. ground oregano

Black pepper

Butter or cooking spray

Flour, for dusting in muffin tins.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2.  Take your muffin tin and using the butter or cooking spray light coat the inside of your muffin tins.  Sprinkle with flour and move tray around to coat the butter/cooking spray with flour (like you would butter and flour a cake pan).  Dump out any excess flour and set aside.

3.  In a large mixing bowl add in your eggs, and beat 1 minutes.  Add in the milk, flour, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, salt and melted butter and combine. Stir in the cheese.

4.  Using a ladle, fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full with batter.  We filled about 18-20.  Sprinkle each with black pepper and shredded cheese to taste.  Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue cooking for another 15 minutes or until the tops are nice and browned.

Roasted Eggplant with Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil

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Tonight was one of those nights were I just felt like going to the store and picking out whatever called out to me, as long as it wasn't mushrooms, zucchini, green beans or asparagus

....As I have had an over abundant amount of these things in the past two weeks and needed a change of pace!

So I got a multitude of different ingredients, from eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil like the title suggests to leeks, lemons, Brussels sprouts, and tilapia.  And so the ideas began to swarm.

I needed something different, desperately.

I have made eggplant fries before.  They are completey delicious and have resulted in one of my best food memories, though that is best left for a different post (one that has to do with the eggplant fries). 

So this seemed like the complete opposite of that and something different to do with eggplant.  You can look at it as a spin on eggplant pizzas or a spin on caprese salad or you can simply look at it as a deliciously yummy way to serve eggplants.

Enjoy.

Roasted Eggplant with Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise- 1/2 inch thick
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, pearl or torn into smaller pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper.

Directions:
1.  Place the sliced eggplant, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper.
2.  Sprinkle with minced garlic and thyme, and layer with sliced Roma tomatoes.  Top with  mozzarella and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
3.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or until eggplant is soft and cheese is golden brown

Mushroom-Swiss Grilled Cheese

Went on a mushroom kick last weekend.  There's something fun and exciting to me about spending the day in the kitchen with the windows open letting in the much awaited warmer weather.  So that's how I spent my Saturday, while trying out recipes to get through the pounds of mushrooms that I had at home.

I made loads of different things, but this might just be one of my favorites...and I didn't even make it when I was doing all the mushroom cooking.  It was the next day.  I was looking for something quick and easy to do for lunch the day after and still had just a few baby Portobello mushrooms leftover so I figured I would go with that.  Throw in some leftover cheeses, Venison breakfast sausage I had already browned the morning, slices of whole-wheat baguette and you've got yourself the makings of a nice little grilled cheese sandwich.

 

Did I say butter?  To me the butter on the grilled cheese has always been the forgotten part.  But why?   Can't we find a way to make the butter more than just a means to toast bread and melt cheese, can we make the butter another flavor compontent?  Well of course we can, little bit of minced rosemary and roasted garlic cloves and we have ourselves and Rosemary-Garlic Compound Butter.
Now with that idea, it was time to grill them up.

 

 

The Venison breakfast sausage is optional, I did half with and half without when I made these for lunch.  If your going to use it I would suggest using a different bread than a baguette so you have more surface area.  With the baguette slices,  everything gets piled so high, that I had a hard time keeping the sausage on it before I grilled it. 
Of course I missed posting this on National Grilled Cheese Day, which was yesterday (April 12).  However at least I was still ahead of the game on making it a week in advance.  Here's to next time actually being on time and meeting my own deadlines.
Enjoy.

Mushroom-Swiss Grilled Cheese
Makes: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients:
Whole-wheat baguette, cut on the bias into 1/2 inch thick slices
4 slices Swiss cheese, cut in half
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 package baby Portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
8 oz. Venison breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled (optional)
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. butter, softened
6 cloves roasted garlic
1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed and minced
****Most of the amounts given are a guesstimation, make them with the amounts you prefer.  If your more of a cheese fan and just want a hint of mushroom lower the amount of mushroom you use and vise versa if your more of a mushroom fan.  

Directions:
1.  Start with making your compound butter.   Using a small bowl mix together the softened butter, roasted garlic, minced rosemary and a pinch of salt until fully combined.  (My roasted garlic just blended right in, but you might want to mince it down a little if you want to make it easier to incorporate.)  Set aside until ready to use.
2.  Using a medium sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add in mushrooms and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3.  Assemble:  Butter one side of 8 baguette slices, set 4 to the side and using the remaining 4 place buttered side down.  Top these slices with 1/2 slice of Swiss cheese and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  Top with sautéed mushrooms, minced thyme, and then the sausage (optional).  Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese and the last of the Swiss cheese.  Top with the 4 remaining bread slices, buttered side up.
4.  Using a large nonstick skillet or griddle, heat over medium heat.  When ready, place your sandwich in pan.  Cook until brown, about 1-2 minutes and then flip carefully to brown the other side.   While cooking, using your spatula apply some pressure on the sandwich squashing it just slightly to make sure the top layer and bottom layer of cheese bond together when melting.  Cooking until brown and cheese is melted, 1-2 minutes then remove from heat.

 

Smoked BBQ Spice Rubbed Pork Shoulder

 

 

 

It’s finally started to warm up, and when I have been able to sit outside and work on the laptop (like I am right now) two days in a row without my winter jacket on then I am officially calling it.  Spring is here!

Of course, now that I’ve said it, we’ll end up with a blizzard or something next week just to make me eat my words.  But if all goes well, it should hopefully remain like it is and slowly get warmer (bring on the heat and humidity!)

However, when I think spring and the beginning of warm weather, I start to get really excited about grilling.  And since this is the first spring arrival I am experiencing after getting my very own smoker I am starting to get giddy about that too.

 

I grew up with my summer weekends being filled with cookouts with my family and enjoying my time outside.  And one of the more special things that my father would do is pull out his smoker and spend a whole day smoking various meats while working in the garden with my mom.  We’re lucky enough to have a big cherry tree in my parents’ back yard, so whenever my dad was trimming branches he would always save them and trim the branches into smaller sizes and then soak those in water before beginning the smoking process. 

Smoking meat is a low and slow kind of thing, and you need to be around to tend to it by adding in more wood chips or charcoal throughout the process, so because of this he wouldn’t usually pull out the smoker as often as the grill.  But when he did, he would go all out.  Pork butts, chicken, turkey, ribs, and fish would all go on the smoker at some point in the day (depending on the amount of time needed).  Then we would usually have one of those items for dinner (usually the ribs) and he would freeze the rest, that way he would still get to enjoy that deep smoky flavor in-between “smoke days” without all the work.

 

On my very first solo smoke day (after finally getting a smoker for Christmas and then bags of wood chips, charcoal and lighter fluid for my birthday, from my dad naturally) I decided to stick with pork.  There is just something about pork and smoking and/or barbequing that just goes together so well.  I had already been working on different spice rubs, and I wanted to do one that had the flavor of a barbeque sauce, just without the sauce.  This was inspired by the fact that my dad always smoked a pork butt/shoulder and would then use it the next day as barbeque pulled pork by cooking in the in the crock pot with his favorite barbeque sauce.  So I wanted those flavors, but in a pork loin and not pulled. 

And I got it!  After numerous tries with the rub, I finally got the right balance of sweet and spicy and then the smoky flavor from smoking the pork all day.  It was delicious cut in slices by itself.  It was great the next day sliced for cold sandwiches.  When I say my kind of barbeque this is it and I just can’t wait to get back to my smoker this year…it has been missed.

Enjoy!

 

Barbeque Spice Rub

Makes: approx. 1 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. salt
4 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ancho chili powder
1 tbsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. ground thyme
1/2 tbsp. rosemary
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 tbsp. nutmeg
1/4 tbsp. allspice

Directions:
1.  Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

French Onion Soup

This past Thursday I had my French class that I taught, and we made a few French dishes that I love to eat.  Among them we made, Steak au Poivre (Pepper Crusted Steak) with a Cognac Sauce, Ratatouille, Crepes with an Apple Caramel Sauce and French Onion Soup. 

Now after going to Culinary School, and taking my Classical Cuisine class (which was a restaurant run class serving "classical French foods") I have ingrained in my head where I can no longer call it French Onion Soup.  Because in that class, it was a French menu, therefore according to one of my instructors it should simply be called Onion Soup because the French should have been a given.

But for the purposes of this blog that is neither here nor there, just a little insight on how my brain functions.  Anyway.....French Onion Soup, something that my mother has been asking me for years to make her.  Not sure why, but when I started my culinary venture, she just said she would really like me to make it for her at some point.

And I am sorry to say for years up until this point I have played the bad daughter roll because I haven't made it for her.  It was one of those things that I was always so-so on because the recipe always seemed so simple.  What could be so special about onions in a beef broth with bread and some gruyere cheese?  But it's those very things that make this a delicious dish for all to indulge in, and of course I made my momma happy when I presented her with a bowl of this.
Enjoy

French Onion Soup
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
3 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 quarts  beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound Gruyere, grated

Directions:
1.  Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. 
2.  Add the wine and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes.  Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
3.  Add the flour in with the onions and stir.  Turn the heat down to medium low, and cool out the raw flour taste, about 5 minutes.  Pour in beef broth and bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.  Season to taste, with salt and pepper.
4.  Preheat your broiler when your close to serving the soup.  Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Load the slices with Gruyere cheese and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.  Broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
5.  Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.


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Sweet Potato Fries with Sriracha Thyme Mayo

Growing up the only way that I ever thought of sweet potatoes was mashed up with marshmallows on top, and that was only one day a year.  Our Thanksgiving tradition, thanks to the fact that my mother loves sweet potatoes (us on the other hand, we weren't fans), was to make sure that next to the dish of mashed potatoes was a bowl of orangey stuff with marshmallows browned on the top. 
It was the one time as a child that marshmallows just never looked good.  Until of course I grew up and decided that I was no longer going to be a picky eater and was going to start giving food a chance.  Well, maybe food......some dishes from the past just never recovered for me.

Unfortunately, that never changed for sweet potatoes.  At least in the way I had always had them.  Mashed with marshmallows just still isn't my thing, but a few years ago I found a recipe for sweet potato fries and had decided to give it a try when I was trying to find healthy alternatives for chips and fries. 
And WOW! I loved them, ever since then it's one of my go to recipes when we are grilling burgers or brats.  I usually go with my spicy sweet potato fries as I am not a fan of the sweet version (i.e. let's dump a whole bunch of cinnamon sugar on them) because it reminds me of the Thanksgiving dish I see every year. 

However, when I know I am going to have kids eating or non-spicy food eaters, I go with my herb and garlic version with a sriracha-thyme mayonnaise as a dipping sauce option for those that want the spice and heat.
Enjoy.


Sweet Potato Fries with Sriracha Thyme Mayonnaise
Serves: 4

 

Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. thyme leaves, minced
1 tbsp. oregano leaves, minced
1 tbsp.  rosemary, minced
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. Sriracha sauce
1 tbsp. thyme leaves, minced
Kosher salt

Directions:
1.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
2.  Cut the sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick fries.
3.  In a large bowl, combine the onion powder and garlic powder, thyme, oregano, rosemary and black pepper.  Season with kosher salt.
4.  Add potatoes into the bowl of spices and drizzle with olive oil and toss to combine.
5.  Place you sweet potato fries on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Flip fries and continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until done.



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Frozen Birthday Cake

So recently, I shared my first cake attempt when I made the Spider-Man Batman Cake.  With my little sisters birthday fast approaching after that, I had to get out of the mind set of action figures and superheroes and start thinking about princesses and Disney.  With the recent movie hit FROZEN, I pretty much knew my theme.  She loved the movie, went to the theater multiple times, got the sound track and is pretty much in love with the movie.  (And I have to admit I'm a fan of the movie as well.)  So Frozen themed it was, and then she decided she wanted a castle cake.  And then she wanted snowflakes.  And strawberries.  And just vanilla cake.  And her characters on the cake, had to be her characters.  And snow all over.  And could I make a staircase just like the one in the movie (that was a definite no, I knew better to even attempt that).  And....
Did I mention she was turning 7?  And that this particular little soon to be 7 year old is extremely hard to say no too, especially when she tells me that she just knows however I make it,  "that it's going to be beautiful".  How do you say no to that??? Huh?  You don't, you just figure it out, cross your figures and hope that your second cake attempt isn't a complete disaster and make said birthday girl happy.
So here it is. Enjoy :)



I bought this Castle Cake Set at Hobby Lobby, I know I have seen all over the internet where you can make your own towers.  But when I saw this, and then armed with my 40% off coupon I just couldn't past it up.  I did a rough set up here just so I could get a little bit of an idea how I wanted to the whole thing up.

The very first thing I did for the cake was start making "shingles" for my tower roofs using this circle cutter.

Three of the tower tops after I had covered them in the fondant shingles I made so it gave the roofs a little bit more of a realistic look.

End result after covering in fondant shingles.

New "buttercream" recipe I tried out for this cake, there's no butter in this one, so I used shortening and butter flavorings so that I could be sure my icing would be white instead of the yellowish tint typical buttercream can be. 

I filled the middle of the cakes with an outer border of the buttercream and filled with strawberry preserves before I topped it and then iced the whole layer (2 cakes per layer or tier).



I refused to buy another packet of dye just so I could have the premade teal color from Wilton, so since I already had royal blue and green I added a little of both of those to my white fondant to get the color I was looking for.



Finally got the fondant to the teal color I was looking for.

Door and windows (four windows missing from picture) once fondant trim had been added.

Top cake, after being iced and having the fondant snowflakes added (medium and small).  I got the snowflake cut outs from a Winter and Holiday Cake Kit made by Buddy Valastro (CAKE BOSS) that I found on clearance a couple months ago.

Bottom cake after it had been iced and the fondant snowflakes (large and medium) had been added on.

The finished cake, didn't get a chance to get a picture without anything behind it.  But you pretty much get the idea of what the cake looks like.  I put icing on my shingled roofs and then sprinkled them with clear sprinkles and this glittery stuff I found.  Truth be told there is a lot more that I would have added to the cake if I had had more time, but I think the best part was that the birthday girl loved it!