Thursday, April 30, 2015

Picadillo Tacos







Picadillo Tacos

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed or diced
1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 pound Dutch Yellow Potatoes, diced
2 teaspoons adobo seasoning
Salt, to taste

For serving:
Sliced pickled jalapenos, for garnish
Guacamole, for garnish





Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Chef Watson Salad: Corn, Nectarines, Cheese and more



Chef Watson didn't write the whole cookbook himself, though. He had human minions who helped him refine the recipes after he bequeathed them with is food combinations. While it sounds like it could be a fun thing to do, some of his food combinations were ... interesting.

I browsed through the book looking for something I actually wanted to make. Like any cookbook, there are always things that are more appealing and others that are less appealing. And like many chef-driven cookbooks, this was not written with the average person's grocery store in mind.

For example, a promising-looking cocktail called for banana juice, a cabbage slaw required tamarind concentrate, and a pudding recipe called for double-smoked bacon.

And like many chef-driven, restaurant-like dishes, many of these required multiple components. The Belgian Bacon Pudding required sub-recipes of bacon porcini pudding, walnut financier, and spiced dried fruit compote.

Meanwhile, an Italian Roast Duck recipe required pickled mushrooms, vacuum-poached apples, shaved fennel salad, duck sausage, porcini red wine tomato sauce, and black olive and dried cherry coulis.

Of course, you don't have to make all of the components. Those vacuum-poached apples would be a great side dish to go along with pork or chicken. But still, it's fun to see what things Watson thought would be good to combine, even if I never make one of those very long recipes.

And that's the interesting thing about this book - the different foods that Watson combined to make recipes. We humans have preconceived notions about what goes with what. We know what flavors are in Italian foods or Mexican foods or Indian foods. Watson doesn't have those notions about what foods belong together and which don't. So Watson is comfortable combining things that our human brains might never consider.

Each recipe is rated on three metrics: surprise, pleasantness, and synergy.

When ingredients and flavors are not commonly combined in traditional recipes, Watson rates a recipe high on the surprise scale.

Pleasantness is about flavors that give people pleasure on a molecular level, which is called "hedonic psychophysics." This metric isn't about food tasting good or bad, it's about that molecular-level pleasantness.

Foods that share common chemical flavor compounds taste good together, and Western dishes lean towards those sorts of synergistic food combinations. On the other hand, Asian food tend to have contrasting flavors.

I browsed through the book and narrowed down my choices of a recipe to make right away. The short list was spicy tomato gazpacho with ginger; roasted tomato and mozzarella tart; fennel-spiced ribs with tangy apple-mustard barbecue sauce; grilled corn and nectarine salad with toasted spice vinaigrette, and shrimp cocktail (which is a drink with a shrimp in it).

I intended on making the tomato and mozzarella tart until I went to the grocery store and saw that they had both ears of corn and white peaches. Although the recipe's name include nectarines, it says that peaches are fine, too. I would have preferred yellow nectarines or peaches just for their color, but at this time of year, I was happy to get the white ones.

Although this recipe sounded like it could be good, I was skeptical. The corn and nectarines sounded quite pleasant, but I wasn't sure how the basil, rosemary, and toasted spices would fit. The first bite had my taste buds asking my brain what it was thinking. The second bite made me think it was okay, but just okay. The third bite had me taking another serving and thinking that I really, really, really need to make this again.

Grilled Corn and Nectarine Salad 
with Toasted Spice Vinaigrette
Adapted from Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson 
from IBM and the Institute of Culinary Education

4 ears corn, husked
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup olive oil, separated
Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice (or combination)
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
Several dashes hot sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
2 nectarines or peaches, sliced into wedges
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup crumbled queso panela or Cotija cheese

Brush the corn with the tablespoon of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and the chili powder. Heat your grill (or a grill pan) and grill the corn, turning as needed, until the corn is cooked and is lightly charred in spots. Let the corn cool, then cut the kernels off the cob.

Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing or stirring it to keep it from burning, until they're lightly toasted and fragrant. Pour them onto a cutting board. Let the cool, then chop them with a knife, grind coarsely in a spice grinder, or crush with a mortar and pestle.

Whisk the lemon juice, rosemary, hot sauce, remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the corn kernels, nectarine slices, shallot, basil, and cheese. Toss to combine and serve.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Shishito Guacamole

There was an avocado sitting on the kitchen counter, glaring at me accusingly. I had plans for it the day before, but plans fell through. I knew that if I didn't use it soon ... like now, it would be ugly inside, and I'd be mad.

For a fleeting moment, I thought about adding the avocado to the mashed potatoes I was planning, but shifted gears when I remembered the shishito peppers I recently received from Frieda's Specialty Produce.

Avocado with shishito peppers sounded like a really good idea. And, it was. They added a nice roasted pepper flavor and just a little bit of heat.

Shishito Guacamole

6-8 shishito peppers
Splash of olive oil
1 avocodo
1 teaspoon finly chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt, to taste

Remove the pepper stem and slice the peppers in half, lengthwise. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are browned in spots and beginning to smell fragrant.

Remove the peppers from the pan and chop finely.

Remove the flesh from the avocado and put it in a small bowl along with the peppers, chives, lime juice, and salt. Stir to combine, while chopping and mashing the avocado to your desired smoothness. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice, if desired.


Frieda's Specialty Produce occasionally sends me food items for use on my blog. I'm not required to post.

Monday, April 27, 2015

8 Tips for Making Macarons

Bonne Maman Jams, a Le Creuset Teacup/pot and home made macarons.
Mother's Day is coming, and brunch is traditional for many family celebrations.

Even if the meal isn't technically a brunch, daintier foods tend to prevail. And what's more dainty for dessert than a French Macaron?

No, not macaroons, with coconut. I'm talking about the light, crisp, chewy meringue-related cookies that are French Macarons.

The nice thing about macarons is that the flavors (and colors) are endless. Since the basic cookie is nearly white, you can tint them with a tiny bit of food coloring (the Silpat kit I received came with food coloring for that purpose) or you can find recipes that take on color from their ingredients. Like, say, chocolate.

Then come the fillings. I used a chocolate ganache for this batch, but buttercream would be lovely, or make your own on-the-fly fillings. How about a nut-butter and jam? Or jam and whipped cream cheese? Or just Bonne Maman jam?

Am I saying JAM a lot?

 Well, that's because there's a giveaway here, where the winners will get a Silpat macaron kit, a gift set of Bonne Maman jam/jelly products, and an adorable Le Creuset stoneware tea for one with a cup on the bottom, and you use the top part to brew your tea, So cute.

Won't that be great for Mother's Day? A spot of tea, some English muffins or toast with jam, delicate little sandwiches, and macarons to finish the meal. Oui! 

While macaron perfection is a skill I have yet to master, I've made acceptable macarons a few times, and I've made enough mistakes that I think I can point out places where you might go wrong.

1) Almond flour, finely ground.
If your almond flour isn't super-fine (like flour) give it a buzz in the food processor, maybe with some of the powdered sugar, until it is as fine as you can get it. Some recipes even suggest passing it through a fine sieve.

I made the last batch of macarons with almond flour straight from the bag, and while they tasted fine they were a bit rough on top and the cookies had a different texture than those made with super-finely-ground almonds.

2) Mise en place is your friend.
Have all your ingredients ready and standing by. Separate those eggs, weigh your ingredients, and have everything ready to go before you start whipping and mixing.

You'll need two bowls, the usual assortment of measuring and mixing tools, and a few specialty items as well, like a piping bag.

Here's the macaron kit from Silpat, which includes a mat, piping bag, two tips, a pastry brush (not shown), food colors, a thermometer (did I mention that some macaron recipes are fussy?) and a scraper. The kit also includes a thumb drive with recipes.

3) Whip them right!
Egg whites are what give macarons their lightness and their structure, so you need to whip them to the proper consistency. If you're using a stand mixer to do your whipping, don't walk too far away from it. Underwhipped egg whites just need a little more whipping. Overwhipped whites can't be salvaged.

4) Pipe them right!
Some of my macarons rose oddly - tilted to one side or the other - while others were perfect. This was more likely to happen when I was using a recipe that resulted in a thicker batter and I piped in a circle.

I got better results when I simply put the tip in the center of the circle I was aiming to fill, and piped straight down and let the batter flow to form a circle. This also helped me form an actual circle rather than oval or odd-shaped macarons.

The Silpat Macaron Mat has circles drawn on the mat to make it easy to gauge the size of the macarons and to make perfectly round circles. Those circles would also be useful for cookies or any other food when you're trying to keep them evenly spaced.

5) Let them dry!
For the frilly rise to happen along the sides of the cookies, you need to let them sit around after piping until there's a nice crust on top. Depending on how dry it is in your house, this could be quick, or it could take much, much longer. It's possible to over-dry the cookies, but I don't know for sure what horrors would happen if that was the case - I barely have patience to let them dry enough.

This is NOT supposed to happen!
Some of my cookies had little peaks from piping, and I wanted to get rid of them. To keep my finger from sticking, I dipped it in bit of cold water. This worked really well. I thought. But the tops of those few cookies never dried right, so strange things happened when the cookies baked. These tasted just fine, but there's no way I'd serve them.

6) Bake them long enough - but not too long.

Perfectly pale, acceptably toasted, and ... oops!
Macarons aren't really supposed to brown. A tiny bit along the edges might be okay, but you don't want your white macarons getting a tan in the oven.

7) No, really, let them cool.
Before the macarons are fully cooled, they will stick to the Silpat baking mat like the suckers on a tentacle. If you try to lift them, you will tear the cookie. So you can't peek underneath. You just can't. But when the cookies are fully cooled, they'll pop right off. Be patient!

8) And if all of that doesn't work...
If it goes wrong, claim that you meant to do that. Seriously, unless you're opening a French bakery, perfection isn't required. You're making cookies for your mom. She'll be happy, even if they're a little lopsided.

As for those over-browned cookies - I did that with one batch, and to me the flavor was a little like a toasted marshmallow. I know they weren't supposed to be like that, but I liked the flavor anyway. If all of your macarons are egg-shaped or tilted or over-browned, just smile and serve them. No one needs to know you didn't plan it that way.

Just pour a cup of tea, and relax!

Le Creuset Tea for One
Thanks to the participating companies for sponsoring these group posts and for supplying product for the giveaway!

The other bloggers participating in this giveaway are:

Miss in the Kitchen, who made Macarons with Champagne Buttercream
Foodhunter's Guide who made Chocolate Raspberry Macarons
Thyme in Our Kitchen who made Pistachio Macarons

Giveaway is over!

Friday, April 24, 2015

Ranch Dip Spice Mix










Milk Bar Ranch Dip
Adapted from Milk Bar Life by Christina Tosi

Fido Jar by Bormioli Rocco
For the dry Ranch Dip Mix:
1/4 cup onion powder
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Colman's mustard powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dried dill
Zest of 2 limes

For the finished dip:
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 batch dry Ranch Dip Mix

For Ranch salad dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon dry Ranch Dip Mix

To make the dry Ranch Dip Mix:



To make the dip:


To make the Ranch salad dressing:


About the salad:

Products I love:

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Pasta Puttanesca







Yup, that's the guy you want representing the brand.





Linguine Puttanesca
Adapted from Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook by Sal Scognamillo

1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives
3 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed
6 anchovies* in oil, drained and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 pound linguine, cooked al dente in boiling salted water
Grated parmesan (or the good stuff), for serving






Serve hot with cheese on the side to add as desired.



Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Super-Fudgy Brownies






Give them a try - I think you'll like them!

Super Fudgy Brownies
Adapted from Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen by Dana Cowin

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract









Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Polenta with Shishito Peppers and Cheddar

I might have mentioned - like a billion times now - that I really like polenta. And grits.

So this time around, I decided to throw some peppers into polenta. I had just gotten a rather large bag of shishito peppers from Frieda's Specialty Produce, and I had a tube of their polenta as well.

It seemed like fate.

Their polenta is shelf-stable at room temperature, which is great if you want to stock up. It's meant for slicing and frying, but I like soft polenta a lot, so that's usually the direction I go with it.

This recipe is super-easy, and the results are really tasty, The flavor actually reminded me just a little bit of tamales, but not so much that you couldn't serve this with any other cuisine. Or, for me, just a bowl of polenta for breakfast.

Polenta with Shishito Peppers and Cheddar

12 shishito peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1-pound tube prepared polenta
1 cup water
1/2 cup half-and-half
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste

Remove the stems and seeds from the shishito peppers and dice. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the peppers until they're fragrant and a little bit softer. Set aside.

Remove the polenta from the tube and cut or break it into pieces. Add to a saucepan along with the water. Heat on medium, stirring, then whisking, the polenta until all the pieces are broken up and the polenta is smooth.

Add the half-and-half, cheese, and peppers. Continue cooking and stirring until the cheese is melted in. If the polenta is too soft for your taste, continue cooking until it thickens to your liking. If it's too thick for your taste, add more water or half-and-half.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve hot.

I receive food items regularly from Frieda's Specialty Produce at no cost to me. You can find their products at your local grocery store.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Cooking up Some Memories



















There will be more videos to come.

Watch the videos at
