Dinner for a Dozen

 Lizzie came and visited me this past weekend. We cooked like the whole time. It was grand! We both had so much fun. Sunday night, we had most of my family over, and so Lizzie and I cooked dinner for everyone. We made Herb-Marinated Smoked Leg of Lamb, Steamed Broccoli and Carrots, and Summer Fruit Salad, and, of course, we had regular salad and dinner rolls. Oh, a note on the lamb, we smoked it at 380 F for about an hour or an hour and 10-15 minutes. It's done when the internal temperature is 135 F. Another thing, not everyone has a smoker available, and the recipe in my cookbook actually called for roasting the lamb. So, if you can smoke the lamb, great, but if not, I put the real recipe below. Speaking of cookbooks, we used Starting with Ingredients, by Aliza Green, and The Best of Gourmet, by the editors of the magazine, Gourmet. Both these cookbooks are AMAZING! I highly recommend them. Oh, and thanks to Lizzie for taking all these lovely pictures. 

Herb-Roasted Leg of Lamb
From Starting with Ingredients
Pages 517 and 518

Ingredients

3/8 cup of olive oil

1 medium onion, cut into eighths
1.5 tbsps. of minced garlic
3/4 cup each: fresh dill and mint
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1.5 tbsps. of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 5-6 lb bone-in legs of lamb, or 2 4-5 lb deboned, butterflied legs of lamb

If a bone-in leg is used, you'll have to debone it. Make sure that all the fat is trimmed off the meat.

Process

Combine all the ingredients in the food processor, and roughly chop.
Rub the mixture all over the lamb, and put it in a bowl in the refrigerator overnight, turning once or twice.

Note: Lizzie and I were short on time, so we just marinated the lamb for about an hour and a half before we cooked it. It turned out great, so it must be absolutely amazing after marinating overnight.

Lamb Stuffing and Assembly 

1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 head of fennel and lower part of stalks
1/2 cup of each: fresh dill and mint
2 bunches of scallions (a.k.a. spring onions)
2 cups of breadcrumbs
2 tbsps. of olive oil

Process

Combine the garlic, fennel, dill, mint, scallions, and crumbs in a food processor. Process to a chunky paste and reserve.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Drain the lamb and discard the marinate. Pat the lamb dry and season with salt and pepper. Spread the stuffing over the inner side of the lamb. Roll up the long way, as tightly as possible. Secure the roll with kitchen twine.

Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet until shimmering. Brown the lamb on all sides. Transfer to a large roasting pan and roast, turning once or twice, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reads 135 F for medium-rare, this should take like 40-50. Remove the lamb from the oven, cover with tin foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing it. Serve immediately.

Steamed Carrots and Broccoli
An original recipe


Ingredients


1 large bag of baby carrots
5-6 small-medium heads of broccoli
2-3 tbsps. of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsps. lemon juice, if desired

Bring water in a steamer to a slow boil. (If you don't have a steamer, you can make do with a colander in a large pot. Just be sure that the water is at least an inch from the bottom of the food.)

While the water is coming to a boil, cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces.

Once the water has come to a boil, put the carrots in. Steam them for about 15-25 minutes depending on their thickness and how well done you like them. Add the broccoli, stir gently to combine, and steam for another 5-10 minutes, again, depending on how done you like your veggies.

Once the veggies are finish, put them in a serving dish. Mix in the olive oil, lemon juice, if using, and salt and pepper gently. Serve immediately.


Summer Fruit Salad
From The Best of Gourmet
Page 155


Ingredients


4-5 large, very firm nectarines or peaches, sliced into eighths
1 bunch green grapes, halved
3 cups blackberries
1/4 cup of fresh mint, chopped
2-3 tbsps. of sugar

Process

Combine the peaches or nectarines, grapes, sugar, and mint. Add in the blackberries, mix them in with your hands very gently.

Let the fruit stand for 5 minutes, then serve.

The Most Scrumptious Brownies Ever!!!

Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been perfecting my brownie making skills and I finally think I've got this recipe the way I want it, ever so slightly crunchy and chewy on the outside and soft and moist and crumbly on the inside. I did my own twist on a recipe from Hershey's Homemade, a cookbook that was given to my mum some thirty odd years ago, shortly after her wedding. This cookbook is truly wonderful! The recipes are simple, yet delicious. And there's such a wide variety of things to choose from, too.

You can purchase this cookbook used from amazon, here's a link –

http://www.amazon.com/Hersheys-Homemade-Recipes-Todays-Lifestyles/dp/B000BGRWHC/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309232233&sr=1-2. 

But anyway, back to the brownies...

Ingredients

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

2 cups of sugar

3 tsp. of vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup of cocoa 

3/4 cup of flour

1/2 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. of salt

And if you really want to, you can add a cup or so of nuts 

1.  Heat your oven to 335 F

2.  Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch metal pan or glass baking dish.

 I always use a glass dish. I think it helps the brownies, which are really thick, to cook all the way through and not brown too much.

3.  Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside. Make sure that all the ingredients are completely mixed. 

4.  Sift the cocoa into a bowl and set it aside too.

5.  Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave. Slowly add in the sugar whisking the whole time. Add the vanilla and continue whisking. Add the eggs one by one whisking for 30 seconds between each addition. After the final egg is added, whisk the mixture for 2 minutes.

6.  Get a wooden or plastic spoon and thoroughly mix the sifted cocoa into the butter and egg mixture.

7.  Now, for this part of the recipe, you need to be quick and very gentle. Make sure the flour mixture is completely combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter and cocoa mixture and fold them together thoroughly and gently. Mix quickly or the brownies will be flat and dense. 

8.  Pour the batter into the dish or pan and pop it in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies comes out nearly clean. 

9.  Take the brownies out of the oven and let them cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Cut the brownies and serve. 

Enjoy!

Boeuf Bourguignon

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a week with some of my dearest sisters. One of the things that we really wanted to do was make Boeuf Bourguignon together.

One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour

3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

18 to 24 white onions, small

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)

1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.

Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.

Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.

If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

Enjoy! I'll get the dessert from the day posted soon!

Liz 

Lemon-Buttermilk Cake

Well, the other day I was in the mood for something kinda tart. So I looked through one of my Culinary Institute of America (CIA) cookbooks and I found a recipe for Lemon-Buttermilk Cake. The cookbook this recipe is from is called Cooking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America, CIA cookbooks are the best by the way, and I would really recommend this cookbook to anyone serious about baking. Oh, and thanks to my older sister, Willa, for taking this picture of my cake.

Ingredients:

flour and shortening for greasing the cake pan

2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour plus

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (two sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature

1 3/4 cups of sugar

1 tbsp of grated lemon zest

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups of buttermilk

(Here is a substitute for buttermilk if you don't have any on hand: 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar and 

1 1/4 tsp cream of tarter mixed with 1/2 milk and 1/2 of cream. Makes about 1 cup. Note: this mixture is called "sour milk.")

5 tbsp of lemon juice (3-4 large lemons)

3/4 cups of powdered sugar

1 tbsp of very hot water plus extra as needed

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour a large Bundt pan (9 to 10-inches) with shortening and flour. Next sift the flour, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

Grate enough lemon peel to equal 1 tbsp. Next, juice the lemons. Set the juice and zest aside.

If you are substituting sour milk for the buttermilk, go ahead and mix it up and set it aside.

Cream the butter until light on medium speed and add the sugar. Add the sugar in slowly over three minutes and then mix in the lemon zest. Continue mixing on medium speed for two more minutes and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. 

Important note: after each addition of flour or milk, mix on low speed only until just combined. Add half the flour mixture, then all the buttermilk or sour milk, and then the last of the flour; mix between each addition. Increase the speed to medium and mix the batter until light and smooth in texture, this should take 2-3 minutes. Add 4 of the 5 tbsps of lemon juice and mix about 30 seconds.

Pour the batter in the Bundt pan and put it in the oven and cook it until the center springs back when touched and a skewer that's inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, this should take about 65-75 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven to a wire rack and cool it in the pan. When the cake has cooled, loosen it from the sides of the pan with a knife or thin metal spatula and then invert the pan over a plate.

Combine the powdered sugar, remaining tbsp of lemon juice and the 1 tbsp hot water in a small sauce pan and whisk until very smooth. The glaze should be about the consistency of honey, if it is not, add more sugar or water as the need may be. Spoon or brush the glaze on the cake, give it time to firm, and then slice and serve the cake. 

Hope you all enjoy this recipe, it's pretty tasty. Let me know what you think. 

Apple Crisp

So one of the things that I did last fall was picking all of the good apples off of our apple tree, peeling, slicing, putting fruit fresh on them, and freezing them. By the time I was done, we had over 50 cups of apples. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to use them for the first time, a little nervous about how they'd taste, but to my surprise, they were fabulous! They're still sooo fresh tasting.

I made some more recently and went ahead and did a large batch so I could do some mini apple crisps and take some into work. Here's some of the many pictures that I took of them.

Mom's Apple Crisp

15 cups sliced apples 

3 cups sugar 

3 t. cinnamon 

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 cup butter 

Mix 1 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon. Sift the remaining sugar with flour. Cut the butter into flour mixture. Mix the cinnamon and sugar into apples. Put into large 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with flour/butter mixture on top.

Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

I love eating this hot with some vanilla ice cream in it. 

If the recipe is to large, you can cut it down some to this:

10 cups sliced apples

2 cups sugar

2 t. cinnamon 

1/12 cups flour

2/3 cup butter

When you're mixing the part of the sugar with the cinnamon, reduce it down to 1 cup, instead of a cup and a half. 

Love to you and yours, 

Liz 

Sabayon and Fresh Berry Trifle

Old-Fashioned Pound Cake

2 cups of butter at room temperature

2  3/4 cups of sugar

6 large eggs

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 – 1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 milk or half & half

1 tsp vanilla

1.            Mix the flour, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside. Combine the milk and vanilla and set aside. Grease and flour a bunt pan. (I like to use shortening and flour) Turn the oven on to 325 F.

2.            Beat the butter about two minutes on medium speed until it’s creamy.

3.            Gradually mix in the sugar, continue beating the mixture 5 -7 minutes until light and fluffy.

4.            Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until the yellow disappears before adding the next one.

5.            Turn the mixer speed down to low and start adding the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour. Be sure to mix just until blended after each addition.

6.            Put the cake batter in the pan and put it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

7.            Cool the cake in the pan for 10 – 15 minutes, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Servings: 14

Note: You will need only about a third of this cake for the trifle; the cake does freeze well though. Just wrap it in plastic and put it in the freezer for up to a month.

Sabayon

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup orange juice

1/6 of a cup of Vanilla and 1/6 cup water (1/3 cup of liquid total)

3 Tbsp. sugar

1  1/4 cups of heavy cream

1.            Prepare an ice bath. (An ice bath is just ice and water in a sink or a dish large enough to hold the bowl the Sabayon is cooked.)

2.              Chill the bowl you are going to whip the cream in.

3.            To make the Sabayon, whisk together the yolks, juice, liquid, and sugar in a stainless steel bowl and set it over a pot of barely simmering water. (Just in case you don’t know, the water in the pot should be at least an inch from the bottom of the stainless steel bowl.) Continue to whisk the mixture as it cooks. The custard will thicken, triple in volume, and become pale in color. This should take about 15 minutes. The mixture should fall from the whisk in ribbons that hold their shape on top of the Sabayon, this shows that the Sabayon is finished. Immediately take the Sabayon off the heat and put it in the ice bath, continue to whisk it until it cools.

4.            Whip the cream until it holds a medium peak. If you’d like, you can reserve 1 cup so of the whipped cream to decorate the top of the trifle. Now mix the cold custard and the whipped cream and refrigerate it for 1– 4 hours.

Trifle

2 cups of chopped berries

2 – 3 cups of cake (If the crust of the cake is too hard, trim it off)

Sabayon

1.             Make a layers of berries and cake and then cover them with Sabayon. If you reserved any whipped cream, then use it now to decorate the top of the trifle. Berries look pretty on top of the trifle too. 

Servings: 6 - 8

Thanks to my sister Willa for taking this picture for me. She has an awesome photography blog, by the way, here's the link: http://sootc365.tumblr.com/