Month: November 2017

What to serve with Chicken Enchiladas

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Cauliflower Spanish “Rice”

INGREDIENTS
  • ½ head of cauliflower, pulsed in a food processor until rice-like
  • 1 large tomato, diced (do not drain the juice)
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ jalapeno, deseeded and minced (optional)
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • dash of cayenne pepper
  • ¼ c. cilantro, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a skillet over medium heat, saute onions, garlic, and jalapeno with 1-2 tsp. olive oil for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
  2. Add cauliflower until slightly browned. Add tomatoes and spices. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Fold in cilantro. Season with sea salt according to preference if needed.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
SERVING SIZE: 1 Serving CALORIES: 35 calories FAT: 1.4g CARBOHYDRATES: 5.7gSUGAR: 2.5g SODIUM: 280mg FIBER: 2g PROTEIN: 1.5g
What to serve with Chicken Enchiladas

Pain de Savoie

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Pain de Savoie

Another successful Paul Hollywood bread recipe that is lovely to look at and even better to eat.  This one was devoured at my wine group. We were doing a Riesling night and the heavy texture with cheese and bacon was a perfect paring.  (or at least I thought so)

Pain de Savoie (makes 1 loaf)

400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

100g rye flour

10g salt

8g fast-action dried yeast

20ml olive oil, plus extra for oiling

330ml cool water

150g lardons, fried and cooled

200g Comté cheese, cut into 1cm cubes

Step 1: Mix the flours in a large bowl and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the olive oil and 250ml of the water and mix with the fingers of one hand. Add as much of the rest of the water as you need to form a soft dough; rye flour takes a lot of water so you should need most or all of it. Tip the dough onto an oiled work surface and knead well for 5–10 minutes or more, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add the cooled lardons, working them well into the dough. Form the dough into a ball and put in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave to rise until at least doubled or trebled in size – at least 2 hours.

Step 2: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 3 equal pieces. Knock back by pushing down on the dough with the heels of your hands, then your knuckles and fingertips, and folding the dough in on itself several times. Form each piece into a ball.

Step 3: Oil a 20cm springform cake tin. Roll out a ball of dough to a 1.5–2cm thick circle, to fit the tin and lay it in the bottom. Scatter over half of the cheese. Roll out a similar disc of dough and lay on top. Add the rest of the cheese. Roll out the final ball of dough and place on top. Dust with flour. Put the tin inside a roomy plastic bag and leave to prove for about 1 hour, or until well puffed up. Meanwhile, heat your oven to 220°C. Bake the loaf in the oven for 30 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pain de Savoie

I am cooking my way through this book and have not yet had a failure, so really do recommend buying this book.  He shows you all the steps in wonderful photos, then shows you suggestions of what it tastes great with.  I have not been disappointed.  And I always leave the cookbook in my kitchen.  Not bad to look at either….

Happy Baking!

 

 

Pain de Savoie

Beached Surprise

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You just never know what might land on your waterfront.  This last week we had a decoration arrive.

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It just floated up and adorns our waterfront. I have seen a lot of things in the last fifteen years, but this is the closest and admittedly the “biggest”.  One year there were two huge diesel engines on an adjacent property, but they were small by comparison to this beauty.

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So when I posted photos on Facebook, friends suggested that I collect it and use as a coffee table.  What they did not grasp is that it would have to be a coffee table in the Land of Giants, as this puppy would not fit in my house.  So here is a photo to give you an idea of it’s immense size!

drifting

Got to love living on the beach!  Should I call the Coast Guard??

Beached Surprise

SWEET POTATO SOUP (Served with bacon crumbles and chives)

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This is a very simple, but luscious soup for cold fall evening, maybe after working in the garden in the day.  Serve it with a crusty Italian bread that you can dip in the soup and it is just perfection.  The recipe is from Cook’s Country and is undeniable good.

Sweet Potato Soup with Bacon and Chives

Slicing the sweet potatoes very thin allows them to cook very quickly. Add a salad and good bread to make a fast, easy supper.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Slicing the sweet potatoes very thin allows them to cook very quickly. Add a salad and good bread to make a fast, easy supper.

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Serves 4
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
Salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced thin
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

If after cooking the bacon you don’t have quite 2 tablespoons of rendered fat in the pot, add olive oil to make up the difference. For a slightly spicy version of this soup, add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

 

1. Cook bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate; set aside. Discard all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat from now-empty pot. Add onion, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add potatoes, broth, and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Working in batches, process soup in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup, sprinkled with bacon and chives.

SWEET POTATO SOUP (Served with bacon crumbles and chives)

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Soups and Fall seem simultaneous. It is cold outside with a few snow flurries and I am looking out of the kitchen kneading bread and stirring soup.  This just makes my heart sing.  I some days wish I had a group of friends I could just call and say “Soup’s On”, please come on over.

I started making a lot of soup when I had a restaurant on Bainbridge Island in the 90’s.  Every day I would make a new soup, so there was always something different to try. I honestly wish there was a local restaurant that would do the same.  Most local restaurants have the same menu (and soup) day after day, month after month, and unfortunately year after year.

A little behind in my posting, but not in my cooking, so today I will add the recipes of the last week or so starting with yesterday.  IMG_6679

As a child on the weekends we often had Campbell’s tomato soup and a burnt grilled cheese sandwich (on Wonder bread). As an adult, the idea is appealing, but not the ingredients, so several years ago I started making my own tomato soup.  I don’t always use the same recipe (and now really don’t use one at all), but the ingredients must be fresh and wonderful for it to be tasty.  I love how it looks in the pot after it has been pureed.  Doesn’t that just look inviting!

This is what I did yesterday and scroll down for the Paul Hollywood Savory Brioche Couronne (bread with ham & cheese)

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Ingredients

10 Roma tomatoes

1 onion

A couple cups of home-made Chicken stock

1 tbsp of EVOO

3 – 5 garlic sliced thin ( I like garlic, so always throw in a little extra)

Hand-full of fresh oregano from my herb garden

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup or so of chopped basil

1 stick of butter ( oh yeah, that adds to the flavor)

1 cup or so of half & half or whipped cream

Fresh reggiano parmigiano for the top

Sour cream for the top  and I added chives for color (but just a little)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine quartered tomatoes, onions, whole garlic cloves, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon sugar in large roasting pan. Roast, stirring once or twice, until tomatoes are brown in spots, about 11/2 hours. Let cool 5 minutes. Working in two batches, process roasted tomato mixture in food processor until smooth. (Pureed mixture can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.)

2. Put the mixture back in the pot, add the chicken stock, basil, oregano, butter and cream and simmer a few minutes.  Taste it and add salt & pepper to your taste.

3. Put in a pretty bowl and top with sour cream and a little shredded parmesan.

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Ingredients

Method

  1. If you have a food mixer with a paddle fitting, make the dough as follows: into the bowl put the flour, salt, yeast, milk and eggs and mix until the dough becomes smooth and shiny. Add the butter piece by piece as you mix well for a further five minutes, until all the butter has been incorporated into the dough. It’s important to add the butter very gradually.

  2. If you do not have a machine, make the base dough by bringing the flour, salt, yeast, milk and eggs together in a bowl. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth and shiny. Gradually incorporate the butter piece by piece into the dough, kneading as you go.

  3. Tip the dough into an oiled 1 litre/1¾pint plastic container with a lid – it needs plenty of room to rise. Leave the dough to rise until at least doubled in (at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge).

  4. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, without knocking the air out of it. Roll it out to a thickness of just under 1½cm/¾in, in a rectangle that’s about 40-50cm/16-20in long. Have the long side facing you.

  5. Cover the dough with a loose layer of ham. Break off large pieces of mozzarella and distribute them all over the ham. Scatter the basil over the top.

  6. Roll up the dough from the long side furthest from you, into a long sausage shape. Cut the roll of dough in half down the length to expose the filling, leaving you with two long strips side by side.

  7. Twist the two strips together, holding both ends of the dough and twisting your hands in opposite directions, to make a long rope that’s quite tightly twisted. Form the rope into a circle and join the ends together so that the dough becomes a ring – a ‘couronne’ or crown.

  8. Put the crown onto the lined baking tray, and put the tray in a large plastic bag, big enough so that the risen dough won’t touch the sides. Leave the crown to rise for 1-1½ hours, or until it has at least doubled in size.

  9. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. For this recipe you ideally don’t want a fan oven.

  10. Whisk an egg with a pinch of salt and brush the egg over the crown. Finally top the couronne with grated parmesan.

  11. Bake the couronne in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden-brown. Leave to cool slightly. Serve warm or cold.

ENJOY!

 

 

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