Cheesecake! Cranberries!

As you may or may not know, the latest season of Top Chef is coming to an end. Some friends had a few people over for dinner last night and to watch the episode. Naturally, I brought dessert. They made grilled sandwiches with cheddar, braised pulled beef short ribs and pickled onions. YUM! I brought a cheesecake. Just a plain vanilla bean cheesecake, the way the good lord intended it, and I made a spiced cranberry jam to go on top. It was a hit.

This is the New York cheese cake from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. It's a great book, I highly recommend it! Unfortunately, I thought I had more sugar than I did when I went to make it. It was also 7:00 AM and I had been to the grocery store one already (needed a cheap aluminum roaster for the water bath) and wasn't about to go back. Oh and it was raining like crazy. I still can't believe I ran out of sugar. I have four kinds of flour and malt syrup for pete's sake! Anyway, the recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups of granulated sugar. I used 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. It worked really well! It's not quite as snow white as the picture, but darn tasty. I also used cinnamon graham crackers as the crust. It worked really well. (Someone at the dinner thought I used teddy grahams. I like the idea of grinding up teddy bears to make cheesecake crust. I may have to try that.) Oh, I also used a half of a vanilla bean instead of the extract. The cheesecake baked for about 15 minutes longer than the book called for because my oven is a little slow.

The only problem with the recipe is that it made too much batter. I could have filled up the springform pan the whole way, but that would have been precarious to say the least. It just so happened that the left over batter filled 12 muffin cups perfectly. I baked these at 300 degrees, a little lower than the whole cake. I also didn't use a water bath. I wasn't so concerned with cracked tops like I was with the big one since I'll most likely be eating these in front of the fridge with the door open they are just for me. Next time I would cut the recipe in half.



This is the cranberry jam I made to go with it. It was the easiest thing in the world. Rinse a bag of fresh cranberries, place in large sauce pot. Add 1/2 cup of water, 2 cups powdered sugar, juice of three clementines, zest of one clementine, the left over half of vanilla bean, and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Simmer until the cranberries begin to break down and the juice thickens. It was, like, 10 minutes. For reals. Because there is a bit of cornstarch in powdered sugar, the sauce thickened quickly. Let it cool. It made about 24 ounces.

Crunchtime.

Just checking in to let you know that I'm waist deep in final exams. Yesterday, I had a final written exam for Baking I. I think I feel okay about it. It seemed easier than I expected. I also had a final practical exam for Basic Culinary Skills. I got.... a 92. In our world, a 92 is a B. As in, one point less than an A. Sigh. Hopefully it won't impact my final grade too much. Tomorrow morning I sit for the national Servsafe exam. If I pass, which I will, I'll get a certificate that says I'm not likely to kill you. With food. This Friday is the final practical exam for Baking I. With any luck, I won't draw the card with puff pastry on it. (For the record, I'm just not that lucky.) Finally on the 8th, I have my final written exam for Basic Culinary Skills.

I'll be back tomorrow with Thanksgiving and cheesecake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your day! I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of our feast.

Mr. Wizard meets Betty Crocker

How many of you like powered sugar donuts? Jelly filled donuts? I know I do. Boy howdy, do I. Have you ever noticed that when you bite into the donut it cools your mouth? I'd noticed this before, but never really thought much about it. I came across something interesting tonight in my reading.

But first a little background...dextrose is the dried form of glucose. Powered dextrose is also called "doughnut sugar" because it's better at coating things (like the front of my shirt) and doesn't dissolve easily. Now, onto the science!

"Dextrose crystals require a relatively large amount of energy to dissolve, because they are held together with strong bonds. When dextrose crystals are placed in the mouth, the energy needed to break the bonds and dissolve the crystals comes from the heat of the mouth. So much heat is needed that the temperature inside the mouth drops briefly, creating a cooling sensation."
-from How Baking Works by Paula Figoni

Neat, huh?

What I have been keeping from you.

Items from Baking lab, which would have been revealed here had I not gotten Swine Flu/Bird Flu/SARS/Indonesian Death Flu/whatever it was I had.

Puff pastry. From scratch. Surprisingly, it did not require ingredients such as unicorn hair, pixie dust or fairy wings. The ingredients are pretty much the same as pie dough. And it worked! It really worked!


We filled them with a mushroom stuffing. Yummy!


We also made this fruit strip thingy from the puff pastry dough. I hated it. Puff pastry with a lemon cream cheese filling with apricot halves, topped with a sugar glaze. I thought the cream cheese curdled in the time it took the thing to bake. Also the lemon zest was too overpowering with the apricots. I would never make this again. I'd use the technique, but with different ingredients.


Vanilla napoleon. Also with puff pastry. Also yummy.


Pear frangipane tartlettes. Frangipane is an almond paste.


Fresh fruit tart with vanilla pastry cream and clumpy apricot glaze.


Les croissants! Plain, ham and cheese and chocolate. Dude. So. Good.


Souffles with gruyere, dill and dijon. Fell pretty quickly due to lack of sugar to add structure.


Japonais meringue discs which became the...


...Japonais Meringue Cake.


Finally, here's what I did on the last lab of the semester. I'll spare you the graphic details. I burned my arm on the open door of the top deck oven. Ouch. It's pretty big. And ugly.

Zely+Ritz, Raleigh

I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants a couple weeks ago with Kat and her mom. Kat loves Zely and we try to go each time she's home. Zely+Ritz is a locally owned restaurant. They work with Coon Rock Farm to source as many ingredients as possible, like produce and heritage pork. The food is amazing, the prices are reasonable and the service is great. Here's what we had for dinner:

Bartender Jay is known for his inventive cocktails. He greeted me with a this little lovely. Meet The Cardigan. It's soft and warm, just like your favorite sweater. Apple cider, pumpkin puree and moonshine, not to mention entirely too easy to drink.


Moving on, nuts and olives. If you've ever been out to dinner with me, you know I'll order this if it's on the menu. I can eat this like other people eat potato chips. Love 'em.


This was a little hard to photograph, white cheese on a white plate, however, I present the baked farmer's cheese en croute.
It was warm with a little something sweet, apples I think. Delish.


I have three words for you. Pigs. In. Pyjamas. Okay, a fourth word. Amazing. It's a Coon Rock Farm sausage en croute, housemade sauerkraut that was perfect, and a wee bit of mustard. I could have eaten 17 more of these.


Risotto with Coon Rock Farm pork shank. Serious comfort food.


So, um, if you know me, you know I have little self-control when chocolate is involved. What can I say? I'm weak. Even though the camera was on the table when dessert arrived, I forgot all about it until the end. May I present to you, what's left of the flourless chocolate cake with Mexican chili chocolate ice cream.

Chicken with Spicy Black Bean Sauce and Stir-fried Vegetables

I'm definitely feeling much better. Whatever bug I caught turned into bronchitis (free gift with purchase?) which is why I was so sick. Thankfully I'm feeling better since I'm getting on a plane at 6AM tomorrow to head to Detroit Rock City to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday! Ninety! Amazing! Can you imagine all of the changes she's seen in her life? It's mind-boggling, really.

As promised, here are the recipes from my class. This was SO good. I can't wait to make it again. Now, the recipe calls for chicken, but I believe this would be equally tasty with beef, pork, or shrimp. I added the sambal oelek because I was in the mood for spicy. I recommend adding sambal rather than the garlic chili version because the sambal is just chiles and nothing else. It's available in Asian markets everywhere. It'll keep forever in the fridge. Do let me know if you make this. I'd love to hear what you think.

Chicken and Snowpeas in Black Bean Sauce, 4 servings

2# (about 8 ounces each) Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 Egg white
6 fl oz Chinese rice wine
2 TBSP Cornstarch
2 fl oz Soy sauce
2 tsp Granulate sugar
2 Onions, small
4 fl oz Peanut oil (or any flavorless oil)
1 TBSP Garlic, minced
2 tsp Fresh ginger, minced
3 TBSP Fermented black beans, mashed
4 oz Snow peas, fresh
To Taste (TT) Sambal Oelek

1. Slice chicken into thin strips, about 1" x 1/4".
2. Combine the egg white, one third of the wine, and 1 TBSP of cornstarch. Add chicken, refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. For the sauce, mix the soy sauce, sugar, remaining wine, and cornstarch.
4. Quarter the onions, separate the layers.
5. Stir-fry the chicken in 3 fl oz of oil. Remove and set aside.
6. If necessary, add the remaining oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add the onions and mashed beans and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the snow peas and cook for one minute.
7. Return the chicken to the pan, add the sauce mixture and stir-fry until hot and the sauce has thickened.
8. Serve immediately with rice.

Notes:

-In the steps that ask you to add cornstarch to liquid, MIX WELL! Cornstarch gets lumpy when introduced to liquid. It may be helpful to use very clean fingers to break up the lumps.

-On the day we made this, we were out of Chinese rice wine in the kitchens. We used rice wine vinegar instead. I think I'd do it again. It gave this dish a nice tanginess that helped to round out the flavor. The choice is yours.

-When you remove your chicken from the marinade, pat it dry.

-I also added baby corn, which was good as well.

Stir-fried Asparagus with Shiitake Mushrooms, 4 servings

1# Asparagus
6 oz. Shiitake mushrooms
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP sesame oil
2 tsp garlic, chopped
4 fl. oz. oyster sauce
TT crushed red chiles, optional

1. Wash the asparagus, trim the ends, and slice on the bias into 1-2" pieces.
2. Wash the mushrooms, trim off the stems, slice the caps into 1/2" slices.
3. Heat the oils in a wok or saute pan.
4. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds.
5. Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6. Add the oyster sauce (and crushed red chiles if used) and continue to stir-fry until the asparagus is nearly tender, approximately 3 minutes.

Notes:

-If you are unfamiliar with oyster sauce, it's wicked salty. I found that in step 6, it was helpful to add some chicken stock. It toned down the saltiness and the stickiness of the cooked oyster sauce. I definitely recommend it.

-Feel free to add other veggies here. I added eggplant too. Tasty!

Tag! I'm it.

Ugh. It got me. I had started three posts in the past week because I have lots to share with you. Unfortunately, it will have to wait. If you can, get the vaccine. You don't want this. I've been feeling funky since Thursday, full-on ill since Friday night. Ugh.

Tuesday, October 20th

Tuesday is my longest day on campus. Usually only a few noteworthy things happen to me. This past Tuesday was different. Here's my day, more or less.

1. Decided to take the bus to campus. Bus was taking too long. Drove instead.
2. Got back a quiz in Baking, 100%.
3. Took a quiz in baking, also 100%.
4. Breathed a sigh of relief when I learned my S&S quiz is the following week.
5. Made fantastic Chinese food in Basic Lab. I'll post recipes for you on Tuesday, too much studying to do until then. It was Chicken and Snow Peas in a spicy black bean sauce, Asparagus and Eggplant in oyster sauce and rice pilaf. We also made vichyssoise, but I was too full and have since forgotten about it.
6. Marveled at the unusually tiny class size in Basic lab. The undesirable folks have gone. Class and clean up went so well, we were out by 4:00 PM.
7. Got everyone in Basic lab class, including myself, to try frogs legs.
8. Had post-class beers with two classmates at Boylan Bridge Brewery.
9. Made plans with said classmates plus another to meet every other Thursday for dinner out or dinner in.
10. Went home and fell asleep.

Last Tuesday was a good day. The frogs legs were okay. It was hard to not picture the critter as I was eating it. It was a bit stringy, similar to catfish, didn't taste that much like chicken, in my opinion.

Green chefs

Here's an old article found my my internet-whiz mom on green chefs. This is a very influential group of chefs here, for more reasons than just their green-ness. Lantern, #7, is a small place in Chapel Hill, about 30 minutes away. They get great reviews. It's a cute place. I never think about going there though, since it's a bit far. Shame on me.

And for those of you not yet tired of hearing this...#12 is my brother's boss.