Delicious Accidents

I am proud to be a member of the Daring Baker’s Challenge. This is my first challenge, and needless to say I was quite intimidated. Julia Child’s french bread. I remember growing up watching her on the weekends and thinking how odd she was. I never really saw her as an icon for cooking shows, I suppose because I was young. But nowadays her and Jacques Pepin are the best of the best. I wish foodnetwork can have more genuine cooks on the show.  Anyway, here’s this month’s recipe.

I have to say that I didn’t do so well with this challenge. I mean seriously 8 hours of breadmaking?? On top of that, I think my yeast is old because it didn’t seem to rise properly. AND being the impatient person that I am, I undercooked it. I did after all make a big ole loaf. I should have just made little baguettes or rolls. Anyway, I stuck it back in the oven for a few more minutes. We ended up making sandwiches out of it, and it’s certainly tasty when it’s warm and fresh. Brings me back to the days when my mom used to bake bread. For now I will stick with the breadmaker, but I certainly would want to refine my breadmaking skills. My mom would be proud.

This is cited from the Weekly Spark articles I get. Some of it is surprising, although I don’t know too much about fish. I always thought shellfish was bad, I guess Oysters are actually good for you, although I don’t even know if oysters are shell fish. I’m also surprised that Bluefin Tuna is bad for you. Anyway, we need to eat more fish in our house.

Best Fish
Anchovies (all varieties)
Atlantic Herring (U.S. and Canada)
Oysters (farmed)
Alaskan Sablefish
Black Cod
Alaskan Salmon (wild)
Sardines

Worst Fish
Chilean Sea Bass
Toothfish
Grouper
Marlin
Orange Roughy
Rockfish (Pacific)
Rock Cod (Pacific)
Atlantic Salmon
Shark
Sturgeon (wild)
Swordfish (imported)
Tilefish
Bluefin Tuna

So in honor of Valentines Day, Brian and I decided to forgo any fancy dinners in a crowded restaurant and decided to cook ourselves. Brian went out and got me flowers. Although I wish the boy remembered that I love orchids. Although the arrangement of the roses he got me last night was beautiful.

It turned out quite nicely. We started out with fried coconut shrimp. Then Brian had filet mignon and I had veal chop both accompanied by mashed potatoes and roasted acorn squash, and Italian red wine which I got from Central Market. What a splurge. I know we avoided the fancy restaurant, but if we were to add up the bill for tonight’s dinner, I think it came out to 100 bucks. Still cheaper than your usual Bob’s or III Forks.

We ended with coconut cake from the store and prosecco. I think I did most of the cooking, whereas Brian peeled and mashed the potatoes. Silly boy thinks you’re supposed to mash it before you cook it, so he made tiny little cubes. I was like what are you doing?? He said, it makes it easier to mash. He also opened the wine, which I guess counts for something.

I have to say that steak isn’t hard to make, but I hated having to babysit it. But I had to do it right for a $25 cut of meat, I certainly didn’t want to waste all that money on a badly cooked piece of meat. I didn’t have a pan to sear it on, and you had to either use a stainless steel pan or a cast iron pan. So instead, I stuck it in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes and gradually lowered the temperature. It spent 18 minutes in the oven, but it still didn’t look cook enough and according to my thermometer, it was only at 120 degrees. So I turned on the stove and let it sear on the baking pan atop the stove for another 4 minutes. That seem to do the trick. Medium just like we like it. I usually don’t go out for steak but maybe 1-2 times a year, so this certainly was a treat.

The steak and potatoes were good, but Brian hated the acorn squash. Thought it was too squishy. Whatever. I liked it. I seasoned the squash with dried herbs, tossed them in olive oil and stuck in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. It came out perfect. I love pumpkin and squash. The best part of the night of course was giving Reesey her wine, and the pink prosecco. I love sparkling wine, and prosecco is light and crisp. It was still exhausting. Next time, maybe we’ll have frozen pizza.

I make such a mess when I cook. But we got most of it cleaned up last night. In the process though we missed last night’s episode of Lost, which I hope to catch up this weekend. THREE day weekend baby. Thank goodness, because work was starting to get to me.

This is my first attempt at making gnocchi or vodka sauce. It’s actually my first time eating it. To my surprise it was quite good. I was afraid the gnocchi would be too heavy. I didn’t really find my recipe anywhere. I originally was planning on making a Rachel Ray Recipe of gnocchi with chicken meatball soup. But I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. Plus I had leftover pasta sauce that I needed to use up. Brian actually liked the gnocchi, and the leftovers I had for lunch was still just as good, even better than last night.

Turkey Meatballs

• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 1/4 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs of red pepper
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of onion powder
• 1 tsp of seasoning salt
• 1 egg beaten

Vodka Sauce

• 1 large jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 1/4 cup of vodka
• 1/4 cup of skim milk (a true vodka sauce uses heavy cream)
• I liked mine chunky so I add a can of petite diced tomatoes

Gnocchi
No recipe here, I just bought the potato kind off the shelf in the pasta section.

1. Simmer the ingredients for the vodka sauce on low for 30 minutes. For the next 10 minutes add the gnocchi and turn the heat up to medium. Gnocchi will cook in the sauce.
2. While the sauce is simmering, mix in the ingredients for the turkey meatballs and shape them into 1.5 inch balls. Place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve the gnocchi with meatballs on the side or covered in sauce. Enjoy.

Pad Kee Mow (with chicken) - I prefer this dish over Pad Thai since the latter is too sweet I think. I also made this dish since it’s the only thing Brian would ever order at a Thai restaurant. I think he’s just sticking to what is safe.

Pad Kee Mow stands for drunken noodles and is a standard Thai Street dish.

This recipe makes a ton so we had plenty of leftovers. I also have to say that this is my own recipe adapted from my mom’s kitchen. Brian thought it was a bit bland, but I think it’s just right. If it’s too bland, just double the sauces.

• 1 tablespoon chopped Thai chiles (I didn’t even notice the spice, so I would add more)
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• black pepper
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breast sliced
• 1 box dried wide egg noodles, 1/2 inch wide, soaked in hot water until tender for about 15 minutes. If it’s still not al dente, toss it in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes.
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil, and buds (I omitted because I didn’t have any)
• 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced into quarters
• 2 cups of snow peas (you can add any veggies, most restaurants use green bell peppers)

1. Heat up non stick pan and make an omelet with the eggs.
Slice up cooked omelet and set aside.

2. Preheat wok on high heat with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add in garlic and brown sugar. Let the sugar carmalize a bit. I only used sugar because I didn’t have dark soy sauce on hand. 1 - 2 minutes is good. Just don’t let the garlic burn.

3. Add in the chicken and let it sit for about a minute before stir frying. Once the chicken is and cooked, add in the
fish sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce, and black pepper. Toss it around for about 3 minutes. Add in snow peas. Stir fry for another 2 minutes.

4. Toss in cooked noodles and eggs. Add more fish/oyster/soy sauce if needed. Add in lime juice, tomatoes, thai peppers. Stir fry for another 5-8 minutes.

Garnish with thai basil and enjoy.

I’ve always been intrigued by these. They remind me of either the oatmeal cream pie made by Little Debbie or the Moon Pies that Brian claims to taste a bit artificial. The recipe originates from the Pennsylvania Dutch area. But enough with the history. I made them tonight and yet again another easy recipe. Not to mention Brian loved them. I remember coming downstairs and seeing a bite missing off one of the pies sitting on the cooling rack. I know it wasn’t Reesey’s teeth mark. Anyway, I made these as a test for our company bake sale in two weeks. I think these will be a hit. Anyway, click on Epicurious for a better picture.

Here’s the recipe from Epicurious…

For cakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg

For filling:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
11/4 cups confectioners sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make cakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Make filling:

Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Assemble pies:

Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

Cooks’ notes:

• Cakes can be made 3 days ahead and kept, layered between sheets of wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Filling can be made 4 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Today for the Super Bowl, I decided to make something “manly” other than the usual pizza and wings or queso dip. So I decided to try Pioneer Woman’s Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich. The recipe was easy peasy and it turned out super delicious. I did however improvise and used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread instead of actual butter. I also cut down the butter portion to something more reasonable. I just couldn’t get myself to use 2 sticks of real butter for sandwiches. I don’t think I would ever miss it. I served it up with some roasted fingerling potatoes. I bought them in bulk at Costco. Never buy veggies in bulk at Costco if you’re a 2 person household.

Click here for the recipe.