standing rib roast and yorkshire pudding

December 28, 2011 – 12:54 am

I really didn’t want turkey for Christmas dinner. I like turkey and it’d probably be great in February or maybe March but Thanksgiving is just too close to Christmas. I wanted a prime rib, I thought, but eventually found out – in that way that I discovered really late that they weren’t saying “up and adam” – and got a very nice choice standing rib roast for half the price.

I started with Alton Brown’s recipe which is actually really simple. I wanted to taste the roast. My brother tells me that he made a standing rib roast for Christmas, too, but he crusted it with mustard and something. That sounds good, too.

I should say that I made the au jus the day before. I didn’t want to trust that there’d be enough juice from the roast and I didn’t want to mess around at the last minute putting together what should take time to simmer to develop it’s full flavor.

I bought a couple pounds of soup bones – did you know you have to pay for them now? Goes to show how infrequently I buy soup bones. Anyway, I roasted them with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a little granulated garlic at 350°F for a couple hours then I poured off the fat for the pop-overs the next day. I deglazed the pan with a little red wine and then added a can of beef consomme. So, I guess you could call this fortified canned au jus. It worked, anyway. I simmered the bones and stuff for a several hours until the meat was just falling apart, tasted it and added a bit more wine. Strained off the solids and let it set up. There wasn’t that much fat but I scraped off what there was.

I actually dry aged the roast for a couple days as suggested by Alton. I’m not honestly sure it made it any better but it was worth a try. Christmas morning, I took the roast out to bring it to room temperature before sticking it in the oven. Easy peesy, you rub the roast with a little canola oil and – for a change I thought ahead and mixed my salt, fresh ground black pepper, and granulated garlic in a little bowl – rubbed it with the spice rub. Stick your digital thermometer in the middle of the roast being sure not to touch the bone. What? You don’t have one? I don’t know how I existed without one! Roast at 250°F until the temp reads about 120°. I suck at timing roasts and always tell everyone that dinner is ready when the meat is done. Which meant, by the way, that I had to nuke my potatoes because the roast ended up taking about 2 hours to come to temp and the potatoes weren’t done. Works anyway.

Take the roast out and let it rest until the temperature stops rising. Kick the oven up to 475°F and put the roast in for about 10 to 15 minutes to brown the outside. I was surprised at this step, most recipes have you start at high heat and then back it down but this really worked nicely. There was really no risk of over cooking it and although my thermometer read 140°F before the temp stopped rising, it was still nice and rare in the middle.

Now, about those Yorkshire puddings… They’re really easy but they taste best right out of the oven so you really want to wait until everyone is ready to eat before putting them in. I had the fat from the day before so I didn’t have to mess with trying to pour off the fat from the roast so it was easy. I had never made them before and I was planning on using Michael Rulman’s recommended recipe but honestly, the batter was so flat and tasteless I combined that recipe with Alton Brown’s. I still think they needed more salt.

I didn’t take pictures of any of this – though I intended to do so. But here is the recipe I ended up with.

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon mustard powder (either needed more, by the way, or mine was too old)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup eggs (4 large eggs should be just right)
1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon melted beef fat (from the au jus) + more for the muffin cups. Or popover pan but how many of us have an actual popover pan?

2 hours ahead – Sift the flour, salt and mustard powder into a big old measuring cup or a bowl with a pouring lip. Add the milk, eggs, and fat and beat with an electric mixer (or in your blender) until fully incorporated. Stir occasionally while it rests. When everything else is ready – ideally while the roast does it’s final browning – pour 1 teaspoon melted fat into each muffin cup. Put the muffin pan into the oven for about 10 minutes to heat up. Remove and pour the batter into the cups about 3/4 full. Actually, I ended up with 9 popovers and I wiped the fat out of the 3 empty cups so it wouldn’t burn with they baked.

Make sure you turn your light on in the oven so you don’t have to open the door to check on them. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 450°F. I swear they just sat there and looked like failure in a pan for almost the first 10 minutes. Then POOF! Total baking time was about 20 minutes for me. Let them go a little longer than you think they need but don’t let them burn.

Serve immediately! I’m planning to give them another go and will update this post with anything new I learn.

By Zazzy | Posted in beef, breads | Comments (2)
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fruitcake a la alton

December 25, 2011 – 10:48 pm

I have never liked fruitcake. I hate that plastic bright green and red candied fruit and citron. Bleah. I have, however, been tempted by Alton Brown’s recipe for Free Range Fruitcake. It’s full of tasty dried fruits. Cranberries, cherries, apricots, blueberries, raisins – and currants if you can find them, which I could not.

I did not vary that much from the recipe so you may want to go right to the source linked above. I used more fruit and nuts and well, made a few other small changes based on what I could get. I couldn’t find candied ginger, either, which frustrated me. But to be honest, I’ve never found it worked the way I wanted it to in baked goods anyway.

fruitcake

Fruitcake a la Alton

1 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup dried blueberries
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
(a quick note here, I do not care for organic apricots which are dried without sulfates)
zest of one lemon (I used the type of zester that makes long skinny strips, Alton’s recipe is not clear but it sounds like he used a peeler to take off the zest then chopped it)
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon powdered (or I bet fresh would be good) ginger
1 cup golden rum (I used spiced rum) plus extra

Mix all the dried fruits and zests together plus the ginger and cover with rum. I needed about a 1/2 cup more rum than called for to cover the fruit. Allow to macerate in an air tight container over night. Or, you can warm it in the microwave for about 5 minutes but I used the overnight method. Pour off however much extra rum you used – which was, for me, all the leftover liquid. I saved this to use to baste the fruitcake after baking. Why not? Additional fruit flavor!

1 cup sugar
10 tbsp butter
1 cup unfiltered apple juice (the apple juice made by the Simply Orange people is great)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

In a large, non-reactive pot, place the macerated fruit, sugar, butter, apple juice and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. Pour into a big glass bowl to help it cool faster and allow to cool at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups toasted chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Sift together flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Mix into fruit mixture with the big wooden spoon recommended by Alton. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. Last, fold in nuts.

Spoon into a 10 inch non-stick loaf pan. (I actually used a stone loaf pan but I had some trouble getting it out. So if you don’t use a non-stick loaf pan I’d suggest lining the pan with parchment paper.)

Bake for 1 hour at 350°F. Check for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester or skewer or if you can’t find any of those, a nice skinny sharp knife. Bake an additional 10 minutes if it’s not done. Check again.

Baste or spritz the top of the cake with the leftover rum from the fruit. Or Brandy (as Alton called for, but I don’t like brandy.) Cool the fruitcake in the pan on a cooling rack or trivet. Allow to completely cool before turning it out of the pan.

Store the cake in an airtight plastic container. Every 2 or 3 days, feel the cake and if it’s feeling dry, spritz or baste some more with more rum. Let it age up to 2 weeks. Alton did not say whether to store it in the refrigerator or not – I did but I’m not sure it’s really necessary given the alcohol.

By Zazzy | Posted in cakes | Comments (0)
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pumpkin bread and salted caramel sauce

December 24, 2011 – 9:36 pm

This is my mom’s pumpkin bread recipe and the standard by which I judge all other pumpkin bread recipes. It’s moist and delicious and well, just right. Mom always made it with shortening. I decided to use butter today but I think it’s actually more moist with shortening so I’m going back to that next time.

Mom’s Pumpkin Bread

Cream together:
3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
15 ounce canned pumpkin

Sift:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 – 1 1/2 tsp cinnaomn
1/2 – 1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 – 1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
(or about 2 tbsp good quality pumpkin pie spice)

Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture by the muffin method. Don’t over-mix.

Add:

1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup raisins (soak raisins in warm water until plump)

Bake in greased and floured loaf pans at 350°F for 45-60 minutes. Makes two regular loaves or three small loaves. Start checking at 45 minutes. A knife stuck in the loaf should come out clean.

By the way, I always use more raisins and nuts than the recipe calls for. Today I used dried cranberries and golden raisins – almost 2 cups combined – and 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans.

pumpkin bread

I’ve been afraid of making caramel for years. My previous attempts always ended up with burned sugar. It’s very hard to get it to stop cooking once it’s the right color. This sauce is way easier and may inspire me to try caramel more often.

The recipe comes from Ruth Reichl with a little advice on technique from David Lebovitz. It really did take about 10 minutes to make and was outrageously delicious.

Salted Caramel

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 stick butter (oops – I actually used 1 1/2 sticks butter. Why did I do that? It worked anyway so I’d say the sauce is pretty damn forgiving)
1/2 cup room temperature heavy cream
2 tablespoons bourbon, whiskey, or brandy (I used Jack Daniels)
1/4 tsp coarse salt

Ruth recommended using a really big pot and I have to say this made have made the difference. I used my 5 quart dutch oven and the sugar melted much more evenly than any of my previous attempts.

Cut your butter up and set it beside your work space. Measure the 1/2 cup cream and stir in 2 tablespoons bourbon (or don’t if you don’t want to use alcohol in it).

Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bottom of your big pan and set over medium heat. When the sugar starts to melt at the edges, gently draw the sugar from the edges to the middle with a heat-proof spatula. Gently stir the sugar until completely melted. Carefully. Melted sugar is really hot and dangerous. Watch the color and smell. David says he judges his by the smell but I think that’ll take more practice for me. By the time all my sugar was melted, including a few lumps, it was a rich dark amber and ready.

Dump in the butter and stir until completely incorporated. Turn off the heat – or in case of an electric stove take the pot off the heat. Stir in the cream. It will hiss and spit, don’t worry about it. Whisk until the sauce is smooth. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt – add a bit more if you used unsalted butter.

Ruth says it will last about a month in the refrigerator. Somehow I doubt it will last that long. It thickens as it cools and can be reheated for serving.

By Zazzy | Posted in breads, desserts | Comments (1)
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autumn stew

October 23, 2011 – 7:46 pm

I’ve read a number of recipes lately that used apples in chicken chili or with pork roasts and I’ve certainly always enjoyed them with pork chops and I thought, why not in a stew? About some of the choices I made – I used boneless pork chops because I’m trying to use up some meat that has been in the freezer too long. They are pretty flavorful but I’m sure that pork roast or loin would work very well. Still, you can often buy pork chops on a good sale and they’re pretty lean.

I debated between sweet potatoes and butternut squash. I think the squash would be worth trying but I decided on sweet potatoes because I think they have more flavor – and I was concerned about the squash disappearing in the stew. I chose chicken stock as the base but vegetable stock would work well. I considered apple juice but I wanted this to be a primarily savory stew with a touch of sweetness and I think the apple juice/cider would have been too sweet. Still, I added some craisins to add some brightness.

Last, I like fresh sage when I have it. You could use 1 tsp to 2 tsp dried sage instead. Sage can be really strong, though, so add about half what you think you will need and allow the stew to simmer for a while. Then taste and add more sage if you want.

As always, recipes are a jumping off point. If you like celery, sweat some with the onions. Other herbs might be good, though I really like sage with pork. Experiment with liquids. Use chicken instead of pork. The possibilities are endless.

autumn stew

Autumn Stew

2 pounds pork loin, trimmed of fat, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion chopped
1 pound sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 medium apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh sage, minced
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries, currants or raisins

1. Sweat onions in a little olive oil until golden over medium heat. Add pork cubes and brown. Add garlic and cook a minute or two.

2. Pour in chicken stock or broth. I used a new product, concentrated stock which worked well and takes up much less room in my cupboard. Store bought stock has more than enough salt so I don’t add extra salt.

3. Add sweet potato cubes and stir.

4. Peel and chop apples. Use a firm, tart apple like a Jonagold or Macintosh. I don’t recommend Delicious apples as they are far too soft. Toss with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) to keep from browning while working. The juice will also add a little brightness to the stew.

5. Stir in ground black pepper and sage. Sage can be kind of strong so allow stew to simmer for a while, taste and add more if you want then.

6. Bring stew to a boil, turn heat down and simmer until the vegetables are done. Mix corn starch with a little water and stir into stew to thicken. Use more or less depending on how thick you like your stew gravy.

Servings: 8

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (13.1 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 383.31
Calories From Fat (16%) 61.87
% Daily Value
Total Fat 6.86g 11%
Saturated Fat 1.8g 9%
Cholesterol 74.84mg 25%
Sodium 410.61mg 17%
Potassium 797.75mg 23%
Total Carbohydrates 50.29g 17%
Fiber 5.24g 21%
Sugar 6.85g
Protein 28.71g 57%

I’m using a new recipe program, by the way, called Living Cookbook. It computed the nutrition information but that will vary a bit based on some of the choices you make.

By Zazzy | Posted in soups and stews | Comments (0)
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ina garten’s shrimp and sausage jambalaya

October 6, 2011 – 3:49 pm

jambalaya

It’s been too long since I made this recipe and I’ve forgotten the changes I made.  Still, it was really very good and you can find Ina’s recipe at The Food Network.

By Zazzy | Posted in soups and stews | Comments (0)
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mediterranean shrimp pie

June 9, 2011 – 5:29 pm

mediterranean shrimp pie

I haven’t posted in a long time. I keep meaning to, really. I actually have a few recipes to post that I didn’t get around to doing during the great computer crisis of this past spring. They’re cold weather soups, however, and my motivation to post is a little low. Right now, when it’s 90+° outside, I don’t want to stand over a stove stirring a pot. I don’t want to roast anything – although I plan to make a chicken this weekend – and I don’t even want to eat heavy, hot, cooked food. I want to eat cherries (which I am doing as I type) and cheese and maybe a nice rustic bread. This is a summer thing for me and you’d think I’d lose lots of weight during the summer but ice cream and chilled custards are remarkably not diet foods and they still sound pretty good to me.

I have had in my cupboard a small jar of roasted red peppers and another of marinated artichoke hearts for months now. They were intended for something entirely different but I’ve forgotten what that was. Chances are, it’s marked in one of my cookbooks but it’s probably a winter food so I’m not going to look. Something that I’ve been enjoying lately is eggs. I had my band loosened so that I could eat solid food again and, although I’m not really back on track as well as I need to be, it’s nice to be able to eat some things I haven’t been able to in the past year and a half. Like eggs. Plus, I have finally mastered the art of lusciously creamy scrambled eggs (but that’s another post).

I found myself contemplating the roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts and thinking of Mediterranean shrimp pizza – a pizza that I fell in love with while living in Gillette, Wyoming. At least according to Google, the pizza place that introduced me to this pie no longer exists and that’s a shame. Two of my diabetic friends worked there and delivered Mediterranean shrimp pizza to my hospital room several times during the two months I spent in Gillette’s hospital. Best thing ever.

So, a Mediterranean shrimp pizza has a white sauce, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, black olives, shrimp, oregano and mozzarella of course. Wouldn’t that make a great quiche? Or quiche like pie at any rate. And yes, Greek olives would have been great here but I didn’t think of that when I was shopping. Also, I debated over white cheddar and mozzarella and ended up with white cheddar. Next time, I’m going with mozzarella. Fontina might be nice, too. Or one of those Italian blends of mozzarella, provolone, asiago and Parmesan. I am not wedded to a particular cheese.

Also, when I changed computers, I lost the program I used for the nutritional breakdown and I haven’t replaced it yet. Someday. Life has been throwing a few expenses my way that preclude spending that extra on something I don’t really “need.”

Oh, and I am all about easy with this. You could certainly roast your own peppers, etc., but it’s too freaking hot to bother.

slice of mediterranean shrimp pie

Mediterranean Shrimp Pie

8 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced
4 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
small can sliced black olives – or about 1/4 cup sliced Greek olives – drained
6 ounces baby shrimp (precooked, thawed and drained)
16 ounces lowfat cottage cheese
4 ounces white cheese (mozzarella, white cheddar, whatever you think sounds good)
4 eggs
about 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

1 prepared 9 inch pie shell, thawed if frozen (or maybe a 10 inch or a deep dish. I had a little too much filling so made the rest in a one cup ramekin)

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line a big colander with paper towels, place the drained and diced peppers, artichokes, olives and shrimp and toss together. Let them continue to drain as you prepare the rest of the stuff. Pat them even a little drier with more papertowels.

Grate or dice the cheese, combine with the cottage cheese and eggs in your food processor and whir around until creamy. Add the fresh oregano and whir around again for a few seconds to chop and incorporate it.

Spoon the solid stuff into your prepared pie shell and level out a bit. Pour the egg mixture over and with your scrupulously clean hand gently mix the egg mixture in with the veggies. I have tried mixing them together and pouring them into the pie shell but you still have to mix and spread with your fingers so I find this easier. Sprinkle the top with a few whole oregano leaves for prettiness.

Bake on a sheet pan (in case of overage) for 45-60 minutes or until the center is set – and a knife comes out clean when you poke it. Cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Actually, I think it’s great served at room temperature.

By Zazzy | Posted in eggs | Comments (1)
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my new addiction

April 25, 2011 – 9:06 pm


Fresh Gourmet Crispy Jalapenos

At 40 calories per tablespoon they aren’t bad if you only use a few. They’re great on salads and soups and I can imagine so many other things to do with them. They are only mildly spicy, deliciously crispy, and I could eat them by the handful!

By Zazzy | Posted in product recommendations | Comments (0)
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sharp!

April 15, 2011 – 5:17 pm

Did I mention that six months or so ago I bought some new knives? I have wanted/needed new knives for quite some time. My old good set had rather bizarre ‘never needs sharpening’ laser cut blades. Despite how odd they sound, they really did last for a long time but they did need sharpening – but they all had these micro serrated blades which, I don’t know maybe a professional could sharpen but I sure couldn’t.

I was planning on a quick review of the knives here if I liked them. They are comparatively inexpensive knives made by Vitorinox, the people who make Swiss Army Knives. I’d read good reviews and they were affordable enough that if I didn’t love them, I wouldn’t beat my head against the wall.

It turns out that they get my recommendation. They hold an edge nicely, they’re balanced well, and gosh darn, they make a smooth, clean, hardly even painful cut. I took off the end of my thumb a month or so ago and tonight, I sliced through the back of my knuckle. After soaking through four paper towels, I think I’ve even got the bleeding stopped – as long as I don’t bend my thumb.

Once in a while someone suggests that I consider cooking professionally. There are several reasons that I don’t choose cooking as my new profession but my tendency to cut off parts of my fingers is definitely one them.

By Zazzy | Posted in product recommendations | Comments (0)
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so where in the world is zazzy?

March 28, 2011 – 11:09 am

It’s been a while since I posted a new recipe and that’s not entirely by choice. I have been dealing with a very sick computer that didn’t want to run any programs or even load web pages. It really would have helped to not have to send the new computer back and wait for the new new computer – but it came on Friday. Yay for speed and processing and the willingness to open webpages.

I spent the weekend trying to get everything I use reinstalled. It’s rather nice not to have all the crap “free” programs that Dell installed on my old system. There are a few crap programs I need to uninstall including Office 2010 since I already own Office 2007 and see not real need to upgrade despite the commercials. I’m having some issues with a few programs not running correctly and need to reinstall them before crying to tech support types.

So, a lot of my time has been devoted to sick computer and new computer. I actually have three tasty and lap-band friendly recipes to get posted. As soon as I get a couple programs that are being stubborn to work as intended.

By Zazzy | Posted in clucks | Comments (0)
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peanut butter pudding

February 2, 2011 – 8:34 pm

Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter!

I’ve developed a major peanut butter fixation. There are certainly a lot of things you can do with peanut butter. But although I really, really love peanut butter – it’s really full of fat. And in general, it’s not even good fat. Good fat is squished out of peanuts and then is replaced by less good fat. Doesn’t make a lot of sense except that manufacturers are trying to stabilize the fats so you don’t have to stir your peanut butter. And, to be honest, choosy Zazzys choose Jif.

BUT – there is another option. I buy Peanut Butter II from the Bell Plantation. There are other makers but I haven’t tried them. PBII squishes almost all the oil out of the peanuts and then leaves the peanuts in powdered form. You can use the powdered peanut butter in many recipes (haven’t tried it in cookies) or you can mix it with a little water and have tasty tasty peanut butter without all the fat.

The up side of this? You can make peanut butter pudding with less calories than 2 tbsp of regular peanut butter. Okay, you can also make it with regular peanut butter – oddly in about the same amount as the powdered stuff – but I’m trying to be healthy here.

What? You’ve never had peanut butter pudding? When I was a kid, we used to go up to St. Joseph, Missouri, where Jesse James was shot and we ate at some little diner that made Peanut Butter Pie. Mmmm. You don’t see that anymore.

peanut butter pudding

Peanut Butter Pudding

1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup non-fat dry milk
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup granulated Splenda
1/2 cup powdered peanut butter (or okay, the regular stuff)
1 heavy pinch salt.

In a 3 quart saucepan, combine all the dry ingredients. Add about a cup of the water and whisk until dissolved. Blend in the rest of the water. Whisk or stir gently over medium heat until it comes to a full boil. It really is that easy. Pour into 4 bowls because, well, I like this stuff. I also like it a little bit warm. It’s nice cold, too.

Nutritional Information, per serving:
12 g protein, 18 g carbs, 2 g fat, 140 calories.

By Zazzy | Posted in desserts, sugar free | Comments (0)
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