Fennel and Fish - F - Alphabet Challenge

This week in the alphabet challenge is week F and I wanted to try a new ingredient - fennel! It's very versatile, you can braise or roast the bulbs, pickle the stalks, and use the fronds as garnish. I also recently finished a plating class and wanted to try to make the plate as artistic as possible. Turns out, to make a pretty plate you have to have the design idea BEFORE cooking and you'll need a few extra garnishes, purees, herbs, or sauces to add color and texture. This part definitely added to the dishwashing at the end of the meal, but the plate was beautiful to me. 
 
For this post I'm doing it a bit differently - I'm going to write the recipes for each component so you can mix and match as you please. 
 
Seared Salmon Fillet
1 Salmon Fillet, skin and bones removed
Salt and Pepper
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. avocado oil 
1 lemon
 
1. Drizzle avocado oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over medium high heat. Once oil is shimmering, add the salmon fillet. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes until a nice crust has formed. 
 
2. Once seared on both sides, lower the heat on the pan to medium low. Add the butter to the pan and baste the fish to continue cooking. Baste for another 2-3 minutes until salmon is done to your liking. (For thicker pieces, you can finish the salmon in the oven). 

3. Remove from pan and squeeze about 1 tsp lemon juice over the fish. Allow to rest on paper towels for 2 minutes.
 
Roasted Fennel Bulb
2 bulbs of fennel
Olive oil spray
Salt and Pepper
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
 
1. Cut stalks from the fennel (reserve if planning to use for garnish). Cut the fennel bulb in half and remove the tough outer layers. Slice fennel into wedges, making sure to cut through the core of the fennel so the wedges stay together. 
 
2. Add fennel wedges to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spray all over with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated 400 degree oven until slightly browned, about 7-9 minutes.
 
3. Remove pan from oven and top fennel with parmesan. Place back in oven for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted. Set aside until ready plate. 
 
Pickled Shallot:
1 large shallot, thinly sliced 
2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper 
 
1. Place thinly sliced shallots in a small container. Cover shallots with red wine vinegar. Add sugar, salt and pepper. Allow to sit and meld for at least two hours in the fridge or overnight. 
 
Potato Purée
 
This is just a fancy way to say mashed potatoes lol 
 

Eggs Benedict with Lobster - E - Alphabet Challenge

This week is E and I wanted to utilize one of the most versatile ingredients - eggs! This dish uses a poached egg as well as eggs in the creamy hollandaise sauce. I'm breaking the rules of this challenge just a bit since I've made this dish before but I did a new twist - adding lobster and poaching eggs. 

I am TERRIBLE at poaching eggs. They either don't stay together (whites all over the place) or the eggs are undercooked/overcooked. I watched 10 poaching videos on youtube and decided to give it a try. The secrets I found that I've been doing wrong before:

1. When you create the "whirlpool" in the simmering water with white vinegar, you don't want it spinning too fast. If it's too fast it basically spins the egg whites off of the yolk. 

2. I've always placed eggs in a small ramekin first but I used to just dump the egg into the water. The key here is to place the egg in the water slowly. (Make sure not to burn your fingers in the hot water!). 

3. Lastly, the time for the egg to cook. I found a 3 minute egg in simmering water gave me the perfect consistency - set egg whites but a runny egg yolk. For a medium poach I would do about 1 minute to the cooking time. If you're doing a hard poach, just do a hard boiled egg. 

Since I've made this dish before I've posted links to the original recipes. Making the hollandaise in the blender is the way to go. Much simpler then whisking endlessly to incorporate the butter. For the lobster I simply warmed it in butter in a small pan over low heat until it was cooked through. If poaching eggs is to intimidating or just isn't going well, make a simple egg over easy in a saute pan to top the english muffin. 

Hollandaise in a Blender - http://kleinanddine.blogspot.com/2017/02/hollandaise-sauce-in-blender.html

Eggs Benedict - http://kleinanddine.blogspot.com/2016/09/eggs-benedict.html

Doughnuts - D - Alphabet Challenge

It's week four of this challenge and so far it's been really fun. Pushing myself to try to make a new dish every week has been both hard and exciting. I choose to make doughnuts this week since this is something I typically buy since it's time consuming to make and there are a lot of great doughnut shops. I had to decide two important things: what type of doughnut to make and should I spell it donut or doughnut. 

The spelling was the easier thing to decipher. It turns out it's doughnuts in the dictionary and over time in America is simply got shortened to donuts. As a board game lover, especially scrabble,  it was easy to choose the dictionary/official answer. 

The type of doughnut was the harder question - cake doughnut vs yeast doughnut. The cake doughnut I consider more traditional and old school The yeast doughnut is a lighter and fluffier texture. Since my favorite doughnut is a twist doughnut covered in sugar (no glaze) I went that route. 

This dish ended up being really fun to make and the dough could be made a day in advance and the doughnuts cut and fried in the morning if you have time to make breakfast. You can also store them in an airtight container once fried and enjoy later but I found eating them warm and fresh was the best way to go if possible. 

This recipe is enough for 24 doughnuts (2 dozen)

Ingredients:
 
Doughnut Dough:
1 ⅛ cup whole milk - warm
¼ cup sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons Instant Or Active Dry Yeast (one package)
2 whole large eggs lightly beaten
1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter, a total of 10 tablespoons, melted
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
Shortening/oil for frying
 
Glaze:
½ cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Enough cream or milk to thin about 3 tablespoons
Dash of salt
 
Directions:
1. Warm the milk in a small pan over low heat until it is about 105-110 degrees. Add the milk to a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the yeast and stir to combine. Let the yeast rest for 5 minutes. Make sure you see bubbles in the liquid before continuing, this means the yeast is doing its job. 
 
2. Add the beaten eggs and melted butter to the bowl and stir to combine.
 
3. While the mixer is running at its slowest speed, add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Mix for a whole five minutes once the dough is combined to work the dough well. Turn off the mixer and let the dough sit in the bowl of the mixer for 10 minutes.
 
4. After the rest period turn the dough out into a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge but up to overnight. The goal is to get the dough cold enough to work with easily and have the butter solidify.
 
5. When you are ready to form the doughnuts: Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out one half on a lightly floured surface until it is ½ to ⅓ of an inch thick. Use a three-inch donut cutter to cut out the donuts. (You can use two small ring cutters or just make a free form donut shape). 
 
6. Place the cut doughnuts and holes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
 
7. Cover the doughnuts and let them rise on the counter until doubled in size, about one hour. The doughnuts will be very puffy and airy looking.
 
8. While the doughnuts rise it’s a great time to make the glaze. Melt the butter in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Add the powdered sugar and stir to form a thick paste. Thin out the paste with milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is about as thick as school glue. The glaze will get thinner when it melts on the doughnut. 
 
9. When you’re ready to fry the doughnuts: Heat a few inches of oil or shortening in a large cast iron skillet or fryer pan over medium heat until the oil reaches 350 to 375 degrees (use a thermometer!). Carefully add the doughnuts to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 1 ½ minutes per side. The doughnut holes will only take about 30 seconds per side.
 
10. Use a slotted spoon or chopsticks to remove the donuts from the hot oil and place them on a paper towel lined baking sheet to remove extra grease. Let them cool slightly. Dip the hot donuts in the glaze, top with any sprinkles or other decorations while the glaze is still wet. Enjoy right away while the doughnuts are still warm. 

Cheesy Pasta (Crispy and Creamy) - C - Alphabet Challenge

 

While I like to think I’m a good cook, I have cooking disasters just like everyone else which happened this week. For my cheese dish I wanted to make pasta with cheese sauce that I haven’t before. There was a great recipe for brie pasta and since I love brie on cheeseboards I wanted to try it with pasta. It’s a creamy cheese but after I heated it in a baking dish it never melted enough to get incorporated into the pasta. So instead I used the homemade ricotta I made for the cheese toast I wanted to serve with it as the sauce. A lot of cooking is about being creative and pivoting when a dish isn’t working out as expected. 
 
Since cheese is such a versatile ingredient, I wanted to use it in more than one way. I decided to make some Parmesan crisps for texture with the creamy pasta. The crisps are a nice garnish and are incredibly easy to make. You could make extra and store them in an airtight container for a future snack or as a substitute to croutons on a salad. 
 
Ingredients: 
For the Pasta:
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 cups homemade ricotta, room temperature (link at bottom of the page, store bought is fine) 
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp. olive oil 
1 Tbsp. chives, minced
1 Tbsp. basil, minced 
1 lemon, zested 
 
For the Parmesan Crisp:
1 cup grated Parmesan
Fresh cracked black pepper 
 
Directions: 
Parmesan Crisps- 
 
1. Pre heat an oven to 425. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
 
2. Using a small circle cookie cutter or free hand, pile about 1 Tbsp. of Parmesan in your desired shape. You want the crisp to be about 1/4 inch thick. 
 
3. Top the Parmesan disc with a touch of black pepper. Bake in the oven until the disc is brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly. 
 
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the parchment.  Remove gently with an offset spatula. Set aside until ready to use. 
 
Pasta: 
1. Boil a large pot of salted water and cook pasta according to the package directions. 
 
2. While pasta cooks add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft for 1 minute.
 
3. Combine the ricotta, herbs, lemon zest, and salt and pepper in the pan with the garlic. Set aside until pasta is ready. 
 
4. Add cooked pasta to pan with sauce. Gently toss to combine. If the sauce gets too thick you can add a little pasta water. 
 
5. Use tongs to twirl the pasta and lay it onto the plate for a nice presentation. Top with Parmesan crisp and extra herbs. Serve and enjoy! 
 

Beef Bourguignon - B - Alphabet Challenge

It's week 2 of the alphabet challenge which means we're on the letter B. This letter dish came easy to me because I immediately thought of my favorite ingredient - BEEF! To me there's nothing like a great beef stew, prime rib, beef tartare, I could go on... 

Once I knew I wanted to make a beef dish it was finding one I've never made before. I've made braised beef dishes in the past but I wanted to try the ultimate braised beef - Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. Even though she is an icon and recipe creating master, it was hard to resist the urge to change the recipe. Some steps didn't make a ton of sense to my culinary brain such as putting the flour on the beef after it was already seared. I'd normally coat the beef first for more of a crust or I'd add the flour as a rue to thicken the sauce. I'm glad I gave it a try though since the dish came out amazing! 

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, cut into lardons
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch chunks
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large white onion, sliced
1 pinch coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 cups red wine, like a chianti or (INSERT WINE TYPES FROM COOKBOOK)
2 to 3 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 bay leaves
18 to 24 small pearl onions (I buy mine pre-peeled in the freezer section)
3 Tbsp. butter
1pound fresh white mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, sauté the bacon in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil for about 3-5 minutes, until it starts to lightly brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Dry the beef with a few paper towels for better browning. Season beef with salt and pepper. In batches, sear the beef on all sides in the Dutch oven. Remove from the pan and set aside with the bacon.

3. Back in the pot, add the sliced carrots and onions; sauté in fat until browned, about 3 minutes. If there's any excess fat, drain it now.

4. Add the bacon and beef back to the pot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. Toss. Sprinkle with flour and toss once more. Cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes until the flour is cooked through.

5. To the pot, add the wine and stock. The liquid should barely cover the meat and vegetables. Add the tomato paste, garlic and thyme. Bring to a light simmer on the stove, then cover and simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. (You could do this step in a 325 degree preheated oven which is the way Julia did it, I didn’t want to heat up my house since it’s June LOL).

6. In the last hour of cooking, bring 1 1Tbsp. butter and 2 tsp. olive oil to a medium heat in a sauté pan. Add the pearl onions and toss around in the fat until they've browned, 10 minutes. Then stir in 1/2 cup beef stock, a small pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the onions for about 40 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated, and the onions are tender.

7. Remove the onions and set aside. Wipe out the skillet. Add the remaining butter and oil and bring to a high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 3-5 minutes, shaking the pan to coat with the butter.

8. Place a colander over a large pot. Drain the beef stew through the colander and into the pot. Place the pot with the sauce over a medium heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, skimming any fat on top. Pour the beef and vegetables back into the Dutch oven. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the pot. Pour the sauce over the beef mix and simmer an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

Blue Hawaii Cocktail

My husband, Brian LOVES blue drinks. We wanted to try making a blue drink at home. While doing our research for ideas we came across the Blue Hawaii and the Blue Hawaiian. You would assume they are the same thing but surprisingly there is a difference! The Blue Hawaii uses sweet and sour mix while the Blue Hawaiian uses Creme de Coconut for a creamier drink. If you prefer blended drinks instead of on the rocks I would suggest the Blue Hawaiian. After taste testing them both Brian and I decided the Blue Hawaii on the rocks was the winner! 

This would be a great recipe to turn into a batch cocktail. Just combine all of the ingredients into a pitcher and stir to combine. When ready to serve you can just pour the cocktail over ice and garnish as you wish. 

Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

3/4 ounce vodka

3/4 ounce Malibu rum 

1/2 ounce blue curaçao

3 ounces pineapple juice

1 ounce sweet and sour mix 

Optional garnish:

Pineapple slice

Marichino cherries 

Cocktail umbrella 

Directions: 

1. Combine vodka, rum, curacao, pineapple juice, and sweet and sour mix in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well combined. 

2. Pour into a standard cocktail glass or festive glass. Garnish with pineapple, cherries, and a cocktail umbrella.

Apple Tart - A - Alphabet Challenge

Welcome to my new idea, the Alphabet Challenge. Over the next 26 weeks I plan to make a dish that starts with a letter of the alphabet. It can be any type of cuisine but it MUST start with the letter of the week. I hope you follow along with me until the end of the year!

To start us off I decided to make an apple tart for the letter A. This tart is made in the French style and was super easy to make. I've modified this recipe a bit from one of my favorite chefs Ina Garten. If you're in a hurry, you can skip making the pie crust from scratch and utilize frozen puff pastry or frozen pie crust. 

Ingredients:

*Pie Crust Recipe Below

For the apples:

4 Granny Smith apples 1/2 cup sugar 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced 1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam 2 tablespoons brandy Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into squares or rounds of your size choice. I suggest 4-6 inch pieces so each guest gets their own tart for a fancier feel. Place onto the parchment lined sheet pan and place in the fridge while you prepare the apples. 3. Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (feel free to have some fun here and make your own design with the apples). Sprinkle all tarts evenly with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter. This will caramelize the apples in the oven. 4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the brandy and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. I highly suggest serving this with a scope of ice cream. If you want to get really fancy, you could do a creme anglaise sauce. You can also be lazy and melt some premade vanilla ice cream which is also creme anglaise and drizzle over the top.

Pie Crust Recipe can be found using my Apple Pie Recipe.