Wish Upon A Chef

Is it true that those closest to you know you best?

Oh, sure they may know exactly what drink to order for you at the bar or they may know your favorite flavor of ice cream and that you love garlic stuffed olives from the olive bar at Harris Teeter. But do they really and truly know what makes you tick? I think not.

Case in point....someone very close to me and who once revered me as an independent, got-it-going-on kind of girl told me not long ago that I had no idea what it took to live in the real world. Huh??? I made it just fine on my own before and when I look at my life today, I see that not only am I surviving, I'm flourishing. I've managed to acquire a well paying job. I bought a cute little house and I have a ton of friends. Oh, yeah...and I mowed my lawn last week {yet another impossibility according to Captain You-Are-So-Wrong}. And I did every bit of it all by my own self!

NEVER, EVER tell me that I can't do something because I will do it or die!

And so it was with that same fervidity that I joined the ranks of the awesome group known as The Daring Bakers. My friend Lis over at La Mia Cucina has practically begged me for over a year to join. Well, okay...that's not entirely true. She asked nicely once or twice but I put her off because my life was so upside down at the time. But now that I'm ready to face challenges in the real world, I figured I was ready for the first challenge that the DB'ers threw my way.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Now, ya'll know I love all things Italian. And Lord knows I've made my fair share of Italian recipes. But this, my friends, is a real Italian recipe and not an Americanized version with noodles from a box and sauce from a jar. No sir. This was a crank out your own handmade noodles {but only after the cramps in your pectorals have subsided from the kneading process}, and you can't take a nap on Sunday because the ragu has to simmer for 2-1/2 hours kind of recipe.

This challenge was a 3 day process for me but only because I decided to divide it up that way and two of my three components seemingly had major issues. Shall we take a bet before reading any further as to whether or not my challenge was successful and I can claim a high rate of survival in the real world?

The whole point of being a DB'er is to get you out of your kitchen comfort zone and while the technique aspects of this challenge weren't new to me, the flavor aspects were. The ragu featured not only ground beef but ground pork, ground veal, pancetta, and proscuitto. All of this was browned and simmered with chicken stock, red wine, and milk. As someone who doesn't eat alot of meat to begin with, has serious issues with meatloaf, and an aversion to a dairy product on her hamburger, you're gonna take all the animals on the farm and cook them together along with some milk? Yeah, right! I should mention here that my ragu did not look nor smell very appetizing after it was finished. Seriously, folks...it took 2 days for me to get the smell out of my house. I was close to chalking the ragu up as a failure but my faithful DB pep squad cheered me on and assured me that all was not lost.
As I was heating it for final assembly, I added a few more crushed tomatoes and some tomato juice from the can both of which went a long way toward making it look more appealing.

The second day of prep was the homemade pasta. My first attempt at making pasta turned out quite well, so I thought this would be a breeze. Ha! Do something once and you think you have it mastered, do ya? I wound up adding 2 extra eggs and I think I could have added another because the flour would NOT come together as dough. Let's not mention that I added 10 ounces of spinach because I had no use for the leftover 4 ounces from the box AND I forgot to finely chop the spinach per the recipe instructions. After it finally starts to resemble dough, I'm kneading, kneading, kneading {dear Lord I'm needing this pasta to turn out right!} for what seems like forever but only 3 of the 10 minutes have passed. Total lightweight, I am. I start cranking it through my pasta machine, going through each setting, trying to achieve the transparency that is required but I think my spinach was a little too coarse to achieve the proper transparency. My noodles were so transparent, they actually had holes. By this point I really didn't give a flip because it was getting late and I was losing my patience so I slapped the noodles on the only thing I had lying around that could be used for a drying rack.

Are you laughing out loud yet? Because I was {and still am} at the sight of pasta hanging in my laundry room. Appetizing, huh? In retrospect, the hangers were not wide enough to keep the noodles from touching and gluing themselves together once they were dried. I didn't even share this perceived failure with my DB pep squad for surely they'd ban me from the group.

The final day of prep started only after I had trimmed trees in my back yard {is there no limit to the things I can do all on my own now??} and was dog tired. The bechamel came together with no problems and I boiled the crumbled, pitiful pasta noodles. Out of the water, they looked like masses of wet Kleenex.

Was there hope for survival?

Fully assembled, it didn't look half bad and honestly, when it came out of the oven I was quite pleased with how well it looked and smelled. Also impressive was how nicely it held together after it was sliced and plated. The taste? I will be honest and say that I didn't particularly care for the flavors of the ragu. It was bit rich and too heavy for me. I'm also ashamed to say that most of the lasagna went uneaten and into the trash.

The final verdict?

Success in the world of The Daring Bakers! Bring on the next challenge!

Please make sure you visit all the lovely Daring Baker blogs and especially vist the lovely hosts and author links shown below.

Enza - da grande
Melinda - Melbourne Larder
Mary - Beans and Caviar
Lynne Rossetto Kasper - The Splendid Table

I've been to alot of parties in my life.

I've planned parties right down to the last minute detail, cooked at parties, served at parties, and cleaned up at parties. Oh, wait...I don't think that counts as actually being AT the party, does it? No. Absolutely not. It's been a long, long time since I've hosted a party myself or actually been a guest at a party. I've been in the mood to party. And what a girl wants to do, a girl does.

I wanted to get my new house completely in order before I started entertaining, but are we ever completely settled? There's always something that needs to be done so I decided to get the invitations in the mail and commit to a date. Forget the fact that my window sills need to be cleaned and my closets need organizing...a party is supposed to be about good food and good friends!

The whole time I was getting ready for the big day - planning the menu, making lists, shopping, prepping, cleaning - I kept thinking that I could NEVER do this for a living again!

There were no real surprises on the menu. Since it was MY party, I wanted all of my favorites. The recipes that my catering business was initially built around and made the business a success. I've blogged about most of them before, so I've linked back to the posts and also included the ones that I've never shared with you below. I wanted things that I was comfortable with so I could enjoy my own party and not worry about how a new recipe was going to fly. There will be plenty of time to play with new recipes and have them ready for the next big event.

It was a wonderful Sunday brunch, thanks entirely to my wonderful girlfriends! We laughed, drank, gossiped, ate, and then did it all again. Everything turned out perfectly and we had so much fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candied Pecans (these little jewels made my salads famous!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 each egg white
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat egg white and water until frothy. Stir nuts into mixture to coat, then drain slightly in a colander, 3-4 mins. Mix sugar and spices in a plastic bag. Add nuts and shake to coat. Spread wet nut mixture in a single layer on a microwave safe plate; microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly. Stir. Microwave another 1-1/2 minutes. Remove; stir to separate. Cool. Store in a sealed container.


Raspberry Vanilla Vinaigrette
Recipe By :Jackie Alejo (Cooking For You!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Shake all ingredients together in a jar, until well blended. You may want to increase vanilla according to taste.


Coconut Dream Bars (one of the most requested desserts from my catering business!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
18 1/4 ounces yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
8 ounces cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecan

Beat 1 egg and butter. Add cake mix. Pat into 8x12 inch pan. Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and stir in sugar. Add coconut and pecans. Spread over cake. Garnish with slivered almonds. Bake at 325 for 45 mins. Cut when cool.

Chocolate Chess Tartlets

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Dash salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 (2.1-oz.) packages frozen mini phyllo pastry shells, thawed
thawed frozen whipped topping -- for garnish

Preparation
1. Stir together first 7 ingredients until blended. Add eggs, stirring well. Spoon about 1 heaping tsp. chocolate mixture into each pastry shell, and place on 2 large ungreased baking sheets.
2. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or just until set. Remove to wire racks, and let cool completely. Garnish, if desired.

Store tartlets in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Yield:
"72 "

The economy is bad, people. I don't need to tell you that.

TV and newspapers are deluged with gloom and doom and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm trying my very best not to participate in this so-called recession/depression business. I pumped plenty of money into the crumbled mess of a housing market back in December and along with that came the never-ending outflow of money for general "stuff" for the new house. I wrote a big check to the hard working laborers who installed the fence in my backyard and I feel it's my civic duty to fill my calendar with social outings just so I can support the local restaurants and wine bars. And there is my HUGE patriotic boost to the economy coming up on April 15th.

It is a time for conservation and for being creative to make use out of what you already have on hand. We just have to roll with the flow and ride it out until good times are on the horizon again....

And that's exactly what I did a couple of weekends ago when I invited my friend C. over for dinner. It had been my intention to prepare a nice hearty lasagna smothered with meat sauce that had simmered all afternoon on my stove. I envisioned a nice loaf of homemade yeast bread rising in the afternoon warmth on my counter, waiting to be baked off right before he arrived. A sinfully rich Italian dessert would cap off our evening meal before we parked ourselves on the couch for a Netflix movie.

What I wanted and what I managed to pull together at the last minute were too entirely different things since I wound up spending most of that morning and early afternoon at the emergency vet clinic for my sweet baby Jesse James who had not been feeling well. This totally unexpected boost to the economy recessed my wallet and depressed me tremendously but I had to keep rolling with the flow. I had to get something pulled together quickly.
I opted for spinach and ricotta lasagna rolls with a bechamel sauce topped with a semi-homemade marinara sauce. These rolls, like "regular" lasagna, could easily be adapted to include ground beef or any variety of veggies to keep it vegetarian and are quick and easy to assemble. I just went with what I had on hand. I've never been a fan of ricotta cheese - growing up, my mother always used cottage cheese in her lasagna and even now that's what I prefer - but I had ricotta on hand and so ricotta it was. A quick trip to the grocery produced a loaf of bread and a ripe cantaloupe that I cubed and drizzled with a red wine reduction sauce, and dinner and dessert were served up right on time!

Ya just gotta roll with it, baby!

{and on a side note: my punkin is very diligently following the doctor's orders of getting plenty of rest and is feeling much better these days!}



Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna Rolls
serves 4


for the bechamel sauce:

4 TBLS butter
4 TBLS flour
2 cups milk
dash nutmeg

for the lasagna rolls:

8 lasagna noodles, cooked per package directions
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
dash nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
your favorite marinara sauce
4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and nutmeg and gently heat through, just until sauce thickens. Do not boil. Ladle the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly over each cooked lasagna noodle. Roll noodles but don't press down on them or your filling will smoosh out. Place rolls on top of the bechamel without touching them together. Ladle marinara over the rolls and top with shredded cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes or so until the cheese is lightly browned.

It rained on Saturday. Non-stop. All day.

Little bitty stingin' rain and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath {insert your best Forrest Gump impersonation here}.

And so I spent the day running errands in the rain. UGH! My hair was wet and unruly with curls. My socks and shoes made squishy sounds when I walked.

But come Sunday morning, it was worth it. Oh yeah, baby, was it ever!

One of my errands took me by a bakery that I've been wanting to check out called Breadsmith.
Freshly baked loaves of rustic bread nestled in little cubby holes lined the walls. I browsed, nonchalantly, but couldn't concentrate. I couldn't shake that "I'm dizzy with love" feeling. It was the smell of those cinnamon rolls, dang it! I hurriedly grabbed a loaf of Italian bread for dinner. I had to get out of there before I fell victim to their marketing ploy of wafting delicious aromas. Oh wait! Is that cinnamon swirl bread? A loaf of that please. OH! OH! Cherry brioche! I must have one.

And then I ran. Right straight out the door. And into the rain. And purged my lungs of that cinnamon roll goodness. It's a good thing the picture of my bounty turned out decent because that cherry brioche met its fate just as soon as the shutter clicked on the camera. I laid waste to most of the Italian bread with my dinner of mussels in spicy marinara sauce.

And the best part came on Sunday morning. I sliced into the cinnamon swirl loaf with the intentions of making cinnamon toast. But it was destined to become more. It deserved more. And so it became french toast. Thinly sliced, cooked until crispy and drizzled with honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. And a shake of powdered sugar. Just the way I like it.

After breakfast came the even better part. I crawled back into bed, snuggled down under my warm covers with sweet little Jesse James and waited for the rain to give way to the 6" of snow that eventually came and blanketed us.

Eat, go back to bed, and enjoy!


Cinnamon Swirl French Toast
serves 4

8 slices cinnamon swirl bread, sliced thin
4 TBLS butter
1 TBLS vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk

Whip the beaten eggs, milk, vanilla, and spices until well blended.

Dip each piece of cinnamon bread into the batter mixture, let it sit for a minute or so while you melt the butter on your griddle or non-stick fry pan.

Cook both sides of the toast until golden brown {I like to press it with my spatula to make it nice and thin}.

Serve immediately with a drizzle of honey, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.