Wish Upon A Chef

Among our group of friends, there are three different February birthdays to be celebrated so Boy Toy and I made plans to encompass all the Aquarius and Pisces among us into one big gathering at one of our favorite places, Morgan Ridge Vineyards.  One birthday girl particularly likes red velvet cake so I decided to put a little different spin on things by making a red velvet cheesecake from a recipe that I found on Pinterest for everyone to enjoy.  We discovered that it pairs really well with red wine!

Toward the end of June, Boy Toy and I spent a lovely afternoon at Morgan Ridge Winery and quickly put it on our list of things we must do again.  We were so stoked to see the Living Social deal offered in January that we spread the word to all of our friends and loaded up 12 of them and headed back there for the birthday celebration. They have a beautiful patio and pavilion area but we were relegated to staying indoors this time because of the cold rainy weather. Once again we had a lovely time - the tour, the tasting, the cheese plate, the variety of wines and the camaraderie we shared were still the conversation buzz at dinner a couple of hours later.

And can I just say that here it is two days later and the red velvet cheesecake is still the buzz among everyone too.  It was probably one of the best cheesecakes I've ever made (running a very close race with this one) and there was not one crumb left to verify its existence.  I've already been asked to repeat the performance.  


The vibrant red color was enough to WOW the crowd and the addition of tangy buttermilk added a certain creamy richness not found in other cheesecakes.  Some reviewers at Recipe Girl, where the recipe seems to have originated, said they thought the amount of cream cheese frosting was too much but I'm here to tell you that it totally made the cake.  Just like cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cupcake or cake, you can never have enough and it was the crème de la crème of dessert.  Don't skimp on that part!


I had a box of edible silver from a long ago purchase at Dean & Deluca that I finally decided to break open and use for garnish.  It retailed for $44 and I got it for a steal of a deal from the discount bin but I still used it sparingly.  It added just the right amount of birthday bling but if you change out the garnishes, this red beauty would be a hit for Christmas or Valentine's Day.



Red Velvet Cheesecake with Cream Cheese Frosting

printable recipe

Ingredients:
CRUST:
17 Oreo cookies, crushed finely
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar
CHEESECAKE:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
2 ounces red food coloring (two 1-ounce bottles)
FROSTING:
3 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
heavy duty foil

Directions: 1. Prepare crust: Stir together Oreo crumbs, melted butter, and 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

2. Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare water bath: Fill large roasting pan (big enough for springform pan to fit into) with about 1 inch of water. Place in oven and allow to preheat along with the oven.

3. Prepare filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add eggs and remaining cheesecake ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

4. Take out two sheets of heavy duty foil and layer them on top of one another. Place springform pan on top of the foil and wrap the foil gently around the pan and up the sides. Make sure that there are no tears or holes and that the foil comes all the way up around all sides of the cake. Carefully place the foil-protected pan into the water bath in the preheated oven.

5. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°F. Bake for an additional 75 minutes or until the center is firm. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Carefully remove cheesecake from water bath and place on wire rack. Run a thin knife around the outer edge of the cheesecake. Cool on rack for a couple of hours, until the cheesecake becomes close to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (or overnight). Remove sides of springform pan.

6. Prepare frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly on top of cheesecake. Garnish, if desired.

Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted from Southern Living)

Last week I announced my plan to move toward more real food and away from processed ingredients. Real food can be defined as a "product of nature more so than a product of industry." It is whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. It is organic and humanely raised meats and wild-caught seafood.  Whole dairy products are also in this category. It is the way our predecessors ate before the rise of manufacturing, industry and government took over our food production. You can think of real food as something that comes from the ground or from a plant or tree or as something that has a mother.

Real food does not contain preservatives and ingredients that you cannot pronounce. It is not artificially colored, flavored or sweetened. It does not have the shelf-life of a millennium. Real food is not dispensed from a drive-thru window.

Most times when you make a decision to change, the first impulse is to discard everything that has to do with the old habit and make a complete and immediate 100% change in every aspect.  Quite frankly, this is nothing but a set up for failure.  Making a lifestyle change is something that takes time and should be a gradual change so that it is not so much of a shock to your system.  Kitchen Stewardship sums it up best by equating your real food journey to learning to read and write.  As a child you didn't just one day pick up a pencil or book and start to read and write.  You learned to recognize letters.  Learned what sound they made.  Learned how to write them.  Learned to put letters together to form words.  And before you knew it, you were reading and writing for the rest of your life!  Although we are far from being little kids now, the fundamentals are still the same:  take small steps and learn as you go.  I won't be immediately clearing out all processed food ingredients from my pantry and refrigerator and completely changing my diet right away - I plan to use up what I have and replace it with more suitable items as I progress. 

100 Days of Real Food has done an excellent job of taking the overall move to real food and breaking it down into smaller, easy to follow steps.  I'm currently working my way through the 14 weeks of mini-pledges.  The week 1 pledge asks that you incorporate at least two different fruits/vegetables with each meal.  I was always under the assumption that I ate alot of fresh fruits and veggies, but do I meet the quota of at least two per meal? No. This pledge made me mindful of doing so.  Lunch and dinner aren't so much of a problem for me, but breakfast is tough because I'm not a big fan of breakfast and a piece of raw fruit will sometimes upset my stomach. It is also hard to continuously think of healthy and easy things to eat when you are a desk-jockey limited to a toaster and a microwave. I do try to throw in a few extra pieces of fruit during the day as a snack, so I think it all balances out in the end. 

Fresh vegetables are so easy to incorporate into your meals - they can take mere seconds to prep and only minutes to cook.  I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you although there is no actual recipe for any of them.  I roast alot of my veggies and I could literally eat an entire pound of roasted asparagus myself.  Snap the tough woody ends from the stalks (about 1 or 2-inches from the bottom), wash and dry them well.  Arrange the stalks in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil  (1 to 2 teaspoons), sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Give the pan a good shake at least once to make sure the asparagus isn't sticking or getting too done in one spot.  Once it comes out of the oven, grate some fresh lemon zest over the top and if I'm feeling all fancy schmancy, I'll crumble some creamy tangy goat cheese on top.  Yum!


I use the same technique for cauliflower, broccoli and whole cloves of garlic except they need to roast just a little bit longer, maybe more like 12 to 15 minutes.  If you have some baby carrots, throw those in as well.  They are pretty much the same density and take about the same amount of time to roast.  When you put them into the serving bowl, make sure you get all of the olive oil from the baking pan as well.  I usually finish this off with a sprinkle of sea salt.
 

I love this medley of vegetables that I call "farmstand saute."  You can adapt it to use pretty much any combination of fresh veggies that you have on hand.  I usually have squash, zucchini, bell peppers, onions and cherry tomatoes.  Add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet (sometimes I add just a bit of butter too) and bring to medium-high heat.  Add your veggies along with some salt and pepper and any seasonings that you'd like.  If you use dried herbs, you can add them now but if you use fresh ones, wait until the last minute or so of cooking.  I use either dried Italian seasoning or fresh dill that grows rampant in my yard and flower beds.  Saute for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the veggies are crisp-tender (if you are using cherry tomatoes, add them about when there's only about 5 minutes left to cook as you don't want to overcook them).  Now here's the best part....

During the last minute of cooking, add a splash of vinegar - my favorite is rice wine vinegar, but you can use any kind of flavored vinegar that you'd like.  It adds a bit of unexpected freshness to your veggies.  I get rave reviews every time I prepare it. 


See?  It's as easy as that to add real food to your diet.  Don't be afraid to try different techniques of preparing vegetables - roasting, sauteing, or steaming - as each method brings out different flavors in whatever you are cooking.  Go forth and experiment and have some real food!

Looking for a treat to express your love this Valentine's Day?  Try these Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies - they taste like chocolate covered cherries, only way much better.  The frosting alone is sweet enough to land your beloved in the dentist chair for a shiny new filling but the combination of cherries and dark chocolate come together for pure decadence.

These were quick and easy to make -  I pulled them together on a whim for Boy Toy's kids for Valentine's Day and sent them quickly out the door so I wouldn't be tempted by them.  I'll admit to eating a small sliver just for the sake of making sure they weren't poisonous or anything.  I snapped this photo with my phone just as they were being snatched off my kitchen counter, so it's not my best photography work.  When you are preparing the icing, make sure you beat the butter and sugar until it's fluffy before adding the other ingredients.  I was in a hurry and just threw everything into the mixer so the butter ended up separating and making the icing looking clabbered.   I really don't think my young and eager Valentines minded though - or even minded that I didn't have time to drizzle the melted chocolate on top to make them all pretty.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies
from A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock n' Roll 

Printable Recipe
 
For the brownies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
10 ounce jar maraschino cherries, drained & juice reserved
1 tablespoon milk
1 to 2 teaspoons maraschino cherry juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x11 inch pan.

Drain the cherries and coarsely chop them.  Spread them out on paper towels to dry slightly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, dark cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.

Melt the butter and pour into a large bowl.  Whisk in the dark chocolate chips until melted.  Whisk in the sugar and then the eggs.  Stir in the dry ingredients.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely.

For the frosting:  beat the butter together with the powdered sugar until fluffy.  Add extracts, milk and maraschino cherry juice until desired consistency is achieved.  Fold in the chopped cherries.

Frost the cooled brownies.  Chill for 30 minutes and then cut into squares.

Melt the remaining 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips and stir in the oil.  Drizzle over the frosted cut brownies. 

I am no doubt one of many who vowed to start the New Year with better eating habits. It’s not that I think I eat poorly, it's just that there is always room for improvement and I also want to shed the few extra pounds that I've gained this past year. I've had thoughts for quite some time about making a lifestyle change and when the documentary film Food, Inc. appeared in my mailbox from Netflix, it pretty much reinforced alot of things I already knew about the food/farming industry and gave me the kick-start I needed.

I'm not talking about going on a diet.  While working as a personal chef, I saw diet fads come and go – low fat/no fat, Atkins, South Beach, HCG, you name it. And while it was my job to cook for clients who adhered to them, it was and still is my belief that any of those plans are very hard to maintain long-term because you cannot continuously deprive your body of things (carbs, fats) that are needed to function properly.  The key to being healthy, losing and/or maintaining weight is moderation and being conscious of what goes into your body. It equals a lifestyle change, not a diet.

My vow is to start thinking about what I am putting into my mouth and my body and move toward more "real food" and away from highly processed foods. I know there is a better food lifestyle than what we are being exposed to in our grocery stores, restaurants and through mass marketing. We see items on grocery shelves, we buy them and we eat them but do we really pay attention to what we are actually consuming? Just because they say it is good for us, should we believe them?

Take this for instance:  I purchased a package of spinach and herbs tortilla wraps with the intentions of making grilled vegetable wraps for lunch. I loaded my tortilla with roasted zucchini, squash, onions, bell peppers, fresh cherry tomatoes and spinach. Sounds healthy, huh? Here is the package of tortillas that I purchased - what do you notice about it first thing?  Take a look at all the "buzz words" on the package.


"Healthy Heart Lifestyle"
"Xtreme Wellness"
"A Better Choice for your Health"
Omega 3/Fiber/Protein
No cholesterol/lard

It really gives you the impression that you are eating something totally healthy and good for you, doesn't it?  I thought so too.  (Read more about "real washing" here.) But let's turn the package over and look at the ingredients.


Of course we recognize things like whole wheat flour, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, extra virgin olive oil, and vegetable purees as "food" and things that are potentially good and healthy for us.  But let's look a little further down the list....

Carboxymethyl cellulose:  "...a constituent of many non-food products, such as K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing and various paper products. In laundry detergents it is used as a soil suspension polymer designed to deposit onto cotton and other cellulosic fabrics creating a negatively charged barrier to soils in the wash solution."

Sodium metabisulfite:  "... can be used to remove tree stumps. It is used as a disinfectant, antioxidant and preservative agent as well as used in photography."

Microcrystalline cellulose:  "...is a term for refined wood pulp."

Dicalcium phosphate:  "... mainly used as a dietary supplement in prepared breakfast cereals, dog treats, enriched flour, and noodle products. It is also used as a tableting agent in some pharmaceutical preparations, including some products meant to eliminate body odor. It is used in poultry feed. It is also used in some toothpastes as a tartar control agent."

Feel free to research the other ingredients on your own, but these were enough to make me lose my appetite and come to the realization that what I was eating was NOT food - it was a combination of chemicals made to resemble something edible.  And the kicker?  These were spinach wraps but the question is do they contain any actual real spinach??  It says "spinach seasoning (natural and artificial flavors)" but what exactly is that??  I plan to try this recipe for homemade "real" tortillas very soon instead of wasting my money on store-bought ones.

In my quest to educate myself on the subject of "real food," I've read alot of articles by Lisa Leake (a fellow Charlottean) from 100 Days of Real Food and Katie Kimball at Kitchen Stewardship. Both of these websites are a wealth of information, links and resources so please check them out and take the vow along with me to actually eat food instead of something manufactured in a facility with ingredients you can't even pronounce.  Our bodies were created as temples and we need to stop treating them like tents!

I will continue to sporadically post recipes that aren't considered "real food" because a) I have a backlog of "pre-vow" recipes to share, b) I still have processed ingredients in my pantry and I don't believe in wasting so I will use them and replace them with suitable items, and c) I'll practice real food habits in my own daily life but there are others in my life who won't necessarily be a part of the change. 

This was taken 5 minutes into the party.  A quick photo snapped with my phone before these became nothing but a figment of everyone's imagination.

A few months ago Boy Toy and I invited some friends over to watch a football game.  We had the standard party fare - his awesome chicken wings, shrimp, cheese and crackers, chips and dip, and one of my favorite party foods, mini ham and cheese rolls.  Half-time hadn't even rolled around when I realized that both pans of rolls were completely gone. There was nothing but a few crumbs left to verify their existence.

I later found out that Boy Toy's best friend Zo was the culprit for hogging all the ham rolls.  I met said friend during the summer and was really excited to do so because I knew he was Boy Toy's BFF but much to my dismay, our first few meetings were less than cordial.  The friend totally ignored me and barely said three words to me all day.   I mentioned it to Boy Toy but was reassured it was nothing to worry about. It happened the next time we saw each other and yet again a third time and so on.  I took it very personally because I wanted nothing more than to be a nice happy group of friends.  I later came to realize that Zo is just....well, he's just an odd person to say it politely, and it's not just me that he totally ignores.

So fast-forward to this party where he scarfed down 48 of my ham rolls before half-time.  It seems that I hit a soft spot within Zo with these rolls. Information was leaked to me by a reliable source that he declared these rolls "pork heaven" and I haven't been able to attend a gathering since that also included him that I wasn't requested to bring these.

So even though Zo still can't bring himself to do more than grunt a greeting to me and it's still not clear what he thinks of me as a person, it's pretty clear that he likes my cooking. Maybe it is true that the way to a man's heart is through is stomach, but it's not his heart that I'm after. A simple "hello" would totally suffice. I do still take it very personally that he is not at least friendly to me, but every time I make these rolls for him I think maybe this will be the time that he breaks down and slips me a smile or something.  I'm beginning to wonder if there are enough dinner rolls in town to make that happen. 

In addition to great party food, these rolls also work well for breakfast or brunch. I usually prepare them the night before and pour the butter mixture over them just before baking. Sometimes the right kind of dinner rolls can be hard to find - I'm only able to find them at Walmart in my neck of the woods.  The recipe as written is enough for 2 packages of rolls but you can easily cut the recipe in half.  They are good and they will go fast!  If you want to be all fancy pants, I suppose you could take these out of the foil pans and bake them in a baking dish and then serve them on a nice platter but I like the fact that they have their own built-in baking/serving dish and you don't have to worry about accidently leaving your nice stuff at the party (guilty as charged!)

These are my favorite kind of dinner rolls to use.

Mini Ham and Cheese Rolls

20 slices honey ham
20 slices cheese (Swiss, mozzarella or provolone)
Dijon Mustard, to taste
2 Tablespoons poppyseeds
1 stick butter, melted
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Remove dinner rolls from foil package.  With a serrated knife, slice rolls in half lengthwise.  Spread Dijon mustard on both sides of rolls.  Place bottom half of rolls back into pan. 

Layer ham and cheese on bottom half of rolls and replace top half.  Using the serrated knife, cut each roll into individual sections, taking care not to cut through the foil pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the poppy seeds and next 3 ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and tops are golden brown.