I’ve moved! December 1, 2011
Posted by elly in misc..add a comment
This blog has moved to a new domain! Please visit http://ellysaysopa.com!
30 by 30: Pizza Crust February 8, 2011
Posted by elly in 30 by 30, breads and muffins.14 comments
I’ve only cooked with yeast a handful of times and, actually, have had a fair amount of success each time. Still, I shy away from yeasted bread recipes for some reason, and am always a bit worried they won’t turn out. That’s why I included a couple yeasted dough recipes on my 30 by 30 list – I am constantly telling myself I’ll make more bread and then I never, ever do.
I feel like a pizza dough is one of those recipes every home cook should have. I don’t make pizza very often, but when I do it’s with refrigerated dough, and it never turns out great. I buy it because it’s convenient and better than frozen pizza, but it’s definitely never been as good as delivery/restaurants and has always lacked the nice crusty but chewy texture a good pizza crust should have.
I’ve seen many, many people have success with this pizza dough from Baking Illustrated so I decided to give it a shot. Happily, I was not at all disappointed. The dough came together super quickly and I had no issues whatsoever. I ended up dividing it in two and freezing half of it. Half the dough made a good sized pizza, though you can divide it in 3 and make more medium-ish size pizzas. I decided to weigh my flour (which I don’t usually do) and am glad I did, because I’m sure it contributed to the perfect ratio. I used the stand mixer for mixing and kneading so I wouldn’t have to hand-knead but you can use a food processor and your hands if you prefer. I baked the pizza on a baking stone, because I always use one for pizzas and doughs. A stone turns even a mediocre crust into a pretty damn good one, I swear.
My pizza did puff up just a tad more than normal, I think, which may have been an issue with me not rolling it out enough or maybe forgetting to punch down the dough (I don’t know – can that cause puffiness? More than anything I was sad I forgot to do this because I feel like it’s one of those fun things about making pizza at home, since I can’t throw the dough into the air. Yeah, I’m lame, I know.).
I actually completely forgot about pizza sauce until I was like 5 minutes from putting my pizza together. D’oh! No worries, it was easy enough to just whip some up using canned tomato sauce and some herbs/spices (basil, oregano, red pepper flakes). I topped this pizza with mozzarella and romano cheeses, garlic, mushrooms and turkey sausage. To me, mushrooms are a quintessential pizza topping. I don’t care what else is on a pizza, but it needs to be adorned with mushrooms. (I sauté them first, to eliminate the moisture.) This was my first time buying turkey sausage and can I say something? It was not good. It had no flavor whatsoever. It was like eating ground turkey–which has no flavor. Now, I was a bit sick so I’m sure that had a bit to do with it and I am positive there have to be better brands of turkey sausage out there, but next time I’ll just make my own mixture or stick to the delicious varieties of chicken sausage I’ve found.
This pizza dough was pretty perfect. It baked up nice and crisp on the outside with just the right amount of chew inside. I’ll be honest and say that I was worried about not prebaking the crust before adding the toppings. When I’ve used refrigerated dough, pre-baking it has been the only way to ensure a crispy crust without it becoming soggy, or overcooking the toppings. But, no worries whatsoever. It was one less step to take and turned out far better than any refrigerated pizza dough I’ve purchased.
I’m so happy to finally have a pizza crust recipe in my arsenal (not to mention a ball of it in the freezer)!
Pizza Dough
1/2 cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2.25 tsp.) instant yeast
1.25 cups room temperature water
2 Tbsp. olive oil (plus more for greasing the bowl)
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour (plus more for dusting)
1.5 tsp. salt
Measure the warm water into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil, stirring to combine.
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1.5 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
Place your stone in the oven and preheat to 500 for at least 30 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two (or three) equal pieces. Form the pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other(s) covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired.
Slide the pizza onto the baking stone (you can keep it right on the parchment, if you are using that rather than a peel) and bake for about 8-12 minutes, until crust edges brown and cheese is bubbly.
Key Lime Pie Cupcakes February 4, 2011
Posted by elly in sweets/desserts.20 comments
My dad is a very, very picky eater. He’s most certainly a meat and potatoes sort of guy. He won’t touch Chinese food, turns his nose up at most vegetables, and the idea of leftovers is a completely foreign concept to him. Thankfully, I didn’t inherit this pickiness from him, but I did wind up with his adoration for lime-flavored anything.
Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts, but finding key limes has never been very easy for me. Fortunately, my friend Heather keeps coming across them, and gifting bags of them to me. I’m now stockpiled with enough key lime juice in my freezer to make many a key lime pie treat!
I’ve had several key lime recipes booked for ages, many which come from Peabody. I decided to ask her what her personal favorite key lime recipe from her blog was, and she directed me to this one. Oh, sure, Peabody – pick the multi-step recipe. :) This was my first time making filled cupcakes and eventually they turned out well, but I did have a little trial and error, Goldilocks-style. At first, I was overfilling them, making the filling ooze out of the top after I placed the cupcake top back on. Then that worried me, so I underfilled them. Finally I got it “just right,” though I did still have some leftover filling. The leftover filling is a nice accompaniment with some leftover graham crackers, but I think next time I would use cream cheese rather than mascarpone. Don’t get me wrong, I love mascarpone but it’s a bit pricey and since it didn’t all get eaten, I’d opt for the frugal-friendly cream cheese next time around.
A few other changes I made: I used sour cream instead of buttermilk in the cake recipe because that’s what I had around, and also added just a splash of vanilla in the buttercream recipe. I also “made” my own cake flour.
At any rate, these cupcakes are delicious. I mean, they are key lime pie enveloped by cake. You really can’t go wrong there. It’s too bad I couldn’t get some of these to my dad!
Key Lime Pie Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (cake adapted from Easy Home Cooking magazine)
1 recipe key lime pie filling (recipe follows)
1 recipe graham cracker crust (recipe follows)
1 recipe lime cake batter (recipe follows)
1 recipe lime buttercream (recipe follows)
graham cracker crumbs for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350.
Pour the batter from the line cake evenly over the graham cracker crust. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.
Once cool, fill your cupcakes with the key lime pie filling using the cone method.
Frost each cupcake with the lime buttercream, and top with graham cracker crumbs, if desired.
Key Lime Pie Filling
8 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (9 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
5 oz. key lime juice
Place all ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and mix on low for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and blend for 2 minutes.
Refrigerate the filing for 2 or more hours.
Graham Cracker Crust
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. sugar
3-4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Prepare 2 muffin tins with liners.
In a food processor, blend together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add 3 Tbsp melted butter and pulse a few times. If it seems like it needs more butter, add the remaining tablespoon. Distribute evenly among cupcake liners and press down to form a shell.
Lime Cake
2.25 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. lime zest
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add egg whites, beating well after each addition. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in the lime zest until blended.
Combine milk, vanilla, and sour cream in a bowl, whisking until incorporated.
With electric mixer at low speed, add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating well after each addition.
Lime Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 to 8 cups powdered sugar
3 TBSP key lime juice, possibly more to thin out frosting
splash of vanilla
Beat together the butter, 3 cups of the sugar, key lime juice and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.
You may not need to add all of the sugar. If too thick, thin with more key lime juice. You can also use more lime juice if you want a more tart flavor.
Stuffed Mushrooms for Annie’s Virtual Baby Shower! February 2, 2011
Posted by elly in appetizers, goat cheese.22 comments
I’m sure you remember Annie, who hosted our very recent virtual holiday party and who was also nice enough to make cupcakes to announce my pregnancy last October. Well, of course when Courtney emailed me to ask if I wanted to be part of a virtual baby shower for Annie, I said yes! Annie is expecting her second child, a baby girl, in just 10 short weeks. I could not possibly be any more thrilled for her. This little girl is going to have some great parents, not to mention one insanely cute big brother!
(If you’re not sure what that awesome sign is all about, it’s a play on an Office episode, which happens to be one of Annie’s favorite shows. Pillow or TV? I’m sure at this point in time, Annie would definitely choose pillow.)
I wanted to make something savory for Annie’s shower, and decided on stuffed mushrooms. To make them a little more special, I added some pancetta in addition to the goat (and cream) cheese. Stuffed mushrooms typically tend to be a crowd please (except for those crazy people who don’t like mushrooms), and these are no different. I know my husband and I did not have any problems inhaling them.
Plenty of other great food bloggers also contributed to Annie’s shower, and you would be remiss if you did not check out their posts! Be sure to look at Courtney’s blog, Cook Like a Champion, as well as Annie’s blog, Annie’s Eats, for the round up of all the delicious shower goodies we virtually shared!
Goat Cheese and Pancetta Stuffed Mushrooms
8 oz. stuffing mushrooms (about 12 mushrooms)
2 tsp. olive oil plus additional for drizzling
2 oz. pancetta, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. goat cheese, softened
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
~1 Tbsp. breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven to 400.
Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Dice and reserve about 1/3 of the stems and discard the rest (or save to make some stock!).
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and once hot, add the pancetta. Cook until crisp and then remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Turn the heat to medium and add the garlic and reserved mushroom stems, cooking until tender. Add to the bowl with the pancetta and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Stir the goat cheese, cream cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste into the pancetta mixture. Fill each mushroom cap with the mixture, and top with about 1/2 tsp. breadcrumbs per mushroom cap. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender.
Orange-Scented Braised Kale with Pepitas January 31, 2011
Posted by elly in healthy, vegetables.11 comments
You know how sometimes you put on a coat you haven’t worn in a while and unexpectedly find cash in the pockets? Well, I sometimes flip through the pictures on my hard drive and unexpectedly find things I haven’t blogged about yet.
I’ve told you before that we eat our weight in kale during the winter months. More often than not, I sauté or simply braise it, and it works well as a hearty, healthy side. As with other greens, I w ill occasionally add nuts, usually in the form of pine nuts or slivered almonds. This time, instead of the almonds, I decided to go for pepitas. I just love love love pepitas when they’re fried up in a skillet. They get all golden and crisp, but somehow still puffy. Delicious! I also tried something a little different than the standard lemon juice and went for orange juice. It brought a nice, new freshness to the kale and tasted great.
So, here’s a great way to use up the abundant kale in your CSA basket or grocery store!
Orange-Scented Braised Kale with Pepitas
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. pepitas
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large bunch kale (about 1 lb.), chopped with tough stems removed
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. orange zest
1 Tbsp. orange juice
Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the pepitas and toast until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the oil behind in the pan.
Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the oil and cook about 30 seconds before stirring in the kale. Cook the kale, stirring, for about a minute before adding the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Once the broth has come to a boil, cover the pan and continue to cook over medium-low heat until the kale is tender, about 10-15 minutes (longer if you want the kale to be a little softer).
Remove the lid and continue to cook until any additional broth has been absorbed. Off the heat, stir in the orange zest and juice. Re-season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary.
Top with the toasted pepitas before serving.
Meatball Subs January 25, 2011
Posted by elly in beef, sandwiches.11 comments
Cooking with a little one has been much harder than I anticipated. It’s not that he’s fussy during dinner or anything, it’s just that there is NO time during the week. We’ve been trying to eat together as a family but that isn’t always easy or possible. During the week, it’s a blink of an eye between the time Zachary gets home from daycare and goes to sleep. I’d much rather be playing with him for that short time than be in the kitchen, that’s for sure. As a result, I’ve started trying to prep more things on the weekend or the night before, after Zachary’s gone to sleep to get things done quickly the next evening. We still don’t always eat as a family (Tom & I often eat dinner after Zachary is asleep), but either way, things are made easier with prep work.
Every minute of my day from about 6am to 7pm is booked solid. And I mean every minute. I’ve been using minutes I didn’t even know I had. Like those 10 minutes I normally have to sit down for a second in the morning before leaving for work? Those were used to chop and sauté the vegetables for these meatballs. The night before, when Zachary went to bed, I made the sauce (part of it was used for these subs, and the rest for chicken parmesan – look at me, so resourceful!).
With that said, these do come together pretty quickly and easily, even if you don’t make them in, like, 7 parts. :) They’re tasty and comforting and, since I used lean ground beef and part-skim mozzarella, really not bad for you, either. We had these with a Caesar salad for a complete meal.
I made the meatballs and sauce pretty similarly to the way I make them for spaghetti and meatballs. I had an extra half of a red bell pepper in my fridge so I decided to dice that and throw it into the meatball mixture, which was a nice addition that added a little bit of sweetness. I made a few other tweaks here and there.
Meatball Subs
Serves 4
Printer Friendly Recipe
2 cups pasta sauce (recipe follows)
1 recipe meatballs (recipe follows)
4 hoagie rolls
olive oil
1 garlic clove, cut in half
4 slices mozzarella or provolone cheese
Sauce
Makes about 3.5 cups
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 (29 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup water or broth
salt and pepper to taste
Meatballs
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1/4 cup parmesan or romano cheese
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste
To make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook off for about a minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer 20 minutes or longer. For a thicker sauce, simmer covered. For a thinner sauce, simmer uncovered.
To make the meatballs: Place the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and onion and sauté until tender, then stir in the garlic for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
To the bowl with the breadcrumbs and milk, add the sautéed vegetables, egg, parsley, cheese, ground beef, oregano, salt (about a tsp.) and pepper to taste. Form the mixture into 12 meatballs.
You can bake the meatballs (400 for about 12 minutes), pan fry them, or just plop them in the sauce to cook. This is your choice. I usually bake them about 10 minutes and then finish them off in the sauce.
To assemble the subs: Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the split hoagie rolls and place in a hot oven or under the broiler until toasty. Immediately rub the buns with the cut garlic clove.
Slice the cheese in half (into triangles) and place 2 triangles on each roll. Stick the buns in the oven or under the broiler once more, just until the cheese melts.
Spoon 1/2 cup of sauce and 3 meatballs into each roll, and serve.
30 by 30: Osso Buco January 18, 2011
Posted by elly in 30 by 30, italian, veal.20 comments
I have braised many a meat in my time, but for some reason, I’d never made Osso Buco at home until last week. That’s why it was a perfect 30×30 addition. Like all braised dishes, this turns out flavorful, hearty, fall-off-the-bone tender. All of that with minimal effort!
If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of some pork fat in soups and braised dishes. :) Bacon and pancetta, even when just using a minimal amount, add so much flavor to dishes. I went with pancetta here (you know, keeping it I-talian and all). I decided to leave the pancetta in the Dutch oven as the veal shanks braised, but if you want to keep them a little crisper you can remove them after cooking and just add them on top of the completed dish.
I asked for a couple of smaller veal shanks, so depending on how big yours are the recipe below may serve more than 2. The gremolata is optional, but it adds a little freshness to the dish, so I’m in favor of incorporating it.
This was absolutely delicious and I’m so glad I finally made this at home. I served it with some creamy polenta, but it would be delicious over risotto or mashed cannelini beans.
Osso Buco
Serves 2
Printer Friendly Recipe
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 oz. pancetta, chopped
2 small veal shanks
flour (about 3 Tbsp.) for dredging
1 small carrot, sliced
1 celery rib, sliced
1/4 cup diced onion
1 sprig rosemary
1 small plum tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup vermouth or dry white wine
1.5 cups (approximately) chicken stock
Gremolata
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. lemon zest
Heat a small Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the oil. Once hot, add the pancetta and cook until crisp and it has rendered its fat. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and reserve. Leave about 1 Tbsp. of fat in the pan.
Season the flour with some salt and pepper. Pat the veal shanks dry and then dredge them in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Add to the hot Dutch oven and brown on all sides. Remove.
To the pot, add the carrot, celery, onion, rosemary, tomato, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat slightly, and then add the wine. Reduce by half.
Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Place the veal shanks and the pancetta back into the pot. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer over low heat for 1.5-2 hours, turning occasionally, and adding more stock if necessary (the liquid should come about halfway up the shanks).
To make the gremolita, combine the parsley, garlic, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the plated veal shanks.
Lentil Goat Cheese Burgers January 13, 2011
Posted by elly in beans and legumes, goat cheese, healthy, sandwiches, vegetarian.11 comments
I’m always looking for new vegetarian dishes to make during the week, and as soon as I saw these burgers Cara made, which include both lentils (yum) and goat cheese (love), we were in business.
Lentils are a great option for going meatless, because they are hearty and have a nice dose of protein, too. I did make some changes to the original recipe (of course). I had about 2-3 oz. of mushrooms in the fridge, and a leek that was supposed to be devoted to a dish that never got made. Both of those got thrown into the burgers, and were welcome additions. I didn’t have Italian seasoning and I don’t use egg substitutes, so I adjusted those ingredients accordingly. The mushrooms contributed a little extra moisture, so I upped the amount of panko so the burgers wouldn’t fall apart (although, I will admit that one of them was still a casualty; sorry, husband.)
Though I’m not much of a condiment kinda gal, I do like them with burgers and next time I think I’d add a roasted red pepper relish or perhaps a sundried tomato ketchup to these burgers.
My only complaint about these was purely user error on my part, and that was undersalting them. Typically, I am more heavy-handed with salt than anything but this time around I was a bit shy and it was evident. If I were a Top Chef contestant, I would have had to pack my knives and GO!
These burgers cook up in no time, but do benefit from being refrigerated for a while so the flavors can meld and they are easier to shape. I made the mixture the night before we had these so dinner took me about 10 minutes the day of. Can’t beat that!
Lentil Goat Cheese Burgers
Serves 4
Adapted from Cara’s Cravings
3/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
1 leek, sliced
1/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, grated
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 oz. goat cheese
6 Tbsp. panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. basil
1/8 tsp. thyme
1 egg
Place lentils in a saucepan with water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the lentils and remove the bay leaf.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and carrot for about 5 or 6 minutes or until softened. Add balsamic vinegar, increase the heat, and let the vinegar reduce.
Combine the lentils, sauteed vegetables and remaining ingredients in a food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pulse several times to combine.
Place the mixture in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate 45 minutes or overnight. Divide the mixture into 4 patties.
Heat the remaining 1 tsp. olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium. Place the patties in the skillet and cook for about 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Pumpkin Ice Cream January 10, 2011
Posted by elly in pumpkin, sweets/desserts.7 comments
I actually made this ice cream a while back but completely forgot to blog it. Even though I made it at the height of pumpkin mania, I don’t think we should stop eating pumpkin as soon as winter sets in. It should be a year-round treat!
This ice cream is delicious. It’s nice and creamy and spicy. It uses a bit less heavy cream than other ice cream recipes I’ve made and it has pumpkin (a superfood!) in it, so it must be healthy right? Errr…yeah, let’s go with that.
The only change I made to this recipe was to add cloves, which I deem a necessary ingredient when dealing with pumpkin. I really loved the fresh ginger in this ice cream. I think some maple glazed pecans would be a fabulous addition but I ran out of time when I was making this, so I’ll be sure to add them the next time around.
You’ll notice Dave’s is a little more scoopable looking than mine and that is no doubt because he added a little liquor to his ice cream. Feel free to do this, but I completely forgot. I didn’t have a problem scooping it out. In fact, I may have scooped a little too fast. And a little too much…
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Adapted from The Craft of Baking and David Lebovitz
1. 5 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. freshly-grated ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. freshly-ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
optional: 2 tsp. Grand Marnier, rum or brandy
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller metal bowl (one that will hold at least 2 quarts) inside it. Set a mesh strainer over the top.
In a medium saucepan, add the milk, cream, granulated sugar, ginger, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Heat the mixture until hot and the edges begin to bubble and foam.
Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly.
Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. (If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read between 160º-170ºF.)
Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in the ice bath. Mix in the brown sugar, then stir until cool. Chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.
Whisk in the vanilla, liquor (if using), and pumpkin puree. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Spinach with Pan-Roasted Red Peppers and Feta January 4, 2011
Posted by elly in healthy, vegetables.14 comments
I’m sure that, like 90% of the population, you’re one of those people who is on a healthy food kick right now. I admit that I’m not usually one of those people. Because usually I don’t need to be, since I’m a healthy eater a majority of the time. Lately, however, I’ve been just terrible. I came to the sad realization the other day that I’m about the same weight I was a year ago…which wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t also 20-some weeks pregnant this time last year.
If you’re looking for some healthy but still tasty food ideas, look no further than my healthy category or check out the posts on my recipe index that have a heart next to them.
I thought we’d start the new year off light with this spinach recipe. I really love spinach, but I tend to use it the same ways. I either throw it in something (be it spanakopita, pasta, or rice) or I sauté it with some garlic and squeeze some lemon juice over the top. This application is not too far from the latter, but it’s made a bit tastier (and prettier) with the addition of sweet pan-roasted red peppers and salty feta. This is a great way to switch up your boring old veggie side while still keeping it easy and healthy.
We had this as a side to the (now famous) chicken gyros and it was a delicious and healthy meal.
Spinach with Pan-Roasted Red Peppers and Feta
Serves 4
Printer Friendly Recipe
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bunches of spinach
2 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 oz. feta, crumbled
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat and add the peppers. Cook a couple minutes, until the skins are slightly darkened, and then turn down the heat to medium, continuing to cook for an additional 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Off the heat, add the feta cheese.
elly says opa! 