Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

And here she is Step 4 - D-Day. First I had to count backwards on the prep time, cooking and rest time. I estimated about 5 hours total. I skimmed the congealed fat (I know that sounds gross) and brought the pork ragu up to a simmer while working on removing the duck from the bone. Then I went to work on browning the sausage and crisping the duck skin. Then everything got layered into the pot. Since I have to do things the hard way, I made my own bread crumbs (earlier in the week). I toasted slices of bread in the toaster and blasted them in the food processor. I made about 4 cups and am I glad I had that extra cup because I needed it. Pre-bake bread crumb dilemma You need to toast the bread crumbs in the fat from the skin and pork sausage. I needed to use a little of that liquid gold I had reserved (AKA duck fat). I did the 3 cups as the recipe said. You use 2 cups and then 20 minutes before it's done, you sprinkle over the additional cup. Well the 2 cups looked ...

Plucking the bay leaf out of the Ragu Step 3: Pork Ragu. I couldn't decide which pot to use for this, but decided it was probably best to use the Dutch oven (not THE Dutch oven). You needed to add the beans to the pork ragu afterwards, so I thought it best to use a big pot. However, before assembling the cassoulet, you need to bring the pork ragu back up to a simmer. I thought it best to store it in the pot (one less container to clean). Thankfully the pot fit in the refrigerator. This was not that complicated. Brown the pork, add the remaining ingredients, and cook until tender, skimming the fat every once in a while. Once it was done, I added the beans.  Since the beans were made the day before and chilled, this helped cool the ragu down a bit as well. Next time, I think cooking the beans and the ragu on the same day would be doable. Beans added and ready to chill

My beans overflow Step 2 of the Cassoulet is the beans. This is pretty straight forward. You soak the beans overnight, throw in some ingredients, and cook until tender. I could not find the suggested Tarbais or corona beans. I went with the other option - cannellini beans. The trickiest part to remember was to keep the liquid from the beans (I needed about half of the liquid). Since I was making the pork ragu the next day this was key to remember. Also, the pot I soaked them in overnight was way too small.  It is important to leave the beans a little firm and not to cook them to mushy. As they cook for an additional two hours, they turn soft and if you started out with very soft beans, I think they would fall apart.  

I bought this great container. My big stock pot works good, but sometimes it was a little crowded Step 1 for Project Cassoulet is duck confit. There were a few different temperature suggestions. I decided to middle of the road at 158. There were also a variety of ingredients. i decided to stay true to the BA recipe (shocking I know). The night before, I bagged up the legs. Three were popped into each packet with a few sprigs of thyme, peppercorns, smashed garlic cloves, some peppercorns, juniper berries, and a good dose of salt. (I went with 1% of the overall weight). So I set the temperature and the time for 16 hours (bright in early in the AM was the start so it would be ready by bedtime). And Sous Vide away. This was based on the recommendations over at Chef Steps . Duck...Duck... Once they were done, I put them in the refrigerator all sealed up. Ready to be unsealed, meat removed from bone, duck fat scraped/reserved, and skin cr...

Last Spring Bon Appetit ran an article about Cassoulet (definitely with a capital "C"). This is not a recipe - it's more of a project so it deserves a capital "C." I ripped it out of the magazine and fantasized about making it. The duck leg confit seemed intimidating - where was I getting that extra duck fat from? Where was I getting an 8qt dutch oven? That's huge! I put it away and then put it out of my mind. I then came across it again and put it away again. Then I came across on the intertubes that you could sous vide duck confit. This was a revelation. It seemed easy and you didn't need any additional duck fat. You just used the existing duck fat from the legs. OK so now this was starting to look like it could happen. I pondered it a little further. Could I use two different dutch ovens instead of an 8 qt? Maybe? Would it come out the same? I asked someone I knew who seemed like she would have made cassoulet and she had. She used one dutch o...

When I first saw this recipe in the NYTimes I knew I had to make it. It sounded so simple and I love when I make pasta al forno and the pasta gets all crusty. This sounded similar to that crusty-ness but a lot more of it. Pasta Tahdig (Adapted from the NYTimes ) 1lb spaghetti 2 c homemade tomato sauce 1 c parmesan cheese (grated) olive oil Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and add back to pot. Mix with 2T olive oil, tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Heat a 10" skillet. Add 3T of olive oil. Add pasta. Press it down with a spatula. You want it to form a dense cake-like blob. Brown for 20 minutes. Be sure to move the spatula under to ensure it's not sticking every few minutes. Add more oil as necessary. The oil should be bubbling a bit up the sides. Carefully drain off the oil. Using a pizza pan (or other flat surface such as a pot lid), flip the pasta cake out of the skillet. Put the drained oil back into the pan and slide the pasta cake back into the skillet. Again...

Grilled octopus is so delicious. It seems so intimidating to make, but it isn't. Grilled Octopus 8qts water 1 c white wine 1 onion, quartered 1 carrot, cut in 3 1 rib celery, cut in 3 3 whole clove garlic salt 3lb octopus olive oil sugar Place water through salt ingredients into a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes.  While water is coming to a boil, clean the octopus. You might need to remove the innards from the head (more than likely they have been removed already). Cut the octopus head right below the eyes. From the lower part of the body find the firm piece and remove (sometimes called the beak). You might need to cut in with the tip of the knife to find it. Cut the eye section from the head. With a mallet tenderize the legs and body of the octopus (a few whacks should do it). Now you should be ready to cook the octopus. Lower the water to a simmer. Gently lower the octopus in body into the water. Keep in the water for 3-4 seconds. P...

I followed this recipe without any changes (I must be going soft). At first I wasn't going to do the salted caramel (it did say optional after all). Then I thought well it's not often I make pudding (which I don't know why I don't because pudding is really good stuff) so why not go full on. Well I do have to say the caramel does add that little something extra. The pinch of salt on top also adds. I do like the receipe process of adding the cornstarch to the egg yolks and egg. It ensures a smooth consistency. I've made another butterscotch pudding but I think I prefer this one. For the pudding when I added the heavy cream and milk, I did have to put it back on the heat to melt the caramel. With the sauce, I had a similar situation but not as bad.

I've previously posted about the overnight oats . What I didn't mention is that I use these for travel. I omit the maple syrup and use brown sugar instead. I also omit the vanilla. I pack them up in little sealed bags, bring a spoon, and a plastic container. As long as there is a refrigerator in the room, I'm all set for a good breakie. Instead of those awful hotel breakfasts.  Often the hotel has containers of milk for sale or if not, there's always somewhere selling milk close by.

How can you make quinoa unhealthy?? By adding chocolate and eating a lot of it you say?? Why yes that is how. I saw this receipe quite some time ago - almost a year in fact. I don't know why I waited so long! It is quite addictive. I used mixed quinoa and only used almonds (I didn't have any cashews). It is a bit gooey and I found it keeps better in the refrigerator. This might not be a bad thing because at least it is hidden from view. If it weren't, I would be eating even more of it!

This looked like a nice simple cake. Rather pound cakey (the Sous Chef's favorite!). I had some lemons; I had some heavy cream so why not?! Lemon-Spice Visiting Cake (Adapted from NY Times ) 1 1/2 c flour 1 1/4 t baking powder 1 t ground cardamom 1/2 t ground ginger 1/2 t sea salt 1 1/4 c sugar 1 lemon (with zest) 4 eggs 1/2 c heavy cream 2 t vanilla 5 T butter, melted Optional glaze: 1 c confectioners sugar mixed with about 2T fresh lemon juice & zest OR 1/3 c marmalade mixed with 1/2 t water (warmed to make easily spreadable) Grease & flour a loaf pan. Set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, ginger, and salt. Set aside. Add sugar to another bowl and zest the  lemon lemon over the bowl to capture all those oils. Rub zest into the sugar with your fingers.  Set lemon aside. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add 3T of juice from the lemon.  Add vanilla and heavy cream. Whisk together. Whisk in dry ingredients into t...

So melting potatoes are a thing?? Apparently so. These were so delicious. They were a little crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. Two things that make potatoes taste great. I followed the recipe exactly - well OK not exactly. I used regular old russets. I also used a selection of dried herbs (actually I got them as a sample from Penzey's *) *You don't know about Penzey's ??!! This is a great company that has all sorts of spices, cocoa, and vanilla too. They often throw in some free samples with your orders. I choose to support them because, there's been a bit of a boycott (on the right) because of some of their polictal beliefs. This makes me want to buy even more things from them! Hey quality products and the same political views as me - win/win.

Very unassuming looking - but don't be fooled. They are complex tasting I had recently seen caneles being made on a TV show. So when I saw this article in the NY Times magazine, I was intrigued.  I may have interests in trying new things and new equipment, but I know I will never be lining canele molds with beeswax in order to make caneles. I thought this recipe might be the closest I will ever get. Brown-Butter Mochi (Adapted from NY Times ) 1/2 c butter, additional for greasing 13.6 oz coconut milk (don't use lowfat) 12 oz evaporated milk 2 cups dark brown sugar (I had light brown and they came out fine) 4 eggs 3 t vanilla 3 3/4 c rice flour* 1 T baking powder 1t sea salt Preheat over to 350. Grease two cupcake tins with melted butter. Set aside. Use a decent sized saucepan to heat butter. Swirl butter until the foam stops and the butter turns a nice brown. It will smell nutty. This takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add coconut milk, evaporated milk...

Beautiful looking - not so much; wonderful tasting though When I first saw this recipe, I loved the simplicity of it.  It is so adaptable and the chicken comes out so tender it just falls apart. It remains so moist. Simple Slow Cooker Chicken (Adapted from Wholefully ) 1 onion 4 cloves garlic, whole 3-4 lb whole chicken salt/pepper 1 lemon 1 sprig Rosemary 5 sprigs thyme 1 c white wine, approx In a slow cooker, place onion and garlic. Sprinkle salt/pepper inside and outside of chicken. Place lemon wedges arount chieken. Add Rosemary and thyme. Pour white wine to the side of the chicken until. It should be about 1/4 inch up the side of the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours until chicken is tender and falling off the bone. You have some options for serving. If you would like to brown the skin - put chicken on baking sheet and broil OR remove chicken from slow cooker. Strain liquid. Make a roux in a small saucepan (or if you can use your slow cooker crock on top of the...

So I was going to make fusilli but then got frustrated because it's pretty difficult to get a long rope of pasta even (or at least it is for me). I decided to make this other tubular pasta instead. I used the same recipe as I did for the Capunti - a standard semolina pasta. And then went rogue.  I saw in the book  (same book from Capunti post) that they made a tubular pasta using a skewer then I added a texture design using a standard gnocchi board. First roll pasta into a 1/2" rope (not so important that it's exactly even - which works for me!). Then cut into 2" pieces  Press the skewer into the 2" piece but don't press too hard. Roll away from you. Do not press too hard or the dough will stick. If it does stick, be sure to get all pasta off the skewer. You might also want to dip the skewer in flour. Roll pasta over gnocchi board for grooves.  See you end up with a tube and grooves. The grooves are great to catch the pasta sauce. Now if...

Why is Banana Bread called bread? It really is a cake, but I'll go along with the let's pretend that it's bread so that we think it's healthier idea. Add some additional fruit and some oats and we can kid ourselves some more... Banana Oatmeal Blueberry Bread (very loosely Adapted from Cooking Light) 3/4 c buttermilk 1/2 c rolled oats 1 3/4 c flour 1 t baking powder 1/4 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 3/4 c brown sugar 3 T canola oil 1 1/2 t vanilla 1 1/3 c mashed ripe bananas (about 3) 2 eggs 1 1/2 c frozen blueberries In a bowl mix buttermilk and oats and let soak about 10-15 minutes. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. To the oat mixture add brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir together. Add the bananas. Mix in eggs. Fold in the flour mixture. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into a 9x5 greased pan and bake at 350 until wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes on wire rack...

Not a real looker Let's face it this one is not a real looker, but it does taste great. I know potato and parsnips are both root vegetables but they are not something that I would normally think to pair together. They do work quite well. We ate this as a main meal with a salad. I could also see it as a side dish. It comes together pretty quickly if you have a madoline. Potato, Parsnip & Porcini Gratin (Adapted from Nigella Lawson) 1/3 c dried porcini 2/3 c boiling water 4T butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 c milk 2 c heavy cream 3 star anise salt/pepper 2lbs potato, sliced 1/8" (skins on) 2lbs parsnips, sliced 1/8" Sort of crush up the porcini with your hands. Soak porcini for 30 minutes in water . In a cast iron skillet (or other oven proof skillet) heat butter and garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms (and liquid), milk, and cream to the skillet. Add salt/pepper to taste (more than you think). Add star anise. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and ad...

What is it with a bundt? I like them but sometimes I just struggle with them,  just a bit, OK more than a bit . I must be a glutton for punishment because I keep coming back to them. This time around it was not a stickage issue, it was a runny glaze issue (which let's be honest I've had drizzle issues as well). I followed David Lebovitz's recipe pretty much to the letter. I decided to use milk chocolate instead of bittersweet/semisweet for the glaze. Maybe that was the error of my ways? It didn't really matter because let's face it chocolate cake with chocolate glaze, runny or not, is still pretty darn good. What's up with the weird photo angle too? - just not a good day!

If you don't want to go to all the trouble (believe me it is very simple) of making the capunti , you can use cavatelli for this recipe: Capunti w/ Cream and Peas 4 clove garlic, chopped 1 T butter salt/pepper 10 oz English Peas 1 c heavy cream Parmesan for serving. Add garlic and butter to a skillet over low heat. Add a good pinch of salt. Saute until garlic is fragrant. Add peas and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add cream and heat through still on low heat. Add pasta to skillet and toss to coat. Add pepper. Serve with Parmesan cheese. This recipe is a little similar to this one , but without the pancetta.

Capunti I was so excited to get this new book. It has some really interesting shaped pastas it. Most are really simple to make. The recipe are just beautiful. When I first saw Capunti, they reminded me of pea pods. So when I saw the recipe using them included an ingredient that I didn't have (mushrooms), I decided that the English peas I had would go rather nicely with them (will post that recipe tomorrow). Capunti: 1 c flour 1 c semolina flour 1T salt 2/3 c warm water Mix flours and salt in a bowl. Create a well in the center and add warm water. Gradually gather the flours into the water until a dough ball forms. Turn dough onto counter and knead until smooth. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes (If not using right away, place in refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature before).  So up to this point it is just a standard semolina pasta recipe. The intersting part comes with forming the capunti. Break off a piece of dough ...