Ad Hoc Chocolate Chip Cookies: Thomas Keller still intimidates me

Thomas Keller.  The man is arguably one of the United States' top chefs.  A master of French cuisine, innovator of prix fixe meals (French Laundry serves 7 courses, each course different ingredients, not repeated...), all around meticulous Chef-Deity, he intimidates.  He is precise, accurate, perfect, and intimidating.  I'm sure he's very nice, but his armory of superb dining establishments (French Laundry, Ad Hoc, Per Se, Bouchon) and cookbooks which describe his cooking technique...it's intimidating.  I watch him from afar (like on TV) and although Husband did offer to take me to French Laundry for dinner on our most recent anniversary, I declined because I'm intimidated.

What if the food is so amazing and I can never eat like a regular human being again?  What if I see what great cooking IS, and I am ashamed that I won't ever cook again?  What if Husband eats said food, decides what I've been cooking is nothing but pure drivel and proclaims me to be the worst wife cook and never eats my food again?  You see, the pressure was too intense, so I declined.

I even really only hold his books at the library, only to quickly put them down because they are intimidating in size alone.  I have, in fact, strained my back muscle once picking up one of his books from a squat position at the library.  With three kids in tow, it was not a pretty sight.  The books are huge and intimidating.

Intimidating,  Intimidating.  Intimidating. You get the picture.  Only, I hate being intimidated.  I like feeling like I can conquer something.  I have forced myself to watch a scary movie (I hate them)  to survive them.  Granted I make husband watch them first and then rewatch it with me while he tells me everything that is ABOUT to happen before I see it, but you get the picture.  I like to overcome those things that scare me and intimidate me.

Ad Hoc is one of Keller's lesser scary tomes.  And within this lesser scary tome I came upon a recipe which caught my eye - Chocolate Chip Cookies.   I mean - I am a very good chocolate cookie baker.  I've even adapted a cookie recipe to turn it into what some call one of the best cookies ever.  A cookie!  A chocolate chip cookie at that.  I can definitely handle it.  After baking them I would be able to say that I had completed a Keller recipe.  That would provide some sort of satisfaction.

I decided to attack it.  True to Keller form, there are some interesting finicky precise things that he requires.  Instead of just regular chocolate chips, or even bittersweet chips (Ghiradelli has some new ones) he asks for 5 oz of 55% chocolate and 5 oz of 70 to 72 % chocolate.  The best that you can find.  In addition, after chopping it, you have to sift out all the extra powder as it would make the cookies less attractive. He also has you creaming butter while it is cold, in two stages.  One stick of butter is creamed and then sugar and the other stick of butter is added.  He also gives the very interesting technique of telling people to not undercook cookies for a softer texture, but instead to mist them with water to give them that softer cakier texture that some people like.  His recipe doesn't ask for vanilla extract as that masks the true chocolate flavor.

Even with those finicky things, I decided I wanted to conquer a SINGLE Keller recipe.  I dug out my special stash of bar chocolate, the ones I set aside for when I want to do something SPECIAL.  I had some bars of Valrhona 56% semisweet and 71% bittersweet.  It would be perfect.  I chopped and sifted and did as Chef Sir Commander Keller asked.  And I baked them.

I made friend BF taste them.  She was happy to oblige as she is a cookie monster.  We ate one together warm from the oven.  The chocolate flavor was extremely intense, much more than I had expected and the flavor was very delicious.  It really was a showcase for excellent chocolate and as I do love chocolate, I loved the cookie.  It is not as sweet as I had expected and instead the intense chocolate flavor shone and made for a lovely bite.  It is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  It is the ultimate adult cookie as I don't think kids would be appealed to by its intense bittersweet flavor.

I can say I've done it.  I raise both my hands up in the air in a Rocky-style victory and say YES!  It may have only been chocolate chip cookies, but they were really yummy and they were Keller's recipe.  VICTORY! (I am now slightly less intimidated by him, but not by much.  Mr. Keller Chef Sir, I hope you do not read my blog.)

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller)
Makes about 3 dozen, 3-inch cookies

2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 oz 55% chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces
5 oz 70 to 72% chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces
8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark grown sugar, preferably molasses sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.

Sift flour and baking soda into a medium bowl.  Stir in the salt.

Put chips in a fine mesh basket strainer and shake to remove any chocolate "dust."

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter (1 stick) on medium speed until fairly smooth.  Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes until mixture is light and creamy.  Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.  Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine.  Mix in chocolate.

Remove bowl from mixer and fold dough with a spatula to be sure the chocolate is evenly incorporated. The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for 2 weeks.  Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to freezer containers.  (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookie, shape dough into balls.  Arrange 8 cookies on each pan, leaving about 2 inches between the,b because the dough will spread.  Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are not longer shiny, switching the position and rotating pans halfway through baking.  (I just baked pans one at a time in the middle of the oven.)

Cool cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about 2 minutes to firm up a bit, then transfer to the racks to cool completely.  Repeat with second batch of cookies.  (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

Printable recipe

The chocolate stash that was called to duty for this cookie. (Actually bought at Trader Joe's.)

Great cookie scoop (includes muffin scoop and mini muffin scoop)


Keller's less intimidating book


The book that made me strain my back at the library (you'll see why - almost 12 lbs)

Korean Seaweed Soup 미역국: For the love of my child

For LCH and RH, who are expecting their first

Growing up, seaweed soup was a part of my life.  It is the soup that I ate on my birthday, as it is "birthday soup" and on your birthday you hope that someone cooks you some of this soup.  Of course Mom did without fail, year after year for my birthday and for birthdays of Brothers and Dad.  At least five times a year it appeared at my house, and usually more often than that.

I write about this soup rather in a lukewarm fashion, because for me, for a long long time, this soup is not my favorite.  In Korean, seaweed is "mee yuk" and the soup is "mee yuk gook."  I continually called it "mee  yucky gook" as I did not like it and it was something I was more or less forced to eat a few times a year.  I didn't like the flavor, or the texture or the fact that someone told me that I HAD to eat it on my birthday.  WHY?

In my adult life, again, it was not a soup that was one of my favorites.  But when Sister-in-law had her first baby, I was watching my then almost mother in law (engaged to, but not yet married to her son) make this soup and I casually mentioned that I didn't like it.  In fact, I may have even called it "yucky" to her face.  She gave me one of those looks that only a mother-in-law can give you, which was somewhat of a "Oh really?  We'll see about that!" sort of looks, and just quietly said, "Watch your sister in law eat this.  She knows what is good for her."  Because, aside from being birthday soup, Seaweed soup is Korean confinement soup.  Confinement in Korean culture, after childbirth, traditionally is more than thirty days of bedrest, no bathing, no heavy lifting, and lots and lots and lots of seaweed soup.  It has iodine in it, so it helps shrink the uterus and some other magical deep sea ingredient helps new mothers produce lots and lots of milk.  It is the stuff of legend, this Seaweed soup, in its power to transform the body of a new post partum mom. Sure enough, Sister-in-law obediently ate the soup, every single last bit of the seaweed and told her mom it tasted good. I later whispered to her, "Do you really like that stuff?" to which she responded, "Yes."  I sighed because I knew what was coming in my future.

Daughter #1 was born in Hong Kong, at Queen Mary Hospital, an excellent public hospital.  What this meant was, without any maternity coverage, I could have my baby - prenatal care and all for about $120 USD.  That's right folks, $120.  I didn't have any fabulous luxuries like a private room as I was in a ward room with about 25 other women, and I didn't have great food as I was served really strange and unappetizing Hong Kong Chinese postpartum food, but it was only $120.  But I think that this less than appealing food was a blessing in disguise, because right after the baby was born, Mom showed up at the hospital during visiting hours. She had a bag full of food and I was STARVING.  RAVENOUS.  I had been in labor for 36 hours without pain intervention and had a baby and couldn't find anything to eat, so she was the most beautiful sight my eyes could behold..  What she pulled out of that big bag of food was a huge container of piping hot seaweed soup and a big bowl of rice.  There was a bit of kimchee as well, and I looked at her and said, "THIS IS WHAT YOU BROUGHT ME?" and she said, "You have to eat it.  It's for you and the baby.  Now, EAT IT."  When you're starving, and you've got a table food of food in front of you, you can't really be choosy, so I ate it.  I ate the whole huge container.  The thing was, due to my complete mode of starvation, the soup was absolutely delicious and I just couldn't stop eating it.   Every last bit of seaweed was eaten, every last drop was drunk.

Mom and Husband in one combination came for two of my meals bringing me the seaweed soup.  I stayed in the hospital for 3 days (standard in HK) and I continued to eat the seaweed soup.  When I was discharged, I kept on thinking of all the other things I would eat once we got back to our home, only to find upon my arrival at my house more of the soup.  I learned that Mom and Husband had made the unilateral decision that I would consume this soup for as many meals as they could force me to eat, and as I was also confined to the house (per Korean tradition) I couldn't go and buy what I wanted eat.  I was at the mercy of Husband and Mom.  They eventually relented and allowed me to have other things like a muffin, or some pizza as long as it was consumed with the soup.  Every day.  Every single day. 

Finally a week before Mom was to leave, Grandma arrived from Korea to view the child from her grandchild.  After oooh-ing and aaaah-ing over Daughter, she peered at me from over her glasses and said, "I've bought you some seaweed.  From Korea.  The best.  The kind that nursing moms need to eat.  And you need to eat it.  All of it, every day until you can no longer eat it anymore."  I responded, "I'm done!  I can't eat it anymore!" and then she looked at me from over her glasses and intoned, "This soup makes your breast milk so wonderful and helps you look so beautiful, why would you deny both your child and yourself something so magnificent?"  I sighed and just hung my head.  There was no getting around it.

There were a few phone calls from the US, from Mom-in-law who asked Husband worriedly, "Is she eating the seaweed soup?" to which he responded, "Yes, but she doesn't like it." I moaned and groaned about who was going to make it for me when Mom left, and then Mom pulled me aside and said, "I will teach you how to make it."  Husband said, "If you make it, I will eat it with you; as many days as you eat it, I will eat it too."  I looked at him and said, "REALLY?"  He looked at me straight and said, "I promise.  If you serve it every single day for the number of days you are breastfeeding, I will eat it with you every single day."  So I did.  I ate that soup at least once a day for 393 days, until the day I finally weaned my daughter. Husband ate it with me all of those days, minus the ones when he was traveling on business, but he did uphold his promise.

You may wonder why someone who hates a soup this much could stand to eat so much of it?  The thing is, I think it really works!  I watched my body produce the food that went into Daughter's body and she grew and thrived on it.  And my body shrank after my pregnancy at a strangely remarkable speed, and I wonder if after all, it wasn't just the enormous quantity of the soup I ate.  Every time I settled down to breastfeed my daughter, I would look at her enjoying her food so much and I would understand at that moment, the amazing gift that God had given me in her and in my ability to provide nourishment for her.  Every time I breastfed, I would remember that I wanted to be as healthy as possible so I would eat more soup.  393 days of it.

Now I must explain, this is currently the absolute favorite soup of Children.  Son and Daughters all love it to pieces.  They love the seaweed, the broth and eating it with a hot bowl of rice is one of their favorite meals.  The irony is not lost on me as a soup that I can barely stand is the one that Family adores.  I end up making it fairly often for that reason.  My version is a strict beef broth version, and there are lots of other versions out there using mussels, dried shrimp, chicken stock, anchovy stock, but I like and will only eat the beef stock.  This is the way Mom taught me and it is the way I will continue to make it.  Hopefully when Daughters have their own babies, I will be around to force this soup on them as well. 

(A Note: This version is much less seaweed-y than the one I ate postpartum so those who are postpartum may consider adding an additional 1/2 cup or 30 grams of seaweed. )

Seaweed Soup  미역국
Makes a large pot - enough for 12 people, so make it all and freeze half

2 1/2 gallons of water
3/4 lb to 1 lb of beef brisket (if you like it meatier go for the 1 lb of brisket)
1 large onion, peeld
10 cloves of garlic
2 1/2 cups of dried seaweed, or about 90 grams (see photos for more details)
3 tablespoons good sesame oil
2 tablespoons soup soy sauce 국간장 (if you can get it - otherwise you can substitute regular soy sauce or don't use it at all)
Salt to taste

Preparing the seaweed
Depending on the type of seaweed you get, the preparation can be kind of different.  I love this one here because it comes already broken into small pieces, so there is nothing much to do except measure and put it into water to allow it to become flexible again.  (This is wakame, which I've even seen at Whole Foods.)

This is another form, and you'll notice that the seaweed is in long pieces and so it needs to be broken while it is dry, and after it has softened in the water, you'll also need to cut and trim it into bite sized pieces.

Both of these are fairly easy to use, compared to very expensive (over $100!) seaweed, which is deep ocean seaweed that you can get at specialty shops.  That will require additional cleaning, washing as well as cutting as the pieces are much bigger, thicker and heftier (as it is from the deepest parts of the ocean!)

Measure out your seaweed, and then put in a bowl with lots of water to cover it.  The seaweed with begin to expand, soften and become much more voluminous as it soaks up the water.

After 30 minutes, drain the seaweed and give it a rinse.  There is often some sand or some other sediment so giving it a rinse is a good idea.  (The ones I've pictured above have less of an issue with this, but the deep sea ones have more things to rinse out.)  Trim into bite sized pieces if necessary then allow it to drain and set aside.

Preparing the stock
Put beef brisket in a large bowl.  Cover completely with cold water.  Set aside for at least 45 minutes, so that you can drain all the blood.  Doing this step helps create a much cleaner broth without the scum that you have to skim off.

In a large stock pot, add 2 1/2 gallons of water.  Bring water to a boil. To the boiling water add onion, garlic cloves and beef brisket.  Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to simmer for at least one hour. 

At the end of the hour, take a chopstick and poke it into the center of one of the brisket pieces.  The chopstick should go easily in as the beef is tender.  If it is hard to poke the chopstick, cook for an additional 15 minutes, until beef is tender.

Remove beef, onions and garlic from soup stock.  Set soup stock aside, and when the beef is cool, shred into bite sized pieces.

 
Preparing the soup
You will need another large stock pot or you can remove pour the broth into a holding container until needed.  Heat pot over medium heat and then add sesame oil.  Add drained seaweed.  There should be a satisfying sizzle when you add the seaweed.  Saute the seaweed for a minute and then add soy sauce (optional) or a teaspoon of salt.  Continue cooking for another minute and then pour the soup stock over the seaweed.  Add beef pieces and bring to a boil.  Check seasonings and adjust as necessary.  Serve.

(A Note:  Salt does take a bit of time to melt, so make sure you allow for salt to dissolve before you taste and add additional salt.  Also, as each set of seaweed is different, it is difficult for me to say how much salt is needed, which is why you need to adjust your seasonings accordingly.)

Printable recipe

Now, who is ready to eat this? 

Spaghetti with Bacon, Broccoli and Garlic: When you're cleaning out the fridge

Something that I do to save money is to simply not go grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping for me invariably leads me to spend $50, so sometimes, I just don't go.  I don't go at all and just use up whatever things I have at home and sometimes I cook something funky, but a lot of times something edible comes out of it.  This was one of those times when I had decided that I wanted to not go grocery shopping for a week and to just eat up everything and anything I had at home.   It is really a very simple dish, but one that my kids ended up loving.  There isn't much not to love when it has bacon in it, but what I really like about it is the combination of the bacon with the broccoli and the garlic.  Somehow the three of them put together makes some really yummy pasta.  With the few pantry staples, I got this fast pasta meal and it satisfies both kids and me.

If you are trying to do the same thing and not go shopping and all you have is some ham, asparagus and garlic, I say go ahead and go for it.  Sauteed in olive oil, and then tossed together with spaghetti, garlic with a green vegetable and a salty protein goes a long way to create this dish.  Oh!  And if you don't have spaghetti, feel free to substitute some other pasta shape instead.  I just had spaghetti.

Spaghetti with Bacon, Broccoli and Garlic
Serves 5-8

1 lb spaghetti noodles
3/4 lb to 1 lb of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you really like bacon go for the 1 lb...if you don't have that much bacon, just use what you have.)
10-15 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (use the range - if you like it more garlicky, add more, otherwise use 10)
3/4 lb of broccoli, cut into small chunks (the smaller, the quicker to cook fully)
1/4 cup chicken stock
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot of salted water, cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Rinse and drain and set aside.

In a cold, large frying pan (cold meaning it is not on the stove preheating, and large meaning one big enough to hold all the ingredients for the final toss), add bacon.  Place  pan on stove and turn stove heat to medium.  Allow bacon to cook slowly, rendering the fat, for about 3 minutes.  Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute.  Add broccoli and allow the three ingredients to cook together, browning and cooking together.  When broccoli looks green and vibrant and is bite tender, (about 7 minutes) add chicken stock and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste and then toss in spaghetti noodles.  Toss and continue to toss well, mixing all the ingredients, adding more olive oil if the pasta looks dry.  Check seasons and salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Printable recipe

Caprese Salad: Pretending I'm on vacation...

There are days when I think to myself, I need a vacation.  I mean, a real one, without the kids, possibly without Husband, definitely with me and a good book and possibly some friends.  I've taken "vacations" where I drive down to Southern California and visit my parents and stay at my parents house.  Those are nice but that has been the extent of vacations really in the last couple of years.  Son and Daughter, Husband and the daily regimen of life have made vacations very difficult to come by.

But I also realize I'm getting old.  The top of my head has more white hair than I care to count and suddenly wrinkles that used to get smoothed away by relaxing my face are now etched in my skin; no amount of relaxation erases them.  No amount of skin cream either for that matter. And suddenly the end of my life looms much closer than the start of my life, as I am that much closer to the end.

So I find myself in a state of slight melancholy.  I want to vacation, but technically can't and I'm not getting any younger.  The white hairs that continually sprout remind me the direction in which my life is going.  And it's not fun thinking about it all the time.  There are moments when thinking about the end of your life makes you blue.  I don't like being blue, so generally I try and cheer myself up by thinking or imagining my life if I COULD take said vacation.

Today in the midst of a blue moment, I decided that if given the opportunity, Italy would be where I would go next.  I want the warm sun, the yummy pasta, the basil, the tomatoes, gelato; Italy in summer would be ideal.  As I have no such plans in the immediate, I decided to transport myself with the flavors of the place I wanted to go and leave it at that.  This salad had to be evocative enough to count as a vacation.  It didn't quite do that but it was a pretty tasty salad and everyone I have served it to loves it.  It's simple, it's delicious and it's good enough for company.  So it doesn't quite beat taking you on vacation, but having satisfied people around the table is good enough.  (or so I tell myself that.)

Caprese Salad
2 heads of romaine lettuce, washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup of arugula, washed
3 cups of tomatoes (roma, grape tomatoes, or some other super flavorful tomato)
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup of basil, chopped
2 balls fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed (I get the Italian imported one from Costco)

Place romaine and arugula in a large salad.  Sprinkle tomatoes, shallots and basil on top.  Top with mozzarella cheese and croutons.  Drizzle dressing on top and toss and serve.

Croutons (optional)
6 cups of cubed bread (pugliese or some other French bread is fine)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add more olive oil as needed.

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper

Whisk ingredients together.  Pour over salad.

Printable recipe

I can almost imagine myself somewhere else...

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars: I succumb to peer pressure

For SYJ who made me make them, and for JJ who enjoyed them.

I think it is amazing that I survived childhood and adolescence without getting involved in sex, drugs, or rock n' roll. (Okay some rock n' roll but no sex or drugs.)  It's mind boggling because basically, I am a wimp.  Peer pressure, peer disapproval, peer requests - I can't say no.  As my friend HKL says, I'm all talk but but no action.  I just shrivel up and wither inside and do what I'm told to do.  I have no backbone, no resolve, no nothing.  I can't say no.  Now, this is different from saying no to my children, which I have NO problem doing, but what I am describing and talking about here is peer pressure. 

The other week, at church, Friend's husband pulled me aside and said, "How come you don't make cheesecake?"

"I don't make cheesecake.  Cheesecake requires a different pan.  I don't have that pan, I don't want to buy that pan so I'm not making cheesecake," I responded adamantly.

"You should make cheesecake.  Cheesecake is my favorite.  Make cheesecake," he intoned dramatically, as if trying to hypnotize me.

"I'm not making cheesecake.  I don't want to buy a different pan.  Forget about it," and I walked away hurriedly, lest I succumb to his demands.  Because truly, I did not want to buy a springform pan.  My baking utensils cupboard is awkwardly located and already bursting at the seams with other baking pans; to add another pan seemed just unnecessary.

I came home after church and in the quiet of the night, I heard his voice, "Make cheesecake" over and over in my head.  I tried hard to block it out; I covered my ears, closed my eyes, and hummed wildly to myself, but who can silence the voice that is inside your brain?  Before I cut off my head in order to silence the words, I decided to look.  I mean, what harm could it do?  I could look for a cheesecake recipe, and instead of buying a pan, I could make one in a pan that I already had!  That way, I'm not really succumbing to the peer pressure. Rather, I'm doing it on my own terms.  Cheesecake MY WAY.  In MY PAN.  Not a new one.

I found one recipe that had promise, Tyler Florence's Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars only it required me to buy another pan.  Rather than do that, I adjusted the recipe to make it work for the pan that I had.  I also made some changes based on things that I had and had to go at the recipe two times.  The first time, while the cheesecake was delicious, it was lacking a certain amount of structural integrity as it was too airy and you could not eat it without it disintegrating before it got into your mouth.  The second round was structurally sound, delicious in flavor and simple to make.  Cheesecake, as it turns out, is surprisingly easy to make, especially if you don't have to deal with a hot water bath.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
adapted from Tyler Florence
Serves 16

Crust
Butter, for greasing
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
13 graham crackers
7 tablespoons of butter, melted

Cheesecake
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (MAKE SURE it is room temperature so you can have a creamy cheesecake.)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 lemons, zested and juiced

2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions

Making the crust:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with butter. Then place parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, ginger and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs.   Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate.  Alternatively, you can put sugar, ginger, and graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush until you have fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl and add the melted butter and stir to mix.  

Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. 

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.

Making the filling: 

With the mixer on low, beat together sugar and cream cheese.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add lemon zest and juice.  Beat on low. You want a smooth consistency, but do not beat on high, otherwise you will put too much air into the mixture and make it too soft. Pour cheesecake mixture over the crust.

Then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed -- as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 16 rectangular bars. 

Printable recipe

 Can I offer you a piece?  Come on, you know you want some!

Chicken Breast with Prosciutto: I still get inspired

For JEL, who cooks for her family most days, even when it's hard

If you haven't watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution you should.  He is inspiring, exciting, and truly a marvel to watch.  His basic principal is this - if you're going to put something in your family's mouth, keep track of what you are putting in it.  How much fat, how much preservative, how many additives, how much extra sugar is in your food?  How can you control it?  By cooking it yourself.  In his show, he strongly encourages people too cook simple, good healthy food for their families, because you can show and control and understand exactly what is going into their bodies.  He says exactly what I want to say, only with a British accent.

I know that I have the luxury of cooking for my family as a stay at home mom who only works part time from home.  I have that time.  I have that opportunity. I have the leisure to go to the supermarket and prepare meals for my family. That fact isn't lost on me at all.  I am lucky and my family is lucky in that way.  It is a luxury in these hard times and it is not one that I take for granted.  Not everyone has that opportunity and many people have to juggle work and taking care of the home.  However, good friend JEL is a full-time working mom, in a demanding job, and a great cook.  Every single day she places her children in daycare, works a full day, comes home and then cooks her family a homemade hot meal.  It's not complicated food or fancy food, but it's nutritious food that's been cooked with love.  She has a lot of strategies on how she does this.  She does the grocery shopping for the week on the weekend.  She ALWAYS preps the next day's dinner the night before.  If it means making a pasta sauce so it's ready to go the next day she does that.  Sometimes she'll make a Korean stewed dish and just cook it off so the next day it just has to be warmed up for the family.  It's always simple food, but it is always prepared homemade.  She does it because it's important.  She does it because she is committed to feeding her family well.  For that I respect her immensely and admire her strength and resolve to continue feeding her children and husband. 

This dish is for her.  I love this dish because it is actually really fast to put together, and you could put it together the night before and just cook it the day of.  The chicken breast is lightly scored, sprinkled with basil, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and then topped with prosciutto and pounded thin.  Then it's just banged onto a frying pan and cooked until it's all crispy and delicious.  The recipe is pure Jamie Oliver in its ease and simplicity and also for its great flavor from simple ingredients.

We had this with Couscous with Tomatoes, Basil, and Green Onions...and I was surprised how good it was together!  My first preference would have been some sort of potato dish, but in an effort to try and clean out the pantry, I went with couscous...great combination.

Jamie Oliver's Parmesan Chicken Breasts 
from Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver
serves 2

1/4 cup chopped basil (what I did) or 2 thyme sprigs (what Jamie does)
2 skinless chicken breast fillets, preferably free-range or
organic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon
1 1/4 ounces grated Parmesan
6 slices of prosciutto
Olive oil

Directions

Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife.

Season with a little pepper (you don't need salt as the prosciutto is quite salty). Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over the basil. Grate a little lemon zest over them, then sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast, overlapping them slightly.

Drizzle with a little olive oil. Put a square of plastic wrap over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a saucepan until they're about 1/2 inch thick.

Put a frying pan over medium heat. Remove plastic wrap and carefully transfer the chicken breast, prosciutto side down, into the pan. Drizzle over some olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through, giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up.

Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a plate. Serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over, and a good drizzle of olive oil.

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Very exciting book with simple recipes...

Meatloaf Burgers: Better than a TV dinner

To EC, who used to eat them with me

Growing up, one of the treats that Mom would let Brother and me have was the occasional TV dinner.  We would be at the supermarket, and the two of us would pester her for a Salisbury steak meal.  You know which one I'm talking about, with the cute aluminum foil tray, the Salisbury steak, potatoes, peas and then a small special compartment for some sort of fruit cobbler.  Mom would sigh, mutter something under her breath about the complete unhealthiness of it all, and relent, allowing us to each get one.  This was such the occasional occurrence and one you would actually think Mom would relish as it meant no cooking for her, but she was always so concerned about our health she would be in agony as she baked it off in the oven for us.

It was a once in a while thing.  Not often.  Only when her own resolve couldn't win over our determination to get one. But when we DID eat it, for some reason that aluminum tray of processed food was the YUMMIEST thing ever.  We'd sit eating, comparing notes on what combination of food on a fork made the best bite, how best to eat the cobbler, and how clean we could lick those shiny trays when we had finished most of the food.

Salisbury steak inspired me recently as I thought about what to make for dinner.  My own kids have these melamine trays with little individual compartments for different foods.  And it suddenly reminded me of those TV dinners with Salisbury steak.  I wanted to stick something in each of those compartments and make a little meal, even if Kids didn't know what I was doing.

Enter meatloaf burgers.  Individual meatloaves, shaped like burgers, topped with sauce and bacon and baked off in the oven and served, with a side of roasted potatoes and green beans.  As an aside, these are made wheat, dairy and gluten free, which you don't see in a lot of meatloaves.  Son and Daughter thoroughly enjoyed them, especially the crispy bacon part, and I flashed back to my own childhood.

Turkey Meatloaf Burgers
Makes 6

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced (keep the seeds and juice)\
4 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a press
1 1/4 lb of ground turkey
1/4 cup of tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1/2 cup of sweet rice flour (mochiko) (NOTE - those who don't need dairy, egg and wheat free, substitute 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 1 beaten egg for the rice flour)
1/4 cup of basil chopped or Italian parsley chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Topping
1/3 cup of tomato ketchup
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
6 slices of bacon, sliced in half

In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, add olive oil, bell pepper and onion.

Cook until the vegetables have softened about 6 minutes.  Add chopped roma tomatoes and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Cook an additional 4 minutes until tomatoes have broken down a bit.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl (or your saucepan if it is completely cool) combine the bell pepper onion mixture with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.  Combine well.  Add ground turkey, sweet rice flour and basil.

Using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine until it is one uniform mixture. 

Form meat mixture into six patties. Place patties onto a baking sheet, or if you want to drain off a bit more fat, on a rack on top of a cookie sheet.

Make the topping in a small bowl, mixing together balsamic vinegar and ketchup.  Spoon and spread some on each burger.

Top each burger with two half bacon slices.  Place into oven and cook for 30 minutes and the bacon is crispy.

Serve!

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My personal TV dinner

Not a great price, but just to show you what it is.

Simple Roasted Potatoes: Less is always more

I really do enjoy eating at fancy restaurants.  As a treat, Husband takes me on my birthday and on our anniversary (when we are actually in the same country - 6 out of 8 anniversaries we were not) somewhere really wonderful and deluxe.  I always sit in the restaurant, enjoying the ambiance, enjoying seeing my husband across the table, and enjoy eating without three children asking me to get up and get something that is needed at the table.  I sit and stare at my food, trying to figure out what went into it, trying to decode its ingredients so that perhaps I could make the dish at home in the near future.

The reality is that no dish I have ever eaten in a fancy restaurant has ever been recreated in my home.  I don't have time to cook that way.  I instead really try and focus on good ingredients prepared well so that Son and Daughter enjoy their food and eat it up.  The goal, really, is minimal complaints from Kids between bites of food, and a quiet meal filled with silence of food being consumed. Not that food consumption in my house is ever silent.  But you get the idea.

For Son and Daughter, and for many other kids I've noticed, they don't generally want a lot of frills. They like food that looks like what they know.  They also prefer the simpler seasonings instead of complex flavor profiles.  Although I would like to cook some fancypants food for them (since I enjoy eating it) they actually want me to cook simply, with good ingredients and good clean flavors.

These potatoes are simply a lesson in less is more.  I usually toss them with rosemary or some other herb to give it a depth of flavor, but Son and Daughter love them with the simple toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.  I roast them in the oven for a long while (I've even been known to go pick up kids while this is in the oven) and they come out, crispy, golden and oh-so-good.  They do take a bit of time in the oven, but they just sit there and you don't have to stir them or do anything to them.  Just let them cook. 

Son loves getting a bowl of these and pops them into his mouth, one after the other, with no pauses and just sheer focus on getting them from the bowl into his mouth. 

Simple Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4 (my family completely eats through this amount every single time)

1 lb of red rose potatoes, skin on, washed and scrubbed
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Cut potatoes into 1 1/2 inch dice.  Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Pour potatoes onto a cookie sheet, making sure that they are in a single layer.

Bake for 50 minutes to 70 minutes, until potatoes are delicious and golden.  Check seasonings one more time and add more salt and pepper if necessary.  Serve.

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Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake: When life gives you sour cream, make coffee cake

I actually try very hard to use up every single ingredient in my refrigerator. I hate wasting anything.  Mom comes and will try and throw things away and I won't let her, because I'm determined to use everything.  I had bought a few weeks back, one of those scary large tubs of sour cream from Costco, because I was going on a baking spree of cakes which all happened to require sour cream.  I thought I had used it all, so bought another one in anticipation of some baking this week, only to discover on Sunday night the OTHER tub.  It irked me so that I had two tubs of very large sour cream in my fridge and so I started pacing.   I paced back and forth and opened the fridge to confirm that the second tub was indeed there and then closed the fridge  and paced some more.  I made my way to the garage refrigerator and discovered some blackberries which I had intended to feed Children, but hadn't so then realized I would be making a coffee cake.

A blackberry coffee cake.   Only to discover a lemon that needed to be used.  Ah... a lemon blackberry coffee cake.

I made one using, as a springboard, a coffee cake recipe I had and tweaking it.  It came out pretty good, but I was disappointed in the lack of lemon flavor.  I had used some brown sugar in the recipe and it seemed to block out the bright lemony zing I was looking for. I packed up my experiment and sent it off to Daughter #2's school where the staff at the PJCC enjoyed it and I even got a thank you note.  I was determined to make it better (and finish off the blackberries and start on the NEW tub of sour cream) so I set out to make another one.  This one was much better.  This one was delicious.  This one I couldn't stop Daughter #1 from eating.  She said, "It's the only cake you can eat for breakfast mom."  Ummm...not really, honey, but you can have a single piece.

Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake
Serves 10-12

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries (my feeling is that blueberries would work also really well)

Topping 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) butter melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar

Butter a 9X13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl whisk together the flour, the baking powder, and a pinch of salt and in another bowl stir together the sour cream and the baking soda.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and 1 cup of the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture and stir the batter until it is combined well.

Pour the batter into a buttered 9 X 13 cake pan. Sprinkle blackberries evenly on top.

In a small bowl stir together melted butter, flour and sugar until it is sort of dough like and stuck together.

Crumble topping mixture all over cake

Bake the cake in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer it to a rack, and let it cool.  Serve warm or room temperature.  (This is best the day of baking.)

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Ahhhhh...the perfect pairing.

Casual Dinner Party Menu: 15 years later, we're still the same

To the TMAHS crew that changed me - BS, KY, JW, JN, JW, LR, MH and all the rest...and SOB who brought us together.
 
15 years ago, a principal at a small start-up school made the single decision that changed my life - he hired me.  I was fresh out of graduate school, armed with a Masters of Teaching, but with very few classroom hours under my belt.  I'm not sure what he saw in me, or what the rest of the interview panel saw in me, but they decided they wanted me, green, inexperienced, and pretty clueless.  I was thrust into an urban school, in its second year, which was surviving, primarily on the backs of the dedicated teachers that worked there. 

Being only 23 years old, working in an urban school, long crazy hours, was one of the best experiences of my life.  I loved my job, loved the students, and most importantly loved the people with whom I worked.  What truly made my experience great were the friendships and relationships I built with my fellow teachers. To this day, some of the people that I worked with back then are still some of the most thoughtful, committed, and brilliant people I know.  I'm proud to know them.  I'm proud to call them my friends.  I'm lucky they still put up with me after all these years.

15 years ago, one of our favorite things to do was to just hang out together, talk, discuss, and laugh.  We sometimes went out after teaching and would sit around laughing our heads off over silly things that happened in our classroom and de-stressed by verbalizing what we had done wrong in the day or talking craziness in the classroom that only a fellow teacher could understand.  As we all moved on in our lives, changed schools, stopped teaching (actually only I have), gotten married and had children, our chances to be together are few and far between.  When we do manage it, it's just like we were 15 years ago, still talking about our students, still sharing what we're doing in the classroom or for education, and still laughing at all the silliness of our lives.

When our friend KY and her husband DC made it out from New York for a visit here, I knew I wanted to host a dinner for some of us.  The tricky thing is, however, that it is now families who come and gather, not single people.  5 teachers gathering becomes a party of 20 in no time flat, when all the kids, spouses and diaper bags get counted.   Without much warning, a weeknight was decided upon and suddenly I had to host 20 people for dinner.

I chose a menu that allowed me to work ahead of time.  I also shared some of the burden by asking others to help me out and bring a few things.  In the end, although I was a bit all over the place, it was a wonderful night of laughter, jokes and smiles.  There were in our midst 10 kids helping each other, playing with each other and having fun with each other, much in the same way that we did many years ago.

Casual Dinner Party Menu
Turkey Chili (made the night before, and reheated day of)
Macaroni and Cheese (noodles boiled in the morning, set aside.  Cheese sauce made 1 hour before dinner and the whole thing baked in the oven)
Ultimate Ribs (easy because it just sits and cooks in the oven, and you can do other things)
Caprese Salad (totally impromptu - friend was supposed to bring salad, but at the last minute wasn't able to, so I just threw together what I had in the fridge)

Some Dessert
Pecan Rolo Pretzels (but I made them with almonds instead)
Velvet Cupcakes

I asked people to bring things as well - just so I was a bit less stressed.  I asked for some cheese and crackers, fruit and drinks.  People brought...and this is actually how casual the gathering was...

Crackers were just thrust onto plates, cheese the same, plastic cups and drinks all on a central serving area, and people all just gathered around talking and laughing.  Great fun for all!


As an aside, one of the main reasons I am so proud of my friend KY is that she has spent the past several years working with Doug Lemov, helping him to identify, qualify and explain what great teachers do.  She has spent countless hours watching teaching video to pinpoint those exact amazing moments of teaching that make students learn.   Doug Lemov and a team of super dedicated teachers at Uncommon Schools have put this information into a book, Teach Like a Champion.  It is a guidebook, a handbook, and a GREAT book for anyone who is a teacher...Sunday school, preschool, elementary school high school.  I've read the book - and think it truly amazing that concrete teaching skills are now in a book for all to read.  If you have a chance, pick it up and try some of the techniques in there.  (There are great things in there for parents too.)

Firecracker Shrimp: Working with Mom

To Brother - Happy Birthday!

Being a food blogger who basically cooks and then presents her food to her family is a hard job.  Oftentimes I cook the meal, grab it away from grasping fingers waiting at my table, and run it to my living room where the lighting is better and snap a photo.  Then I rush it back and it is immediately devoured by family.  There is no planning of photographs, no time to really try and arrange things beautifully on the plate, which is why most of my photographs are more of the "rustic looking" type.  I don't often have time to take step by step photos because to demonstrate some things would require either someone modeling what I want done or a photographer to snap me as I work.  Daughter #1 still is not reliable enough of a photographer, it pretty much means step by step is really hard. Sometimes I'll wear plastic gloves and take them on and off as I try and photograph what is going on in the food.

However, last week I had the ultimate luxury.  I was at Mom's house and I got to photograph Mom as she worked. In addition I had some child supervision as I took food around outside trying to capture a good shot.  I have to say in all honesty however, I don't know if my more "posed final photographs" from my time at Mom's are any better, but I DO know that the step-by-step was infinitely easier and more relaxing for me to snap.  You, my wonderful blog readers are the beneficiary of my mother's work as I was able to snap as she worked.  So if you're wondering why I have so many photographs in this post, it's because I had a chance to actually TAKE them.

This is one of my FAVORITE shrimp recipes and Mom makes it for me whenever I come home.  We made this along with Asian Fish Tacos, Ginger Green Rice, and it was a hit for Brother's 36th birthday dinner.

Firecracker Shrimp
Serves 6-8

2 lbs of jumbo shrimp, legs removed, de-veined and butterflied (see step by step photos below)
1/4 cup of butter, softened (softer the better)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped red pepper (red bell pepper is fine, but if you like SPICE, use a red chili pepper)
3 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon lime juice
Sea salt and cayenne pepper(optional) for sprinkling

Arrange oven rack so that it is closest to the heating element.  Preheat oven to broil.  Line sheet pan with foil.  Place prepared shrimp evenly so that there is only a single layer and every shrimp will get maximum heat.

In a large bowl, prepare butter mixture.  Add olive oil to softened butter mixture and mix.  Then add cilantro, red pepper, garlic and lime juice.

Mix until you have one consistent mixture, flecked with green and red

Carefully spoon about two teaspoons of the butter mixture on top of each shrimp.

Finish by sprinkling sea salt and cayenne pepper over each shrimp.  If you are worried about the spice, omit the cayenne.  Place into the preheated oven.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, until shrimp is opaque and the tail tips are red.  Do NOT overcook.  Place shrimp onto a serving place, and drizzle with pan juices.

Serve warm.  Delicious with Garlic Scallion Noodles or Ginger Green Rice.


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How to butterfly shrimp.  Step by step photo instructions.  (this is done with shrimp from Costco, that has already been de-veined) 

With a pair of kitchen shears in one hand, and the shrimp in the other, trim off the little legs.

Starting at the tail, take the blade of your knife and cut through the back of the shrimp.  This is the side OPPOSITE where you cut the legs, and the SAME SIDE as where the shrimp has already been de-veined.

Run the knife all the way through, and begin opening up your shrimp.

Open the shrimp up all the way, and flatten.  Note how the shrimp is split from the top of the tail. (sorry finger in the way)