FoodB

Two postings in one week. Must be some kind of land speed record.

As I said in the last post, we cooked Easter for our family last week. We used recipes that we have cooked before, because if it ain't broke.... One recipe that we have done before but have yet to post is the glazed carrots that I make. Carrots are one of those weird vegetable that I don't mind eating when I get them but I feel like they are very flavorless. I used to enjoy steamed carrots when I was younger but not so much anymore. This recipe adds a lot of flavor to carrots and makes them much more enjoyable to anyone eating them.

Glazed Carrots

1 pound medium carrots (about 6), peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick on the bias (see illustration)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Ground black pepper

1. Bring carrots, salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and chicken broth to boil, covered, in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until carrots are almost tender when poked with tip of paring knife, about 5 minutes.
2. Uncover, increase heat to high, and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add butter and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar to skillet; toss carrots to coat and cook, stirring frequently, until carrots are completely tender and glaze is light gold, about 3 minutes.
4. Off heat, add lemon juice; toss to coat. Transfer carrots to serving dish, scraping glaze from pan. Season to taste with pepper and serve immediately.

In other news, Jenn is out of town for the week. She and her mother are traveling to Oregon to check out some houses. Jennifer's parents are moving up there sometime in the next few weeks and Jenn took the opportunity to visit with some friends and split the cost of the trip. I had it all planned out that I was going to make a menu of all the stuff that she can't eat (mainly spicy foods) but that fell apart. Its tough coming home from work and trying to create something you have never eaten before. So I'm keeping it simple this week and eating like a true bachelor again. Lots of BBQ and lots of 2-5 ingredient meals. And yes ramen and mac n' cheese are on the list.

Posted by Gordon at 03:29 PM | Permalink

Easter!

We got the chance to cook for my family on Easter this year. Jenn came up with the idea and it was kind of a last minute thing, but everything went pretty well. Most of the stuff that we cooked, I have already listed on the site, but here is a list of we ended up making:

Alton Brown's City Ham
Green Beans with Fennel and Onion
Roasted Asparagus with Lemon
Mashed Red Potatoes with Green Onions
Glazed Carrots *
Lemon Cheesecake

* Coming soon (I hope)

The cheesecake was the only item that we made in our kitchen ahead of time. I made it the Friday before we traveled and we just kept it in a cooler on our way up. I can't say it enough, but the mixer we got for Christmas is a Godsend. The first 3 times I made cheesecake, I did it with a portable hand mixer. Doing it that way is okay but it adds about an hour to the mixing. With the stand mixer I just prep everything and add it while it is going. I finished the batter in about 7 minutes. So awesome.

Here is the recipe:

Lemon Cheesecake

Cookie-Crumb Crust
5 ounces Nabisco Barnum's Animal Crackers or Social Tea Biscuits
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and kept warm

Filling
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (8 3/4 ounces)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, (three 8-ounce packages), cut into rough 1-inch chunks and left to stand at room temperature 30 to 45 minutes
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Lemon Curd
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch table salt

1. FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. In food processor, process cookies to fine, even crumbs, about 30 seconds (you should have about 1 cup). Add sugar and pulse 2 or 3 times to incorporate. Add warm melted butter in slow, steady stream while pulsing; pulse until mixture is evenly moistened and resembles wet sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to 9-inch spring form pan; using bottom of ramekin or dry measuring cup, press firmly and evenly into pan bottom, keeping sides as clean as possible. Bake until fragrant and golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 30 minutes. When cool, wrap outside of pan with two 18-inch square pieces heavy-duty foil; set spring form pan in roasting pan.
2. FOR THE FILLING: While crust is cooling, process 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest in food processor until sugar is yellow and zest is broken down, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl if necessary. Transfer lemon sugar to small bowl; stir in remaining 1 cup sugar.
3. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on low to break up and soften slightly, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add sugar mixture in slow steady stream; increase speed to medium and continue to beat until mixture is creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs 2 at a time; beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping sides and bottom of bowl well after each addition. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and mix until just incorporated, about 5 seconds; add heavy cream and mix until just incorporated, about 5 seconds longer. Give batter final scrape, stir with rubber spatula, and pour into prepared spring form pan; fill roasting pan with enough hot tap water to come halfway up sides of spring form pan. Bake until center jiggles slightly, sides just start to puff, surface is no longer shiny, and instant-read thermometer inserted in center of cake registers 150 degrees, 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off oven and prop open oven door with potholder or wooden spoon handle; allow cake to cool in water bath in oven for 1 hour. Transfer spring form pan without foil to wire rack; run small paring knife around inside edge of pan to loosen sides of cake and cool cake to room temperature, about 2 hours.
4. FOR THE LEMON CURD: While cheesecake bakes, heat lemon juice in small non-reactive saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and yolk in medium non-reactive bowl; gradually whisk in sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot lemon juice into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture registers 170 degrees on instant-read thermometer and is thick enough to cling to spoon, about 3 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in cold butter until incorporated; stir in cream, vanilla, and salt, then pour curd through fine-mesh strainer into small non-reactive bowl. Cover surface of curd directly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until needed.
5. TO FINISH THE CAKE: When cheesecake is cool, scrape lemon curd onto cheesecake still in spring form pan; using offset icing spatula, spread curd evenly over top of cheesecake. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. To serve, remove sides of spring form pan and cut cake into wedges.

Everyone seemed to like the cheesecake and finished all of their pieces (the true test if they really like it). This is the second time that I made this particular cheesecake and the lemon seemed more intense this time around. It wasn't a bad thing to say but it was just a shock when the sourness hit. I used lemons from a different tree this time around (Jennifer's mom tree instead of our own) and I think that was the reason. Our tree is a Meyer lemon tree which is a more subtle flavor. So if you do use this recipe, choose your fruit based on what kind of flavor you want.

As for the meal, Jenn did an awesome job. We worked together and I have to say that we made a pretty good team. We usually cook together at home just not on this scale. Everyone liked the meal and my father actually ate the green beans with fennel. He is a pretty picky eater and we just didn't tell him what was in it. All in all it was a great Easter meal.

Posted by Gordon at 11:06 AM | Permalink