I don’t usually write about my failures in the kitchen – after all, who wants to try a recipe that didn’t work?  However, at the risk of sounding cliché, I’m learning the slow lesson that life is not always about the end result, but about [...]]]>

I don’t usually write about my failures in the kitchen – after all, who wants to try a recipe that didn’t work?  However, at the risk of sounding cliché, I’m learning the slow lesson that life is not always about the end result, but about the process that one went through to get there.

Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

Daring Cooks always post on the 14th of the month, but I made this attempt over two weeks ago.  So it appears a little out of order if you remember it was just last week that I had a miraculous find of guar gum in a natural foods store.  This attempt happened before I had guar gum and before I found gluten free bread mix.  We were charged with making baguettes, and after finding an awesome gluten free baguette recipe to try, learned that it would not happen without xanthan or guar gum. So, I took one of my sandwich bread recipes, and made a go without any binding agents by adding in some extra eggs and playing with the ratio of flours a bit.  I have also since learned from one of my favorite gluten free chemists that gelatin or agar agar should never be used in baking, because they turn the products too brittle.  I guess when making pitas or pizza dough it hasn’t been a problem for me because they are pretty flat to begin with, but for a crusty bread, brittle is definitely not a quality I’m looking for.

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Read the rest of Smoked Salmon Pâté (816 words)

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I had a post ready for you all.  I was so moved by Shauna‘s recent post where she poured out her heart and soul about her life; it was exactly the wake-up call that I needed.  I immediately wanted to share with you all [...]]]>

I had a post ready for you all.  I was so moved by Shauna‘s recent post where she poured out her heart and soul about her life; it was exactly the wake-up call that I needed.  I immediately wanted to share with you all my story, and my struggles with my own body.  For, while not nearly to the same magnitude of hardship as Shauna went through, over the past few years I have had extremely valid reasons for maybe finding a little too much comfort in food.

I let two of my best friends read it first.  I wanted to make sure it was still relevant for you all.  And I think it is.  But, I’m not ready, not just yet, to share all the gory details.  It’s a story for sure, but one for another time, a different day.  Not this day.  For now, I give you the brief version.

There was a time when very suddenly, several instances of tendinitis in my legs all at once rendered me unable to walk, let alone even stand on my own.   It was not so long ago.  Eventually, after some harrowing and some fantastic experiences, the problem was fixed – only a momentary disturbance in my well-being.  Though I remember that summer, not just for the experience I went through, but also for how those events marked the time when food became my comfort.  I remember the strawberries at the farmer’s market were heaven that year.  My mother and I gorged on them every weekend because they were as sweet as candy.  As time went on I could stand and walk a little, and after several months found the strength to stand and make a quiche for my darling now-husband.  I watched a lot of TV that summer, and taught myself to make risotto by watching Gordon Ramsay.  Cooking became an outlet.  This was something I could do, when so many things were so far out of my reach.  While I was cooking I got excited about the possibilities that presented themselves, and for a few moments each day, the pain went away.  Cooking, creating, and eating, took away pain for me, and gave me hope that things would return to normal.  Maybe too much so, and it continued to be this way with each major life-changing event that occurred from then on.  Even now, the role food plays in the status of my emotional well being is a bit out of whack.

(we interrupt this regularly scheduled program for a Technorati claim token – wooo Technorati!) SMEAARW4R7P4 – I promise this will be removed once verified….For now please keep reading the rest of this post for some delicious shrimp & avocado salad

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Read the rest of Shrimp and Avocado Salad (589 words)

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I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s -all those silly chalky conversation hearts that taste like Tums just don’t do it for me.  Most years it just feels like another “Hallmark holiday” – I mean, if you truly love someone, do you really need a special day during [...]]]>

I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s -all those silly chalky conversation hearts that taste like Tums just don’t do it for me.  Most years it just feels like another “Hallmark holiday” – I mean, if you truly love someone, do you really need a special day during the year to tell them?  I follow the belief that you should celebrate love every day, no matter what the occasion

Maybe living far away from all of our friends and family changes that sentiment a bit though, because this year we both felt that we needed to properly celebrate Valentine’s Day.  We didn’t do anything extravagant or exciting, just a fun home-cooked dinner with some wine, staying warm together inside watching the Olympics while outside the sky teased us with hints of snow flurries.

What could be more elegant than soft, buttery cod that literally melts in your mouth with every bite?  No need for a knife with this meal.  That’s the beauty of poached fish – it is relatively inexpensive and so simple to make, but when done correctly can elicit such rich taste that you have to make an effort to tell yourself that you are not sitting in a 5 star restaurant.  This is not a traditional beurre blanc sauce.  Normally you would cook the shallots and reduce wine with vinegar, only adding in the butter off the heat to make it creamy and smooth.  For this, I did things a bit differently.  Shallots and thyme were sauteed in a lot of butter, and then wine was whisked in.  The filets were then poached in the wine and butter until soft and tender.  When I lifted them out of the pan they were already flaking apart beautifully, just the way cod should be.

To accompany the fish, we made spiced lentils out of my current favorite cookbook, Gordon Ramsay’s Maze. We ate here in NYC as a mini celebration for each other right after our anniversary, so it seemed perfect to make something that came from one of our favorite restaurants.  My husband made the crème fraiche mashed potatoes with rosemary and chives and brought out the chilled Sancerre, finishing the last component to the meal.

So while we are not big on the gushy gushy stuff, Valentine’s was the perfect excuse for making a decadent private dinner for us to share.  Love does not have to be said with big boxes of candy hearts.  Sometimes it can be said just by the act of cooking and eating together.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):
4 cod filets
sea salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary, finely chopped
2 shallots
a couple sprigs of thyme
8 tbs. (about a stick) of butter
1.5 cups of dry white wine

Directions:
1.  Rub all of the filets generously with salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and set aside.  Melt about half the butter in a medium sized skillet and saute the shallots and thyme until the shallots are softened.  Add in the rest of the butter and whisk until all is melted.
2. Whisk in the wine and let reduce at a simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add in 2 filets at a time, and let poach.  Poach for a few minutes on one side and then carefully flip over and let poach for a few more minutes until all is white and soft.  Remove from the pan and plate.  Repeat with the other two filets.  Serve with some butter/wine sauce on top.  Enjoy!

Submitted to this week’s What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free?

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The olives one can get here are ridiculously gorgeous.  Anyone who goes to the market on Saturday can see the olive sellers, who must have over two dozen types of olives.  I walk by and drool, and wish that I could just sample one of each.  Coming from an [...]]]>

The olives one can get here are ridiculously gorgeous.  Anyone who goes to the market on Saturday can see the olive sellers, who must have over two dozen types of olives.  I walk by and drool, and wish that I could just sample one of each.  Coming from an area where I only knew of about 3 types of olives, it’s quite impressive.  Actually I am impressed by the vast selection of many different foods here, but especially all of the olives.

Tapenade, while we served it with our “mezze” style lunch, it is a Provençal dish, not Middle Eastern as some might initially think.  I am sure that I broke all the rules by purchasing a mixture of Greek olives to make this dish.  I tend to break rules a lot in cooking.  But then, experimenting can be fun.  And what can be standard to some could be considered very unorthodox to others.  For example, don’t mention that you ever like to make fondue using beer and cheddar cheese in the land where fondue was born.  You should’ve seen the mouths drop to the floor at such a thought.  I still say it tastes great, even if it is not a “traditonal” fondue.  However the use of Greek olives in this tapenade was not so planned out.  It happened to be what I purchased, and then when we got home I said to myself “Oh! We could make tapenade!”

Provided you have an olive pitter or bought pitted olives, this is an extremely easy to throw together dish.  Otherwise, you need a husband as delightful as mine who is willing to do such favors simply because he is a nice guy.  A little bit goes a long way with tapenade, so you don’t need very much to make this crowd pleaser (assuming everyone you know likes olives – otherwise you are a bit out of luck).  Here is my probably very unusual rendition of a traditional southern French dish.

On a side note you know about formspring?  I created a page, and you can ask me anything you’d like! If you have a food or gluten free question, feel free to ask and I will answer promptly!

Ingredients:
400g black olives (around a lb)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
8 filets of anchovies (canned/packed in olive oil)
2 tbs. capers
some olive oil
a few basil leaves

Directions:
1. Pit the olives.  Add olives, sundried tomatoes, anchovies, and capers to a food processor.
2. Pulse until  homogenized, then add olive oil as needed until the consistency is “spreadable”
3. Garnish with some sundried tomatoes and basil, spread on some bread, and enjoy!

Also submitted to – Blogger Secret Ingredient Capers

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Hummus isn’t the only bean dip out there.  And while I love hummus, tahini is expensive and can be hard to find.  I made this white bean and tuna dip to go with our “mezze” for this month’s Daring Kitchen challenge.  I originally decided to create [...]]]>

Hummus isn’t the only bean dip out there.  And while I love hummus, tahini is expensive and can be hard to find.  I made this white bean and tuna dip to go with our “mezze” for this month’s Daring Kitchen challenge.  I originally decided to create a white bean dip because I couldn’t find tahini at all (I have a couple candidates for shops now to look), but in the end I liked this a whole lot better than hummus anyways.  This dip was incredibly inexpensive and quick to make – I definitely will be making this again, as I imagine it will be especially suitable for making pita bread sandwiches  The flavor of the cannellini beans is much more mild than that of chickpeas, which I think lends them to combining with a greater diversity of flavors and tastes.  And the tuna is not as overpowering as one might originally think.  I am sure when I say tuna dip that you conjure in your mind some mayonnaise & tuna fish concoction that announces itself with its very powerful aroma to the entire world around you the instant you even think about taking it out for lunch, eliciting evil glares from your coworkers for stinking up the office.  This dip is not like that.  I think a better description for the tuna would be well-balanced.  I wouldn’t say subtle, because one does not have to search for the flavor, but I will say well-balanced.  Maybe the white beans help to mellow everything out.  Either way, the entire blend is quite addicting – we had a bowl out for lunch with our pita bread, and over the next few hours the contents slowly disappeared.  Suffice to say we didn’t need dinner that night

Ingredients:
4 cups white cannellini beans, canned (drained and rinsed) or already cooked
juice of 1/2 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil as needed (I didn’t need much, 1/2 c or so)
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (packed in olive oil)
1/2 cup canned tuna (200g)
your favorite italian herb blend
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Add beans and lemon juice to a food processor, and pulse until all smooth and homogenized.  If too thick, slowly pour in olive oil until the consistency is that of a scoopable dip.
2. Transfer dip from processor to a mixing bowl, and stir in sundried tomatoes, tuna, herbs, salt and pepper.  Serve and enjoy!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us

So Groundhog’s Day came and went this year, and the verdict was that we still had a good 6 weeks of Winter left.  I’m not sure if Punxsutawney Phil is accurate across continents, given that he doesn’t seem to have a great track record [...]]]>

So Groundhog’s Day came and went this year, and the verdict was that we still had a good 6 weeks of Winter left.  I’m not sure if Punxsutawney Phil is accurate across continents, given that he doesn’t seem to have a great track record in PA either.  However, with impeccable timing, as soon as I read the story online, I looked outside the window and snow started falling, right on cue. Ok, I get it.  It’s not Springtime yet.  But I wish it were.  The soft pink and fragrant hyacinth in my living room wishes it were too.  But alright, I will accept that it is still going to be cold and snowy for a bit.  It at least gives me a chance to practice my balance skills down the walkway, which in the still-frozen mornings either becomes prime for skiing in your treadless worn sneakers, or if you are a klutz like me and can’t stay up, it turns into an awesome bobsledding ramp instead.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is how bright and cheery citrus is always readily available to remind us that it will be warm and sunny out soon.  I have been using a lot of these fruits lately, and seafood is one of those foods that just asks to be married with citrus.  There is just something about how it so readily takes up the bright tart flavor and how it enhances the taste so much that I just love.

I really wanted to make ceviche.  But after 3 trips to three different grocery stores already that day, I didn’t want to make yet another trip to the other grocery store to get it, and so settled for already cooked frozen shrimp.  I know, not ideal, and totally not the point of ceviche.  Ceviche is unique in that you “cook” seafood without ever actually applying heat.  The acid from the citrus will actually do the cooking – you may not believe it until you actually see it happen, but it really does – it works for shrimp and white fish as well.  It is wonderful, and if you ever get a chance to make it I really encourage that you do.  It’s quite easy, requires very little prep time, and the entire dish is a devotion those moments where you imagine yourself being whisked away to a sunny tropical place.

In the spirit of ceviche, I made this salad with shrimp and lemons, limes, and oranges.  I added the orange, while not in the recipe I based this off of, in order sweeten things a bit, and even threw in a tomato.  Just getting all of the ingredients out and seeing all the color together put me in a happier mood.

I marinated it for a good hour even though the shrimp was already cooked, because I wanted to make sure that the shrimp really absorbed the flavor well.  It was surprisingly not as tart as one would expect for all of the limes and lemon used.  I think it would also be excellent if one chopped up the shrimp rather than serving them whole, and then scooped up the ceviche onto corn chips.  Speaking of which, it is a goal of mine to make tortilla chips one day – they can’t be that hard, and I just LOVE eating them when they are hot and fresh rather than made over a month ago and sealed in a bag.

However you decide, think about pairing seafood and citrus together, especially in February, when Winter feels like it will never end.  At least you can eat something that makes you feel like you should be somewhere warm and tropical!  What are your ways of beating the Winter blues?

Adapted from Elise of Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp
juice of 2 limes
juice of 2 lemons
juice of 2 oranges
1 stem tomato, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
a few sprigs cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 tbs. salt
pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste

Directions:
1.  In a large shallow bowl, add the shrimp.  Pour right over the shrimp the lime, lemon, and orange juice.
2.  Add the tomato, red onion, garlic, cilantro, and avocado to the bowl.  Then add salt too. Mix it all together, be somewhat gentle as to not mash the avocado to bits.  Cover and marinate refrigerated for at least an hour.
3. Serve shrimp on a plate with ceviche “soup”, add pepper and Tabasco as desired.  Enjoy!

Submitted to – What can I eat that’s gluten free?

Also submitted to – Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2010. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

Now this month was a serious challenge!!  I had to do it twice to get something even [...]]]>

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

Now this month was a serious challenge!!  I had to do it twice to get something even remotely similar to the original intent, and even then it wasn’t perfect.  The first en croute dish I made was beef wellington, and the 2nd attempt was a pastry-wrapped fish entree using sole (see pic above).  En croute (OHN-CROOT) is a French term that pretty much means “something wrapped in pastry dough”.  One of the great advantages of doing an en croute style entree is that the pastry helps to seal in the moisture and keep whatever you are roasting from drying out.  On the surface, this was a fairly simple challenge – make a shortcrust pastry or get some puff pastry, wrap your entree, and bake it.  Simple enough, until you remember that I need to accommodate my gluten free husband.

The first thing I did was to make a Beef Wellington (Gordon Ramsay Style).   Even though the roast itself was superb, so many things went wrong with this from the start, it was just really depressing.

1. The butcher at the store totally mutilated my tenderloin roast when he cut it, which I didn’t realize til I got home and saw that my 1.5 lb. roast was in 3 separate pieces. I told him it was for a roast too. Who roasts their meat in little pieces? Uggh.

2. The guy at the deli counter sliced the prosciutto too thin and I couldn’t check til I got home – all the slices had holes in them (another thing I couldn’t see til I got home), so they didn’t lay nicely wrapped around the roast either, which probably didn’t help because the mushroom/mustardness wouldn’t stay in. I tried to fix this by using a lot more.  Mmmm prosciutto.

3. I had originally toyed with the idea of just using the gluten free pie crust dough that I know works, but one reader had commented about avoiding soy flour and so I changed the ingredients. I used a mixture of millet, white rice and tapioca with butter and a bit of water, and the result was disastrous. The dough would not lift and mold well, so I more or less had to sculpt it onto the roast. It also didn’t stay together at all, as you can see by the texture and where it broke apart:

As you can see I skipped the crepe step, mainly because the recipe on Good Food didn’t use a crepe and I forgot to get the ingredients for it, so I thought I could get away with it. I don’t think it would’ve helped my failed pastry dough though. Whether it stuck to the roast or not, the pastry was still a total failure.  Butter was also oozing out everywhere and dripping all over the oven making a smoky mess. This was probably the red flag telling me that this pastry was all wrong before it was done, but I can be oblivious sometimes…So after spending a good $45 on this meal for about 6 servings of food, I was pretty disappointed in myself that I totally ruined it. My mom couldn’t eat the pastry anyways because she is diabetic, so we all just ripped off the pastry and ate the roast.

As for the roast itself, it was DELICIOUS!!  I LOVED the added flavor the prosciutto, mushrooms and mustard added. And considering that each beef wellington was a totally different size/shape because of the butcher’s crappy skills, I’m pretty proud of myself for estimating the correct time for each one to come out with a nice pink in the middle after letting it rest for about 10 min.

Forgive the pics of the beef wellington, I was in a rush and had crappy incandescent AND fluorescent mixed lighting….That whole post I just did before on taking your time?  Yeah totally did not have that type of opportunity here.  Not with a very hungry family waiting to enjoy delicious tenderloin roast!  At this point I was just really depressed about how the pastry came out. Julia Child says you should never apologize for your food, but I couldn’t help but feel terrible for ruining this. I refuse to buy the store-bought puff pastry stuff, there has to be a way to make it from scratch. I guess that will teach me to experiment on a nice meal…..

But it did not keep me from giving up!  This past weekend, I tried again with not perfect, but much improved results – to save money I used only ingredients I had around the house, and so did a rendition of the salmon en croute recipe rather than the beef wellington, using filet of sole that I had in the freezer, and an orange and parsley buttered “pesto” of sorts.  Sole is a nice lighter fish with a very mild taste, which is more agreeable than salmon for the members of my family anyways.  The new and revised dough still had a few issues but it was lighter and flakier, and did not slide off of the entree.  Yay!  Ha at this point, I’ll take it.  Everyone loved the fish, and thought it was delicious.  I am a big fan of citrus with seafood, and combining it with the brightly flavored parsley worked really well.

Developing a gluten free recipe when you have very little starting guidelines as to how to adapt it for the gluten free diet is really tough.  I applaud all of you who can create your own gluten free recipes, I really do.  Y’all deserve a crazy amount of respect for coming up with a gluten free recipe that even remotely resembles the original.

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Mmm one of my favorite foods!  The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.  I was so excited when sushi was picked for this month’s Daring [...]]]>

Mmm one of my favorite foods!  The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.  I was so excited when sushi was picked for this month’s Daring Cook’s challenge, even though I waited until last week to make it.  I have made sushi before, but desperately needed some practice working on my sushi rolling skills!

There were 4 parts to this challenge (full details can be seen on Audax’s post):
1. Correctly make the sushi rice
2. Make a dragon roll
3. Make a nigiri roll
4. Make a decorative or spiral roll.

Contrary to popular opinion, sushi does not mean raw fish.  Sushi actually refers to the vinegared rice that is used.  Raw fish on its own is called sashimi, and raw fish on rice is one way to make sushi.  I chose to use a short grain brown rice for all of my sushi.  I had a sushi party with my sister and some friends last weekend and made the daring cook’s sushi challenge for it.  It’s great when you can share food and fun times with others – everyone had a blast!

Let’s start with my favorite part of any meal, the dessert lol.  The sushi roll you see above is my “dessert spiral roll”, consisting of lychee, mango and pomegranate.  I love lychees.  My first experience with them was in Chinatown in Washington D.C. a few years ago.  I just love their fresh cool flavor, kind of like a flowery grape sort of taste is the best I can come up with to articulate their flavor.  I loved the combination of fruits, and any excuse to use pomegranate now that it’s in season is totally valid, but unfortunately they were so wet that the roll did not hold together well (the photo above is actually of half the roll, before attempting to cut the rest of the slices).  So instead, we ended up eating the rice and fruit anyways, which Audax (the Daring Cook’s co-host this month) informed me is called chirashi, or scattered, sushi.  My sister had never eaten a lychee before and was a bit tentative due to their odd squishy texture (which makes them great for making creepy eyeballs for Halloween), but once she did get up the nerve to try it agreed that she liked the flavor.  So if you have never had a lychee before, be brave!  It’s delicious and you will wonder how you’ve ever managed to live without enjoying this succulent fruit!

The other two rolls were for the actual dinner, and I had a bit more success with them because they were more traditional as far as sushi goes.  Nigiri is a type of sushi where little balls of rice are hand-shaped and then a topping is placed on top of the rice.  Given that I don’t really live in a location where I have access to same day catch sushi grade fish from locations outside of the N. Atlantic (where many fisheries are seriously depleted), I opted not to use any raw fish in my sushi selections.  I think this went over better with the crowd anyways.  So for the nigiri sushi, I chose to use smoked salmon (wild-caught alaskan).  I shaped the rice, and then placed on top cream cheese, salmon, and a cucumber slice, all tied together with a strip of nori (seaweed).  This was by far the star of the night!  Everyone loved the lox nigiri rolls.

My third roll was the dragon roll.  For this, one needs to roll an inside out roll and then cover the top with avocado (or seafood) and present it snaking across like a dragon.  For this, I marinated some chicken tenderloins using a Korean BBQ marinade recipe (Epicurious) and then just cooked it in a frying pan.  Also in my roll went some cucumber, carrot, and pickled daikon.  Rolling this wasn’t that hard, it just took some forethought – like remember to cover your sushi mat with some seran wrap so that the rice doesn’t stick and of course don’t overstuff the sushi (a chronic issue I have when making sushi).  Once rolled, the outside was sprinkled with sesame seeds and avocado slices went on top.

For dipping, I made a mixture of tamari and sesame oil, and I also brought some sirachia with me.  In the end, we all put a dollop of srirachia (hot chili sauce) on our plate like one would ketchup, and just dipped the sushi in the sirachia, haha. Not really traditional, but then neither was my sushi

One tip that I found very useful is this – when cutting the rolls, clean and wipe down your very sharp knife after every slice. If you have a particularly fat sushi roll, it may take 2-3 slicings with the knife before you can cut all the way though.  Just be patient and you will have nice clean cuts on each sushi slice.

Wow what a lot of fun “challenge sushi” was! Can’t wait to see what next month’s challenge will be!

© Jenn Cuisine, 2009 - 2009. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us