Chile Rellenos

I did one more thing that I can scratch off of my to-do list. I learned to make Chile Rellenos!

My friend Claudia R heard me talking about it one time and she said she would teach me how to make them. I took her up on it! Karen wanted to learn too, so we planned on meeting at Karen's house - which by the way, is a great place for a cooking class :) Claudia's mom, Rosario, was part of the teaching crew as well.

So here is my not-really-a-recipe for chile rellenos. Yumm!

Ingredients:
✔ Poblano Chiles (preferably with stem)
✔ Oaxaca cheese, grated (or Monterey Jack)
✔ Flour
✔ Eggs
✔ Oil

Directions:

1. Place whole chiles in a hot iron skillet turning until skin blisters on each side. Place charred chiles in a plastic bag to steam. Peel skin off of chiles, careful not to break open the flesh.
2. Make a small incision at the top of the chile and clean out seeds (about an inch and a half or two from the stem area straight down).
   
3. Stuff hollowed chili with grated cheese. If the slit opens too much, secure with a toothpick or two.
4. Use electric mixer to beat whites until they hold a stiff peak like meringue. Gently mix in eggs.
5. Pour 1-inch of oil into a heavy deep skillet over medium to medium high to heat. When you think the oil is hot, test the edge of a chile-it should sizzle vigorously.
6. Fill pie plate with flour and dredge stuffed chile on all sides. Shake excess flour. Dip flour coated chile into egg mixture, pulling out straight up by the stem.
7. Carefully lay batter coated chile into skillet and baste with spoonfuls of hot oil. When they’re golden underneath, gently turn the chiles over. Fry until the other side is richly golden.
8. Place cooked chiles on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil until ready to serve.

Variations:
✔ Fill with cooked chicken or ground been instead of or in addition to cheese.
✔ Smother with green chile or Tex-Mex tomato sauce.

I like rellenos smothered with green chile. Claudia is from Texas and says they don't really eat green chile there. She made a simple sauce with sauted onions and bell peppers simmered with crushed tomatoes. But they are also good just as they are.

Thanks Claudia!

French Toast Bake

I am still practicing recipes for our Mother's Day Brunch. So last night I put a make-ahead-casserole together for the French Toast Bake.

I've made one of these before, and I knew I would have done a couple of things different with it if I ever made it again. The recipe I used this time had me cut up the pieces of bread into 1 inch cubes - which is definitely something I liked. It made for more uniform cooking to the dish. I also added a pecan topping that was out of this world - not sure why I opted out on that last time. I must have been out of my mind!

Word to the wise... the recipe notes that you should place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Do it. I forgot to do this, and true to the note - the casserole puffed like magic and spilled out over the sides a bit, all gooey in the oven. Oops!

I got the recipe from my fave Cook's Illustrated magazine, the Make-Ahead Recipes Edition and I will be happy to share with you - just let me know if you'd like a copy and I will type it out.

So I am happy with my menu and my recipes. Now I am just worried about the oven. Wish I had two. Awe well, I will make do.

Gotta love a lazy day...

I'm a planner. Seems like I always have something going on - even if it's just hanging out with the family.

Today, I was supposed to go to the Rockies game. My plans changed and I ended up not going. There were probably plenty of things that I could have done, but I didn't. I woke up, goofed around. And then took a nap! (Boy it's been a long time since I've taken one). I can't say it was a great nap... I kept tossing and turning, probably because I was feeling guilty that I wasn't doing anything. When I got up, I got comfy on the couch and watched several episodes of Food Network Last Cake Standing.

I had been telling my dad to go to the grocery store for me - not thinking for one second he would - and was surprised when he asked for a shopping list. He went and picked up some items I needed to make Biscotti and Scones.... some recipes I want to test out for Mother's Day Brunch. I'm glad he went, because since he picked up the stuff I needed, I was obligated to do something with them. I tried two new recipes and now I don't feel like the day was totally wasted, but I also feel like I got a good rest too!

And, I was happy with both recipes, which I will post below. Let me know if you try them out and what you think!


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Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour a large baking sheet.
• In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in hazelnuts and chocolate chips.
• On prepared baking sheet with floured hands from dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.
• On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and , frozen, 1 month.

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Cranberry-Orange Cream Glazed Scones

Ingredients

* 2 Cups Unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 Tbs Baking Powder
* 3 Tbs Sugar
* ½ tsp Salt
* 4 Tbs Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes
* 1 tsp Grated Orange Zest
* ¾ Cup Dried Cranberries
* ¾ Cup Heavy Cream
* 1 Egg, lightly beaten

Directions

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Whisk together or process with six 1-second pulses.
• Remove the cover and distribute the butter and orange zest evenly over the dry ingredients. Cover and process with twelve 1-second pulses. Add the cranberries and quickly mix in or pulse one more time. Transfer the dough to a large bowl.
• Stir in the egg along with the heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough and all dry flour bits to a countertop and knead the dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Following the directions below, cut the scones into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake until the scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Glazed Scone Variation
Follow the recipe for Cream Scones, brushing the tops of the scones with 1 tablespoon heavy cream and then sprinkling them with 1 tablespoon sugar just before baking them.

Shaping Cream Scones
1. Press the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
2. With a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 8 wedges.

Darren's Faves....

I was out of the house bright and early yesterday to take Mondo to the airport. The snow was coming in fast and thick, so I made a quick stop at the grocery store on my way home. Darren has been asking me to make potstickers and coconut shrimp (from my cooking class) for a while now and I thought, what the heck. So when I got home, I made the potsticker filling (which was a whole lot of filling) and used up all the wrappers I had bought. I made some right then and froze the rest (they freeze quite nicely). I told Darren he could have potstickers and coconut shrimp for lunch today.

It was a beautiful day today - the sun shining bright and the roads were nice and clear. But there was a blizzard just yesterday (welcome to Colorado) and I guess I kind of acted like I was still snowed in. I didn't mind cooking all day at all.

Anyway, Darren held me to it too. It was the first thing he asked me for this morning. But before anything, I made a batch of dough for pizza for dinner this evening. It came out really nice and I even added some herbs to the mix. The coconut shrimp was great - but I want to find a good dipping sauce to make with it next time. We had the pizza for dinner. Darren was in heaven and told me "I can't wait until you take your next cooking class!"

New Pasta Dinner

My brother and some of his friends from CCU used to get together for "Friday Dinners". I don't know how I got invited, or if I just showed up, but somehow I got in on the loop. I remember one time we had one planned at Mondo's apartment and his back went out. Everyone still came over and Mondo was laid out on his futon mattress in the middle of the floor while we all ate around him. We watched a few episodes of Flight of the Concords that night too. It was fun. That was a year ago.
I finally made some plans with Debbie and asked Mondo to extend the invitation to the rest of the group. Everyone was able to make it. I was pretty psyched to try a new dish. A pasta with white cheese cream sauce.

I came home early to get a good start and make sure everything was ready on time. But - the stove didn't cooperate! It kept blowing the circuit when I had more than one burner on! grrr! Fortunately, I was able to have dinner on the table at the right time... I just ended up having to make dessert.

It's been a while, but here are some "not really a recipe" notes...
For the pasta sauce:
I sautéd shallots for a minute and then added chicken broth. Simmered for a bit before adding grated gouda cheese and heavy whipping cream. Once that got to a consistency I liked, I added wilted spinach, cooked chicken and sautéd mushrooms. I poured the sauce over fusili pasta cooked al dente, mixed and topped with toasted pine nuts.

The next time I will probably use white onions and garlic instead of shallots. I might add some bacon or procuitto and I might try a different white cheese too - although, wouldn't be sad to use gouda again. The fusili pasta was hard to find, but I would definitely take the time to look for it again.

For desert we had Bananas Foster:
I melted butter and added brown sugar. Once that melded together, I added sliced bananas and stirred the mixture for a bit before adding some spiced rum. It didn't flambé for me, so we just ate it like that (yumm). I rolled the ice cream in the crepe, with sliced bananas and then covered with the sauce.

Dessert Crepes...

This morning I decided to give crepes a go. It's something I've been wanting to try for a long time - but have always been afraid of. They seem so delicate and precise.

The ingredient list is very basic, and I had everything on hand, so I thought "what have I got to lose". I hadn't planned on it, but I had Nutella (something I have also never tried before) and bananas, so I decided to make a sweet version.

The recipe is super easy and fast to make. On the first crepe I noticed the batter was a little bit thick and lumpy, so I added a drop more milk and mixed it another minute. The outer edges were crispy, which is an unusual texture in a crepe to me, but I don't think it was a bad thing. I noticed that as I stacked them, the moisture from the steam softened them. One small batter made about 18 crepes.

I spread a thin layer of Nutella with sliced bananas on the inside and then rolled them. I drizzled some with chocolate syrup (I preferred them without). They were a hit. Even my dad liked them, and he's not much into trying "different" food. The next time, I would like to dust with powdered sugar and top with fresh strawberries. I am also looking forward to making Bananas Foster with the extra ones I ended up storing. And, I can't wait to try savory crepes!

A Super Easy Crepe Recipe
✔ 1 1/2 Cups Milk (I added a couple more Tbs)
✔ 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
✔ 2 Eggs
✔ 1 Tbs Cooking Oil
✔ 1/4 tsp Salt (savory) -OR- 2 Tbs Sugar (dessert)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a rotary beater until well mixed. Heat a lightly greased (I used buttery cooking spray) 6 inch non-stick skillet to medium (almost medium-high). Remove pan from heat and (quickly) ladle 3 Tbs of batter into center of the pan. Lift and tilt the pan to evenly spread the batter. Return to heat.

The directions I have said to brown on one side only, but I turned mine. Could be why they ended up a bit crispy (and not like chip-a-tooth crispy). A spatula was more of a problem than it was a help - and they were easy enough to lift with my hand. Tip - work quickly!

To store, place a layer of waxed paper between crepes and freeze them. Let crepes thaw at room temperature for one hour before using.

Dueling Lasagna...

Mario loves lasagna. We didn't have anything really planned for Sunday and so I said, we could do a family dinner and make lasagna. He jumped on that. Plus, we had extra red wine from the wine party, so what better to pair it with :)

I guess I kinda taught Karen how to make lasagna a few years ago. I use the term "taught" very loosely. We decided that we would each make a lasagna - Mario always mentioned a vegetarian version she's made.

What a great idea - it made it soooo much easier. Karen browned the Italian Sausage and Beef and I chopped mushrooms and zucchini. We each layered a pan of lasagna, reducing the prep time quite a bit. At one point, Karen looked over at me and said "are you sure you taught me how to make this? You're doing it different." I guess that's the beauty of a dish like this, you can "do it differently" and it will still be good. You really can't go wrong with such yummy ingredients. (Although I have to say, I never order lasagna out. Homemade is just too good to compare.)

My layers (between sauce and uncooked noodles)...

• Ricotta & Large Curd Cottage Cheese mixed with an egg, Mozzarella, Salt and Pepper
• Cream Cheese, Mushrooms and Spinach
• Cooked Italian Sausage / Ground Beef
• Mozzarella

Karen's ingredients were almost the same. She used a different kind of sauce (both of ours were from a jar) and she added zucchini. She mixed her spinach in with her cheese mixture too.

Lasagna can be a pricey dish to make. But it feeds a ton of people, so it was great to do this as a family dinner. I hope to do this again maybe in a couple of months. And - if you have any, the leftovers are amazing...

What's for breakfast?

When Mondo asked "What's for breakfast?" this morning, I said "How 'bout a quiche?" Food Network had a recipe for a Hash Brown Quiche that looked tasty and it's one of the recipes I wanted to test for a brunch I'm thinking of hosting soon.

I pretty much went by the recipe with a couple of modifications... I used fresh potatoes and bacon instead of ham (big chunky meaty pieces). I added sautéed mushrooms and instead of half and half, I just used a little bit of milk. I also used more eggs - since I didn't measure the ingredients, I need more filler. To cut down on cooking time - I lightly scrambled the egg mixture for a few minutes before filling the hash brown crusts. Since they were partially cooked, it only took 10 minutes instead of 30 minutes to set.

Sooooo goooood.....

Who makes a T-Bone with a side of Fried Rice?

I do. That's who! I love rice. Probably my favorite side dish. You know, the one food item I could never get sick of...

We took a trip to Costco today and I got one of those ginormous packs of mushrooms (not fancy ones, the ones that my chef friend calls "white trash mushrooms" - she said it, not me - but man, I love those kinds of mushrooms!) and a gallon of soy sauce! I was sooooo ready for dinner when we got home - so, my mom cooked up the T-bone steaks and I sautéd some of the mushrooms with onion, steamed some asparagus and we rounded it out with fried rice. Yummm....


Not really a recipe for Shrimp Fried Rice
Something between frying and scrambling a couple of eggs. Don't overcook. Chop up and set aside. Sauté sliced mushrooms in butter and garlic for several minutes - until tender. Add peeled shrimp (cut into small pieces) and continue to sauté until pink. Set aside. Add oil to non-stick skillet and heat for a minute or two, add steamed rice (cold is okay - just break it up). Fold rice over itself in pan adding soy sauce as it warms. Add ginger, eggs, mushrooms and shrimp and continue to fold over itself til warm through. Add sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

I also usually add sautéd bean sprouts and carrots, but didn't have any at home.

Baked Potato & Bacon Soup

I wanted to make breakfast this morning... but I didn't get up in time AND we didn't have the stuff to make it.

Mondo called and asked what the plan was and I said "How about lunch? Potato soup?" He said "okay". Which was cool, cause then I was able to tell my dad to go to the store and get stuff so I could make Mondo lunch (he'll do anything to get his boy to come over).

I have this recipe for a sausage potato soup that I LOVE! It's my favourite! And I saw Paula Deen making some cheese soup the other day on Food Network that looked pretty good... so, I decided to kinda mix-n-match to make some Baked Potato and Cheese Soup. I thought it was good, a little salty - but I can adjust that next time. I'm also gonna mix it up a bit to make Broccoli-Cheddar Soup sometime too I think.

Not really a recipe for Baked Potato & Bacon Soup
Sauté a finely diced onion and 4-5 stalks of chopped celery in about 3 Tbs of butter. Add about 1/4 cup flour and sauté a few minutes longer. Add 2 cans of chicken stock about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water. Add about 4 baking potatoes (chopped into large cubes). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add about 1 to 2 cups cooked bacon pieces and 1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste (remember, if you're eating with crackers - that will add salt). Continue simmering for 20 minutes. Add one cup of shredded cheddar cheese and stir until melted in. Serve garnished with green onions and oyster crackers. We didn't have any, but sour cream might be good too.

Not-really a recipe...

We went out to dinner (and it sucked - more to come with some restaurant reviews :) Anyway, when we got home, my mom was hungry. So, I put on some rice to steam (with my new rice cooker - yay) and made her some kung-pao beef.

Okay, it wasn't really cook-cooking 'cause the sauce was in a bottle... but I thought it was pretty good... enough that I wish I would have waited to eat at home! And - I can make fried rice this week too.

Not Really a Recipe for Kung Pao Beef
Slice beef into thin strips and lightly coat with cornstarch. Seer beef in a little bit of oil in a pan set on HI heat. Add diced carrots, celery, onion and bell peppers. Saute for 5 to 7 minutes. Add Lee Kum Kee Kung Pao Stir Fry Sauce and peanuts. Serve over steamed rice.

What's for dinner auntie?

I got a call from my nephew Jessie tonight asking "What's for dinner auntie?" So I said, "I don't know, come over and I'll figure something out."

Not really a recipe for Beef Stroganoff
Slice beef into thin bite sized pieces. Lightly coat with flour. Fry in hot skillet with a little bit of oil. Remove beef and add sliced mushrooms and onions to skillet. Saute with butter and salt for 5 to 7 minutes. Add beef, sour cream, mustard and beef broth. Serve over steamed rice or noodles.