An Invasion

     Today, our home was invaded by thirteen year old boys. It was actually a dinner party for my brother and five of his friends. So, I spent the day cooking for them. Kind of. I made the carrot cake last night, as you know, and my mom did all the prep for the main entree we prepared. So really, I was quite lazy. But, this main entree we made is a food that is quite famous, especially if you like Julia Child and have watched "Julie and Julia" or both. It is boeuf bourguignon!

     It is basically beef stewed for a couple of hours with garlic and carrots and onions and herbs and loads of red wine. Yummy. When I watched it being made in "Julie and Julia," it seemed hard. Something where lots of things could go wrong. But, it is not! Granted, I didn't use Julia Child's recipe, so maybe that one is fussier. The recipe my mom wanted to try is from "The Paris Neighborhood Cookbook," which has recipes by quartier in Paris. It is very cool, and you should check it out.

     Anyway, so we cut up carrots and onions and a beef shank. I browned the beef up, and then we let it stew. Meanwhile, I watched lots of Friends and NCIS. I do love cooking. Isn't it so therapeutic to just let things simmer? You don't have to do anything, and you get lovely smells wafting through the air. It makes me happy.

The finished carrot cake by the way. In case you were missing it :)

     So, the thirteen year olds chowed down on my fancy Frenchy dish. Don't believe me - it's not fancy at all, just homey goodness. Just melt in your mouth beef, soft carrots, and a gravy with sweetness and a great depth of flavor. I want more...But to get back to the point, the boys seemed to enjoy the dish, considering how little is now left. There was another dish on the table as well, but you will have to wait till tomorrow to see that one. Just enjoy what you get for now: really good Meat.

Boeuf Bourguignon 
Adapted from "The Paris Neighborhood Cookbook" by Danyel Couet 

1 Spicy Italian Pork Sausage 
2 lb Beef Shank 
1 tsp Salt 
1 tsp Pepper 
4 small Carrots 
2 tbsp Butter 
1 Large Onion, Minced 
5 Garlic Cloves, Sliced  
1 bottle (good if possible) Red Wine 
2 Bay Leaves 
1 tsp Dried Herb Mix 
1 cup Chicken Stock 
1/4 cup Parsley, Chopped 
4 in Baguette or Similar Hard Loaf
1 tbsp Olive Oil  

Prep:

First, cut the beef into 2'' cubes and pat all the pieces dry with a paper towel. Add the salt and pepper to them and turn the pieces, so they are all seasoned. Also, chop the sausages into small pieces and the carrots into 1'' pieces.

You want the bread to be croutons. So, cut it into 1'' cubes. Pan fry the cubes in a little olive oil until they are crisp. Then, set them aside.

Making the Bourguignon:

First, heat a little oil in a very large saucepan and fry up the sausages. Take them out of the pan and set them aside. Then, heat the butter at medium heat in the same pan. Add the beef, and brown the pieces of meat on all sides. Don't crowd the pan, do it in two batches or more if you need to. Once the beef is browned, add the carrots, onion, and garlic. Fry at medium heat while stirring. After a few minutes, add the bottle of wine. Stir and scrape the pan to loosen any meat juices, then add the bay leaves and herb mixture. Pour in enough chicken broth that the meat is completely covered. After making sure that everything is thoroughly combined, cover the pot and let  simmer for two hours. Then, uncover, and take the pieces of meat and carrot out into a different bowl. Add the parsley to the remaining liquid, stir it in, raise the heat to medium high, and boil the liquid off until it has a "syrupy" consistency (which I took as - until it is slightly thick). Add a few pinches of salt, to taste, and then mix the meat and carrots back in. Heat everything up till it is hot again, and top it with croutons. Now, you are ready to serve! I suggest with mashed potatoes. 

The Best Kind of Carrots

Deconstructed Carrot Cake

  
     I know I have already written an ode of sorts to carrots, by which I am referring to my Carrots post of course. However, those carrots were not in the form I most prefer them. They were savory carrots, not sweet carrots. Actually, I take that back, I managed to put honey even in my savory carrot dish? I am obviously biased. Carrots belong with sweets. Most of all, carrots belong in Carrot Cake.

Work Station: So Well Lit!

     Carrot cake has always been one of my favorite desserts. I don't know where I first had carrot cake, or when I first fell in love with it. But, I do know there is something about the carroty flavor and the cream cheese icing that just calls out to my heart - and my stomach. I do love a good cake!

     Oh, and the joy of having large pans? I can't tell you how lovely it is. No more loaf pan for a little while! The little comforts of home are innumerable. Like having enough bowls that I don't have to keep washing the same ones and getting to watch TV while cooking. But most importantly: my little brother GS (not so little anymore at 5'6.5'' and taller than me) is here to lick the bowl for me! It was no fun at school making cakes without him to eat the batter. Yay GS!

     However, I do need to tell you, I just couldn't follow the carrot cake recipe. Between having no crushed pineapples - I used a mix of canned apricots and mandarin oranges - and not liking icing that is too sweet, I did alter a bit. The recipe includes both my changes and the original because I have made Wooden Spoon Cookbook's Carrot Cake before and it is just delicious, I was just fiddling for myself.

My favorite Sous Chef!

     What can I say about this carrot cake? The substitutions did it no harm at all. It is sweet, but not too sweet. It is the carrot cake - cream cheese pairing I could not live without. It is everything I want to eat in large slices, and not save for the party of 8th grade boys (my brother and his friends) coming over tomorrow. So, we just cut layers off the top and dipped them in cream cheese frosting and ate them. I had to taste test right! Still, carrot cake flavor is supposed to improve for the next day. I guess I will just listen to the cookbook for once and not gobble up its deliciousness. Which means, pictures of the finished product will come tomorrow!

California Carrot Cake 
Adapted from The Wooden Spoon Dessert Book by Marilyn M. Moore 

For Carrot Cake: 

1 can Crushed Pineapple packed in Juice OR 1 cup Mixture of Crushed Canned Apricots, Mandarin Oranges, Pineapples, etc. Packed in Syrup
4 Large Eggs 
1 cup Granulated Sugar 
1 cup Light Brown Sugar 
1 cup Vegetable Oil 
2 cups All-Purpose Flour 
1 tsp Salt 
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda 
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon 
2 cups Grated Carrots 
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans or Almonds or Other Nuts 

     Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9'' x 13'' pan. In a large bowl, beat the four eggs thoroughly until they are lemon colored. In a separate bowl, whisk the two kinds of sugar together, and push out any lumps. Then, beat the sugar into the eggs. While mixing, pour the vegetable oil into the egg and sugar mixture in a small stream, so they are all combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Mix this dry mixture into the wet mixture a little bit at a time, until it is all combined. Next, stir in the carrots and then the chopped nuts. Once everything is combined, pour the batter into the prepared pan. Put it in the oven to bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until it is brown on top and a toothpick pushed in comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Then, take the cake out, and leave it on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, frost!

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 oz Cream Cheese 
4 tbsp Butter 
1 tbsp Pineapple Juice or Apricot Syrup or Whatever the fruits you used were packed in 
2 cups Confectioners Sugar (or 2 1/2 cups and no cheese) 
2 tbsp Ricotta Cheese

     Blend the cream cheese, butter, ricotta cheese, and juice together. Then, sift in the confectioners sugar and combine thoroughly. You are now ready to frost your cake!

I am HOME

      

     I am home. Wow. Finally. Home and twelve hours of sleep, that's all I really needed. I'm also so sorry about the flan post. The pictures are so awful! That is what sleep deprivation does to me. But, now I am back and oh so bubbly. Being able to sleep and not worry about what I have left in the fridge to eat, it does help my mindset a lot.

You can see me! 

     So, what did I make in this state? Ricotta pudding. Maybe this sounds strange to you. But, this lemon ricotta pudding is my go-to comfort food. I have made it so many times I have lost count, and the recipe book I get it from now falls open to it's page. It's delicious warm, a browned crust, and then oozing citrusy pudding underneath.

     I love this dessert. It makes me feel all warmed up on a cold wintery day, but it is also not too heavy. I think lemon has that lovely property of making desserts feel like they cannot possibly weigh you down - I just realized that could be considered a bad pun, sigh. Regardless, it made me happy. Using the handheld beater and then the electric mixer - oh how I missed a Kitchenaid - also helped with my beautific state.  

Awaiting its baking - in blue roasting pan.

     So, after spending the day resting on the couch, I got up and finally made this pudding. It was - if you haven't already guessed - amazing. It was everything I said it was, and sprinkled with a little powdered sugar, the best end to a meal I finally did not have to cook myself. Ah heaven.

Lemon Ricotta Pudding

Adapted from Dessert by Katy Holder 

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1/4 cup Butter

1 1/2 cups Ricotta

3 Eggs Separated

1/4 cup Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

Confectioners Sugar for Sprinkling

        Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a casserole dish with 6 cup capacity. Set some water to bowl. In one bowl, beat the butter and sugar together thoroughly with an electric mixer. Then, add the three egg yolks and beat them in. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add the dry mixture and ricotta alternately to the butter-sugar-egg yolk mixture, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks (if using the same mixer: clean the whisks well). In two batches, fold the egg whites into the rest of the mixture. Place the casserole dish on a roasting pan, and fill the casserole dish with the mixture. Place them both in the oven, and then fill the roasting pan with water so it comes halfway up the dish. Bake for about an hour (it took me about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean and the pudding doesn't jiggle when you pull the pan. The top will be browned, don't worry. Then, let it cool a little, and sprinkle confectioners sugar over the top. Lastly, serve, and eat!

A -Woefully Incomplete- Cast of Characters

     I am on Spring Break! On a six hour bus today from Philadelphia to Boston, I really don't have the time to cook. Oh no! But don't worry, I will not abandon you to boredom if you happen to be reading today. Instead, I thought I would introduce you to some of the people in my life. These are the people I poll about what I should cook and when I should cook. They are my taste tasters, my cheerer up-ers and helper on-ers when I am agonizing over what pictures to post because they are all fuzzy or how I am possibly going to get the blog done before midnight. They are in no particular order, I just went with the flow, and many many people are missing - mainly because they are never around when I have a camera! So, here we go:

     Starting with one of my most culinarily inclined friends: This is NO, who cooks the best Nigerian food around. Of course, I haven't had any other Nigerian food to compare, but her food is really pretty delicious. She is also a fellow experimenter in creating new dishes, and she came up with the most amazing hot wings recipe the other day, with me taste testing along of course.

     Frequently polled for my blog, this is my not-quite-hipster friend BJG who made brownies for his girlfriend (my roommate AT) for Valentine's Day. Yay for him discovering the ease of baking!

     This is him trying to measure 1/4 of a cup of oil. His measuring cup, from what I heard, is a magical measuring cup. Apparently, even when you have 1/3 of a cup and then pour out half of it, there remains 1/3 of a cup. Our friend PVL examined this phenomenon closely, and I'm really sad because the picture of the two of them scrutinizing measuring cup in above position got deleted in my purge of my Pictures folder. It's ok though, I still have the below:

     PVL is most profound. He is a baker of key lime pies, and sometimes key lemon pies. He is also a diligent tv-watcher on the computer and a fellow fan of "Whose Line Is It Anyway," which is just the best show ever. Lastly, he is a most necessary helper outer when it is 11:55 pm, and I keep forgetting that I still haven't finished writing my blog post for the day! (Also, doesn't he look like the Blue Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland?)

     And this is RG! BJG's and PVL's other roommate. 

     She has been a helpful taster of all my pork chop dishes. It is always nice to have someone to share a chop of katsu - or two- at midnight. I am sad that the corner of the picture is orange because now it does not do her justice. But still, she is a most wonderful fellow chemistry-studier and food-eater and person who is actually happy for me every time I tell her I have gotten five new views from one new country! 

      And, last but most importantly, this is PN. She is my official taste tester of everything and a great recipient of all foods. I think she is now in 90% of my blog posts. She is also the amazing owner of the camera which I need to upload the pictures for this blog, so I bother her every day to upload upload upload. And she still bears with me. Yay! Note her enjoying my pho, and helping me prepare it. What would I do without her? But most importantly, note her enjoying cake! Even though she doesn't have as much of a sweet tooth as me, she always helps me out with my late night finishing of baked goods.

      So, these are just a few of the people in my life. I hope you enjoyed meeting them! I will be back cooking and posting recipes from tomorrow, safe in home-sweet-home Boston, MA. 

Baked Custard

     What does one do after a very bad day? When one has gone to sleep at 6 am and then woken up at 9 am because one had to read a book that one did not have time to read due to other works earlier? When one has work all morning and class all afternoon and then work at night? Well, one eats baked custard, of course. What else would you do to make yourself feel better?

     I love the idea of baked custard. The recipe I found was Chocolate and Zucchini's and it was French: Oeufs au Lait. But baked custard sounds so deliciously British! I love merging my country-philias. After a long day at class, I came home and started heating up some milk, sugar and vanilla. I added some eggs and put the mixture in the oven. Could anything be easier?

     At least, I meant to make baked custard. I used half of Chocolate and Zucchini's recipe, because I figured that would make sense for my loaf pan. It just shows that I was tired. How could half the recipe for a large casserole dish make sense for a little loaf pan? So, technically, I did not make baked custard. I think I made flan. This meant it took a lot longer to cook than the baked custard would have. My cranky stomach was mad at first. But when I ate it warm out of the oven, slightly sweet but not overwhelming, and all smooth and silky, it made everything seem suddenly bright. Comfort baked in a few eggs and milk, that is all one really needs.

  
Flan-Baked Custard 
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini 

2 cups Milk 
1/3 cup Sugar 
1/2 tsp Vanilla 
3 Eggs 

In a medium saucepan, mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla. At medium heat, heat the mixture to a simmer. Then, take it off the heat and allow it to cool. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk the milk mixture into the eggs. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and put some water to boil. Butter a loaf pan, and pour the milk and egg mixture inside. Put a large roasting pan or baking dish in the oven, and place the loaf pan on it. Fill the roasting pan up to an inch in water, in order to make a water bath for the custard. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the custard looks firm and slightly browned on top. 

Almost There

     

     It's almost my spring break! Did you know? It starts this Friday. I cannot wait to have no class at all and nothing to do...except study for the quiz and two midterms I have directly after break, but hush. I have other things to think about. Such as: since I only have two days left in Philly, I really need to use up my groceries- carrots, chicken, yogurt, milk. That's not so bad. On top of which, I haven't cooked for rather a long time, and I need some curry to help me survive till Friday.

Artistic Marinade

      You know, people keep asking me how I get the time to cook, etc. while I have school. Here's the great thing about writing this blog: I always have food to eat (except on days without cooking), I don't eat out at all (so I am saving money- Yay!), I probably spend as much time cooking/eating with people as we would spend eating out, and cooking a real meal does not take that much more time or effort than frozen food. Especially when you are trying to heat up frozen food and you manage to set off the smoke detector and it just won't turn off for a very long time. That was me, yesterday, in the five minutes right before I had to leave for work. As numerous people told me: There is a lesson in this, just stick to cooking!

     So, that is what I am going back to doing, and I am so happy. Making a simple curry is just the most relaxing thing of all. I defrost and brine my chicken, mix up some yogurt marinade / curry base, dump the chicken in it, cut up some of my carrots (would it be ok to put my last bok choy in a curry? hm. I suppose not. I must cling to the last shreds of my authenticity), and it all simmers away. I love knowing my dinner will be a full and delicious meal.

I can't help that it's yellow...it just is yellow!

      So, carrots, yogurt, milk, chicken. All check. Delicious curry dinner, certified by PN who had some (of course), check. She ate it without anything because I was too lazy to simmer it down into thickness, and it did make a very good soup that way. For my part, I had some on rice with more yogurt because that is the way I do. The carrots were nice and soft, the curry was flavorful and not too spicy, the chicken was perfectly cooked. Yay food!

Carrot and Yogurt Chicken Curry 

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs 
1 cup Yogurt 
1/2 cup Milk 
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Garam Masala 
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder 
1/8 tsp Salt 
1/8 tsp Red Chili Powder
2 Green Cardamom Pods 
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil 
3 mid-sized Carrots, Diced

Chicken Prep: 

Soak the chicken thighs in a large bowl filled with water, a spoon of salt, and a spoon of sugar. After preparing your marinade, take the chicken thighs out and cut them into bite sized pieces (1 in cubes).

Marinade and Curry:

In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, milk, ground coriander, garam masala, turmeric, ginger powder, salt, and red chili powder. Add the bite sized pieces of chicken and mix in thoroughly. Leave for ten minutes. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and dice them.

Then, heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the cardamom pods and fry them for a minute. Next, draining the chicken of as much liquid marinade as possible, sear the chicken on both sides at medium heat. Don't crowd the pan: you can sear one batch of chicken, place it in a bowl, and then sear another batch. Once all the chicken has been seared, dump it all back into the saucepan, pour in the marinade, and add the carrots. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the curry for ten minutes or until the carrots are soft. If you want the curry thicker, simmer for slightly longer. 

The Simple Things

     

     Isn't it sad that after all those amazing pictures, we have come back to this. Pictures I took at 2 am in the night, i.e. no natural lighting, while excessively tired and without much aesthetic sense? No, I'm not fishing for compliments. It just makes me sad that this post must follow the last. Or at least, it would make me sad if I didn't like the food of this post so much. The food being the bread of course, and this bread being brioche.

     For those who may not know, I am an Anglophile and an Asia-phile, an India-phile, and a Francophile. I just can't help it. Such beautiful places...with such amazing foods. I love crepes and croissants as much as the next person, I treasure my memory of being a fourth grader visiting Paris and walking around a grocery store munching on a fresh baguette, but this Saturday I craved something else. Also because, apparently I've gotten to the point where I enter a supermarket, look at the bread, and think: but why would I buy bread? I can just make it at home. It is a lovely point. So, putting two and two together: I made French bread - easy French egg bread - I made brioche! Ta da.

     I did this on Saturday and saved it up for now because I knew I would have absolutely no time to cook between then and now. Physics midterm people, and it ate up all my time. But you know the great thing about making bread? You mix a little, you let it rise and you study for a few hours, then you knead a little, and then study for an hour. It's a great process. Of course, that's if you actually study in between and don't start watching Friends. So, you study while you knead to make up for it!

     What can I say about this bread? It's delicious warm out of the oven. It's good toasted and with a lot of butter (well, obviously). It makes great French Toast. (It is the French cousin of Challah bread after all.) Why would you not make your own bread? Especially when it is as simple as this. The smell of freshly baking bread will reward you, and then the taste will take it over the top.

Brioche
Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande 


1 2/3 cup All Purpose Flour
2 3/4 oz Butter, Room Temperature
2 Eggs, Room Temperature
1 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1/3 cup Warm Milk
1 pinch Salt
1 Egg Yolk

In a large bowl, mix the flour and yeast. Make a well in the middle and add the warm milk slowly. Then, add the sugar and pinch of salt. After mixing (you can use a wooden spoon or your hands), add the butter a small piece at a time. Mix each piece in before adding the next. Then, add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each, then work the dough until it detaches easily from your fingers and is elastic. I had to add a little more flour at this point to make the dough less sticky. Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place for two hours, until its size has doubled. Work the dough for ten more minutes, and divide it into four balls. Place them in a greased loaf pan, and cover. Let rise for another hour. Then, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the tops of the brioche with egg yolk mixed with a dash of sugar. Use scissors to make small cuts at the top of each of the balls. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes. Once it is golden brown, remove from the oven and unmold.

Note:


My loaf pan only fit three of the dough balls, so I made the last one into a bun as you can see above. I just rolled the dough into a round and baked it on the baking sheet for slightly less time than the loaf (about 15 minutes).