Meatballs

I told you that I've been on an Italian food kick and that, coupled with the cold and snowy weather, required that I make meatballs immediately.  I was having friends over to watch the State of the Union address, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try a meatball recipe I'd been eyeing.  Plus, my friend Trevor love Italian food, and always brings a good bottle of wine to go along with it.

I found the recipe by searching the internet for "authentic Italian meatballs."  I realize now that what I made probably doesn't even come close.  No fresh garlic, some dried herbs, and just one kind of meat rather than three.  Plus, I used the extra lean ground beef, which probably makes Italian cooks everywhere roll their eyes and groan.

Anyway, I did start out by making my own breadcrumbs from a whole wheat baguette.  I ate the other half, obviously.  It was super-easy, though.  I used my brand new food processor to make the crumbs, and then I tossed them with a couple tablespoons of butter and toasted them.  Bread and butter. . . you can't go wrong.

The day before the dinner, I made the meatballs.  I let them sit in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to meld.

Before my friends arrived, I made the sauce.  I find Bobby Flay to be generally brilliant when it comes to food and being a badass, so I went with his recipe.  He had a recipe for meatballs as well, one that included three kinds of meat and fresh garlic, but I decided to stick with my own.

My girlfriend, Amanda, got me this immersion blender for Christmas several years ago and it is A-MAZING.

Maybe a little too much fresh parsley.

Although the recipe calls for simmering the meatballs in the sauce for three hours, I earn an honest wage and don't have that kind of time.  So, I baked the balls in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, and simmered them in the sauce for 45 minutes.

They were good.

The best part is, leftovers can also be used to make some delicious meatball subs.  (Not pictured because we devoured them too quickly.)

Meatballs--serves 4

2 lbs ground beef (I used 90% lean)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley (I like flat leaf)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (a heavy pour never hurts anyone when it comes to cheese and wine)

Directions:

1.  Mix all ingredients together and mold into golf ball-sized balls.  Refrigerate overnight.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, then simmer in sauce (below) for 45 minutes.

Tomato sauce
By Bobby Flay--Which I'll let you read yourself.  :)  I followed the recipe exactly, except I forgot to add the basil.  :(  I'm sure it would have been even better with it!

I served with whole wheat spaghetti one night and a whole wheat sub roll another night.  Both were excellent!  The meatballs freeze well, too!

Evil Chocolate Cake

I feel like I need to go to confession after encountering this chocolate cake, and I'm not even catholic.  I call this cake "Evil" (not the original name, of course) because it calls to you with all its chocolatey deliciousness and forces you to eat piece after piece without even thinking.  On top of all that, it's EASY, giving you no excuse not to make it whenever you want something truly decadent.  I found that triple-wrapping the last slice in saran wrap and then wrapping it in tin foil prevented me from consuming the entire thing in less than 36 hours.  The jury's still out on whether the remainder of the thing is making it into the office tomorrow.

Seriously, though, this is the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my entire life, and I've had some good ones.  I had been meaning to make it for a while now because almost everyone who reviewed this recipe on allrecipes.com gave it 5 stars--always a good sign.  It's thick, rich, and chocolatey, and somehow manages to be on the light and airy side.  And best of all, it begins its life as a cake mix!!

I followed the recipe and chose a devil's food mix, but reviewers said they used all kinds of different combinations of cake mix, pudding, and chips.  When I try this next time, I'll use a fudge cake mix with peanut butter chips, because I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together.

The light texture of the finished product surprised me because the batter is SUPER thick.  I didn't "pour" the batter into the bundt pan as much as "spooned" it in, so I was afraid that it would turn out more like a big brownie than a cake.  Not so.  Not that there's anything wrong with a "big brownie."

Can you see how thick the batter is?

Out of the oven.  I shaved off the bottom (top here) so that the cake would lie flat on the platter, which meant I got to taste test!

All this cake needs is some powdered sugar or maybe some light vanilla ice cream, but I think it would be too rich with any kind of icing.  It really is ooey-gooey all by itself, but the powdered sugar makes it look pretty.

Definitely try this for yourself.  I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Chocolate cake

Adapted from allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix, or another chocolate cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix (though I accidentally got the smaller box and it turned out fine)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

4 eggs, beaten lightly

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a bundt pan generously.

2. In large bowl, mix together with a hand mixer the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into bundt pan.

3. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean/few crumbs.  Cool cake thoroughly in pan for at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

4.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Other garnish ideas: fresh whipped cream, light vanilla ice cream, or mixed berries.

Fig and blue cheese-stuffed pork tenderloin

This is one of those recipes that I've had in my pile for years (literally--three!) and I've never had the opportunity to make.  It's one of those recipes that you would never see on a menu at a restaurant, never pick out for yourself, and never think anyone else will really like.  For me, I love the component parts of this recipe.  Well, mostly the figs; I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese or pork.  This recipe is kind of like Barack Obama--it sounded like a good idea at the time.

[Did she just SAY that?]

[Yes, I did.]

Anyway, I wasn't a HUGE fan of this dish, but as promised, I will write about it so that everyone can learn from my mistake.  Not that it was a big mistake--it's just that I would have been happier with something else.  I was having some girlfriends over for dinner last Friday night and ran the idea by them to make sure no one objected to figs and blue cheese.  When I got the green light, I decided to go for it.

I started by preparing the pork tenderloin.  Now, my own personal opinion is that raw pork--like most raw white meat--is nasty.  Trimming the fat off of a long piece of pig is not the most appetizing way to start an evening.  Then, I had to pound the pork to 1/2 inch.  I've always read instructions about putting a piece of plastic wrap over the meat when pounding, but I've never done it, mostly because I didn't want to waste the plastic wrap.  But, when the pork shards went flying, I finally understood the concept.  Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I finally got the pork down to 1/2 inch or so.

Next came the rolling.  The figs and blue cheese weren't being overly cooperative in remaining in the pork, but I finally got everyone all rolled up and onto the roasting pan.  Yay.

Notice the unevenness of the pork.  Big boo.

The cooking part was the next problem.  See, there was a pork layer on the inside of the roll, which meant that the outside layer of pork was cooked through while the inside was raw.  In order to fully cook the inside layer, the outside was overcooked.  Overcooked pork, my friends, is not tasty.  Plus, all the cheese melted during the extra cooking time, which was quite sad.  I'm not sure how to remedy this problem, which means that I probably won't make stuffed pork again.  Unless someone has some advice. . .

I served it with an almond rice pilaf mixed with dried currants, fresh parsley and plenty of butter, as well as some steamed green beans.  We washed it all down with a couple of bottles of red wine, and the dinner was a success.  But anything with good wine is a success in my book.

Moral of the story: don't try this at home.  But in case you want to, here is the recipe:

Snatched from Cooking Light

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 cup dried figs, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (other reviewers recommended gorgonzola or goat cheese)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon apple jelly, melted (though I used apricot preserves and didn't melt)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice pork in half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, the other side.  Open the halves, laying pork flat.  Place pork between two sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet.  Sprinkle figs and blue cheese over pork, leaving a 1/2 inch margin around the outside edges.  Roll up the pork, jelly-roll fashion, starting with the long side.  Secure at 2-inch intervals with twine, or just place the seam side down.  Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper, and place on a foil-lined jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. (I placed on roasting rack.)

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.  Brush jelly over the pork.  Bake an additional 5 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees (slightly pink).  Let stand for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Mushroom Ragu

Ever since I took a walking tour of the North End with my mom (we went to Boston in December for our annual girls' trip), I've been on a bit of an Italian food kick.  This is curious, because I generally don't like Italian food.  For one, if I'm going to eat a ton of calories and carbs, I'd prefer it in the form of french fries, french bread, cheese, and/or chocolate.  A huge plate of pasta isn't usually on my List of Things I Crave.  Second, I don't like lots of garlic.  I know, that's almost sacrilege, especially for someone who likes to cook, but it doesn't agree with my stomach.  Third, I'm not a huge fan of Italian wine, which I find to be dry and tasteless most of the time.  I have better luck in a French restaurant, for all the aforementioned reasons.

But, back to my Italian kick.  On the walking tour, the guide took us to several Italian markets, starting at the pastry shop.  My mom and I discovered this before the tour and had already introduced ourselves to   the goods, but I purchased some canolis, anyway.

We also stopped at a few places that sold "artisanal pasta," which is another way of saying "expensive."  To be fair, though, the pasta is shaped with bronze dies, which makes for a rougher surface and, thus, allowing more of the sauce to stick.  And they have it in whole wheat?!  I had to purchase a bag. . .or three.

With my recent acquisition of gourmet pasta comes a desire to make a delicious sauce.  I've made a few homemade pasta sauces before and they have always been delicious, so I was excited to try something new.  I love mushrooms, so I thought a mushroom ragu would be nice.  I also love NPR and the Splendid Table, so when I came across a recipe for mushroom ragu from no other than Lynne Rossetto Kasper, I had to try it.

Despite the long list of ingredients, this recipe is fairly easy, but I wouldn't say it's something that you'd throw together on a Tuesday night.  It takes some time to soak, chop, simmer, and stir, but it's fairly worth it.  I mean, it wasn't the most amazing thing I've put in my mouth, but it was healthy and I like mushrooms, so I was happy.  My one major complaint is that after freezing and reheating, some of the mushrooms became chewy.  Or, maybe those were the dried mushrooms that I didn't soak long enough.  I guess we'll never know.

Wild Mushroom Ragu
Adapted from The Splendid Table

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup dried wild mushrooms
2 dry-packed sun-dried tomato halves (I used "smoked" because that's all my grocery store had on a Sunday night, and it was interesting.  I'd probably go for not smoked next time.)
1 pound fresh wild mushrooms (I used shiitake, cremini, and portobello)
1 1/2 tsp olive oil (I probably used more)
2 medium white onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (I used dried)
1 28-oz can Italian peeled tomatoes, chopped, with their juices
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream (I added this because it's good)
Fresh parmigiano-reggiano for garnish

Directions:


Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms and tomatoes in a small bowl, cover, and set aside to soak until softened, at least 15 minutes.



Wipe the fresh mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel. Trim off the tough stems and discard. If you are using portobellos, cut out the black gills and discard. Cut large mushrooms into 1/4-inch-thick slices through the stem; leave smaller ones (under 1 inch) whole.


In a medium saucepan, combine the olive oil, onions, and garlic, cover, and cook over medium heat until the onions begin to wilt, about 5 minutes. Uncover and sauté until they are just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes.


Meanwhile, scoop the dried mushrooms and tomatoes into a strainer, reserving the soaking liquid. Rinse them under cool water to remove any grit and press them with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the water. Coarsely chop them and set aside.


Carefully spoon about 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid into the saucepan with the onions, leaving behind any grit. Add the red wine and thyme and boil for 1 minute. Add the fresh mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the canned tomatoes and their juices, the chopped dried mushrooms and tomatoes, the sugar, and salt. Partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and the ragù is thick, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream, let simmer for a few minutes, then pepper generously.  Garnish with freshly-sliced parmigiano-reggiano.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

I looooove chocolate and peanut butter.  It's the perfect combination of heaven and. . .heaven.  I could pretty much take to the face a package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in a matter of seconds with no regrets.  I'm sure I'm not alone.


I needed an excuse to try a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing, so when my friend and colleague had a birthday (on the same day as my grandmother and boyfriend, incidentally), I decided to bring in cupcakes to celebrate.  Sure, I brought more than one can eat alone, but I like to encourage sharing.  It's just good for society.


I love a dense, moist cupcake, the kind you get from one of the many cupcake shops in the city for $3.50 each.  However, I find that most cupcakes I make come out dry and crumbly.  Hardly worth the calories.  I can usually make a pretty decent frosting, but then again, how hard is it to screw up butter, sugar, and flavoring?  


Despite my less-than-stellar track record, these cupcakes turned out really well!  The cake was dense and fairly moist (though I'm still going to hunt for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe, so if you have a good one, please pass along), and the frosting was to die for.  Very peanut butter-y, without being too sweet.  

Oh, I'm sorry.  Did you expect them to look pretty?  No can do.  I can only attempt edible.  And edible they were.  Of course, just to be sure they were good, we had two.  Each.  

Happy Birthday to Kartar! 

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting
Stolen from Tracey's Culinary Adventures, who stole it from someone else.


Chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted temperature, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (I made my own)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled  (I just realized I completely forgot to add this ingredient, and they were still good!  Maybe I should try these again, though. . .)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Working with a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is blended into the butter. Add the egg, then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the vanilla, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Scrape down the bowl and add the buttermilk, mixing until incorporated, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate and mix it in with the rubber spatula. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.
4. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes are dry and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into their centers comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a rack and let the cakes cool for 5 minutes before taking them out of the pan.



Peanut Butter Frosting:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream


Directions:
Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Rosemary Bread

As much as I love to cook (and sometimes bake), I have a pretty firm rule that I won't try to make things myself that are just delightful when purchased elsewhere and probably require a lot of effort.  In this category goes fresh pasta, ice cream, and, until recently, yeast bread.  I LOVE me some bread, and I truly believe that I would be a happy woman if God took away all other food and drink except for bread, cheese, and wine.  I love going to the Farmers Markets in DC and picking up a big, crusty loaf of bread (and eat the whole thing on the walk back home):

(Actually, this is my friend Tom's photo, so I can't take credit.  He's a great photographer, and this is from a market in Laos.  He gave me permission to steal.)

Given that I can buy an awesome loaf of bread from a local baker for under $3, and the fact that yeast confuses the @#$% out of me, I haven't attempted to make very many breads.  I did have my Aunt Jane try to teach me how to make her famous Grandma Coffee Cake, but when I insisted on putting triple the raisins in the dough and kneaded it more than desirable, the result was a hockey puck-esque loaf that was definitely sub-par.  I'll leave the Grandma Coffee cake-making to my Aunt Jane, or my mom, who has better luck.  Maybe it's a Waldkirch thing.

I decided to yet again tackle yeast bread when I had potato water leftover from the mashed potatoes I made for New Years Eve.  Now, I definitely can't let something as precious as potato water go to waste, so I did a google search on uses for it.  The most common answer: make bread!  So, I came across a recipe for "Delicious Rosemary Bread" (that was probably my google search) and went for it.

This was SO EASY!!  You basically just mix water (oh, yeah, the potato water ended up down the drain--opps!), sugar, butter, salt and yeast, then add the flour.  I kneaded the whole thing in the mixing bowl, so there was no floury mess on the counter to clean.  Then, I followed my mom's advice for rising part:

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Once it's preheated, turn off the oven and make the bread dough.
2) Place the prepared dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and put the bowl in the oven.  Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.  The warmth of the oven speeds up the rising process, so there isn't as much waiting.
3) Take the dough out of the oven and turn the oven back on to 200 degrees.  Punch down the dough and form a loaf on a well-oiled sheet pan.  Cover.  Place the pan in the oven and turn off the oven.  Let rise for another hour, or until doubled in size.
4) Bake according to instructions.

The results were AMAZING.  The inside was light and airy and the outside formed a nice crust.  I used dried rosemary and lots more salt than the original recipe called for, and the flavor was wonderful.  I also threw the rosemary directly into the dough, in addition to sprinkling it on top of the loaf.  The texture definitely deteriorated the next day (but made great toast!), so make this the day you'll serve it.  It's definitely worth the time and effort and you'll impress your friends or family!

Easy Rosemary Bread
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water (should be lukewarm--if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons rosemary, plus more for sprinkling (I used dried, and it was great, but I'm sure fresh rosemary would be even better.  Keep in mind you need more fresh to achieve the same flavor.)
3 cups flour (the original recipe called for bread flour, but I used all-purpose and it was fine)
olive oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  When preheated, turn the oven off.
2.  Dissolve the sugar in the warm water in a small bowl and mix in the yeast.  When yeast is bubbly, mix in the salt, butter, and rosemary.  Pour into a medium-to-large bowl and mix in 2 cups flour.  Gradually add the remaining flour to form a workable dough, and knead for 10-12 minutes.  When finished kneading, form a ball.  I had to add more dough as I was kneading to prevent the dough from sticking to my fingers.
3.  Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil (I use a paper towel to do this).  Place the dough in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and place in the oven to rise for 1 hour.
4.  After 1 hour, take the dough out of the oven and turn the oven on to 200 degrees.  Punch down the dough and transfer to a well-oiled sheet pan.  Form a loaf.  Brush olive oil on the top and sprinkle with rosemary and kosher salt.  Cover and place it in the oven (turn off the oven at this point).  Let rise for 1 hour.
5.  Remove loaf from the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Once preheated, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

New Year's Eve Rib Roast

My idea of a perfect Saturday night is a dinner party with lots of great food, wine, and friends, as opposed to going out to a club or bar, drinking too much, and staying up way too late.  So, when deciding what we should do to ring in 2011, a dinner party seemed like the obvious choice.  Once we confirmed that three other couples were in, I started planning the meal.

I almost instantly decided to make a rib roast--a.k.a. prime rib.  Now, "prime rib" is often a bit of a misnomer, because "prime" describes the grade of beef, as opposed to "choice" or "select".  Typically, you can only find "prime" rib in a restaurant (and you'll pay for it!); most grocery stores carry "choice" as their best grade of beef.  I found a gorgeous 3-bone "choice" rib roast on Monday, but since NYE wasn't until Friday, the butcher recommended that we put it in the freezer until Wednesday, and then transfer it to the refrigerator.  No big deal.

Well, that's not exactly how it turned out.

We took it out of the freezer around 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday and placed it in the fridge.  When I unwrapped it at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, the middle was still FROZEN!!!  HORRIBLE!!  I knew that if I put the roast in the oven with the center still frozen, I would get a well-done outside and a rare inside--no good.  I finally decided to run to the grocery store and ask the butcher what to do.  I love my butcher.

He (along with my mom and multiple bloggers) suggested that I put the roast in a cold* water bath until I needed it (not until 6:30 p.m.) and it would almost certainly be thawed in time.  If not, he would have another roast waiting for me to pick up.  Feeling relieved, I returned home and did as instructed.

                                                                  Rib roast taking a water bath.


When I took the roast out of the bath at 6:00 p.m., it was perfect!  Thank you, butcher!!

So, now onto the cooking.  I read countless recipes, reviews, blogs, and "meat" websites about how to prepare and cook a prime rib roast.  For every technique I read about, however, there seemed to be 10 other techniques that were completely different.  And, of course, everyone's technique was "the ONLY way to cook prime rib, and it comes out perfect everytime."  Awesome.  I had narrowed it down to two cooking methods: (1) 350 degrees for 1 hour, let it rest in the oven for 3 hours, then 350 for another hour (recommended by Paula Deen and grandmothers everywhere), and (2) 450 for 15 minutes, then 325-350 degrees until the meat thermometer reads 125-130 degrees.  I was torn between the two because the first method hardly had any bad reviews, but took longer and seemed like it could turn out disastrous, while the second method seemed more straightforward.  Finally, I consulted my copy of Professional Chef and decided on the second method.

Before putting the roast in the oven, I rubbed it with salt, pepper, and a few cloves of smashed garlic.  Oh, and I can't forget the butter smeared on the cut sides to make it GOOD.  Then, into the oven it went:  450 degrees for 15 minutes in order to "oven sear" it, then 325 degrees until the oven thermometer (I highly recommend this one) read 128 degrees.

                                                                         Hi there, gorgeous.


Almost 3 hours later, including 20 minutes resting time (allowing the internal temperature to rise 10 degrees), it was perfect and delicious.  The outside had a beautiful crust and the inside was medium rare.  We served it with roasted brussel sprouts (do yourself a favor and try these) and mashed potatoes (secret recipe that my family has come to know and love).

Dinner was great and the wine was even better.  Spending time with good friends was the perfect way to ring in the new year.

                                                             Rob in front of his AWESOME fire.

                                                                        Ready to celebrate.

                                                        

                                                                         Happy New Year!

Here's to a great 2011!!


* Warm water with partially cook the meat and makes it susceptible to bacterial growth.