Key Lime Icebox Pie

The recent grocery store find of $0.89/pound bags of organic key limes sent me scurrying to the recipe from Cook's Country for Key Lime Icebox Pie.  I'm a huge citrus fan and have wanted to try this recipe for a while now.

It's a simple, no-cook dessert, and despite being a *bit* too tart (which I could've fixed but didn't- don't ask me why because I don't have a good reason), we still enjoyed it after adding ridiculous dollops of homemade whipped cream.

My first task was to juice two pounds of key limes.  The original recipe calls for using regular (Persian) limes, which would've been easier, but apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.  Juicing 50 to 60 teeny tiny limes is a great way to find every single cut and hangnail on your hands! 

It's also time-consuming, but I just juiced a few here and there while I was doing other stuff in the kitchen, rather than all at once.  And thankfully, these little green gems were thin-skinned, which made for easier juicing.  Take note- it's also easier to juice citrus that has been brought to room temperature rather than cold fruit.

So tiny and cute!

Strained juice, lime carcasses, and whole limes being stripped of their zest.

The chilled pie, complete with homemade graham cracker crust.

Plain slice - a bit too tart for our tastes but still pretty!

Now *that's* more like it!  :D

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every little kid likes cookies, and my kid is no exception.  I recently decided to make a batch during daylight hours (daytime baking is a rare treat for me- most of it is done well after dark).  So I got my mini helper in the kitchen with me for some tasty treats.

My go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies comes from the ever-trusty Alton Brown, of the Food Network show Good Eats.  Alton is my culinary crush (nerdy, cute, a killer cook- what's not to love?) and his recipes are at the top of my list when I'm looking for something new to try.

Alton's recipe uses melted butter instead of softened.  An article in my local paper got me thinking.  The article described a chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter- a simple but significant tweak in the flavor of that baking standby, by which the butter is melted in a saucepan and gently cooked until the butter solids turn golden brown.  This imparts a nutty, toasted flavor to the butter that is a great complement to many baked goods.

Since Alton's recipe has more brown sugar than white, I figured that the browned butter would go nicely to further the caramel-y flavor of the cookies.  I was right!

I didn't make any alterations to Alton's recipe, with the exception of browning the butter.  Make sure you are patient with the dough chilling portion.  I'm always scooping the dough while it's still soft, and my cookies are always too flat.  But they manage to wind up in my tummy anyway!  :)

First, get yourself an assistant-slash-taster.

Melt the butter gently in a saucepan.

It will foam quite a bit.  You can sorta see the solids browning.

Nope, that's not beer.  It's butter, baby!

Cute assistant sold separately.

Ghirardelli bittersweet chips are *the best tasting* chocolate chips for baking.  America's Test Kitchen told me so, and they were right!

Gotta make this kid earn her keep somehow.  Lookit those guns!

A one-ounce ice cream scoop works well for measuring out the dough.  It's also useful for meatballs.

Lumps of happy goodness waiting for the oven.

If you aren't impatient like me, your cookies won't be so flat.  Let the dough chill completely before scooping.

Flat or not, they taste frickin' awesome!

Campfire Cookin' - Pork Chile Verde

This past June, I had the distinct pleasure of taking a road trip with my brother, sister, and brother-in-law to a family reunion in Montana.  On the way there, we camped out in Yellowstone National Park.  Hooray for that!  It was my first ever time camping and I had a great time, although I froze my ass off that night, had to get up to pee at o'dark thirty (sans contact lenses, in an unheated bathroom that thankfully had a flush toilet but no hot water), and I'm pretty sure I was sleeping head-down on an incline.  >.<

That being said...when we began to plan our camping portions of the trip, I decided that it would be a blog-tacular culinary adventure to cook over a campfire.  I offered to make the food for our dinner in Yellowstone, and I had the perfect adaptable recipe from the March 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine- Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie.  I blogged this recipe previously as part of my Operation: Expand Horizons.

I made some changes to the recipe to make it a little simpler for campfire preparation, brought along my trusty Lodge cast iron Dutch oven and some nonperishable supplies, and bought the rest of the stuff in Cody, Wyoming, a charming little burg you'll want to visit some day.

The adaptations I made to the recipe were mostly to make the dish cheaper and easier to cook out of a cooler.  Instead of the scratch cornbread topping, I used a box of trusty Jiffy brand corn muffin mix and left out the cheese.  I omitted the freshly ground spices and opted for the simpler taste of the roasted peppers.  I didn't spring for any cilantro, and I used canned corn instead of frozen. 

It was simple and rustic and tasted freaking delicious, although my own tastes and the compliments I received may have been tinged somewhat with a healthy amount of road weariness and an overdose of convenience store snacks.  Either way, mission accomplished!

Supplies

Blurry picture- pretty sure it's my fault.

Dutch oven on the campfire

Sauteing the pork cubes in olive oil

Adding salsa verde, onions, garlic, water, and chicken bouillon cubes

Lazy girl's chile-roasting setup for 2 poblanos and 1 bell pepper

Peeling roasted peppers

Dicing roasted peppers

Adding corn and roasted peppers...looking good!

Cornbread topping.  If this was oven-baked, or perhaps buried in coals, the cornbread would brown.  Since we used the Dutch oven's lid and bottom heat, it steam-cooked and was light and fluffy.

We pretty much ate the whole pot.

I ate lots of roasted marshmallows for dessert!

Cooking 101: Lesson One - Prep work is everything!

If you're new to cooking, there are a few things you should practice along with the actual food.  Preparation is the key to successful food making.  It's especially helpful in lowering your stress levels while learning a blood pressure-raising task such as cooking.

The French, while snotty and lacking in personal grooming, have their shit locked down in the kitchen.  There is a French term, "mise en place," which is used in the restaurant industry.  It means "putting in place" and refers to the chef's setup.

When I get ready to cook dinner, there are several steps I go through before I ever turn on a stove burner or the oven.  They help me maintain an organized workspace, an organized brain, and a cleaner kitchen.

Begin with clean countertops and an empty sink.  You'll be glad you did.

1. Look at your recipe.  Give it a good read and determine the time needed for the steps.  Is it a crockpot-dump-and-forget-it, or is there ongoing work?  Do you have all of the ingredients?

2. Sharpen the knife or knives you'll be using.  I use a sharpening stone with two wheels- one rough and one smooth.  Wipe the knife with a clean towel to remove sharpening debris.

3. Get out the pans you'll need and set them on the stove.  Also retrieve any utensils you will be using- wooden spoon, rubber spatula, garlic press, measuring cups and spoons, etc.

4. If the kitchen trashcan is not near your work area, move it next to where you'll be standing.  If you use a compost bucket, have it nearby as well, ready for veggie scraps.

5. WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and warm water.  Dry them on a clean kitchen towel and keep that towel handy.

6. Get out all the ingredients you will need- spices, meat, veggies, eggs, olive oil, etc. and set them in your work area.

7. Measure out spices and put them in small bowls.  I have 4 tiny glass bowls I got at a restaurant supply store.  Each only holds about 2 Tbsp. but they are perfect for minced garlic, spices, and small amounts of garnish like chives or parsley.  Also measure out any liquids you'll be using, such as chicken stock, water, or milk.

8. Starting with vegetables, do all of the necessary chopping.  Set veggies aside in small bowls.  You can combine the ones that will be cooked together to save space.  After all of the veggies are prepped, cut your meat, if using.

9. Put the meaty cutting board and knife in the sink, wash your hands again, and wipe down the countertop.

10. Now...cook!

Vegetables prepped for a Japanese style hibachi stir-fry

Mise en place for rice pilaf- minced garlic, chopped onion, vegetable bouillon cube, thyme sprigs, white and wild rices in measured amounts

Mise en place for spring vegetable couscous.  Here are my tiny prep bowls- so cute and so functional!

The Errant Kitchen

I've read my fair share of food blogs, and I always wonder what those cooks are working with in their kitchens.  Do they have a sprawling country kitchen or are they bumping their elbows in a NYC style postage stamp?

Wonder no more about my humble kitchen, kiddies.  Here she is in all her mid-century modern glory.

Galley-style 1950s kitchen

If it hits the ground, it goes to the hound.  This is Barney, the eldest of our 3 dogs.  That is Barney's Laying Spot.

Limited counter space, so I've got to keep it clean and cleared off.

Fridge cluttered with recently used recipes, magnets, some artwork from my kid, and a few notes.

My kitchen gadget wish list on the left, and this week's menu on the right.

My favorite magnet.

More cool magnets- we found the gears a few years ago at Pottery Barn Kids and I got the Dr. Seuss ones in the dollar bin at Target.

Wall O' Workhorses- KitchenAid food processor, vintage chrome and glass Osterizer blender, compost scraps container, cool toaster I got for Christmas, and awesome thermal carafe Cuisinart coffee pot, also an Xmas gift.

Designated greenery.  I have to keep the tendrils tucked in because they tickle me in the face while I do dishes if they get a little long.

My much loathed glass-top stove with one bad burner (came with the house), bread dough rising, good knives from Victorinox, Wüsthof, and Henckels, vintage canisters, organic bananas, and my KitchenAid stand mixer under its dust cover.

Freezing beans

I'm on a multi-sided mission lately: trim out even more processed food, reduce waste, and reduce my grocery budget.  We already eat a pretty good diet that very rarely includes anything processed, so it's not hard to find substitution methods for those things we do buy in a package. 

We love beans of all kinds, and I recently decided to start cooking them from scratch more often.  However, dried beans take some forethought, and I don't always have things planned like I should, so I thought I'd try the freezer for another option.

As for the budgetary concerns, while canned beans aren't what you might consider expensive, it can get pricey if you eat them frequently enough.  One 15-ounce can is about $1.25 to $1.50.  They are about 3 times more expensive than dried beans, can be loaded with salt if you're not careful, and they add to the trash by being packaged in steel cans.  (Sadly, steel recycling in my city is not readily available.)  Plus, since canned beans weigh more than dried, it's more costly to ship them.

Dried beans to the rescue!  Using some tips I read online, I decided to freeze some portions of cooked dried beans.  Here's what I did.

This time around, I chose to make some pintos and some black turtle beans. I started with the requisite pre-soak.  I dumped each 1 pound bag of beans into a big bowl, covered them with about 2" of water, and left them on the counter for about 15 hours.  Normally the instructions say to soak for 6-8 hours, but I found that a much longer soak meant fewer burst beans and a shorter cooking time.

After that, I drained off the soaking water, gave the beans a rinse, and put each batch into a stockpot with a fresh 2" cover of water.  I brought each pan to a low boil, reduced the heat slightly, and simmered them for about 35 minutes until they were just barely done.  (A website suggested that a little underdoneness can help frozen beans retain better texture.)

Each pot was drained of its cooking liquid before being measured out into freezer bags.  Each pound of dried beans netted 2 pounds 6 ounces of cooked beans, which I divided into 3 portions.  I then made a brine of a cup of hot water and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and added about a 1/3 of a cup to each bag, bringing each bag's weight to about 15 ounces, the size of a can of beans.

After being labeled, the bags were left to cool on the counter for a bit before hitting the freezer.

I kept out one of the 15-ounce portions of black beans so that I can make black bean soup tomorrow!  :)

Hummus and Veggie Wrap

In an attempt to atone for last night's dinner of Philly cheese steaks with fried potatoes, I decided to make a super healthy lunch of hummus and veggie wraps.  Thankfully, it was also kid-friendly, which for my über-carnivore child is a big deal.

Hummus is widely available in grocery stores, but homemade is so much better.  You can better control the content of the salt, for one, and you can also customize it to your tastes.  Some places add too much tahini (sesame seed paste) for my liking, which can add unwanted bitterness.  Others make theirs the consistency of baby food- I like mine free of chunks, but I don't mind a little texture.

I blogged about the simple joys of hummus once before, and you can find my recipe here.

I made myself a wrap with a generous schmear of hummus on a small tortilla and piled it high with an assortment of vegetables- cucumber, tomato, carrot, and alfalfa sprouts.  I sprinkled a little kosher salt on the tomato slices before closing it up. 

My kiddo had a dollop of hummus on her plate with some carrot and cucumber slices and wedges of tortilla for dipping.  She also used her finger to get up the last few bits!  :D