Oven Free Dinner

Steve and I live on the second floor of a very old building, situated in such a way that we get no air flow through our apartment.  Come summertime, we live in a sauna.  The minute we turn the oven on it's like we've moved into the center of a volcano.  So this summer we've decided to get smart about it and stop roasting giant pieces of meat when it's 90 degrees outside, and start eating things that are fresh, easy, and require zero use of the oven.

So last night we decided to make some things we've been wanting to make for a  very long time: hummus and pesto.  In fact last year when we bought a food processor, the main reason was so that we could make these two things; we hadn't yet.  We also whipped up a tabbouleh salad which is something we've been making a lot lately cause it's sooo tasty.

We had also picked up a delicious loaf of bread at the farmers market on Saturday so we used that to dip into our hummus and pesto.  Preparation was easy, no heat was created, and the results were spectacular.  When it's really hot out and you just want something light and refreshing, this would be a meal I would highly recommend.

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Rhubarb Pie

This past Saturday marked the beginning of the farmers market here in Syracuse...kind of.  Our farmers market is actually open year round, and Steve and I do try to go every Saturday, but during the winter it's definitely lacking.  Not surprising considering nothing grows in upstate New York during the winter months.  Saturday though, marked the 1st day of the summer season at the market and you could tell.  Every building was open, every booth was occupied.  You had to constantly watch where you were going lest you trip on a basket of flowers or stumble into a booth of produce.  I love going to the farmers market and finding exciting new things to try, so it made me really happy to see it full and busy Saturday.

We ended up with lots of yummy things including a huge loaf of artisan bread, a bunch of artichokes (for $1!!), and some rhubarb.  Rhubarb seems to be an overlooked piece of produce.  You never see it in the grocery store, and you never hear people exclaiming about how they can't wait for rhubarb season, and I'm not sure why.

 Growing up we had a rhubarb plant in our back yard, so rhubarb crisp made an appearance in our home every so often.  As much as I like rhubarb crisp I decided to use this rhubarb to make a pie.

 Rhubarb is a very tart fruit but as long as you pair it with just the right amount of sugar you will have a wonderful dessert.  It's important to not overpower it with sugar and remove all it's tartness, so take the time to play around and find just the right ratio.  I'm very happy with how this pie turned out, sweet yet you can still taste the tangy tartness of the rhubarb. 

I encourage everyone to go out and try and some rhubarb if you've never done so, I think you'll be in for a very nice surprise.

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A Friday Night Feast

Well, it's coming to the end of the semester, which for me means very little except there are lots of loud parties taking place around my neighborhood.  For Steve though, the end of the semester means lot's and lot's and lot's AND LOT'S of work.  For the next week or so we basically only see each other when he goes to bed and I'm getting up. Since he's been so busy and stressed I decided to treat him to a nice meal Friday night.  I'm really lucky because 90% of the time Steve makes us dinner, so I wanted to say thank you for that.  I also wanted him to be able to get some work done while I made dinner ( which means I probably shouldn't have supplied him with wine). 

Since I had forgot to take any meat out of the freezer and I didn't want to buy more since we have an entire farm in our freezer I decided to do a vegetarian meal.  I started off with Carrot and Tofu soup.  I know this sounds kind of weird but trust me it's very good!  Steve said it tasted like lobster bisque, which I've never had, but maybe that's a good thing?  Not only is it very tasty, it's very filling since it's filled with tofu.  This could easily be a meal on it's own.

 For the main course I made a Turnip and Parsnip Gratin.  Although this is probably not an ideal spring food (it'd be better suited for a cold winter night) it was very good; a definite comfort food.

 I finished the night off with strawberry shortcakes (no pictures).  I cheated though and bought the store brand spongecake things.  I did make fresh whipped cream though! 

All said I was really happy with how everything turned out.  Nothing was  really difficult so it was a mostly stress free meal (except for the minor fire in my broiler because Steve left a pan with food gunk in there! UGH!).

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Bridal Shower Goodies

A couple weeks ago I had a lovely time at a bridal shower/ bachelorette party for Lizz.  There was lots of yummy food, fun games, and dancing downtown.  For my contribution to the shower I provided the desserts.  I decided to make a cheese cake with strawberry topping, honey infused truffles, and mini key lime pies.  Although this was all a lot of fun to make, it took a looong time and I was very baked out after this.  Unfortunately I don’t have a plated shot of the cheesecake, so you will just have to use your imagination.

You may also remember a previous post where I made a cheesecake but I couldn’t find the recipe and so I just posted a bunch of pictures.  Well, I found the recipe and these pictures are better, so here you go!

Honey Infused Truffles – Recipe from the blog Food Makes Me Happy.

Ingredients (makes 12)

• 4 oz of 50% fine dark chocolate
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
• Pinch of salt
• Unsweetened cocoa powder to roll them in at the end

 These taste amazing, and yet are so simple to make.  In a double boiler heat up the cream. 

Chop up your chocolate and add it to the cream.  Stir until the chocolate melts.

Add the salt and honey then cool, cover, and throw them in the fridge overnight.

If you do let them set as long as overnight it’s going to be pretty hard the next day so let it set on the counter for a few minutes to make it easier to scoop.

Scoop out balls ( you can use a melon baller if you have one, or a teaspoon works fine) and roll in cocoa powder.  

 Voila, simple, elegant, and delicious!

Mini Key Lime Pies – I used the Cook’s Illustrated Recipe for Key Lime Pie and then adapted it into 12 mini pies.  I originally wanted to make more than 12, but I only had 12 molds.  I was hoping I would be able to take the crusts out of the molds and fill them, but a graham cracker crust is too delicate.  If you make this entire recipe you are going to have lots of leftovers, so I would recommend halving it if you want to make the 12 pies.

Ingredients – Crust

• 11 graham crackers, processed to fine crumbs ( 1 ¼ cups)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease your tins.

Put your graham crackers into a food processor and process until you create a very fine crumb.

Mix the crumbs with the sugar and then add the melted butter. 

Press the mixture into your molds and then bake for about 15 minutes until you have a nice brown crust.

Let those cool while you make the filling.

Ingredients – Filling

• 4 teaspoons grated lime zest
• ½ cup lime juice from 3 to 4 limes
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Zest your lemons

Then juice them

Mix everything together and pour into cooled molds.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.  Cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Top them with whipped cream.

Another relatively easy, yet delicious treat.   

New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping – Recipe again from Cook’s Illustrated.  I didn’t take pictures of the strawberry topping, but I’ll post the recipe for it.

Ingredients – Graham Cracker Crust – This is nearly identical to the crust of the key lime pies.

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs ( 4 ounces, 8 whole crackers, broken into rough pieces and processed in food processor until uniformly fine)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional 1 tablespoon melted butter for greasing pan

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease your pan with 1 tbsp melted butter.  Process your graham crackers in the food processor until fine then mix with sugar and butter.  Press into pan and bake for 13 minutes.  Let cool while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients – Filling

• 2 ½ pounds cream cheese, cut into rough 1-inch chunks and left to stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (10 ½ ounces)
• 1/3 cup sour cream ( 2 ½ ounces)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice from 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 large eggs

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and brush the sides of the pan with butter.

Beat cream cheese for about a minute to break it up.  Add salt and half the sugar and beat for another minute, then add the rest of the sugar and beat for another minute.

 Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla, beat for another minute.

Add egg yolks and mix until well combined.  Then add the whole eggs two at a time beating in between each addition until well combined. 

Pour filling into pan.  Here is where I varied from the recipe.  I wanted to try and do a water bath which this recipe does not do.  Last time I made this recipe the top of my cheesecake cracked so I wanted to avoid that.  However, despite wrapping the bottom of my pan in aluminum foil, water still managed to get into the pan.  It didn’t ruin the cheesecake but it made it very soft.  It also increased the baking time A LOT.  Next time I think I’ll place a pan of water on the bottom rack and the cheesecake on one above it.  The water will still keep the oven moist, but not make my cake soggy.

The following instructions assume you are NOT doing a water bath.

Bake cake for 10 minutes at 500 and without opening the oven reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and bake for about 1.5 hours or until the center of the cheesecake reads 150 degrees. 

Let the cake cool for a bit then chill in the fridge.  Serve with strawberry topping and enjoy.

Strawberry Topping – Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and cut lengthwise into ¼ - to 1/8 – inch slices
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup strawberry jam ( about 11 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 lemon

In a bowl combine your berries, salt, and sugar and let stand for about 30 minutes.  The berries will release a lot of their juices and sugar will dissolve. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor, process the jam just until it’s nice and smooth.  Transfer the jam into a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat.  Stir it frequently for about 3 minutes.  Stir in the lemon juice and then pour mixture over the strawberries and stir.  Let cool, then cover and let sit in the fridge overnight. 

Enjoy!

Here are a few pictures of the decorations from the party.

Easter Cake

Happy Belated Easter everyone! :)

Well I finished up course one of cake decorating.  I missed a class due to a gross stomach bug, and the instructor canceled a class so I was somewhat rushing on the last day trying to learn how to make the roses.  For only practicing for 30 minutes though I'm pretty happy with how they came out.  Unfortunately I made the cake on a Wednesday and it didn't make it til Easter Sunday (I think Steve enjoyed most of it).  I'm going to be making a birthday cake for Steve soon so I'll post that and hopefully we'll see some improvements.

Oven Roasted Yogurt-Marinated Chicken

A week or so ago Steve and I (mostly Steve on this one) made a delicious Indian dinner from our favorite Indian cookbook, 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra.  We made an Oven-Roasted Yogurt-Marinated Chicken.  Although it took a little bit of time to prep and make, it was very much worth the effort, the chicken was extremely moist and flavorful!  The recipe says you can let the chicken marinate for 2-24 hours and I would have to say if you have the time let it go for the whole 24 hours for the best results.  We kinda puttered out at the end of making dinner and ended up with non-Indian sides of boiled potatoes and broccoli, but it was still a very good meal.

Oven Roasted Yogurt-Marinated Chicken

Ingredients:
(Like most of the recipes we make from this book, we left out a few of the spices because we didn't have them on hand.  I've put an asterisk next to the ones that were left out.)

• 1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 whole chicken ( 2 1/2 to 3 lbs)
• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fennel seeds*
• 1 tsp green cardamon seeds
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground asafoetida*
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves
• 2 sticks of cinnamon, broken lengthwise
• 2 tbsp minced fresh mint leaves*

First up, prepare your chicken by removing the skin and making deep cuts all over the chicken.

Next gather all of your ingredients for the marinade.

Start off by adding the yogurt to a bowl and whisking it until it's smooth.

Add the oil to the yogurt, then cut up the cilantro and add that as well.

Next throw in your ginger garlic paste.  You can make your own or you can buy it in any Indian specialty store.

Next grind up your cardamon seeds, and any of the other spices you may need to.  For instance instead of ground cumin we had cumin seeds so we had to grind those.  If you have the fennel seeds you will need to grind those as well.  Do not grind up the cloves or cinnamon sticks. 

Add the spices you just ground ( cardamon seeds, fennel seeds) along along with all of the other ground spices (coriander, black pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, asafoetida, salt)

Add the chicken to the bowl and cover well with the marinade.  Make sure it really gets into all those slits you made on the chicken.  Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for 2-24 hours.

A few hours later...

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the chicken into a roasting pan breast side down.  Pour any remaining marinade over the chicken.  Toss in the cloves, cinnamon sticks, and the mint. 

Make a tent over your pan with aluminum foil and roast for 40 minutes.  Reduce the oven to 375 and turn the chicken over.  Continue to roast for an additional 25 minutes or until done per a food thermometer.

Serve up with any side you please and enjoy.

:)