Happy Trails

Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

I've been wanting to write for a while, but wasn't able to come up with a coherent theme for everything I wished to share. Finally figured no theme worked just fine, so here we go.

We've been cooking more. Cooking with Ina, mostly. We have *almost* every one of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks, and we enjoy going through them from time to time, picking out things we normally wouldn't try. Over the last few weeks, there have been epic wins, and epic fails.

Tomato Goat Cheese Tarts: Epic Win.

These were unbelievably delicious, and I was especially proud that they came out looking exactly like the photo in the book. It's somewhat of a finicky recipe in a way--there are a lot of steps, some of which either take a long time (properly caramelizing the onions) or make a mess (rolling out the puff pastry and cutting it), but in the end--SO worth it. While she suggests this could make a great (albeit heavy) appetizer, I disagree. If you're going to go through that much trouble, make it a meal. We had these for lunch last weekend with a nice big salad, and it was perfection.

Spring Risotto: Epic Fail.

Well, alright. Maybe not an EPIC fail, but a fail nonetheless. I don't really GET risotto. I mean, it doesn't fit into any sort of category that makes sense to me. Is it rice? Is it pasta? Neither. Do I like it? Hrm. Do I enjoy watching Chef Ramsey scream about it being improperly prepared on Hell's Kitchen? ("Where's my F*CKING RIS-OT-TOW????") Absolutely. That's pretty much why we decided to give this a go. And now we kind of get why risotto puts Ramsey in such a bad mood.

In the opening paragraph of the recipe, Ina says that after a bad day, she loves to make this meal. She turns the music up, pours a "nice" glass of wine, and starts stirring. Having made this ourselves on a weeknight, when each of us had busy days at the office, I can only conclude two things: either Ina is a sadist, or she is a drunk. That's the only way you can possibly "enjoy" or get through all that stirring.

Now, let me be fair. I probably didn't have the heat on high enough, and so it took about twenty minutes longer for the rice to get tender than it should have. MAYBE. The last time I made risotto was out of the Newlywed Cookbook (which, by the way, is probably the worst collection of recipes I've ever laid eyes on--I actually threw it away, not wanting to subject another to the perils of its pages by donating it), at our old apartment. It was a mushroom risotto, and we went to about 4 different stores to get all the different kinds of specialty mushrooms (fresh and dried) that the recipe called for. It was expensive, and was at a time when we really couldn't afford it. I stirred my flipping butt off with that dish, and when we sat down to eat, it was like we were eating shroomy sand. I may have cried. Hard. And then consoled myself with a "nice" glass of wine. Or four. Anyway, I probably didn't cook it long enough that first time. But two sub par risotto experiences in a row can't be coincidence. It just can't.

In the end, this was edible. There was a lot of citrus in it (lemon juice and lemon zest) and this was a good learning experience--I do not enjoy lemon flavor in savory dishes. For me, it's reminiscent of floor cleanser (like the papaya we had on our honeymoon--it was like Mr. Clean from a tree!), so, all in all, while we won't be making this again, we did learn a few things: Higher heat for risotto--be drunk, feel sadistic, or feel determination that making this meal WILL be an adequate substitute for going to the gym, and no more lemon, thank you very much.

I ended up using the leftover marscapone and about a zillion other cheeses that we had in the fridge for a bangin' mac n cheese this week, but alas, no photos. *sniff* It was good, though!

Last weekend we also pumped these out (a little homage to the Rooster).

We tried the recipe featured in the Feb/March 2010 Fine Cooking Magazine, and "Ahhhhhhhhh" (angels singing) they were fabulous. We did the pork/shrimp filling, and they did not disappoint. There are a ton of these left, sitting patiently in the fridge, and we'll be eating them again soon. While I pan-seared these, I think we'll just boil the others--cut down on the oil. 

Last weekend we also met up with my best friend from high school, Andrew, and his lovely wife Heather and their son, Sam.

We've come a long way, yeah?

 They're expecting a baby girl this fall, and we're so happy for them! Andrew is going into his internship for med school in August, and we were excited to get to see them before they went back to the midwest. Best of luck with Boards, Andrew!

There have been many requests lately for more pup pictures/updates, so here you are!

The little guy is doing great. We had his 9 week vet visit this past Monday, and everything is A-OK. He's even doing much better this week with the potty training, which is very exciting. Salmaan continues Puppy Kindergarten at home--almost every evening, and has an excellent teaching assistant in River.

Here's a video I took last week of them romping around--JJ is quite tough, and while we were a little worried about how rough and tumble they get, the vet said it was perfectly normal and a great sign.

There's also been some progress on the knitting and spinning front, but that's for another post. For now, it's back to the needles for me! Happy Saturday!

"Don't Call Me Baby" Quiches

This weekend I contributed to throwing my sister a baby shower. It's her first baby (a little girl), and she's due at the beginning of May. One of my duties was to provide some of the appetizers. Hubster and I had quite the successful Christmas cocktail party this past holiday season, and one of the appetizers we painstakingly prepared were mini-quiches. They were a real hit, and so naturally I thought they would make a classy addition to the menu of my sister's baby shower. And then, three days before the shower, one of the other planners emailed me, and asked me to submit "baby-related names" for all of my food items, so that she could make "cute" labels. Coming out of a busy week, and feeling very stressed, I wasn't very much into this new idea. So, these quiches now have a new name in our house. They're the "Don't Call Me Baby" Quiches, and they are oh-so-delicious. You make 'em like this:

Ingredients: (these are the amounts you'll need to make 24 quiches. The times we've made this, we've always doubled this recipe (as reflected in the pictures) to make 48, which was great for a party where there were around 15 guests. People tend to eat more than one)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 lb. bacon
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded gruyere (swiss) cheese
• 1 Tbs snipped fresh chives
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash cayenne pepper

Put the butter and cream cheese out on the counter for 20 minutes to a half hour to soften.

Then, beat them together when an electric mixer until kind of fluffy.

Then, blend in the flour (you'll have to do this with your hands).

incorporate it all into a ball, roll the ball in saran wrap, and refrigerate for one hour.

While the dough is setting in the fridge, go ahead and cook up your bacon.

When it's done, place it on a plate covered in paper towels to help absorb some of the grease.

When the bacon is cool, break it into small pieces.

Take a good bunch of chives (fresh, fresh, always FRESH!) and dice them into small pieces.

Now, roll the dough into 24 balls (about 1 inch in diameter). It helps to actually section out the big ball of dough before you do this in order to ensure each ball is around the same size.

Press each ball into an ungreased mini-muffin cup to form a pastry shell.

This is what they should look like when you're all done.

Then, in assembly line fashion, evenly distribute the bacon, chives, and shredded gruyere into each cup. Prepare the custard by whisking the eggs, half-and-half, salt and cayenne until blended. Pour evenly into each pastry shell. Pour SLOWLY, the custard will take its time absorbing down into the cups.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until set in a 375 degree oven. You want them to get nicely browned and puffed on top, like so:

Remove from the pans and serve hot, or allow to cool on wire racks. You can place them in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes to warm them back up before the guests arrive!