Valentine’s Day 2009 in Pictures

Feeling Festive: Valentines Day

On today’s menu we have a cafe latte, made by yours truly.

This is supposed to be a heart, but it kind of turned out to be a big cup of FAIL. I’m still new to latte art.

This Valentines Day will be the third that Mel and I will celebrate and this year we have decided to go the sentimental gift route. Instead of diamonds, like the previous two years, she will get something that I dressed like this to make.

Suprise! Haha.

-Johnny

White Cake and the Best Chocolate Buttercream

My dad’s birthday was a few days ago, an his requested present was a homemade white cake with chocolate frosting, and a pancake breakfast. He also recently got a trip to Hawaii, so don’t think he was jipped. Anyways, my dad’s birthday is also the anniversary of me ending my reliance on Betty Crocker; I made my first cake from scratch to mark this occasion two years ago.

White cakes have a bad rep for being dry, but the white cake recipe I used was found copied down in my aunt’s recipe binder; it’s a fairly standard recipe, but produces a moist, medium crumb cake. The chocolate buttercream was found on the Wilton website via a Google search, but it has noww been bookmarked as one of my new, go-to frosting recipes.

Classic White Cake

1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/4c cake flour
1 3/4c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4c) butter

Measure out cup of milk, let warm to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans. (I also lined the bottom with parchment paper)
Combine milk, eggs whites and extracts in a bowl.
Over a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, rub in butter. (I used an electric mixture at a low speed)
Add milk mixture, stir without overmixing. (I added a little over half of the milk mixture, and beat it slowly for about 2 mins, then added the other half and beat for about another minute.)
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30 minutes. Let cool in pans then invert onto colling racks.

Chocolate Buttercream recipe

-Mel

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

On today’s menu we have Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus!

These were pretty easy to make; they only took about 20 minutes total. I chopped off the tough ends of the asparagus, steamed them, rolled them around in a little pepper, wrapped them with Di Parma Prosciutto, stuck them in the oven for 5 minutes (400 degrees), and voila!

Very simple, very tasty. Great party appetizer.

-Johnny

Sweet-Potato Tortelli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

On today’s menu we have a Sweet-Potato Tortelli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce.

I’m pretty psyched about this dish. I made everything from scratch!

This was my first time making my own pasta and I must say, it’s dang fun.

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Sweet-Potato Tortelli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Makes 1 serving

Dough

3/4 cup Semolina Flour

3/4 cup Unbleached Flour

(1 1/2 cups combined)

2 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp water

Filling

1/2 sweet-potato, halved length-wise.

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

1 cup butter – room temperature

5 fresh and furry sage leaves

Directions:

Combine flour, eggs, olive oil, and water until it looks like a dang piece of dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Refrigerate in a sandwich bag at least an hour. Roll pasta out into a super thin sheet and use a pasta cutter to cut out the circles.

Place sweet-potato orange side down on a baking sheet and place in oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until tender. Use an oven mit so you don’t burn off the index finger of your left hand. Scoop out “meat” into a mixing bowl, mash, then mix with the butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

Place butter into a small sauce pan over medium heat and melt until nutty brown. Drop sage leaves into pan and swirl. It is ready when the butter is deep brown and foamy. Be careful not to burn the butter!

Fill the circles with the sweet-potato mixture and place another circle on top, sealing the edges with a little water.

Bring a pot of water to boil, salted, and place tortelli’s in. They’re ready when they rise to the top, al dente.

Have sauce on low heat. Drain pasta water and pour tortelli’s into the sauce.

Eat immediately.

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I kind of mixed and matched different recipes for things that I found to come up with the above. Savory and Sweet.

Yum!

-Johnny

Asparagus Milanese

On today’s menu we have Asparagus Milanese!

Yesterday’s trip to Central Market provided me with a bounty of fresh spring veggies, one of which pictured above. Asparagus, oh how I love thee.

I normally pass on breakfast in the morning, but today I was feeling it. This dish takes about 10 minutes to make and is jam packed with lovely vitamin c and protein to start your day. Beautiful green asparagus packed neatly in a large center stand at Central Market is a lovely sign that spring has indeed sprung. Pair that with some Parmesan-Reggiano and fresh eggs right out of the chicken’s booty and you’ve got yourself a nice little breakfast. Light, healthy, delicious.

Asparagus Milanese

• 6 or 7 fresh asparagus spears
• 2 eggs
• Parmesan-Reggiano
• salt, pepper

Remove the tough ends of the asparagus and then cook them in a pot of boiling water for 4 minutes until they’re soft. Prepare eggs sunny-side up. Sprinkle Parmesan-Reggiano onto eggs and asparagus liberally. Salt and pepper to taste.

Voila!

-Johnny

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

My camera charger has been MIA for over a week now, so I haven’t been able to post/photograph the limited amount of baking and cooking I’ve done recently. I don’t know what Johnny’s excuse is, except that he’s a busy boy. I’m a busy gal too, but I don’t spend my extra time playing video games. What can I say, I’m just the dedicated LAFS poster.

Anyways…

I got the recipe for these off of Anna’s site, and made them for a party on Friday night. I made a few minor changes to make due with what I had on hand, and more importantly because I don’t like nuts getting in the way of my brownies. I don’t like nuts getting in the way of my chocolate, for that matter. I also used reduced fat peanut butter, which means these officially qualify as diet food. I’ll post the recipe as I made it. Next time I think I might throw about a 1/2c of peanut butter chips into the brownie portion, just to make the peanut butter flavor more pronounced. Then again, if you used the peanuts that I didn’t have in my house, they would probably make the flavor stronger.

For the brownie base:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour

For the frosting and ganache:
1 cup Reduced Fat Jif creamy peanut butter (do not use natural or old-fashioned)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon whole milk (I used skim and it seemed totally fine to me)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped*

Preparation
For brownies:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line 13×9x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving more overhang than I did. Butter or spray with cooking spray.

Place 3/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan. Add both chocolates; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt, then eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in flour. Spread in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; cool.

For frosting and ganache:
Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup butter in medium bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, and salt, then milk and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies.

Look in your pantry for semi-sweet chocolate, only to find one ounce left. Grab 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, 3 ounces of Baker’s “German Sweet Chocolate”, and the ounce of semi-sweet and say a little prayer. Chop. Drop half an ounce of semi sweet onto the floor, say a swear word or two, then throw in a big handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips and call it even.*

Melt chocolate assortment and 1/4 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Drop ganache all over frosting; spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 1/2 hours. Cover and keep chilled until about 2 hours before you want to serve.

Using foil as aid, transfer brownie cake to work surface; cut into squares. Bring to room temperature; serve.

*The ganache turned out just great this way. .

I suggest cutting these small, as they’re very dense and rich. Plus, once you have one you will immediately reach for another one..then another one…and then another one. This may cause tummy aches.

-Mel

Late Night Done Right

In this world, there is a small group of food that is considered to be holy. One of these foods is none other than Cinnamelts. Not to be confused with cinnamon rolls (or buns, mind you), Cinnamelts are delicious puffs of goodness all connected to one another in a cluster of diety proportions. See for yourself:

These gods of late night snackery have proved themselves to be a contender in the ring of “craving foods”.

I’m a believer.

-Johnny

Ps. These may or may not be found at McDonald’s – sshhh.

Out and About: Pierpont’s

A couple of weeks ago, my dad and I took a brief trip to Kansas City. We were only there for one evening, and as someone who used to frequent Kansas City, he wanted to make sure he took me out to a proper Kansas City dinner. I didn’t complain, and I’m very glad I didn’t.

After hearing some rave reviews, we decided to make a reservation at Pierpont’s, which has been dubbed the “culinary jewel” of Kansas City. Pierpont’s is located in Kansas City’s historic, and somewhat recently renovated, Union Station. On Sunday evenings, they have a 4 or 5 course “tasting menu”, and we were lucky enough to have stumbled in on such a night. I elected to get the four course tasting.

For the first course, I selected Prince Edward Island Mussels, steamed in a white wine sauce with tomatoes and garlic, and with crusty bread for dipping. My dad ordered the shrimp cocktail, but he was too embarrassed to let me take pictures of his meal.

The second course was roasted red pepper and tomato soup (my dad-t the classic caesar salad) with Parmigiano-Reggiano croutons. I was slightly disappointed by the soup. I’m not really sure why, it just wasn’t what I expected. It was thick, and very smooth though. My dad loved it. Unfortunately, the croutons got very soggy, very quickly.

Next up was my entree, which did not disappoint in the slightest. I ordered the pecan-crusted striped bass which sat on a bed of sauteed spinach and an herbed risotto cake, with a puree of butternut squash and apple cider. Flavor wise, this dish ranks with the greats from Abacus. The pecan crusted bass and risotto cake were both perfectly executed, but the real star was the butternut squash and apple cider puree. If you know how to make it, tell me; I scraped the plate clean. My dad got the roasted chicken lyonnaise, which was also great.

The desserts were incredible, to say the least. I managed to convince my dad to let me take a picture of his, mostly because he knew all to well I would probably end up eating a good deal of it, which I did.

I ordered the milk chocolate and caramel mousse tart, which was indescribably rich, decadent, and wonderful. I think I said the phrase “slice of heaven” multiple times; my father concurred.

He ordered the white chocolate brioche bread pudding with white chocolate ganache and peach coulis, which was flambeed tableside with rum. To be honest, I’d never had bread pudding before, and this is joining the ranks of flourless chocolate cake in my book.

In conclusion, if you’re in Kansas City, go to Pierpont’s. Even if you’re not near Kansas City, take a trip to Pierpont’s. Please? I promise you won’t regret it.

-Mel

P.S. Sorry for the two week hiatus!
P.S.S. Top Chef Chicago started on Wednesday

Cookie Cake Recipe

I promised this recipe many days ago, but the second time I made the recipe it was a little..off? So I’ve been doing some experimenting and tweaking, and this is the best I’ve come up with so far!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

1/2 c butter

1/2c granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (tightly packed)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/4tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter, which I wouldn’t recommend)

3/4 c semi-sweet mini chips (use 1/2 c if you’re not chocolate obsessed)

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat cookie cake pan (9×13)* with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars, then add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually add to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread dough into prepared pan with spatula. (or, more likely, your hand. It speeds the process up)

Bake 15-18mins, or until lightly golden brown. (My oven runs hot, if yours doesn’t I could see it taking u to 20 minutes if you like a harder cookie)

Cool on rack for at least 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

*My cookie cake pan is heart shaped, but said it holds any recipe that would fit a 9×13 inch baking pan.

Let cool completely, then decorate as you please.

Enjoy! If anyone makes the recipe, get back to me with results! I’m still playing around with it.

-Mel