Cosmic Cooking

June 14, 2010  I couldn’t afford the lobster for Lobster Newburg, so dug in my freezer and found a bag of shrimp!  So, I did the unimaginable, substituted Shrimp for Lobster, and Cognac for the Brandy   It still came out fabulous, creamy, and the smell was awesome!  Hubby walked in took one look at me by the stove and smiled!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon dry red wine
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Cognac
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 pound of imitation crab meat thawed
• 1 pound of peeled, deveined, full cooked shrimp frozen
• 2 tablespoons of parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tarragon

 

1.  Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped shallots and cooked until softened, about 2 minutes.  Using a garlic press, press the garlic into the pot and cook until fragrant, about 15 minutes. 

2.  Add the broth, 3 tablespoons of  dry red wine, and 2 tablespoons of Cognac.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce has reduced to 3/4 cup, about 4 minutes.

3.  Stir in the cream, nutmeg, cayenne, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.  Return to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly and measures roughly 1 1/2 cups, about 4 minutes.

4. Turn the heat to low, Whisk the yolks together in a large bowl.  Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the simmering mixture into the yolks (to temper).  Then slowly whisk the yolks back into the simmering sauce.  Whisking constantly, cook the mixture until evenly colored and nicely thickened, about 30 seconds.

5. Take the frozen shrimp and put it in a colandar and run cold water over it for about 5 minutes to defrost.  Then take the shrimp and place it in a separate pot with water to warm it up.  Once it starts to warm up, take it off the heat and back to the colandar to drain.

6. Gently stir in the crab and shrimp, parsley, tarrason and remaining 1 teaspoon of dry red wine and 1 teaspoon of Cognac to the pot with the Newburg mixture .  Allow the crab and shrimp to heat through, about 1 minute. 

7. Remove the pan from heat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Portion into shallow, individual servings bowls filled with white rice  to balance the richness of the sauce.

June 11, 2010   This Pampered Chef recipe made me want to move to a place where I could actually entertain family, friends, and neighbors.  It is the perfect New Year’s Eve appetizer and party pleaser!  The presentation, flavor, smell, and texture is amazing!  This was my first time tasting artichokes too and I have to say that I am now a big fan of this vegetable.   My husband loved it, as did I, but the kids didn’t, so again it is another adult recipe.

To make this recipe family and budget friendly, I substituted the block of mozzarella with a  bag of shredded mozzarella and the block of Parmesan cheese with shredded Parmesan cheese.  I also added black pepper to aid with digestion and add flavor, and substituted the lemon zest with just a teaspoon of  lemon peel (McCormick’s) which I already had in my pantry.  Although I love my kitchen products, this substitution also meant less kitchen gadgets to wash afterwards.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 24 square wonton wrappers (found in the produce section)
• 1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts (unseasoned) in water, drained (dried with paper towels) and coarsely chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2  teaspoon lemon peel
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• Additional Parmesan cheese for topping.

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place vegetable oil in a bowl.  Place six wonton wrappers on cutting board.  Lightly brush one side of each wonton with oil using the Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush. 

 

2. Press one wonton wrapper into each cup of Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan using Mini-Tart Shaper.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.  

 

3. After they were all done, I went back to each of them with a paper towel and soaked up any excess olive oil that may be sitting at the bottom of them. Bake 6 minutes or just until edges of wonton are light golden brown.  Remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack; set aside, leaving wontons in pan.

 

 

 

 

4. Meanwhile, take artichokes and drain them.  Then place into a paper towel and squeeze and soak up as much of the water as possible.  You want them as dry as possible, then coarsely chop them with the food chopper; place in Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl.  Remove seeds from bell pepper and dice using Utility Knife.  Measure out Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, black pepper, lemon peel,  and parsley and add all of them to bowl.

 

 

 

5. Take the Measure-All Cup and add mayonnaise to it to measure and push out into the bowl.  Take one garlic clove (skin and all) and place in the Garlic Press, squeeze garlic into the bowl too (our garlic press is designed to push out the garlic and it leaves behind the garlic skin); mix all ingredients well using the Small Mix ‘N’ Scraper.

 

 

 

 

6. Using Small Scoop, fill each wonton cup with about 1 tablespoon of artichoke mixture; sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes until edges of wonton are golden brown and cheese begins to melt. 

 

 

 

 

7. Remove from oven to the Stackable Cooling Rack.  Remove wontons from pan; serve immediately.

Yield: 24 appetizers.  Calories 60, Total Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesteral less 5 mg, Carbs 6 g, Protein 3 g, Sodium 115 mg, Fiber less than 1 g.

 

 

June 9, 2010 This recipe is from The Pampered Chef Summer Catalog and it was delicious, delicate, and fancy, but I would recommend it only for adults.  My kids were all excited when they saw it.  Their eyes just jumped out with joy until they took a bite.  Then they screamed when they tasted the Habanero peppers (which are very hot peppers)inside the puff pastry and quickly washed it down with a glass of water.

Once again the puff pastry has to be a serious name brand, you just can’t go with the generic store brand.  The Giant brand that I bought  just doesn’t cut it for this or any other puff pastry recipe.  I had the same problem again with the pastry sticking to itself and the actual cardboard packaging; despite using it as soon as I defrosted it.  The sheets of the pastry still stuck to each other because Giant was too cheap to put wax paper between the layers, and also between the actual pastry sheets and the box.  I need to write a letter to their HQ about this!  If I’m frustrated, then I’m sure other cooks out there are too.

Another issue I came across with this recipe was the filing.  It  makes you run for your electric mixer!  I tried to be true to my Pampered Chef products, especially since this is one of their recipes, and tried whisking it with our stainless whisk in our Classic Batter Bowl, but I couldn’t!  The consistently of goat cheese is so thick that it was nearly impossible to whisk by hand, unless you are a man!  After a couple of whisks, I gave up and brought out my electric Kitchen-Aid mixer!  Yep, some recipes call for the big guns! 

Then there is the part where you take the blended mixture and put it in the Easy Accent Decorator (another one of our products).  It was anything but easy!  The only easy part was taking apart the decorator, after that you had a heck of a time putting the goat cheese mixture inside.  The mixture again was thick and hard to shove into the decorator, then once inside it was very hard to push out.  I would have had an easier time to just put the filing in a plastic bag, twisting it tight, then cutting out the corner and squeezing it out that way over the puffs.  But oh well, that’s life.  You learn as you go.  At one point while squeezing out the filing with the decorator, I was afraid I was going to break it.  I stopped using the finger trigger and just used the plunger on the top and pushed it out that way.  I won’t be using the decorator again for this filing or anything else that is that thick of a consistency.

Also, the originial recipe called for Almonds.  Well we are a large family and Almonds just aren’t in our budget, so made a slight variation to this recipe by substituting Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax bars for the Almonds.  I personally thought it tasted better, lowered the calories, and added a greater crunch factor.   Plus, the kids loved using the food chopper on the bars while prepping for this recipe.

Overall, I would make this recipe again, but only for adults with the electric mixer ready to go  :)

• Ingredients:
• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry thawed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup of chopped Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax bar  (if you wish to follow the original recipe, then you would use Almonds)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I didn’t taste these at all, must be a visual thing)
• 4 ounces of goat cheese (which tastes sour and is extremely thick)
• 4 ounces of light cream cheese softened (got to watch my figure, so went with the light version)
• 1/4 cup Raspberry Habanero Sauce (from The Pampered Chef pantry)

1. Preheat the oven to the temperature needed to bake your pastry puffs.  Line large bar pab with parchment paper.  Lightly sprinkle cutting board with flour.  Unfold pastry onto the cutting board, using the outer tube of the Mini Measure All Cup, cut out pastry circles, and lay then onto the parchment paper.

2. Take a fork and lightly prick the pastry puffs.  Then lightly beat the egg in a 1 cup prep bowl and using the Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush, lightly brush the egg on the pastry puffs.

3. Bake them for about 14 to 16 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer parchment paper and puffs to a Stackable Cooling Rack; and let them cool completely.  Gently press centers of the puffs using fingertips to make wells.

4. Meanwhile take your Almonds( or in my case the Kashi bars) and use the food chopper to finely chop it and place it in a prep bowl.  Using the Color Coated Chef’s Knife, finely chop the rosemary and place in a prep bowl too.  Combine almonds (or in my case chopped Kashi bar), rosemary, goat cheese, and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer blend it all well.

5. Attach open star tip to the Easy Accent Decorator; fill with goat cheese mixture.  Put aside 1 tablespoon of the Raspberry Habanero Sauce for garnish.  Take the rest of the sauce and spoon it evenly inside the puff wells; then pipe the goat mixture filling over sauce. 

6. Garnish puff with the reserved sauce and then top it with the left over almonds or crushed kashi bars topping.

June 5, 2010

This recipe is a keeper!  It tasted so good and rich!  We will be making this again, with a different type of meat like pork or chicken.

Ingredients

• 4 (7 ounce) fillet steaks
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons Cognac (La Salignac Cognac)
• 1/4 cup white wine (Sutter Home Chardonnay)
• 1/2 cup thick heavy cream

 

1.  Wash and dry the steaks.  Then rub the steak on both sides with the oil and press the crushed peppercorns into the meat.  Melt the butter in a large frying pan or stock pot and cook the steaks 2 -4 minutes  on each side, depending on how you like your steaks.  I cooked mine until they were well done.

2. Add the Cognac and flambe by lighting the pan with your gas flame or a match (please note that the vapors from the Cognac is what you are setting on fire, not the actual liquid) , make sure you stand well back when you do this and keep a pan lid handy for emergencies.  Once the flame dies down (it only lasts about a minute), put the steaks on a hot plate to keep warm.  Cognac is some strong stuff!

3.  Add the wine to the pan and boil, stirring with a mix n scraper, for 1 minute to deglaze the pan. 

4. Add the cream and stir for about 2 minutes. 

5.  This is what the sauce looks like when it is done.

6. Season (I just seasoned mine with salt) and pour over the steaks.

7. Then add your final side dishes to your plate.

June 3, 2010 This is one of the most delicious soups I have ever made.  It is quick, easy and very tasty!  It makes for a perfectly light meal.  We had ours with a small salad for dinner tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small celery stalk finely chopped
• 1 whole cauliflower head, stalk taken off and broken into florets
• 15 ounces chicken stock
• 1 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1/2 cup light cream
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons chives, snipped
• black pepper (to taste)
• white pepper (to taste)
• salt (to taste)

 

1. Take the onion and celery and chop them up with the food chopper make sure you do this over our  cutting board ,so you don’t dull your blades.  Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion and celery.  Cook over low heat until vegetables are softened but not browned.  Add the cauliflower, stock, milk, bay leaf and thyme and bring to a boil.  Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.

2. Leave soup to cool, then remove the bay leaf and thyme.  Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth and return to the clean saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, add cream and reheat just at a simmer ( do not boil). 

3. Season with salt, white pepper, black pepper and nutmeg, then serve sprinkled with chives.

May 30, 2010  This can be made ahead of time and can be kept in the fridge for up to two days.  It is the filling for the Strawberry Millefeuille.

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup Superfine sugar (not Confectioner’s sugar)
• (1 ounce) or 1/4 cup Cornstarch
• 1/2 ounce all purpose plain flour
• 2 1/4 cups 1 % milk
• 1 Teaspoon pure vanilla ( The original recipe called for a vanilla pod but these cost $15.99 per small seasoning bottle with only 2 pods, so I didn’t use them)
• 1 Teaspoon butter

 

Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar until pale and creamy.  Sift in the Cornstarch and flour and mix together well.

Put the milk, remaining sugar and the vanilla in a 1.5 Quart Sauce Pan.  Bring just to a boil and then take the pot and pour it slowly over the egg yolk mixture which is still in the mixing bowl while stirring continuously ( I couldn’t have done this without my electric Kitchen Aid mixer).  Then pour back the whole mixture into a clean saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly – it will be lumpy at first but it will become smooth as you keep stirring.  Boil for 2 minutes, then stir in the butter, remove it from the heat, stir it a little more, and then leave to cool.  Transfer mixture to a Classic Batter Bowl  and lay plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

May 30, 2010 This recipe looked and tasted so good, but unfortunately, despite taking shortcuts it took way too long for me to make it.  This will be reserved as a special occassion recipe.  The plus side of the recipe is the presentation and taste.  I have to admit that even my very picky boys, ate this dessert up like there was no tomorrow!  Nothing quite  like 6 egg yolks, heavy cream and pure sugar to get you licking your chops!

On the downside, it took too long (about 2 hours) to make, it was very expensive due to multiple ingredients, and it was essentially three recipes in one (very complicated, requiring multiple cooking utensils).  Heavy cleaning for me afterwards too.

To begin with, I didn’t make the pastry dough from scratch like it asked me to, instead I got the Giant’s brand of pastry puff in the frozen aisle.  Once thawed in the fridge, I thought it would be easy, but oh no.  The dough was hard to unfold, it kept sticking to itself.  I guessing that once it is thawed in the fridge, that it starts to break down and you have to use it quickly, or maybe it was just of a lesser quality than I had expected.  It would have been easier for me if the dough was separated with wax paper,  but it wasn’t.  The Company just rolled the dough up onto itself when it packaged it.  So, in order to simplify the recipe, I used this substitution and turned the recipe from a three parter, down to a  two parter.

As for the recipe, the whole idea of 6 egg yolks in any dessert base just sent me counting calories and fearing for food poisoning.  So, I was making sure that I washed my hands and everything that came in contact with the eggs extra well.  Food safety and slight paranoia went hand in hand here, lol!

Strawberry Millefeuille (Serves 6)

• 1 quantity puff pastry (or as in my case one box of pre-made pastry puff)
• 5 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 quantity creme patissiere (this needs to be prepped ahead of time)  See recipe in a separate post.
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) thick heavy cream
• 11 ounces of strawberries, washed, dried and cut into quarters
• Icing: confectioners sugar for dusting.

Directions:

The day before prepare the Creme Patissiere, so you are not pressed for time when making this dessert.  This way it will be already done and sitting in your fridge, nice and happy.   Just make sure to put a sign on it saying “don’t eat” or you may wake up the next day with it all gone!

Preheat the oven to whatever degrees your puff pastry packaging requires (in my case it was 350 degrees).  Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and shape it into a huge rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Then take a Large Sheet Pan, put parchment paper on it and slide the rectangular puff pastry dough onto it and stick it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Make the syrup, put the sugar and 3/4 cup of water in a Sauce Pan and bring to a boil while stirring the whole time to get it to dissolve properly.  Boil for 5 minutes, still stirring, then remove from heat.

Pull out the puff pastry from the fridge and cut three rectangles about 12 x 5 inches from the pastry.  Cover with parchment paper, then lay another Medium Sheet Pan to keep it flat & from rising to much and bake for 3 minutes.  Then pull it out, take the top medium sheet pan off and the parchment paper off.  Lightly brush the syrup on it and bake until puffy and golden brown, then take out and let it cool on a rack.

Whisk the creme patissiere.  Whip the heavy cream and fold (using the Small Mix n Scrapper ) into the cream patissiere ( please note that folding is not mixing, it is a gentle movement of  lifting one ingredient and lightly laying it on top of the other, eventually both the cream and the cream patissiere will both be blended but still maintain it’s fluffy texture).  Spread half of this over one pastry puff rectangle, then top with half of the strawberries.  Place the second pastry puff rectangle and top and spread the remaining cream and then the rest of the strawberries.  Cover with the last pastry puff rectangle and dust with confectioner’s sugar to serve.

 Make sure you take a picture of it, because it is as pretty to look at as it is delicious to eat!

I have selected for my first dinner recipe:  Cauliflower Soup, Steak Au Poivre, Peas with Onions and Lettuce, Aligot, and Strawberry Millefeuille.  Sounds delicious!  Now it is a matter of putting together a grocery list, heading out to the store and attempting these recipes during the next week.