Roesti - eighth new recipe of 2012

Rösti with onions and cheese

Roesti (also called Rösti) are a Swiss pancake.  They fall somewhere between a hash brown and a potato pancake.  The idea is that you grate potatoes and mix in some extras. I used gruyere cheese and onions, but a lot of people use bacon or sausages, and many recipes simply call for potatoes.

Boiled for 20 minutes

I started by boiling three large russet potatoes for about 20 minutes with the skins on.  This needs to be done in advance, and the idea is to keep the potatoes firm enough to grate, but also soft enough that they are mainly cooked.  I let them chill for three or four hours in the refrigerator, and next time, I'll probably leave them there overnight. 

Grated onions

I started out by grating a medium-sized onion.  I did this because I knew I was going to be using the grater for the cheese and the potatoes, and I didn't want huge chunks of onion that would take a while to cook.  I cooked the onions in a little bit of butter until they browned.  While they were cooking, I used a box grater to grate the potatoes on the largest setting.  I alternated between potatoes and a half-pound of gruyere cheese and mixed them together.

This is enough for two meal-sized rösti

I then melted a tablespoon of butter in a 8-inch skillet/crepe pan and put in half the potatoes, which wound up being filled up half an inch thick once I pressed it into place using a silicon spatula.  The idea is to press it down just enough so you can flip it once the bottom side browns.   I then salted the top and ground some fresh pepper on the top.

I cooked it like this until the edges browned

The next step is to put a plate over the pan and flip it over.  I found a plate that fit inside the pan.  It should fit fairly tightly.

Hold your breath and flip it!

Ready to go back into the pan

The final step is to melt a little butter and fry the other side.  You then slide the rösti back into the pan and cook it until the other side browns.

I'll definitely cook this again some time.  The main changes I'll make will probably be to boil the potato a little less, use a little less cheese, cook it a little more slowly (so the inside gets done a little more.)  I also might add bacon, which would be really good with the potato and cheese. 

Arancini - seventh new recipe of 2012

Someday I'll find something healthy that tastes this delicious

Arancini are deep fried risotto balls.  They can be filled with mushrooms or peas, but screw that.  If I'm going to take a mixture of rice and cheese and deep fry it, those belly bombs are going to be filled with cheese as nature intended.  Can't let the terrorists win.

I had leftover bacon and leek risotto left over.  I started from this recipe but replaced some of the chicken stock with ham stock, just because I had it.  I also added some onions and a little bit of roasted garlic base before adding some peas right at the end. 

The recipe came out fine, and I intentionally made enough to make arancini from the leftovers.

Fontina cubes, leftover risotto, a beaten egg and panko crumbs

Most of the recipes called for making a ball from the risotto and tucking a cube of cheese into it.  When I made the first batch this way, they were too large and the cheese didn't fully melt.  I made them a little smaller and tucked the cheese into a smaller hemisphere of risotto, adding enough risotto to fully surround the cheese on all side.  I then dipped it into the beaten egg and covered it in panko crumbs. 

Ready for a swim

 

 

Crisping up in the FryDaddy

Finally, I served these on a bed of hot marinara sauce and topped them with a little parmesan.  These were incredible, and I'll definitely make them again!

Cassoulet - Sixth New Recipe of 2012

The heaviest thing I've ever cooked

Cassoulet is a French dish made of baked white beans cooked in stock with some sort of meat.  This is a very slowly cooked dish, so I cooked it in the stock pot on a day when this could cook for about five hours.  I found recipes with almost every kind of meat.  Many called for duck confit, pork rillades or sausage.  Since I had duck legs confit and sausage, I opted for these, and I pounded some butterflied pork chops into rillades. 

I soaked the beans overnight in water in the fridge.  (Apparently, beans can ferment if you soak them at room temperature.)  I then put the duck legs in the bottom of the crock pot and added in some mirepois.  I poured in the beans and about a quart of ham stock and let it cook away for a few hours.  I then seared the rillades and the sausage and added it to the pot.  Next, I removed the duck legs from the pot and took the meat off of them. 

Ready to add the beans

Topped with bread crumbs, ready to go in the oven

I then let it cook a few more hours until the beans were soft.  A lot of the recipes called for topping the cassoulet with bread crumbs.  I tossed some panko crumbs with butter and sprinkled them on top. 



The crockery in my crock pot is oven-safe and removes from the crock pot, so I put it in a 400 degree oven to toast the crumbs. 

I really liked this recipe, but next time, I think I'll use a little more liquid, toast the bread crumbs separately and serve them on top. 

Crawfish Monica - fifth new recipe of 2012

I didn't have any time to take photos of this, but it's basically rotini in an alfredo sauce with a little cajun seasoning, Worchestershire sauce, thinly sliced green onion and black pepper.    You add the cajun seasoning, Worcestershire and pepper to a quart (yes, a quart...) of boiling cream.  It tasted flat to me, so I added some trinity (green peppers, onion and celery) that I had sweated for a batch of jambalaya.  Right before you serve, you stir in the pasta, a cup of parmesan, the green onions and the crawfish tails. 

The recipe I followed called for boiling the pasta, draining it and refrigerating it.  I cooked it to al dente, and I think that helped keep the pasta from turning into mush over the course of the BCS championship game. 

The recipe served at New Orleans Jazz Fest is a secret.  This was reasonably close, but definitely not as good as the Jazz Fest recipe.  I also wasn't able to be home to have Louisiana crawfish tails shipped in.  The Chinese ones are not nearly as good, and I'll definitely try to get some the next time.   I may also follow the recommendation of my friends from Louisiana to order a few jars of the bottled Monica sauce from Kajun Kettle. 

Pistachio Rose Macarons - 4th new recipe of 2012

Pistachio Macarons with Rose Buttercream Filling

Macarons are French cookies, and they're made of two light outer shells sandwiched with a soft filling, usually buttercream.  Here's the recipe I started with.  I made two modifications -- Instead of 2/3 cup of almond flour and 1/3 cup of ground pistachios, I went with half and half.  I didn't have the powdered food coloring that all of these recipes recommend, so I omitted it.  After I piped the shells, I topped them with some of the ground pistachios, because I didn't have rose petals.

I went with a French meringue, where the egg whites and granulated sugar are whipped together, as opposed to an Italian meringue, where a boiling sugar syrup is whipped into the egg whites.  This recipe worked really well, but the batter I used to make another recipe was too wet after I piped them, so I may try the Italian method the next time.

For the shells, you take the ground almonds and ground pistachios and add them to powdered sugar.  I had read a number of recipes that suggest making castor sugar by running it through a food processor.   This yielded a nice, fine powder, and I'll probably do that again.  I also left the powdered pistachios out to dry on a very dry day and used almond flour instead of grinding my own blanched almonds.

Added cream of tartar and granulated sugar when the whites got foamy

Stiff peaks. Ready to fold in the dry ingredients

Folding in the dry ingredients

Piping them onto parchment paper

Once you pipe them, you let them dry out on the parchment or silpat.  I believe the reason for this is that when they dry off on top, the steam from cooking can't bubble out the top and stays in the shells or pushes up on the bottom creating "feet."  This also made it a lot easier to remove them from the sheets. 

I also made the buttercream, following the recipe exactly, and it came out to a perfect piping consistency once it cooled a bit.  I also used egg whites out of a carton for the buttercream, and that didn't seem to hurt the recipe at all. 

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) - Third new recipe of 2012

Wanted to do something healthy again, so I decided to try making a green papaya salad.  This has been one of my favorite things to order in Vietnamese restaurants on Argyle Street in Chicago.  There are both Thai and Vietnamese versions, and they seem really similar.

I topped this with some chili and lime marinated shrimp fried just before serving.

It's basically shredded green papaya, shredded carrots, green onions, long beans, tomatoes, bean sprouts and Thai basil.  The dressing is a mix of fish sauce, lime juice, Thai chiles, dried shrimp, palm sugar, cilantro and some vegetable oil (I used a light olive oil.)

I started by cleaning the shrimp, slicing them in half and marinating them in a mixture of Thai red chili paste and lime juice.  I put the mixture aside to be cooked at the last minute and served on top of the salad.

Lots of ingredients in this one

The green papaya - I used the whole thing

I started by peeling the papaya and shredding it.  A lot of recipes called for using a box grater or a food processor, but to really shred this, I used a julienne shredder.

Satan's vegetable peeler.  Check out those teeth!

I also peeled three carrots, used the julienne shredder to shred them and mixed them together.

I then blanched the long beans and shocked them in cold water.   The recipes called for cutting the beans lengthwise, but mine were really thin.  I cut the first few that way and then left the rest before cutting them all into 3 inch lengths and adding them to the mix.

The recipes call for either thinly slicing or shredding the Thai basil leaves.  I decided to chiffonade them and mix them in with everything else.  

Next, it was time to make the dressing.  A few of the recipes I looked at called for brown sugar and a few called for palm sugar.  Palm sugar is really delicious and tastes a little bit like coconut and caramel.  The only downside is that it's hard to break apart.

A palm sugar lump.  I used three of these.

I decided to microwave the lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar so it would dissolve.  I put plastic wrap over the top, because fish sauce is really stinky stuff.  Once the sugar had dissolved, I put it into the fridge to cool down.

A lot of the recipes called for chopped cashews or peanuts on top.  I had unsalted peanuts around, so I chopped those finely in the food processor and reserved them to put on top later.  

Next, I finely chopped the Thai chiles in the food processor with about 7 or 8 of the small dried shrimp and a small bunch of cilantro.

These are tiny, hot, angry little bastards.

I added the palm sugar/lime juice/fish sauce mixture into the food processor and added about two tablespoons of olive oil.  I then mixed it until the mixture was smooth and used it to dress the salad, using tongs to mix it until the dressing was evenly mixed.

Dressed and ready to be plated and topped with tomatoes, shrimp and peanuts

I then put a large portion of the salad onto two plates and topped them with the tomatoes.

The final step was to quickly saute the shrimp, and I did that over high heat in a little bit of olive oil.  When they were done, I used tongs to put them on the top and put about two tablespoons of the chopped peanuts on to each one.  

I'd do this recipe again, and I'll probably do it some time that I don't feel so compelled to be healthy and top it with fried coconut shrimp. 

The Pasta of Prostitutes - Second New Recipe

This weekend was spent watching Bowl Games and eating a lot of bar food.  Plus, I spent yesterday morning throwing a shortening-laced dough into a deep fryer, so I really wanted something a little more healthy tonight. 

My, those are some lovely red pumps this pasta is wearing

I found this recipe for pasta puttanesca, which translates into "pasta, prostitute style."  I made a few modifications.  I added more garlic, a small onion and a half green pepper I had left. 

Getting the ingredients ready

Sauce cooked down, ready to add the arugula

Adding the pasta

 

I'll definitely make this one again.  The recipe specifically calls for tomatoes without added salt, and that's a really good idea.  The anchovy paste, olives and capers add a lot of salt, and the recipe would be a salt lick with regular tomatoes.  Enjoy!

Apple Cider Beignets - first new recipe of 2012!

Mmm...Forbidden doughnut

Beignets and cafe au lait.  A little bit of the Crescent City in my kitchen

New Orleans is my favorite city to visit in the US, and one of my favorite parts of those visits is making a few trips to Cafe du Monde at the French Market, usually in the small hours of the morning.  There is nothing better than these powdered sugar covered grease grenades to soak up a night's worth of alcohol, and they're delicious too.   (Chicago folks: I've only been served beignets once in Chicago. They came with the coffee I ordered at Big Jones, and they were awesome.) 

I started out with this recipe, which was excellent.  I also had some apple cider sitting around.  Green City Market has a booth that sometimes serves apple cider doughnut holes, and I thought that it would work well in the beignets.  I substituted cider for all the water called for in the recipe and cut the sugar back to 1/4 cup.  The next time I do this recipe, I'm probably going to either boil the cider down by half to concentrate the flavor or (more likely) use apple juice concentrate.   I also might try substituting buttermilk for the evaporated milk to counter the sweetness of the ton of powdered sugar you pile on these things.

The recipe calls for chilling the dough for a half hour, and I left it in the fridge overnight.  The recipe definitely didn't suffer for the extra time.  

Cutting out the dough

Into the fry daddy.  Three fit well, but I had enough room to do 4 at once

I pulled them when they were this dark.  It happens quickly

Covered in cinnamon powdered sugar, ready to serve

I loved this recipe.  I'm convinced that, without the modifications I made, they'd be really similar to the ones I love from Cafe du Monde, but I'm looking forward to playing around with the basic recipe more in the future.   Besides, there's skim milk in that cafe au lait, so these are healthy, right?