Salsa fresca

I can't believe I haven't written a post about my fresh salsa before.  I made a whole bunch of it for my bachelor(ette) party back in August.  And I finally made a new batch yesterday.  Somehow it seems a very summer thing to do.  I think the inspiration this time around was receiving some fresh cilantro out of Lynnelle's garden.  Yum!  Anyways, this recipe is super easy to make.  I based it mostly off of a recipe that came with the instructions to my food processor.

Katie's salsa fresca

Ingredients:

2 small chile peppers, cleaned
1/2 yellow onion, very roughly chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro
4 small tomatoes or 3 medium, very roughly chopped(I used the ones on the vine)
juice of one lime
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Procedure:

1) Put the chile peppers, onion and cilantro in a food processor and run it until everything is finely chopped.  Scrape down the sides and pulse it a couple of times.
2) Add in the tomatoes and lime juice and pulse until it is the consistency you want.
3) Add the salt and pulse once.

There you go!  I love my food processor!  It makes things so convenient!  You will notice that some things need to be pre-chopped ahead of time, but you don't have to do it very finely.  I've noticed that with things like tomatoes and onions the food processor will have a hard time chopping up the whole thing, so I just help it out a little.  So delicious!  And one way to get me to eat tomatoes (which I normally hate)!
Sorry for the lack of pictures recently...

Cast iron skillet pizza

And... I'm back!  Finally, finally, after months of stress, turmoil, moving around, too much driving for anyone's good and eating a whole bunch of food that someone else cooked, it is my turn to cook again.  And blog again.  For those who are not familiar with what has been going on in my life, I have been traveling all over CA since mid-April and staying at various camps for five days or so at a time.  On the weekends, I have either been moving from my old apartment in Aptos to my new place in Ben Lomond or visiting with friends/family in other parts of CA.  In short, it has been a crazy hectic insane past month and a half or so.  But, as all things must, my craziness has ended and life is starting to settle back down.
I find myself in a new challenging situation.  My husband and I have moved to a charming little trailer in the woods of Ben Lomond.  Great rent, great landlords (friends of ours), surrounded by trees, tiny tiny kitchen.  Our kitchen consists of a four burner stove (maybe 2/3 normal size), tiny oven (1/3-1/2 normal size), a refrigerator ("apartment" sized- 1/2 normal size) and half a counter space.  That's it.  The good news is that I finally get to cook with gas!  The bad news is I have to light it myself!  It has definitely been a challenge finding enough space for all of my cooking needs, kitchen gadgets, etc.  It does not help that we are not even close to fully unpacked yet, so we have lots of stuff taking up what would otherwise be workspace.  Oh well... Challenges and all I am determined to start cooking for myself again.
So, my first blog is about my second time cooking here (first was beans and greens burrito which I've already blogged about).  I decided to make a pizza.  But wait, you may say, haven't you already blogged about how to make a pizza?  I have indeed.. but not the way I made it; in a cast iron skillet!  Having limited kitchen space meant that I had to leave a lot of my cooking stuff in storage, including my pizza pan.  So, I came up with the brilliant idea that one could use a cast iron skillet as a pizza pan.  I googled it trying to get some ideas and found that not only had other people thought of this but that other people loved it as well!  I got most of my ideas from a King Arthur's flour blog http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2011/08/22/cast-iron-pans-a-pizzas-best-friend/.   Here is how I did it using what I had at hand:

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Ingredients:

Bag of herbed pizza dough from Trader Joe's
Pesto (see 6/12/11 blog for recipe)
Mozzarella cheese
Black olives, sliced
Sausage, sliced

Procedure:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
2) Spread out pizza dough on cold cast iron skillet.
3) Spread pesto evenly along the top, leaving an inch or so on the edge for the crust.
4) Top with cheese, olives and sausages.
5) Cook the cast iron skillet on the stovetop over high heat for 3-5 minutes.
6) Put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
7) Transfer it out of the skillet, cut it up, and enjoy!

The pizza was amazing!  Alas, I have no pictures as I couldn't find the camera at the time.  The crust came out really crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  Scott and I ate that pizza in no time flat!  We even had leftover pizza toppings so I made a calzone the next night and baked it directly on my pizza stone.  Another delicious food!  Mmmm...  Scott calls me the "best pizza maker in the world."  I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was super good!

Update:

Months later, I made cast iron skillet pizza for my Dad in Southern California and did have my camera with me then.  His oven runs really hot so the pizza crust browned beautifully!

Cast iron skillet margherita pizza

Deliciousness on a plate

I'm still here

Hello to my loyal readers. 
  Which might be a grand population of zero. 
      Anyways, I wanted to let you guys know that I am still here and living, breathing and eating but haven't had much time for cooking.  I am moving and working like crazy and so have not had time or the ability to cook anything!  We've been eating out a lot.  I've been considering doing restaurant reviews, but don't even have the time for that...  Stay tuned as I will definitely be back!  It might be till the end of summer, but, as Arnold says, "I'll be back."

Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse Cake

     Today is my husband's 45th birthday!  To celebrate in style, I cooked him a delicious dinner feast tonight to celebrate his b-day.  It is much better (and cheaper) than taking him out to eat!  Boy, am I glad that I can cook!
     Anyways, I made a delicious meal of things that I have already blogged about (green chile chicken enchiladas, green chile chicken corn chowder, french bread baguettes, salad) but the best was a dessert that has been haunting me for well over a month now.... Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse Cake.
     I have a calendar hanging up in my kitchen entitled "seasons in the kitchen."  The February entry (goes with the Valentines theme, I suppose) was the Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse Cake.  I had to stare at that picture for a whole month wishing that I could make it.  The only problem?  I didn't have the springform pan that they asked for.  So, after asking around for almost a month, I finally got one from Chuck McCarthy, the site director of Little Basin.  Thank you very much, Chuck, for your generosity!  Since I got one in March, I decided making this cake would be perfect for Scott's birthday.  And, boy, was it ever worth it!
Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse Cake

Note: This three-layer cake uses ganache in two different ways: It's whipped to increase the volume, creating a filling that's lighter in color and texture.  It's also spread on top for a thick, dark frosting.  Make the cake a day ahead so it has time to set up.

Ingredients:

CRUST
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup raspberry preserves

FILLING
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp raspberry flavoring syrup, divided
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
1 tbsp sugar

TOPPING
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup whipping cream

Procedure:

1) Heat oven to 375 F.  In medium bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter.  Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.  Bake 10 minutes or until set.  Remove from oven; gently spread preserves over crust.  Cool completely on wire rack.
2) Meanwhile, place 8 oz. chocolate and 1 tablespoon of the raspberry syrup in large bowl.  Heat 1 1/2 cups of the cream in medium saucepan over medium heat or in microwave on high until cream comes to a boil.  Immediately pour cream over chocolate; stir until smooth.   Let stand until cool but still liquid (about 65 F).  (To speed up process, place bowl with chocolate in bowl of ice water; stir constantly.)  Beat at medium speed 2 to 4 minutes or until slightly soft peaks form; spread over crust.  Refrigerate.
3) In large bowl, beat remaining 1 cup cream, remaining 1 tablespoon raspberry syrup and sugar at medium speed until firm but not stiff peaks form.  Spread over chocolate filling.  Refrigerate.
4) Place 6 oz. chocolate in large bowl.  Heat 3/4 cup cream in small saucepan over medium heat or in microwave on high until cream comes to a boil.  Immediately pour cream over chocolate; stir until smooth.  Cool until slightly thickened but still pourable (about 75 F).  Spoon over raspberry filling.  Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 8 hours or overnight.  (Cake can be made up to 2 days ahead).
5) To cut cake, leave cake in springform pan; use hot dry knife to cut through top layer.  Refrigerate.  When ready to serve, remove springform pan ring; slice completely.  Store in refrigerator.

Makes: 12 servings

     I spent all of last night working on this cake.  The most pain in the butt part was waiting for things to cool down.  I hate waiting for things to cool down.  However, thanks to both a standing mixer and a hand held mixer, I had plenty of bowls and plenty of space to make everything work.  In retrospect, I think perhaps that I should have whipped the cream a little bit more for the third layer, but it totally works.  I improvised and added raspberries on the top.  The result is definitely definitely worth all the trouble!  I am amazed at just how professional this cakes tastes.  It doesn't look quite professional as I couldn't get the chocolate topping to spread evenly and so ended up mixing it a bit with the whipped cream underneath, but it totally worked.  I've never made a ganache before!  This was definitely the most complicated cake I have made.  I wish I had that little frosting spatula.  And a springform pan of my own.  One of these days...  I hope you enjoy!

The final result- deliciousness in a pan!

Slightly dark picture of an individual slice of cake

Beans 'n Greens Burritos

     So, I've made kind of a major dietary choice in the past few weeks.  After looking over my pictures for the last few years really brought it home how much weight I have gained lately.  It can be blamed directly on my cooking for myself (and eating too much of my good cooking!) and a lack of exercise.  I figured that the exercise would come in time (since I am naturalizing a lot lately so hiking a lot), but I could directly control what I ate, now.  A lot of this comes from Food Matters a cookbook by (guess who), Mark Bittman.  I could kiss that man!  Anyways, this cookbook emphasizes a lot more vegetables, a lot less dairy and meat and the use of whole grains over white.  I've been eating like this (more or less) for a few weeks and have already noticed a difference!  I feel a lot healthier and I am losing weight.  I'm not perfect yet; I've fallen off the wagon a few times, but I really feel it is making a difference!  So, what follows is one of my favorite recipes from my new dietary regime:  Beans 'n Greens burritos

Beans ‘n Greens Burritos

Ingredients:

-4 large or 8 small whole wheat flour tortillas
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-1 tbsp. minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
-1 tbsp. chili powder
-salt and black pepper
-1 bunch of kale (about 1 pound), roughly chopped
-2 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained, liquid reserved
-1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese, optional

Procedure:

1)Preheat oven 300F. Stack tortillas and roll them up in a sheet of aluminum foil. Place them in the oven to warm while you cook the filling.
2)Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it's hot, add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to color, 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with chili powder and salt and pepper. Add the kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until leaves wilt and release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Stir in beans, and mash them with a fork or potato masher, adding a spoonful of the reserved liquid if the mixture seems dry.
3) To roll each burrito, lay a tortilla on a flat surface and put 1/4 of mixture (or 1/8 if using the small tortillas) on the third closest to you.  Sprinkle with some of the cheese.  Fold the tortilla over from the bottom to cover the beans and greens, then fold in the 2 sides to fully enclose them finish rolling and put the burrito seam side down on a plate.

Note: These freeze well.  Just wrap them individually in foil or wax paper and freeze in a tightly sealed container.  Reheat in the microwave or oven.

     The first time I made these, I made homemade whole wheat tortillas to go along with them.  Between the homemade tortillas and the feta cheese, they were amazing!  I kept going back for more!  Normally, I don't like kale (unless it is in the form of kale chips), but this was a really good combination.  I've made it quite a few times since then and have found that this mixture is good for all kinds of things: burritos, sandwiches, on rice, etc.

Homemade whole wheat tortillas

Kale and black bean mixture

Deliciousness!

French Onion soup

     Aaahhh!!  Somehow, life has run away with me and I haven't had the opportunity to blog in about a month!  Between getting sick, working five days a week and cooking like a crazy maniac, the time has slipped by!  I just tallied up all the recipes that I would like to blog about and they total 17!  Yeah, I don't think that I am going to really have the opportunity to blog about all of them!  So, I'll just put up a few select favorites.  Including, of course, French Onion soup.
     I had to blog about this recipe as I mentioned making the stock in my last blog.  However, that is not the only reason.  No, it is not the only reason at all.  I can honestly say that this recipe was so amazing and delicious that it ruined having French onion soup anywhere else except at home.  I mean, it just can't be beat!  The rich flavor, the crunchiness of the bread, the cheese floating through out.  Deliciousness in a bowl.  AMAZING deliciousness.  Did I mention it was delicious?

French Onion Soup (from Julia Child's The Way to Cook)

Timing: For the most delicious results, you want a slow simmer of 2 3/4 to 3 hrs.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. light olive oil or fresh peanut oil
8 cups thinly sliced onions (2.5 lbs)
1/2 tsp each salt and sugar
2 tbsp. flour
2 1/2 quarts homemade beef stock, at least 2 cups of which should be hot
4-5 tbsp. Cognac, Armagnac, or other good brandy
1 cup dry white French vermouth

Special equipment suggested: A flood processor with slicing blade or a hand slice is useful for the onions; a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan with cover for onion cooking and simmering.

Procedure:

Browning the onions- 40 minutes. Set the saucepan over moderate heat with the butter and oil; when the butter has melted, stir in the onions, cover the pan, and cook slowly until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.  Blend in the slat and sugar, raise heat to moderately high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are a dark walnut color, 25 to 30 minutes.

Simmering the soup: Sprinkle in the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then whisk in 2 cups of hot stock.  When well blended, bring to the simmer, adding the rest of the stock, the Cognac or brandy, and the vermouth.  Cover loosely, and simmer very slowly 1 1/2 hours, adding a little water if the liquid reduces too much.  Correct seasoning.

Ahead-of-time note: may be prepared in advance; chill uncovered, then cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Variation: Onion Soup Gratineed

Manufacturing note: Be sure you have a homemade type of bread with body here because flimsy loaves will disintegrate into a slimy mass.

Ingredients:
12 or more Hard-Toasted French Bread rounds
1-2 oz Swiss cheese, very thickly sliced
Ingredients for the preceding French Onion soup, heated
3/4-1 cup finely grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Procedure:

Assembling and baking- about 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 425 F and set the rack in the lower middle level.  Line to bottom of the casserole with half the slices of toasted French bread, and spread over them the sliced cheese.  Ladle on the hot onion soup and float over them a layer of toasted bread, topping with the grated cheese.  At once set in the preheated oven and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until the cheese has melted and browned nicely.  Serve as soon as possible- if you dally too long, the toast topping may sink into the soup.

Katie's note:

Hard-toasted french bread rounds (croutes) are simply french bread cut 3/4 inch thick basted with olive oil on both sides and baked through for 25-30 minutes in a 325 F oven.  I made them while the french onion soup was cooking.

     Well, I don't think I really need to say much more about how this soup came out.  It was definitely a time commitment, but the results were well worth it!  I very much loved my food processor that day.  Oh, I should mention that I found that one large onion yields about 3 cups of sliced onion.  Delicious!!

     A big thanks to my Steve and Sarah Gentile, my siblings-in-law, without whom the soup would not have been made!  Thanks for the baguette pans and the soup crocks!

My homemade frecnch bread baguettes... the best they've ever turned out!

8 cups of sliced onions just as I'm starting to cook them

They've become transluscent

Starting to brown

Getting even browner

Now they've become sweet and caramelized

Setting up the soup in the crocks

Fresh out of the oven!

     I love these pictures; I call it the disappearing onion act.  Mmmmm.... caramelized onions! 

Fondue... the new macaroni and cheese (and sourdough)

     Those of you who have been reading my blog (or at least who read the first blog) know that this blog is called "in search of the perfect macaroni and cheese" as I can never find a great macaroni and cheese recipe no matter how many different kinds I try!  I found out through the process of blogging and baking that sourdough bread is like that for me as well.  I just can't seem to produce a good loaf.  Well, today I have one more recipe to add to the family; fondue!
     I have loved fondue ever since I first heard about it.  I mean, who doesn't love the idea of melted cheese that you dip things into?  Yum!  I will admit that when I first tried it in Switzerland I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped I would be, but I still liked it.  I'm sure I have had it a few times since then but none have stuck out so much as going to The Melting Pot with my friend Jasmine and her boyfriend.  The Melting Pot is a chain restaurant specializing in fondue.  It comes with a four course meal; cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue (basically hot oil that you put raw meat into to cook) and a dessert fondue of chocolate.  Delicious!  The cheese fondue was superb and it inspired me to create fondue at home. 
     I didn't have a fondue pot for the longest time, so this was a recipe aspiration that got put on the shelf.  Then, I watched Alton Brown's Good eats and saw his recipe on fondue.  He introduced the idea to me that one didn't have to have a fondue pot to make fondue.  It also occurred to me around the same time that I could use a slow cooker as a kind of fondue pot.  Well, it turns out all of this was unnecessary as Robbin and Steve gave me their fondue pot that they hadn't used.  There were some complications with this, as it didn't come with fuel and then I found out the pot had been recalled anyways because of the fuel, but I eventually figured it out.  So, now I had the fondue pot and a recipe I wanted to try ("fondue vudu" from the Good eats show) so I was ready to go.
     Original recipe to be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/fondue-vudu-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle hard apple cider
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• Pinch kosher salt
• 5 ounces (2 cups) Gruyere, grated
• 5 ounces (2 cups) Smoked Gouda, rind removed, grated
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• Several grinds fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Rub inside of fondue pot or heavy small saucepan with garlic. Pour cider into pot. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, the brandy and salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, grate the cheese and toss well with the cornstarch in a large bowl. When the cider just begins to simmer, gradually add the cheese a handful at a time, allowing each addition to melt completely before adding the next. Continue adding cheese and stirring until all cheese is incorporated, about 3 minutes. If mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat to low. The mixture is ready when creamy and easily coats the back of a spoon. Stir in curry powder and pepper. If cheese seems stringy, add some or all of the remaining lemon juice. Move fondue pot to alcohol warmer, and keep stirring during service. A variety of breads, from pumpernickel to rye to bagel chunks can be skewered and dipped as can cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms and potatoes. (Soften all vegetables by blanching briefly in boiling water then chilling.) Crisp fruits such as apples make great fondue fodder, as do cooked meats and sausages. Even soft pretzels make for good dipping. If any fondue is left over, cover with ice water and refrigerate, pour off water and reheat over low heat.

     Well, long story short, I made it but I could never get the darn cheese to melt!  I seriously sat over that pot for an hour, but the cheese never melted!  I'm not even going to include a picture as it is nothing really pretty to look at.  So, I eventually decided to eat it and although the taste was good, the consistency left something to be desired.  I read reviews of the recipes and found out that others had had this problem (they blamed the smoked gouda), so I didn't feel too bad.  I could always try again.

     Yesterday was my attempt to try again.  Scott and I went to the fungus fair in Santa Cruz and attended a mushroom cooking and wine demonstration.  The chef made an absolutely delicious truffle fondue.  I didn't have truffles at home, but I still had the Emmenthal and Gruyere cheese I bought for the recipe, so I decided to try again (and yes, I realize the above recipe doesn't have Emmenthal but I bought it just in case).  I used my Not your mother's fondue cookbook that my friend Lyz got me for my bridal shower (along with a lovely chocolate fondue set that I haven't used yet).  I made the traditional fondue recipe.  I had everything except cherry liqueur, but I didn't think that would made that much difference.