Cream puffs, dream puffs!

OK, so the buildup to this particular blog was sort of ridiculous.  You know, the whole, to give over the secret recipe or not to give over the recipe thing.  Here is what I decided.  I decided to write a new recipe!  In fact, I may like this new recipe better than my secret recipe! 

 

I LOVE cream puffs.  Wait, let me call them their technical name, real chefs call them, "profiteroles".  This dough is also called "pate a choux".  You can use it to make eclairs too!   Profiteroles are traditionally filled with ice cream.  I am not personally a HUGE fan of ice cream, which I realize is unAmerican at best, but it is true.  You can fill them with pastry cream, sweetened whipped cream, drizzle with caramel, chocolate or dust powdered sugar over the top.  Truth is though, I hold the powdered sugar.  Some of you may be able to sympathize, some may not but, we, well endowed girls, well we know where the powdered sugar always ends up!

 

 

Regardless of how you top it, it's the shell and filling to me that make the entire cream puff experience totally and utterly dreamy.  (you know because that is all there IS a cream puff, duh) Most dough recipes are written so that the cream puffs can be used as a sweet or savory delivery system.  (You can fill them with chicken salad, tuna salad, any salad or cheese mixtures, and warmed).  Since I know which I am using them for when I make them I have altered my recipe to fit my tastes.  I like my dough slightly sweetened when being used to fill with a sweet filling.  Keep in mind as you follow the recipe, I will note what to omit for a savory cream puff. 

 

1 cup water

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

pinch of salt

1 packet of sweet and low, or 1 tbsp sugar (omit for savory)

1 tsp vanilla (omit for savory)

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Bringing water, butter, salt and vanilla just to a boil.  Take off heat and all at once add the flour.  Stir until dough comes together almost like a ball.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  If you choose to not wait for it to cool, you risk scrambling your eggs when you add them to the hot dough mixture.  So JUST DO IT.  WAIT!  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing each in completely before adding the next.  It might take a minute for the flour to start to absorb the egg and it will seem slimy but trust me, it will work.  Your dough should make 12 large cream puffs.  If you make smaller ones, which I do, use a 1 inch cookie scoop.  You will obviously get substantially more.  Scoop on to a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake.   For the large cream puffs bake at 30-35 minutes, for the small, bake for 25 minutes. (ish)

 

Here is what you will come up with...

 

 

 

Aren't they a thing of beauty?  Let them cool completely before you move on to the next step.  This is the point where you clean up, cause that dough makes a mess!!  So clean 'er up kids before you move on!!

 

Now for the filling.  Like I mentioned, some people use just plain pudding or whipped cream.  Here is a recipe I came up with and it is delish!

 

Vanilla Filling

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese (softened)

1 small container of whipped topping

2 small pkgs INSTANT vanilla pudding

3/4 cup cold milk

 

Using a stand or hand mixer, combine all ingredients.  Mix on high for a 1 minute and then whip for 2 minutes to "fluff it up."  You may need more or less milk, depending on your preference.  I like a light, fluffy, but creamy filling.  Put filling into a piping bag and pipe into a little "hole" in the side of the cream puff or cut the top off and spoon fill and replace the top.  I usually pipe my filling, however, I am addicted to piping so.....!  This time I cut the top off, and spoon filled them, replacing the tops when done. 

 

 

So even though you may think they are labor intensive and hard to make, cream puffs are a cinch.  They are a quick and easy dessert.  They can easily be turned into the perfect hors d'oeuvre's.  Please take the time to try them, you will see how delicious and fun they are!!

 

Now to go finish filling these up so my husband can share them at work tonight!

 

It's FRIDAY!!!  Happy Weekened and make Saturday a CREAM PUFF day!!

 

Your "Sharing is Caring"Chefwannabe

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pizza for you and a pizza for me.

"When the moon hits your eye like
 a big pizza pie - that's amore"
 

My love for pizza has only developed as I got to be an adult. We did not have pizza often at home, even with my half Italian father, we just didn't.  It was expensive to buy for a family of 12, and though we occasionally had the frozen variety, fresh pizza wasn't the norm in our house.  Pasta yes, pizza not so much.   I attribute my childhood deprivation  to my adulthood addiction to pizza.  I love all pizza, pizza is much like diamonds, even small/bad diamonds are still diamonds!  While I lived in Jersey I learned about "real" pizza, not pizza with ground beef on it. I know, know...judge not, but really?  And tomato pies, my dad used to talk about ALL the time.  So whether your a deep dish, thin crust, thick crust, or crispy crust, pizza eater, its ALL pizza!  Can't we just get along?!?!? (Thin crispy crust for me please)  If you choose to buy pizza dough, please buy it from your favorite pizzeria or bakery.  I guarantee they will sell you some!  Don't use that crummy roll out stuff.  Actually, if you use the crummy roll out stuff, I wont ever know, but you will cave, eventually it will happen and you will admit that you went terribly wrong.  Let's get this show started with the most important part first, the recipe!  

Easy Pizza Dough

3 cups of All Purpose Flour (may need a squee bit more)

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp. dry Italian seasoning

drizzle of olive oil

1 1/4 cups of Warm Water

1 packet  of Yeast

 

First things first.  Preheat your oven to 475.  Now, add the yeast to your warm water and set it aside until it becomes foamy on top.

 

In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the dough hook attachment, mix together the flour, salt, sugar Italian seasoning and olive oil. Take the yeast and water mixture and add it to the flour mixture. If you don't have a standing mixer, stretch those fingers baby..gonna be some tired hands!

 

Mix until thoroughly  combined. Reduce speed to low, mix for 5 minutes.  The dough should be pulling away from the bowl and be one smooth mass. 

 

Divide the dough in two pieces and roll into a ball. Place each ball of dough into oiled bowls, brush the tops of the dough with a little oil to stop them from drying out. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and place the dough into a nice, cozy, warm place.

 

If you know the proper technique you may press and stretch your dough, if you are a regular person, you can roll it out!  

 

I don't have huge pizza pans, so if I want a huge pizza, I use a huge cookie sheet, UPSIDE DOWN.  I put it in the oven while I am making the pizza so it gets really hot and makes a really crispy crust.   When my son was little, everyone creating their own pizza was a hit.  Keep it in mind for kids parties or sleepovers!  As a side note, Margherita pizza is my favorite.  Here is a picture of one my husband and I made along with our own homemade fresh mozzarella cheese!   Anyway, bake for 15-20 minutes!

Let me know what creative toppings you come up with, or what other things you find to make out of pizza dough!  Now go forth my friends.....MAKE PIZZA!

Your pizza pie lovin', pass the red pepper please, chefwannabe,

Chris

Adapted from: Laura In The Kitchen

Almost Like Mom's Coleslaw

Happy Labor Day Weekend! 

 

 For so many this means school is about to start (or has started) and the fall weather is coming soon!  Since I didn't start this blog until after the summer, I decided to hurry and post a recipe for something maybe you could use for your Labor Day weekend picnics!  COLESLAW! 

Can I be honest?  I hate coleslaw.  To me, its always some various shade of dingy white, or appears to have no dressing on it at all.  Raw cabbage isn't my favorite thing, so it just seemed unnecessary to even eat it.  Oh but I forgot, at all diners, EVERYTHING comes with a damn side of mystery cabbage in a cup.  Have you ever stopped to think how long its possibly been in their walk in fridge?  Gross.  

Many years ago my husband informed me of one of his food indulgences, ready?  A slice of ham, topped with a pile of coleslaw.  Only thing is, it has to be "like my mom made it".  I have one word.  SWEET.  Everything she made him was, sweet!  He gave me some random ingredients he thought she put in it and I went to town.  I used sugar the first couple of times but it was to grainy, so I went to a simple syrup.  I think I have mastered the coleslaw my husband claims is the ultimate coleslaw.  It has mayo in it, that alone is enough to keep me away like its the plague.  I even have to buy the shredded cabbage mix and then food process it until its basically unrecognizable as cabbage.  I have found however, many people who like it this way.  Here it is....

Almost like Mom's Coleslaw

2-14ounce bags of shredded coleslaw.  Use a regular head if you like, shredded was on sale.

Dressing
1 cup of Hellmans Mayo
Simple Syrup  (1/2 cup sugar and 3 tbsp water dissolved in a small saucepan then let cool completely)
2 tbsp vinegar of your choice (I have also used pickle juice!)
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Put shredded cabbage in your food processor and process until it is in smaller bits.  Place into a large bowl.  Prepare dressing and add to cabbage, mix thoroughly.   

Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.  I like making it the day before.  I just made a batch for Sunday supper tonight and it will have been in the fridge only 3 hours.  

Like I said, this is on the sweet side.  I never had to pay attention to how much of anything I was putting in food until this blog.  I feel so grown up.  It scares me.  

So my husband says this slaw is awesome on top of burgers and BBQ sandwhiches but ham RULES. Whatev....


I know this is short but I wanted to get it posted quickly.  Look for a new blog tomorrow......

LET THERE BE SLAW!

Your "Labor Day Slaw" chefwannabe,

Chris 

Pasta alla Sorrentina

Happy Thursday evening my friends!  Can you believe tomorrow is already Friday?  My husband had the day off so we enjoyed shopping for ingredients for my blogging recipe and having lunch.  Today was a great day!  

I suppose your wondering what exactly I made for dinner.  Well...what I made was called Pasta alla Sorrentina. I had it once, years ago but decided to tweak it a little bit to my liking.  It's pretty much all the same ingredients, perhaps just worked differently.  My husband was so terrified it was going to be full of garlic he heated up some leftover mac and cheese just to be on the safe side.  What a pansy!  (And the way he embarrassed me at lunch today he is lucky I didn't just roast garlic and slap it on his plate!)  Anyway, this dish is refreshing, great for fresh tomatoes and basil out of your garden.  My basil is abundant and I refuse to waste it!  This is Nebraska, we can't get fresh herbs here in the winter.  Its a parsley, cilantro and chive world most of the winter out here!  Oh excuse me, you CAN choose between curly and flat leaf.  

I used this as a side dish, in reality it can be a meatless main dish.  I did grill up some Italian sausages to go along with it and some super crusty bread. YUM!  


You will need....
1lb pasta of your choice, obviously I recommend spaghetti
1 pint halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1 container bocconcini  *small balls of fresh mozzarella* Gawd I love these....get your own snacking container!
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn or cut info chiffonade
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare your pasta to al dente.  While the pasta is cooking halve your tomatoes and bocconcini.  Also chop or tear your basil.  Also heat in a small pan 1/4 cup olive oil.  Put garlic and red pepper flakes in the oil while still cold and slowly heat up until garlic is browned but NOT burned.  It will have fulfilled its fate and can be discarded (or eaten).  Put pasta in large bowl, drizzle over olive oil, and add butter.  Toss with tongs until coated.  Toss in tomatoes, mozzarella, and oregano.  Top with basil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Serve!

This is an incredibly simple dish with simple ingredients.  If your looking for pasta drenched in sauce this is NOT your night.  Its clean, and simple.  Make sure to salt last, so your cheese also gets some salt!

Some options in adding meat....
1.  Grilled steak, sliced thinly on the bias and laid across the top
2.  Chicken done the same way
3. Italian sausage chunks on top or sliced thin.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*

On a side note...I was at my parents over the weekend.   My mother is so cute, but so out of touch with culinary reality I don't even allow her in the kitchen for water while I am there.  Bless her heart, she WANTS to be on top of it.  I mean the rotten green onions, cantaloupe and parsley I recovered from her fridge were proof of that. "Oh Chris, I have pepper in one of those twisty deals".  Even the peppercorns were petrified.  She just can't be trusted with more than toast and coffee these days and honestly I don't think she minds at all!  God forbid she reads this.....oh never mind she has a laptop she is just sure doesn't work, "the screen is just black and it wont do a darn thing. CHRIS, I have tried everything". Ummm...have ya tried powering it on ma?  Yes, I am dead serious.

So I realize this blog is so random and scattered.  However, I am leaving it this way, its how I think. Don't even try to believe you don't have your own scatter brain moments, but accept some of us LIVE that way!  Part of it I blame solely on the fact I am chair dancing to "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire.while typing this blog.

 

Your..."yes I am one of THOSE" chefwannabe

Chris

Mealoaf, Smeatloaf, Double Beatloaf!

Name that movie?!?!  My husbands favorite all time movie!

 

Anyway, I have finally mastered the mystery that meatloaf has always been to me.  I never liked it, it seemed like nothing more than hamburger in a loaf pan, and I dreaded that my mother covered in in ketchup or tomato sauce. YUCK!  As I grew older, I never liked it any better, UNLESS it was drowning in brown gravy.  YUM-MO!  Another important Chris fact, I adore FAKE, straight from the little 33 cent package brown gravy!  One of my secret indulgences!  Since my husband loves meatloaf I took it on as my mission, to concoct and bake the perfect meatloaf.  I actually used a few tried and true tricks that I practice while making meatballs.  It isn't my meatball recipe but it COULD be used as such.  You may find some of the ingredients peculiar.  

Milk. The acid helps break up the proteins in the meat to make it tender and less clumpy.  

Hot sauce.  People always assume the addition of hot sauce in any recipe means its hot and they don't like spicy and they totally disregard it.  Please, understand, the addition of the hot sauce, just adds another layer of flavor.  It Is not enough to even taste any hot, trust me.  

Poultry seasoning, is my secret ingredient and if my husband knew I put it in, he would DIE because he claims to hate it.  Never seems to inhibited to throw some meatloaf down his ol hatch!


LOTS of breadcrumbs!  Celery, carrot and onion, is easiest food processed, you can even cook it in some boiling water first if you choose.  I must hide veggies in my husbands food because he hates them.  Have you ever considered the ridiculousness that is hiding veggies from a 45 year old man?  I know....spoiled rotten.  If you choose to omit this step or just used finely chopped onion, I encourage you to soften it until translucent in olive oil first.  A nicely cooked meatloaf deserves more than a hunk of raw onion to chomp down on.  

The most important however is how you mix it.  Use a hand mixer or stand mixer and let the entire mixture mix for a good 3-4 minutes.  It changes the consistency of the meat and makes the absolute perfect meatloaf.  I mean this is like, THE STEP you must not skip.  


ADJUST your salt and pepper to taste, I happen to enjoy salt, way to much, so you might want to use half as much and salt individual portions to taste.  



1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1/3 cup parm cheese
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (seasoned or plain)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley-1tsp dried, try and go fresh!
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp hot sauce
1 carrot + 1 rib of celery + 1 quarter of medium onion (food processed with 1/4 cup water OR grated FINELY into mixture)


Mix all ingredients EXCEPT ground meat together well, add ground beef and ground turkey and mix well.  Using your hand mixer, blend mixture for 3-4 minutes.  Or put into your stand mixer and let it rip for 3-4 minutes Turn into loaf pan, or form loaf shape and put in 9x13 pan.  You can also divide into mini meatloaves.  
Top with ketchup mixed with brown sugar,  BBQ sauce or leave plain to top with brown gravy!

Bake 350 degrees for 45 min - 1 hour.  Let rest for 15 min before slicing.

So.....GO, enjoy some good old fashioned meatloaf!  Maybe add some mashed potatoes, some nice fresh green peas?  And don't forget plenty of brown gravy!

Sing while you cook this week.  Make your family wonder if you have gone crazy!

Its late...sleep well, wake up and eat well!

Curiousity........did not kill the cat, and it wont kill me either.

Good Thursday evening!

I have a question for all of YOU.....

What is the ONE thing in your kitchen you can NOT live without.  Only ONE thing.  


Use the comments to post your answer and why you can't live without it!  I will post mine as soon as I see what everyone else's is, so mine doesn't look stupid. Mwaahahaha :)

Steaming, and boiling, and roasting, and searing. These are a few of my favorite thingssssss...

When you read a recipe, or watch a cooking show on television, does it ever seem they aren't quite speaking  your language?  Braising and roasting, parboiling or poaching?  Without knowledge of at least some of these terms, your cooking skills might not be what they COULD be.  I mean, at least use it as an excuse for burning the pasta.  "Oh my GOODNESS, I should have boiled, but instead I blackened!!!"  Ok, ok, maybe a lame excuse but you get my point.  Short of being trained at Le Cordon Bleu, there is no way you can just know ALL these terms without purposely looking these things up.   When speaking to a friend recently, I suggested she parboil her brussel sprouts, drain them and then saute them in a skillet with shallots, bacon and butter.  Her response?  "HOLD UP....what in the HELL is parboiling and what are shallots?".  I occassionally forget others have lives that dont revolve around cooking 24 hours a day. . It's what I dream about, I think about, and  love.  I want to clear up that as long as you know how to cook pasta in my world, nothing else matters. :)  So lets clear up some terminology issues using terms you may occassionally run across in my blog.   These are some easy, basic terms.  Ready?  We will start with the most important one first!  

Al Dente- Italian cooking term meaning "to the tooth". Referring to pasta that is slightly chewy. Not overdone.  Nothing is worse than mushy pasta, its sticky and nasty. If you have to use sauce just to unstick it from each other, we have a problem!

Bechamel -A rich sauce made from butter, flour and milk. Sometimes used as a base for preparing other sauces.  Unless your name is DONNA and you worship PAULA DEEN, you will do this in your pot over low heat..  Use your whisk people!!!

Blanch- Cooking food in boiling water and then placing in cold water to stop the cooking process. Helps to keep vegetables crisp and flavorful.  Nobody wants olive green, fresh green beans, blanch blanch blanch!

Broil - Cook by exposure to direct heat under the broiler of a gas or electric range, in an electric broiler, or over an open fire.

Deglaze- After sauteing meat, liquid (commonly wine) is added to the pan to loosen bits of food. This usually becomes the base for a sauce.  You can also deglaze with stock!  On a side note when you go to clean your pan.....deglaze with water, it will get all the mess out of the pan!

Egg wash- An egg beated with a small amount of water or milk. Brushed on top of pastry dough, pie crusts, anything yo want to bake to a sweet scrumptous golden brown color.  Definitely magazine photo quality kinda golden!

Ganache- Creamy frosting made with semi-sweet chocolate and cream. Possibly one of the most important terms in the kitchen because it involves chocolate!  I prefer milk chocolate, and it also requires some butter!  I will be doing an entire blog just on ganache at some point.

Marinate/Marinade - To let foods stand in a marinade, usually an acid-oil mixture of oil and vinegar or wine, often flavored with spices and herbs.

Poach- To cook in liquid. Poached eggs...YUM!

Puree- Strained or blended food.  Do this with peaches in a blender, add it to prosecco and its a bellini!

Render- Slow cooking meat to extract fat.  For instance bacon, or pancetta.

Roux- A flour and butter mixture used to thicken soups, stews and gravies.

Saute- To cook in food in fat, briefly over high heat. Butter, drippings rendered from bacon, or other meat.

Scald- Heating milk almost to the boiling point.

Sear- To brown meat quickly over high heat in order to seal in the juices.  Done often before putting it in the oven to bake.

Simmer- Cooking liquid just below the boiling point.

Steam - To cook on a rack or holder over a small amount of boiling water in a tightly covered container.

Stock- A base for soup which is made from cooking meats, seafood and/or vegetables in water and straining the liquid.   Another topic we will discuss in depth, especially with fall and winter coming!

Sweat - To saute over low heat with a lid on. This method causes steam and expedites the cooking time.  If you sweat onions, they will become translucent.  You will smell them.  Just like when we sweat we SMELL, so will onions!

Temper - To heat food gently before adding it to a hot mixture so it does not separate or curdle. Often eggs are tempered by mixing with a little hot liquid to raise their temperature before they are stirred into a hot sauce or soup.

Whip - To rapidly beat eggs, heavy cream, etc., in order to incorporate air and expand volume.

Zest- Grated peel from the outer covering of a citrus fruit. CLEAN your fruit first!  I am a non organtic girl but I think even organic people should wash it first!

So those are a few basic kitchen terms.  Anyone have any questions?  In case you have dinner cooking, go check it now.....unless you planned on a "blackened" dish!

Your steamy, zesty chefwannabe who wonders if she can jump in a pan and "Render" herself....
Chris