Torch Me Ike

One of my favorite movies as a kid was a made for TV classic called Poison Ivy.  It's a great story about a bunch of kids at summer camp and Michael J Fox played one of the camp counselors.  There is a scene in the movie where the camp owner's wife turns to the head counselor with a cigarette in her mouth and says "torch me Ike".  I remember running around with my sisters in the summer, candy cigarette in mouth, trying to reenact that scene.  Jason and I stopped at a candy store when we were up in Sturgeon Bay yesterday and they had candy cigarettes!  I haven't seen those in years, although now they are called candy sticks and sell for $1.19 a pack.  I remember buying them at Bramschreiber's store after school for ten cents a box, oh how the times have changed.

I have always wanted a creme brulee torch, what could be better than setting fire to something on purpose in the kitchen?  We got a shipment of torches in at work last week so I had to have one.  Today I decided to put it to use for the first time. 

I have been thinking a lot lately of our trip to Hawaii.  I'm pretty sure that this crappy Wisconsin weather is to blame.  There were many great things about the trip but one of the best was the food.  I loved all of the fresh seafood and the tropical fruit so I decided to plan tonight's meal with Hawaii in mind.  One of the things on just about every menu was a macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi, two things that are plentiful in the islands.  I could have sworn that I still had a can of macadamias at home but when I set out to start dinner they were nowhere to be found so I had to substitute pecans instead.

Pecan Crusted Mahi Mahi with Roasted Green Beans and White Wine Cream Sauce

1 large fillet of Mahi Mahi (about a pound, cut into four equal pieces)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
1/2 cup pecans (very finely chopped)
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoon Hawaiian salt
1 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
cracked black pepper

1 pound green bean
olive oil
salt and pepper

1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Philadelphia cooking cream
1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.
I started by trimming the green beans and spread them out on a baking sheet and drizzled them with oil and salt and pepper.  I have some yummy Hawaiian salt that we bought on the trip so I used that for everything tonight but regular salt would do.

I put the green beans in the oven and let them cook for about 15-20 minutes.  While those were going I started on the sauce by heating the wine in a small sauce pan and letting it reduce by about half.  When that reduced I added the cream and butter and whisked until that combined.  Then I added the rest of the ingredients and reduced the heat to low so it would stay warm while I cooked the fish.

For the fish, I removed the skin and cut it into four pretty equal portions. Then I set up my coating assembly line.  I set out three bowls, the first with cornstarch, the second with the eggs and the third with the panko and pecans.  I added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt , Old Bay and a little pepper to each bowl and started coating.

Once all of the fish is coated I heated a little coconut oil in a large pan and started pan frying the fish.  I let it go for a couple minutes per side, until the coating turned a nice golden brown.

Because the pecans get browned fairly quick, the fish isn't done cooking yet so I transferred it to a baking dish and cooked it in the oven for about five more minutes.  By that time the fish and the green beans were done so I took it all out of the oven and dinner was served!

Earlier in the afternoon I had started on the dessert as it would need time to cool before we could eat it.  I couldn't find a recipe that I really liked so I took bits and pieces of a couple different ones to make my creme brulee.

Coconut Creme Brulee with Tropical Fruit Salsa
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup coconut milk
8 egg yolks
1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp rum

1 mango diced
1/2 pineapple diced
1 banana sliced
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs rum
sanding sugar

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and rum.

 In a sauce pan over medium heat whisk together the milk and cream until it boils.

Once it boils I removed from the heat and tempered the eggs.  I took a little of the egg mixture out into a separate bowl and whisked in a little of the cream and then whisked that back into the larger bowl of egg mixture.  This slowly raises the temperature of the eggs without cooking the eggs.  Then I added the rest of the cream and whisked until it was all combined.

I set up a cake pan with about 3/4 of an inch of water and put four ramekins in it.  I poured the creme brulee mixture through a sieve (to catch any egg bits that may have been in there) into the ramekins.  The recipes I found called for six ramekins but I only had four so they were just a little more full than they should have been.

I put them in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes.  The top should be set but still jiggle a little.  While those were cooking I started on the salsa.  I know I could cheat and just buy my pineapple already cut up or canned, but there is something that I love about whole pineapples.  There is just something about the look of them that I love, the texture of the exterior and the spiky tops are just so cool.  That I they will forever remind me of Hawaii as they serve a wedge of pineapple on just about every plate and drink.

So I chopped up the pineapple and mango and added about a Tbs of rum and let that hang out in the fridge for a while.  Once the creme brulees were done baking I put them in the fridge too and let them chill for a few hours. 

After dinner I finished up the brulees.  In a small pan I melted the butter and sugar and added the sliced banana and the remaining Tbs of rum.  I lit the rum on fire (this is the first time I ever flambeed and I have to say it was great fun) and cooked until the bananas started to brown just a little.

I ran into a little road block when I took my new torch out of the packaging and realized that it didn't come with the fuel so I couldn't use it.  Luckily a torch is never far away in this house so I borrowed Jason's to finish off the dessert.  I put a layer of sanding sugar evenly over the creme brulees and ran the torch over it until melted. 

Then I covered it in the bananas and fruit salsa.  What a beautiful and delicious dessert!  If I closed my eyes it was almost like we were back in Hawaii.  Almost.

I came, I grilled, I conquered

We love to grill!  If I could I would grill every meal we eat all summer long.  Since the weather has turned nicer (finally) we have been grilling out a lot and I have been trying out some new things on the grill.  A few nights ago we made grilled pizza.  This was I think our fourth attempt at grilled pizza and I can safely say we have finally figured it out. On Sunday night Jason wanted steak and since I'm not a huge steak person, I took advantage of the sale at Festival and picked up a beautiful tuna steak and some giant prawns.  We grilled it all along with some carrots and broccoli and potatoes.  I have to say it was one of the best meals I have eaten in a while.

Last night I decided to try something a little different.  Grilled salad.  I know it sounds weird but trust me on this one, it's actually really good.  I always have really good intentions with salad.  I go grocery shopping and I buy all the lettuce and the vegetables and think how great it will be to bring a nice salad to work for lunch everyday.  And then reality sets in and I loose interest in salads and the lettuce goes brown before I get around to eating it.  It just gets boring to me and I get sick of the same old thing so I had to find a way to change it up.

I had seen a recipe a few years ago for a grilled iceberg wedge salad but I have always been a Caesar girl so I changed it up a bit.  I started by cutting a head of romaine into quarters but I left the core attached so it wouldn't fall apart on the grill.  I was also grilling a pork tenderloin and some garlic bread so when that had just a couple of minutes left I stated on the salad.  I drizzled the romaine with a little olive oil and sprinkled some basil garlic seasoning on it.  Then I put it on grill away from the coals.  I let it sit under the cover for just about a minute and flipped it over and let it go for a minute more.  I still wanted some crisp to the lettuce but also some of that grill flavor that I love.

Once everything was done I cut the core out of the romaine and chopped it up and added some shaved parmesean cheese and crutons and served it up with my pork tenderloin and garlic bread.  It may take a little longer to serve salad this way but it is totally worth it!

Peep Show

Fresh isn't always better.  I love using fresh ingredients whenever I can but there is one thing that I have always liked stale.  Peeps.  I credit my mom for my love of stale peeps.  I remember opening up the packages on Easter morning with her and then patiently waiting a week or two until they got hard and stale before eating them.  Now expecting a child to wait two weeks to eat candy is quite an undertaking, but I was always an exceptionally patient child (I can hear the laughter now from those of you who know me well).  Maybe not exceptionally patient but at least the exceptional part is true.  About five years ago we started to realize that even after leaving our Peeps to sit for many weeks they just weren't getting stale anymore.  I guess they must have added some more preservatives to make them stay "fresh" longer.  I haven't even bought a package of Peeps in the last few years because they just don't bring back the same happiness that they used to. 

While walking through the aisles of one of my favorite stores last week, Target, I saw this adorable little silicone bunny pan and I just had to have it.  At the time I wasn't quite sure what I was going to use it for but I knew it needed to come home with me and I could figure out the details later.

After I got it home I had a stroke of genius; I would make my own peeps!  Now I have never attempted marshmallows before because they seemed like one of those things that would make a huge mess and not turn out right and leave my kitchen covered in stickiness.  Also, although I own a candy thermometer, anything that actually requires me to use it scares me a little bit.  I was feeling courageous today and I have kind of been on a kick of taking things that I have always just purchased and trying to make them myself.

I started by turning to my friend Alton Brown from Good Eats for the marshmallow recipe.  I started by gathering my ingredients.

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

 In the bowl of my stand mixer with the whisk attachment. I put the gelatin and 1/2 cup of the water and let that sit while I mixed up the rest of the concoction. 

In a saucepan over medium high heat I added the rest of the water, sugar, salt and corn syrup.  Cover and let this cook for about four minutes.  Then I removed the cover and put the candy thermometer in and let it continue cooking until it reached 240 degrees, it took about ten minutes.

Once it gets to temperature immediately remove it from the heat.  Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the sugar mixture into the bowl.  The trick here is to pour the mixture down the side if the bowl and not onto the whisk.  If it gets on the whisk it will stick to the top of the whisk and not get incorporated into the gelatin mixture (big mess).  Once all of the sugar is added turn the mixer to high and let it mix for about 12 minutes, maybe more.  It should continue mixing until light and fluffy and lukewarm.  When it's just about done add the vanilla.  I added about twice the vanilla and a little almond extract as the reviews I read of the recipe said that if you follow it exactly they didn't have much flavor.

While this was whisking away I got my pan ready.  The recipe says to spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and then coat it with a mixture of the powdered sugar and cornstarch.  I started with the non-stick spray and then took a pastry brush to make sure I had every little nook and cranny covered.  Next I got some hot pink sugar out of the cake closet and shook that around the pan until everything was pretty well coated.  I still had a few spots where I could see the pan so I covered everything in the powdered sugar/cornstarch and shook that around to make sure every area was covered.  I took every step to make sure the pan was covered because I was envisioning a sticky mess when trying to take them out of the pan later.

Now that I had my pan coated and the marshmallow was done it was time for the messy part.  I filled a disposable pastry bag with some of the marshmallow (it wouldn't all fit) and piped it into the bunny pan. 

This actually worked pretty well, much better than I anticipated.  It took me two piping bags to fill up the pan and then I still had some left over so I coated a small baking sheet and poured the rest out onto that.  It wasn't pretty but it tastes good and that was all that mattered.  Now that my bunny mold was filled I sprinkled some more pink sugar over the top and let them sit for a while.

Then it was time to wait.  The recipe says to wait four hours at least but as previously stated I have no patience so I let them sit for just an hour or two before trying to take them out of the pan.  To my surprise they popped right out and looked amazing!  I put them on a sheet of waxed paper and melted a little chocolate in the microwave to pipe on the face.  I put the chocolate in another disposable bag (I love these things!!) and piped on some eyes and a nose and my peeps were finished.  I snuck a bite of the marshmallow blob I made with my extras and they are amazing.  I'm not sure if they will stick around long enough to get stale but I don't really care.  These little guys are better fresh that the store bought ones could ever be stale.

Got Leche?

After three months of planning, I am finally getting together with some friends that I haven't seen in way too long today.  I am super excited to see my girls but almost equally excited to entertain.  As Monica said on Friends, "I am always the hostess".  I love having people over as I love the excuse it gives me to cook great food that I might not normally make for just me and Jason.  We decided on Mexican food and I have been craving my chimichangas for quite a while so that was a no brainer.  I struggled to come up with a dessert.  I wanted something that fit with my Mexican theme and normally I would have made some churros or sopapillas but since I have given up my fried foods that was out.  Then I remembered a Good Eats I had seen a while ago where he made a Tres Leches cake so I thought I would give that a try.  I searched on foodnetwork.com and found an even better recipe than the on Alton made on his show, tres leches coconut cupcakes with dulce de leche buttercream frosting!

I started with the cupcakes yesterday afternoon as they need a few hours to cool.  Here's the cupcake part of the recipe:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the egg yolks one at a time.  Once the eggs are all mixed in add the vanilla.  In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk to the first bowl (butter, sugar, egg mixture).  In yet another bowl (this recipe does require a lot of dirty dishes) whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter. 

 I used my large Pampered Chef cookie scoop to scoop the batter into paper lined cupcake pans.  This made about 21 cupcakes for me. 

Once they were baked I let them cool for a little bit while I mixed up the tres leches part of the cupcakes. 

I whisked together a half cup of each coconut milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk.  I put this mixture into a food syringe and injected it into the cupcakes while they were still warm.

Then I let the cupcakes cool overnight.  This morning I got started on the frosting.  It was by far the most time consuming frosting I have ever made but it was worth every minute of it in the end.  Here's the ingredients for the dulce de leche frosting:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425.

The frosting starts by putting the sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and covering with foil.  I put the pie plate into a roasting pan and added enough water to come about halfway up the side of the pie plate.  I put this whole thing in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes (check about halfway through as the pan may need some more water).  When the time is up remove from the oven and let it cool a little bit.  Once it was cooled off a bit I stirred it up until it was smooth.

 Then in a sauce pan I whisked together the sugar, salt and cornstarch and added the water.  I whisked this over medium heat and added the dulce de leche (the cooked milk) and brought the mixture to a boil.  Let this boil for one minute, whisking the whole time.  Then I added a little bit of this mixture to the egg yolks to bring them up to temperature.  If you add it all at once you will end up with scrambled eggs in your frosting (gross!).  Once the eggs were up to temperature I added the rest of the mixture and put this in the fridge for about an hour until it was cooled.  Once the dulce de leche mixture was cool I beat the butter until soft in a mixing bowl and then added the cooled mixture to it.  When that was well mixed I added the powdered sugar and mixed some more.  I would suggest adding some additional powdered sugar as my frosting was a little thin but it tasted amazing.  I put the frosting in a piping bag with a large star tip and piped it on top of the cooled cupcakes.

When all the cupcakes were frosted I added a little toasted coconut flakes to the top for a little texture, and because it looked pretty.  I haven't been hungry enough to try one yet but my guinea pig, Jason, said they were pretty good.