Porter House

Carrot Salad

I grew up not loving carrots. The only time I really had them was when they were cooked along side a pot roast. I didn't like cooked carrots. I have grown to appreciate them now. However, my very favorite recipe for carrots is David Lebovitz's Salade de carottes râpées. In fact, I crave it with about as much intensity as I do chocolate. It is just so well balanced and fun to eat. I am always amazed at how happy it makes me to eat it.

His recipe (or actually Romain's) is pretty vague in the way of measurements. However, it always comes out perfect. Here is the way I interpret his directions.

By the way, I greatly prefer flat leaf parsley, but my store is often out of it. I use the food processor to grate the carrots.

Carrot Salad

1 pound of carrots, peeled and shredded finely

1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped

two lemons, juiced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste

salt and pepper

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Taste. It should be well balanced between tart, sweet, and salty. Add more sugar/salt as necessary.

Toss the dressing over the carrots and parsley in a medium bowl. Serve- Enjoy!

Classic Red Mole

I received my long awaited Vita-Mix last week. It was a generous present from my husband, who has been working more overtime than he should. You see: Vita-Mix for me = nearly guilt-free hunting for him.

This machine has a 7-year warranty but will likely last a lifetime. I will not extol all of its virtues here. I am sure most of the people reading my food blog already know about this machine. I will say that I have put it to great use in the last week, and that I have definitely upped my consumption of raw fruit and vegetables 10-fold already.

Every morning, I have a full glass of Dr. Oz's Green Drink. I would be scared to try this recipe, with all the fiber/peels without a heavy duty blender like the Vita-Mix.

Dr. Oz's Green Drink

juice of one lemon

juice of one lime

2 cups of fresh spinach

1 bunch parsley

1/2 inch or 1 teaspoon of fresh peeled ginger

2 cups unpeeled cucumber

1 stick celery

2 cored apples, unpeeled

Add the juices and about 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the Vita-Mix. Layer the other ingredients in the order listed. I hold back the apples until the mixture is smooth using low-medium speed, then add them through the top with the machine running. Once the apples are all in, I crank up the Vita-Mix to 10, for about 30 more seconds. This makes about 28-30 ounces, or about 3 servings. Refrigerate leftovers for the next couple of mornings.

I wanted to branch out and try something new today. I made Rick Bayless' Classic Red Mole. I didn't have time to order chiles, so I had to do it without mulatos. This was sad, but I think it still turned out great with just anchos and pasillas.

There are about 17 ingredients in this mole: tomatillos, sesame seeds, lard/oil, mulato chiles, ancho chiles, pasilla chiles, garlic, almonds, raisins, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, toasted bread, Mexican chocolate, and sugar. It is important to have everything ready before you begin.

 

Here are the broiled tomatillos, toasted sesame seeds, and fried almonds/garlic/raisins. The kitchen smelled so good around this time.

 

The chiles were toasted, rehydrated, and then pureed with the water used to rehydrate them. The mixture turned out so smooth. Very impressive.

 

Then all the other ingredients were pureed separately.

I fried the chile puree for about ten minutes. Then I added in the other puree and fried it for another 10 minutes. I added water and simmered it all for 45 minutes. Then I added the salt and sugar. Mole should be a delicate balance of salty, sweet, and spicy.

 

Unfortunately, I have to wait until tomorrow to have this with a braised turkey breast. It gets better with a day or two in the fridge. I did scrape a few corn tortillas in the bit left in the pan though. I want more.

Perfect Southern Cornbread

 

This is just a recipe for cornbread. Boring right? However, every time I need to make cornbread I have to track down THIS recipe. This usually involves calling my sister and getting her to give it to me again. I promised her the last time, that I would make a more permanent note of it. So here it is.

The ingredients are all very normal and standard. Somehow though, these exact proportions create a way better cornbread then all the other recipes. The small amount of sugar in the recipe is more for seasoning like salt, not for sweetness.

Cornbread

1 cup corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/8 cup buttermilk

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and egg in a large measuring cup. Pour the oil in a cast iron baking pan, place it in the hot oven.

Add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Combine gently. Pour half of the hot oil from the pan into the batter. Stir in well. Pour the batter into the baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake about 15 minutes or until the top and edges are browning in spots. Loosen from the pan, and turn out onto a rack to cool.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Karen deserves all the credit for this one. She started making her own laundry detergent quite a while back. Then she got my dad hooked, and her brother-in-law, and now so am I. It only took me this long because it can be somewhat difficult to track down a few of the ingredients. A few weeks ago my Dad sent me 3 bars of Fels-Naptha, a box of Borax, a box of washing soda, and Oxyclean.

I made up a triple batch right away. It is incredible! It is so concentrated that you only need a heaping two tablespoons per full load. It also removes stains better than the expensive Tide I usually use. It is 100% cleaners, with no filler. It smells great when you are washing clothes, it just smells clean- no perfumes.

I am not known for my math skills, but I do know that this is MUCH cheaper than purchased product...for a superior product. Once I fell in love with this, I immediately started tracking down sources. Through a tip with my sister's brother-in-law, I found that my local Ace Hardware (on Desiard, for you locals.) would order a case of 24 bars of Fels-Naptha for me for $1.29 a bar. The washing soda required me to go online. I ended up placing an order for a full case of Arm and Hammer Washing soda from buythecase.com. For $60 including shipping, I got 12 boxes of washing soda. That will make 66 batches of laundry detergent. So you are looking at less than $1 a batch for the washing soda.

Borax and Oxyclean are easy to find in most laundry aisles.

Now the original recipe calls for Oxyclean, which works wonderfully. However, Karen received a container of Eco Store's Pure Oxygen Whitener from a Nonnie Bear giveaway. It contains natural citrus oils in addition to the natural whiteners. This gives the laundry detergent a really nice clean smell. Now at $12 a container for 35.3 ounces plus shipping, it might up the total price a bit, or perhaps not. I really did not feel like figuring it out. :) However, you can easily just substitute the Oxyclean if you do not want to bother with finding the other. (The Pure Oxygen Whitener may be available at Whole Foods, unfortunately I do not have one nearby.)

* A food processor is extremely useful in the making of this recipe. I shred the Fels-Naptha with the shredder disk, than I dump out the shredded soap and put in the metal blade. I add half the soap (I do 3-bar batches) along with a cup or so of the other dry ingredients. The dry ingredients help it to process much finer. I process it until it is the texture of sand. It helps the mixture blend more smoothly, allowing for the ratios to stay correct. However, if you do not have a food processor you can hand grate the soap on a box grater, and then just mix together the detergent. I believe my dad hand grates the soap and then processes it in his mini-pro. They are only about $30-40.

 

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
(Karen and I usually make up 3 batches at a time. They fit perfectly in our cracker jar)


1 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap
1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Oxyclean or 1/3 cup Pure Oxygen Whitener


* (Please see the above paragraph if you do not have a food processor.)

1. In a large bowl mix together the washing soda, Borax, and the Oxyclean/Pure Oxygen Whitener.

2. Place your shredder disk in your food processor. Shred the bar of Fels-Naptha in the food processor. Remove the shredding disk. Place the metal blade in the fp bowl.

3. Add about 1/2 cup of the dry mixture into the fp bowl with the shredded soap. Process until it is the texture of sand.

4. Dump the soap mixture into the remaining dry mixture and combine thoroughly.

5. Use about 1 heaping 2-tablespoon scoop per full laundry load. ( I use a scoop that comes in the small Oxyclean container. Coffee scoops are also 2-tablespoons.) I make sure to put in the detergent first when the water is first filling. That way it can begin to dissolve.

Red Cabbage Salad with Pecans

I have been trying to increase my fruit and vegetable intake lately. I already eat pretty good, but I wasn't sure I was really getting my 5 vegetables and 2-4 fruits every day. So instead of finding recipes before hand, I have instead been buying the vegetables first, and then finding recipes later.

So this afternoon, I was flipping through James Peterson's book Vegetables looking for something to do with my head of red cabbage. I knew when I came across this recipe that I had to try it.

The cabbage is thinly sliced and salted. After 30 minutes, you squeeze out all the excess water.  Then you toss it with vinegar, roasted walnut oil, and toasted pecans. I actually used redvinegar. I was scared it would be too harsh, but It was great. It is one of those things that gets better and better the more you eat. I found my roasted walnut oil a few months ago at a local gourmet store called Vieux Carre. I was so glad to have a reason to use it. It is toasty tasting and delicious.

Red Cabbage Salad with Pecans
(Adapted from Vegetables by James Peterson)

1 small red cabbage
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/3 cup sherry vinegar (or red vinegar)
1/2 cup roasted walnut oil (or evoo)
1 cup whole pecans, toasted
freshly ground pepper

Peel off and discard the cabbage's outer leaves. Cut the bottom of the stem off. Cut the cabbage in quarters. Slice off the core of each quarter. Thinly slice cabbage. Toss the shredded cabbage with the salt and rub the salt into the cabbage for a minute or two. Drain the cabbage in the colander for 30 minutes. Squeeze the cabbage in small balls in your hand to get rid of the excess liquid.

Toss the cabbage with the vinegar, oil, and the toasted pecans. Season to taste with pepper.

My 10-Minute Omelet

My sister happens to be newly pregnant. All of us ex-pregnant women know that you crave foods when you are pregnant that you may not normally want. Karen is not a big fan of eggs usually, but she has suddenly been positively craving them. I was telling her about the absurdly simple omelet I have been making for myself recently, and it got me craving it for lunch today. So I decided to post the picture/recipe.

This is the omelet to make if you are starving, craving protein, and you do not want to think about it. It requires no skill to pull it off, and it is very satisfying. All you need is a good 10-inch (medium) nonstick skillet.

10-Minute Omelet

1/2-1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 big dash hot sauce
s&p
 a few slices cheddar cheese

Place a medium nonstick skillet on medium heat with the butter. Turn on the broiler. Whisk together eggs, spices, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. When the butter stops foaming, pour in the egg mixture. Push in the sides of the eggs with a rubber spatula, letting the uncooked eggs fill in the gaps. When most of the eggs have set on the bottom of pan, but the top is still wet, slide it under the broiler. (Just leave the door of the oven open, with the handle sticking out. That way you do not even need a pot holder)

When the top is slightly puffed and set (1 or 2 minutes) remove the pan from the oven. Arrange the cheddar on half the omelet. Use a fork to flip half of the omelet over the side with cheese. Slide it from the pan onto your plate. Serve with extra hot sauce if you are anything like me. Enjoy!

Baked Mostaccioli with Meat Sauce

When I got married almost eleven years ago, I loved to cook. However, I hadn't grown up with a lot of scratch cooking. Most of the meals I knew how to cook involved some prepared ingredients: onion soup mix, enchilada sauce mix, jarred pasta sauce, velveeta, cool whip, etc. So I started off using them myself... Until I slowly learned more about really cooking without them. Around the time I was making the transition, I purchased several slim cookbooks from Albertson's. They were from Better Homes and Gardens, with titles like Soups and Stews, Chicken, and Pasta. They were simple straightforward recipes that I quickly outgrew.

There was one recipe though that my husband absolutely loved. Long after I misplaced the Pasta cookbook, he would mention it. Every time he did I would think about trying to find it, I believe I sold the cookbook in a garage sale years ago...

Finally, a couple of months ago, I went online and tracked it down. I didn't make it until last night though. My husband was thrilled when he saw what I was making. Especially since, I even made some homemade garlic bread to go alongside. (I believe he skipped my delicious mixed greens/cocoa nib/currant salad...) I was pleased that I still liked the result as well. Except the pasta needs to be removed from the boiling water before it is fully cooked. It got a little overcooked in the oven. I also didn't quite salt the meat mixture enough, make sure you salt to taste before you put it in the oven.

Baked Mostaccioli with Meat Sauce (Adapted from B,H, & G)

8 ounces dried Mostaccioli or cavatelli (I used Penne)
1 14-1/2 ounce can Italian-style tomatoes
1/2 of a 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground beef (I used ground chuck)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup halved pimento-stuffed green olives (most important ingredient!)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)

Cook pasta until nearly done. Drain pasta; rinse with cold water. Drain again.

In a blender container or food processor bowl combine undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar, oregano, thyme, and pepper. Cover and blend or proces until smooth. Set aside.

In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until meat is brown. Drain fat. Stir in tomato mixture. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes; salt and pepper to taste. Stir in pasta and olives.

Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart casserole, and bake for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5 minutes more or until heated through.

madras cookies

The picture of these cookies from Great Cookies has been haunting me for years. I am not sure why it took me so long to make them. I have loved every cookie I have made from the book. Perhaps, it was because I never had all the ingredients at the same time. These cookies are full of ground almonds, curry powder, cinnamon, orange zest, and coconut. Each one is adorned with a toasted almond right at the center.

I know that curry powder in sweets, has been quite popular in the last few years. I think this is the first time I have tried it though.

The smell of these baking nearly drove me crazy. I tried to wait until they cooled down before I tried one, I failed. These cookies are crazy delicious. The flavors all melded into a new flavor. The curry does not jump out at you. In fact, I am not sure I would be able to pick it out at all. The orange zest and the texture of the coconut are most predominant. I think I could polish off at least 20 of these in one sitting. So far, I am only up to three.

Madras Cookies from Great Cookies by Carole Walter
Makes about 50 2-inch cookies.

2 tsp. mild curry powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus about 50 whole almonds (scant 1/2 cup), toasted
1 tsp. baking powder
  1/2 tsp. baking soda
  1/2 tsp salt
 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped sweetened, flaked coconut

1. Heat the curry powder in a small heavy skillet over low heat until fragrant, set aside to cool.

2. Place flour, 1 cup of almonds, curry powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a food processor bowl fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 10-12 times, then process for 1 minute or so or until mixture is very finely chopped and cakey. Set aside.

3. In large bowl of an electric mixer, mix butter and orange zest until creamy. Add granulated sugar in a steady stream, then add brown sugar and mix for about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then add the vanilla, scraping bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing just until blended after each addition. Using a large wooden spoon, fold in the coconut. Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes, until firm enough to handle.

4. Position the shelves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Roll the dough in the palms of your hands to form 1-inch balls and place on the cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Gently press a whole almond into the center of each cookie. Using the heel of your hand, flatten the cookie into a 1 1/2″ disk. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Toward the end of baking time rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Let stand for 2 or 3 minutes before loosening with a thin metal spatula. Transfer to cooling racks.

6. Store in an airtight container between strips of wax paper, for up to 3 weeks. These cookies may be frozen.

Star Meringues

I got this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookie Book. There are quite a few really great recipes in this book,  and this one had an interesting concept. Meringues are very sweet, if you add ground unsweetened chocolate to them it really helps temper the sweetness. Genius right? They disappeared quick, and the kids loved them as much as the adults.

Chocolate Speckled Star Meringues

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar
 4 (4.25 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

If you are making star-shaped meringues, place a 3 inch star cutter on parchment paper, mark the tips of the star with a pencil. Leave about 3 inches between markings. (To be honest, I accidentally skipped reading this part, and I free-handed them all. It worked fine.)

In a food processor, process the granulated sugar for several minutes until it is as fine as sand. Transfer to a small bowl, and set aside. Process the chocolate and powdered sugar until the chocolate is powder fine. Keep in a cool place or refrigerate it until you need it.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed, gradually adding 2 tablespoons of the processed sugar. When soft peaks form when the beater is slowly raised, add another tablespoon of the sugar and increase the speed to high. When stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly, gradually beat in remaining sugar and beat until the meringue is very stiff and glossy.

Fold in the chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated.

Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, and pipe the stars. Or you can pipe out 1 3/4-inch mounds, or simply spoon the mixture into small mounds. Allow the stars to dry for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Bake for two hours or until crisp throughout but not beginning to color. (Small mounds may be ready at 1 hour.) Rotate the sheets from top to bottom three quarters through the baking period. Cool completely on a rack.

These will keep in an airtight container at low humidity for many months!!

Perfect Pancake Mix

I absolutely have to share this recipe with all of you. I have fallen in love with these pancakes from Cook's Country Magazine. They are absolutely perfect. The best part is that they come from a homemade mix that you keep in your freezer. They are almost savory sweet, just salty enough to counteract the syrup. The batter is very thick, you may be tempted to add more buttermilk. Don't do it though. They will spread as they heat up in the pan, I believe the thickness of the batter is what gives you such great height.

I think the secret ingredient is the malted milk powder. It really gives them the diner-style taste. It is easy to find on the peanut butter/jelly aisle at my grocery store. The fact that there is real butter in the mix obviously makes a big difference as well. I keep the mix in the freezer at all times.

Please, please try these with real maple syrup. Maple syrup is actually not that sweet, certainly not cloyingly so. It almost has a minerally-ness to it that is so delicious!

As for actually cooking these pancakes, there is one big secret that always helps me get them right. After you put the batter in the pan keep an eye on the bubbles that form on the top. Once the bubbles form and stay open (instead of quickly closing up), you know it is time to flip them over. (I would recommend making at least 16 pancakes for a family of four.)

Pancake Mix (Makes about 6 cups of mix)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cake flour
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup malted milk powder (Carnation Original)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Process all ingredients in a food processor until there are no lumps and the mixture is the texture of wet sand, about two minutes. Freeze in an airtight container for up to two months.

To make 8 pancakes: Whisk 2 cups mix, 2 lightly beaten eggs, and 1/2 cup buttermilk in a large bowl until smooth. Pour 1/4-cup portions of pancake batter into large nonstick skillet  and cook over medium-low heat until golden brown, about two minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter.