(bleeding heart, by wendydavis)
The recipes aren?t so much Valentine?s Day specific as fairly simple, yummy, and comforting.
(Hint: read through recipes before you start cooking or baking so that you know what?s ahead in terms of preparations, utensils, ingredients, etc.)
Angel Hair Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce
1 lb. pasta, angel hair or spaghetti
2 C. heavy cream (1 pt.)
2 lemons, juice and zest? (these Mexican-style citrus pressers turn the fruit inside-out, another great tool), and zest (grate finely with the finest grate on a grater, or use a microplane zester (great tool).? Nuking lemons and limes for 20 seconds on low power, then rolling them on the counter makes them easier to juice.
? C. butter (1 stick), cut in pieces
1 ? ? 2 C. Parmesan or Parmesan-Romano cheese
1 tsp. nutmeg
Start 5 or 6 qts. water to boil in a large pot with a lid.? Add 1 tsp salt, NO oil; sauces won?t stick to oiled pasta.
Into a 10 or 12 inch skillet or sturdy 2-qt. pot, pour 2 C. heavy cream; warm the cream on low, then add: 1/2 C. butter pieces, the juice of the 2 lemons, and the lemon zest.? Whisk until boiling; turn to simmer, whisk 2 minutes.? Add Parmesan cheese, stir until melted, turn off the heat, and stir in the nutmeg.
The pasta pot should be boiling; add pasta and nudge it into the water as it begins to soften.? Boil hard enough that pasta dances in the pot; stir now and again with a fork or chopstick to keep strands separated.? Test a strand by pulling one out with a fork or tongs.? It?s ready when you bite into it, and feel a bit of resistance at the center (al dente); put a colander into the sink, start stream of cold water to neutralize hot vapors, and slowly pour the pasta into the strainer.? Set the pot aside, and run hot water over the pasta to rinse off excess starches; shake the colander to remove excess water.? If your sauce is ready, put the pasta into a serving bowl, pour sauce over it, and toss with two forks or tongs.? Serve.
If the sauce isn?t ready, toss the pasta back into the pot, cover with the lid to keep it warm until needed.
Possible seafood additions: bite-sized bits of shrimp would be good; I even tried some imitation crab, the thingies made with Pollack fish; I avoided reading the ingredient list on the label, as I couldn?t figure out if killing my guests slowly would be a deal-breaker or not.? They were on the sweet side, so I?d soak them in some lemon juice and water for a while, then drain them.
Garnish the dish with something green and fresh: thinly sliced (chiffoniered) baby spinach, scallions cross-cut as thinly as possible (whites and greens), or fresh parsley.
A salad of romaine lettuce, thinly cut red onion and tomato dressed with Italian dressing, garlic salt, freshly ground black pepper and a bit of extra virgin olive oil (helps offset the dreams damage to your arteries) , would go well with it.
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Orange Cornmeal Cake
2/3 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1/2 cup olive oil plus more for pan (it should *not* be virgin olive oil)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dry white wine (or orange juice; juice the orange from which you just harvested the zest)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Finely grated zest of 1 orange ?(see tools hyperlinked in Lemon Cream sauce recipe)
Canned Mandarin orange segments for serving (optional, but fantastic)
At least 2 hours before making the cake, soak the sultanas in a shallow bowl with some brandy; overnight works even better if you can remember it (doubtful, in my case).? If you need to speed up the soaking, cover and nuke on low power long enough to heat the brandy; soak at least 20 minutes.? Before adding them to the batter, strain them through a sieve.? Drink the remaining brandy, but only if you like ?sweet?.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with oil; line bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and brush paper with oil or butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and wine until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and orange zest; whisk gently to combine. If you?d like to change the ratio of cornmeal to flour, feel free.? Gently stir in the golden raisins with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/3 cup sugar (topping will be thick). Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert cake gently onto a plate, and remove parchment paper. Re-invert the cake onto a rack to cool completely. Serve with orange segments; it?s nice to spoon a little juice over the cake, too.
You can also use whipped cream as a garnish.? If you choose to whip your own, it seriously cuts down the whipping time to chill the bowl, beaters and the heavy whipping cream in the freezer for 20 minutes before you start, then shale the holy hell out of the cream while it?s still sealed up in its little carton.? Hint: use a large bowl to minimize flinging specks of cream all over yourself and the kitchen.
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon confectioners? or granulated sugar
Set mixer on low, then increase speed when the cream is less splashy.? Whip into soft peaks, and stop before it turns into butter.
These cakes freeze well, so I often make two or three while I have all the ingredients and mess out.? They also make nice gifts, but ya kinda have to give little cans of mandarin oranges with them.? Don?t be cheapskates.? ;o)
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Bonus:? Zucchini Cake
This is one of the two best cakes in the world, IMO, and I really don?t even like sweet things.? If you want the frosting even less sweet, use an additional 4 oz. of cream cheese, and leave out the milk
I use a lot of nutmeg in it; I buy 1 lb. bags of spices through our coop, and the nutmeg is a rush and a half.? Use the freshest you can, not that bottle or can that?s been in your cupboard for seven years growing tired.
The batter will be baked as either as 3 layers, a deep 9 x 12 pan, or a regular 9 x 12 pan plus one round layer or small square.? If you are choosing to make a layer cake, and your pans aren?t stick-free, cut circles of parchment to lay atop and oiled surface, then butter and lightly flour the parchment or waxed paper.? The recipe is too much for one 9 x 12, and you need to leave room for the cream cheese frosting; if it?s too tall, it gets messy.? ;o)
Hint: if the size confusion has given you a headache, feel free to do the math and adapt the recipe to the pans you have, not the pans you want.? ;o)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter and flour the pans.? Soak 1 ? cups raisins or sultanas (golden raisins) in a bowl of hot water; cover with a plate.?? Add 1T cider or other vinegar to 1/4 C. milk; it will thicken into buttermilk, and cause the baking soda in the batter to rise more readily.? (neat trick)
In a medium bowl, measure: 3 C. flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 T nutmeg, 2 tsp. powdered ginger, 1 T? cinnamon, and 1 ? tsp. baking soda; fluff with a fork, mixing ingredients.
Melt 8 oz. (1 stick) butter; if you nuke it, cover the container with saran and use low power).? Allow to cool a bit.? Grate 3-4 small zucchini squashes (the cheese grater side of the grater); chop a little extra with a chef?s knife in that cool rocking motion that makes ya feel like an Authentic Chef. ? ;o)
In a large bowl, add 4 eggs broken one at a time in a small bowl (you won?t ruin the others if one is a bummer egg); whisk.?? Add 3 C. white death sugar, 1 C. canola oil, melted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract; mix with electric mixer or beat like hell with a wooden spoon until well-blended.? Add thickened milk, beat again; add dry ingredients a cup at a time until smooth.? Eject the mixer beaters and tap off the excess batter on the edge of the bowl.
Pour the raisins into a sieve, or lift a handful at a time and squeeze put the excess water gently, and add to batter.? Add the 3 C. grated zucchini.? Mix in with wooden spoon; it?s pretty batter, and it?ll make you smile.
Divide the batter into the pans; in thirds for the layer pans, or 2/3 for the 9 x 12, 1/3 for the smaller pan.? Pop ?em into the oven in the middle rack.? Check the layer pans after 25 minutes; the top should spring back to your touch.? The larger pan will take closer to 35 minutes.? Mmmm, it will smell good.? ;o)
Allow to cool while you make the frosting; a messy business, but somebody?s gotta do it.? By now you may want a glug of your favorite brandy; help yourself.? In fact, rest a bit while the cakes cool.
Frosting:
Either soften 8 oz. cream cheese and ? C. (one stick) of butter earlier to room temperature, or nuke separately on low power until just soft enough to poke your finger into easily.? Place in a large bowl; beat until fluffy.? Add a dash of salt, 2 tsp. vanilla, 2 T milk.? A bit at a time, add 4 ? 4 1/2 C.? C & H confectioner?s (powdered) sugar as you beat it on low speed.? Try not to blow it all over the kitchen, no easy feat.?? Use a spatula to scrape the sugar that collects around the upper edges of the bowl.? Do as I say not as I do; it?s just too tempting to use the beaters? to accomplish the same thing.
Once the sugar?s all been beater in, turn the mixer to high speed.? Beat as long as you can stand it; the longer the fluffier, maybe 5 minutes?? Tap off the beaters (after turning it off, of course) on the edge of the bowl.
Apply the frosting with a rubber spatula.? If you?re doing layers, frost one layer on a platter, then upend the second cake onto it, frost it, and then add the third.? Start frosting around the sides, turning the platter as needed; finish by frosting the top.
The other cake-shapes are pretty straightforward; you can swirl some patterns in at will.? Sprinkle the tops with more nutmeg.? Allow the cakes to chill in the refrigerator if you have space, the cover with waxed paper, then saran or silver foil. Allow to come to room temperature before serving if there?s any left for your sweethearts by now.
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New to Me: Vodka Pie Crust
Silly of me not to have considered this, but using part vodka as the liquid to bind pie dough is?a no-brainer.? In order to make pie crust flaky, it?s important not get glutens forming (stretchy proteins you *do* want when you make bread, for instance), which is the reason to not over-work the dough.? Vodka doesn?t cause glutens to form?and bakes off, so it makes it a brilliant substitute for part of the water.? Tada!
This recipe is chock-full of butter, but verrrry flakey and yummy.? East less, enjoy more, mebbe.
2 ? cups flour
1 tsp.salt
2 sticks butter cut in pieces, softened
Blend butter into flour with one hand or a pastry blender.? When mixed, add ? cup of vodka and part of the ? of water and incorporate it quickly, adding enough water so the dough can pull into a ball.? Divide into two balls, wrap in saran wrap and chill for half an hour before rolling out.? Makes 2? 9? one-crust crust pies, or one two-crust pie, as if that weren?t clear already.
(cross-posted at www.kgblogz.com)
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