Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Valentines Day - Ruth's Chris

This is probably the first Valentines Day that we have actually gone out on Valentines Day. It so worked out that Alona's parents could watch the children on that day and so, we decided to explore the Ruth's Chris that recently opened about 5 minutes away from our house. First, Alona and Kaspian and Astrid made cupcakes in the morning to celebrate Valentines Day. Kaspian was staying home from school due to still not feeling too great with strep. He requested that the cupcakes be red. (To him they are still red - we did put red gel food coloring in the frosting after all!) It was just a Krusteaz cake mix for the cupcakes and simple buttercream frosting. Alona's getting much better at piping decorations and much faster at it too! The cupcakes turned out moist and delicious..even though there is something wrong with our red gel food coloring, we have the Wilton's food coloring and even though it hasn't been too long since we bought them it appears the red color has sort of dried out. The other colors still seem more "gelly".




Anyways, on to our Ruth's Chris dinner. We decided to try the 3 course dinner as it allowed for a greater sampling and having never been there before (Nick has gone, but it has been over ten years, so let's not count it!) we wanted to try the most things. We did order an appetizer of the calamari. Nick loved it, and Alona thought it was good, although a little too sweet for her tastes. And honestly...at $18, we have tried better calamari - but this was all for the experience.

Calamari

Next, Alona decided for the Clam Chowder which was unlike any clam chowder we have ever tried. It was more soup-y or bisque-y than clam chowder. Nick went for the Farmers salad...which we have agreed was the best thing we tried there.
Clam Chowder

Farmers Salad
Next, Alona opted for the Filet and Shrimp, while Nick decided on just the Filet Mignon. We chose fingerling potatoes and mashed potatoes for our sides. The sides were... sad. We make far better mashed potatoes. They almost tasted like they came out of a box. And for the fingerling potatoes - they were pretty much impossible to eat as they were soaked in oil. However, the fried onions were a really great touch. The steaks were served on super hot plates and we were warned they were 500F plates..we are a bit skeptical on that account, but they were sizzling. The cuts of meat were amazing. They were cooked just as we ordered...but really, they were not the best we've had, they really lacked a sauce to accompany them. In comparison, Vernon's Steakhouse has a far superior steak.
Filet with shrimp

Filet Mignon

Fingerling Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes
Finally, for the desert, we did not get to pick it was an apple pie cheesecake tart and some chocolate ganache with cranberries and almonds. It was really nothing spectacular but overall pretty good.

We really enjoyed the experience of going out on Valentines Day, but we probably will not be back to this place. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Russian Honey Cake

It's bake time. We made this Russian Honey Cake. It was a little time consuming but well worth it. It was delicious! We definitely recommend letting it sit overnight or at least a few hours until consuming as that allows all the layers of the cake to absorb the frosting. It is best served with black tea.




Ingredients:

Cake Dough
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour plus 2 tablespoons

Frosting
1 1/2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
3 sticks butter

Directions:

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients through baking powder with 2 tablespoons flour in a large pan. Mix together and set it on medium heat. Continuously mix until the mixture approximately doubles in volume. Remove from heat and add the remaining 4 cups flour. Add additional flour if needed: the dough should not stick to your hands and be fairly malleable. Cover the dough with a towel.
2. Heat oven to 400 F
3. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each one out to approx 1/4" thickness. Trim to a ciruclar mold if you will be using one. Make sure to keep the rest of the dough covered while rolling one out as they do dry out. Combine all the trimmings to another layer (this one will not be trimmed into a circle, instead we will use it for crumbs for the top decoration). We found it best to roll out the dough on silicone mats which you can bake on right away. Spray the mats with cooking spray first to allow for easier lifting off of the cake layers.
4. Each cake layer cooks for about 5 minutes until the edges start turning golden brown - make sure to watch carefully so they don't burn. After the first few you can get the perfect timing for your specific oven.
5. For the frosting: melt the butter and add in the sweetened condensed milk. Mix together with a whisk. Let cool.
6. Assemble the cake. Starting with the first cake layer generously add frosting between each layer. Crumble the 9th layer that you made from the trimmings and spread the crumbs on top of the frosted cake.

What we liked:

This was a delicious cake, especially with tea!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked it enough to have one piece, but he really isn't a sweet tooth. 

Next time:

No change needed. 

Pirojki

This time we tried a different recipe for pirojki. We also did both baked and fried. Fried is definitely better. This dough recipe used eggs and was not the standard "bread" like dough. It was a lot easier to work with in regards to rolling it out and making the pirojki as it was not as sticky. However, it was more of a layer, puff type of dough which we are not sure is the best. We prefer the original ones with the "bread" like dough better.
We did make two fillings - potatoes + fried onions (in butter)
and
cabbage + saurkraut + fried onions + carrots - all sauteed in butter until desired done-ness.
However, we made waaaay too much filling and not enough dough as this dough did not produce enough for all the filling, so most of our pirojki were potatoes (Nick's favorite).
We served them with a dipping side of sour cream, but you can eat them plain or with salsa or however you'd like! They are a great and versatile dish.









Ingredients:

Dough:
Approx 3 cups flour
1 stick butter
1/3 cup oil (we used olive)
2 eggs
3/4 cups milk
2 tbsp yeast
2.5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Potato Filling:
1 large onion
5 large potatoes - cooked (we usually steam)
salt and pepper
4 tbsp butter to fry the onion

Cabbage & carrot filling
2 cups cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup saurkraut (to taste)
1 onion
4 tbsp butter for frying

Directions:

for the dough:
1. Melt the butter. Mix butter, room temperature milk, yeast and sugar together. Let sit for about 15 minutes.
2. Mix salt and flour together. Make a well and pour in the milk yeast mixture, oil and eggs. Mix well. The dough should be soft and not stick to your hands.
3. Let the dough sit for about 1 -2 hours before cooking. The dough will rise.

Fillings:
Potato:
1. Mash the potatoes.
2. Saute onions until softened and add onion plus any remaining butter in the pan to the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cabbage:
1. Mix all ingredients together and sautee until cooked.

Pirojki:
1. Roll out the dough to about 3" circles.
2. Add filling.
3. Pinch ends together by bringing the two sides of the circle together and rolling over the edge to make a pretty folded edge.
4. Fry in oil (should come up about 1/2 way to the pirojok, we like canola oil) until the first side is golden brown. Flip, fry until the second side is golden brown. Take out onto a drying rack or paper towels to allow oil to drip off. 

What we liked:

We liked trying the new recipe for the dough. 

What we didn't like:

We liked the old recipe much better. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He actually loved them and enjoyed them for lunch a few days later as well. 

Next time:

Use previous dough recipe. Do not bake!

Monday, February 6, 2017

French Macaroons

Alona has tried to make these cookies with a friend previously. However, they opted to make flour with sliced almonds and sugar and this resulted in really watery mixture.
This attempt was made with extra fine ground almond flour and worked much better.
The pink ones were made first and were a little too big. The smaller hazelnut cookies were much better.
We used almond flavoring for the pink ones and some pink gel coloring for the cookies with a raspberry filling.
For the chocolate hazelnut ones we used a hazelnut flavoring and brown coloring with Nutella for the filling.
We will definitely be making these again. It was so much fun coloring and baking them!

We did not have superfine sugar, so just used more confectioners sugar.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/french-macarons.html


Ingredients:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup almond flour
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
2 to 3 drops gel food coloring (see below)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, almond or mint extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F using the convection setting. Line 3 baking sheets with silicone mats. Measure the confectioners' sugar and almond flour by spooning them into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. Transfer to a bowl; whisk to combine.
2. Sift the sugar-almond flour mixture, a little at a time, through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to pass through as much as possible. It will take a while, and up to 2 tablespoons of coarse almond flour may be left; just toss it.
3. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium high; gradually add the superfine sugar and beat until stiff and shiny, about 5 more minutes.
4. Transfer the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the almond flour mixture. Draw a rubber spatula halfway through the mixture and fold until incorporated, giving the bowl a quarter turn with each fold.
5. Add the food coloring and extract (see below). Continue folding and turning, scraping down the bowl, until the batter is smooth and falls off the spatula in a thin flat ribbon, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet, pipe 1 1/4-inch circles (24 per sheet). Firmly tap the baking sheets twice against the counter to release any air bubbles.
7. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the humidity. Slip another baking sheet under the first batch (a double baking sheet protects the cookies from the heat).
8. Bake the first batch until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8 inch to form a "foot," about 20 minutes. 9. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat, using a double sheet for each batch. Peel the cookies off the mats and sandwich with a thin layer of filling (see below).

What we liked:

How fun these were to make!

What we didn't like:

The mixture seemed watery, but it turned out great!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He loooooved the sandwich cookies!

Next time:

Definitely stick to making the cookies smaller. 

Hello Fresh - Mozzarella Crusted Chicken

From this recipe, we would say the potatoes were the best part. They were easy to make and delicious. We will save the potato recipe to quickly make steak fries for burgers next time.
The chicken itself was just ok. It seems like that with the panko breading, the chicken would have been better off fried. The tomatoes were just sad. They were just squishy and weird. It was sort of like eating tomato sauce. Also, we did more than the three potatoes that came with the box, we love potatoes!

Here is the original recipe: https://www.hellofresh.com/recipes/de-mozzarella-crusted-chicken-56a6d3a44dab711e218b4567

Plated

Mozzarella crusted chicken

Potatoes & tomatoes

Ingredients:

12 ounce Chicken Breast
0.5 ounce Basil
2 ounce Mozzarella Cheese (Milk)
2  Roma Tomato
2 cloves Garlic
0.5 cup Panko (Wheat)
1 teaspoon Paprika
12 ounces Yukon Potatoes
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
Salt
Pepper
5 teaspoons Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into ½-inch wedges. Core and quarter the tomatoes. Mince the garlic.
2. Toss the potatoes on one side of a foil-lined baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. On the other side of the baking sheet, toss the tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, the garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, tossing halfway through, until the potatoes are crispy and the tomatoes have shriveled.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the panko, oregano, paprika, mozzarella, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts onto another lightly oiled baking sheet. Season the chicken breasts on all sides with salt and pepper, then rub with a drizzle of olive oil. Press the panko mixture onto the top of each chicken breast, firmly pressing with your palm to adhere. Pile the topping as high as possible, however you may have some leftover.
4. Place the chicken in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through and the topping is golden brown.
5. Thinly slice the basil leaves. Serve the mozzarella-crusted chicken with the potato wedges and garlic-roasted tomatoes alongside. Sprinkle with basil and enjoy!

What we liked:

The potatoes were the best part

What we didn't like:

The tomatoes were not very good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

Again, he did not find this meal appealing. Astrid loved the potatoes. 

Next time:

Keep the potato wedge recipe only. 

Hello Fresh - Stir Fired Beef and Broccoli

First off, this is definitely not what you would get in a Chinese restaurant. This is more of an Americanized version of the dish. It's good, but definitely not very authentic. The meat and sauce were just not quite right. It was good, just not very Asian, as you would expect from it's name. We used sesame oil instead of vegetable since we had it on hand. We also did not put sriracha in our dish.

Here is the original recipe: https://www.hellofresh.com/recipes/rapid-stir-fried-beef-5845b40b2e69d7259304d962/?back=/recipe/all

Served

View from the side 
All ready!


Noodle time

Onions, ginger and garlic

Broccoli

What came in the box!

Ingredients:

12 ounce Beef Sirloin Tips
2 Scallions
2 cloves Garlic
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 thumb Ginger
16 ounce Yakisoba Noodles (Wheat, Egg, Soy)
Ketchup
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce (Soy)
Hoisin Sauce Jar (Soy)
8 ounces Broccoli
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Sriracha
4 teaspoon Vegetable Oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and dry all produce. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Trim and thinly slice scallions. Mince or grate garlic. Peel and mince ginger. Whisk together sesame oil, 1 TBSP ketchup, soy sauce, 1½ TBSP hoisin sauce, and 1 TBSP water in a small bowl.
2. Add broccoli to boiling water and cook until tender but still crisp, 3-4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
3. Toss steak tips with cornstarch in a large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over high heat. (TIP: If you have a nonstick pan, break it out.) Toss in steak tips and cook to desired doneness, 3-4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, tossing. Toss in half the noodles from the package (we sent more) and a drizzle of oil. Break up noodles until they no longer stick together, using tongs or two wooden spoons.
5. Pour in 1 cup water, cover, and steam until noodles are tender, 3 minutes. (TIP: If your pan doesn’t have a lid, carefully cover it with aluminum foil.) Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and toss until noodles are tender, 3-4 minutes. Add sauce and toss to coat. Cook until sauce is thickened, 1 minute.
6. Toss broccoli and steak into noodles to warm through. Season with as much sriracha as you like (careful, it’s spicy). Season with salt and pepper. Divide between plates and serve.

What we liked:

It was interesting to try the new recipe.

What we didn't like:

It was not what one would expect from a beef and broccoli dish. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was too suspicious of it to try it. Chicken nuggets were more his forte that night. Astrid, however, loved the noodles. 

Next time:

Try a different recipe 

Hello Fresh - Citrus Skillet Shrimp

So, Hello Fresh sent us a deal we couldn't really turn down. $19 for 3 meals for 2? That's less than our grocery store trip. So, we agreed to it. As last time, there were some things we liked from the recipes and others we didn't. The quality of ingredients was disappointing again. And, definitely definitely have your own ginger on hand since the one they send is a little suspicious.
This recipe turned out really good, the shrimp and citrus went excellent together. However, the olives do not go with it at all. We would recommend you avoid that ingredient in there.
When first frying the onions and peppers it looks like there is a whole lot, but it condenses down quite a bit. We supplemented with our own shrimp as we had a guest over for dinner, so the pictures show more shrimp than what they would normally send.

Original recipe: https://www.hellofresh.com/recipes/citrus-skillet-shrimp-5845b5218e8c6124d60c4d13/?back=/recipe/all

Served

Shrimp & onions & pepper

Onion and pepper mixture


Prepped ingredients


Ingredients for this box

citrus skillet shrimp box

Ingredients:

20 ounce Shrimp (Shellfish)
2  Poblano Pepper
2 Green Olives
2 Oranges
2 Red Onions
0.5 ounce Oregano
1 cup Basmati Rice
1 Lemon
4 cloves Garlic
4 tablespoon Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and dry all produce. Bring 1 cup water and a pinch of salt to a boil in a small pot. Once boiling, add rice, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered.
2. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Halve poblano lengthwise and remove the core and white ribs. Cut crosswise into thin strips. Thinly slice garlic and green olives. Zest, halve, and juice orange and lemon into a small bowl. Pick oregano leaves from stems and roughly chop. Discard stems.
3. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add poblano and onion and cook until softened and slightly charred, about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally.
4. Add garlic, olives, oregano, and half the citrus juice to pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes, tossing.
5. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add to pan with 1 TBSP olive oil. Cook until pink and just firm, 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Pour in remaining juice, along with 1 tsp orange zest and 1 tsp lemon zest. Toss and season with salt and pepper.
6. Fluff rice with a fork. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining citrus zest. Divide rice between plates and top with shrimp and its sauce.

What we liked:

The shrimp and sauce was good

What we didn't like:

The olives did not belong in this recipe. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He and Astrid both liked chicken nuggets much more. 

Next time:

No olives

Turkey Pot Pie

We had some Pilsbury Pie Crusts and some Turkey meat, so we decided to combine them together and make turkey pot pie! We also had the new convection oven to try out! :)
The result was pretty good! The pie crusts made an excellent pot pie with perfect crunchiness. This was a lot faster to make than we expected and much easier! Definitely put the foil to cover the sides of the pie for the last 15 minutes though, it keeps the sides from getting burned!

Here is the original recipe: https://www.pillsbury.com/everyday-eats/dinner-tonight/pot-pies/how-to-make-classic-chicken-pot-pie



just baked!

ready to go in the oven!

Ingredients:

2 Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can chicken broth (1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
3 ribs of celery, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie pan.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.
3. Stir in chicken, celery, and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

What we liked:

Super easy to make!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great! 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the veggies from inside. So did Astrid!

Next time:

try it with chicken!

Smoky Chicken Cutlets with Herb-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

We are back! Sorry we've been gone for a while, we have had technical difficulties with our camera not synching to the phone and thus not allowing to post pictures. Looks like that is all resolved now. We have also gotten an awesome new oven! Yay! We went with a samsung convection oven with a 5 burner gas range. It has been really awesome so far!

This looked like an exciting recipe to try! The chicken was good. However, we did not have enough liquid left over to make the sauce and we also did not want to part with the yummy onions! So we just fried them all together. Be careful! This recipe does splash a lot. We made a couscous side with it, (just couscous, parsley some lemon rind and olive oil and salt) because honestly, the sweet potatoes were faaar too sweet for this. Would definitely recommend a more savory side than the sweet potatoes. Another thing that might be good to do is to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces, perhaps strips prior to marinating it as this would allow for easier frying.
Another thing we might try with this chicken in the future is baking instead of frying.
The chicken was really good!

Here is the original recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/smoky-chicken-cutlets-herb-roasted-sweet-potatoes

Served

another plated view

couscous!

prepared chicken 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine, we used Chardonnay
1/2 small onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 parsley sprigs
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
Kosher salt
Pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 to 2 pounds), butterflied and pounded 1/4 inch thick
2 large sweet potatoes (3 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch think rounds
1 rosemary sprig
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 1/2 cup of the olive oil with 1/4 cup of the wine. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Put the chicken in the bag with the marinade and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and golden. Discard the herb sprigs and bay leaf.

3. Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the marinade. Strain the marinade over a sieve into a bowl. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over moderately high heat. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plates, tent with foil and keep warm.

4. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of wine to the skillet and boil over moderately high heat until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved marinade, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half, 2 minutes. Transfer the sweet potatoes to the plates with the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

What we liked:

The chicken was delicious. 

What we didn't like:

Sweet potatoes did not go with this at all. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was not sold on this dish at all. 

Next time:

try baking the chicken or cutting it into smaller pieces.