Delectable Dessert Collection

Hello Readers,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night I was busy making three different stuffings. Some say that the stuffing is the most important part of a Thanksgiving Dinner. I do not know if that is true, but here is what I made:

1. Apricot and Almond Stuffing
2. Apple and Pear Stuffing
3. Carrot and Ginger Stuffing

For the cranberry recipe, I made the Tangerine Cranberry recipe published by Food Wishes. It is featured below in this blog if you would like to keep it. I substituted orange for tangerine. Normally I make pumpkin pie from scratch, but due to time constraints I had to make it from a can. Sorry guys - nobody is perfect.

If you need to carve a turkey tonight, here is a quick tutorial video on how to properly cut a turkey. Rule Number One: do it in the kitchen and NOT at the table. Bon Appetit!

When I was living in France, I went up to Alsace in December. It was beautiful and magical. What a wonderful place. In Strasbourg, near the cathedral they were having their annual March a Noel. It was a feast for the eyes.

I tried Vin Chaud for the first time. It is a traditional French beverage served at Christmas time. To be honest, I did not personally care for it. It was much too sweet for my palate  I like red wine, but this had a flavor that was too off for me.

I was planning on making it this year for Thanksgiving, but at the last minute changed my mind. It is really a Christmas drink and not a Thanksgiving Drink. Maybe in a few weeks I will give it a shot.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• .2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 1 minced garlic
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Chipotle pepper
• 1 teaspoons curry powder
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 cups of pumpkin puree*
• 1 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)**
• 3 tbs of milk
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• salt to taste

This year I will be making a Bûche de Noël for my family. For those of you who do not know what a Bûche de Noël is, it is a cake shaped like a log. It is served in France and certain francophone countries before Christmas.

"Buche de Noel.--Gateau symbolique qu l'on prepare chez tous les patissieres de France, a l'occasion de la fete de Noel. Cette buche se fait generalement avec des abaisses de genoise fine, qu l'on fourre avec des cremes diverses (le plus souvent, une creme au beurre), qu l'on faconne en forme de buche, et que l'on decore a la poches munie d'une couille cannellee, avec une creme au beurre aux chocolate ou au moka qui cimule l'enorce de al buche. Nota: Pour le Noel, on fait aussi un autre gateau symbolique auquel on donne l'aspect d'un sabot. Ce gateau, qu l'on fait ordinarement en nougat, se garnit de petits fours divers."
---Larousse Gastronomique, Prospere Montagne [Librarie Larousse:Paris] 1938 (p. 528)

Today's recipe is Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies. Normally I would make this with dried cranberries or raisins. Since my husband likes neither cranberries or raisins, I divided the batch and added the raisins to the second half. 

I first found this recipe on all.recipies.com. The problem with many of their cookie recipes is that the recipes are too large. They previously had a function where one could size up or size down the recipe. One could even convert it to metrics if they wanted. The website looks different and not as user friendly.

I cut the recipe in half by hand and changed a few things. After cutting it in half, there was too much batter. I am now in the habit of freezing my treats. 

Hello All,

While putting together my Holiday Playlist I browsed a few others on YouTube. Linked below is a playlist published by All Recipes. I have been a contributing member of all recipes for several years. Their videos are very simple, and straight to the point. So, I linked them below.

Enjoy!

Rainbow Bright Muffins

This recipe is exactly the same as my Berry Orange Muffin Recipe. Click on the link >>>LINK, for recipe and basic Muffin making instructions. Remember - do not over beat these babies or they will slap you right back. 

The recipe calls for Lemonade Concentrate Juice. 

Whole Chicken Brining in Bag

I was looking to do something special with three chicken breasts. I first learned about brining meat when I found a recipe reproducing KFC chicken. Before KFC prepares their chicken, they soak it in salt water. Just plain old salt water. Salt water is the most basic brine for poultry and foul. It causes water and salt to be drawn into the chicken´s flesh making it more juicy. Brining chicken makes a big difference. It should be done at the bare minimum, four hours before cooking. Brining prevents your chicken from drying out while cooking it. 

• Diffusion. This is when particles move from a region of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. For example, when you're brining chicken, the brine has a lot more salt in it that the chicken. To balance things out, the salt gets absorbed by the chicken — not just on the surface, but all through the meat (although it does take a bit of time).
• Osmosis. This is when water (or another liquid) moves through a membrane from one region that has more water to another region that has less water. When you brine chicken, you're creating just that situation: the brine has a lot more water than the chicken, so the water moves through the chicken cells, from the brine to the chicken. The result? Moister chicken!

Instead of just salt, this would be an excellent time to add other flavorings to the brine...sugar, juniper berries, whole allspice berries, pepper berries, etc. It is recommended to first boil the additional flavorings, allow the brine to cool, then add the meat. This is called boiled brine, but remember...do not put your chicken in hot water, the water must be cold. 

Brining is an easy way to get extra flavor into meat as well as moisture. I have not had a chance to brine my poultry yet, this is the first I heard about it. I will be sure to try it. 

Today I made fried chicken with a twist

Bottled it up in an old vodka bottle.

I must confess that when I first strained the berries I made a huge mess. About half a bottle of blackberry cordial ended up in the sink. I was pretty upset. But the cordial turned out lovely. It had a smooth taste of blackberry and it was also intoxicating. I felt it after one drink. So - go easy on this stuff. It will get you trashed.

Yesterday I decided to start using up some of my frozen blackberries. Here is my recipe for you guys. Since the serving was so small, only two ramekins, there are no measurements that I can give you. Just follow along and you should not have a problem.

Have you ever wanted to make perfectly round cookies without a cookie cutter? It takes awhile, you will have to refrigerate or freeze the dough.


Here are my photos. As usual, I take pictures of the entire process. 

Here is another fantastic playlist from Chef John - Over Sixty Videos about how to make Chicken. Super!

This was a fun recipe to make. At the Seattle Library I checked out a book 500 Chinese Recipes. (image linked to the right). I thumbed through the book and found that many of the recipes had the same ingredients, rice vinegar, rice wine, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, pepper paste, fish oil, sesame oil, szechuan pepper, hoisin sauce...and a few others that escape me for the moment. 

I like things that are spicy. On a scale of 1 - 10, I like my hot factor to be about a 6.5 or a 7. Once in awhile I will take it up to an 8. 

Basic Ingredients for a Spicy Chipotle Peanut Sauce

I have often wondered what constitutes the perfect ' brunch'. Is it suppose to be a real combination between breakfast and lunch? Like a pancake sandwich? Or a breakfast soup?

This morning I put together a little brunch for my husband. It consisted of stuffed eggs, grilled tomatoes, and potato pancakes.

Good Afternoon Everybody!

While my husband is at work, and I am missing him terribly, I decided to use my free time learning some new recipes from one of my all time favorite Chefs - Chef John. I chatted with him back in 2006 when I was living in Paris. He helped me put together a nice little menu of all American food that I could present to my friends.

Homemade Mustards

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Mixed berry orange muffin made with blueberries, blackberries and orange juice concentrate. Follow standard muffin making instructions. Mix the dry ingredients separately (flour, baking powder, salt) Mix the wet ingredients separately (sugar, milk, juice, butter). Mix just until incorporated. Do Not over mix this batter because the muffins will come out stiff. A few spots of flour is okay. Bake at 350 until golden and delicious.

After baking the muffins, I made an orange glaze and a blackberry glaze. I drizzled both glazes on the cooling muffins. They looked and tasted wonderful!

http://www.sterlingwineonline.com

I took the boys to the Seattle library today. I checked out a few cookbooks. Bread, Cookies, Holiday treats...and how to make wine at home. Life is really amazing. So many things that I do not know! It  makes life wonderful.

I read a few chapters of wine making, then looked up some unfamiliar terms. There are suppliers all over the country that will sell equipment to make beer, liqueur, wine, and soda. There is so much to learn and take it, I am only getting started.

Although I am not much of a drinker, I will certainly enjoy making alcohol (particularly wine), for my friends and family. Featured below are several tutorial videos about how to make different kinds of alcohol. At the end of this blog I am going to link some suppliers.

-Low Calorie Blackberry Orange Cobbler-

Orange-Blackberry cobbler is as fantastic low calorie dessert. This dessert calls for fresh, ripe blackberries and orange concentrate! Yummy!

 In a previous post, Paula Dean´s Peach Cobbler, I posted a Paula Dean video showing how to make the cobbler. For further instructions, click on the link above and watch the video.

 Follow her instructions step-by-step, but use my ingredients.

 She will insist that you use butter instead of margarine. You can use margarine. The crust will be fine. The filling is going to be so delicious, that you will not miss the butter. So please go to my previous post about how to make a Peach Cobbler.  Using Splenda cuts out a lot of the calories. So even though this is not the lightest dessert, it is significantly lighter than many other baked pastry or cobbler.

Naomi and her handmade braided sweet bread

 As some of you may know by now, my home town is Elma Washington. I have lived all over the world - Geneva, Paris, New York, Mexico City - but little Elma Washington is my home town. So in honor of my hometown I created a new traditional treat for the Elma Summer Festival held in Elma Washington every August. 

I remember when Elma had its Slug Festival. Then it was changed to the Blackberry Festival, and now it looks like that has been changed to the Outlaw Festival. After careful thought, I realized that both 'slugs'and óutlaws' are not good for the image of poor little Elma. Slugs are disgusting, and we certainly do not want to glorify criminals or outlaws. 

It is always challenging to start a new project, one that I have never tried before. This might seem shocking to people who know me in the real world, but I doubt myself all the time. I never really know if I am doing things right. I am very good at gathering information,  but sometimes I am just too lazy to flesh out things. The problem is that I take on so much, I do so much, that I cannot give all of my projects the attention they deserve. Well, that is my moment of self loathing...

Hello Everybody,

Coming to a breakfast table near you

If you read my gardening blog, you would know that blackberry season in Washington State (late July-August) is one of my favorite times of the year. I am a forager, like a soldier wandering the landscape for provisions, I raid our blackberry bushes with the boundless energy of a toddler. I do not tire of it. My eyes constantly scanning the bushes for hidden bundles of sweet blackberries hanging from the vine.Blackberries are free in Washington State! Anyone can pick them. But no one can pick them the way I do. 

So hop on over to Naomi´s Garden if you want to hear all about it. I do not post too much on my gardening blog right now because all I am growing are potatoes, carrots, strawberries, grape tomatoes and basil. When  we get a house, or a small farm, I will write more about my adventures in the garden. For now, it is Naomi´s adventures in the kitchen. 

I know that people have been giving Paula Dean a lot of crap because her food is a heart attack waiting to happen. Lets be honest for a second,  is Southern Comfort food really the kind of thing reasonable people eat every day? Or even once a week for that matter. She is not shoving her fatty food down anyone's throat.

In all seriousness though, after watching Paula Dean research her family history on a show called Who Do You Think You Are?, I came to adore this woman. I never had a mother. If I could have one, I would pick Paula. She seems like the kind of person who is easy to talk to. So yes, I am a Yankee who likes Paula Dean. I admit it. Deal with it.

Most of us know that the British are not exactly known for their food. I have never been to the UK, but I do have many friends who live there. I hear immigrants greatly improved the British culinary experience enormously. 


Former French president Jaque Chirac once said, "One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad." Within earshot of reporters he went on, "After Finland, it is the country with the worst food."

The book I am reading

A few days ago I stumbled upon a charming cook book from my local library titled:  Rise To The Occasion. The book was written by the owners of Dallas Restaurant - Rise No. 1. And what do they do exactly? They make Souffés! Sweet  Souffés, Savory  Souffés and cute dainty Souffés . When I think of the word Soufflé, the first thing that comes to mind is a movie I had to watch in a French Cinema Course, La Nouvelle Vague...the movie was  À bout de souffle (1960) featuring American actress Jean Seberg (who later commit suicide in Paris, 1979) and Jean Paul Belmondo, who turned into a dirty old man pervert in dire need of Botox injections.Yeah...okay...so I went off on a tangent there. I do that sometimes. Seth McFarlane needs to hire me as a writer for Family Guy. Back to the topic of this blog...Soufflé


Wikipedia: A soufflé (French: [su.fle]) is a lightly baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

The other day I went to the local library to pick up some materials. I checked out The French Chef, Julia Child. She shows us how to roast a chicken, make Boef Bourguignon and Tripe (cow stomach).

The Tripe video was nauseating . Cow stomach! Barf

Seared Roast

The difference between baking and roasting? - the thing being cooked. If it is a liquid and you want it to become solid, then you bake it. If the food is solid and you want to cook it - then it is a roast. Baking and Roasting are both the same thing, applying dry heat to cook. The only difference is the object being cooked.

The simplest approach to roasting is placing seafood, veggies, and seasoned meat on a roasting pan, and sliding it into an oven temperature 400 or higher. The greatest benefit of high heat cooking is that foods develop a well seared exterior with a juicy savor, rare or medium rare interior. This is exactly how I like my steak. Be careful not to over cook them. Nothing is worse that rubbery meat. Roasting meat can require split second timing, you have to really baby-sit the meat. The major limitation is that high heat cooking does not work well with larger roasts. For example, large meats like Turkey or Leg of Lamb will be burnt and crusty on the outside by the time the inside is cooked. Frequent oven cleaning becomes a problem. Juices splatter and the flesh smokes the interior.

Tonight we will be having homemade chicken pot pie. I made the crust this morning, if you do not know how to make a chicken pot pie crust, go to my previous blog about how to make a Spinach Quiche. I wrote the crust recipe there.








1 cup chopped onion
2 cubes chicken consome
.5 cup chopped carrots
.5 cup frozen peas
1 cup flour
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs salt
2 chopped chicken breasts
.5 cup 2% milk
4 tbs butter

Very Proud of My Braided Bread

Black Cherry Glazed Chicken Breast

Today we took the two boys and the double stroller to Cornucopia Days, a festival mid-July located in Kent Washington. It is a celebration of food and harvest. Although most of our vendors are from Washington State, some do come from other parts of the United States. Cornucopia Days was much better this year than it was the last time I went, two years ago.

I was happy to see a lot more originality in vendors, displays and products sold. When I visit vendors, I first pay attention to see originality. Then I look for quality and uniqueness of their booth. I want to see that they care about their product enough to make their booths special and unique. I like to see the artist expressed in details. I do not care to see people selling meaningless crap. If that were the case I would move back to Brooklyn New York.

Getting a booth is not cheap. Last time I checked it was more than $300 dollars. I is certainly higher than that if one reserves a space more than 10x10. The price is high enough to make sure people care about their product and presentation.

Naomi Making Pesto in the Food Processor

Naomi's Peach Cake Brulee

After the babies were put to bed, I made my first recipe from Dominique and Cindy Duby's book Creme Brulee - 50 Decadent Recipes. The recipe I made can be found on page 18 of their book. Their recipes was Pear Cake Brulee. I sent my husband off to get me some of the supplies I needed. Their recipe called for 1/2 cup pear juice.

I brought me Peach Juice. I changed only one ingredient from their recipe. Other than that, I am following their exact instructions.

This recipe had more ingredients and was more complex. After I whipped it up and put it in the oven, I realized that it would need some candied peaches to go ontop. The candied peaches are entirely my recipe.

Cheese and Bacon Quiche

I went to Target to buy two smaller ramekins for the ten  Crème brûlées  that I plan on making from Dominique and Cindy Duby's book -   Crème brûlée - 50 Decadent Recipes. This morning I woke up and decided to make my husband a quick quiche for breakfast. I used one of my new Ramekin. It was only $2.99. Here is my recipe in photos. Enjoy!

• Three Eggs
• Three ounces Mexican Cheese
• Two ounces chopped onion
• Two strips of bacon

I used some of the left over crust I made for the spinach quiche a few days ago. This recipe was very simple. 

• 3-1/2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons and 1-3/4 teaspoons white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream

My Spinach Quiche made this morning

This morning I decided to make my husband a Spinach Quiche for breakfast. I have two medium size ceramic  ramekin bowls. ( also known as bouillon bowls) The one ramekin bowl used for this recipe was a little too big. One really does not need that many calories for breakfast. I will need to make a quick trip to Ikea to buy some smaller, more appropriate ramekins. 

There were two things that I did for this recipe the night before. I made the crust the night before, rolled it into a ball, and wrapped it up in plastic wrap. I cooked the spinach and onions with a little olive oil and salt. When they were finished, they went into the refrigerator. It is not required to make the spinach, onion, and crust the day before making your breakfast Quiche. I do it for convenience. I am not exactly a morning person. The recipe for the crust comes from a tutorial video that I watched. (It is linked below). The filling is my own personal recipe.

Raclette and the human fat it turns into 30 minutes later

Baeckeoof and a Murdered Bunny Rabbit