A quick, delicious pasta!

I had a taste for pasta last night and just happened to have some fresh basil. I decided to use what I had on hand and mixed up the following and it was so good!



Fettuccine in Basil Anchovy Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 TBL EVOO
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp anchovy paste
3-4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (canned, drained whole plum tomatoes is fine)
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 c. heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb fettuccine
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Gently saute the garlic until each clove is golden brown. Remove garlic cloves and on a cutting board mash cloves with a fork and mix with anchovy paste.

Return mashed garlic/anchovy paste to the warm EVOO and heat for a minute, then add the tomatoes and break up with a fork, add wine and basil. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened a bit.

Add the heavy cream and pepper and simmer another 2-3 minutes.

In a large kettle, cook the fettuccine in boiling salted water according to pkg directions. Add the sauce to the hot fettuccine, toss & serve immediately on warm plates. Garnish with fresh basil leaves & serve w/freshly grated Parmesan.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Daring Bakers and the Cheesecake Pops

Well today is the day and my first challenge completed for Daring Bakers!!! And I'm already looking forward to May and the next challenge. And a special thank you to Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell for hosting our April Event!

The Cheesecake Pops were fun to make, but...a big but, I don't think I would make them again. Not that they're not good, in fact delicious, but there were problems. Everything went as expected but as soon as the pops started warming to room temperature, they did not adhere to the stick which became very messy, very fast. There's nothing more depressing then to see a child happily munching away and then all of a sudden the tasty Pop has fallen off the stick and the dog is making a beeline for the treat!!



Cheesecake Pops
Recipe adapted from "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey"

5 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 c. sugar
¼ c. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ c. heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
30-40 (8-inch) lollipop sticks
1 lb. chocolate, finely chopped (whatever type you want for dipping)
2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
Assorted decorations (sprinkles, sanding sugar, chopped nuts, etc.)

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 F. Set some water to boil.


In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes (*note: I baked mine for an hour, so keep in the oven longer if needed).

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.


Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.). Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Another beauty....Zesty Red Onion Jelly!

Rosie, Rosie Bakes a Piece of Cake, and Pixie, You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto, are hosting "Putting Up", a Canning Event and my entry is the Zesty Red Onion Jelly. I am so excited finally a blog event involving Canning...one of my favorite kitchen adventures.

I dearly love to can and it is so easy. Really, canning is no big deal, although many people think that it's so time consuming, but truly it's not. Just to show you how easy canning is here is a picture of the total ingredients for Zesty Red Onion Jelly! And this prep probably took me less then 10 minutes to prepare. The most time consuming thing was waiting for the Boiling Water Bath (BWB) to boil!





I did cheat a bit when prepping this recipe. It's best to make Red Onion Jelly when the onions are freshly picked and not wintered. The gorgeous color of the red onion would be stronger. In the back of my mind my natural dyeing experience kicked in and I knew exactly how I could save some of the color. But I'm sure using freshly harvested onions would insure even a deeper hue to the jelly. But I did pretty darn good with the color even with last years onions!


Onion skin, any onion skin, contains dye. So I just immersed the red onion skin in the required 3/4 c. white vinegar and popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds, just enough the to heat the vinegar. It worked beautifully, and more natural dye was infused into the vinegar! YES!!! I left the vinegar to cool to room temperature and then poured it through a strainer. The results were exactly what I had anticipated and saved quite a bit of color.

The Zesty Red Onion Jelly was posted by dear, sweet Zabby on the Harvest Forum at Garden Web. She clipped the recipe from an Ottawa newspaper long since lost to never, never land.





Zesty Red Onion Jelly
Recipe adapted and generously shared by Zabby

1 cup diced red onion
2 tsp lemon zest
3/4 cup white vinegar
3 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch (85 ml [3 fl oz]) liquid pectin


Cut red onion into 1/8 inch slices; cut slices into 1/4 inch dice. Measure 1 cup into a large, deep stainless steel saucepan. With a sharp knife, cut a wide strip of paper-thin yellow peel from lemon; cut into thin strips and measure 2 tsp into saucepan. Stir in vinegar and sugar.

***Over high heat, bring mixture to a full, roiling boil. Stirring constantly, boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in one pouch Liquid Pectin, mixing well.

Pour jelly into a hot jar, dividing solids equally among jars and filling each jar to within 1/4 inch of top rim (head space). Wipe jar rims. Centre lids on jars & screw on bands. Process in BWB 10 minutes.

Cool for about 30 minutes, then, when lids are concave but jelly is still hot, carefully invert & twist jars to distribute solids throughout jelly. (**Do not let them remain upside down for long periods**) Repeat as needed during the cooling/setting time, until solids are nicely suspended.







All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Surprises by Mail!

I received a box of goodies from my friend Lucy today!!! Although she told me the box was coming, I still was surprised. It's not been the best week for me, so I needed a good pick-me-up and Lucy's gifts were perfect and could not have come at a better time!

Lucy sent me some of her favorite things and because we're so similar, of course they're my favorite things too!!



The glass prep bowls will fit right in with my daily baking and cooking. I like working with prep bowls and due to the fact that I bake and cook so much I do sometimes have a hard time remembering if I added the vanilla or not. Setting the ingredients up in prep bowls seems to make everything so much more streamlined and efficient...hey it works for me!

Next are the wonderful, thick, cotton towels by Martha Stewart. Oh...they are so soft and the towels will work out beautifully for my yeast breads. I think I will make some yeast bread tomorrow!

I saw a picture of this pasta and sent it to Lucy, thinking she might be familiar with it. Well, come to find out it was new to her too. But she's lucky and found it at her local market and of course being the sweetie that she is she picked up a bag for me too. I hope she sends me a good sauce recipe...Hint..Hint!! In the close up you can see how unique the pasta shape is...so cool. I can't wait to use it!

Next is the wonderful Rose Bundt Pan....Love it! I've wanted one of these pans for so long! This pan is perfect for my Angel Food Cake with Rosewater! But I'm sort of craving chocolate lately, so I think I may make a chocolate angel food cake...yummy!!

The small Pizza Peel is the 2nd one that Lucy has sent me. She sent me another one a few months ago. I needed a peel and my good friend did not let me down. And when she found out that Joe and I make individual pizzas and I needed another peel, well Lucy came through again!

And last but not least and this is absolutely my favorite thing and I've already used it twice, is the GORGEOUS bamboo cutting board. How did you know that I've been trying to find the perfect cutting board? I absolutely LOVE IT!!! And it fits in my thin cutting board storage cabinet too!! Oh...I needed the cutting board and it's so pretty. Don't you just love working with beautiful things.

Oh Lucy...what would I do without you!! Thanks ever so much for thinking of me and thank you for being my friend!

Lotta Ricotta....so it's Pizza Rustica

This is another recipe that I printed out and it has been hanging around in my kitchen for ages now or at least a few months but most probably ages! But I have the remainder of a 5 lb container of Ricotta that needs to be used and this recipe was perfect.

The recipe is adapted from "Baking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan. And you can find it listed many times on the internet and I will repost it here for your convenience. It is a very easy recipe although I baked mine about 15 minutes longer then the recommended time. And of course I made changes which are in ()'s or in my notes.

I just took the Pizza Rustica out of the oven and it looks amazing! And tastes delicious...rich but so good and just hits the spot on this chilly, rainy night in Northern IL!!



Pizza Rustica

Dough-
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (I skipped the sugar)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs, slightly beaten


Filling-
1 lb ricotta
3 large eggs
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
1/4 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto, shredded (I subbed diced salami)
2 tb chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp pepper

Notes: I also added 3-4 minced cloves of garlic, 1 tsp tarragon, about 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese and 2 minced green onions including the tops.

Dough:

1. Put flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into food processor; pulse a few times to mix. add butter and pulse 15-20 times, or until mixture resembles cornmeal.

2. With machine running, add the eggs and process until dough forms ball on blade.

3. Remove dough and knead it until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Divide the dough in two pieces, one twice as large as the other. wrap in plastic and set aside until needed (you can refrigerate in advance for up to 3 days).


Filling and assembly:

1. In medium bowl, stir ricotta with spatula until smooth. Add rest of the ingredients one at a time, stirring until each addition is incorporated and well blended.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. butter 9-inch pie pan.

3. Knead the large dough piece into disk and roll out on lightly floured surface to fit pie pan (about 12" circle). Transfer dough to pan and press on bottom and up sides; trim excess. Fill pan with ricotta filling.


4. Knead and shape the remaining piece of dough into 9-inch square. using pizza cutter or small sharp knife, cut dough into 12 even strips. lay strips across the pie, in criss cross and trim edges of lattice and pinch to seal.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes until crust is golden and filling is firm and slightly puffed. transfer pie to rack and cool completely before serving.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

What's Old is "New" and so delicious!

Believe it or not, I have never made a bread pudding. I've wanted to, but just too many other things get in the way and I run out of time. Being I was encouraged by my friend, Linda, to enter the Weekend Cookbook Challenge hosted by Carla of Chocolate Moosey, the recipe search began. The theme for April is "Vintage Cookbooks"...how fun is that!!! Great theme Carla and thanks for hosting this wonderful event.


I am a history junkie, in fact I minored in history, and so had a great time looking for a recipe. I found a wonderful Cookbook Archive at the Michigan State University Library. I was born in MI so visiting my home state was fun although I graduated from University of Michigan!

I downloaded and scanned several of the wonderful classic cookbooks and finally found a recipe in "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" by Fanny Merritt Farmer, published in 1896! The recipe for Bread Pudding sounded delicious and it was something I've been wanting to try for a long time now.

I mixed up the Chocolate Bread Pudding this morning and popped it in the oven. It smelled wonderful but when I took it out of the oven it looked odd and more like a meatloaf then a dessert. But the taste...OH MY, was wonderful. The recipe recommends 2 sauces but both were similar to a vanilla whipped cream and made with raw eggs. My friend Lucy suggested a simple Vanilla Sauce so I made her recipe instead and I added a little heavy cream and a dusting of powdered sugar.



Chocolate Bread Pudding
Recipe adapted from "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" by Fanny Merritt Farmer

2 c. stale bread crumbs
4 c. scalded milk
2 squares Baker's chocolate
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Soak bread in milk thirty minutes; melt chocolate in saucepan placed over hot water, add one-half sugar and enough milk taken from bread and milk to make of a consistency to pour; add to mixture with remaining sugar, salt, vanilla, and eggs slightly beaten; turn into buttered pudding dish and bake one hour in a moderate oven. Serve with Hard or Cream Sauce I.

Vanilla Sauce
Recipe adapted from "Southern Living"

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash salt
Optional: Rum or Brandy

In small saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch.

Stir in 1 cup boiling water. Simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter, vanilla extract and salt; blend well. Serve vanilla sauce warm with your favorite pudding or other dessert.

I added a 2 TBL of heavy cream to the sauce.



All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

The Dandelions are coming......

I finally did it! I finally made Dandelion Soup!

I was at my market and they had fresh Dandelion Greens for a very reasonable price and so I snatched some and made soup today. I used my Cream of Spinach Soup recipe which is one of our favorites.

I substituted the Dandelion Greens for the spinach and I added 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 TBL Dijon Mustard and 2 TBL balsamic vinegar. If you're adding the vinegar I would eliminate the optional white wine.

The first spoonful was bitter but with the second spoonful, the third and the fourth, the soup just got better and better. Yes, I would make Dandelion Soup again!


Cream of Spinach Soup
Recipe adapted from "Tested, Tried and True" by the Flint (MI) Junior League

4-5 Green Onions, chopped clear to the top
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 Box of Frozen Spinach
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup of Flour
2 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup light cream

Optional: 1/4 cup dry white wine

Saute onion, celery, and spinach in butter until tender. Stir in flour, cook gently. Add chicken stock, while stirring. Bring to boil. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Place in blender or emerse hand held blender into pot to blend vegetables smooth. Mix egg yolk and cream and add to soup. Add wine if desired and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Any vegetable or mixed vegetables may be substituted for spinach.

Sorry no picture tonight.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Looks like Summer!

I don't usually write posts like this but tonight I made some oven roasted vegetables and the dish was so pretty. It just looked like summer to me and made me yearn for warm days, farmer's markets and iced lemonade!

After roasting the Orange Cauliflower had turned a bright, sunny yellow and the Purple Cauliflower turned a deep royal purple. I was surprised when I opened the oven door!




Roasted Vegetables

Variety of Vegetables **See Notes
2 TBL melted butter
2 TBL EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste

Clean the vegetables. Put in a medium sized bowl. Add melted butter and EVOO, salt and pepper and toss.

Put the vegetables in a shallow baking dish and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Note: I generally use brussel spouts and radishes for our roasted vegetables. But potatoes, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet peppers and even tomatoes work very well.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Dotted Swiss...Fabric or Frosting?

Any one remember the sheer, cotton Dotted Swiss fabric?

From the American Heritage On-line Dictionary: A sheer, crisp cotton fabric, embellished with woven, flocked, or embroidered dots.




I've always loved Dotted Swiss and it is having somewhat of a comeback although the fabric is not quite the same. I've started looking for some vintage Dotted Swiss fabric but in the mean time I made some Dotted Swiss Cupcakes! My cupcakes are doing double duty, first for my husband's birthday and then as my entry in Cupcake Hero's Earth Day themed event. My cupcakes represent the 4 Natural Elements, Earth, Wind, Fire and Ice.

For the marbled cupcakes I used a Vanilla Cake and a Chocolate Cake recipe which can be easily found on the internet so I'm not going to repost them here. And I tried to make each cupcake unique and so marbled them differently alternating the Vanilla and Chocolate batters. It was fun marbling the cupcakes. Since I used 2 different recipes for the marbling I did get cracks but these will be covered with frosting in the final product. No harm done! The marbled cupcake represents "Earth" the first element.



To add a little something extra special to the cupcakes I stuffed them with a whole strawberry. Not easy to find small berries this time of year so you may need to pare the berry down a bit or else make jumbo cupcakes. The strawberry represents "fire" the 3rd element.


It is very easy to stuff the cupcakes. I use my vegetable peeler and just carve a hole in the center of each cupcake and insert the berry. Do be careful that you do not puncture the bottom of the cupcake!



For the Frosting I used several different recipes which is pretty common for me! I love to experiment with frostings. To top the cupcake I used Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting swirled to represent the "Wind" the 2nd element. And for "Ice" the 4th element I have dots of my feathered pineapple frosting.



Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe adapted from Cooks.com

3 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. butter, softened
5 c. confectioners sugar
1 c. Hershey's cocoa
5 to 7 tbsp. light cream

Blend cream cheese and butter in large mixer bowl. Combine confectioners sugar and cocoa; add alternately with cream to cream cheese mixture. Beat to spreading consistency.

Pineapple Feathered Frosting
Recipe Adapted in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1/4 c softened cream cheese
1/4 c softened butter
1 c. 100% Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
2 c powdered sugar

Over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan reduce 1 c. Pineapple Juice to about 2 TBL. The juice reduces very quickly so do not leave your kitchen! When the juice is significantly reduced cool to room temperature.

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add 1 tsp of the reduced pineapple juice and blend well. Gradually add 2 c. of powdered sugar. When the frosting is completely mixed taste it and if you think you need more pineapple flavoring add a drop or 2 more and taste again and repeat if necessary.

All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Pink Popper Jelly and it's related Cookies

As long as I am posting the Hot Pepper Jelly varieties, I'm going to tell you about a savory cookie that is absolutely one of our favorites. The recipe makes a small batch, thank goodness because they rarely last long and mostly eaten by me!

And you do not have to can your own jelly to make the cookies. Any hot pepper jelly would be fine or you can substitute Apple Butter or Apple Chutney.



Savory Cheddar and Pink Popper Jelly Cookies
Recipe adapted from "Thanksgiving 101" by Rick Rodgers

8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup hot pepper jelly or sub apple butter or chutney

Place cheese and butter in a food processor (could be creamed by hand or mixer); add flour and process until the mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up the dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes.

Position two racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or use nonstick sheets.

Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll the dough into small balls and place 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or 1/2-inch-thick dowel, poke an indentation in each cookie. I use the back of the 1 tsp cookie scoop to make the indentation. Place a dollop of the jelly into the indentations.


Return to the oven and bake, switching the positions of the sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking, until the tops are very lightly browned, about 10 minutes. (Cookies will continue to crisp as they cool.) Transfer to racks and cool completely.

Can be baked up to two days ahead. Store at room temperature in an airtight container and separate layers with wax paper.




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

By any other Name..Habanero Gold Jelly

I love to can and I love to stand back and look at all my freshly canned jars all lined up and gleaming. And the ping of the lids sealing is just the sweetest sound. And when I open the door to my pantry and see all the goodness just waiting to be opened...gawd there is just nothing more beautiful. My Habanero Jelly is my entry to the Art You Can Eat #3 Go Local blogging event.

Habanero Gold Jelly is our all time favorite and we go through jars of it. We are not jelly fans nor hot pepper fans....who'd a thought!! But it's sweet/tangy taste is absolutely addictive and once you taste it, you can not stop eating it. This addiction problem is why I only can Habanero Gold in half pints!

My friend Carol used her vast canning experience to develop the "Big Batch" version "to increase the small yield...because liquid pectin is expensive". And she did just that, doubling the yield yet not interfering with the taste, and it is fabulous!

The Habanero Gold Jelly Recipe is reprinted in the new "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving", but they do not credit Mr. Rouleau for developing the original recipe which is a shame.







Carol Clark's "Big Batch" Habanero Gold Jelly or Hot 'N Sweet Confetti Jelly
Recipe inspired by "Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving" by Bob Rouleau


1 cup minced dried apricots (1/8" dice) *See Carol's Notes
1-1/4 total cup minced red sweet pepper and minced red onion (1/8" dice), approximately half-and-half.
1/4 cup Habanero peppers **See Carol's Notes
1-1/2 cups white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 3-ounce pouch liquid pectin

*Note: Could use dried peaches or pears instead.

**Note: For extra-hot, increase Habaneros to 1/2 cup and reduce red sweet pepper/red onion combination to 1 cup total.

Prep apricots, peppers and onion. Place in a large, stainless or other non-reactive pot. Add sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook 5 minutes.

Pull off the burner; allow to cool, cover and let sit overnight. Stir occasionally if convenient.

Note: 4-6 hours would be plenty, so the time doesn't need to be any greater than the soaking time for apricots in the original recipe.

Next day, bring the mixture back to the boil and stir in liquid pectin.




Boil hard 1 minute. Pull off the heat. If necessary, skim foam. (I did need to skim a bit.) Let cool 2 minutes, stirring to distribute solids.

Pour into jars. Stir to distribute and remove air bubbles. Do the usual with the jars and lids, Boiling Water Bath 10 minutes. When jars are sealed, "agitate" to distribute solids throughout the jelly.

Reprinted with Carol Clark's written permission.


Pink Popper Jelly
Developed in the Kitchen of Big-Black-Dog and inspired by my friend Carol

Same as Carol's Big Batch Habanero Gold Jelly with the following changes:



3/4 c. minced dried apricots
1/4 c. minced dried cherries
1 1/2 Habneraro peppers, diced (I'm soft when it comes to hot pepper!)

The Pink Popper Jelly is a rosy orange and the taste is just different enough to justify the name change. We love the Pink Popper Jelly and I only use MI Dried Cherries because they're the best!!

In the picture to the right my Pink Popper Jelly is the bottom jar and the Habanero Gold Jelly is the top. You can plainly see the difference in color but you'll have to imagine the taste!



Check out my Savory Cheddar and Jalapeno Jelly Cookies!


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dogs

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Since we've turned the corner into Spring, I've been seeing many recipes calling for Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar and they always sound so good.

We're on overload with Strawberries and so I whipped up some Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream! I used the same recipe as my Fresh Peach Ice Cream and just substituted 18-Year Balsamic Vinegar for the Vanilla and I was out of heavy cream so just used cream. I was not sure how much balsamic to add so added a tsp at a time until the flavor burst in my mouth.

The Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream is exquisitely delicious!!

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. heavy cream (I just used cream)
4 tsp balsamic vinegar (I used 18 yr. but any good balsamic is fine)
1 qt of fresh strawberries (I pureed 3/4 qt and chopped 1/4 qt and save a berry to slice on top)
Red Food Coloring **See Note



Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Mix in pureed and chopped strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturers directions. Top with a few slices of fresh strawberry and serve.

**Note: The balsamic vinegar did add color to the ice cream so I added a drop of red food coloring to bring the ice cream back to it's original glory!!


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Pot-a-Leines

I debated 2 titles for this post. The one showing above or "What to do with leftover Mashed Potatoes"!! Yep, that's right I'm doing a post about leftover mashed potatoes and boy were they good, in fact they were delicious!

I love potatoes in any way, shape or form. So I was very happy to see the potato theme for this month's Homegrown Gourmet. The event is hosted by Tempered Woman herself!! Thanks Tempered!

We had sirloin steak tonight and of course steamed broccoli and I had a container of leftover mashed potatoes that needed to be used in some way or other. Then I remember "the madeleine pan"....perfect! Also I picked my first herb today....YES my chives are coming up and I snipped a few to use in the Pot-a-Leines, pronounced Pot-a-Lines short for Potato Madeleines.



Pot-a-Leines
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

Abt a quart of leftover mashed potatoes
1 TBL fresh chives
1-2 minced garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If the potatoes have been refrigerated, let they come to room temperature. Then stir them up so that the potatoes are nice a creamy again. Add the chives, garlic salt and pepper and stir.

Heavily butter a madeleine pan. The silicone pans work great for this as the Pot-a-Leines just pop right out. But I've used both the silicone and the more common heavy aluminum madeleine pans and both work well. When using the heavy aluminum pan I just take a butter knife and gently loosen the Pot-a-leine and carefully lift it out. A plastic knife works very well for this too.

Form the potatoes per each mold. Pop the pan into the oven and bake for...oh about 25 minutes or until the edges are nice and browned. Serve hot.

All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

The Ultimate Shrimp Pasta

I know...I know, I've already posted my pictures and recipe for my Shrimp Pasta.

But I'm entering the first Tested, Tried and True hosted by Giz and Psych of Equal Opportunity Kitchen and I did not feel comfortable entering an event from a post way down in my archives. I take better pictures since I learned about the "little flower" close-up feature so it's better all the way 'around. And it's my blog and I can do what ever I want!

But the Shrimp Pasta is excellent and it deserves a double take!!





Shrimp Linguine
Recipe adapted from my friend Lucy

1 lb large pre-cooked and shelled large shrimp
1 c. EVOO
5-6 cloves of fresh garlic
2 tsp anchovy paste
1 handful of minced parsley
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
Fresh Grated Parmesan cheese

For Pasta:
1 lb linguine
8 c. water
1 tsp salt
2 T. EVOO

In a small sauce pan heat 1 c. EVOO and whole garlic cloves very slowly on low simmer until garlic is a light brown. Remove garlic.

Heat 8 c. of water, 1 tsp salt and 2 T. EVOO to a boil. Add linguine and cook until pasta is tender but not mushy. Drain and put in large pasta bowl or platter.

On your cutting board mash garlic cloves and add anchovy paste. Mash together until thoroughly mixed.

Add the mashed anchovy and garlic to EVOO and reheat. When EVOO is hot add shrimp and heat for 1 minute. Remove Shrimp. Immediately pour EVOO over pasta. Add pepper and fresh parsley and toss. Place shrimp on top of linguine. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

It's Pizza Time!

Last night I made Pizza and it was dee-licious.

I've tried several pizza doughs but I keep going back to the recipe I've used for several years now. The dough does not rise much if at all and makes a very short crust similar to the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza...the real Chicago Pizza, not the stuff that is advertised as "Chicago Pizza".

But this time I decided to experiment a bit and added some sourdough starter. OH MY... sourdough starter made the pizza dough so good and I'm pretty sure I will add it again the next time I'm in the mood for pizza!





Pizza Dough
Recipe adapted from I-have-no-idea

For 1-1/2 lb. (makes two 12-inch pizzas or one 15-x-10-inch pizza)
1/4 c. plus 2 TBL water, warm
2 tsp yeast
3/4 c. milk
1-1/2 TBL EVOO
1 tsp salt
3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sourdough starter
Semolina

For 1 lb. (makes one 12-inch pizza)
1/4 c. water, warm
1-1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 c. milk
1 TBL. EVOO
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sourdough starter
Semolina

Select recipe size desired. Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees and place your baking stone in the oven to warm.

Mix yeast in warm water and let sit for about 5 minutes until you see some yeast action. Add sourdough starter, salt, milk and EVOO. Then gradually mix in flour. Dough will be very stiff. Rub EVOO on the inside of a bowl. Place dough in bowl and rub some EVOO on the top of the dough ball. Cover with a towel and put in a warm place for 4-5 hours. The dough will not rise much but just letting it ferment adds wonderful flavor.

Sprinkle some Semolina on your Peel. Now you're ready to form the pizza. I just do this with my hands and pull and stretch the dough until it is the right size.

As for topping, anything goes at my house. I make up small prep bowls of anything I-have-on-hand-at-the-time: Onions, Olives, Variety of Cheeses, Mushrooms, Sweet Pepper, Spaghetti Sauce, Pesto Sauce, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Ham, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Ricotta Cheese. Heck, we've even put Green Beans on our pizza and it was pretty good.


When the oven is hot, gently slide the pizza from the peel onto the baking stone. I used my new Pizza Peel that my friend Lucy gave me and it worked beautifully!! I love it!!!

I turn down my oven to 350 degrees once I put the pizza in. Bake until the cheese is bubbly hot and the crust is a nice golden brown.

All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Cupcakes with an Asian Flair

I'm entering my Orange Iced Plum Cupcakes in Sugar High Friday's Sweet Asian Invasion April event hosted by Amrita of La Petite Boulangette .

Let's face it Asian Cuisine is not something I do very often so I have limited experience and anything beyond Sesame Seed Oil and Wonton Skins is foreign territory. My husband suggested that we go to Nitakaya USA, which is a huge Asian market sort of like an Asian Walmart only much better and there's a wonderful food court! It was great fun wondering around the aisles and not recognizing a darn thing! We spent at least two hours just meandering and if my husband said it once he said it a dozen times "What is this?". Like I'm supposed to know??? I wanted to buy so many things, the colors and packaging were fantastic, but finally decided on two bottles of Plum Wine, Black Sesame Seeds and a bag of Sweet Red Bean Paste. Very boring things but I was comfortable that I could make something not only beautiful but tasty too!

When we got home, I set my goodies on my kitchen island and thought about what I was going to make. But first I wanted to taste the Plum Wines! Frequently I reduce juices and use them to flavor my frostings and onw of the Plum Wines had a wonderful fruity taste and I knew it would work well in frosting. So my decisions were over and I knew I was going to make cupcakes.





Orange Iced Plum Cupcakes
Ganache Cupcake Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey's)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

My changes:
8 oz of Hershey's chocolate syrup
4 oz of ganache(from my ganache reserve in the frig)
4 oz of mascarpone cheese, room temperature

Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream the butter, mascarpone and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup, ganache and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake pan as soon as possible.


Ganache
Recipe adapted from my Mom

1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream in the microwave. Pour cream over chocolate chips and add vanilla. Stir until chocolate is totally melted and ganache is smooth.


Feathered Plum Frosting
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1/4 c softened cream cheese
1/4 c softened butter
1 c. Plum wine
2 c powdered sugar

Over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan reduce 1 c. of Plum Wine to about 2 TBL. The wine reduces very quickly so do not leave your kitchen! When the wine is significantly reduced cool to room temperature.

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add 1 tsp of the reduced Plum Wine and blend well. Gradually add 2 c. of powdered sugar. When the frosting is completely mixed taste it and if you think you need more Plum flavoring add a drop of reduced wine at a time, mix and taste until you are happy.


Orange Sugar Confection
Recipe adapted from I-have-no-idea

1 large naval orange
1/2 c. of sugar

Peel the orange, careful to not slice into the pith. Put the thin slices of orange peel in your food processor and add the sugar. Process until the orange peel is very finely ground but you can still see tiny pieces of orange.

The sugar will be damp and you will need to let it dry out before you can sprinkle it on the frosting. I just spread the orange sugar on a cutting board and after an hour or so I transfer it to the bowl. Once in the bowl I stir it with a fork and break up any sugar clumps. Just keep repeating stirring with a fork and breaking up any clumps until the orange sugar is dry. The sugar will preserve the orange and there will be no color lost and it will keep forever in a tupperware like container. However it will fade if exposed to light, so keep it in a kitchen cabinet towards the back. You can also use any citrus fruit peel, lemon, grapefruit, etc., and use the same method.

To assemble: Pipe frosting on the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with orange sugar and top with a orange curl.








All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Cream of Chicken Rice Soup and my Orchid

Folks, this post has been hijacked, meaning copied and pasted, including my picture and it now available on a commercial cooking site in Eqypt.

It's been rainy, cold and windy...generally just a creepy, yucky day. And I thought a nice hearty soup for dinner would hit the spot. I did not want my soup to be a thick cream soup, so did not make a rue but just added the ingredients to the broth.

Cream of Chicken Rice Soup
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

16 oz of chicken stock (I used my homemade stock but canned is fine)
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 c. of wild rice
1 c. green onions, chopped (save some of the chopped stems for garnish)
1 c. celery, chopped
4-5 mushrooms, chunky chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp basil
1 c. heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat add the chicken stock. Mix in the rice, garlic, tarragon, marjoram, basil, mushrooms and salt and pepper and heat for about 15-20 minutes. Add cream and wine and just heat through. Garnish with a few sprinkles of the chopped green onion stem.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog



And for the finale to this post........... my orchid is blooming!!

I've had many orchids over the years and all were blooming when I bought them but were doomed to never bloom again. So imagine my surprise when an orchid I bought at Home Depot for $5.99 in July '07 and lived through the dust of our construction is now in bloom. I am thrilled!!

All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

No-Knead Sourdough Oat Bread

My entry for Bread Baking Day #9, hosted by Astrid of Paul Chen's Food Blog, is another no-knead bread.

I actually saw this recipe and video on Breadtopia many months ago when I made my first No-Knead Bread. And my friend Linda made it and gave it a thumbs up too! So I was thrilled to the see the BBD Theme of "Oats"....thanks Astrid!

I have such good luck with the no-knead breads that I fear I am getting into a rut. But they're so good and bake so beautifully that I just keep trying new ones and experimenting on T&T recipes!

I just sliced the Sourdough Oat Bread and OMG....it's got to be one of the best breads I've made. It is just delicious! And I think I will have another slice before it's all gone.



No-Knead Sourdough Oat Bread
Recipe adapted from Breadtopia
(makes 1 loaf)

It's amazing what the addition of a mere half cup of steel cut oats can do to enhance and vary the quality of a basic loaf of no knead bread. During the long fermentation period, the grains soften and swell to give the bread a wholesome and satisfying flavor and texture.

Simple enough to whip together in a heartbeat and interesting enough to become a regular in your no knead rotation.

3/4 cup (3 oz.) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (3 oz.) steel cut oats
2 1/4 cups (10 oz.) bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup firm sourdough starter (I used 1/2 c. of starter)

1. Combine the flours and salt
2. Mix the starter into the water until mostly dissolved
3. Mix the water/starter solution into the dry ingredients
4. Mix in the oats
5. Cover bowl with plastic at let sit at room temperature for 18 hours
6. After 18 hours turn dough onto well floured surface and gently flatten enough to fold dough back onto itself a couple times to form a roundish blob. Note: This folding stage can be accomplished within the bowl, speeding up the process even further and leaving less of a cleanup.
***7. Cover blob with plastic and let rest 15 minutes. During this rest period, coat a proofing basket or towel lined bowl with bran flakes. Gently and quickly shape blob into an approximate ball and place in proofing basket or bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1-2 hours depending on room temperature.
8. As gently as possible, flip the dough into a Dutch oven or ceramic (e.g. La Cloche) baker preheated to 500F degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
9. Allow bread to cool completely before slicing and eating. Warning: this most difficult step requires superhuman discipline and restraint.

***This is where my method for baking No-knead bread differs from the norm. I bake my bread in a raw clay chicken roaster and it works out beautifully.

7. Take a sheet of parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray like Pam. Place dough in the middle of the sheet of parchment. The dough will "rest" while the oven is preheating in Step 8.

8. Turn the oven on 500 degrees and place the baking vessel on a low rack. When the oven reaches 500 degrees remove baking vessel and turn down oven to 450 degrees.


9. And using the parchment as a sling, gently lower the sling containing the dough into the preheated baker. Careful to not touch the baker as it is very hot!

10. Place the lid on the baker and put the baker into the oven.

11. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown.


12. Remove the vessel from oven. The bread will still bake if left in the hot pot. So very carefully lift out the bread and cool on a rack for about 2 hours.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog