Monday, November 22, 2010

A Holiday Vegetarian Feast - Pumpkin Stuffed With Vegetable Stew

Holidays are tough for vegetarians and vegans especially when forced to spend them with non-veg families. I dated a vegan for several years and the holidays, specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner always seemed a let down for him. His family would try, but inevitably put milk and butter into everything, leaving him rolls and maybe green beans to eat. One year we visited my family for Christmas, and my mom offered several vegan things. But honestly, I think the presence of the great big golden crispy skinned turkey being pulled out of the over and placed on a the large platter just overshadowed anything vegan she made. It was clear that everyone was there for the turkey...not the wild rice and tofu side dish my mom put together. In the presence of a turkey, it's hard not to feel left out even when you are remembered.

I've never seen anything that measures up to the pomp and circumstance that is the turkey dinner until last week when I made this Pumpkin Stuffed with Vegetable Stew. So, for all of you trying to show your vegetarian/vegan sweetie how much you care, try this recipe this holiday season. If you don't have a meat-hating sweetie or friend, then take the stuffed pumpkin idea and put your favorite meat stew in it, or substitute some sauteed stew meat instead of seitan.

Not only is there great presentation, this recipe takes as long, if not longer, than cooking a turkey! Vegetarians and vegans can now skip on the turkey imposter and make something better than tofurkey. I spent about 8 hours, between shopping for the ingredients (2 hrs since you'll probably need to go to one or more stores), to making the Roasted Vegetable Wine Sauce (3 hrs), to making the actual stew (3 hrs). The original recipe lists the total time, without shopping, as 11 hours. I was able to do it in less time by making the wine sauce the night before.

I did have some fun shopping for this recipe. I used celeriac, also called celery root, for the first time. It's a really tasty root vegetable, a heavy smokey celery flavor. While waiting for the bus up to the farmers market, I met a woman who gave me a wine recommendation. I asked her if she had been waiting long for the bus. No, just about 5 minutes...plus the time it took her to go to the liquor store and buy a few bottles of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, her favorite wine that was on sale at the liquor store across the street from the bus stop. On my way back from the market, I stopped and bought two bottles for the stew. The recipe only needs only 1 cup in the stock sauce, but you need 2 bottles for yourself to keep your glass full through the 6+ hours of cooking. The wine was drinkable and the story was well worth the $11.99 per bottle.

So was the stew good? Yes it was! Especially when served with mashed potatoes. I was also able to make some Italian Wedding-like soup out of the roasted veggies used to make the wine sauce, making this a a 2 in 1 recipe. Would I make it again? I think it's a little too labor intensive and perhaps too many costly ingredients. By the time I was done, I think I spent over $50 on this meal. However, if I was trying to win over a vegetarian or vegan, this would be my "go to" move.

I didn't make many changes to this recipe, and have copied and pasted it with a link to the originals on Epicurous. I did scatter a few comments/notes on things I did differently.

Roasted-Vegetable and Wine Sauce

Source: Epicurious
Yield: Makes about 6 cups
Active time: 30 min
Total time: 4 hr

 Ingredients

1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise
5 carrots, quartered
1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
2 red bell peppers, quartered
1 pound plum tomatoes, halved
1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded and bulb quartered
2 large onions, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup boiling water
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)
1 (4-inch) piece celery
4 parsley stems
1 large thyme sprig
8 black peppercorns
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1 cup dry red wine
4 quart water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil; 1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 stick unsalted butter (if Vegan, use a non-dairy spread)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Equipment: cheesecloth; kitchen string

Directions

Roast vegetables:
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. 

Wash leek halves and pat dry.

Toss leek, carrots, garlic, bell peppers, plum tomatoes, fennel, and onions with oil, then spread in a 17- by 14-inch roasting pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned and tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Soak porcini and make bouquet garni while vegetables roast:
Pour boiling water over porcini in a bowl and soak until softened, 10 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, wrap celery, parsley stems, thyme sprig, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a piece of cheesecloth and tie with string.

Lift out porcini, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl, and rinse to remove any grit. Pour soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into another bowl.
Make stock:
Transfer roasted vegetables to a 6- to 8-quart pot and add wine to roasting pan, then deglaze pan by boiling, scraping up brown bits, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine to vegetables in pot along with water (4 quarts), porcini and soaking liquid, bouquet garni, sun-dried tomatoes, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until stock is reduced to about 6 cups, about 2 hours. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing firmly on and then discarding solids. 

*CP Note: I didn't worry too much about getting all of the liquid out of the veggies and actually used 1-2 cups in making a soup base out of the left over veggies (see "To make an Italian Wedding like soup" below).
Make sauce:
Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add stock in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Note:
Stock can be made ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered, 1 week or frozen in an airtight container 1 month. Sauce can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat before using.

To make an Italian Wedding like soup (This is not veg-friendly - freeze the extras in case things don't work out with the veggie hottie.)
Boil up a pound of your favorite pasta. I had some Israeli cousous (a pearl size pasta bead) on hand. Slice up a pound of hot italian sausage and sautee until cooked.
Place the leftover roasted vegetables into a large stock pan. Be sure to remove the bouquet garni. Add about 4 cups of liquid (some of the stock you made pluse chicken stock). Using a submersible blender, blend the vegetables. Add more stock or water if you wish to have a thinner soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. I used about 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Heat up soup base... add your pasta and sausage. Enjoy.
Source: Epicurious
Yield: Makes 8 servings (main course)
Active time: 1 1/2 hr
Total time: 7 hr

Ingredients

1 fennel bulb with fronds

2 medium parsnips (1/2 pound total), peeled, quartered, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound celery root (sometimes called celeriac; 1/2 of 1 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
14 small shallots (about 1 pound), peeled and left whole, plus 1/2 cup chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 red bell peppers
1 (8- to 9-lb) pumpkin (preferably cheese, pie, or Sweet Meat variety)
Roasted-vegetable and wine sauce, heated
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (if vegan, use non-dairy spread)
1/2 pound fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved
1/4 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed (CP Note: I did not use these b/c they are super expensive)
1 pound seitan (seasoned wheat gluten), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon chopped thyme, divided
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions
Roast root vegetables:
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1 tablespoon and reserve, then discard stalks and remaining fronds. Halve bulb lengthwise, then core and cut lengthwise into 1-inch wedges. 

Toss fennel wedges, parsnips, celery root, carrots, and whole shallots with 2 tablespoons oil, teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 17- by 12-inch shallow baking pan until coated, then roast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and almost tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove vegetables from oven. Leave oven on.
Prepare peppers and pumpkin while vegetables roast:
Roast peppers on racks of gas burners over high heat, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered, 5 to 8 minutes.

Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Peel peppers and discard stems and seeds. Cut peppers lengthwise into 1-inch strips.

Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle (6 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out and discard seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; do not discard top), then sprinkle flesh with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Put pumpkin in a large roasting pan.
Stuff and roast pumpkin:
Pour 1 1/2 cups sauce into pumpkin and cover with top, then brush all over with remaining tablespoon oil. Roast 1 hour.

While pumpkin roasts, heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped shallots until softened. Add mushrooms and sauté until they are browned and begin to give off liquid, about 8 minutes. Add wheat gluten and 1/2 teaspoon thyme, then stir in 1 1/2 cups more sauce and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and fold in roasted root vegetables and peppers, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

After pumpkin has roasted 1 hour, spoon vegetable filling into it, then cover with top. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a fork, vegetables are tender, and filling is hot, about 30 minutes more. Transfer pumpkin to a platter using 2 sturdy metal spatulas. 

Stir together fennel fronds, parsley, zest, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme and sprinkle half of it over filling. Stir remainder into remaining sauce and serve sauce on the side.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Writing with 5 Senses - The Lemon

Finding ways to improve my writing was one my goals of the International Food Blogger Conference. Here is a sample of what I worked on during the workshop "Writing With 5 Senses" with Kathleen Flinn, author of "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry."

Sight - describe what the lemon looks like
This yellow fruit has a shallow pitted surface. It ranges between an oval and teardrop in shape, with the end that attaches to the tree more pointed. When sliced, a white fleshy rind holds wedges of translucent pulp full of juice. Pale seeds are found within the segments.

Tactile and Texture
The cold lemon feels heavy in my hand. I can feel each small dimple, creating a mini-massage for each of my fingers. The soft inner rind leads to a fresh wet pulp. A slight pressure releases a burst of juice that splatters and lands like a kiss on my skin.

Sound - start with closing your eyes and listen, describe without saying "chopping with a knife"
A thud of a basketball thrown against the wall repeats. As it continues, the thud blends into the crunch of biting into a fresh cucumber slice. What is this? Has Girl Talk sold out to the FoodNetwork and the NBA? No, a lemon is being sliced.

Smell - describe without using "lemon" or "citrus"
I enter the room and the smell of sunshine hits me full force. The brightness and freshness of the scent cleanses my lungs with happiness.

Taste - describe without using lemon or citrus
Burning acid washed over my mouth. My lips puckered, the taste reminding me of licking the flap to seal an old envelope. The taste of exposed flesh, the beginning of a canker sore, remained in the back of my throat.

Put It All Together - when writing, go beyond visual and taste, pick at least 3 senses to describe something from last night's reception

The lamp chops danced into the room to the sounds of oohs and aaahs. If you weren't looking, you would have thought they had jumped off the serving plate doing Rockette kicks. I couldn't stop staring at the moss covered meat. As the server approached, I picked out my over-sized lamb lollipop and asked for a not-so-red one with an apology. Holding onto my chop, reminiscent of a renaissance fair turkey leg, I took a bite and tasted spicy heaven in the garlic wasabi coating.

Summary - Pay attention to everything. Life is short. Challenge yourself to embrace the things you love. Slow down, live the moments, and use your five senses.

Lunch Assignment - write about your lunch experience using all 5 senses. Tweet link to #all5 and #IFBC


Writing Homework:
MFK Fisher - take a page of one of her books and extract verbs - write on separate page. Review for variety, sound, visions

Raw Courage in Steak Tartare

As I walked past the lunch food options of torpedo shaped raw hamburger with baguette and reclined whole octopus sleeping on garbanzo beans, I thought "Yuck. I have no claim on the foodie label." A grilled zucchini dish, the most Cassie-friendly dish available, did not satisfy the rumblings in my stomach. I had to build courage to try something new but somewhat familiar - Steak Tartare. When I was younger, I loved to eat raw hamburger. The thought of that now makes me shudder and question the sanity of my parents and babysitter who are not foodies either. But perhaps that was just the infancy of my developing palate.

Today, the rose colored raw meat with a faint marbling sat in a large metal bowel waiting to be portioned out onto an eco-friendly camel colored bamboo plate. Using two soup spoons, the chefs measured out my 2 ounce portion and formed a oval shape with a clang-clang. The meat football was placed with a bed of greens and two baguette blankets.

I pulled at the tartare to spread it evenly across the first slice of crusty baguette. I searched my brain for an analogous food distraction in preparation for the first bite. Peanut butter? No, not savory enough. Ah, nothing. There is nothing like this. I silently coached myself, "I can do this. It's the gourmet version of my strange childhood love." I took the first bite and continued eating it. I felt comfort. The meat was smooth on the roof of my mouth as I crunched into the baguette. I prepared the second piece of bread. Working through my challenge of trying something unappealing and trying to eat the appetizer without making a grimace, I completely forgot to take note of the taste or smell. Three out five senses ain't bad. If he was a food writer instead of a song writer, Meatloaf would approve. I, however, do plan to keep working on my writing.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wandering, Wondering, Working, and Word Block

The last few weeks have been busy and distracting. I've been traveling (a week in Vermont, a weekend in San Antonio, a few days in Vancouver and then a weekend in Seattle). I've also been putting a lot of time into helping to bring a food co-op to South Philly. It's a 2+ year process that will hopefully end with a member-owned food community shopping center. What is a food co-op? It's a grocery store that is owned, operated and financed by its members. By being member owned, the hope is to provide members lower prices or discounts, more control over what's on the shelves and a community for sharing and learning about food, sustainable practices, and the neighborhood we live in. We are well on our way with a website and are currently conducting a organizing feasibility study to learn more about the shopping habits and opinions of the people in our neighborhood. It's exciting, but a lot of work.

I got some disappointing news about some upcoming cookbooks - some other people had my boozy recipe idea and will launch their books this fall. I feel this is a bit of a set back, and has made me rethink exactly what I want to do with this blog. Like a pair of skinny jeans, it's restrictive and confining to only write about recipes that contain alcohol. And now that I'm working on the food co-op, I'm entertaining the idea of have segments to highlight a theme...there would be The Soused Chef segment with alcohol, the In Season segment focusing on things being harvested locally, and maybe a Bake Sale segment which would feature things that could be sold at a bake sale, or easily wrapped up and given to friends and family. That is just a start and I'm still working on the idea. I'm going to the Food Blogging Conference this weekend and hope to find some more inspiration.

I also just learned of a Philly Blog Tax...apparently I'm suppose to pay a yearly $50 for a "privilege license" plus I'm required to pay the appropriate taxes on the income I earn from the advertising on the blog. Considering that I've only made 80 cents in the last few months. This really isn't a good deal for me. I'll probably need to remove the ads until I have the 100,000 followers to make it profitable. Sometimes Philly sucks.

With all of this uncertainty and rethinking my approach to the blog, I've had a little bit of a word block. In addition to all of that, I spend my entire work day at a computer, so it's tough to sit down in for another hour or two to put out a blog post. I'll also blame the beautiful summer days/night for my writer's block.

So here I am, about to get over my word block - one of the food blog conference homework item was to let our readers know about it....and we also were challenged with doing some real time blogging/tweeting/facebooking. Beginning Friday evening, I'll try to do all of that! It's going to be a great conference, if for the food alone. All the meals are catered by local chefs. I'm especially looking forward to the lunchtime cart scavenger hunt. Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame will be the opening speaker. To learn more about the conference, check out the foodista website or get real time updates by following me on twitter/facebook. If you are not already following me via social media, well shoot me a comment and I'll friend you in the medium you prefer. I can't seem to figure out how to put the "follow me" widgets on the blog.

Until Friday......

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Gettin Figgy With It

Figs are in season, but for a very short time. I was not aware of how fantastic this fruit is. But now I am. If you want to impress someone, seek out fresh figs and serve them up. A real simple way is to add them to a cheese plate, paired with some goat cheese. Slice the fig, top with goat cheese and drizzle a little honey on top and carefully shove into your mouth. No need to say how it tastes or how you feel, your expression will make everyone say "I'll have what she's having." You'll inevitably get honey on your hand - licking it off is part of the experience. Mmmmm, figs are good.

I also recently saw this video about mixing figs, peaches, honey, and rum to make a tasty summer fruit salad. I haven't tried it yet, but no doubt it is as easy as she says it is...and I doubt I would make any changes. Enjoy..... Boozy Figs and Peaches from Tamara Reynolds

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Beards and Cooking Classes I Don't Love: Mussels Steamed in Beer



For my birthday, my friend bought me a "Cooking With Beer" class at the The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. I was super excited about the class. I thought I would be learning some great culinary techniques and learning some secrets to selecting the right beer to put in whatever savory dish I was making. I could finally stop making desserts for a few months and blog about the savory things I learned in class.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed. First, after registering for the class, we were sent a list of items we had to bring to class - knives, spoons, tongs, dish towels, aprons. I guess they were worried we'd steal these things? I dunno. Schlepping these things across town was annoying. And it was more annoying that I ended up leaving a wooden spoon and my tongs there because they were being used as serving utensils.

Secondly, there really wasn't much instruction. The first part of the class was a tasting of 4 different beers - Sam Adams Summer, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Bass Pale Ale, and Guinness. The instructor claimed that she wanted to pick beers that anyone could find in the store, but I found the selection quite boring. I did enjoy the tasting part, trying to identify the different flavors found in the beer. But there isn't much going on in these beers, a hint of apricot, and some caramel were the only surprises.

In the second part of class, people were paired up, recipes were handed out and each pair selected a recipe to make. All of the recipes were pretty straight forward: Shrimp in Beer Batter, English Pub Mustard, Beer Crab Dip, Mussels Steamed in Beer Chupa de Pescado (a seafood stew), and Shaker Style Chicken Breast.

And that was it - each team ran around the kitchen collecting their ingredients. The head chef, Chef Latona ("Just call me Chef" - really? are we being secretly taped for a Food Network show?) and his two sous chefs provided bits of instruction to each pair as they got stumped - but mostly it was instruction about which kind of pan to use and where to find it in the foreign kitchen.

There were some positives to the experience - we feasted. The beer battered shrimp and the Chupa de Pescado were delicious as were the Mussels that my friend and I made. And we didn't have to do any shopping. Today, in trying to put together ingredients for stuffed peppers, I realized that I don't enjoy shopping for a new recipe. There is always one ingredient that only comes in a package that is 5 times what you need (tomato paste!) and there is always one ingredient that you can't find in the store or that you miss or forget on your shopping list. Sad face.

I should also mention the benefit of bonding with your "partner." We had fun jousting with our knives and gushing about our love of bacon.

Even with those benefits, I'm going to pass on taking another cooking classes, with the exception of classes that focus on a particular technique. In February I took a pasta making class from La Cucina at the Market in the Reading Terminal Market. I learned how to roll out dough for the perfect puffy gnocchi pillow and how to work a pasta machine to make liguini. Definitely worth my time, money, and taste buds. I plan to take a cannoli making class from her some time.

Below is the recipe for the Mussels Steamed in Beer .... it was quite tasty and easy to make. Although this cooking class wasn't a wealth of new information, I did learn something. In this class, I learned that Prince Edward Island (P.E.I) are the best mussels available. They are typically very easy to clean and do not to have beards. The beards on a mussel are the little rubbery bit that attaches the shell to the rock or pole...hmm, that is a beard I will avoid.



Mussels Steamed in Beer
Servings: 2
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
3 Strips bacon, small diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 oz. leeks, white part only, julienne
1/2 jalapeno pepper (seeds and pith out, unless you want it really spicy)
12 oz. beer (we used the Bass Ale, but I think most any beer would be great)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 pounds mussels, debearded and scrubbed (get P.E.I and save some time)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
parsley, minced for garnish
French bread, sliced (to mop up the yummy broth)

Instructions
1. In a large saute pan, cook the bacon over medium-low heat until golden brown.
2. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
3. Increase the heat to medium-high; add the leeks and jalapenos. Saute for 1 minute.
4. Add the beer, crushed tomatoes, sprigs of thyme, bay leaf, and mussels. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes or until mussels open.
5. Remove mussles from pan and keep warm.
6. Simmer the liquid until reduced by half.
7. Add the butter to the liquid and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the mussels to a warmed serving bowl and pour the hot liquid over top. Garnish with minced parsley. Serve with a sliced French bread on the side.

Friday, July 16, 2010

One Hot Mess - Kim Chee, The Other Side of Fermentation

Fermentation is the process of using yeasts and/or bacteria to convert carbohydrates to alcohol and carbon dioxide or organic acids. This blog has been focusing on the alcohol side of fermentation but this week I explored the organic acid side by making Kim Chee (or spelled Kim Chi), a traditional Korean vegetable dish. There are many varieties and recipes for Kim Chee, perhaps as many as there are kinds of beer you could brew? The most common varieties of Kim Chee are fermented. Kim Chee is made with a main vegetable ingredient such as cabbage, radishes, green onion or cucumber, plus plenty of spicy!

Lactobacillus bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage to form lactic acid which gives the dish a sour flavor. There is even a bacteria names for Kim Chee - Lactobacillus kimchii. Kim Chee is thought to aid digestion because it contains these Lactobacillus bacteria that many people seek out in specialty products. Kim Chee is also high in dietary fiber, vitamin c, carotene, and other important vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium, and iron.

Exploring different types of fermentation wasn't my original motivation for trying this recipe. I had gotten a very large head of cabbage in my farm share. I made some cole slaw, but there was still 3/4 of the cabbage left. In the 100 degree heat wave in Philly, the option of making some kind of baked or cooked cabbage dish was not appealing. That options left more cole slaw, sauerkraut, or a second attempt at Kim Chee, a childhood treat that my babysitter's husband used to make. I have a cookbook from the church I grew up with - which childhood memories of potluck dinners and bake sales. It contains a lot of New England charm, sprinkled with a bit of ethnicity, including this recipe for Kim Chee.

I tried to make Kim Chee about 5 years ago and ended up with a slimy, smelly, unedible mess. I used a large tupperware type container with a snap on lid. I think this was my downfall - this go around I invested in a proper glass container with a screw top lid. I also planned to be more attentive and make sure I mixed it up at least 2 times per day. Finally, I did a little research on Kim Chee and sauerkraut to find out if there were some things that my recipe was missing. Many recipes suggest fully covering the cabbage in water while it ferments - my recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of water. With so many different Kim Chee recipes out there, I really couldn't get a sense of what to change. I thought, if this worked for Warren (my babysitter's husband) so many years, I can make it work - so I just decided that I would stick to the recipe and hope the glass container was the answer to spicy edible success.

And it was a success. But I give fair warning, the smell can be off putting. My kitchen was a little stinky for the week of fermentation - but my boyfriend kindly said that it smelled good, apparently he only could smell the cayenne pepper. And the smell doesn't really go away once you've refrigerated it. I've been taking it to BBQs and it sure does stink up my car - or is that the sweaty ultimate clothes and cleats I have in the back seat, or the wet dog? Hmm, maybe I need to get my car detailed.

So, you can eat this as snack, as I did as kid. Or serve it as a side dish at a BBQ. It would be great as a condiment for a burger, sausage, or hot dog. I've been envisioning trying this with a really hearty veggie burger (i.e. not the cardboard kind). Be sure to give people warning about what Kim Chee actually is. In the dusk of an evening BBQ, one of my frisbee teammates mistook it for chicken and was very vocal about her shock and disgust - Kim Chee isn't for everyone.


Kim Chee
Source: my childhood babysitter

Ingredients
4 - 4 1/2 lbs. cabbage, green or Chinese, diced to 3/4 inch
4-5 tablespoons salt
3-4 scallions
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup water
Optional: tiny shrimp, chopped radish, anchovy

Mix cabbage throughly with salt and let stand at a cool room temperature for 4 to 24 hours. Rinse well 2 or 3 times. Slice scallions diagonally, then add to cabbage. Mix in the garlic and pepper one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pack into a gallon jar, add the water, and loosely cap with a plastic lid, then set aside at room temperature. One or twice daily, tighten the lid and mix contents. Be sure to loosen the lid again before setting aside or you could end up with Kim Chi all over the walls, ceiling, and floor of your pantry or kitchen. After 5 days, the Kim Chi can be transferred to smaller jars and refrigerated. Kept cold, fermentation is topped and jar lids can be tightened (if caps are left loose, everything in your refrigerator will smell like dirty, sweaty socks).

Yields approximately 2 1/2 quarts (which should last a family of four who are addicted to it no more than two weeks)

Photo Above = Day 1
Photo to the Right = Day 3

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Strawberry TIramisu and the Art of Weight Maintenance


One of the unfortunate side effects of this blog is that I have gained weight. It happened the first time I set out to compile recipes for the original cooking with alcohol cookbook project and it's happening again with this blog. But one of the positives of gaining weight is that my boobs have gotten bigger! Granted, there are many factors that are contributing to the weight gain (less activity, dating a good cook, changes in metabolism as I age) and the boob growth (hormones, aging). So what do I change? I don't want to give up the blog or food or the boyfriend.....and I certainly don't want to give up the bigger boobs....so ONWARD.....I present Strawberry Tiramisu!

I kid, I'm not completely ignoring my weight gain. Luckily it's summer which makes being active much easier, so that's what I'm trying to change. I'm playing ultimate frisbee at least once per week, biking to work one or two days per week, and trying the Couch to 5K program. The Couch to 5K program is an interval training program where you start with alternating brisk walking (90 seconds) and running (60 seconds). Every week the running intervals get longer until you are running a 5K at week 9. There are some really great podcasts that play some pumping dance music and provide instruction on when to change your pace. I'm currently using Robert Ullrey's podcast. I haven't lost much weight but I haven't gained any more. I do feel a lot better in general - more energy and less body image conscious. Since my BMI is still under 25, I'll still eat desserts...I'll just make sure I make a trade with some physical activity when I do.

Before you read any further, plan your walk/run, bike, swim, kickball game, or put your name in at the gym for the elliptical machine. And don't forget to pick up the lady fingers, marscapone, heavy whipping cream. and strawberries on the way home!

I made a couple of changes to these recipes to use fresher ingredients and to fit my current pant size. The original recipe called for strawberry preserves, which seemed kind of silly, why not just use fresh mashed strawberries? Also, concerned about having tons of Tiramisu around and taking one step closer to a  BMI >25, I halved the recipe to make a 9 x 9 baking dish rather than a 13 x 9. I've also listed some great variations (Strawberry Tiramisu Bites!) to this recipe at the end.

Strawberry Tiramisu
Adapted fom: Giada De Laurentiis (Epicurious) and Paula Dean (FoodNetwork)

Ingredients
2 cups mashed fresh strawberries (about 1/2 quart)
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1/3 cup orange juice
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature (Italian cream cheese available at some supermarkets and at Italian markets)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 28 lady fingers (bourdoirs or Savoiardi) - the crispy kind, which are usually sold in packs of ~60
1/2 quart sliced strawberries (2 cups)


Instructions
Whisk strawberries, 1/3 cup Cointreau, and orange juice in a medium mixing bowl. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tablespoons Cointreau in large bowl; fold just to blend. Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons Cointreau in another large bowl to soft peaks. Stir 1/4 of whipped cream mixture into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whipped cream.
Hull and slice 1 cup of strawberries. 

Spread 1/2  cup mashed strawberry mixture over bottom of a 9x9 serving dish or glass baking dish (Don't use metal like I did - it leaches a funny taste). Arrange enough ladyfingers over strawberry mixture to cover bottom of dish. Spoon 3/4 cup mashed strawberry mixture over ladyfingers - I gently drizzled the mixture on each lady finger. Don't worry about fully covering each lady finger - they will find a way to absorb moisture and become softer.  Then spread about half of the mascarpone mixture over. Arrange 1 cup sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture. Repeat with a layer of lady fingers, mashed strawberry mixture, and marscarpone mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Or 4 hours if you just can't wait!

Slice remaining strawberries (= ~1 cup sliced strawberries). Arrange over tiramasù and serve.

Variations:
Individual servings: Layer as above in ramikins to make individual servings of Tiramisu. You may need to cut the ladyfingers in half to better fit the ramekins.

Italian Strawberry Shortcake - Use your favorite strawberry shortcake base (angel food cake, sponge cake, or biscuits): Slice cake, top with strawberry mash mixture, dollop mascarpone and sliced strawberries

Layer cake: Make a sponge cake, divide into layers and build your own layer cake with the Tiramisu ingredients

Tarts: Place about 1/2- to 1 teaspoon mashed strawberry mixture in bottom of a tart shell. Spoon about 1 tablespoon mascarpone mixture into each tart shell. Top each with a strawberry half.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Kahlua Chip Ice Cream and the Gift That Keeps on Giving


About a month ago I bought my friend (who is also my housemate) an ice cream maker for his birthday. In truth, I actually bought the ice cream maker on sale and then spent several days debating whether it was appropriate for me to give this as a gift because I wanted it just as much if not more than he did. This winter he had mentioned that he was thinking about getting one but I told him to wait and I would try to find a used one. As I mentioned in a previous post, ice cream makers are one of those things that ends up on wedding registries, used once (if that), and then sent to the basement for that fateful day of spring cleaning. Spring/early summer is the perfect time to snatch one up from Craiglist.

It was May and I hadn't seen one on craiglist yet....and here was one on sale on Rue La La (See note at bottom of post). I wrapped up the box and gave it to him - feeling a little guilty about the win-win of the situation. If he liked it, I would be eating ice cream all summer, if he didn't, I would still have access to an ice cream maker and could make my own ice cream.

Any doubt about whether he liked the gift was erased the weekend after his birthday. He made 3 batches of ice cream for himself (I was away for the weekend!) - vanilla, strawberry, and coffee. He has pretty much continued with making at least one batch of ice cream per week. And ice cream has a way of getting rid of negative feelings, including my guilt of indirectly giving myself such a wonderful gift for my friend's birthday - a gift that keeps on giving....to me.

A few weeks ago I had my first go at making ice cream - Kahlua Chip Ice Cream. The basic recipe for ice cream calls for whole milk, heavy cream (or half and half if the recipe combines them), and egg yolks. You bring the whole milk and heavy cream to a boil and typically add your base flavor during this process. Then you slowly and gradually add the milk/cream mixture to the egg yolks, making sure you don't "cook" the eggs. Once the eggs are diluted and warmed up, you can add this back to the remainder of the hot milk/cream mixture and heat it back up to a custard state. You cool the mixture in the refrigerator and then add to your ice cream machine. If you are adding any chunks (brownies, cookies and cream, peanut butter chunks, chocolate chips, etc), you mix them into the frozen ice cream, just before you place it in the freezer for the last bit of freezing. From what Kevin has learned in his first 10 or so batches, avoiding cooked eggs and reaching the custard consistency is the hardest part of making ice cream.

My first ice cream attempt was somewhat of a fail, but it looks good in the photo, right? Yeah, it's tough to fully fail on ice cream, but I definitely have room for improvement. The problems I faced:

1) It took forever to freeze up in the ice cream machine. think there were two reasons for this. Too much custard in the ice cream machine which will just take longer. I think the alcohol lowers the freezing temperature of the custard, especially if you have added it after the custard has chilled.

2) Adding "water" in the form of alcohol and coffee/expresso affects the custard consistency and increases your chance of forming more of an icy ice cream.

3) Pouring warm chocolate syrup into your ice cream will melt it even more! This whole process seems problematic. Since I was having trouble getting the ice cream to freeze and already had too much custard in the machine, adding the melted chocolate made everything worse.  Melted ice cream did not hold the chocolate in the custard. Instead all the chocolate fell to the bottom. Sad face.

4) Chocolate daggers? Yes, that is what is created when you pour melted chocolate into ice cream...even if you try to just drip it in. This was concerning at first. Especially with all of the chocolate falling to the bottom.

Fortunately, I rescued a small amount of ice cream that hinted at what this recipe could be. As I was adding the chocolate, I actually removed some of the custard and put it directly in the freezer to make room for more chocolate. Since this was still slightly frozen, it stayed creamier, and not as icy. It also kept the chocolate dispersed in the ice cream. The chocolate daggers were thin enough that they break up with any slight pressure of your spoon or your tongue. Hearing the chocolate breaking as you scoop out the ice cream is a really cool sound.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is the recipe. I'm sure I've convinced you to try it! I'll try another ice cream recipe soon and let you know what else I learn.

Side note about Rue La La: Rue La La is a website that has three day sales, featuring items from a range of different designers and high end kitchen and houseware companies. If you are interested in joining, send me a note and I will send you an invite and will get a credit for the referral).

Kahlua Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from: Food Network

Ingredients
8 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 quart half-and-half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup brewed double-strength espresso, cold
1/2 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped



Instructions
Place a large mixing bowl in the freezer. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow. In a saucepan bring the half-and-half to a boil, let it cool down to a warm temperature about 125 F. Gradually add a small amount of half-and-half into the egg mixture, whisking really quickly. When you've added enough half and half into the egg mixture to warm it up and dilute it, you can slowly add that back into the pan of half-and-half. A tedious process, but this helps to prevent the egg from "cooking." Heat the half-and-half mixture up until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes a custard consistency, about 145 F. When a custard consistency, the mixture will coat a spoon, as shown in the photo. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, cold espresso and Kahlua. Place plastic wrap on top of the custard liquid to avoid the formation of a thick film while chilling. Place in the refrigerator to chill. Pass through a fine strainer. I started with a combination of a mesh strainer and a tea ball - but quickly gave up on the tea ball. The idea is to strain out any accidentally cooked egg pieces.





Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Depending on the size of your machine, you may wish to process in two batches.)

When the ice cream is nearly done, melt the chocolate over simmering water.  Transfer the frozen ice cream into the chilled bowl from the freezer. Pour in the melted chocolate, stirring and mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon. (Perhaps this is one area where I might have gone wrong, I totally skipped this and poured the chocolate into the spinning ice cream maker! Doh!) Transfer to a container and freeze until firm.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp and the Bare Kitchen Challenge

My mom used to make rhubarb pie with fresh rhubarb from a patch behind our house. I remember harvesting the rhubarb with my mom. We would have to bushwhack our way through a jungle of overgrown weeds and uneven hillside behind our house. It always felt like we were some kind of expedition. When reached the rhubarb patch the plants reached my 6 year old waist and the leaves were as big as my head.  I remember being really sweaty and fighting bugs, the notorius Maine no-seeums. It seemed such a journey but was probably only 100 yard round trip.

I never liked rhubarb pie - it was too bitter for my taste.  But I always liked the challenge of harvesting it.

Twenty-five years later.....in a more urban location, I drive about 4 miles to pick up my farm share and find 4 stalks for rhubarb and a quart of strawberries in this weeks share. I search google for a recipe, thinking that I'll give rhubarb another go as my taste buds have matured as an adult and I seem to have a more open palate - I hated cheese when I was younger and now love it! For all you people who believe Google is watching you...here is more proof. The first or second "hit" from a search of "strawberry rhubarb recipe" is a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp that contains alcohol. Man, Google totally has me profiled and will soon be feeding me audio ads through my phone while I sleep.

Now armed with a great recipe, I check my refrigerator and cabinets and realize I'm missing or low on several staples:

Not enough strawberries - just shy of a quart after snacking on a few when I got home from the farm.

Unknown quantity of rhubarb - yes 4 stalks, but how many cups does that make?

No brown sugar. No big deal since I can make my own brown sugar with molasses and white sugar - Add 2 Tbsp. of dark molasses to 1 cup of white sugar and mix thoroughly. Damn, no molasses. Hmmm, maybe white sugar and some honey?

Low on butter, gasp! I only had 6 tablespoons and the crisp part of the recipe called for 12 tablespoons.

It was late at night and I didn't want to make a trip to the store even though I was missing major crisp ingredients. I decided to use what I had for strawberries and rhubarb - 4 stalks of rhubarb equaled 4 cups and 1 quart of strawberries was about 3 cups. I added a little more sugar to the strawberry rhubarb mixture - I suspected I might be missing some sweetness since the recipe called for 5 cups of strawberries  I decided to halve the crisp recipe to match the amount of butter I had on hand. Finally, I made an amber sugar, substituting honey for molasses in the make your own brown sugar recipe. By the way, I made up the term amber sugar - but it sounds like it should exist...and it does, but has nothing to do with honey.

Wow, I think that is the most experimenting I've ever done with baking and it turned out really wonderful. The strawberry rhubarb mixture was plenty sweet - I could have gotten away without adding the extra sugar. Next time I will only use the extra sugar if I use strawberries from out of season or from California, which tend to be less sweet because they aren't vine ripened. The honey gave the crisp an earthy taste and half as much crisp made for a less heavy dessert. I served it warm with some homemade vanilla ice cream. You can use store bought if you didn't buy your roommate an ice cream maker for his birthday. Topped with whipped cream would be tasty too.


Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Adapted From Southern Food from about.com
 Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients
4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb (about good sized stalks)
1 quart (~3 cups) strawberries, hulled, rinsed, sliced
1 cup granulated sugar (plus 1/4 cup if you are using non-locally ripened strawberries)
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup Grand Marnier liqueur, or use Cointreau or Orange Juice

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (or amber sugar - 1/3 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons honey)
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, slivered almonds, or other chopped nuts
Pinch salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten (the original recipe called for 1 egg, and I used most of the egg for the halved version. Didn't feel the need to waste half an egg and it turned out fine)

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 to 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract, or Amaretto liqueur
    Instructions:
    Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter the bottom of a large (4-quart) baking dish. A 15x10x2-inch pan will hold 4 quarts, or use two smaller pans, such as 11x7x2-inch or 9-inch square. In a large bowl, toss the rhubarb and strawberries with the granulated sugar and orange zest. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the Grand Marnier or Cointreau or Orange Juice and toss with the rhubarb mixture until well coated. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and set aside.

    In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in the almonds or pecans and salt, then stir in the egg with a fork until well blended. Drop the mixture by spoonfuls evenly over the rhubarb mixture and bake for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned and bubbly. Remove from oven and keep warm while making whipped cream. If desired, serve this crisp with ice cream instead of fresh whipped cream.


    In a medium size bowl, whip the cream with the confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Beat in the almond extract. Cut the warm crisps into squares and serve topped with generous dollops of the whipped cream.


    Saturday, June 12, 2010

    Tequila's Up in Your Grill


    Seriously, I should know how to spell Tequila without looking it up.....perhaps I can blame it on my lack of blogging? Wait, no, I should be apologizing for that, not using it as an excuse. Hopefully after this post about 2 Tequila marinades, I will no longer have a spelling problem and I'll be well on my way to a series of new posts and you will have forgotten about my little cooking/blogging hiatus.

    These two Tequila marinades are quite similar, the first is a little more citrusy and the second has more of a spicy bite. You can use them with fish, shrimp or chicken. I recently used the Citrus Tequila Marinade with shrimp and accidentally learned a few things about ceviche. Ceviche is citrus marinated seafood, using fish or shellfish. Ceviche's origin is argued to be Spanish, Polynesian, Latin America, or South America. Citric acid, typically from lime, lemon, or orange, causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured - this pickles or "cooks" the fish without heat. Traditional style ceviche only needs to marinated around 3 hours.

    Back to the recipes....I mixed up the marinade, peeled and deveined (eww!) the shrimp, and then let the shrimp marinate while I prepared the rest of the meal (grilled veggies and dessert - Strawberry Tiramisu! Yes, a post for this will follow.). This was about an 1.5 to 2 hours. When the shrimp came out of the marinade they looked white and cooked on the edges - just like ceviche! Not a terrible thing since it was just the edges, but if I had marinated them for much longer, it could have led to toughness. So how does ceviche stay succulent and flakey and not tough? The seafood is chopped into very small pieces and then marinated for up to 3 hours depending on the recipe - because the pieces are small, the consistency of the seafood will remain similar throughout.

    So the lesson learned here - shrimp and fish only needs to be marinated for 30 to 60 minutes when cooking with heat. Other useful tips I learned: 1) Marinate poultry 1 to 3 hours, and 2) Any marinade coming in contact with raw meat, seafood or poultry must be boiled for one minute before using it for basting. Or just reserve some of your marinade before adding your meat.


    Citrus Tequila Marinade
    Adapted from somewhere on the Internet
    Makes about 3/4 cup for about 1 and 1/2 pounds of meat

    Ingredients
    2 tablespoons lime juice (about 2 limes)
    3 tablespoons Tequila
    2 tablespoons orange juice
    1/4 cup olive oil
    1/2 teaspoon cumin
    1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (check out this debate and decide which you want to do)
    2 pinch salt
    ground black pepper, too taste

    Jump to instructions below.

    Tequila Mockingbird Marinade
    Source: Bon Appetit
    Servings: Makes about generous 3/4 cup. Marinates about 1 and 1/2 pounds of meat

    Ingredients:
    1/4 cup vegetable oil
    3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
    3 tablespoons tequila
    2 tablespoons triple sec
    1 large jalapeño chili, seeded, minced
    1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1 teaspoon sugar
    3 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
    1/2 teaspoon coarse salt





    Instructions
    Mix all ingredients in small bowl or tupperware container big enough for your meat. Let stand 15 minutes (Can be prepared 1 day ahead). Add your meat. Cover and refrigerate.
    Marinate poultry 1 to 3 hours and seafood 30 minutes in refrigerator. Drain (do not pat dry) and grill. If you are using wooden skewers, be sure to soak the skewers in water for 15 to 30 minutes to prevent sparkler action.


    Optional:
    Boil remaining marinade in heavy small saucepan 1 minute or reserve ~1/4 cup of marinade before you add the meat. Drizzle some of marinade over poultry or seafood just before serving.

    Wednesday, April 7, 2010

    BBQ Skirt Steak Kabobs Mad Scientist Style

    My boyfriend is a mad scientist. It says so on his business card. He specializes in metal finishes at a furniture/fixture design and fabrication firm. He mixes up chemicals for special patinas to make new things look old. Though sometimes he uses chemicals to make things look really new.

    The mad scientist has cleaned off his patio and fired up his charcoal for a summer of BBQing. Today I'm sharing one of his grilling recipes. In true mad scientist form, he doesn't use recipes. I had to translate his "a little bit of X" and "some Y" into actual measurements for the rest of us traditional recipe followers. Because his directions weren't exact to begin with, you can take some comfort knowing that you can't really mess this up.

    The only ingredients are brown sugar, rye whiskey or bourbon, some salt and pepper. The brown sugar caramelizes with a rye or bourbon flavor and through the Maillard reaction it browns the meat into wonderful melt in your mouth flavor. The mad scientist recommends skirt steak for a good kabob. He says it is the most underrated cut of beef. I trust him on this - he once worked as a butcher and sold a rib steak to Julia Child.



    BBQ Skirt Steak Kabobs
    From the Mad Scientist

    Ingredients
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon pepper
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    1-2 tablespoons rye whiskey or bourbon
    1 1/2 pound of skirt steak cubed for kabobs
    1 medium onion chunked for kabobs
    skewers

    Directions
    Mix salt, pepper, brown sugar, and rye (or bourbon) in a small bowl. Place cubed steak in a larger container (a ziploc bag works great!), pour marinade over the steak. Marinate for about 30 to 60 minutes.

    Wet the skewers by placing under running water for a bit or by soaking in a container of water. Wetting the skewers helps to prevent them from burning. Build your kabobs, alternating a steak cube and an onion slice. You can also put together other kabobs with your favorite veggies -  red peppers and mushrooms are shown in the photo below. In general, it's a good idea to make separate meat skewers and separate veggie skewers, since they often cook at different rates.

    By this time you should have fired up your grill - or perhaps 30 minutes ago if you use charcoal. You need high heat - so be sure your coals are red hot. Place the kabobs on the grill. Turn the kabobs - grilling each side until brown. Remove from heat and let rest. Enjoy.

    Wednesday, March 31, 2010

    Chai Glazed Cookie Bars with Blackberry Cabernet Sorbetto - Oh yeah!

    I've been researching blogging conferences - so I can take better photos, add some variety to my yummy adjectives, and learn how to get more traffic to my blog. The conference at the top of my list is the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC), hosted in Seattle in August. There is also the BlogHer Food '10 Conference in San Francisco in October. Yay! I have friends in both cities and I'm looking forward to a west coast vacation.

    While browsing some of the blogs hosted on BlogHer, I found this recipe for Chai Glazed Cookie Bars. That same day, I had my first taste of Blackberry Cabernet Sorbetto from Ciao Bella Gelato
    and knew that these two things would be a perfect pair. Although you can buy Blackberry Carbernet Sorbetto from your favorite trendy grocery store (find store locations here), I did find a recipe for it. That took me straight to Craigslist to look for an ice cream maker. No luck yet, but perhaps it's a little too early in the spring cleaning season and Wedding Gift Craigslisting season has not yet started. If anyone has an ice cream maker they want to part with, I'll gladly take it. Though I'll warn you - you may want to hang on to it. I plan on posting several alcohol infused ice cream recipes this summer. I haven't tried this sorbetto recipe, but it looks pretty easy. I will definitely try it once I get the ice cream maker and when blackberries are in season. And just to clarify, I'm looking for an electric ice cream maker. I have hand cranked enough ice cream in my younger days. My family used to participate in historical re-enactments, including making ice cream without electricity. This photo from flickr gives you an idea of what I was subjected to at a young age. I think I had that outfit the little girl on the right is wearing.

    I did make the Chai Cookie bars. They were easy and straight forward. I did a little research on allspice, one of the spices in the bars. Originally I thought that allspice was a combination of several spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It didn't make sense that you would need cloves, nutmeg and allspice. But, I learned that allspice is the dried fruit of the evergreen myrtle plant Pimenta Dioica . and is also known as Jamaica Pepper. Allspice is native to the Carribean, Mexico, and Central America. It is called allspice because it tastes like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Some sites recommend substituting 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon and cloves, along with a pinch of nutmeg for 1 teaspoon of allspice if you don't have any allspice on hand.

    Garam masala is not a staple spice for most people unless you are heavy into Indian cooking. You could try substituting a mixture of cardamom, coriander, or curry powder. Or increase the some of the other spices. In all honesty, I think the spices in this recipe could use a little tweaking to get it closer to the chai taste but tastes great as is.
    Chai Glazed Cookie Bars
    From: The Crepes of Wrath

    Ingredients
    1/2 cup granulated sugar
    1/2 cup dark or light brown sugar
    1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
    1 egg, room temperature
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
    1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    3/4 teaspoon garam masala
    3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
    1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

    Glaze Ingredients
    3 tablespoons honey
    1 cup powdered sugar
    2-4 tablespoons milk (start with 2 tablespoons, add more as needed)





    Instructions
    1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease and/or line a 9x13x2 pan.
    2. Beat together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
    3. Beat in the egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
    4. Add in the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, garam masala, cloves, pepper, allspice and nutmeg and beat gently until everything is thoroughly combined. Don't over-mix.
    5. If everything isn't quite coming together in your mixer, finish it up by hand. The dough will be very similar to a cookie dough.
    6. Press the dough into the prepared pan. I find using the back of a soup spoon is the easiest way to press dough into a pan.
    7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes, until the dough no longer wiggles when gently shaken, and the dough is a very light brown.
    8. Allow to cool completely before finishing up with the glaze.
    9. To make the glaze, combine the three tablespoons of honey and powdered sugar, then beat together until combined.
    10. Add in the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the icing is a consistency that you like. The thicker the better, in my opinion.
    11. Pour the glaze over the bars and allow to set. You speed this up by putting the bars in your refrigerator.

    Blackberry Cabernet Sorbetto
    From: Danilo Zecchin of Ciao Bella — New York, NY
    Adapted by StarChefs  
    Yields: 1 pint

    Ingredients
    1 cup water
    ½ cup sugar
    ¾ cup cabernet wine
    2 cups blackberries
    2 teaspoons lemon juice
    1 egg white, whipped

    Instructions
    1. In a bowl of cold water, gently clean the blackberries. Be sure to remove all debris and any soft or discolored berries.
    2. In a food processor or blender, combine the berries, water, sugar, lemon juice and wine. Process or blend mixture until smooth. Add the whipped egg white and stir until thoroughly blended. Chill mixture.
    3. Freeze (churn) cooled mixture in an ice cream machine, according to the manufacturer’s directions. 4. Garnish with fresh blackberries and mint leaves.