Lavish Chicken Dinner

My sister is a part-time wedding photogrpaher in Northern California (jilliankayphotography. blogspot.com) and I do the design layout for her albums. I say all this to explain why I fell behind on posting so quickly! Well, my first big project is out of the way and I celebrated by cooking a huge dinner for Thomas. On a whim during the first 6 months of marriage, I bought cornish hens, because, well, when you're young, in love, have a little extra grocery money, cornish hens seem like a fantastically lavish idea. Then they sat in my freezer for oh.... over 8 months. After much discussion and reassurance from Thomas that the chickens were not rotten, I decided to try a few recipes from Martha Stewart Living.
The recipes were so simple, but looked and tasted so good that I felt like a master of the kitchen! (hahaha)

Mediterranean Panzanella
Serves 4

Coarse Salt
1 lb green beens, trimmed
½ cup shaved fennel bulb
½ red onion (4 oz), thinly sliced
½ cup pitted black olives
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
2 slices (about 1 inch thick each) rustic bread

1. Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat; add salt. Add beans; simmer until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Plunge beans into ice-water bath to stop the cooking; let cool completely in water. Drain.
2. Toss together green beans, fennel, onion, olives, feta, oil, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl; season with pepper. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes.
3. Preheat broiler. Place bread on a baking sheet. Broil, turning once, until bread darkens, about 3 minutes per side. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes, add to salad, and toss to combine.

So I used goat cheese instead of feta cheese cause that's what I had. It coated everything and it looked pretty unatractive. This recipe is not for the faint of heart- the vinegar makes it spicy!

Cornish Hens with Lemon and Herbs
Serves 4

2 Cornish hens (about 1 3/4 lbs each), room temperature, rinsed well and patted dry
1 bunch fresh thyme (about ½ oz), plus more for garnish
2 lemons, halved, plus wedges for serving
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450. Place hens in a roasting pan, breast sides up. Place 2 thyme sprigs and 1 lemon half in cavity of each hen. Loosen skin from breast, and place remaining thyme and the parsley underneath. Squeeze remaining lemon halves over hens. Rub butter all over hens. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Roast hens, rotating pan halfway through, until skin turns golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise. Garnish with thyme sprigs, and serve with lemon wedges.

Blackberry Crumbles

Serves 4

4 cups fresh blackberries (about 14 oz)
4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for ramekins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
6 store-bought sugar cookies (about 2 oz), coarsely crushed
1/4 cup rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 375. Stir blackberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons flour, and the lemon juice in a bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter, cinnamon, salt, and remaining tablespoon sugar into a small bowl. Stir vigorously with a rubber spatula until creamy. Stir in cookies, oats, and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons flour. Work mixture through fingers until it forms coarse crumbs ranging in size from peas to gum balls.
3. Butter four 5-ounce ramekins (about 3 ½ inches in diameter). Divide blackberry mixture among ramekins; transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake until juices are bubbling and topping is golden brown, 20 - 25 minutes. Let cool on rack 20 minutes before serving.

Avocado Gelato

I got contacts today! They feel really strange and everything is a bit blurry, but I can see without glasses! It's been a decade since I've said that, and seeing as how I lost my glasses two days ago, I couldn't have chosen a better time :). Actually, the fact that I lose my glasses so often is the main reason I got contacts. I think I'll actually miss the nerdy little auro my glasses gave me.
So the other day, Thomas decided to read my Martha Stewart magazine and stumbled across a recipe for Avocado Gelato. When we went to Italy, we must have eaten gelato three times a day, but I don't remember ever seeing avocado on the menu. Thomas, however, had actually eaten some during the years he spent in Chicago and demanded that we make it ourselves.
We got an icecream maker Kitchen Aid Mixer attachment for Christmas from Thomas' mother, and with the rising Texas temperature, we thought it was time to start experimenting.

Avocado Gelato
Makes 1 quart, serves 4

1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 sugar
4 strips orange zest
2 ripe Hass avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Prepare an ice water bath. Whisk whole milk with cornstarch in a bowl.
2. Whisk together fat free milk, sugar, and orange zest in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. It took forever for my mixture to simmer. Add cornstarch mixture, and cook, whisking, until mixture bubbles and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove orange zest. Set in ice-water bath to cool.
3. Puree avocados, lime juice, salt, and milk mixture in a food processor.
4. Freeze the avocado mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container, and freeze for at least 3 hours. Stores for up to 2 weeks.
5. Serve, garnished with a lime wedge. The lime squeezed over the icecream really enhances the flavor. I like texture in my icecream so I added some sliced almonds, which turned out well, but a few went a long way.

Altogether, this turned out to be a light, refreshing gelato. It's pretty low in fat and calories as far as icecream goes, but you give up some of the creaminess using fat free milk. If I make it again, I'll probably try subsituting the whole milk for cream and the fat free milk for whole milk.

Roasted Vegetable-Cheese Pie

I took off work sick today. I always feel guilty when I'm not at work so I actually went in for a few hours this morning to make sure no one needed me too badly. But honestly I felt terrible!! All day long I've been craving good rice. Plain, maybe with a bit of salt and pepper. My husband taught me about the BRAT diet during our second week of dating. My college roommate, Lisa, and I both came down with a stomach bug the week we moved out of our house. Not only was Thomas a total sweetheart and made sure we had all the BRAT essentials for when we were able to eat (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast), but he also packed most of my things because I was so weak. No wonder I knew so quickly I'd found my match :).

Anyway, thinking about rice and knowing I have all these great veggies in my fridge from the local farmer's market, got me hungry for a recipe I found and cooked a few months ago. Although I'm not sure I could stand the fennel and cheese at the moment, it sure looks yummy!!
At least being sick gave me the opportunity to finish The OC Season 4 :).

Roasted Vegetable-Cheese Pie
I found this recipe on www.recipezaar.com, a fantastic online recipe site ( they let you make shopping lists for free!).
This is a pretty straight forward and easy recipe. When I made it, I used basmati rice.
The fennel bulbs taste a bit like licorice and if I make it again I made leave them out. If you make sure to buy high quality olives, I think they would add plenty of tart/sour taste without needing the fennel bulb.

2 cups cooked jasmine rice or cooked basmati rice or long-grain rice
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
cooking spray
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1 1/2 cups sliced yellow squash
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulbs
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup Fontina cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine first three ingredients. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 450°.
4. Combine zucchini and next 8 ingredients (zucchini through garlic) in a medium bowl; stir to coat. Place vegetable mixture on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
5. Remove vegetable mixture from oven. Add olives and tomato; toss gently.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 375°.
7. Sprinkle 1/4 cup fontina cheese over rice crust. Top with vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup fontina cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Love Cake

I felt it was appropriate to start my blogging with my absolute favorite recipe. Everytime I make this cake it is a HUGE crowd pleaser. Something in the texture and richness of flavor speaks to the eater, lulling them to believe the baker loves them and believes they deserve richness of life.
BTW: The cookbook this recipe comes from is my FAVORITE cookbook. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to share more, but I encourage anyone who likes to cook to get their own copy.

Chocolate Love Cake
Recipe from "Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family" by Art Smith

Cake
Butter, for the pans
1 cup Vosges Haut-Chocolat Astec Elixir Cocoa (SEE NOTE FOR SOURCE)
( OR unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I JUST USE HERSHEY'S COCOA)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup water, at tap temperature
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons backing soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure-ground ancho chile powder (FOUND IN TEXAS AT LOCAL HISPANIC MARKETS)
(use ancho chile powder only if not useing Aztec Elixir Cocoa)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 vanilla beans, preferably Mexican, ground in a coffe grinder until very finely chopped, OR
2 teaspoons vanilaa extract (I JUST USE EXTRACT)

Filling
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon pure ground ancho chile powder
1/8 teaspoon pure ground chipotle chile powder, optional
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Frosting
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pesticide-free, edible flowers, such as nastriums and roses, for garnish


Position a rack in the center of the over and preheat to 350 F. Lightly butter two 9 X 2 inch heart-shaped or circular cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with wax paper. (LINING WITH WAX PAPER SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED!) Dust the sides of the pans with flour and tap out the excess.

To Make the cake:
Whisk the cocoa and boiling water in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in the water and let stand until the mixture cools.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chile powder, if using. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer at high speed until the mizture is light in color and texture, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the chopped vanilla beans or extract. On low speed, add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the cocoa mixture, scraping the bowl often, until smooth. Spread the batter evenly in the pans, filling each pan no more than two-thirds full (discard any extra batter or pour into muffin tins to bake as cupcakes).
Bake until a wodden touthpick insterted in the centers of the cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto the racks, remove the wax paper, and cool completely. (The cake layers can be prepared up to 1 day ahead, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and stored at room temperature).

To make the filling:
Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over high heat. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Let stand until the chocolate softens, about 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in the ancho powder and chipotle powder if using. Let stand until completely cooled, about 1 hour.
Using a hand-held electric mixer at medium speed, beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a tiem until the filling is smooth. Do not overbeat.

To make the frosting:
Whip the cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla in a chilled medium bowl with a hand-held electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Do not overbeat.

To put it all together:
Place 1 cake layer, upside down, on a serving platter. Spread with the chocolate filling. Top with the other cake layer, right side up. Spread a thin layer of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake, to seal the dark crumbs onto the cake so they don't mar the white frosting. now frost the cake with the remaining frosting. Now frost teh cake with the remaining frosting, slathering it on and trying not to disturb the first coat. Refrigerate, uncovered, until read to serve. (The cake can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead. If chilled, let the cake stand for about 30 minutes before serving.) Just before serving, decorate with the flowers.

NOTE: Vosges Haut-Chocoat Aztec Elixir Cocoa is a combination fo cocoa, vanilla, spices, and ground chiles. You can find it along with other fantastic truffles and specialty chocolates at www.vosgeschocolate.com.