Barefoot Bloggers Wild Card

Please if you haven't yet (and are so inclined) click on the Crisco link and vote for my Caribbean Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno Mango Sauce!! $25,000 is on the line!

This week for Barefoot Bloggers an interesting feature has been introduced. (BTW for anyone who does not know, Barefoot Bloggers are a group of food bloggers that prepare a delicious recipe created by Ina Garten-The Barefoot Contessa-on two Thursdays of each month). The new feature is a wild card of sorts or as the Barefoot blogger hosts call it backtracking...we're allowed to choose an alternate Barefoot Blogger) recipe as a substitute for one of this month's selections.

I am sooooo relieved! This weeks selection was to have been Tuna Salad (selected by Kate of Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails). There are only two thing I can absolutely not eat and they are Tuna and mayonnaise. This tuna salad does not call for mayonnaise but nevertheless I am using the wild card. I decided to select a recipe that was prepared before I joined the Barefoot Bloggers group-in fact, it was the very first recipe that the group prepared: Herbed Baked Eggs from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris Cookbook.

The results were positively divine! What an absolutely elegant and delicious way to serve eggs. I was out of parsley so I substituted fresh sage for the parsley; I'm certain that any herb combination would be wonderful. I would love to try substituting different cheeses-I was thinking of perhaps a Cotija cheese with bits of jalapeno tossed in for a Tex-Mex version.

Herbed Baked Eggs

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

6 extra large eggs

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toasted French bread or Brioche for serving

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley and Parmesan cheese and set aside. Carefully crack three eggs into each of two bowls without breaking the yolks. (It's important to have all the eggs ready to go before cooking).

Place 2 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes until hot and bubbly. Quickly but carefully pour 3 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle with the herb mixture then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler for 5-6 minutes until the whites of the egg are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly). The eggs will continue to cook once you take them out of the oven. Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.

I Just Want to Quiche You...

Favorite Food Find Friday is here and to be perfectly honest the find for today falls under the "not so exciting" heading; not because it's not delicious (it is) and not because it's not convenient (it is) but just because unless you've been living under a rock your whole life you've probably used it a hundred times or more. Of course if you are a pastry purist and think refrigerator crusts are...well...baking blasphemy then take this as gentle encouragement to come with me over to the dark side. As you may have guessed already today's favorite food find is:
Pillsbury Refrigerator Pie Crust!

While I will admit I often do make pie crust from scratch, there is just no getting around the fact that in a pinch the doughboy is my main man. I will further admit that I am knee high right now in Pillsbury products as I am trying ever so hard to create "the" million dollar Pillsbury Bake off Recipe. Wish me luck because so far I've come up with nothing that screams "million dollar recipe". (In Who Wants To Be A Millionaire terms I'm about at the $16,000 level...maybe.)

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is my go-to quiche; it's delicately fluffy, and painlessly simple. My family prefers quiche without unnecessary accoutrements...no spinach, no ham, definitely no onions...just cheese. But feel free to throw in whatever you would like at the same time as the cheese and please accept my apologies for being so boring.

Two Cheese Sour Cream Quiche

1 refrigerator pie crust (or your favorite homemade single pie crust)
6 eggs
1 cup 1% or skim milk
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup diced Swiss cheese
1/2 shredded Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Unroll pie crust and arrange in a 10-inch ceramic quiche dish or glass pie plate. Crimp the edges of the crust as desired. Place a sheet of foil over the crust then top with pie weights or uncooked rice. Arrange dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned. Remove crust from the oven and set aside.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, cayenne pepper and kosher salt until well combined. Scatter the cheeses evenly over the crust. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the cheeses. Carefully transfer dish to the oven (for easy carrying you may want to put the quiche pan on a baking pan). Bake the quiche for 25-30 minutes or until slightly puffed and golden brown.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Doesn't that look incredibly fluffy? The texture is so delicate!

A Heavenly Treat

I have always had a sweet tooth. In fact, I am hard pressed to think of a sweet I don't like. And guess what? This week's Barefoot Blogger recipe is no exception. I loved it!!! I can't wait to make it again.

First and foremost I would like to extend a thank you to BMK of Reservations Not Required for selecting this week's recipe: Meringues Chantilly from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris (page 176). Twice a month food bloggers across the blog-o-sphere prepare a tasty delight created by the Barefoot Contessa herself Ina Garten...why don't you join us?

February was my month to host my book group (lovingly called The Women Not In Need of Botox Book Group). We are a group of 10 ladies who have been reading, discussing (and eating) together for 11 years now. This month's selection was 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper-a book based on the true story of a man who after a horrible car accident spends 90 minutes in heaven before coming back to life. Now tell me that this was not the perfect dessert to pair with that book?? Heavenly cloud metaphors aside...eating this treat was truly 5 minutes in heaven.

I only made a few small changes to my version of Ina's recipe: I changed some of the fruit...replacing the raspberries with a combination of blackberries and strawberries which were on sale at Whole Foods...the raspberries were just astronomical so I thought a substitution was necessary. I suppose I could have used frozen berries, but I really wanted to use fresh. I also substituted Chambord for the Framboise because I had that in the house.

The group gave ten thumbs up for the dessert...and the book? Well, it was definitely met with mixed reviews. From a personal standpoint I wanted to love it. I lost my (very young) mother last year after a brief battle with cancer and I wanted to feel some sort of comfort from the book. While in some ways I did feel that comfort, I suppose that greedily I wanted more heaven in the book...I wanted to hear more about heaven and to be reassured that she is safely surrounded by those who love her. While briefly that reassurance is there in the book...I just wish there had been more. I am left to simply return to my faith and belief that she is in a blessed peaceful place. Come to think of it, perhaps that's just what Don Piper intended.

Meringues Chantilly

6 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur, recipe follows
Stewed berries, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

Spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries on each plate. Place a meringue on top and fill with whipped cream. Top with berries and serve.

Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur:
2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur

Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don't overbeat, or you'll end up with butter!
Yield: 4 cups

Stewed berries:
1 half-pint fresh blueberries
3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons framboise (raspberry brandy)

Combine the blueberries, one-half pint of raspberries, 1/3 cup water, the sugar and zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. The juice will become a syrup and the berries will be slightly cooked. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise. Set aside.
Yield: 8 servings

Real Meatballs and Spaghetti

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so I'm sure many of you are trying to think of the perfect romantic meal to prepare for your special someone. Look no further. Spaghetti and meatballs is the perfect dish for lovers everywhere.

Spaghetti and meatballs immediately brings to mind for me the most romantic scene from an animated feature film...you know, "The Spaghetti Scene" from Lady and the Tramp. Lady and Tramp sharing that single strand of spaghetti eating, slurping gently, just until their lips meet...ah Bella Notte.

It's Barefoot Thursday-that day twice a month when bloggers everywhere prepare a recipe created by the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Today's romantic selection was the choice of Rebecca from Ezra Poundcake.

While I love spaghetti (probably too much), I have never been a fan of meatballs-I don't like my beef mixed with eggs and bread...I suppose it's a texture thing. That being said, I still made the meatballs because my family have long been meatball lovers and sadly (because I don't like meatballs) they rarely have the homemade ones so this was a true treat. The meatballs were a hit-flavorful and moist. I made them smaller so I had about 30 meatballs-not to worry I froze some of them so my family will not have to wait so long for homemade meatballs again. The sauce however was a different story. While flavorful, the sauce came out too chunky and watery...probably because I mistakenly bought whole canned tomatoes instead of crushed.

Overall you can't really go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs...I ended up stirring in a little bit of jarred sauce to thicken up the sauce and that helped. This recipe like most of Ina Garten's recipes was solid and genuine...a keeper.

Real Meatballs and Spaghetti

Recipe by Ina Garten from The Barefoot Contessa Family Style

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)

1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 extra large egg, beaten

Vegetable oil

Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)

1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat scraping up all the brown bite in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return he meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

New Year's Toast

First a few loose ends to tie up:

1. Happy New Year!!

2. Loved the Barefoot Bloggers Pappa al Pomodoro...took lots of pictures and just never got around to posting. A thousand apologies!

And...

3. Ah...the cheesecake...here is the picture of the Chai-ginger cheesecake with the white chocolate topping (that I should have posted ages ago...but, well...)here it is:

Now onto the toast. Yes, that's right toast.

I can hear the scoffing right through cyberspace...

"..she doesn't post a thing in weeks and this is what I get: toast!?"

But let me assure you this is not just ordinary toast. This is the ultimate toast. Today of course is Favorite Food Find Friday

and today's find is....

Thomas' Breakfast Bread!!!

Think English muffin in bread form-and it truly does make the very best toast. I've also seen it in stores called "Thomas' Toasting Bread". The flavors are original (English muffin flavor) and corn. Thicker than regular bread, Thomas' Breakfast Bread makes fabulous French Toast and is perfect for stratas and casseroles.

Today I have made a favorite toast treat...Egg in the Hole-a delicious breakfast (or quick supper) where an egg is cooked right in a hole in the center of a slice of bread.

Because of its thickness, the breakfast bread makes the perfect bread for Egg in the Hole. I used the original flavor bread, but I'm sure the corn flavor would be fabulous as well.

Egg in the Hole

2 tablespoons butter

2 slices of thick sliced bread (such as Thomas' Breakfast Bread)

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Using a circle shaped cutter (or just using a knife) cut a circle in the center of each slice of bread. Place the bread and the cut out circle into the hot pan.

Crack an egg into a small dish or measuring cup (I like to do this so you can slowly pour the egg into the hole). Slowly pour the egg into the hole in the bread. Repeat with the other egg. Cook the eggs and bread four minutes.

Using a spatula, carefully lift the egg and toast, add the remaining tablespoon of butter then flip the toast and egg over and cook for an additional minute or two depending on how you like your eggs; I happen to like my yolks to have a little give so I cooked it just for another minute. Remember to flip the bread circles as well.

Transfer toasts to a serving plate and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yield: 2 eggs and toasts

Favorite Food Finds Friday!

Today's favorite find is a special fruit that is plentiful in the produce aisle only from early November to early February....Clementines!

Clementines, usually found near the regular oranges and packed in small crates, are a small (usually seedless) easy to peel variety of mandarin oranges.

Because of their compact size, Clementines make the perfect lunchbox treat or snack. And while they are perfect to eat on their own, I decided to use them to in a "lemon bar" variation with great results. I adapted a recipe from Gourmet Magazine using the clementines instead of lemons.

Today is my day to cook for a local woman's shelter and I'm bringing these bars for dessert, I have to keep them chilled so I don't want to sprinkle the powdered sugar until the last minute...which is a tip: don't add the powdered sugar until shortly before you are planning on serving them. Now don't freak when you see that the recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter (OK you can freak a little)...you have to keep in mind that this recipe makes about 48 bars.

Super tips: look for crates of Clementines with colorful orangish-red fruit clear of blemishes. Store them at room temperature for up to a week or refrigerate them for up to about 2 weeks.

Darling Clementine Bars (adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

Crust:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 sticks of cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

For Filling:

6 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon finely grated clementine zest

1/2 cup freshly squeezed clementine juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor just until combined. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the dough into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. (I used the measuring cup to help press it down).

Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

For the filling whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, flour heavy cream, zest, juice and salt in a bowl until well combined.

Remove the crust from the oven, whisk the filling again, then pour filling over the hot crust. Bake until the filling is just set, about 16 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack to cool.

Refrigerate bars, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours. Just before serving cut the bars into small squares then sift the confectioner's sugar in a thick layer over bars.

Yield: 48 bars

Rosemary-Cheddar Potato Frittata

Not everyone has a green thumb.

Some people, and I must count myself among those people, can't grow anything. My mother (Rosemary) had a serious green thumb-we're talking Johnny Appleseed on crack green thumb; she could literally toss some seeds onto the ground and a few weeks later would have a spectacular garden. Not me. Frankly I'm just grateful we have a lawn.

Thankfully this time of year supermarkets are overflowing with the fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs that other green thumb blessed individuals have grown so that people such as myself don't have to feel so bad for our green thumb deficiencies. Today I picked up some fresh, fragrant rosemary-my favorite herb for many reasons: its pungent flavor, it's herby Christmas-tree like smell but mostly because it reminds me of my mother and her incredible green thumb.

Here are some tips for selecting fresh rosemary in the supermarket:

• Make sure the leaves are a bright green with no black leaves.
• Look for stalks that are tender and not brittle.
• Fresh rosemary should have a strong evergreen like smell.
• Fresh rosemary stalks make great skewers for grilling, just look for firm stems.
• If your supermarket doesn't have fresh rosemary and you need to substitute dried, use 1 teaspoon of dried for every tablespoon of fresh.

Rosemary-Cheddar Potato Frittata

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups 1/2-inch diced potatoes

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup diced extra sharp cheddar cheese

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a shallow 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes, shallot, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of the rosemary. Spread the potatoes in an even layer in the pan. Cook the potatoes, stirring frequently, until tender-about 20-25 minutes.

Preheat a broiler.

Stir in the eggs, cheddar cheese and the remaining tablespoon of rosemary; reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and place under the broiler for 5 minutes or until very lightly browned on top.

Run a rubber spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen, then slide the frittata onto a serving plate; cut into wedges to serve. Garnish if desired with additional rosemary.

Yield: 8 servings