Halloween Dinner

Chocolate Wasted Cake

Halloween is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  I had a few larger parties for a couple of years, but Michael and I (mostly Michael) are too uptight about cleanliness and there was just too much glitter left everywhere.  So I switched to a small dinner party.  We like this much better - I can create a more focused menu and we can really catch up with our friends.

I like to try to create “dark” menus, but not too kitchy - just a little kitchy.  This year the menu was:
Appetizers:
- blue cheese spread with rosemary crackers
- guacamole with black beans (and chips)
- grapes with cheddar cheese and garlic and olive oil crackers (all bought)
Starter:
- french onion soup with rye bread and humbolt fog blue cheese
Main dishes:
- caramelized brussels sprouts with croutons and bacon
- balsamic roasted chicken
Dessert:
- chocolate wasted cake
Drink:
- autumn sangria

I was pretty happy with most of it.  The appetizers especially - the rosemary and parm crackers were super yummy.  And I used my halloween cookie cutters to cut them into pumpkins and bats.  The blue cheese spread was good, but strong and would’ve been better for a larger party.

Rosemary and Parmesan Crackers in Halloween shapes

Blue Cheese Spread

The guacamole was incredibly good!  I think I may use this as my go to guacamole recipe.  It’s a bit soupy because it was supposed to be “swamp like”, but the extra lime and black beans added such a depth of flavor.  Plus, it never turned brown!

Guacamole with Black Beans

I liked the soup, but I didn’t find it all that special.  It was a basic french onion soup.  I did like it with the rye bread.  The cheese I got was a goat blue and I felt the flavors went really well together.

French Onion soup with rye bread and goat cheese

For the main dishes I made caramelized brussels sprouts (see my previous post regarding my love of fall veggies) and Balsamic Roasted Chicken.  The brussels sprouts dish had promise, but it just didn’t quite deliver what I wanted.  I think I should’ve roasted the sprouts longer as they just weren’t caramelized enough for me.  Or maybe added some maple syrup.  And I would definitely use less bread next time.  I was in love with the bread idea and added WAY more than the recipe called for.  Next time - just stick to the recipe.

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

The chicken was pretty tasty.  I used drumsticks and wings so that people could choose white or dark meat.  It was just slightly too dry I think - I still don’t have the cooking chicken thing down yet.  I always overcook it.  But the sauce was yummy and served on the side, made for a great sauce - all dark, thick and oozy.  The best part was the next day I shredded all the chicken off the bones and we ate it on sandwiches with the sauce.  That was super yummy!

For a drink I made an autumn sangria and I have to say, this was one of my favorites of the night.  I wasn’t sure if I would like it cause I’ve never been a huge sangria fan, but this was tasty.  We used all the fruits listed in the recipe and Marc Cellars Pinot Noir and Central Market’s sparkling pear and apple juice.  It was sweet and refreshing and tasted very fall.

Autumn Sangria

And finally.. the cake.  This was the first recipe I decided on.  It was going to be my halloween party cake since I first pinned it in way back in like February.  And let me just say, it did not disappoint!  I wasn’t sure about the actual cake part since when I read the recipe there were no eggs - which I thought odd, but it was really, really good!  Almost like a brownie, but not overly sweet, which was good considering the rest of the stuff on the cake.  I forgot to drizzle it with liquor, which I can only imagine would have made it even better.  But like I said, it was fantastic and moist on it’s own.  And I added a layer of caramel to the middle since I knew I would be using Twix and I wanted to connect everything.  For the top I added Butterfingers, KitKat, Twix, Hershey’s miniatures, Reese’s Pieces, and Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips.  And thanks to Patti at PattiCakes for the most delicious chocolate frosting ever.  Her frosting is so good, I thought ‘why try to make it myself, just get some of Patti’s!’  The cake is hard to cut, but it doesn’t really matter.  Everything tastes better all piled together anyway.  But it is a sugar rush!  I had SO much energy after my piece I made everyone play Just Dance for a few minutes.  :)  The energy was helpful though when I needed to clean up after everyone left.  If you’re a candy fan, I would highly recommend trying this cake, just once.  It’s just so decadent and fun!

Chocolate Wasted Cake

Sunday Dinners: Pork Loin with mustard, roasted cauliflower, peach tart

This is the start of several posts.  I got a bit behind because, well, life is busy.  So this dinner was made quite a while ago, but I still wanted to capture my thoughts.

This was a quick, ‘let’s make something for dinner’ meal.  It actually started with the peaches because I had a bunch from the Harry and David box we got.  Then, we had just watched a ‘Giada at Home’ episode where she made this pork loin and put it on a sandwich, but I thought it would be good by itself.  And since cauliflower is in season, I thought the balsamic roasted cauliflower would be a good side.

This was the recipe we used for the pork.  I followed the recipe exactly, but instead of putting it on bread, we just carved it and spooned the mustard sauce on top.  It was fantastic!  The pork loin came out tender and juicy and the mustard sauce is a perfect flavor complement.

I’ve been holding onto the cauliflower recipe for a little while waiting for the fall.  I actually have several cauliflower recipes I want to try.  This one was really easy and tasty.  However I hate chopping up cauliflower!  It gets everywhere!  I find teeny, tiny, little, white pieces for days afterwards.  If anyone has tips on how to chop it without that happening, please share.  The only thing I changed was I used chopped oregano and thyme instead of marjoram.

Finally I made the peach galette.  The hardest part about this recipe was finding a pie crust recipe that i liked.  I’m not afraid of making pie crust, but I wanted something interesting.  I found this one from Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn and it sounded delicious.  And it was!  I will definitely use this as my go to pie dough from now on.  It was perfectly flaky and doughy underneath.  And the cider adds this subtle layer of tartness that makes the crust just slightly more interesting that your normal pie crust.

Here is the total recipe..

Peach Galette
(Filling adapted from Seduction Meals)
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
½ Tbsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt
1 stick Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 cup Cold Water
⅛ cup Cider Vinegar
3-4 Peaches, cut in ¼ inch wedges
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tbsp Raw Sugar


For Crust:
Combine 1 cup cold water, ⅛ cup cider vinegar and ice

Add dry ingredients to food processor and pulse 3 times.  Add chopped, cold butter and pulse 5 times until the dough resembles a coarse meal.
Slowly add the ice water and vinegar mixture (8-10 tbsp) until the dough just comes together - being careful not to overwork. Aim to create a marbleized effect, so that the butter is still visible.
Wrap in plastic and shape into round disc.  Chill 1 hour or more before use.

Remove dough from fridge and roll disc of crust out to fit about a 10-12 inch diameter, about ⅛ to ¼ inch thick.  Place back in fridge till ready to use.

Meanwhile...
Place sliced peaches in a bowl and add 2 tbsp of sugar and toss.

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Gently lift crust and place this onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment.

Starting about 1 ½ inches from the edge, place peach slices on the dough from the outside to the center.  Dot butter throughout.  Fold over the edge of the dough, overlapping the fruit.

Whisk the egg yolk and brush this mixture over the rim of the galette. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the galette and the rim.

Bake until browned, about 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Loosen the edges and center with a spatula. Lift the parchment to a cooling rack and carefully slide off onto the cooling rack or platter.

The Ultimate Strawberry Cake

I realized recently that strawberry season was quickly drawing to a close and I wanted to try just one more time to find a recipe that could replace my boxed birthday cake.

After making the one for my birthday I decided my cake needed the following aspects to make it better:
1) The texture needed to be fluffier
2) More strawberry flavor

So I set out first to find a fluffy cake recipe, then I would deal with how to get strawberries in it.  I found this recipe and based on the amount of testing she did and the description of the texture, I felt fairly confident this would be a good cake to start with.

Then I set out to research using purees in cake.  And just like everything else on the internet, you can find a lot of opinion on this.  There were a few things that caught my attention while searching though - some people said that heating up the fruit beforehand made the flavor more intense and several people said strawberries lose their flavor when baked in the cake.  So I started thinking about what intensifies the flavor of strawberries and balsamic vinegar came to mind.  I decided to make a puree by cooking some strawberries with some balsamic and honey.
I went back to the recipe to see how I could add this into the cake and, conveniently, there was a perfect spot.  The milk is split up into 2 parts and it was simple enough for me to replace some of the milk with the puree.

I was nervous because I’d be messing with how things interact and you never know how that will turn out.  I started by making the puree, so it would have a little cooling time.  I used ½ pint of strawberries, 1 tbsp balsamic, and 1 tbsp honey and cooked it on medium until it became a bit jammy.  Then I made the cake according to the recipe, but when it came time to add the ½ cup milk to the batter, I replaced it with the puree.  It looked good, but wasn’t quite as pink as I wanted, so I added a drop and a ½ of red food coloring.  I finished up the mixing, poured it in the pans and then also added diced strawberries to the top - they were a pretty small dice.  I also baked off a couple of mini-cupcakes so I could taste it without messing up the cake.  I baked the cake for about 35-40 mins - I find the cakes with fruit take a little longer.

Finally they were done and cooled and we tasted our cupcakes and they were good but too small and you mostly tasted the “crust” of the cupcake.  I decided to just cut a piece of cake and deal with it later when I assembled it.  Again - it was good, but I was so focused on what it was “supposed” to taste like that I couldn’t really judge it on its own.  Then I realized that after all this tasting, I really wasn’t sure what I was trying to achieve anymore.  So the next night, I stopped at the grocery and bought the boxed strawberry cake mix.  I whipped it up when I got home, cut a slice of both and tasted them.  The homemade one won - hands down!  The boxed mix tasted fake and was way too airy.  Mine was moist and the strawberry flavor was so good and natural.  It’s still not super fluffy, but it was lighter than the recipe I used for my birthday version and the texture was much more moist.  And after comparing it to the boxed mix, I prefer the texture of my cake.  Another interesting bit it that it gets better as it sits.  This cake definitely needs to be made a few days ahead of time.  I am super happy with this recipe and this will now be my new birthday cake!

Strawberry Balsamic Cake
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Strawberry Puree:

1/2 pint strawberries, diced

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

Cake: (adapted from sweetapolita)

5 large Egg Whites, (5 ounces/150 grams) at room temperature
1/4 cup Whole Milk, (180 mL/6 liquid ounces), at room temperature
2 1/4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract, (9 grams)
2 3/4 cups Cake Flour, sifted (11 ounces/315 grams)
1 3/4 cups Sugar, (12 ounces/350 grams)
1 Tbsp Baking Powder, + 1 teaspoon, (19.5 grams)
3/4 tsp Salt, (5 grams)
12 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, (6 ounces/170 grams), at room temperature and cut into cubes

1/2 cup strawberry puree

1 1/2 drops red food coloring (optional)

Pastry cream and Frosting Directions found here

Directions

First of all - Make this cake at least a day before needed.  2 days would be better.  Do not frost until ready to eat.

Make strawberry puree.  Add diced strawberries, vinegar and honey to a saucepan over medium heat.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until nice and "jammy" - about 7 mins.

Take off heat and set aside.  (I actually put mine through a sieve as well, just to get some of the seeds out)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease two round 8-inch pans.

In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, ¼ cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed for 30 seconds.

Add the butter and strawberry puree, and mix on low speed until just moistened.  Add food coloring if using. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 ½ minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition.

Divide the batter in two, spreading it evenly with a small offset palette knife.

Bake 20 minutes and check with a cake tester.  If not done, check every 2 to 5 mins, being careful not to over bake.  Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks. It's recommended you turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.

Store in airtight container until ready to eat.  Frost with pastry cream and mascarpone whipped cream.  Recipes here.

Side note: I used the boxed cake mix to make cake balls.  I mixed it with store bought cream cheese frosting and coated them in dark chocolate chips and let me tell ya, that’s the way to eat a boxed mix.  Those things are tasty!!!  And so incredibly easy!  If you need something quick for a party, try whipping up these things - everyone will love you.

Father’s day meal

Last Sunday I made my husband a Father’s Day meal.  We have no kids, but we have a 17 yr. old cat that he has been a wonderful guardian of since she was 4 weeks old.  Also, the week prior was a bit stressful, so I thought he deserved a yummy meal.

He said he wanted the Cheat’s pizza that I made a few weeks ago, but wanted to try some different toppings.  After some discussion and looking at various pizza recipes, we settled on tomatoes with scallions, spinach, mozzarella, gruyere and balsamic vinegar.

It came out pretty delicious.  I bought cherry heirloom tomatoes and halved or quartered them based on size.  Then drizzled them with olive oil and really good balsamic vinegar.  I added chopped scallions and let the mixture marinate for a bit while I made the crust.

I made the crust exactly like I did a few weeks ago with just flour and water based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe.  This time I did leave it in the pan on the stove a bit longer and it did result in a slightly crisper bottom.  I filled it first with the tomato and scallion mixture.  Then nestled yummy pieces of fresh mozzarella into the tomatoes.  Covered the whole thing with baby spinach and topped it with shredded gruyere.  It came out more like a deep dish pizza this time and the flavors were fantastic!  I would probably add a little basil next time.  Also, I think I would dessicate the tomatoes a bit first just to get some of the liquid out.  It was very saucy.  Which wasn’t bad, but made it more of a “fork and knife” job.  We also drizzled a little of the balsamic on top right before eating.  Yum, yum!

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Balsamic tomato quick pizza
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Pizza
1 ½ cups of self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
½ cup Of warm Water
Topping
1 pint Cherry Or Grape Tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 Green Onions, White And Most Of Green, diced
Couple Of Good Glugs Of Balsamic Vinegar And Good Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1 ½ cups Baby Spinach
1 ball Good Mozzarella, sliced or torn into pieces
4 ounces Grated Gruyere Cheese
Little More Balsamic & Olive Oil

Directions:
Put diced tomatoes and green onions into a bowl and coat with olive oil and balsamic, and a little salt and pepper.  Stir and let sit while you make the crust.

Turn the heat under the frying pan up to high and dust a clean surface with flour. Put 1½ mugs' worth of flour into a food processor, then half-fill the same mug with tepid water and add to the flour with a pinch of salt and a glug of olive oil.

Whizz until smooth, then tip on to the floured board. Sprinkle the top of the dough and the rolling pin with flour (the dough will be quite wet, so be generous with the flour).

Roll the dough to a 1cm (½in) thickness. Drizzle olive oil into the pan, then dust the dough with flour again and very lightly fold it over into a halfmoon shape.

Lightly fold the half-moon in half, then move the dough to the pan and unfold it, pushing it down into the sides of the pan. If you don't have a pan this big, don't cook all of the dough at once, halve it and make two pizzas.

With crust on hot stove, pour tomato/onion mixture into crust, with all juices.  Nestle mozzarella pieces into tomatoes.  Cover entire top with spinach.  Completely cover spinach with grated gruyere.  Drizzle olive oil over whole pizza.

Put the pan under the hot grill for 4 or 5 minutes, until golden and cooked through.  Remove it from the grill, transfer it to a wooden board and drizzle over a little extra balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and take straight to the table.

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For a side dish, he chose corn fritters.

It’s a bit of an odd side dish with pizza but corn is so good right now and we both love it, that these sounded yummy to both of us.  I used this recipe.  I didn’t change anything and they came out ok.  This was definitely the best corn fritter recipe I have tried.  The corn was really sweet and the paprika made the flavor nice and smokey.  I find that the ideal corn fritter I have in my head never actually materializes... they just never taste quite the way I want them to.  The flavor isn’t quite what I imagine and the texture is usually drier than what I’m looking for.  I’m honestly not even sure I know exactly what I’m looking for, but maybe I need to play around and see if I can create the corn fritter that I crave.

For dessert, I knew I wanted to make him some donuts and I chose a baked apple fritter donut because he loves apple fritters.

I used this recipe but I didn’t want to use canned apple pie filling, so I looked around for a natural apple pie filling recipe and combined several to come up with my own.  I diced up an appled really small and mixed with a bit of brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice and then let the mixture sit and get thick for a little bit.  They came out pretty yummy, but admittedly very ‘fall’.  The cinnamon and nutmeg and apple together are such fall flavors, that it was odd to eat them in June.  But the donut was so nice and moist and the bits of apple were perfect, little, juicy bursts of flavor.  I will most definitely make these in the fall... mmmm with a caramel glaze... ooh I can’t wait!!