Bubble Chandelier and Banana Bread Pudding

 

Let me first start with the banana bread pudding, a dessert that I made this past Sunday because I had all the right ingredients. It was truly a serendipitous moment.

My kids do not like pre-sliced bread for their sandwiches, and they do not like any other bread except challah bread. Luckily I like to shop at Trader Joe's and they have a challah loaf that fits the bill. If I slice it evenly, one loaf will yield a week's worth of lunchbox sandwiches for these unreasonably picky kids.

By week's end, I'm left with the loaf ends and I hate wasting food. So I do the responsible thing and encourage the kids or my husband Dave to eat the ends. But it's as if I'm asking them to clean the bathroom toilets or take out the garbage. Call me crazy, but I don't think that eating loaf ends should be seen as a disgusting chore.

A month ago I decided that I would save the loaf ends to make bread pudding. This was an ambitious decision because the one and only other time I made bread pudding was a disaster. Let's just say that substituting a pint of half-n-half with rice milk was not the smartest thing to do. 

On Sunday, I opened up my freezer and noticed that I had enough loaf ends for bread pudding. I also had one very ripe banana and some left over dark chocolate from cookies I made a few weeks ago. Hmm, I thought to myself, would banana bread pudding with dark chocolate chips taste good? 

I am happy to report that my second attempt was a successful one: the right amount of banana flavor balanced with the chocolate, the bread pudding moist yet firm. And although it didn't need any accompanying dessert, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. 

Here is the recipe:

Banana Bread Pudding with Dark Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

1 large ripe banana

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups half-n-half

3 large eggs

approximately 4 cups challah bread, toasted and cubed

1 cup of smashed dark chocolate chips*

butter

Generously grease the surface of a 8" square baking dish with butter. (You can also use a loaf pan.) Toss in the challah bread and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mash up the banana until it has the consistency of pudding. Mix in the sugar and vanilla extract. Then add the half-n-half. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Pour mixture over the challah bread/chocolate chips in the baking dish and let the pudding set for an hour. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake in the center rack for 35 minutes. Let the pudding set for an additional 15 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Serve it warm or room temperature.

(*I like to smash a bar of dark chocolate with a mallet to make the chips more shard-like. Place the chocolate in a ziplock bag and make sure let out most of the air before working the bar over with the mallet.)

Now on to my bubble chandelier.

Over eight months ago, I was perusing through an issue of ReadyMade magazine and spied a DIY bubble chandelier. I made it immediately, but I was afraid to install the darn thing in my house because, well, I'm not an electrician. So it sat in a well padded crate in the corner of my work room, collecting dust, and living through other indignities that a bubble chandelier should never experience. 

After hearing me complain about my chandelier for the hundredth time, a friend of mine told me that I should just make it into a hanging light that can be plugged into an electrical socket. Can I just say that this was a divine moment for me? And a genius one for my friend? 

Here is my bubble chandelier/hanging light:

Excuse the dirt on my camera lens.

I still want to install it the proper way, but the fear of electrocution runs deep in me.

At least I can use my bubble chandelier now. And every time I turn it on, I say to myself, "Let there be light!"

Day Ninety Two: Smashed Chocolate Chip Cookies

When in doubt, make cookies.
That broad statement can apply to so many situations.

Don't know how to cheer the kids up? Make cookies.
Need to make up with your spouse? Make cookies.
Want to impress a suitor? Make cookies.
Getting your period? Make cookies.
Lost a pet? Makes cookies.
Got up this morning feeling aimless? Make cookies.

And what is the perfect cookie for any/all of these occasions? The chocolate chip cookie. I happen to make a rockin' smashed chocolate chip cookie, and lucky for you that I feel like sharing.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 sticks of butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 pound bar of dark chocolate (I use Trader Joe's--what else, right?--1 pound bar of 72% dark chocolate)

Mix dry ingredients (salt, baking soda, flour) in a separate bowl and set aside. Place chocolate in sealable gallon plastic bag and smash into small pieces with a mallet. Set aside. Cream butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract and eggs one at a time. Stir in dry mixture one cup at a time. Mix cookie dough until it's a little fluffy, then gently stir in smashed chocolate chips.

IMPORTANT STEP: cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before making.

Once you are ready to bake, take out dough from the fridge at least an hour beforehand. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spoon dough into 1 1/2 inch round circles onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until golden.

Yields about 48 cookies.

Oh, and you're welcome!

Day Seventy Nine: Chicken Soup a la Trader Joes

Not the greatest picture. But trust me--this soup is really tasty.

I made this last night for dinner and it's one of the few times NO ONE complained about dinner.
It's this chicken soup that doesn't really have any chicken in it--that is, until the end. Slices of chicken are added to the bowl at the end, along with a little arugula and some grape tomatoes.

It's more like a vegetable soup made with chicken stock. And it just so happens that all the ingredients are from my favorite grocery store Trader Joes. So let's hear it for Trader Joes! Woot!

Okay, I must confess: Trader Joes happens to be the closest grocery store to my house. And they also have a great beer selection. And I really like the people that work there. So geography + good beer + nice people = my favorite grocery store.

Did I mention the great beer selection?

Ingredients:
2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 small to medium size yellow onion, quartered
one carrot, quartered
2 celery stalks, quartered
4 heads of garlic, slightly smashed
1 32-oz container of chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup dry small pasta (ditalini or similar size)

1 large chicken breast, pounded to a consistent 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness)
salt, pepper, dried oregano, panko bread crumbs

2 cups arugula lettuce, chopped
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
grape tomatoes (optional)

In a medium sized soup pot, heat up oil and add ground ginger, salt, and pepper under a low to medium flame. Add onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add celery, carrots, and garlic, and saute for another 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, water, and wine, and then cover pot with a lid. Once liquid starts to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Then with a slotted spoon, remove carrots, celery, onions, and garlic, and place in a food processor or blender. Puree and return to pot with another 1/4 cup of water. Once soup starts to simmer again, add dry pasta. Every few minutes, stir pasta around to thicken soup until pasta is cooked.

While pasta is cooking in the soup, add salt, pepper, oregano, and bread crumbs to both sides of the chicken breast. Pan fry chicken until cooked.

Arrange arugula on large serving plate. Place cooked chicken breast on top of arugula and slice thinly. Garnish with grape tomatoes if desired.

When serving the soup, ladle into bowls add gruyere cheese on top. Soup is to be eaten with the chicken and arugula added to the bowl.

SERVINGS: 4

Day Sixty Seven: Pizza Day

Are you hungry yet?

Today we had pizza for dinner.
It's been a little tense around the house lately, and pizza makes everyone smile. So my daughter Masana and I planned on a pepperoni/fresh garlic/fresh mozzarella/fresh basil pie for dinner. We began making the dough at 10:00AM this morning.

Here's my recipe for the dough, which I think may be have inadvertently "appropriated" from Food & Wine magazine about 7 years ago. My apologies for the blatant rip-off. Anyhoo...

Pizza Dough
1 packet of dry yeast
2 cups warm water
3 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the packet of yeast in about a cup of warm water until it bubbles. Add the salt and sugar. Let it stand for 5 minutes, then mix in the remaining cup of warm water and 1 cup of the flour.

"It's all in the wrist..."

Mix in the additional flour one cup at a time. Once there's about 1 to 1/2 cups of flour remaining, mix dough with your hands and add flour until dough starts coming off the side of the bowl easily. Add additional flour if the dough is still too wet. The dough should be silky and pliable, not so sticky.

Still too wet and sticky. Needs more flour.

Coming off the sides of the bowl. It's getting there.

Massage the dough for a few minutes, then drizzle olive oil all over. Pull up sides of the dough and make sure the olive oil gets between the dough and the surface of the bowl. Take a piece of saran wrap and cover dough. Be sure to place it directly on top of the dough--do not leave any pockets of air. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area of the kitchen for at least 4 hours. You can keep the dough in the fridge over night, but take it out 6 to 8 hours before you intend to use it.

Lightly press down the plastic wrap directly on the dough.

And this will turn into...

...this! 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the plastic from the dough and divide it into 3 equal pieces. Add flour to your countertop or other flat work space and work one of the pieces of dough into a flat disk.  Place flat disk onto a 14 inch round pizza pan and push out sides of the dough to cover the pan. Add toppings: tomato sauce, garlic, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil leaves. Place in the oven and cook for 17-20 minutes.

Our pizza with all the toppings before it goes into the oven. A cooked pie in the background.

That's it. Hope you enjoy our happy pizza.

Charise's "Pie"

I call it a pie, but it's really a fresh berry tart. My friend Charise loves pie, and I wanted to name something after her. I guess this will have to do. (Sorry, Charise!)


For the crust I used a sweet pastry dough recipe from epicurious.com . It's not earth-shattering, just a basic pastry dough. You can try using lard for a lighter crust, or a combo of the two.

For the filling:

15 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese*
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint of fresh raspberries, washed and drained well

Make the crust ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours. In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until fluffy. Fill crust with cheese mixture and add raspberries. **Add a glaze if desired. Place in fridge and allow to set for at least three hours before serving.

* A note about ricotta cheese: try to use a creamy ricotta rather than a dry one. If you can get it fresh from a farmer's market or organic, then choose that over the regular store-bought variety. It should whip up like a heavy cream, smooth and silky. If you do find that the ricotta cheese is too dry, add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cream or whole milk.

**A note about glazes: you can make a glaze with either a 1/2 cup of fruit liquor or juice, heating it in a sauce pan, and adding 1 teaspoon of corn starch. I'm not really into corn starch, so I sometimes just heat up about 1/4-1/3 cup of fruit jam or preserves and then pour it gently on the "pie" before placing it in the fridge.

My Birthday Steak

For my birthday I want steak.

This is a sirloin steak that I actually slow-roasted in my oven. I know that many people swear by pan searing, but here’s the thing: I am not sure what cut of sirloin it is. Bottom round? Top? Center? Because it’s part of my cow share, the meat tends to be quite lean. So even if it’s part of the sirloin section that is usually fatty, my grass fed Holstein does not have much fat to it. And I am not sure if using a mallet to soften up the tissue is really going to do the trick.

Slow roasting works best on the so-called cheaper cuts, like a pot roast or London broil. Basically, you turn your oven on to 200 degrees and let your piece of meat cook for about 3 or 4 hours. For my uncertain cut of sirloin—which was a whopping 5 pounds bone in—I used a garlic thyme rub and slow roasted this beast for 4 hours and the outcome was pure heaven.

Garlic thyme rub

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

10 cloves of garlic, mashed with a garlic press

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

Instructions

Add rub to one side of steak and place in plastic bag. Put in fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Take out steak and bring to room temperature. Place on roasting pan and put in oven for 4 hours.  And that’s pretty much it. Take out of the oven, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Dumplings and Soup

 

I made this dumpling and soup dish for Easter Sunday. And it was yummy!

The broth is made from some rather large and meaty soup bones from my grass-fed cow share, which means that I can check off another part of this massive Holstein cow as being conquered in my kitchen.

 

To really take advantage of all the nutrients locked in the beef bones, start cooking the broth at least a day in advance and allow it to simmer all day long (and into the night if you can). And trust me when I say the broth is SO much yummier if you do.

As with every recipe you encounter, read all the directions so you can get a sense of how long it will take to complete. This particular recipe can be short on prep time—especially if you use a food processor for the dicing—but long on the cooking time.

INGREDIENTS

Soup

2 lbs beef soup bones

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sea salt

1 medium size onion, quartered

4 large slices of ginger root

2 whole cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

8 cups water

3 bay leaves

1 package thin rice or vermicelli noodles

Dumpling Filling (all ingredients are diced)

2 stalks of celery

½ carrot

¼ medium size onion

2 garlic cloves

½ package of firm tofu

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon ground ginger

vegetable oil

1 package of 25 gyoza dumpling skins

DIRECTIONS

1. Making the broth (part 1): In an 8-quart stock pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil under a medium flame. Add the salt and stir around. Brown the soup bones—or whatever meat may be attached to the soup bones—in the oil. Add the onion and cook it for a few minutes until slightly golden. Add ginger root and cook for a few minutes. Then add the water, peppercorns, and bays leaves to the pot. Once it begins to boil, lower flame until the liquid is simmering. Let it simmer for a minimum of 8 hours. Turn off heat, remove from stovetop, and let it cool down to room temperature. (This will take a while, so it may be best to let it cool overnight.) Remove any solid fat that rises to the top. Set aside.

2. Making the broth (part 2): Remove the bones and any fat or meat that has fallen off. Discard the fat and bones. Shred the meat and set aside. Pour the broth through a strainer to remove ginger slices, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Pick out onions and garlic from the strainer, and puree in a blender with 2 cups of broth. Add puree back to the pot with the rest of the broth. Add shredded meat. Heat pot until broth is boiling. Reduce heat to simmer. Place noodles in a bowl with cold water and let sit soak for 30 minutes. Using a pair of scissors, cut noodles in the bowl to about 6 inches in length. Drain noodles and add to the pot.

3. Making the filling: In a sauté pan, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add salt, black pepper, and ground ginger. Add the tofu and toss around for a few minutes until the edges are slightly brown and crunchy. Remove the tofu from the pan and add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, but be sure to NOT over cook. Add the tofu and mix together for another few minutes. Turn off heat and let it cool.

4. Making the dumplings: Place 1½ teaspoons of filling in each gyoza skin. Fold skin over to make a crescent and wet edges with water. Press firmly at the edges so it sticks together and stays closed. Repeat until all the gyoza skins are filled. Heat oil in frying pan. Pan-fry each of the dumplings and place them on a cookie sheet. Keep the cooked ones warm and crispy in the oven at 200 degrees.

5. Putting it all together: When you are ready to serve, place 3 to 4 dumplings per bowl soup bowl and ladle soup into bowl. Garnish with some chopped green onions and serve immediately.

Mouth-Watering Macaroni N Cheese

I made two trays of this dish for a recent school fundraiser, which is a bit ironic since my son Mack is allergic to milk products. So while my cheese-loving daughter got to sample the goods, Mack stayed as far away from the kitchen as he possibly could. Needless to say, I never make this dish for my own family since Mack can’t have it. I don’t believe in making separate meals for anyone in my family. However, to appease my daughter Masana, I will slice up some Gruyere or Pecorino Romano and serve it on the side of her plate. It doesn’t really work when I’m serving up fried tofu, but she doesn’t care. As long as she gets her hunk of cheese, then she’s happy.

The most important part of making this dish is the roux. So don’t skimp on the butter or the flour, and take your time!

INGREDIENTS

1 pound macaroni, cooked

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk

4 cups grated Cheddar cheese

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

salt to taste

fresh ground pepper to taste

FOR TOPPING

½ cup Panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup crumbled bacon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Making the roux: In a large pot, melt the butter under low to medium heat. Once butter is completely melted, add the flour. Using a whisk, mix the flour and butter I the saucepan. Cook the mixture until it’s a golden light brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the milk and stir gently. Once it begins to boil, lower the heat further and add the cheeses and the spices. Stir and cook sauce for a few minutes, then turn off heat. Add the cooked macaroni and mix well.

Pour macaroni and cheese into a deep aluminum tray. Add topping. Place foil over tray and put in the oven for 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove foil and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the topping is toasted and crunchy.

Dairy-Free Pancakes

Every Saturday morning, we have these pancakes for breakfast. If we are lucky to have any leftovers, I wrap them in plastic and heat them up for breakfast the next day.

Ingredients: 
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda 
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar 
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted vegan margarine 
1 egg
2 cups rice milk 
4 tablespoons sugar (optional)

yields: 16-4" round pancakes

Directions


Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix the melted margarine and rice milk in a second bowl. Beat in egg. (Sugar is optional.) Add dry ingredients to the margarine/milk one cup at a time. One all ingredients are mixed, set bowl aside. Spray pan with non-stick spray or canola oil spray. Heat pan under medium to low flame. With a ladle, scoop up batter and form small round mounds on the pan, making sure they do not touch (about 1/2" apart). Once the surface of the batter starts to bubble, check the underside of each pancake to see if it's golden brown. Flip pancake over and cook the other side. Once it's cooked, remove pancake from the pan and repeat until all the batter is used. 

Braised Short Ribs

A little background before I delve into this recipe: about a year ago, my neighbor and I began a journey into the world of grass-fed beef.
We bought our first share of a cow raised by a local farmer (or somewhat local—it’s a four hour drive from where I live, but I am not the one who drives—thanks, Karen!). It’s been an interesting experience so far. The only negative part is the physical storage of all that beautiful beef, especially since my husband Dave is not a big fan of purchasing an additional freezer for our basement. I’m hoping to wear him down soon, especially since grilling weather is on the horizon. But until Dave gets his “a-ha” moment, my neighbor and cow share cohort lets us store some extra cuts in her basement freezer.

Now I am preparing my home for the next delivery of our grass-fed beef. The short ribs, which are the most intimidating part of our cow share, still remained from the previous delivery until about three days ago.

And why are short ribs intimidating? For two reasons: 1. the entire cut is really, really big, about 7 pounds of dead weight that require me to, as my Pilates instructor would say, “engage my core” in order to carry it and not hurt my back; and 2. they are really, really fatty in all the wrongs places (with a naked eye it looks like pure fat attached to bones—where’s the beef?). Oh, I know that some of you who are short ribs fans are probably booing me right now. But ordering short ribs in a nice restaurant and cooking them in your kitchen are two very different things.

Being the crafty gal that I am I decided to braised the crap out of these suckers. Four hours later, I let them cool off so I could remove most of the rendered fat. And two hours after that, we all ate like kings.

Short ribs, I have conquered thee.

Now if I can only talk my way into getting a piece of cow tongue. That would be a real challenge!

RECIPE FOR BRAISED SHORT RIBS
Since I had no idea how to braise these short ribs, I decided to perform the kitchen sink method: I ransacked my kitchen and threw into the pot everything my hands touched. Aw, don’t get picky on me now…

Ingredients

5-7 pounds of short ribs
3 small carrots
1 large yellow onions
2 celery stalks
1 whole head of garlic
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 bottle of red wine (I used a nice cabernet)
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of water
4 stalks fresh thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

First, brown each piece to get rid of some of the fat in a large pot. Set aside.

Dice one large onion, three carrots, and 2 celery stalks. Crushed a whole head of garlic. After sautéing these ingredients in the melted fat left in the pot, Add the bottle of red wine, chicken broth, another two cups of water, and the spices (thyme, oregano, bay leaves, salt, and pepper). Bring to boil and add short ribs. Reduce heat to simmer and slow cook for 4 hours. Let it cool so the fat rises to the top and solidifies. Remove rendered fat.

Preheat oven to broil. Remove short ribs and place in casserole dishes. Broil short ribs for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and add sauce. Add fresh thyme for garnish and serve immediately.

Serve with mashed potatoes.