Decadent Sunday Dinner

Every once in a while I get a craving I just can’t shake for a thick, juicy steak and a moist, tender lobster. Thankfully we are in an area where there are Asian markets with whole live Maine lobster in a tank, ready to be steamed for me on the spot, that are surprisingly affordable ($9.99/lb!).

Yesterday I got the craving while shopping in Costco (On a Sunday! What was I thinking?) and I just couldn’t face the weekend crowd we were sure to encounter if we trekked to the Ranch 99 Market. I knew I had a pair of thick filet mignon steaks in the freezer and Costco had previously frozen Canadian lobster tails that looked meaty enough to satisfy my craving, so I decided to give them a try.

Knowing timing would be my biggest hurdle to making sure everything would be ready and warm at the same time, I set my cooking schedule for a true 30 minute meal:

5:30 – Get the steaks started. I turned the burner to medium-high and pre-heated my favorite pan in my kitchen arsenal, my cherry Le Cruset Square grill pan, then added a spray of olive oil spray, seasoned the steaks with Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning, then put them on the sizzling pan to cook. Assuming your filet mignon steaks are at least 1 inch thick, turn steaks over after 8 minutes (for medium rare), 10 minutes (for medium/medium well), or 12-13 minutes (for well done). When you have turned cook the steaks for the same amount of time for your desired degree of wellness and, when there is about 2 minutes left in your cooking time, put a pat of cold butter on top of the steak.

In a pan with a lid, put in 1 inch of water and a steamer insert then bring to a boil. When water reaches a boil, place the lobster tails inside the steamer insert, cover, reduce heat to low-medium and steam for 8 minutes. While the lobster tails are steaming, in a small pan (or a ramekin in the microwave) melt a half cube of butter to dip the lobster in.

Open a bag of frozen C&W (A.K.A. Birdseye) whole petite green beans, pour into a covered 2 quart dish and set the microwave for 6-7 minutes on high power.

This timing will have all of your parts done at the same time so that you can quickly plate and serve your dinner at 6:00. I opened a bottle of Eberle Rare & Reserve 2012 The Ravelin red wine blend to serve alongside. The wine was a perfect complement to the boldly spiced steak. Bon Appetit’.

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S’mores Cheesecake

I saw this picture teased on Twitter as “Food Porn.” I can’t think of a better description than that, can you? Even worse than being teased with the picture was the fact that there was no linked recipe or (God forbid!) place to buy this decadent dessert. Time to search the internet!

A quick Google search led me to a very easy looking recipe from Lyuba @ www.willcookforsmiles.com fame, that I am definitely making tonight!

Crust:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
¾ cup mini chocolate morsels
1 cup marshmallows
Cheesecake:
4 8oz packs of cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream
2 eggs
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup white granulated sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
10 oz hot fudge topping, warmed
2 cups marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a 9 inch spring form. You will need a large roasting pan (one that’s bigger and longer than the spring form. I use the aluminum foil disposable ones.)
In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, vanilla extract and brown sugar. Mix very well.
Spread crumb mixture in the bottom on the spring form, evenly, pressing it over the bottom and half way up the sides.
Spread mini chocolate morsels and marshmallows over the bottom, evenly.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Scrape sides and bottom on the bowl and beat for another minute.
Add corn starch and sugar and mix until combined.
Beat in eggs until well incorporated.
Add sour cream, vanilla extract, and heavy cream and beat until all mixed very well.
Transfer batter into the spring form and spread in evenly. (If you are not sure about your springform holding up in water, you can wrap the springform in heavy duty aluminum foil from bottom up to the sides.)
Place roasting pan into the oven and place cheesecake spring form inside the roasting pan. Carefully add water to the roasting pan, about half way up the side of the spring form.
Bake for 90-95 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door half way. Let cheesecake rest for 10 minutes and take it out of the oven.
Let it rest for 10 minutes on the counter and then gently run a butter knife between sides of the cheesecakes and the springform to carefully separate it. (You don’t actually have to take the cheesecake out of the pan until ready to serve.)
Cool cheesecake for an hour.
Turn on the broiler in the oven.
Spread warm hot fudge over the top of the cheesecake and spread marshmallows evenly on top.
Place cheesecake back in the center of the oven, under the broiler. Let marshmallow toast for only 30-35 seconds. Watch it because they toast very quickly. Take out the cheesecake once marshmallows are lightly browned.
Cool cheesecake completely, cover gently and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Thank you for the recipe Lyuba!

How to Ruin Chocolate Chip Cookies

THCookies Anyone who cooks or bakes regularly should be able to whip up a batch of Toll House Cookies without incident, right?

Today I proved that assumption wrong. UG!

First you preheat your oven to 375° and gather your ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup (2 Cubes) Butter – Softened to Room Temperature
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup (Packed) Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Large Eggs (at Room Temperature)
1 – 12 oz Package (Appx 2 Cups) Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (Optional)

OK, so far I’m good to go! Oven is on & I have everything I need on hand.

I pulled out my baking sheets, lined them with my trusty Artisan Metal Works Silicone Liners, got the measuring spoons, measuring cups and bowls out of the cupboard. Time to make some cookie dough!

Minolta DSC

I measured out the flour, baking soda and salt and put them into a medium sized bowl. Gave that a quick stir to combine and set the bowl aside. No problems with this step!

The butter had been sitting on the counter for a couple of hours and was nice & soft. Into the stand mixer bowl it went along with the brown sugar, the granulated sugar and vanilla. A minute or two of beating and a quick bowl scrape and I was ready to add the two eggs. Everything is going great!

At this point I notice batter isn’t as light and fluffy as it usually is. No problem, the butter just must have been softer than I thought. No problem, time to add the flour mixture – full steam ahead.

This is when the wheels fell off….

I dropped the bowl on my stand mixer and began adding the flour mixture. Just as I lifted the bowl into place to start the mixer I noticed that a blop of the vanilla, sugars, butter & egg mixture had flown off the beater onto one of the cookie sheets.

I defied the rules regarding not eating raw cookie dough (GASP!) and swiped the blop up and into my mouth. UG! WTF? ICK!

Expecting a buttery sweet taste, I was horrified to instead have a mouth full of salty yuck! What in the world had I done wrong?

I glanced around the counters checking off ingredients and came upon an empty Ziplock bag. I immediately realized what I had done wrong.

For the last month I’d been moving the Ziploc bag full of a white granulated substance around in my spice cabinet everytime Iassuming that it was The superfine C&H Baking Sugar that I routinely have on hand. I never thought to check for it to be anything but that, as I often pour the last bits out of the larger carton and into a Ziplock Bag for storage. This time I was oh so wrong! I got a flashback of a day, only a few weeks ago when I had accidentally pushed the metal pouring spout all the way in to the container of Morton’s Iodized Salt. I then poured what was left into a Ziplock bag and went back to what I was doing.

To be fair, I haven’t bought a container of Morton’s Salt for some time, as we’ve changed to salt and pepper grinders when we use salt at the table, so I wasn’t so far off assuming the bag was baking sugar. But UG! I should have tasted it first.

I’d already poured 1/2 of the flour mixture into the ruined butter and sugar mixture so everything had to be thrown away. SUPER FAIL!

Lessons learned:

When putting things into Ziplock Bags, MARK THE CONTENTS & Date.
Always taste mystery ingredients if you’ve failed to follow #1
When in doubt, like I was when I noticed a different consistency, taste the wet ingredient mixture before adding (and wasting) your dry ingredients

I guess there won’t be freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in my house tonight. 😦

Benefits of Red Fruits & Vegetables

redvegetables Unless you’ve been completely cut off from technology and forms of communication with the outside world for the past few decades, you have likely read an article or heard nutritional experts discussing the health benefits of eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

According to the experts at www.choosemyplate.gov, the benefits include keeping your digestive system “moving” and healthy, lowering the risk for some chronic health conditions and lessening the chance of morbid obesity:

Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. Eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.
Since none have cholesterol, eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.
Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Eating vegetables and fruits rich in potassium as part of an overall healthy diet may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.
Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods, and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.
Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.
Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.
Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.
Red fruits and vegetables containing Lycopene (Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Guavas, Mangoes, Papayas, Watermelon, Strawberries, Red Grapes, Grapefruit, Asparagus, and Purple Cabbage) are said to ward off the damaging rays of the sun that cause sunburn, while their antioxidant properties also contribute to the removal of free radicals that can lead to cancer and heart disease.

My grandma got on the healthy living bandwagon in the mid 70’s embracing Jack LaLanne, making her own yogurt & drying her own fruit, the Cambridge Diet and trying to share her healthy living with my raw ground beef, all things canned-meat eating grandpa. I bet you can guess where that got her….nowhere. Hmmm.

While she was beating a dead horse in her own home, I can say that she did instill in me a love of fruits, vegetables and being pretty healthy. I’m not lying though, I never passed up one of grandpa’s delicacies either: chipped beef, SPAM, and even Vienna sausages. I never claimed to be perfect. 😉

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