Cooking With Carey

Cheese of the month-Gorgonzola

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:23:00 +0000

This months Cheese of the month was Gorgonzola. My husband really likes cheeses, so I sent him on a hunt for a recipe. He came up with Steak Carrera with Gorgonzola Sauce. The recipe is from Robert Irvine from Food Network. I didnt have the 2 spices he used, so I substituted garlic powder, pepper and salt. It turned out wonderful!! We both really enjoyed it.
RECIPE
Beef:

* 1 1/2 to 2 pound beef shoulder
* 2 tablespoons Irvine Spices Smokey Rotisserie Seasoning
* 2 tablespoons Irvine Spices Garlic Pepper
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
Sauce:

* 1 cup water
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 cup instant flour (recommended: Wondra)
* 4 ounces Gorgonzola, cut into small cubes
* Pepper and salt, if needed

Directions

Rinse beef shoulder to remove any residue, pat dry with paper towels and place on a utility platter. In a small bowl, make the rub for the beef by combining Smokey Rotisserie Seasoning and Garlic Pepper. Rub the seasonings into all surfaces of the beef, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours at room temperature. (The seasonings will actually begin to "cure" the meat.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In an oven proof skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat, add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften. Add beef and sear it on all sides. Cover pan (with lid or foil) and transfer to oven to finish beef, bringing to an internal temperature of 115 degrees F for medium rare (about 30 minutes). Remove from oven, transfer to a utility platter, and let rest for 10 minutes. (Make the sauce as directed below while the beef is resting.)

For the sauce: To the pan in which the beef was roasting (use an oven mitt on the hot handle), add 1 cup water and balsamic vinegar over medium high heat and whisk in instant flour. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes to "cook out" the flour. Strain into a bowl and whisk in gorgonzola cheese, allowing it to melt. Season with pepper, to taste, and salt only if needed (as the cheese will lend saltiness).

Memas Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:15:00 +0000

This is a great recipe that my grandma used to make. I never knew how to make it until my aunts church put together a cookbook and my aunt added it. The recipe makes quite a bit of salsa. It also uses quite a few peppers

1 gallon canned whole tomatoes, peeled
1 chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves
1 handful cilantro
4-5 jalapeno peppers (I only use 1)
1 lime
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp pepper and salt

In a blender (on grind) add drained tomatoes. Pulse blender. Add chopped onions, garlic and peppers. Squeeze in lime juice. Add brown sugar, salt and pepper. I then pulse again. Let sit 2-3 hrs; keep refrigerated. Stir occasionally.

Without Meat Wednesdays

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:10:00 +0000

On Wednesdays I am going to talk about a recipe that is vegetarian, so I am calling it Without Meat Wednesdays. This week I made a mushroom pizza. It was inspired by a portobello mushroom dinner that my husband and I enjoy. The dinner is a portobello mushroom that marinates in balsamic vinegar and oil. Then you grill it, add tomatoes, cheese and serve on toast. So for this pizza I made a homemade crust and added mushrooms and cheese (I forgot and we were out of tomatoes) It turned out pretty good, but would have been better with the tomatoes.

TWD-Vanilla Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:38:00 +0000

This weeks recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was Vanilla ice cream. I love homemade ice cream, so I had to make this. It is a very custardy ice cream. I will be trying this recipe again and adding some other flavors to it. I am really looking forward to the mint chocolate chip.
I did have some issues with this ice cream, but I think it was my ice cream maker. It has been having issues lately and it took about 6 hrs after I took the ice cream out for it to be a consistancy for me to scoop it.

I would like to thank Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu for choosing this recipe. Please check out the TWD blogroll to see what others did with this recipe

Ideas to use and preserve your summer produce bounty

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:57:00 +0000

I was just reading this blog post that Amanda made about preserving your summer veggies. I dont have a lot out of my garden this year...it was our first try at it and I am only growing things in pots. I will be doing it larger scale next year since I have had luck. This is a great post (and even includes a video of her mom demonstrating)
We tend to get a lot of produce at the farmers market, so i will have to try out this with some of them. I am also planning on lactofermenting some cucumbers and cabbage.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:01:00 +0000

My kids love chocolate chip muffins and for some strange reason I kept buying a mix that made them. I knew there had to be an easy way to make them myself. I saw a recipe at Recipezaar.com and knew I had to try them. These were WONDERFUL and very easy to make. My picky son even commented on how they were better than the box mix. I did not use the nuts because Emma is allergic and I only had half a bag of chocolate chips, but they were still very full of chocolate chips

Chocolate Chip Muffins
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup milk
* 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 1 (11 1/2 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Grease twelve muffin cups.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended.
Make a well in center of dry ingredients.
Add milk mixture and stir just to combine.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
Now bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.
Remove muffin tin to wire rack.
Cool for 5 minutes.
Remove from tins to finish cooling.
Serve warm or completely cool.
These muffins freeze well.

The Daring Bakers-Milan cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:43:00 +0000

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I chose to make the milan cookies because those are my favorite cookies EVER!!! I actually had a little trouble with my recipe. They REALLY spread when they were cooking which made them HUGE. They still taste good, but were not near the texture that I am used to with the store bought kind. They had way more of a lemony taste than the store bought ones too, so I think I will only do half the lemon extract when I try them again

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Rebuild from depression give away

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:29:00 +0000

Amanda Rose is a mom who suffered with postpartum depression with her first child. She then went on to learn from her experience and write a book about how your diet can affect you. In her book Rebuild from Depression, her website and her blog she discusses how important your diet can be. Please check out her web info and buy the book to learn what you can to help yourself and other women in your life.
This week she is having a give away on her blog with some of the things that can improve your diet. She is giving away one jumbo pack of Omega 3s, B vitamins, and magnesium and one for a desiccated liver product. You can check her blog here to see what you have to do to enter.

Throwback Thursday-TWD-Katherine Hepburn Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:24:00 +0000

On Thursdays I am going to do a feature called Throwback Thursdays. It will be baking/cooking challenges that I was unable to do at the assigned time, so now I am doing them. This recipe, Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies, was from Tuesdays with Dorie

This was an ok recipe. I dont know if it was because I made some substitutions or just the recipe. It turned out really gooey on the inside. The taste was good. I liked the chocolate with the coffee flavor. I had to leave out the cup of nuts because we have an allergy in the house. I dont know if this helped it become gooey or not.

I would like to thank Lisa of Surviving Oz for choosing this recipe. You can check the TWD blogroll to see what others did with this recipe

TWD-Blueberry Banc-Manger

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:23:00 +0000

This weeks recipe was Raspberry Blanc-Manger with the option to have the sauce-Raspberry Coulis. I couldnt use the raspberries because our grocery store was out when I went, so I went with blueberries instead.
I was a little worried about this recipe for 2 reasons-I had never worked with gelatin before, and I had to find a substitute for the ground almonds because my daughter is allergic. The gelatin happened to be very easy to use in this recipe. However the substituting for the almonds was not as easy. I tried to think of what the ground almonds are used for...was it as a binder or for flavor? First I tried flour to see if it would be best as a binder. This did not work. The flour clumped up too much. So I tried to think of something that would be the same texture as ground almonds to replace it. The only thing I had was wheat germ. It seemed to work ok.
This was not one of my favorite recipes from TWD, but it was ok. I would like to thank Susan from Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for choosing this recipe. You can also check out the TWD blogroll to see what others did with this recipe.

If you cant take the heat....

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:02:00 +0000

You know the phrase....you need to stay out of the kitchen. Well that is my least favorite part of summer. This is the blog assignment for the week at The Dressing Room.
In the winter I can spend the whole day in the kitchen baking. However, in the summer I hate cooking because it heats up the kitchen so much. I can barely stand to have the oven on for more than 30 minutes. That greatly reduces the things that you can bake. I love to make fresh bread....but that is out of the question because it breaks the over 30 minutes in the oven rule. I cant wait until fall when I can do some daily (or sometimes more) baking

My favorite part of Summer!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:57:00 +0000

A online group that Im part of, The Dressing Room, has a weekly assignment for our blogs. Last week it was discussing your favorite part of summer. Because we were on vacation, Im a little late but needed to post anyway.
My favorite part of summer is FARMERS MARKETS!!! I love going and getting fresh vegetables from the farmers themselves. They are always fresh because they are local. They are usually always at a very reasonable price too!!!

blog update

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:07:00 +0000

sorry I have not been posting much lately. We have been having issues with our oven, so I havent been able to bake anything. I need to have this handy repair man come visit. We are going on vacation this week so when we get back I am going to be making up for those recipes that I have missed doing

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Its in the oven right now...I will post pics tomorrow morning when we eat it

Thanks to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for choosing this recipe, which you can find on her blog. Also, check out the blogroll to see what the others did with this recipe

Daring Baker's Challenge: Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:43:00 +0000

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I have never made cheesecake before, so I was excited to get the opportunity to try it. Jenny gave us the option of making some creative flavors of cheesecake, but because this is my first attempt, I decided not to do anything fancy and just make a plain cheesecake. Before serving I added some chocolate sauce over the top.
This recipe was very easy to make, but it was time consuming because you had to let it cook for almost an hour and then sit in the oven with the heat turned off for another hour. In the end, it was well worth the wait. It was GREAT!!! We are having company this coming weekend, so I am going to try one of the different flavors.
I also use the suggestion in the recipe and used a disposable 9X9 casserole pan because then it wouldnt leak when the pan was placed in the water bath. Here is a pic of the pan after coming out of the oven.

Thanks to Jenny for picking this recipe. Please check out her blog for the recipe. Also, check out the Daring Bakers blogroll to see what others have done with this recipe

TWD Chocolate Bread Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:13:00 +0000

I was a little unsure about this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie. I am not a fan of bread pudding, however I love chocolate. I thought that the chocolate might turn it into something I like. Unfortunately I was wrong. It was an ok recipe, but I only ate one piece. The kids didnt really enjoy it that much either, even the girls who love chocolate too.Thanks to Lauren of A BAKING BLOG aka upper east side chronicle
for choosing this recipe. Also, check out the TWD blogroll to see what others have done with this recipe

No TWD this week

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:04:00 +0000

I am opting out of this weeks TWD.
You can check the blogroll to see what others have done. The recipe this week was 15 Minute Magic Chocolate Amaretti Torte, chosen by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon.

Vcon creole stuffed peppers and messy rice

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Today I made creole stuffed peppers and messy rice from the book Veganomicon. I will be back later to talk about them and post recipe

TWD Banana Cream Pie...well, almost!!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:03:00 +0000

This week the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was for banana cream pie. However, mine is not in pie form anymore. I made the pie crust yesterday. It was my first time ever making a pie crust. It turned out ok, but not great. It was good enough to use for this recipe though. Today I got all my stuff ready to make the filling. When I closed the door of the fridge, the pie crust fell off the top of the fridge where I was storing it so the dog wouldnt eat it. It came crashing down, broke and the dog ate it....so much for trying huh? So to save what I could of the recipe, I turned it into banana cream parfaits. They turned out pretty good.
Thanks to Amy from Sing for your Supper for choosing this recipe. I think I will try at some point to make it again in pie form. Please check out the TWD blogroll to see what others did with this recipe

3 cheese macaroni and cheese and Cheesy Garlic Flat Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:59:00 +0000

My husband and I really enjoy watching the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. When I went to the library and saw a book with recipes from the show, I knew I had to get it. The first recipe we wanted to try was the three cheese macaroni and cheese from the Eveready Diner in New York. I thought it would go nicely with cheesy garlic flat bread that I saw in Cristines blog Cooking with Cristine. This mac and cheese is WONDERFUL!!! I WILL be making this one again!!!

Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
1 tbsp salt, plus more for pasta water
1 lb elbow macaroni
6 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp all purpose flour
3 cups cold milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb white cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz romano cheese, shredded
4 oz asiago cheese, shredded
1 tbsp black pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs

preheat oven to 325
bring large pot of water to boil and add macaroni noodles. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour over butter and cook whisking to make a paste, about 2 minutes. Add milk and whisk until smooth. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until sauce is thick and bubbly. Add heavy cream , all 3 cheeses, 1 tbsp salt and pepper. Cook until all cheeses are fully melted.
Add cooked macaroni to cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Transfer to 9 X 13 baking dish and top with panko crumbs. Bake until hot and golden brown, about 15 minutes

Cheesy Garlic Flat Bread

Bread:

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp yeast

Topping:

2 TBSP butter, melted

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 cup mozzarella

1/4 cup parmesan

Layer bread ingredients in bread machine; select dough cycle. When dough is finished, spread on baking stone or cookie sheet sprayed with PAM and sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush dough with butter; sprinkle with garlic salt and cheeses. Cover and let rest 45 minutes. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Iced Cinnamon Bun Scones

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Ok, yet another great recipe that I borrowed from my friend Cristine of Cooking with Cristine.
My son Parker came home from school and told me he had tried scones that his teacher had brought in and he liked them. For Parker this is a big deal-1. trying a new food and 2. Liking it
So off I went in search of scone recipes. I didnt have to go far because I know Cristine LOVES scones. Parker loves cinnamon rolls, so I knew that this recipe would be a hit. It was very easy to make too!!! I made them last night and then put the icing on this morning. I did have to add a little milk to make the icing work better...I think because I was in a hurry and didnt let the cream cheese soften enough. These were a hit and I will now be looking for more scones recipes

Iced Cinnamon Bun Scones
Food & Wine Annual 2004

2/3 cup brown sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice, PLUS 2 TBSP softened
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups AP flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix brown sugar, 2 TBSP softened butter, and 1 tsp cinnamon until soft crumbs form. Set aside.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Add diced butter and mix until pea-sized crumbs form. Make well in center and add cream, egg, and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon until a firm dough forms. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and knead into dough until it is just incorporated, leaving some streaks.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead 3 times. Pat dough into 8" roun. Cut the round into 8 wedges and transfer to baking sheet. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

Bake the scones for 18-20 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the lemon juice. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spread the icing over warm scones.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:07:00 +0000

I found this recipe on my friend Cristines blog Cooking with Cristine, so I knew they had to be good. I usually make brownies once a week for the kids, and I thought this would be something they would like that would be different. They were WONDERFUL!!! The kids all loved them too. I love snickerdoodle cookies and havent had them in a long time. These really hit the spot!!! I will be adding this recipe into my rotation of ones to make over and over again.

Snickerdoodle Blondies
Recipe from Dozen Flours

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish.)

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

TWD French Yogurt Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Sorry this post is late, I totally forgot to post it. For the March 17th Tuesdays with Dorie, we made French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze. This was an ok recipe, but I would say it is my least favorite TWD recipe that I have made so far. Instead of the lemon marmalade that the recipe called for, I had to use orange for the glaze. This could be part of why I didnt like it as much because Im not a big orange fan. Also, the kids wouldnt touch it because of the glaze. Oh well!

Thanks to Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction for choosing this week's recipe. You can find the recipe at her blog and, as always, check out the blogroll!

TWD-Coconut Butter Thins

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Today for Tuesdays with Dorie I made Coconut Butter Thins. These were wonderful!! I love coconut, so I knew I would love them. They are a shortbread like cookie with coconut and macadamia nuts. They were also pretty easy to make. My kids liked that they were in a square shape too instead of the typical round cookie shape. I like that you could make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to bake. I will be making these cookies again!!

Thanks to Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch for choosing this yummy recipe!!
Please check out the TWD blogroll to see what others did with this recipe. Look for next week when I will make the TWD Banana Cream Pie

One challenge-Two yummy vegan breads

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:55:00 +0000

This is my first month participating with the Bread Baking Day group. Challenge #18 was for Quick Breads hosted by The Fun and Food blog. I really enjoy making quick breads, so this was going to be great for me!! I decided to make 2 breads, both of them vegan. My first bread was banana bread from The Post Punk Kitchen. I really enjoyed this bread, but I was the only one to eat it because everyone else wanted the pumpkin bread. The front bread is the pumpkin, the back bread is the banana bread.

Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup margarine, at room temp
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 8x4 bread pan with non stick cooking spray, or lightly coat with margarine.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Cream together the margarine and sugars. Add bananas, soy milk and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour to an hour 10 minutes.

The bread on the left is the banana, the bread on the right is the pumpkin

The second recipe I made was remaking the pumpkin bread I had made earlier. I made this version vegan by using Ener-g Egg replacer for the eggs. It turned out great and the kids loved it once again.