Lime and Coconut Custard Cakes

Do you remember the plans I had for limes last weekend? I finally got around to the experiment last night. A while ago I made Lemon Custard Cakes from Martha Stewart Living (March 2007, pg.147), and instantly wondered how a lime and coconut version might be. The results were delicate, fluffy lime cakes with a thin layer of custard, resembling lime curd, at the bottom. Admittedly, the flavor of coconut lent by the shredded coconut was so subtle that I nearly missed it. I think, next time, I will either simmer the flaked coconut in the milk (and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding to the batter), or I will use coconut milk or cream in place of the milk.
Here is my version of the recipe:

Lime and Coconut Custard Cakes
Butter, room temperature, for custard cups (or you can melt it and use a brush to butter the cups)
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
zest from two limes
a little over 1/4 c fresh lime juice (juice of two limes)
1 c milk (or the substitutions listed above)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Set a kettle of water to boil.
Butter six 6-oz custard cups.
Place the custard cups in a roasting pan or baking dish lined with a kitchen towel.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and granulated sugar until mixture is light.
Whisk in flour.
Gradually whisk in lime zest and juice.
Whisk in milk (or substitutes).
If coconut has not been mixed in, stir it in as well.
With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form
Add to lime mixture, gently folding in with the whisk.
Divide batter among prepared cups.
Place pan in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups.
Bake until cakes are puffed and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Roast Beef

Another of our family's comfort foods is Roast Beef. The last time we went to the butcher (http://www.brandonmeats.com/) it was still a bit cool outside, so I ordered two roasts. Then it became unseasonably warm (80 degrees, 80 degrees in March, that is wrong on so many levels), so I started trying to think of warm weather ways of preparing the arm roasts. But, it got cool again, so last night I made Roast Beef with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. The cooking time for this one is long, and longer if you do it the way I did yesterday so that I could go to the gym (needed more time), but the results are a tender roast.

Roast Beef

1 beef roast (You can use any size or cut. The size will only affect the cooking time. I believe the one I used last night was around 3 lbs, and it was an arm roast.)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 large bell pepper
1-46oz can of tomato juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 275 - 350 degrees (higher temperature will reduce cooking time).
Place the roast in a large ovenproof skillet (we use cast iron).
Salt and generously pepper each side of the roast.
Add the onion and bell pepper.
Pour the tomato juice over everything until the roast is covered.
Place, covered with lid or aluminum foil, in the oven and cook until a fork, inserted into the middle of the roast, comes away without resistance (Yesterday I cooked the roast at 275 degrees for 3 1/2 hours.)

A gravy can be made of the tomato juice after the roast is complete. Simply remove the roast from the skillet and set aside, covered. Place the skillet on a burner set at medium to medium high heat. In a shakable container, put flour (the amount of flour depends on the amount of liquid in the pan, you'll have to experiment as we never measure this part) and enough water to make it runny and shake. Slowly whisk the flour and water mixture into the tomato juice and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Once it is thick, pour into a gravy boat and serve.

Irish Soda Bread

I love (and I don't use that term lightly... at least here) the New York Times food section. They have provided me with some absolutely delicious recipes, and the Irish Soda Bread that was featured recently is no exception. It's a basic, slightly sweet buttermilk quick bread flavored with a healthy dose of currants and some caraway seeds. It's no longer on their website, but I don't feel comfortable copying it here. (But if you asked me, I would be okay sharing via email.) Instead, I'll give you the recipe for a light cream of potato soup which we ate with the soda bread, sharp cheddar cheese and thinly sliced tart apples. By light, I do not mean light on calories (though it may be, I haven't checked), but less dense, through the use of more chicken broth than milk and less flour in the roux.

Potato Soup

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk (I used 1%)
3/4 c diced ham

Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, and boil until tender.
Drain potatoes in the sink while preparing the sauce.
Melt butter in the pan.
Add the onion and cook until starting to brown (better flavor).
Stir in the flour, making sure to get rid of lumps, and allow to bubble for one minute.
Add salt and pepper. (I did not add salt to mine because I thought the ham and chicken broth would lend enough. They did.)
Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring or whisking to prevent lumps.
Add the milk.
Heat this mixture to boiling.
Add ham and potatoes and heat through.

Colorful Breakfast

I had a wonderful breakfast this morning that also happened to be very colorful. Two of our dyed eggs, strawberries (more than just three. I thought three would look nice in the picture), and a piece of homemade bread with butter and honey. That is no ordinary honey. It's pumpkin honey. We got it last fall when we went to pick out pumpkins for our Jack O' Lanterns. It has a delicate flavor and you can definitely taste flowers. While I love clover honey, this is far superior. It's so good, I've refused to use it in my tea. I spread the pumpkin honey on bread and biscuits only.

Lemons and Limes

Today we made... scratch that, my mom made Lemon Poppyseed Scones. I took the dogs for an early morning run again. Unlike the Maple Nut Scones, these are more like biscuits in moisture and texture. With the coming of spring, I crave fresh flavors. What's fresher than lemons?

Lemon Poppyseed Scones
(adapted from this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_1528,00.html)

3 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 c butter
2-4 tbsp poppyseeds
1 c buttermilk
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest together.
Cut in the butter until coarse meal.
Stir in poppyseeds and then buttermilk. (Mix as with the Maple Nut Scones, gently.)
Divide dough in half, pat into rounds on a floured surface.
Cut each round into 8 to 10 wedges.
Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.
Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar into a frosting, drizzle over the scones.

I have some plans for these limes. I'll post that experiment soon.

Spring, Part Deux - Foliage Revenge

Another picture heavy post. We have a new Nikon D80 in our house. Oh my, how I love it. The sparrows are very lively these past few days. We can see them finding mates and collecting twigs and stems from last year's flowers and herbs for their nests. We've cleaned out the bird houses and hope to have another family of house sparrows dwelling outside the picture window in the kitchen. We also put another one near the bird feeders. The plants are starting to pop up in the garden, as well. This is Dragon's Blood Sedum, which can be used (I think) for a green roof. The tulips, which we've planted in the grass for two reasons. Once they've finished blooming, you can just mow them down. Also, you don't risk digging them up while planting other plants in your garden. The crocus have also come up and are in full bloom.
And we dyed eggs, because they're so pretty, but we got a package of dying tablets that had problems. The red wouldn't dye anything, so we added some drops of red food coloring to that water. The purple wasn't purple, it was blue. We added red to that, too, and ended up with a horrible puce color. That egg ended up in blue dye, thus the multitude of blue eggs. I think next year I'm going to try natural dyes. Red cabbage, onion skins, spinach water... I think those would be really pretty. But what made me happiest of all? The mint is coming up again! I think when I own my own house, I'm going to get rid of all the grass and just plant a bunch of mint. It's so beautiful and it smells wonderful. It makes fabulous tea. I also use it to make a minted simple syrup which I then put in flavored, iced black tea.

The Arrival of Spring

As most bloggers, journalists, and most everyone are pointing out, spring has arrived. It's absolutely gorgeous outside. (Though, that does mean I've lost my bet with my mother that we would get at least one more day of below thirty degree weather. I now owe her a Chocolate Martini. I suppose I'll just have to buy my own Vodka Martini so that she doesn't have to drink alone.) It's so nice outside that we grilled out. Hamburgers (with crushed black pepper and salt), topped with pan-fried onions (done to golden brown perfection) and tomatoes (we actually found some in the store that smelled like actual tomatoes), cooked corn (just the frozen kind, it's been so long since we've had that. I forgot how good corn is), and black pepper kettle chips. It was delicious. I'm now looking forward to the days of hot weather where I sit outside in a tank top and skirt, drinking wine (or a Long Island Iced Tea) and grilling because it's just too hot to cook inside. While I don't have any photographs of our food, I am going to share (a lot of) pictures from something else I enjoy. Running our dogs at the public hunting grounds.
Lichen on one of the most wonderful oak trees. It's still very small, but that tree has so much character. I admit, I have a strange affinity for trees.
The moss is growing and thriving again. I loved that there were still leaves from last year laying on top of it. Of course, my dog wanted to know why I was kneeling down. He trampled the moss. Poor moss.

This is my dog. Cute, huh? Needless to say, he and the other dogs got baths when we came home, but did they enjoy the run. Usually we only walk along the ridge at the beginning of the path. I decided to take them to the back area, which meant going through some pretty swampy areas. This was at the beginning of the low-lying part of the path. It gets a lot more wet. As in, I stepped in the wrong spot and the water came half-way up my calf.

It was a foggy morning and I found some pussy willow covered in dew.

This is our oldest female dog right before she and the others started hunting frogs. In the winter they hunt mice. In the spring, frogs apparently. She and the other female dog (not pictured) are trained to hunt pheasant. Unfortunately, the pheasant population in Wisconsin is dismal. They are also quite good at hunting sparrows in the backyard. I once laughed while telling a guy that I saw someone teaching their dog to hunt squirrels on my university's campus. He didn't think it was funny. Apparently he fed those squirrels.

The Red-winged Blackbirds are back. Soon I'll be riding my bike along the country highways with these birds screaming at me to get away from their territory while I make my slow, arduous way up a steep hill. It's not very good for my personal morale, you know?

And, finally, some more trees. I do love when the seasons change.

The Second Chayote Experiment

A while back I got around to trying the chayote squash in a savory dish. The result was rather tasty, if I say so myself, but the other taste testers also enjoyed it. This was a far superior preparation of this vegetable compared to the dessert that I made with it. I have to say, the texture of this squash, when cooked, is very similar to cooked cucumber. Perhaps most of you haven't had cooked cucumber, but I have. The people in the area of China where I lived used cucumber in a variety of cooked dishes. At first I thought it was strange, but came to really enjoy it.

Back to the stuffed chayote. My very handy "Field Guide to Produce" listed both chorizo, seafood, and lime as good mates for the chayote. I took this and ran with it. (Oh, and please pardon the sketchy measurements. I will remedy the most offensive ones once back home.)

4 chayote squash, halved and seeded
1 tbsp oil
1/2 green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 of a tube of chorizo (Mexican) [see what I meant by sketchy measurements?]
1 1/2 c chopped, raw shrimp
adobo con pimienta, to taste
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the chayote squash, face down, in a glass baking dish until tender (1/2 to 1 hour).
Remove the chayote from the oven, turn over and allow to cool while preparing stuffing.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Add the bell pepper and onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook one minute.
Add the chorizo and cook until firm.
Add the shrimp and cook.
When the shrimp is mostly done cooking, sprinkle on the adobo (I think I did two passes over the pan), cumin, oregano, and cilantro.
When shrimp is fully cooked, use a spoon to scoop the flesh out of the chayote and add that to the pan. Make sure to leave enough flesh inside the chayote, since the skin is thin and will not hold its own shape.
Add the lime juice to the pan, stir thoroughly.
Stuff the squash with the stuffing and place back in the glass pan.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake until heated through (15 minutes to 1/2 hour).

I served these with homemade tortillas. Just a note, the skin of the chayote is tender enough to eat. No waste! How great is that?

Starving Myself?

That might be what you would assume given that I've seriously neglected my blog. I am not. I've just been very preoccupied with a part of my life not associated with food. I will resume posting shortly.

My favorite tools

Erin, over at A Dress a Day (see sidebar), had a recent post about appreciating your tools. Whilst making Swedish Meatballs this evening, I realized that I had chosen my favorite kitchen tools. I love this fish spatula because it allows me to get beneath even the most stubborn things. Pancakes? No problem. Meatballs? Easy. Fish? Uh, what's that? Oh, that sea meat you make about once a month? Is that what I'm intended for? I had no idea! What a concept!

The tongs, oh the tongs. Now, my mother tends to reach for these tiny plastic tongs that I think she got with a take-out meal sometime in the past. Those have melted edges. She teases me about how I always choose the largest implement possible to do whatever job I need done. (My dad, on the other hand, chooses the smallest. Seeing him stirring a pot with a teaspoon -the type you eat with, not measure with- is NOT an uncommon sight.) I think I'm about the only person who regularly grabs these tongs. Everyone else seems to hate them because they claim they pinch. I suppose when you don't understand that you should grip the tongs about halfway up instead of at the pivot, that's your punishment. :)

My mother used to have one of those wooden rolling pins with the handles. You know the type? That makes a slight rattling noise as you flatten something (or in this case, crush some crackers into powder)? I loved that! But I also love this rolling pin. It's fabulous.

The timer (ticking type in the mid-ground, not the digital one in the background). My mom has always used these, and like most people, I feel what's good for mom is good for me. I love the sound of this thing slowly clocking how long my meal has been cooking. We use the digital one when the times exceed one hour. It's good, but I check it constantly to make sure it's still counting down the time. No reassuring ticking there.

A while back I posted about a broccoli dish and in the photo of the beautiful vegetable was my favorite knife. A butcher's knife. I love that thing. Again, biggest possible instrument for the job. I'll probably end up married to a really big guy, but love him to death for all the things he can do for me with such vast capabilities compared to all those tiny men! (And there are a LOT of them around, aren't there? I'm not a huge woman, but I am slightly tall and not small boned or fleshed and it makes finding a guy really difficult. I would love to let go of inhibitions and be one of those big women with a small man, but it's just not in me. I can't help but imagine squashing him like a bug between my fingers.)

Perhaps I've had one glass of wine too many tonight....

An Unmitigated Disaster

That was dinner the night before last. I ran out of time as I thought of endless meals to which we were missing at least one key ingredient. In the end I found some brats from our "local" butcher* and decided to boil them, broil them, and make potato pancakes. Hello cholesterol, goodbye arteries. But, our arteries were saved because the brats had gone bad. In the freezer, yes. This is the only drawback to using a local butcher, they don't use nearly as many preservatives as the mass producers. I'm not complaining. I should have realized. My fault, not theirs. I appreciate the lack of extra preservatives in my food. While my father undauntedly ate two of the offending brats, my mother sat silently swearing at me in her mind because she had had a rough day and was tired and hungry and dammit, dinner was a failure. She said it was alright, but it was the "it's alright" of a very disappointed and famished person. I don't blame her. (See post on teasing hungry people below.)

My shame led to a very successful dinner last night. I had my honor to defend here. On the menu:
Green salad with homemade Italian dressing
Italian roast beef
Marinara sauce over bowtie noodles
Individual banana cream pies

My reputation has been saved (further proof and details to come soon).

*I quote "local" because while this is a small butcher, we have to drive about 40 minutes to get there. But I suppose it isn't any further than our preferred grocery store. Unfortunately, our actual local grocery store has dismal produce, and when that is the bulk of your shopping cart, you pick your grocery store based on the quality of their produce. I refuse to shop somewhere that sells me onions that start sprouting and rotting within the week, celery that is rotting in its bag in the store and shrivelled green peppers.

Maple Nut Scones

I've realized that using a Mac with Blogger has its drawbacks. Like not having the option to insert a cool link into my post (that one down below was only acheived because I used a PC that time). Instead you get this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Restaurant-Quality-Maple-Oatmeal-Scones/Detail.aspx. Not exactly pretty, is it? Nonetheless, this link goes to a great scone recipe that I use regularly, even switching it up and making other flavors. My Gingersnap version is widely appreciated (at least the people at the local lumberyard love it). I do, however, make a few changes and have a few tips, if you should like to make these. First, I don't add the dried cherries, but instead a cup of chopped walnuts. Also, scones are a type of biscuit. I have no idea why so many of their recipes ask you to stir in the extras after mixing in the liquids. That is a quick way to end up with some tough, nasty scones. Instead, stir in any extras (nuts, raisins, poppy seeds) after you've cut in the butter and before you stir in the liquid. Speaking of the liquid, I add an extra splash of buttermilk so that I don't have to stir as much to wet all the ingredients, and I use 1 teaspoon of maple extract, not 1/2 of one. Why, you might ask? Because I am my father's daughter; if 1/2 is good, 1 must be extra good. (But don't tell him that. I enjoy teasing him mercilessly about the fact that if he's sent to the store for one quart of half-and-half, he inevitably comes home with two, "Just in case." This goes for most everything.)

Back to the stirring and preparation of the scones, I find that you should start off by gently folding to incorporate dry and wet ingredients. Then, when it's almost all mixed, I get my hands dirty (and sticky) by gathering the multiple lumps and working in that stubborn bit of dry lingering in the bottom of the bowl by patting the lumps into a large ball and dabbing the damp outside into the lingering dry bits. When you're done, the whole thing should be a moist, somewhat sticky ball. Don't try to pack the ball too tight, though, because you might ruin some of the biscuit structure. Basically, over-mixing is your enemy while making scones. Put a very liberal amount of flour on your counter, do NOT knead the dough as the recipe tries to trick you into doing, and proceed to divide the dough and cut as the recipe tells you. If you put this dough on a lightly floured surface, you WILL be using something to scrape it off. It sticks. But the end result is delicious. Oh, and keep an eye on them the first time you make them. Ovens are finicky appliances, and you don't want to end up with burnt scones. I top mine with a "never the same twice" icing of powdered sugar, dash of salt, maple extract and hot water or coffee. If you make it runny enough (but not so much that it just sinks into the scones), and put it on after they've cooled a bit, it should harden nicely on the outside. I find these store best uncovered, as when they're covered they tend to get sticky. Enjoy!