chocolate souffle with white chocolate mint cream

what? you were imaging cute little cupcakes. or a great big cake, piled high with mint cream. yea, i was picturing that too. things aren't always as easy or foolproof as you may think.

but it doesn't mean they aren't absolutely delicious. to die for, even.

recent errors

behind the scenes of any kitchen, are a number of disasters. some can be salvaged, and sometimes so well, that you can't even tell that it's the result of a disaster. others, are complete and utter messes. unsalvageable. in keeping with the spirit of sharing both messes and successes, here are a few messes i've made recently -

vanilla caramels. the picture doesn't really capture the mess. some of these came out perfect, the others had sandy patches or hard as a rock spots. i don't know what i did to these - cook them too long, or under uneven heat - but they need some work.

giada's quick bolognese [and gnocchi disaster]

this is a tale of two dishes: one perfect masterpiece and one hot mess.

tomato tart, crackers, and a soggy crust

i really really really wanted to love this tart.

don't get me wrong. the flavors are incredible. fresh picked tomatoes softened in the oven with fresh mozzarella, a drizzle of olive oil. baked in a garlic basil crust.

it's that darn crust that got me.

first it pulled me in. really?! crust with basil. and garlic?! why haven't i made this already?

i was hooked.

i made the dough. let it rest in the refrigerator, getting all cold, while i watched seinfeld. easy. i rolled out the dough, lined my pan, and blind baked it. easy. i filled it and baked it again. topped it with proscuitto. and it looked gorgeous. killer. i cut myself a huge slice and took the perfect first bite. into a soggy crust.

the flavor is incredible, just as you'd imagine. buttery, garlicy, basily, perfect. but soggy. maybe my tomatoes had too much water. or the cheese. i don't know, but i was devastated.

if you figure out the trick to the crust, let me know...

...or skip the crust all together - sandwich the tart filling between a bagel. it makes a really great saturday breakfast (or lunch).

oh, and don't toss your crust scraps. roll them out real thin, cut them into squares, and bake at 375F for about 10 minutes for great, homemade crackers. next time i'll make the crust just for the crackers!

tomato tart

adapted from annie's eats

2 hours, makes 1 9" tart

for the crust -

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

3 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into marble size pieces
cold water

for the filling -

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or shredded
3-4 ripe tomatoes
fresh grated romano cheese

a couple fresh basil leaves
4-6 slices good proscuitto

salt, pepper, olive oil

1. make the crust. in the bowl of a food processor, chop the fresh basil and garlic. add the flour and kosher and mix well. add all the butter and process until the dough looks like small pebbles, about 20 seconds. add a tablespoon of water and mix. if the dough hasn't come together, add another and mix. continue adding water until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
2. turn the dough out of the food processor and onto a piece of plastic wrap. cover and smush into a flat disc. chill at least 30 minutes.
3. when the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 425F. take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll into a sheet the size of your tart pan. line the pan with the dough and cut away the excess. save the excess for crackers!
4. poke holes into the bottom of your tart shell with a couple times with a fork. bake the empty tart shell about 12 minutes, until light brown.
5. while the tart shell is baking, prep the filling. slice or shred the cheese and slice the tomatoes. mince the basil.
6. when the tart shell is finished baking, fill it and lower your oven to 375F. cover the bottom with mozzarella and then layer tomatoes over it. cover with more mozzarella if you wish. sprinkle the top with salt, pepper, and basil. drizzle lightly with olive oil. bake for 30 minutes.
7. use a paper towel to soak up any moisture that may have collected on the surface of the tart while baking.
8. allow to set for five minutes before serving.

basil garlic crackers

10 minutes

leftover tart dough from above

or a whole recipe of the tart dough for even more crackers!

1. preheat your oven to 375F. smush the dough scraps into a ball. use a rolling pin to roll them out about a eighth of an inch thick.
2. cut into squares, circles, or whatever shape you like.
3. transfer to a baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until light brown.

homemade mint extract

i had high hopes for this. i mean, really high. i imagined cups of mint extract, so much that i couldn't give it away, and already had plans for some of it. i imagined finally finding a use for the mint taking over my back patio.

mint extract is just like vanilla extract or any other infusion: soak in vodka for a long time in a dark place. strain. use. same process to make limoncello too (but that will have to wait until next summer).

a couple weeks ago i got started with a small batch. most recipes i read online said 1 pound of mint leaves to 4 cups of vodka. i definitely didn't want to make a whole four cups the first time, so i settled on 1 cup vodka to 1/4 pound mint. i sent jason off to buy some cheap vodka (there's really no use wasting the good stuff on this) while i figured out what kind of mint to use.

selecting the mint was the hardest part. none, not a single one, of the recipes i found said peppermint or spearmint or anything besides "mint." since i have an overabundance of both, i set out to make one batch of peppermint and one of spearmint. so i started cutting. and cutting. and stripping leaves off. and cutting down some more. a quarter of a pound of mint sounds like a lot. it is, but i didn't realize really how much until i finally had about 30 stems cut and stripped.

by now jason was back with the vodka, so i set to packing both sets of mint leaves in pint mason jars. if this sounds easy, it really wasn't. the mint leaves were packed as tightly as possible, leaving just enough room for the vodka to trickle through. i added a cup to each jar, closed it up, and set it on my windowsill to do its thing.

and then i waited. and waited. a full four weeks. every few days i'd give the jars a shake and flip them over. the leaves slowly changed from a bright green to a brown-green and didn't look out of the ordinary (nothing growing or changing weird colors), so i kept waiting and flipping until it was finally time.

i imagined the burst of mint when the jars were opened. i imagined it smelling so strong i'd have to avert my nose. i opened slowly and carefully. and nothing. neither jar really smelled like anything. bummer. but i was still optimistic.

spearmint (L) and peppermint (R) after their soak

until i started straining it. the leaves were fine - not slimy or gross - but the vodka just didn't smell all that minty. still, i forged ahead, straining both jars, using my hands to squeeze the vodka out of the wilted leaves.

right about now is when i knew i was defeated. visions of more mint ice cream. gone. mint candy. gone. mint brownies. gone. all i had left were two cups of green brown vodka. the peppermint had a slightly minty aftertaste and the spearmint just tasted like weeds. weed flavored vodka. gross. and down the sink it went.

strained spearmint (L) & peppermint (R)

now i'm right back to where i started. i have pounds of spearmint & peppermint growing in my backyard. what can i do with it? i can only eat so much mint chocolate ice cream and drink so many mojitos. any ideas?

jason's egg sandwich experiment

below is the second installment from jason, my taste tester, who - since his macaroni and cheese success in april (which is still the most popular post on this blog) - has decided cooking isn't really too hard. he has occasional food projects, just like me, that he wants to share too.

here's his method for breakfast sandwiches. his method, his thoughts, and this time, his photos.

On Sunday I decided with the leftover bagels that I would try making egg and cheese bagel sandwiches for Kate and I. Normally when I cook it I just make scrambled eggs and put them on with cheese on top. The problem with normal scrambled eggs is that they all just fall off the sandwich when you eat it. I thought about how it must be done in the restaurant. Probably when you go to McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts they just microwave or oven cook eggs in molds. I wonder if I can replicate that in the frying pan? Normally I would search online for a technique but as it was a Sunday morning I was hungry and not in the mood for sitting at a computer, so I just guessed and tried it out.



On the first attempt I used a donut cutter as the "mold" and a half tablespoon of butter that I melted and spread over the sides with a silicone brush. I scrambled two eggs with salt and pepper and let it sit while the pan heat up on medium-low heat. I thought with the egg being so thick I would need to cook it slow to keep it from burning. Kate suggested I put a top over the pan as well to trap in some of the heat, which I did. It took a long time to cook and I was afraid of it burning but as this was a kitchen trial I just left it alone until the top appeared to be set.

I used too much egg and it was hard to pop out of the mold, perhaps because it was thick, or perhaps because the butter didn't work well. I had to use a knife to sort of cut it out. The bottom wasn't burnt but it was a medium brown -- a little toasty. It won't win any medals for appearance but it tasted just fine and never broke apart and fell out of the sandwich, so I will call it a medium success.

I figured for the second sandwich I would use non-stick spray instead of butter and a single egg. The amount of egg was much better this time; the egg didn't stick to the mold and with it not being so thick it cooked better without having a toasted bottom.

pot sticker disaster

what a disaster. a complete, total, kitchen meltdown, disaster.

i thought they would be fun, something just different enough, yet not too out there.

they were supposed to take 30 minutes, not 90. but the time isn't where it went wrong. it was the saute after boiling. they stuck to the pan. and bad. the bottom side of the wonton was completely stuck inside the pan. that bad. so i switched pans halfway through. and turned up the heat a bit. and they still stuck. this time even worse than the first.

even though they didn't look so good, the flavor was really great. but making them did take a heck of a lot more than the 30 minutes the magazine said it would take. but it will be a loooong time before i attempt to make these things again. are there tricks out there i don't know about?

pork and chive pot stickers
adapted from everyday food, october 2009

1/2 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons minced chives
3 teaspoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
30 wonton wrappers
couple tablespoons vegetable oil

1. combine the pork, chives, soy sauce, dry sherry, ginger, sesame oil, cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons water in a bowl.
2. place a heaping teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper. wet half the wanton edge with a finger dipper in water. fold the wonton in half and seal the edges.
3. boil the wontons in batches, for four minutes.
4. heat a large skillet over medium high heat and coat with oil. cook the potstickers in batches for 2-3 minutes or until light brown. serve with dipping sauce.

soy ginger dipping sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoons sesame oil

1. whisk all together in a bowl. serve with potstickers.

error: baked dulce de leche

i keep seeing posts on other blogs about making dulce de leche and how easy it is.

it all started with not without salt's version of boiling the can submerged in water.

and then i saw needful thing's baked version and decided that sounded a little less scary.

so i bought a can of sweetened condensed milk, put it in a glass pie plate and covered with foil, put the pie plate in a roasting pan, filled the roasting pan up with water until it was about half up the pie plate, and put in a 435F oven for 60 minutes.

it did not work so well at all. the result was an ever so darker shade of sweetened condensed milk. not even close to what i was expecting.

so the next morning, i decided to bake it without the water bath. bad news.

i baked the covered pan at 400 for about 20 minutes, checking it every 5. now i see why the water bath was so important. the bottom and sides were pretty burnt and the middle had turned a light caramel color.

i let it cool, whisked it until smooth - being careful not to get the burnt parts mixed in - and tried it in my freshly pressed coffee.



but i wasn't wowed. it really didn't taste all that different from my normal routine of sugar + half & half. i'll have to try another version. or try a caramel instead.