What Are You Tasting?

The Silver Spoon Feast

Finally, this webblog is back on track! No more entries about bean soups (yes, I have read your emails on this.... >smile<). Below are several dishes that I created from the newly published book, The Silver Spoon cookbook. (See pictures below) I started with a first course dish from page 308, Polenta with Ricotta. The main entree was Chicken in Almond Sauce from page 919 with a side of Asparagus with chopped Egg which is a version of the Parmesan Asparagus from page 402. Lastly, I attempted the Cake with Orange Frosting on page 1067. Ok, unlike my past reviews of this cookbook these recipes were tasty and a hit. As with my other reviews (see past posts) the recipes suffer from limited direction. For example, when creating the Cake with Orange Frosting the directions called for a cake pan, well, what size? Also, most Americanized Italian food here in the states tend to have big bold flavors of garlic, olive oil, tomato and such. Yet, after careful scanning through this book it is hard to find many Italian recipes with spices. Only the odd Indian or other world cuisine that is represented in this book have spices listed. My impression so far, is that the Italians like simple food, less fussing and not overly saturated with flavors. Seems like the Italians are very happy with the delicate almond flavor in the Chicken with Almond Sauce without needing to gunk it up with nutmeg, garlic and needless other spices. This is all very interesting and confusing to this American writer. See the reviews and pictures below:

Out of the whole three course meal that I created, this Polenta with Ricotta (page 308) was by far the best. It had the big taste that I was looking for. Seemed to be the "most" Italian dish that I have created from The Silver Spoons - to date. After a quick crash course in polenta making (page 305), I was off and running. While this seems like a fast dish to create it actually took over 2 hours to prepare and cook. The polenta needs an hour to cook plus, 30 mins. to cool and form then an additional 20 in the oven. Even with the above time issue, this is a must to try! My family was raving about this dish which WILL be added to the Edna's meal rotation. I did make one addition to this recipe. As noted before about The Silver Spoon, there seems to be very few spices listed in this book for the Italian dishes. (odd?) I like my bold stand-up flavors and while stirring the red sauce I couldn't help but drop in a few pinches of oregano (dried myself :) into the red sauce. Below is the recipe as it appear in The Silver Spoon, feel free to add your own slant to it.

From: The Silver Spoon
Polenta with Ricotta

Ingredients:
scant 2 1/2 cups coarse polenta flour
1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup pancetta, diced
11 ounces tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and pepper


Directions:
Prepare the polenta, pour it onto a counter or tray and let cool and set, then cut it into slices. Beat the ricotta in a bowl until smooth. Heat the oil in a small pan, add the onion and pancetta and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper according to taste and simmer for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter. Arrange the polenta, ricotta, Parmesan and tomato sauce in layers in the prepared dish, finishing with a layer of polenta. Dot with the butter and bake for 20 -25 minutes.

Chicken with Almond Sauce was interesting. The flavors from the wine and almonds are faint. As noted in my opening topic above. My experience with The Silver Spoon so far has been with these very delicate flavors not the "traditional" Americanized version of garlic and oregano that we have been groomed to except as Italian. This chicken dish was simple to prepare (no surprise here). While the finished dish was tasty and not offending it didn't scream "Wow, look at me, I'm a chicken and swimming is almonds!" Perhaps, this subtle recipe is too delicate for this girl's American taste buds.

From: The Silver Spoon
Chicken in Almond Sauce

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast portions
juice of 1/2 lemon, strained
1/3 cup almonds, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
salt and pepper

Directions:
Melt half the butter in a skillet, add the chicken and cook over low heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned on both sides. Add the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and add half the remaining butter, the almonds, garlic and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the almonds have browned, then add the remaining butter, pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Return the chicken to the pan and heat through. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving dish, spoon the sauce over it and sprinkle with the parsley.

Parmesan Asparagus (page 402) is too simple to really devote much time here. Simply, boil the asparagus and dress with Parmesan cheese. In my dish, I added chopped egg in addition to the Parmesan cheese which I believe is Frenchy in nature. I also did not (forgot) shave the fiberous asparagus ends. Shaving the ends helps to cook the vegetable evenly. I was running late and needed to get the whole meal on the table, pronto!

Lastly, dessert - Cake with Orange Frosting (page 1067). Had I been a great baker or even one with some slight talent this might have been a lovely dessert. Not, overly rich and perfect for nibbling on over an espresso while sitting in a cafe in Rome. Other than my limited talent in baking, this cake was perfect. Simple to mix, not complex and very tasting. It reminded me of the sweet cake of a (gasp!) Twinky! Of course, with more flavor and appeal. This simple cake would be perfect for lots of other dressings other than the orange frosting listed below. I have next to no skills in the baking department and yet I still try... try... try... While the cake was moist and had a nice light crumb, I did a poor job at getting the cake to release properly. Thus, I ended up with only the top half of the cake. Don't worry, the rest of the cake sticking to the pan didn't go to waste. (slurp!) Also, I seemed to have my measurements off for creating the thick orange frosting that appears in The Sliver Spoon book. Mine was runny, and more like a pourable syrup than a spreadable frosting. In the end, I drizzled the syrup mixture over the cake with little risk to the final outcome. The directions give no clue as to what size cake pan to use. After mixing the batter together it appeared to me that I should use a 9 inch cake pan. However, I would next time use a circle of wax paper in addtion to the buttering which would aid in the release of the cake.

From: The Silver Spo0n
Cake with Orange Frosting

Ingredients:
scant 1/2 cup sweet butter, cut into small pieces
plus extra for greasing
2 eggs
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
scant 1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
juice of 2 oranges, strained

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cake pan with butter. Melt the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk together the eggs, superfine sugar and half the confectioner's sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted butter. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture, mix well and gently stir in half of the orange juice. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake for 20 -25 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining orange juice and the remaining confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool, then turn out onto a serving dish. Spread the orange frosting evenly over the cake and let set in a cool place.

The last post - (on this subject)

9:30 - Currently cooking a batch of Ultima Pasta E Fagioli soup from the Bean Cuisine folks. Yes, I know I have dedicated too much web space to this product and I promise that this is the last post. I also want to get back to cooking out of my cookbook collection. However, since the nice folks at Reily Foods Company sent me a free bag of Bean Cuisine, I felt I should do it justice and write up my experince with pictures. You can find Bean Cuisine at your better markets or online at: http://www.luzianne.com/

The directions call for:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
3tsp. garlic, minced (6 cloves)
3 cups water
3 14.5 oz cans beef broth
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
Grated Parmesan cheese
In a large stock pan, heat oil and saute veggies and garlic. Add water, broth, beans, tomatoes and spice packet contents. (The spice packet is the magic part of this product!) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 1/5 to 3 hours or until beans are tender, stirring frequently. Add pasta (also included) and simmered covered until cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese. Yum - yum.

9:55 - The soup is on for a long 2 1/2 hours of simmer. Then sometime late tonight, I'll take it off the stove cool it down and save the finale step of cooking the pasta tomorrow for dinner. Afterall, who wants soggy pasta? Stay tuned!

What are you tasting?,
Edna

Product Love, Part 2

Well, last week or so I wrote to you about a great little soup product that I found called: Bean Cuisine from the wonderful people at http://www.luzianne.com . Well much to my surprise I received a snail mail letter today from the parent company with a free coupon for a Bean Cuisine of my choice. Apparently, my remarks and review on how yummy their soups are made it to their computers. Attached is the letter and coupon that I received. We must all remember that the big companies out there are pushing those terrible mass market products like Wonder Bread and the like and are hurting our health. The Luzianne company puts out these fabo soups in a bag that are wholesome and tasty without the salt found in a can version. Take a tip from me and be more vocal with the products you love, and support those products with your dollars and voice. We can make a difference in what is on our grocery store selves. Bean Cuisine is a must try, and I bet you will be hooked! Luzianne company, if you are reading this, thank you for creating these soups and keep up the great work!

What are you tasting?,
Edna

(not so) Super Bowl Meal

Hello Friends-

Well, I had planned and expected to create a few new dishes from The Silver Spoon cookbook but found that I had a ton of food in the pantry that needed to be eaten from a past recipe. Has that ever happened to you? How does one eat fabulously everyday? I had some tired old yams, chicken breast that was about to expire and Xmas chocolates that sat on my counter and they all begged to be cooked or thrown out. As we all do, I hate to waste food and feel that I can satisfy my cooking cravings by improvising. In addition, the hubbie wanted the traditional wings for the Super Bowl munchies. What was a girl to do?

The magazines and cookbooks we Foodie people all buy (Eating Well, The Silver Spoon, Martha, Gourmet, etc.) depict wonderful fantasies of ease and abundance in creating food that is delicious and refine. So, while I also want to eat fabulous and most Divas generally do, what am I to do with leftover food products that do not go together? One day, I would love to have my entire cookbook collection online where I could cross-reference them and ingredients with a few mouse clicks. However, until then I have to settle with using my imagination and trying to satisfy the needs of my young family.

The hubbie, sliced the chicken breast into strips and fried them up in a bottle hot wings type of sauce. The end result was tasty and satisfying but not something that I would buy again in the future. Perhaps, I should start listing those products that should NOT be on a cooking diva’s list. In any case, the yams were made at my direction into a healthlier version of the southern dish of yams with brown sugar and cinnamon. Two Super Bowl munchy dishes with admitting very little appeal. However, what was the standout was our dessert. Remember that Xmas candy? I found a great recipe in my Cooking Thin recipe book from Kathleen Daelemans.

Now, let me add here that I cannot stand all of the millions of diet cookbooks out on the market. America is the only country that thinks it can lose weight by eating more of something (Carb diet, grapefruit diet, Slim-Fast diet, etc.) without limiting the quantity not the quality of the food. Hence, this blog where I dedicate my food addiction to eating better and enjoying the eating/cooking experience. With that said, Cooking Thin is the only “diet” type of cookbook in my collection. I think Daelemans got the concept of enjoying what you cook and eat without limiting or having a food no-no list. After all, how many people do you know that are always dieting and never seem to lose a pound? --Typical American approach is to over consume.

From the Cooking Thin, I made the Popcorn Balls with Chocolate (chips) . The recipe is basic, melt butter with mini-marshmallows, pour mixture over popcorn then toss in chocolate (old Xmas candy!) and shape into balls. I added my own twist of grated coconut (un-toasted – probably would have been even better had I toasted the coconut ahead of time) and a little corn syrup and vanilla as I was light on the mini-marshmallows. All very easy and extremely addictive! I am always amazed at how much effort I go through while attempting to complete an exotic recipe. While, the simplest of recipes such as these popcorn balls/clusters so yummy and easy to create.

I made a whole batch of these popcorn balls which were all gobbled down between the hubbie and me by half-time.

Cheers to us.

What are you tasting,
Edna

Flavor: Light citrus with a white wine reduction
Prep Time: 35 mins
Add to the Rotation?: No, but perhaps with chicken instead of monkfish

Hmm. Well, this diva tried yet another dish from The Silver Spoon, this time the main ingredient was monkfish. I made the Monkfish Stew with Turmeric Rice on page 619. Monkfish is known as the poor-man’s lobster due to its similar meaty consistency. The monkfish that I bought was from Whole Foods at a whooping $12.99 a pound, and this recipe calls for 2 lbs! At that price, this “trash” fish is no longer in the poor-man’s budget. This meaty fish is perfect to standup to the long heating and constant stirring needed for this stew. In addition, monkfish is tasty but it certainly is not a fish with pretty flesh and a dish such as this works well to hide it.

Ingredients (without staples):
2lb monkfish (expensive!)
2/3 dry white wine
zest of orange and lemon (Use a microplane)
1 inch ginger root
1 tomato
1 sprig of parsley

Rice:
11/2 teaspoon turmeric
11/2 rice

As with other The Silver Spoon recipes, this dish is simple and relatively easy to assemble. It seems that the Italian heritage of this recipe might be in question as the technique used to reduce wine and thicken the sauce with flour and butter seem very French. The dish starts out a slow sauté of two diced onions in butter and olive oil. Add in the monkfish, cut into chucks that have been dusted with flour (used in thickening the sauce). Cook the fish and onions for 2 minutes, pour the wine and reduce. After reduction to a thick sauce, toss in the zest, ginger and a dash of Tabasco. For best results, use a microplane to shave the zest finely. No need to worry about chunks of tough zest in your stew. Add chopped tomato and parsley. Lastly, a couple more stirs, add in salt and pepper then spoon over turmeric rice.

The monkfish stew had a nice delicate citrus flavor from the zest with a zing from the white wine reduction. While the dish was attractive and flavorful I feel that it is important to really like monkfish in order to get your money’s worth. I might try this again with chicken in the spring time.

So, I’m still on the hunt for the fabulous recipe in this book and have yet to see it. However, the recipes are short, fun and slightly challenging making cooking on weeknights with my elaborate jewelry on after my day job seem possible.

Stay tune for more cooking from The Silver Spoon cookbook this weekend. And if you are cooking from The Silver Spoon, let me know and perhaps we can cook together via the web.
After all...

What are you tasting?,
Edna

Product Love
A quick post to share with you what I am eating for lunch today. TAJ Gourmet Punjab Saag Spinach Sauce with chickpeas over rice!

Do you like Indian food, but hate the labor and effort needed to create your own spinach sauce? I found this product at my Whole Foods store and swear by it. I don’t have any of my own pictures of the jar however, I did find one on the web. The sauce that I am touting is the one on the far left. The back of the Taj Gourmet Punjab sauce jar has a few options to prepare however, I often will create a simple Saag dish with the additions of two cans of chickpeas, simmer in with the sauce and spoon over rice. Add a flat bread like lavash for eating with your hands and you have a tasty exotic meal without the effort. Wouldn’t you want to taste your lunch instead of just eating it?

What are you tasting?
Edna

(Picture taken by Edna's cellphone on the run from the paparazzi)

It’s Thursday, I am at my day job thinking about food! This weekend I am going to rip into my new The Silver Spoon (SS) cookbook. As you can read below, I've had two successes out of the first three that I tried. I spent most of last night reading the SS and searching for something that would catch my eye. I’ve told my hubbie that we need to clear the social calendar so that I can roll-up the sleeves on my frock and get my fingers into the pasta! Of course, pictures, pictures, pictures will be coming!

By the way, if you are reading this and would like to cook together, why not drop me a line and let me know what you are picking out. Could be fun to compare notes, after all…

What are you tasting?,
Edna