Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies + Sweet/Spicy/Salty Seeds September 21, 2009

The fact that autumn is not officially here until Tuesday, but my trees are already losing leaves, and I’m spotting some vibrant colors around town. And that means it’s time for pumpkin-flavored things.

To my horror, I discovered that there is apparently a canned pumpkin shortage. My local grocery store has ZERO cans of pumpkin, and they won’t until who knows when.  But I am intrepid, people.  I may not have left the store with a can of pumpkin, but I did leave the store with an actual sugar pumpkin, determined to figure out how to turn it into Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.

Turns out it’s not too hard.  I used the microwave method, because it was the quickest.  Here’s how.

1. Split your pumpkin in half.
2. Remove the seeds and stringy gunk.
3. Weigh your pumpkin.
4. Microwave your pumpkin one minute per pound.
5. Remove skin, purée in a food processor or blender.

And voilà! Your very own fresh pumpkin purée.  It’ll keep two or three days in an airtight container in your fridge or a couple of months in your freezer.

Now, here’s where things get yummy.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
makes approximately 24 cookies
adapted from She’s in the Kitchen

Ingredients
12 T. unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 T. water
½ T. vanilla
2/3 cup flour
1 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg
1 t. salt
½ t. baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup fresh pumpkin purée (from half a pumpkin)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Cream the butter and sugars.  Beat in the egg.  Add the water and vanilla.  Sift together the dry ingredients and mix in.  Add the oats and mix well.  Mix in the pecans.  Drop into approximately 2-inch-sized lumps and flatten slightly.  Bake at 350º F until golden brown, about 15-17 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

These cookies turn out sort of cakey due to the addition of the pumpkin, but I think the texture works pretty well.  And apparently so did everyone else because they were distributed Saturday and gone Sunday.

Now here’s the bonus.  Remember those pumpkin seeds you have since you had to make your own pumpkin purée because of the dastardly pumpkin shortage?  Well, when life hands you pumpkin seeds, you make Martha Stewart’s Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds, of course.  I cheated and only baked them 20 minutes instead of the recommended hour because I had to get the cookies in the oven, but they turned out all right anyway.  After this weekend, I’m thinking this canned pumpkin shortage may not turn out to be such a bad thing after all.

Faux Bananas Foster September 18, 2009

Sometimes you just need something quick and sweet that will not completely blow your diet.  Last night I had one of those moments.  I also had a couple of bananas that were only going to last a couple more days.  So I turned to Faux Bananas Foster.  Now, the reason it’s faux is because it only has three ingredients, and the main ones missing are rum and ice cream.  Now, you could certainly add those, of course, and it would still be easy, but the it wouldn’t fit that annoying third criterion I mentioned above.

Slice up a couple of bananas, toss them into a nonstick skillet with a tablespoon (or less) of some form of butter or margarine (I like Smart Balance, as it’s got a nicer taste than your average margarine, in my opinion), and a couple of tablespoons (or more) of brown sugar.  Let it cook down, stirring occasionally, until it resembles a brownish, gooey sludge (hence no pictures), probably about 10 minutes.  That’s all it takes.

My version had about 300 calories and served as my dinner, in case you’re keeping track of those sorts of things.  You could take it down even further if you wanted to use Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (which I’ve used in the past, and it works just fine).  Enjoy.

STATS
Prep time: 0 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Eaten whilst: Watching Community.*

*If you did not watch Community on NBC last night, I highly recommend that you do so.  I thought it was just fantastic.  Any show that starts off with a tribute to The Breakfast Club is on the right track, don’t you think?

Can Comfort Food Contain Squash? September 2, 2009

I love macaroni & cheese. All types. From the gourmet entries with lobster & toasted bread crumbs to the psychedelic orange Kraft in The Blue Box. It is my go-to comfort food.

However, when I set out to use the farmer’s-market-acquired-and-week-old acorn squash in my fridge, I didn’t intend to end up where I did. Which is here.

That’s right, folks. I dub this Super-Easy, Super-Awesome Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

I know you might be skeptical. I was, too. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.

First things first, cut your acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, add some salt pepper and garlic powder, and then stick it in the oven at about 425°F for about an hour. Basically, you want it to be well cooked and squishable.  (This is my favorite part of the recipe because, when I’m feeling unmotivated to do the whole writing thing, an hour whilst waiting for dinner to cook is the perfect window to get something done and with a reward when I finish.)

Secondly, cook yourself up a couple of ounces of the pasta of your choice.  While that’s happening, take the peel off one half of the squash.  (If you are smart, you will find a way to do this without burning your fingers. You’ll notice I am not including instructions on how to do that. Take from that what you will.)

Put the squash cut side up in a little saucepan on medium to medium-low heat, and fill up the place where you scooped out the seeds with milk (about a quarter cup or so).  Add about the same amount of shredded cheese of your choice on top. Grab a utensil and mash. Cook ’til everything is melted and combined.

Last step: drain the pasta, add the squashness, and voilà! One serving of Super-Easy, Super-Awesome Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheese is yours.

Oops. I mean, Awesome! August 25, 2009

And so it is with cooking. Or at least I was lucky enough for it to happen that way today. You see, this afternoon, I had a ridiculously strong craving for cookies out of nowhere. So, instead of telling myself, “No, cookies are not conducive to your diet, young lady,” I said, “Sweet! Let’s do it!” And I set out to make my staple chocolate chip cookie recipe minus the chocolate chips and plus walnuts, pecans and jumbo raisins. And, in tribute to (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, which I loved, I will present to you What I Expected vs. What Really Happened vs. What I Will Tell People Henceforth.

WHAT I EXPECTED

I whipped into my immaculate kitchen with the grace of a ballerina and the focus of Martha Stewart. Everything was in its rightful place, and I hummed happily as I poured the ingredients into my spotless Kitchenaid mixer. I spaced the uniform balls of mouth-watering dough onto the cookie sheet and placed them in the oven. At this point, as a small reward, I allowed myself a tiny swipe of dough from the mixer paddle, just to test it. And then I washed everything up. 10 minutes later, I had a fresh batch of cookies, a swelling of domestic pride in my chest, and a smile on my face.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

I shuffled into my kitchen, which was covered in dishes I’d neglected to clean last week. How does a kitchen get so messy when its owner eats out at least half the week? I scrounged the cabinets and found a bag of chopped pecans which, miracle of miracles had a use-by date of October 2009. I scrounged the freezer and found half a bag of chopped walnuts. And I hadn’t yet eaten all the raisins I’d used for last month’s zucchini bread. Score. I didn’t have room-temperature butter, so I microwaved a couple of sticks for 10 seconds, which apparently wasn’t long enough. But I wanted my cookies NOW, damn it, and I couldn’t wait 10 seconds longer to get going. So I whipped the sugar and butter into a brick around the paddle. The eggs managed to liquify things. In goes the flour. My ensuing thought process: Oh, wait, it’s two and a quarter cups? I thought it was two and a half. Oops. Oh well. OK, time for the cookie sheet. But first, you have to test the dough, right? Of course? Nomnomnomnomnom. Yup. Tastes good. OK, cookie sheet! Not exactly uniform, but as long as they don’t melt off the edge of the cookie sheet, I’m good, right? Right.  10 minutes later: “Why aren’t they flattening out and puffing up? They’re just… sitting there.”  Light bulb: BAKING SODA! ACK! Too late now. So they’re mounds instead of cookies. Sue me. 14 minutes later: I remove them from the oven; I gaze skeptically. Two  minutes later: I take a bite. Yes. Yes, yes yes. A little dance. Another cookie. Or two. Five minutes later: Ugh… too many cookies…

WHAT I WILL TELL PEOPLE HENCEFORTH

The other afternoon, I was in the mood for cookies. I had the brilliant idea of taking my staple chocolate chip cookie recipe and modifying it to make Walnut-Pecan-Raisin Mounds. Oh, you haven’t heard of them? Well, I’m sure you will. Give it a year. Word will spread. These cookies are The Next Big Thing in Baking. How did I modify the recipe, you ask? Well, based on my extensive knowledge of food chemistry, I realized I could create the perfect almost pecan-sandie-ish texture without the crumbliness by omitting the baking soda and adding a quarter cup of flour. Pretty brilliant, yes? Well, we all have our moments of divine wisdom from time to time. At least that’s what they say.

THE RECIPE
(adapted/messed up from this recipe)

Ingredients
½ cup walnuts
½ cup pecans
½ cup jumbo raisins
2½ cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 sticks butter
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt

Directions
1. Beat together butter and sugars.
2. Add vanilla, eggs and salt. Mix until combined.
3. Add flour and mix until just combined.
4. Mix in nuts and raisins.
5. Place on a cookie sheet (covered in parchment for easy clean-up) about two inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until golden.
6. Let cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool until you won’t burn your mouth as you eat them.

Zucchini’s Last Stand August 14, 2009

Last weekend, despite all my prior zucchini transformation efforts (here and here), I still had a single and rather large one left.  I was resigned to letting it wither away into something slimy and grotesque in the back of my refrigerator, but my plans were foiled.  You see, on Saturday, between my write-in and a late lunch/dinner date with my sister, I was going to sit down and watch the second disc of Dollhouse.  Alas, the mail had not yet arrived at my scheduled time of sloth.  So, I decided I’d make Zucchini Fritters instead.  I more or less made up the recipe as I went along based on what I had in my kitchen, and miraculously, they turned out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients
1 large zucchini (Mine yielded about 2 cups when shredded)
½ medium red onion, diced very small (ends up about a ½ cup)
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar
Minced garlic to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup flour
½ t. baking powder
1 egg

Note: I think you can put pretty much whatever you want in these as long as you end up with the right consistency batter.  So don’t be afraid to experiment.

Directions
Grate zucchini to your desired size of shred. Did that sentence make sense? My grater has three sizes of holes, and I used the biggest ones, but I imagine you could use the smaller ones if you want.  There.  Once you’ve got your zucchini shreds, press out some of the moisture using a paper towel or what-have-you.  Add your onions, cheese and garlic, and stir it all up.

Add half a cup of flour, baking powder, and salt & pepper.  Stir it up again.  Add the second half cup of flour and stir until you’ve got a batter a little thicker than your average pancake batter.

Lubricate a skillet with your desired lubricant (generally butter, oil or PAM, you filthy-minded people).  I used PAM on a nonstick skillet because I was trying to go as low-fat as possible, and it worked just fine.  Drop a spoonful of batter onto a hot skillet and sort of spread it out into a flat, circle-esque shape.  You want pancakes, not mounds, OK?  I had three going at a time with plenty of space.  Don’t crowd.

The rest is sort of trial and error.  Flip it over after a minute or two (the time will get shorter as you go on), and continue to flatten them down with the back of your spatula.  They’re done when they’re a dark golden brown on both sides.  I tend to go for lighter brown when it comes to grilled cheeses and those sorts of things, but a darker brown worked better on these.  The flattening also helps make them crispier, which I found I preferred.  Let them cool on a paper towel covered wire rack.  That’s it.  Pretty simple.  Enjoy.

THE STATS

Shopping Time: 0 minutes (I’m never, ever buying that many zucchini again.)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Minor injuries sustained: 1
F-bombs dropped: 1

(By the way, after a couple of batches of fritters, the edge of a skillet gets very hot.)

Craving Chinese August 7, 2009

Last night I was struck with a monstrous craving for Chinese.  Now, as you might know, easily obtainable Chinese food is generally not very good for you.  And I try to limit my intake of foods that are not very good for me.  And I’d already had food for lunch that was not very good for me.  So, what was I to do?  Well, I searched my kitchen and found these things.

I put them all together in a skillet, and voilà.  In combination, these ingredients managed to fulfill my craving for Chinese.  I imagine this would have gone well over rice, but, wanting to keep the calorie count down, I just ate it as is.  For the record, I have no idea how much of the spices I used, but I used about a quarter-cup of onion, one medium zucchini, and probably about a tablespoon of run of the mill, generic peanut butter.

It’s not exactly gourmet, but it was super quick, super easy, and it fit the gustatory bill.  And sometimes that’s all you need.  Also, props to Mr. Gerry Hayes for inspiring the zucchini + curry combination.

THE STATS
Shopping time: 0 minutes
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Cleaning time: Oops. Never quite got around to that.
Writing accomplished: Two scenes reworked and one new scene written for TDPU.
Eaten whilst: Watching When Harry Met Sally

Zucchini Galore! August 5, 2009

So, it’s zucchini season.  And I’m a big fan of zucchini.  So, I might have done something silly like buying 11 zucchini from a woman at the farmer’s market (which, for the record, was all of her remaining zucchini).  So, because I might have done something silly like that, I might have had to find a bunch of recipes in which to use this insane amount of zucchini.

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The Easy Dinner: Zucchini & Onions

Slice up a zucchini, however thick you like it.  French-cut or dice an onion.  (The first night I did this, I french-cut a huge onion, used a quarter of it, and tossed the rest into a ziplock bag and froze it.  Makes subsequent Zucchini & Onion nights even easier.)  PAM up a skillet, throw in the veggies, add a little salt, pepper and/or balsamic vinegar.  Cook until the onions start to caramelize.  Add a piece of French bread, and you’ve got yourself a super-simple and very low-cal dinner.

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The Complicated Dinner: Zucchini Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1½ pound (about 4) green zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
• ½ pound (about 2) yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup freshly chopped dill
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 5 large eggs plus 5 large egg whites (I cheated & used Egg Beaters), lightly beaten
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 2 (or perhaps slightly more) ounces low-fat feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. PAM a large skillet set over medium heat. Add zucchini & squash, scallions,  garlic,  marjoram,  salt & pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini has softened and is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a large bowl; set aside.
2. Add dill, parsley, and eggs to zucchini; stir to combine. Pour into a 9½-inch round, deep baking dish.
   (Or, if you are like me, pour into a 9½-inch springform pan, realize the springform pan is leaking onto your stovetop, frantically dig through cabinets looking for a substitute, find nothing, grab your cast-iron skillet, transfer the zucchini-egg mixture into it, and then glare at the good-for-nothing springform pan that you now have to clean along with the spot of egg mixture on the stovetop.)
   
3. Cover with tomato; sprinkle with feta. Bake until set, about 1 hour. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I was a little disappointed in this recipe.  It just didn’t have as much flavor as I generally like.  Next time, I’d add more salt, more pepper, and probably more garlic.  Because you can never have too much garlic.  (Nerd confession: When I cut open the tomato, I thought to myself, “Hey, that looks like Rorschach’s mask.” And then I took a picture, too.)

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The Savory Bread: Zucchini Cheddar Bread
Recipe from honey & jam.

I’m not quite sure what happened with this bread, but it didn’t turn out quite like I wanted it to.  It was still good, but it was almost biscuit-like in texture.  I tried to do mini-loaves, so maybe that was the issue.  Nonetheless, it was still pretty tasty.  (I actually found that topping a couple of slices of this bread with leftover Zucchini Pie and topping that with a healthy sprinkling/dumping of cheddar cheese produced a perfectly delightful meal.)

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The Sweet Bread: Zucchini-Walnut-Raisin Bread
Recipe from honey & jam.

So, the great thing about organic brown sugar is that it’s, you know, organic.  But the super-annoying, terrible, no-good, very bad thing about organic brown sugar is it turns into a freaking boulder.  Normal brown sugar does that, too, of course, but at a much slower pace, and it never gets quite as rock hard as the organic stuff.  I recommend having a good mallet and a truckload of patience on hand if you go the organic route.

Also, this recipe produced a slightly larger-than-recommended-for-my-standard-bread-tin amount of batter.  It worked out fine, except it took forever to finish cooking.  That being said, this bread is FANTASTIC.  Seriously.  I could have eaten the entire loaf myself.  In one sitting.  (But I didn’t!)

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THE STATS (for all recipes combined)
Shopping time: 45 minutes
Prep time: 1.5 hour
Cook time: 1.5 hour
Cleaning time: 30 minutes
Writing accomplished during Cook time: Most of a 40-scene outline & a lengthy comment on a blog post
Eaten whilst: Watching Adventures of Don Juan and The Lives of Others

Writer’s Block Recipes: Vegan Pumpkin Cookies July 30, 2009

Originally posted at Elizabethan Theatre on Nov. 9, 2008.

So, after tapping out more than 25,000 words in the past 9 days, I found myself hit with a severe case of writer’s apathy this afternoon. Instead of staring daggers at a blinking cursor, I gave myself a short break and decided to create something else from scratch: Vegan Pumpkin Cookies.

I’m pleased to report that the cookies were a success. They’re more like mini-cakes, actually, but I certainly don’t think that’s a bad thing. Anyway, if you’re suffering from writer’s apathy/block but would like to feel productive by way of baking, here’s the recipe (adapted from here).

Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
1 cup white sugar (mine happened to be organic)
2 t. vanilla
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 t. baking soda
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. ginger
1 cup currants (optional)
4 cup all-purpose flour (this also happened to be organic)

Directions

1. Beat together pumpkin, sugars, oil and vanilla.
2. Sift together remaining ingredients except for currants. Add to wet ingredients about a half a cup at a time until well-mixed.
3. Fold in currants.
4. Drop by heaping spoonful onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. These don’t expand outward too much (at least mine didn’t), so you can put them pretty close together. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
5. Transfer to a cooling rack and (duh) let cool. Then enjoy! These would also be fabulous with a bit of cream cheese frosting.

One for the Arsenal: Chocolate Chip Cookies July 30, 2009

And… the last post I ever made on the old food blog attempt.  That’s right.  I made it to recipe 4 of the planned 101.  Go me.

I tackled 101 Recipe No. 4 last Sunday with Martha’s Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I hadn’t made chocolate chip cookies in my adult life, and I figure it’s probably a good recipe to have in the arsenal. And after tasting them, I was definitely right.

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.
   
   In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
   
   Reduce speed to low; add the salt (I used kosher and tend to lean toward the generous side with the salt), vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.
   (This, by the way, is the best vanilla ever.)

   Stir in the chocolate chips. (I combined 6 oz. Special Dark & 6 oz. Semisweet Chocolate Chips.)
   
   
   

2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
   
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
   

I made these cookies mostly for my sister Christina to take back to college with her. She and her boyfriend, Devan, came and picked them up shortly before she left.

Chrissy said they were the the “best chocolate chip cookies ever,” and Devan said they were “really good.”

I also sent some back to the rest of my family and received good reviews from them as well. Chrissy got the Clif bars and the bottom container (with 14 cookies), and my mom, dad and sister Kate got the top container with a mere six cookies. But Chrissy’s been having a rough time at school, so I figured she needed them more than the rest of the family. The sad part was that we only had four left for me after I’d doled them out!

It’s nice when finding the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe only takes one try. Thanks, Martha!

(What would chocolate chip cookies be without a milk mustache?)

Un repas français July 30, 2009

This is a slightly-edited entry from an old attempt at a cooking blog back in August of 2007, before I immersed myself in the ways of writerhood.  Inspired by Julie & Julia, I was going to make 101 recipes in 1001 days.  It didn’t happen, but hey, that’s life.

Well, it’s taken me a week to recover and finally get this posted, but here it is! Let’s start with the recipes, all courtesy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

THE RECIPES

Potage Parmentier (Leek & Potato Soup)
Ingredients
3/4 cups or 1 lb. peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups or 1 lb. thinly sliced leeks including the tender green (or yellow onions)
2 quarts of water
1 T. salt
4 to 6 T. whipping cream (or 2 to 3 T. softened butter)
2 to 3 T. minced parsley or chives

Directions

1. Either simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; or cook under 15 pounds pressure for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
2. Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork, or pass the soup through a food mill. [Sarah's note: If you have a hand blender (wand), this tool is a godsend for this recipe. Mine worked great to produce a very creamy soup.] Correct seasoning. Set aside uncovered until just before serving, then reheat to simmer.
3. Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls. Pour into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with the herbs.

Pointes d’Asperges au Beurre (Buttered Asparagus Tips)
Ingredients
2 lbs. asparagus tips
6 quarts rapidly boiling water
3 T. salt
1 T. softened butter
Salt & Pepper
4 T. melted butter

Directions

1. Prep Work: Choose thin asparagus spears 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch in diamter. Hold each by its butt end and, moving your fingers up toward the tip, bend the spear until it snaps in two, usually at about the halfway point. (Set the butt ends aside; they may be peeled and cooked, and are good for soups or purées.) Scrape off all the scales below the tip and wash the asparagus. Cut the tips off so each is 1 1/2 inches long and tie in bundles about 2 inches in diameter. Dice the remaining stalks.
2. Drop the diced asparagus stalks in the boiling salted water and boil 5 minutes. Then add the asparagus bundles and boil slowly for 5 to 8 minutes more, or until just tender. Remove bundles carefully and drain; drain the diced stalks.
3. If you are cooking asparagus in advance or wish to serve it cold, plunge for a minute or two in cold water to stop the cooking and set the color. Drain.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
5. Smear the baking dish with softened butter. Arrange the diced asparagus stalks in the bottom; season with salt, pepper, and part of the melted butter. Remove strings and arrange the asparagus tips over the stalks. Season with salt, pepper, and butter, and lay a round of waxed paper on top. Heat for a moment on top of the stove; cover the casserole and place in the middle level of oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until asparagus is hot through. Serve immediately.

Suprêmes de Volaille à Blanc (Breast of Chicken with Cream)
Ingredients
4 suprêmes (chicken breasts)
1/2 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. salt
Big pinch white pepper
4 T. butter
1/4 cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon
1/4 cup port, Madeira, or dry white vermouth
1 cup whipping cream
Salt & Pepper
Lemon juice as needed
2 T. fresh minced parsley

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Rub the suprêmes with drops of lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in the casserole until it is foaming. Quickly roll the suprêmes in the butter, lay a buttered round of wax paper over them, cover casserole and place in hot oven. After 6 minutes, press top of suprêmes with your finger. If still soft, return to oven for a moment or two. When the meat is springy to the touch it is done. Remove the suprêmes to a warm platter and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).
3. Pour the stock or bouillon and wine into the casserole with the cooking butter and boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste carefully for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the suprêmes, sprinkle with parsley, and serve at once.

THE ACTION

I didn’t get too many “action” shots due to the fact that I was single-handedly trying to prepare three recipes, but I can tell you how it went.

1. Potage Parmentier: Despite Julia Child’s assertion that this soup is “simplicity to make,” I made the mistake of not measuring the water since I didn’t read ahead in the recipe. Thus, I ended up having to boil down the soup to make it a bit thicker since I had added too much water in the beginning. Also, I would have needed about twice as many leeks (the giant green onion-looking thing in the picture) as I bought. I ended up with about 2/3 lb. instead of a whole pound of leeks. Here’s what the soup looks like pre-blending.

Despite my foibles, the soup turned out great. But I unfortunately forgot to snap a picture of the finished product ready-to-eat. However, I did manage to procure a picture of a recently de-wisdom-toothed sister Kate holding the leftovers in front of her slightly swollen cheeks.

She actually had the soup for lunch, a snack and dinner that day, so I guess it went over pretty well.

2. Pointes d’Asperges au Beurre: This was by far the most time consuming recipe. The tying-in-bundles part of the prep work sounds lovely and quaint as you’re reading it, but actually doing it is a far different story. I didn’t even bother to scrape off the scales, and I bet the prep work still took me a good 2o to 30 minutes. Here’s what the bundles look like:

See, they look great, but all I can think when I look at them is how the little twerps resisted ’til the last second when I was tying them up. In hindsight, I would have diced the rest of the stalks smaller than the asparagus bundles. Some of the asparagus tips managed to escape, and it was kind of difficult to pick them out from the rest of the stalks. I also left them in the ice water too long, so they weren’t as crisp as I would have preferred. However, they were still pretty tasty, especially with some of the cream sauce from the chicken.

3. Suprêmes de Volaille à Blanc: This recipe was actually fairly simple. The only trouble I had was that I was working with such a large stock pot (due to the fact that I had to double the recipe) that the cooking butter, broth and wine never really got what I would call syrupy. I was also in a hurry since I had both the asparagus and people waiting on me, so I didn’t give it as much time as I normally would have. However, it still tasted wonderful. But really, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with cream and butter, you know?

THE FINISHED PRODUCT