MadCookery

December 26, 2008

Holiday Trifle with Berries

Filed under: Desserts, Recipes, Traditional — madcook @ 10:50 pm

Photo credit: laura-s at http://www.everystockphoto.com/ I rarely prepare desserts and so I was a bit distressed when I was asked to bring a dessert to our family’s Christmas celebration this year.  I wasn’t sure what to bring, but I did now that I wanted it to be a traditional Christmas dessert, not a pie, delicious with a beautiful presentation, and, due to my schedule, quick to make.  After some thought and research, I decided on my take on a traditional English Trifle.Traditionally Trifles are made with alcohol, but due to the number of very young children that would be at the party I decided against using it and instead made a thinner pudding layer than is traditionally used.  Another limitation was that, due to severe allergies in a member of the family I was unable to use any form of nuts.  I included optional steps at in the recipe to reintroduce these ingredients if desired.To facilitate multiple serving sizes I decided to make multiple cake, fruit, and sauce layers.  I also took a couple of short cuts to decrease the preparation time.  The first is that I purchased a large store bought Angel Food cake.  The second is that I used instant pudding mix as a flavoring and thickener rather than make a vanilla custard sauce completely from scratch.  The end result was fantastic.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups Whipping Cream
  • 1/4 Cup heavy Cream
  • 1/2 Cup whole milk
  • 1.5 3.5oz Packages French Vanilla Instant Pudding mix
  • 1 Can Sweetened and Condensed Milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Package frozen blueberries
  • 1 Package frozen blackberries
  • 1 Package frozen red raspberries
  • 1 Package frozen black raspberries
  • 1 large angel food or pound cake torn or cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 4 tbls sugar
  • Optional: Liqueur, dark rum, bourbon, port, or sweet sherry
  • Optional: finely diced almonds

Instructions

Step 1: Make whip cream

  1. Add sugar and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl
  2. Add 2 Cups of Whip Cream
  3. Optional: add 1 tbls of liqueur, liquor, port, or wine being used on the cake layer
  4. Whip on high with an electric mixer until peaks are just being formed when the mixer is removed, be careful not to over whip.

Step 2: Make the sauce

  1. Add milk, heavy cream, condensed milk, 1/2 of the whipped cream (reserve other half for the final step), and instant pudding mix to a bowl
  2. stir until mixed well

Step 3: Build the dessert In a large bowl, clear glass or plastic will give a beautiful result, make layers in the following manner:Layer 1: pieces of angel food cakeLayer 2: a mix of the frozen berriesLayer 3: half of the sauce, spread with a spatula for a nice coatingLayer 4: pieces of angel food cakeLayer 3: a mix of frozen berriesLayer 5: the rest of the sauce, spread with a spatulaLayer 6: The remaining whip cream reserved in step 2, spread to form a even coatOptional Step:  When adding each layer of cake sprinkle with your favorite liqueur, I suggest Orange (Grand Marnier is excellent), dark rum, high quality bourbon, port, or sweet sherry.  A non-alcoholic alternative for this step is to make a syrup of cooked and pureed berries (Strawberry is excellent for this) and sugar.Optional Step: When adding the berries sprinkle with finely diced almonds.Step 4: garnishGarnish the top with some of the remaining berries or sliced almonds if using nuts.Step 5: Rest

  1. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours.
  2. Remove from refrigerator and let rest at room temperature approximately half an hour before serving

(Photo credit: laura-s at http://www.everystockphoto.com/)

July 4, 2008

Macaroni Salad

Filed under: MadCookery, Recipes, Traditional — madcook @ 10:00 pm

MacaroniOne of my fondest food memories of family gatherings when I was younger was my Grandmothers macaroni salad. I don’t know how she made it, but it has always been the macaroni salad up against I compare all others, and all of them have always fell short. A few years ago I set out to discover her recipe, and after I discovered that no member of the family could duplicate it, I set out to do so by trial and error. After many unsuccessful attempts I finally found a combination of ingredients that closely matched the rich flavor I remember, and then I set out to add my own changes. For the last two years I have made and remade macaroni salad seeking the best recipe I could find, and finally I found a combination of ingredients that I really enjoy. After all my changes it no longer tastes just like the macaroni salad I remember, but it adds a slight twist on an old classic and brings layers of flavor to what is often a very one dimensional dish. This recipe adds heavy whipping cream and whipped mayonnaise for a more creamy sauce, and a small amount of Miracle Whip and Dijon Mustard for a more rounded flavor. The addition of Red Freseno Pepper and Vidalia Onion to the traditional celery adds a slight sweetness and crunch, and a subtle complexity to what is often a simple tasting dish.

Ingredients

  • 16oz of elbow macaroni, cooked just past Al Dente in well salted water and cool
  • 8 Eggs, hard boil and cool
  • 30oz of Olive Oil Mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
  • 3 Tbls Dijon Mustard
  • 1/8 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  • The juice of 1/2 a lemon, fresh squeezed
  • 2 Small Red Fresno Peppers, seeded and finally diced
  • 1 Small Vidalia Onion (any sweet onion can be substituted), finely diced
  • 2 Large Stalks Celery, finely diced
  • 1 tbls sugar
  • 1 pinch garlic powder
  • Salt and White Pepper to Taste
  • Hungarian Sweet Paprika
  • 3 tbls fresh tarragon, minced

Instructions:

  1. Mix the Olive Oil Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, Dijon Mustard, Heavy Whipping Cream and Lemon Juice and whip with a standing or hand-held mixer on high for 5 minutes until it becomes creamy and shiny on the surface.
  2. Whisk in the sugar, garlic powder, and tarragon
  3. Whisk in salt and white pepper to taste
  4. Slice 3 of the hard boiled eggs and reserve
  5. Dice the remaining 5 eggs into medium sized pieces
  6. Stir together the Elbow Macaroni, diced eggs, diced Freseno Peppers, diced Vidalia Onion, and celery
  7. Stir in the sauce until the Macaroni and vegetables are well coated
  8. Place in a serving dish and sprinkle with Sweet Paprika
  9. Top with the reserved sliced eggs and complete with another sprinkle of Sweet Paprika
  10. Let set 2-4 hours, covered in a refrigerator before serving

If all the sauce is added too early then the dish will dry out and lose its creamy texture. So, if making the day before, add just enough of the sauce to coat the macaroni and vegetables (about 1/4 of the total) and reserve the rest. Cover and refrigerate. Mixing the rest of the sauce, add the sliced eggs, and Paprika 2-4 hours before serving.

Southwestern Creamed Corn

Filed under: MadCookery, Recipes, Traditional — madcook @ 9:10 pm

corn_aThere are two dishes that I love to make with fresh corn: creamed corn and southwestern style corn. As spring is here and fresh corn is started to show at the market I decided to try combining the two. Its not an overall original dish, but with its subtle heat juxtaposed with the sweetness of the fresh corn, it is incredible as a side or a main course.

Ingredients:

  • 4 ears of corn
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 small red pepper
  • 1 medium Anaheim pepper
  • 1/8 cup cream
  • 1 tbls butter
  • 2 tsp Chipotle powder
  • 1 tsp Cayenne pepper powder
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Steps:

  1.  roast the red and Anaheim pepper, seed, remove roasted skins, and dice
  2. remove kernels and milk from the ears of corn
  3. Heat olive oil over medium heat until hot
  4. Saute diced onions until translucent
  5. Either finely mince or press garlic and add to pan
  6. Cook until you can just start to smell the garlic, about 30 seconds. Do not let garlic burn
  7. Add corn and corn milk and stir well
  8. Add Chipotle and Cayenne pepper powder
  9. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often
  10. Add diced roasted red and Anaheim peppers
  11. Stir in butter and stir until melted
  12. Add cream, stir well and let cook on medium until cream reduced and mixture is thick (about 10 minutes)
  13. Salt and pepper to taste

Serve immediately

November 19, 2007

Quick and Easy Shepherd’s or Cottage Pie

Filed under: Recipes, Traditional — madcook @ 10:18 pm

CottagePieThere are few foods more comforting than a cottage pie. Cheap and easy to make it is the perfect fall and winter dish. The problem is that making a proper one can be very time consuming and better for a lazy Sunday afternoon than a weeknight meal. Earlier this week I decided I wanted to make a Cottage pie for dinner on a Monday evening and decided that I would do it in under an hour, the results were excellent, not greasy at all, and complete in about 40 minutes start to finish. I was amazed at how easy it actually was once I broke it down into parts. First there is the potato topping, second the beef and vegetable mixture, and third the gravy. By managing time and cooking each simultaneously and replacing the traditional heavy creams with stalk it becomes a easy weeknight meal.

To use this same recipe to make Shepherd’s Pie just replace the ground beef with Lamb.

Ingredients

  • lbs of ground Sirloin or <10% fat ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 1 cup of frozen peas
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 2 cups of cabbage, diced
  • 3 large russet potatoes (approximately 2.5 lbs) , peeled and cubed
  • 4 tbl butter
  • 4 tbl flour
  • 2 cups of low sodium beef broth or stalk
  • 1/4-1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth or stalk
  • 1 tbl sour cream
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 1 tbl ground Ancho Chili powder
  • 3 tsp Cayenne pepper
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • Smoked Paprika (sweet or hot would also work)
  • 2 tbls Olive Oil

Instructions

STEP 1: Make the potato topping

  1. peal and cube the potatoes

  2. Boil in salted water for 15 -18 minutes until soft

  3. Add 1 tbl butter

  4. ¼ cup chicken stalk

  5. 1 tbl sour cream

  6. Mash with a potato masher adding chicken extra chicken stalk as needed to reach the desired consistency

  7. Salt to taste

STEP 2: Make the Meat and Vegetable filling (while potatoes are boiling)

  1. brown the ground beef in 2 tbl Olive Oil until it just starts to brown

  2. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, and 2 tsp Cayenne pepper and cook for 4 minutes

  3. Add Cabbage and continue cooking until carrots are just starting to soften (another 3 – 4 minutes)

STEP 3: Make the gravy (while the meat and vegetables and potatoes are cooking)

  1. Melt 3 tbl of butter over medium heat

  2. Whisk in the flour, Mustard Powder, Ancho Chili Powder, and 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper

  3. Cook, whisking frequently, until just starting to turn tan (2 -3 minutes)

  4. Slowly whisk in the beef broth, bring to a boil over High heat, reduce heat and let simmer until Meat and Vegetables are done

STEP 4: Add the Gravy to the Filling

  1. Mix the gravy into the Meat and Vegetable filling. Add Beef Broth, if needed, to adjust consistency

  2. Salt and Pepper to taste and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat

STEP 5: Assemble the Cottage Pie

  1. Spread the Meat, Vegetable, and Gravy Mixture in a buttered or greased casserole dish (or if your frying pan is oven safe, remove from heat and spread out evenly in the pan)

  2. Spread the potato mixture over the filling evenly

  3. Sprinkling liberally with paprika

STEP 6: Finish

  1. Preheat the broiler on high

  2. Place the assembled cottage pie approximately 6 inch under the broiler and broil until the top of the potatoes are crisp and browned (10-15 minutes)

  3. Remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving

November 14, 2007

Vanilla and Ginger Mashed Potatoes

Filed under: MadCookery, Recipes — madcook @ 9:46 pm

Mashed Potato ImageI have to admit the origins of this recipe was an accident. I was making home made mashed potatoes for someone who could not eat dairy and was using Soy Milk. I had two jugs available, regular and vanilla, without realizing it I grabbed the vanilla Soy Milk and poured it into the potatoes. I immediately realized the mistake and decided that potatoes with a slight vanilla flavor wouldn’t be too bad and if it was I would just own up to the mistake and we could all laugh at it, so I served them. As I watched each person take a bite I was surprised that instead of a look of disgust they looked delighted. Everyone raved about the unique flavor of the potatoes, and I have to admit they were good. Since then I have tried a very variations and found this one to be my favorite.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups potatoes, diced
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbl fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbl butter
  • Salt
  • White pepper

Instructions:

  1. Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water until about 1 inch over the potatoes.

  2. Liberally salt water and stir

  3. Bring to boil on high and cook on medium-high until potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes)

  4. Drain potatoes well and return potatoes and ginger to pot over medium heat, shake pan until they stop steaming to remove excess moisture without burning the potatoes and ginger

  5. Add vanilla, milk, and butter and mash everything with a potato masher until potatoes are the thickness you desire. Stir in extra milk or butter 1 tsp at a time if mixture is too thick

  6. Add salt and white pepper to taste

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