Category Archives: Side Dishes

For The Love of A Cuisinart and a Tomato and Cheese Galette

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 6 Comments

In the early 1980’s I bought my first Cuisinart Food Processor. It was love at first bite. The first thing I made was bread. I continued to use it to make bread for 16 years. Along with chopping, mixing, stirring hundreds of other tasty treats. In 1996 I burned up the motor … making a particularly organic loaf of whole wheat bread!

Since Kitchen Aid mixers were all the rage about then, my very sweet and conscientious Chief Culinary Consultant surprised me with a beautiful cobalt blue mixer. “It does everything” he crooned as he recounted to me the features which were given to him by the sales clerk.

I really like my Kitchen Mixer. It has been a great addition to my kitchen. It does everything, and then some.

But over the years my heart has been tugged and pulled to the Cuisinart display over and over. In 2008 the Chief bought me the newest and latest stainless steel Cuisinart Food Processor. It sorta looked like my old one, but one loaf of bread and I knew it wasn’t the same as the model I bought in the 1980’s. It was lighter weight and hopped all over the counter when I tried to use it. I cautiously asked the Chief if I could “take it back.” What a shock to him since I have pined for another one for years! Women … we are so fickle.

Imagine my surprise when the Chief and I were at an old country auction a couple of years ago and there on the table sat an original Cuisinart DLC 7-Pro! It looked hardly even used even though it was a good 30 years old. My heart started beating faster and pounding in my ears. I had to have that Cuisinart! I asked my sweetie if he would bid for me (I get nervous bidding). He asked “how high do you want to go?”
“I want it” was all I said. He got the message.

$30 dollars later it is MINE! I took it home and immediately started using it. Then my constant use started to show its age.

Little bits of the plastic dough blade started chipping

off. The stopping point was when the plastic shaft that

covers the actual metal shaft also started chipping away

rendering the food processor unusable.

So, when my Kitchen Aid bit the dust the Chief said, “well, at least you have the Cuisinart.” That is when I explained it had been out of commission for some time. When I explained my plight with broken pieces, he immediately researched the parts, ordered them and within a few days I had the food processor back on center stage in my kitchen.

I immediately wanted to make something … anything that required the use of the Cuisinart. Thanks to my Tuesdays With Dorie bakers I knew the Tomato and Cheese Galette was on my baking shortlist for June. Within minutes I had the dough mixed up and ready to chill for a couple of hours in the refrigerator.

After rolling out this outstanding, beautiful dough I assembled the savory filling. In addition to Monterey Jack and Mozzarella cheeses I added some Pepper Jack for a kick! Sprinkling my favorite balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes gave this tomato and cheese galette the perfect personal touch. The basil came from my herb garden.

This rustic tart has a wonderful cornmeal-crunchy crust, rolled thin but yet strong enough to hold the tasty fresh garden tomatoes, blended cheeses and fresh-cut basil.

Whether served warm or at room temperature I highly recommend this galette perfectly suited for your summer picnics! It is easy to transport and a winner all the way around! Recent Tuesdays With Dorie rules have changed, letting me re-print today’s recipe from Baking With Julia. However, my version is an adaptation of the original recipe. Click here to take a peek at some of the other baker’s creations.

Happy Baking!
~Blessings, Catherine

Print

Tomato and Cheese Galette

This rustic tart is adapted from a recipe by Flo Braker in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook, Baking With Julia. A real treat and crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
Galette Dough
3 Tbls. sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
1/3 cup (approximately) ice water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
7 Tbls. cold unsalted butter, cut into 6-8 pieces
Cheese and Tomato Ingredients
2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 ounces Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, cut or torn in to small pieces
2 firm but ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Directions
Makes two 8-inch galettes
To make the dough by hand:
Stir the sour cream and ice water together in a small bowl and set aside. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a fork to mix. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl, tossing them once or twice just to coat them with flour. With a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, until the butter pieces are no larger than small peas. Smaller pieces will make the dough tender, larger ones will make it flaky.
Sprinkle the sour cream mixture over the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it. After you have added all of the sour cream, the dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed (if not, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until you have a soft malleable dough).
To make the dough with a food processor:
Combine ingredients in the work bowl of your food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse to combine. Drop butter in and pulse 8-10 times, until butter pieces are pea sized or smaller. With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms moist soft curds.)
Turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide it in half. Press each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Cheese and Tomato Galette
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place 1/2 recipe of dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it into an 11" circle that's about 1/8 inch thick. Since the dough is soft, you'll need to lift it now and then and toss some flour under it and over the top. Roll the dough up and around your rolling pin and carefully place onto the prepared baking sheet.
Making The Filling
Toss the cheeses and basil together in a small bowl, then scatter them over the rolled-out dough, leave a 2" to 3" border. Place the tomatoes on a small dish and sprinkle liberally with your favorite balsamic vinegar. Place the tomatoes in concentric circles, one slice slightly overlapping the last, on top of the cheese. Fold the uncovered border of dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat or pucker as you lift it up and work your way around the galette. Because you are folding a wide edge of the dough onto a smaller part of the circle, it will pleat naturally -- just go with it!
Baking The Galette
Bake the galette for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden crisp and the cheese is bubbly. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with fresh basil leaves.
Notes
This galette can be kept at room temperature for several hours, but refrigerated after that.
Galette dough can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or two, or it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for a month. Thaw, still wrapped, in the refrigerator until thawed and ready for use.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
2.2
http://praycookblog.com/2013/06/17/for-the-love-of-a-cuisinart-and-a-tomato-and-cheese-galette/
My Daily Bread Body and Soul. Full Post Content including Recipe @http://praycookblog.com. Pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, but please do not repost or republish elsewhere such as other blogs, websites, or forums without explicit prior permission. Thank you! All rights reserved.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Bread and Rolls, Side Dishes, TWD:BWJ

Tagged Baking, baking with julia, Dorie Greenspan, fresh basil, galette, Julia Child, Pizza, rustic pizza, tomato and cheese, tuesdays with dorie

The Brioche That Killed My Kitchen Aid

Posted on May 20, 2013 | 25 Comments

It’s Tuesdays with Dorie where a group of bakers and bloggers bake up the same recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking With Julia. Then we ~~brag~~, I mean, blog about our results.

A year ago I made my very first attempt at brioche dough. To say it was a success is an understatement. (I’m humble like that.) I used the dough to make PECAN STICKY BUNS that turned out to be the best I have ever made and quite simply the best I have ever eaten.

Today’s recipe takes the same beautiful and buttery brioche dough and goes the opposite direction creating a savory pocket. Yum.

I mean, um, not so fast. While there are several steps to making brioche dough, one of the most important is to beat the dough in a mixer until it pulls together into a tight ball and then add butter until it falls apart. Yep, falls apart … and it will. Then the mixing continues until the dough reunites into the most elegant of soft bread doughs. Checking out my blog post from last year will give you the best idea of how this happens successfully.

For my savory pockets I was about 7 minutes into the 20 minute mixing and beating process when my Kitchen Aid let out a whoop and a holler and ground to a shrieking halt. “What just happened?” my Chief Culinary Consultant called out from the living room.

“I have no idea” I said, as I began to disassemble the mess of wet, buttery dough from the blades of the Kitchen Aid. Several attempts later only confirmed that the gears within my 17 year-old Kitchen Aid are stripped out. As I looked on in disbelief my eyes fell upon the label HEAVY DUTY proudly stamped across the top of my mixer. Heavy duty? I hadn’t even begun to mix this brioche!

I cleaned up the mixer and got it ready for the Chief to take to the shop and “fix.”

In the meantime I had this half-beaten, not nearly flaky enough dough laying on the counter. No problem for me. I will just finish this little project by hand. About this time the “culinary consultant” says, “why don’t you just finish it in the bread machine?”

“THAT won’t work” I quickly countered. After all, this is brioche. It takes a lot more mixing than a bread machine can give it. (I thought a “consultant” would know that.)

Two minutes into kneading by hand and I knew I was in trouble. I had butter oozing from one end of the counter to the other. The recipe says that the butter and the dough should stay “cool” as it is mixed together. I can guarantee there was nothing cool about my hands, my kitchen, and my temperament.

Off the to the bread machine I went.

I guess he did know what he was talking about. Enough said.

It took three rounds of mixing in the bread machine but the dough finally came together making this lovely round ball.

The dough is placed in a large bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap and left to raise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. At this point I punched it down and re-wrapped it and placed it in the refrigerator over night.

After bringing the dough to room temperature it was ready to make into savory pockets. Dorie’s recipe calls for a savory filling of cooked potatoes, caramelized onions and fresh asparagus. This combination sounds wonderful to me but not-so-much to my sous-chef dish-washing mom. So, I opted for freshly made BBQ pulled pork in some of the pockets and a whipped sweet potato in the other.

Half of the dough I froze for another day. It will stay for up to a month in the freezer!

The dough is rolled and cut and each little pocket made with a circle of dough on the bottom and a circle of dough on the top. The edges are meant to be sealed and crimped a bit like pie dough.

It is so warm in the house today the dough rose quicker than I could get it in the oven. Some of the little pockets stayed together, some popped open.

In the end they were edible.

In the future I am sticking to sticky buns!

You will find the recipe on the blog of our host Carrie of Loaves and Stitches. I follow Carrie’s blog and find it fun and interesting! Nancy Silverton is the contributing baker for Savory Brioche Pockets.

Blessings and Happy Cooking!
Catherine

Terri Conner liked this post

→ 25 Comments

Posted in Bread and Rolls, Main Dish, Pork, Side Dishes, TWD:BWJ

Tagged baking with julia, bread dough, brioche, Dorie Greenspan, Julia Child, main dish, Pulled pork, savory pockets, side dish, sweet potato, tuesdays with dorie

Roast Pork with Onions and Apples

Posted on April 22, 2013 | 4 Comments

When I drive into town I always pass this little building with a big black smoker sitting next to it. Often times the air is filled with a smokey BBQ smell and the sign says “BBQ PORK BUTT”. I don’t know about you, but pork butt just doesn’t sound very appealing to me. After my friend Ginger told me about a delicious pork butt she made, I had to say “exactly what is pork butt?” Turns out we had to Google it to get the facts. Pork butt, also known as Boston butt is a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone. Smoked Boston butt, which is then pulled from the bone and served with or in a spicy sauce is what is commonly referred to in the American Deep South as Barbecue.

Oh! Pork shoulder roast, that I am familiar with. Next trip to the market I had pork on my mind. The butt or shoulder roast usually comes in a 10 lb. chunk or more. Since this is waaaay too much meat for us at one cooking, I cut this in half and put 5 lbs. in the freezer for another day.

My sous chef dish-washing mom really likes apples with pork. I started out with apples of a couple different varieties. Any apple will work in this recipe but Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala or a Pink Lady will give you exceptional flavor.

I had a bag of pearl onions on hand so I used them. You can use what you have on hand, white or yellow or pearly! The pearl onions are cooked for a couple of minutes in boiling water to get the skins to slide off easily.

I am not fond of browning meat on the stove-top when I can give it a good turn on the BBQ grill. I get a beautiful result with the added benefit of a bit of natural smokey flavoring.

From the grill I placed the meat in my crock pot. I mixed up orange juice, pineapple juice, beef stock, brown sugar, minced garlic and salt and pepper. Along with the apples and onions I poured this over the meat, covered it and cooked it on HIGH for 2 hours. At the end of 2 hours I turned it to LOW and continued to let it cook for the rest of the day, about 5 hours.

The fragrance that filled the house was amazing. First time the Chief walked through mid-afternoon he said, “Wow, what are you cooking? That smells incredible!” Later in the afternoon my sous chef dish-washing mom came to see what all the excitement was about in the kitchen. By then I had pulled the pork from the crock pot and it practically shredded apart in my hands.

I did have a little trouble at this point. Shred some, eat some, shred some, nibble a bit, shred some, …. you get the point. I couldn’t keep this stuff out of my mouth! Oh my gosh this is good!

I decided on wild rice to go along with the pork. I browned some lovely fresh pecans, added in the wild rice, chicken stock, and set it to simmering.

While the rice and a dish of Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin were cooking, I took the liquid containing the cooked apples and onions and drained off the grease that had cooked out of the meat. Then I placed it in a saucepan, cooking it over medium heat to reduce and thicken it. Just before dinner was ready I added a bit of cornstarch to thicken it to a gravy consistency, albeit a chunky gravy/sauce because of the cooked apples and onions.

I served the sauce over the meat. I can barely finish writing this post because my mouth is watering for a taste of this luscious meal again! Pork butt is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat and one large roast will serve a crowd!

Bon Appétit! Or as we say down south, “Ya’ll come and get it!”

“I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.” Erma Bombeck

Happy Cooking! Catherine!
P.S. Skip to the bottom of the recipe for a bonus picture!

Roast Pork with Onions and Apples

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 7 hours

Roast Pork with Onions and Apples

Feed the family or feed a crowd, pulled pork is a pleaser!

Ingredients

Pork butt roast
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup beef stock
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 whole apples, cored and cut into wedges
1 bag pearl onions, peeled, or 3 medium onions, sliced
2 teaspoon minced garlic
corn starch for thickening, as needed

Directions

Heat BBQ grill on high for 10 minutes. Turn down to medium heat.
Salt and pepper roast and place on BBQ grill. Brown on each side for 5 to 7 minutes (20 minutes total). Remove from grill and place in BBQ crock pot.
While meat is on the grill, slice apples and peel onions. Add to juice, stock, sugar, and minced garlic. Mix well. Pour meat in the crock pot.
Cook on HIGH for 2 hours. Turn heat to LOW and continue cooking for 4 to 5 hours.
When the meat is done, remove roast from crock pot and shred. Cover with foil and set aside.
Take the liquid containing the cooked apples and onions and drain off the grease that had cooked out of the meat.
Placed the liquid in a saucepan, cooking it over medium heat to reduce and thicken it.
If needed add cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water.
Just before serving add a bit of cornstarch to thicken it to a gravy consistency, albeit a chunky gravy/sauce because of the cooked apples and onions.
Serve sauce over pulled pork.

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://praycookblog.com/2013/04/22/roast-pork-with-onions-and-apples/

My Daily Bread Body and Soul. Full Post Content including Recipe @http://praycookblog.com. Pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, but please do not repost or republish elsewhere such as other blogs, websites, or forums without explicit prior permission. Thank you! All rights reserved.

My brother John and his wife Jeanne are masters at creating a BBQ Pulled Pork that melts in your mouth. While I was writing this blog post he sent this picture he had just taken of the grill! Thanks for sharing John!

Terri Conner, Richard Martin liked this post

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Main Dish, Pork, Side Dishes, Vegetables

Tagged bbq pork, brussels sprouts, pork butt, pork shoulder roast, pork with apples, wild rice

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Favorites

Posted on March 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Wikipedia says “Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the church of the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox church and Lutheran Church. For Christians, the day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Irishness and Irish culture. ”

With March 17th falling on a Sunday this year, we will be in church. We may or may not wear something green, but we will definitely eat out. Not because it is St. Paddy’s Day but because we always eat out after church – a treat from my mother.

Even though I have an Irish last name and my husband’s family hail from County Donegal Ireland, I haven’t made a lot of Irish recipes for blogging. Last year, our Tuesdays With Dorie baking group made this Irish Soda Bread and it is wonderful.

These Bailey’s Irish Cream cupcakes are one of my favorite recipes. Of course, it doesn’t take an Irishman to know that Bailey’s Irish Cream is delicious any way you choose to ingest it!

Foodista is a fabulous website highlighting recipes and blog posts from around the internet. I hope you enjoy these Irish recipes!

Have a blessed weekend, Catherine

The Luck of the Irish to You!

Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage
Campbell’s Kitchen

No St. Patty’s Day table is complete without Corned Beef and Cabbage. Try this easy slow cooker corned beef recipe.

Irish Colcannon
Photo: The Culinary Geek

Cabbage, potatoes, leeks and bacon all in one glorious mash.

Rosemary Rum Raisin Soda Bread with Pecans
Bob Vivant

Dark rum, raisins, rosemary and more make this soda bread recipe simply addicting!

Steak and Guinness Pie
Photo: Lil’ Dee

A hearty stew-like pie made with Ireland’s famous stout. Make one big pie or cut the pastry into individual sizes.

St. Patty’s Lamb Pie
Gina Marie Barone

This Lamb Pie recipe is a great way to use up leftover leg of lamb. Making it fresh? Simply sauté ground lamb instead.

Creamy Irish Potato Stew
Campbell’s Kitchen

This easy to make rich and creamy Irish potato stew has flavorful hints of celery and green onion.

Homemade Corned Beef Hash

This hearty breakfast is a great way to use up leftover corned beef and potatoes. Top it with a fried or poached egg.

Guinness Ice Cream
Photo: gordonramseysubmissions

The recipe calls for Guinness, though you can substitute any stout. 22 oz equals 1 1/2 cans of Guinness. Recommendation: drink the leftover 1/2 can while you prepare this recipe.