Nothing Says 'I Love You' like Chocolate Raspberry Bars

I'm going to preface this blog post with an 'I'm sorry".  The reason I feel compelled to make this disclaimer is because these chocolate raspberry bars are awesome.  I'm talking "can't stop eating them, don't care if I become obese, sort of want to shrink myself to a miniature size and live in a giant box of these" good.   Now I like to think that my husband married me for many reasons, however I think the main reason was for my food.  Since this was our first Valentines day as a married couple, and we are broke and about to move, I wanted to find a way to say 'I love you' that was a littler more elaborate than our traditional Valentine's day breakfast, but that didn't involve spending any money.

Enter Melissa Clark. For those of you not acquainted, Melissa Clark is a food writer for the NY Times who writes an incredible column called A Good Appetite.  She always managed to make food that looks incredibly fancy and elegant and yet is so simple and easy to make at home without a ton of weird ingredients.  A few weeks ago she posted a recipe for dark chocolate cherry ganache bars which I absolutely HAD to try.  The only change I made was substituting cherry jam for raspberry jam, mainly because we still have jam left over from our wedding favors (how cute am I using our wedding jam in our valentines day dessert, and yes its ok to vomit at our cuteness) and I substituted raspberry vodka for the kirsch.  The result was devine!  The perfect treat for snuggling up with your special someone, just ask Marley!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Bars (adapted from Melissa Clark)

150 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

90 grams confectioners’ sugar (about 3/4 cup)

26 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

12 tablespoons cold salted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

52 grams rasberry jam (about 2 tablespoons but to be honest I didn't measure, I just used enough to cover the shortbread)

340 grams bittersweet chocolate, at least 62 percent, chopped (12 ounces)

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons raspberry vodka 

1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and fine sea salt. Pulse in the butter and vanilla until the mixture just comes together into a smooth mass. You can also do this by hand by using your finger tips to work in the very cold butter. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment or wax paper. Press the dough into the pan. Prick all over with a fork. Chill for at least 20 minutes and up to 3 days.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the shortbread until firm to the touch and just beginning to pull away from the sides, 35 to 40 minutes.

3. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes on a wire rack. Brush jam over shortbread’s surface and let cool thoroughly.

4. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

5.  In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the vodka. Spread over shortbread.  Cool to room temperature; cover and chill until firm. Slice and serve.

Pictures are courtesy of James Martin - using the camera he broke at our wedding just to bring these cookies full circle :-)

Roast Chicken with Honey Roast Parsnips

The British really love their weekend roasts and my husband is no exception to the rule.  Now I had never really grown up a roast girl.  We ate a lot of Mediterranean food growing up, a lot of asian, but never really did the whole roast meat with potato and veg thing.   I'll admit a giant slab of meat scares me a little bit - what if its too tough or how does it not dry out?  Plus I'm not a hugeeee red meat lover, its more of a special occasion kind of thing for me.

But in my quest to be a good wife I felt compelled to provide the hubby with something close enough to a roast to satisfy his craving, while at the same time keeping the red meat to a minimum.  The solution was simple - a roast chicken!  Its healthier, you can get a couple of meals out of 1 chicken, and you can make a delicious stock out of the carcass.  Paired with some roast sweet potato and parsnips you've got a classic meat, potato, veg combo but for way less the fat!  Bikini season of 2012 - here I come!

Now the trick to a good roast chicken is baste, baste, and baste some more.  Liquid is your friend, it adds flavor and keeps the bird from drying out.  Over the years I've tried a couple of different methods of getting a moist bird, but the one we tried last night was perfect; crisp skin, and deliciously moist meat.  In terms of seasoning I went with a BBQ flavor, but you could really do anything.  A bit of lemon juice and garlic is fresh and lovely, or rub a little miso paste on the skin to add a little asian flair.  That the beauty of chicken - it can take almost any flavor which means you never get bored of it!

BBQ Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken
Olive oil
Dry BBQ rub (I used Nando's bbq rub)
Salt
Pepper
1-2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup boiling water

1.  Preheat your oven to 350F (180C)
2.  Rinse your chicken and pat it dry, seasoning the cavity with salt and pepper and place in a shallow roasting tray.
3.  Rub a little olive oil all over the skin of the bird - dont forget to get the wings and the legs as well
4.  Gently slide your fingers under the skin and loosen the skin from the flesh.  Rub the BBQ seasoning all over the surface of the bird being sure to rub some under the skin.
5.  Put the chicken in the oven and cook for 15 minutes
6.  Add the butter and the water to the pan.  Cook for a further 15 minutes.
7.  Continue to cook the bird for the recommended length of time (it will vary depending on the size of the bird) being sure to baste every 15 minutes.  Mine took about 1 hour 45 minutes.  The bird is done when the juices run clear.
8.  Remove from the oven and allow the bird to rest for at least 10-15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Honey Roast Parsnips
Parsnips
Honey
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Thyme

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)
2.  Trim the ends off of the parsnips and cut them into strips
3.  In a bowl coat the parsnips with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of honey.  Season with the salt, pepper and thyme.  Really get your hands in there and make sure every surface of the parsnip is coated!
4.  Put the parsnips on a foil (or parchment) lined baking sheet and bake until golden and tender, about 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

As many of you know this is the year Kyle and I are moving back to the US.  Its been four wonderful years here, and I'm starting to realize that in four wonderful years you accumulate a lot of wonderful crap.  Nothing like the joys of transatlantic packing to bring out your sentimental side.  The move is now only three weeks away and so the packing and cleaning and wrapping up all the bank accounts, bills, and all those joys have begun for me.  Its a magical time indeed!!

Since Kyle is still here for another few months I am thankfully only packing up half a house at the moment.  Now our assets can pretty much be summed up this way: anything electronic is probably Kyle's and anything in the kitchen is probably mine.  Its not just pots and pans either - I have a habit of buying all sorts of interesting ingredients to experiment with, many of which Kyle will never use.  So today I was strolling through the cabinets trying to figure out what to make to use up some of these ingredients when I came across a couple of cans of pumpkin, and I knew I had to make something with them.

Now the story of these jars of pumpkin perfectly sums up my experience of living abroad.  My very first Thanksgiving in Edinburgh, I vowed to make a perfect and traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  I wanted a golden turkey, crisp roast veggies, butternut squash soup, and of course pumpkin pie.  You can't have Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.  Weirdly the Brits aren't so into the pumpkin situation, they have them available at Halloween to carve, but other than that its really hard to find canned pumpkin.  After asking around for a while I was finally able to get the name of a store in town that had loads of American goods, including pumpkin.

Delighted to have tracked it down, I ran to the store the next day only to find that there was apparently a Scotland wide pumpkin shortage that year! Instead of the usual several dozen cases the store orders in most years - this year they were only able to get in 1 measly case.  Despondent - I reluctantly added my name to the waiting list (yes there was actually a wait list for pumpkin) but I had little hope of actually getting a can of this coveted stuff.  The days came and went and before long it was the day before Thanksgiving and there was no sign of any pumpkin.  I sadly gave up hope of having my perfect Thanksgiving abroad.

And then I got the call!  The pumpkin had arrived and there were two cans with my name on it! I had 24 hours to claim them or they would move to the next name on the list (this was a precise pumpkin wait list) and within the hour they were in my hand.  Thanksgiving was saved and it turned out to be one of the best I've ever had.  Which just goes to show you that living abroad can sometimes be hard - but it all works out in the end!!   So don't take your pumpkin for granted and next time you have a can lying around, I suggest you make these pumpkin spice muffins!  They are bursting with warm spice flavor, moist as can be and ever so comforting!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins (adapted from Martha Stewart)
15oz pumpkin puree (425g canned pumpkin, 2 cups)
3/4 cup vegetable oil (180ml)
3 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (I used creme fraiche because I had some in the fridge)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves

1.  Preheat your oven to 350F (180C) and grease your muffin tins, unless you are using silicon muffin tins, in which case you don't need to
2.  In a large bowl combined the pumpkin, oil, creme fraiche, eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix until smooth.
3.  In a separate medium bowl, stir together your dry ingredients; the flours, the baking soda, baking powder, and spices.
4.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients making sure to mix until combined but not to over mix.
5.  Spoon the batter into the muffin tins (it should make 12 jumbo or about 18 regular muffins)
6.  Sprinkle the tops with a little brown sugar
7.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8.  Let cool and enjoy!

 

Super Bowl Sunday Muchnies

I love the super bowl, it is pretty much the closest event I have to a religious holiday.  There is ritual, ceremony, and of course pomp and circumstance.  Weirdly - its not as huge a deal here in Scotland.  To be fair American football is growing in popularity here by leaps and bounds, but its not quite at the level yet where everyone is willing to stay up to watch a game that starts at 11:30pm.  Fortunately for me I have a pretty respectable group of friends who despite knowing nothing about the sport or the teams playing are generally willing to stay up into obscene hours of the night to watch the game with me.  That is of course if I bribe them with copious amounts of beer and food - theres always a catch isn't there.

Over the years I've tried and tested vast amounts of super bowl food.  There has been guacamole, various types of nachos, layer dips, I even made a football cake one year!

This year however it was a small crowd and it was a game I really wanted to watch.  Now I suffer the unfortunate burden of being a Jets fan.  It's a sad and lonely existence only made worse by watching New York's other team (you know the one) do well.  Now don't get me wrong, I dont hate the Giants - there is actually a lot I like about them.  Their kicker, Lawrence Tynes is actually Scottish!  Its just Giants fans I hate. I mean sure they win big games, sure their players don't actively talk about hating each other, sure when their player went to jail for shooting them self in the leg they released him - but thats the kind of stuff that gives a team character.  The Jets are a bunch of delinquents but they are my delinquents.  Still there is nothing worse in the world than watching the smug face on Tom Brady when the Patriots win - and that my friends was reason enough for me to happily cheer on the Gmen!

But I digress!! Since I wanted to see the game I needed recipes that would be tasty, quick and would make me feel at home.  Buffalo wings, bbq sliders, and of course potato skins would fit the bill.  All simple to make, the bulk of work can be done in advance, and all tasty enough to keep a bunch of foreigners up until 3am to watch a game they know nothing about.  Mission accomplished. 

*Note to the reader - these are not healthy recipes. Even slightly. The super bowl comes once a year, I beg you to just eat these and enjoy them without thinking about the calories. You can go to the gym tomorrow. 

Loaded Potato Skins

As many potatoes as you want, washed and dried (any good roasting potato will do)

Bacon (I used 4 strips)

Grated cheese (I used a Cheddar and Monterey jack blend) 

1.  Pre heat the oven to 400F (200C) 

2.  Prick the skin of the potatoes all over and place the potatoes on a baking tray 

3.  Rub them in olive oil and salt and pepper and place into the oven

4.  Cook until tender about 1 hour (may take a little longer if they are bigger potatoes) 

5.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely.  

6.  While the potatoes are cooling, cook your bacon until crispy then crumble into small pieces

7.  When they are cool, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out some of the flesh inside leaving about a 1/4 of an inch border of potato.  Keep the insides - you can add it to soup or something!

8.  Brush a little of the bacon grease onto each of the scooped potatoes.  (Its worth it - I promise you)

9.  Fill your skins with the bacon and cheese

10.  Turn your oven to 375F (190C) and stick your skins back in until the cheese is bubbling and melted, about 10 minutes!

Note - steps 1-9 can be done well in advance of the game and just stick them in the oven when guests arrive!

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders (from Ree at The Pioneer Woman)

2lbs ground meat (I used turkey)

Salt and Pepper

4 Tbsp butter

1 whole large onion, diced

1/2 cup whiskey (I used bourbon) 

1 cup BBQ sauce 

1/4 cup jarred jalapeno slices (mine was probably more like 1/2 a cup)

Slider buns of some sort (I used ciabatta) 

1.  Form the meat into 12 or so miniature patties and salt and pepper them on both sides

2.  Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the patties until just about done in the middles (about 3-4 minutes per side)

3.  Remove the patties from the skillet and set aside

4.  Drain off all but 2 tbsps of the grease and return the skillet to the stove.

5.  Throw the diced onions in the skillet and stir to cook, about 3 minutes

6.  Pour in the whiskey (note to readers - don't set your kitchen on fire doing this like I did when I made the hubby his birthday steak)

7.  Stir to get all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and let the whiskey reduce by half about 2-3 minutes.  Add the bbq sauce and the jalapenos 

8.  Reduce the heat to low and place the patties in the sauce, turning to coat.  Allow the patties to simmer in the sauce until everything's hot and cooked through. 

9. Place the patties on individual buns and spoon on some extra sauce!!! 

Note:  You can cook the patties ahead of time and just add them to the sauce when your guests arrive!

Oh and if your wondering - it felt pretty sweet to see that look on Brady's face! :-) 

Home Made Chapatis

Its been a busy day today my friends.  Lots of job applications, a good run around Arthurs Seat, catching up with the newly employed Rachel before her big move to NY tomorrow, and Kyle's mom came in for a catch up.  Needless to say I was in no mood for a lengthy meal tonight, especially after last night's epic lasagne.  

Since we live in Scotland and the best thing about Scotland is the abundance of excellent and ready available indian curry sauces we decided tonight dinner would be opening a jar of makhani (our favorite is the half fat one from Waitrose) and pouring it over whatever protein we could find in the fridge, in this case diced turkey breast.  Accompanied by a microwave bag of rice and we are talking about a delicious and literally 10 minute meal.  

But sadly we all know I am crazy and can never be satisfied by a meal where all the work is done for me.  We also know that the best thing about Indian food is the lovely bread you can use to soak up the curry sauce with.  Now you can find naan bread literally everywhere here but since we are on a semi health kick I was thinking chapatis would be a little more up our alley.  Chapatis are an unleavened whole wheat Indian bread and a quick google search showed there are endless ways to make them.  I decided to go with a recipe I found on epicurious.com mainly because it looked super easy.  Turns out it was super easy, and pretty tasty, however they lacked the punch that I love in a good garlic naan.  Next time I might try adding some different seasonings, it might not be as traditional but who cares as long as it tastes good!  Readers if you try adding any flavorings let me know how it turns out!

Chapati (from Gourmet Magazine 2008) 

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat or Indian atta flour plus additional for kneading

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup lukewarm water

Vegetable oil for greasing skillet (I made mine in a nonstick pan and did not need to use any oil)

1.  Stir together the flour and salt in a large bowl, then make a well in the center and add the water to the well.

2.  Using a fork stir until a dough forms

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic (dough will be slightly sticky) about 8 minutes.  Return dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for at least 1 hour

4.  Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball 

5.  Taking one ball at a time, flatten the ball with your hands on a lightly floured surface.  Then using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 5-6inch circle.  Repeat with the remaining balls.

6.  Heat a dry pan over medium heat until hot.  The recipe said to then lightly grease the skilled with a paper towel dipped in oil, but I used a nonstick pan and found I didn't need to do this step.  

7.  Cook one round of dough at a time until the underside is golden brown in spots, about 30 seconds

8.  Turn over and cook the other side until deep golden brown in spots, 30 seconds - 1 minute

9.  Serve warm with a delicious side of curry! 

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Big Trev's Lasagna

Its cold here in Scotland, and I like most people find the best cure for the cold to be something warm and  hearty that will stick to your ribs.  I'm also starting to get a little stressed about the upcoming move and getting a job and being apart from the hubby for a whole 6 months, so dinner tonight had to be comforting as well.  Now tell me people, what on this great planet is more hearty and comforting than a homemade lasagne?

Those of you who know Kyle know that the man is a lasagne man.  I'm not joking when I tell you that he once confessed to me that he first knew he wanted to mary me when he went through a phase where he wanted me to try and make as many different varieties of lasagne as humanly possible and I happily went along with it.  There was a traditional lasagne, a mexican spiced lasagne, pesto and spinach lasagne, chicken lasagne, and yet he never grew weary of the endless parade of lasagne.

So I knew it was serious when he came back from a trip down to Chris' hometown of Bentham claiming he had just eaten the world's best lasagne.  I might have even seen a tear trickle down his face as he lovingly recounted the perfect texture of the meat, the creaminess of the bechamel sauce, and the golden layer of cheese bubbling on the top.  I seriously worried that Kyle might attempt to leave me for the lasagne's creator - Big Trev Dobson aka Chris' dad.

Eventually I had to experience this epic-ness for myself and the Dobsons were kind enough to supply me with their recipe.   The verdict: its as good as the hype and not that difficult to make!!!  Try it tonight - you really won't regret it!!!

Big Trev's Lasagne

Meat sauce

1½ tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 fat clove garlic

450g lean minced beef

2 rashers bacon, finely chopped

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

4 tbsp red wine

1 beef stock cube

1 tsp dried basil (I used fresh basil)

Salt and pepper

White sauce

750ml milk (about 3 cups)

75g butter (about 5 table spoons)

50g plain flour (1/2 cup)

Freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

9 sheets lasagne (kyle insists we use spinach lasagne, apparently the green tastes better) 

Grated parmesan

Grates mozzarella  

Dish 20cm x 27cm

Heat the oil in a thick based pan, soften onion, bacon and garlic for 5 mins. Now turn up heat, add beef and brown. Once browned add tomatoes, tomato puree, wine, stock cube, basil and seasoning. Put a lid on and simmer gently for 20 mins. Remove lid and simmer for another 20-25 mins.

To make white sauce, put the milk, butter and flour in a thick based saucepan, place over a gentle heat and whisk continuously with a balloon whisk until the sauce comes to simmering point and thickens. Season and simmer gently for 5 mins.

Now spread about ¼ of the meat sauce over the bottom of the dish, cover with approx ¼ of the white sauce, then sprinkle a layer of parmesan before arranging 3 sheets (in a single layer) of lasagne over the top. Repeat this process, finishing off with a final layer of white sauce. Cover the top with a sprinkling of grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

This can be done well in advance. When required bake in a preheated oven, gas 4, 350F, 180C, for 35-45 mins or until browned.

Serve with salad and enjoy!!!

Perfectly Poached Eggs

As many of you guys know, we recently had a bunch of our Scottish/English/Welsh friends over to New York for a week of fun.  There was sightseeing, there was drinking, and most interestingly there was the shocking realisation that these boys knew nothing about eggs.  One fateful trip to IHOP and the boys were overwhelmed by the endless choices of eggs that lay before them. They literally sat there staring blankly at the waitress - clueless as to what many of the delicious eggy options even were!

Now I have lived in Scotland for 4 years and I have had many a Scottish breakfast otherwise known as a fry up.  A typical Scottish fry up consists of scrambled eggs, hash browns, a potato scone, bacon, sausage, a grilled egg, grilled mushrooms, and haggis and black pudding.  Needless to say its a little on the heavy side.  Since Kyle and I are both trying to watch what we eat we've been avoiding the fry up lately.  Empowered by the experience of learning that there are other ways to make eggs Kyle turned to me the other day and made a simple request.  Can I try a poached egg?

I'm not a runny yoke person, I've an over hard with the yoke broken kind of gal, so poached eggs aren't something I had ever considered making.  Plus the idea is quite scary - how on earth are you supposed to drop an egg into a pot of boiling water and expect it to somehow hold together?  Some quick internet research from my absolute favorite food blog www.smittenkitchen.com and I felt brave enough to try it.  In her tips she advises to only use a couple of inches of water in the pan, add a splash of vinegar, and to add the egg when the water is just about to simmer but not quite boiling yet.

The verdict?  A perfectly poached egg and a happy husband!

Poached Eggs (technique stolen from Deb at SmittenKitchen)


1.  Head a pot with a few inches of water in it
2.  Add a splash of vinegar (I used malt vinegar since its what I had within reach)
3.  Heat the water until bubbles start to form under the surface but before it starts to really simmer or boil
4.  Break your egg into a separate dish (it makes it easier to pour into the pan)
5.  Make a whirlpool in the water using a spatula (I found a spoon worked quite well)
6.  Slide the egg into the whirlpool.  NOW DONT PANIC! It will look like a hot mess in there for a second, but the force of the whirlpool will pull all the whites back over the yolk to form a pretty circle of egg.  If there are still some loose strands just gently use your spoon/spatula to encourage them back into the main egg mass.
7.  Cook the egg until the whites have set about 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon!!

Enjoy with buttered bread - or in this case english muffins!