When He's Not Looking...

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree…

We finally decorated ours!

Scallion Pancakes

Whenever I go to any Chinese restaurant, I must order scallion pancakes. They are the Chinese version of the garlic bread in my opinion, and until Monday night, I thought they were totally worth the $7.95 per order. However, I recently had a hankerin’ for these tasty, flaky wedges, and I just had to attempt to make my own. 

So I guess I will put into context why exactly I decided to make these. My lovely husband was out of town for a couple of days, and because of this, I did not want to get too involved with cooking. As my mother says, cooking is no fun for one. When he called me Monday night he reminded me he had some left over Chinese take-out from a few nights ago. I decided that it would be a good idea to heat it up, because quite frankly, there wasn’t much else to choose from. When I opened the styrofoam box, I was disappointed to see two measly chicken fingers, a few spare ribs, and a handful of rice. Thats when it clicked, scallion pancakes needed to complete my meal.

This is more about technique than ingredients. So follow along carefully:

Scallion Pancakes:

2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups hot water

3 Tbs. sesame oil

1 tsp. Salt 

1 tsp. Pepper

Chopped scallions

Canola oil

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. hot sauce

1 Tbs. fresh grated ginger

1/2 Tbs. chopped scallions

We’ll start with the pancakes…..

1.Mix flour with hot water. Stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball. Put a damp paper towel over the mixture and let it sit for 30 min.

2. Roll out dough until its about 1/4 inch thick. Brush the sesame oil , and sprinkle the scallions, salt and pepper onto the dough.

3. Roll dough up… kind of like a cigar I guess? Then cut into three equal pieces.

4. Roll the dough into itself, kind of like a spiral. Imagine what you think they do to create a cinnamon bun. No really, thats the only way to describe it.

5. Roll the spiral out flat, until its about 1/4 inch thick.

6. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan. Sear flattened dough on both sides. After both sides have browned, remove from pan and let drain on paper towel. Cut kind of like you would a pizza… aaaannnddd thats it.

Dipping sauce: Mix all ingredients together. Thats it.

Enjoy!

Holidays and a Torch.

Since its our first year being married and all, Ricky and I are pretty excited about having our very first Christmas together. Now normally, I hate Christmas. For my entire life, Christmas has totally ruined my birthday. Being a December baby sucks because of that.

However this year, I am proud to say that we will have our own tree with our very own ornaments. We went to Mendon Country Gift Barn a few weekends ago and got a few, and then we went to Crate and Barrel yesterday and got a few more. We’re trying to stick to blue tones for this year anyhow.

On another note, I made Creme Brulee today, and it came out awesome. 

I used Martha’s Stewart’s recipe. There are two reasons why I love this recipe so much.

1. Its is what I like to call a “Sinful” dessert! I would just like to warn my readers, this dessert is not easy on the waistline. You need an entire QUART of HEAVY CREAM!! What this dessert lacks in healthiness, it makes up for in deliciousness. 

2. You get to use a torch. Yes that’s right, you get to unleash your inner pyromaniac and brown some sugar using a super hot flame.

Thanks Martha! You make the best desserts!

Serves 8

• FOR CUSTARD
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 7 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• FOR TOPPING
• 3/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Prepare oven and baking dishes: Heat oven to 300 degrees. Bring a kettle or pot of water to a boil. Place eight 5-ounce baking dishes in a large roasting pan.
2. Gently heat cream: In a medium saucepan, combine cream and half the sugar (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons). Scrape vanilla bean seeds into pan, then add pod. Heat over medium just until mixture starts to bubble around the edge of the pan, 7 to 8 minutes (do not let boil).
3. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with remaining sugar and the salt.
4. Temper eggs: Use ladle to pour a small amount of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, then whisk to combine. (This is called tempering and prevents the eggs from curdling.) Add two more ladles of cream mixture, one at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Gradually whisk in remaining cream mixture. Strain through a fine sieve into a large liquid measuring cup (to remove the vanilla pod and any cooked bits of egg).
5. Bake: Divide custard evenly among baking dishes. Place pan in oven. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake until custards are just set (they should tremble slightly in center when shaken), 30 to 40 minutes.
6. Chill: Remove pan from oven. Use tongs to carefully remove dishes from hot-water bath and place on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours (or up to 3 days) before serving. The custard will finish setting in the refrigerator. If you like, transfer the custards to the freezer 15 minutes before serving to ensure they stay cold after being bruleed (this is especially important if using the broiler).
7. Caramelize tops and serve: Sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar over each custard. Working with one at a time, pass the flame of the torch in a circular motion 1 to 2 inches above the surface of each custard until the sugar bubbles, turns amber, and forms a smooth surface. Serve immediately.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Creme Brulee - Martha Stewart Recipes 

Here’s what mine looked like when it was all done:

A must try… now I just need to figure out how to transport it. If you have any ideas on that let me know!

Mama’s Tiramisu

This was a huge hit at my recent potluck dinner with my friends in Providence. This classic Italian recipe better impress Mariella at the Rollins family Thanksgiving Thursday!

Mama’s Tiramisu

3 egg yolks
4 tbsp amaretto
3/4 Cup superfine sugar (not the same as powdered sugar!)
2 oz. Bittersweet chocolate, finely grated (I use a Ghiradelli chocolate bar, each square of the choc. bar = 1 oz.)
8 oz. mascarpone cheese (1 whole container)
1 Cup heavy cream
24 ladyfingers (I used chocolate and vanilla at Thanksgiving, but I usually just use vanilla)
Unsweetened cocoa, for dusting
1/3 Cup Marsala Wine
1 Cup of fresh brewed coffee

Whisk together egg yolks and amaretto. Gradually add in the superfine sugar. Beat until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the mascarpone cheese and chocolate. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream. Fold the first mixture into the whipped cream gradually.

Combine the marsala wine and coffee into a shallow bowl. Dip the ladyfingers into the mixture (both sides). Arrange half the ladyfingers on the bottom of a square or rectangular dish, then cover with half the mascarpone cream.

Layer the remaining ladyfingers and cream, spreading evenly. Cover and chill overnight in fridge. Before serving, dust heavily with cocoa.

Yummy Yummy Yummy!

Lifetime ruined my favorite show

Ever since Junior year of college I have been a huge fan of Project Runway. Back in the good ol’ days, it was on Bravo, it was 60 mins long, no one cared too much about the models, and the judges actually judged without much input from producers. Now, Project Runway is on Lifetime- “Television for women” and they couldn’t have made me more disappointed. 

Now normally I am not a huge fan of reality television, with the exception of Project Runway, and a handful of wedding shows (like Four Weddings). The reason why is because reality TV these days are all about making good TV and not about what is actually real. Project Runway, when it was on Bravo, was very real. They did not focus on drama, but the actual construction of clothing and the challenges. Any drama that happened was just an afterthought. Lifetime has done what MTV did to the Real World and picked personalities that did not mesh well so that they could have drama in their show. 

The reason why I bring all this up is because I just watched the season 8 Finale (part 1) and I am truly saddened by the outcome. Michael Costello, for some reason, has been the target of abuse all season long. He’s been accused of cheating, told that he’s unoriginal and can’t sew, and does not seem to have the love and support from his family that he should. Because of this, he has been the underdog and I have been cheering him on the entire season. However, he was eliminated from the show. In my opinion he had the best collection out of all the designers and had so much heart in everything he made. So why did he get voted off is the real question. 

What Lifetime did is they looked at the show as a moneymaker and decided that the judges should vote off Michael Costello because it would make for the best TV. 

They kept Mondo because well, he’s the token “quirky” designer. Also probably because he has HIV. I’m not saying he’s not talented, but I am so tired of his schtick. I’ve had enough with the tap shoes and short-shorts. STOP IT! We get it, you’re weird and your clothes are from Jupiter. 

They kept Andy South because he has pretty hair. Other than that, his clothes aren’t anything special. Go to any rave and you will be able to find those strange pants with the puffiness and the things hanging off. NOTHING SPECIAL. Also, the dress he made for the episode was nothing I have not seen before. Great, you can make alot of pleats, but your skirt is too short and the whole thing looks like romaine lettuce. 

The most disappointing: They kept Gretchen?!?! Why? Why would you do that? really? WHY?? You know why, because its Lifetime and they need to have a girl in the final three THAT IS WHY! It is not because your clothes were good, THEY SUCK. Her collection looked like MC Hammer took acid and then went on Safari. It looks like a couch in someone’s basement from 1987. It looked like my Kindergarteners got some free fabric and a stapler and made a collection. So I ask again, WHY??!!

Because eliminating Michael Costello made for good television, thats why. It is totally unfair. Because of this I am not watching the finale. If you feel the same way I do, please don’t watch the finale. Maybe we can make an impact and make their ratings go down and then they will give my show back to Bravo. BRAVO WOULDN’T DO THIS!!! 

In any case, I love you Michael Costello, your collection is beautiful. You should have won.

Beer ribs a success!

The beer ribs were a delicious. Unfortunately, Ricky and I ate them so fast that I had no time to take pictures. The one thing that I would add into the recipe is to invest in a disposable pan of some sort. I have had to soak the pan that the ribs were and and even now I feel like there is still some stickiness all over the bottom. 

My next adventure will be doughnuts I have decided. More on that later….

Football Season has BEGUN!

I love my husband to death. He is an amazing person. For the most part we agree on most things, however, the one thing that we cannot agree on is football. He worships the sport, and I despise it. From about noon on Sunday until Monday night he is glued to that television and computer screen.  For the first few weeks of the season I complained and annoyed, but after week three of this I have decided to do something more constructive. I am going to explore some cooking and crafting, and maybe a few other things along the way. If you are a person whose spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend is obsessed with football while you loathe it, this is the blog for you.

For today’s post, I am going to share my recipe for Bonnie’s Beer Ribs.

This is something that my mom is famous for. These ribs literally fall off the bone and are incredibly simple to make. They do however take a long time to make. In fact, I won’t be able to show/ tell you how the ribs are until tomorrow!

What you need:

1 Full Rack of baby back pork ribs

2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Pepper

1 Bottle of beer

1/3 Cup Water

BBQ sauce of your choosing

1. Preheat the oven to 300 Degrees

2. Cut Ribs into three equal sections and pat dry. Season the ribs with the salt and pepper.

3. Transfer ribs a a deep baking dish. Pour the beer and water into the bottom of the baking dish (Not directly on to the ribs!) 

4. Cook for 3 Hours, turning halfway through. 

5. Pour out excess beer and slather with BBQ sauce. Cover and let the ribs marinade overnight. 

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cook the ribs until the BBQ sauce has caramelized (caramelized = turned borwnish)

I am using Sam Adams Octoberfest for beer because its what we had in the house. You can choose whatever beer you would like! I am also trying Tennessee Whiskey BBQ sauce. 

Will update on how this turns out tomorrow!