Where has the summer gone?

As I was writing that title, I started slowly humming “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and then immediately thought, to the Pride Parade, of course!

Let me go back for a minute. Where has Ginny been? Mark emailed me this week to see what was up since I haven’t posted in awhile. Well, to be honest, I haven’t felt much like cooking or writing much…I’ve also found lately that I am so incredibly busy… running around the city like crazy and finally having time to see all that Chicago has to offer… The Taste of Chicago, the Pride Parade, the Green City Market, miniature golfing at Grant Park, the beach… the last few weeks have been fun… hanging with friends and enjoying the long awaited sunshine!

This week I started wanting to cook again… J came to visit last week. We explored Old Town… stumbling across Old Town Oil (Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar) and the Spice House…where I may have picked up a few new things… with J here, I started to cook a little bit again and it was fun! well, most things with J are fun… even moving my bed up 9 flights of stairs… now that’s a story…

I think the cooking bug has starting biting again… I feel inspired… I’m excited to start playing in my teeny tiny kitchen again… I also was hit by an idea… details will follow… so you must stay posted…

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten my goal to make a recipe from that huge stack of cookbooks… This recipe comes from Seafood, a gift from two of my great high school friends. That birthday, my seventeenth, I believe, I had to answer riddles before they would hand me a gift.  Given my love of cooking, they picked a beautiful cookbook…gorgeous photographs and some amazing recipes using fish I have never ever heard of… I love flipping through it and decided on this recipe to use my new cute basil plant. I really liked the scallops out of the oven but not as much the next day. The sauce was amazing but you really can’t go wrong with shallots, white wine and butter… enjoy!  Thanks, girls!  I miss you!

Scallop Piroshskis with Basil Leaves
(adapted from Seafood)

6 Scallops, rinsed and patted dry
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
6 basil leaves
1 egg yolk
1 shallot
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 tablespoon butter (recipe calls for a whole stick but I cut that down a bit!)
salt and pepper

1. Peel and finely chop the shallot. In a frying pan, add the white wine, white wine vinegar and shallots. Reduce until only 80 percent of the liquid. Add the cream and reduce the liquid by half. Beat in butter with a whisk. Keep the sauce warm in a double boiler (or on low)
2. Slice the scallops in half and place a basil leave in between the halves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out the puff pastry and cut into 6 equal pieces. Place a scallop in the middle of one piece and wrap the puff pastry around it. Brush with the egg yolk. Repeat for all the scallops.
4. Bake at 350 for about 8 min. (If I remember correctly, mine took about 10-12 min.). Serve warm with the sauce.

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5 minute chocolate cake?

At first I was skeptical… would cake microwaved in a mug actually taste good?  I was pleasantly surprised… Sure, it is not the best cake in the whole world but it does hit the spot after a long day at work.  Plus I didn’t dirty a ton of dishes like I did that last time I made a cake.  The next time I try it, I plan on adding more cocoa powder and chocolate chips.  It also needs maybe a 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Icing would be nice— A simple buttercream… yum…

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional— I think its a must!)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. (My microwave is so old— it took about 5 minutes to cook).
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

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I’m back!

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? I have been busy recovering from exams, starting my summer job and attending my friend’s wedding. I decided that I needed to take a short break from blogging and not stress about posting or commenting on everyone’s blogs. But now I’m back and about to unveil my summer project…

Do you remember the picture from my last post?  The huge stack of cookbooks?  It is ok, go back and refresh your memory.

I am quite embarrassed to admit that these cookbooks are the ones in my collection that I have sadly never made something from.  I have a tendency to drool over them but then decide for one reason or another to put off making something.  Well, not anymore.  This summer, I am going to tackle one recipe from each cookbook.

As Mark suggested, I did start at the bottom with The Pastry Queen.  It found its way onto my bookshelf via Deborah’s cookbook give-a-way sometime last year.  Filled with many delicious baked-goods I was struggling to figure out what to make.  Last week I had a few friends over for a movie night.  Two of these friends are also from the South so I decided upon Southern Comfort Apple Pie.  I am not an apple pie person but this was amazing.  The Southern Comfort deepened the flavor of the apples and cinnamon making it really rich.  I would recommend serving it over ice cream.

Chef Mark’s Southern Comfort Apple Pie
(adapted from The Pastry Queen)

Topping:

1/2 cup peacans, roasted and chopped
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter

Apple Filling
5-6 tart apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 Southern Comfort
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 pie crust

1. For the Topping: Mix together dry ingrediants. Cut in the butter. Mix in the nuts.
2. Heat oven to 375.
3. For the filling: Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the apples and saute for 5-8 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the apples, stirring to combine.
5. Simmer for another minute and remove the apples from the pan, leaving as much of the butter-sugar mixture as possible. Spread the apples out flat on a plate because they will get soggy if heaped.
6. Pour the Southern Comfort into the butter-sugar mizture and simmer over medium heat for at least 5 minutes or until the alcohol has burned off.
7. Pour in the cream and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the mixture becomes pourable caramel.
8. Mix in the apples and pour into the prepared pie crust. Spread the topping over the filling.
9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the filling starts to bubble. I put a pan underneath to prevent the sugar boiling over and burning in the oven. Allow to cool and serve at room temperature.

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