Happy Valentine’s Day! Love was in the air, and so was the scent of brisket. For this dinner we made braised brisket with egg noodles, roasted brussel sprouts and the last of our peas from our garden (frozen). For dessert, we made Creme Brulee. The brisket is surprisingly simple for such a tasty meal, while the Creme Brulee was fun (we used the blow-torch mom gave us for Valentine’s Day!).
The complete dinner:
The full dinner!
The braised brisket ingredients:
Ingredients for the brisket.
In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the sliced onion and garlic.
Cutting the onions.
Then season the brisket with salt and pepper and place, fat side up, in slow cooker and add the chicken broth.
Seasoning the brisket.
Adding chicken broth.
Cover and cook on high until brisket is fork-tender, about 6 hours. Afterwards, remove the brisket and thinly slice against the grain.
Brussel Sprouts: We couldn’t find any fresh brussel sprouts upstate so we decided to experiment with frozen ones (because they are Mom’s favorite vegetable–she’s crazy). We thawed them and then we tossed them with sliced red onions and olive oil (with salt & pepper). Then we roasted them in the oven. The were amazingly delicious.
Stirring red onions and brussel sprouts together
Ready to roast!
What we got for Valentine’s Day: blow torch, butane, and ramekins…
Ramekins+Blowtorch=FUN
The ingredients for the Creme Brulee.
First, heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.. In 13×9-inch pan, place 4 (6-oz) ceramic ramekins.* In small bowl, slightly beat egg yolks with wire whisk.
Separating yolk from white.
In large bowl, stir whipping cream, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the vanilla until well mixed.Then, add egg yolks and beat.Pour cream mixture evenly into ramekins.
Adding the mixture to the ramekins.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until top is light golden brown and sides are set (centers will be jiggly).
Using tongs or grasping tops of ramekins with pot holder, carefully transfer ramekins to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Uncover the ramekins; gently blot any liquid from tops of custards with paper towel. Then, Sprinkle 2 teaspoons granulated sugar over each chilled custard. Holding the miniature blow torch 3 to 4 inches from custard, caramelize sugar on each custard by heating with torch about 2 minutes, moving flame continuously over sugar in circular motion, until sugar is melted and light golden brown.
Blowtorch.
The whole dessert!!
Crème Brûlée
Today we hosted a small Super Bowl party at our house. We tried to combine some all-American favorites (chips and guacamole and pumpkin pie) with some of our own family favorites (lamb ragu and one of our all time favorite appetizers -from the Swiss side of the family — melted raclette cheese with boiled potatoes). Russ and Erica brought pita and hummus and a great salad, and Mom said it was a very “eclectic” but delicious tail gate. Plus the Broncos won. (Sorry Carolina fans–we did think about making shrimp and grits in your honor but that’s too much work during the game, and we wanted to make it simple. Plus Mom was for the Broncos). So we made the pumpkin pie the day before, and the lamb ragu (which is simple and fast…thanks Mark Bittman) a few hours before game time so we didn’t have to miss any of the game. Mom started the water for the pasta after the first quarter and reheated the sauce, so we all ate that at half time.
For the raclette, we boiled the potatoes 1/2 hour before the game and melted the raclette on our special Swiss electric raclette grill during the first half….we set the grill up in front of the TV. Our (Swiss) grandmother gave the raclette grill to our dad before we were born, and its become part of our family food traditions. We are undecided as to whether we like fondue or raclette better. Both are fun to make and to eat.
For the pumpkin pie, Ali and I started it on Saturday to 1) give it time to cool(no one likes mushy pumpkin pie) and 2) We OBVIOUSLY could not of been cooking during the super bowl, so it makes sense to prepare it the night before. We started this classic dish by mixing salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Then we added this mixture to evaporated milk and the cooked pumpkin and voila the pumpkin mixture is ready! We then poured the mixture into a pie with graham cracker crust. Since there was leftover mixture we cooked miniature pumpkin bread.
Pre game appetizers: guacamole, hummus and raclette grill heating up.
Melting raclette on our raclette grill.
Ingredients for Lamb Ragu (so simple: onion, lamb, tomatoes, olive oil…) oh and a little milk at the end
Cooking lamb and onions for lamb ragu
Adding in tomatoes to lamb ragus sauce
Almost done…just need to simmer and add milk
Pumpkin pie and mini pumpkin bread
Tonight I (Max) cooked dinner for the family and made Alex’s favorite meal (steak, mashed baked potatoes and salad) because she had to do TWO middle school entrance exams/interviews today. She had a tough day and this dinner was a nice surprise. For dessert Alex and I (with an assist from our friend Wyeth) made Apples “Koster”. Apples Koster is our take on Bananas Foster, which we made last week. We liked the Bananas Foster, but the bananas were a little too sweet and the texture of cooked banana can be a little too soft, so we decided to try a variation. We essentially followed the same recipe as Bananas Foster but substituted apples for bananas. We also cooked the apples a little longer in the rum and butter because they are a little firmer than bananas. We added more cinnamon. We loved the result.
The dinner itself was straightforward but delicious: First I seasoned the steaks to provide a crust. Then I seared them for approximately 4 minutes on each side, and because they were so thick I put them in the oven to finish. Meanwhile, I washed 4 potatoes and baked them in the microwave for a total of 12 minutes,with rotations every 4 minutes. 2 were left as baked, and the others were peeled and mashed with butter. For the salad,we thought we would make the typical goat cheese, walnut and cranberry salad(with a base of arugula, of course) but halfway through the meal we found a fresh avocado and cherry tomatoes in the fridge and decided to make a avocado, tomato, goat cheese, walnut and arugula salad.
The full dinner: steak, potatoes and salad (and Koko hoping for a handout)
The ingredients…or at least some of them
Grilling the steaks (they were so thick, I finished them off in the oven)
Checking the meat
Prepping avocados for salad
Avocado, tomato, goat cheese, walnut and arugula salad
The steps of making Apples Koster:
Gather your the ingredients: apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and rum
Sautee apples in butter and assessing (thanks Wyeth) before the flambee
Add more brown sugar and the cinnamon!
Almost ready for the rum; apples are soft but not too soft
Lighting the apples! (carefully)
Serve the Apples Koster over vanilla ice cream
This weekend was so cold and snowy (thanks to Winter Storm Jonas), we wished we were back in Jamaica. So we decided to re-create a Jamaican meal — jerk chicken (jerk is actually a compliment in Jamaica–it means hot and spicy). We also made rice and beans, using two types of rices–brown and white. For salad we made a spinach, avocado, tomato, red onions and corn salad with a mustard viniagrette. And, although it was a “little cold” for this drink,we decided to make Strawberry Daiquiris. We made and drank them (no rum for the kids:) while we were watching the NFL playoffs and waiting for the chicken to marinade in the jerk marinade. Oh and mom wouldn’t let us make dessert because it was too late so we made Bananas Foster, or as we call it Bananas “Koster”, the next night. It was so good that we think it will be our house specialty!
The final meal
Dad’s plate
Bananas on Fire! AKA Bananas Koster
To make the jerk chicken, we first had to make the marinade: we cut up a lot of onions, garlic, green onions, thyme and jalapeno peppers. (The recipe called for Scotch Bonnet peppers, but we were in the middle of a blizzard, so jalapeno was the best we could do…and they were plenty hot.) We also brought back a jerk spice mixture from Jamaica, so we toasted that and added it in.
Ingredients for jerk marinade
We blended everything together, and when we added the spices it went from bright green to brown…interesting.
While the chicken was marinating, we made strawberry daiquiris (we made a simple sugar syrup, not rum, for the kids:) and watched the playoffs. We can’t wait till the Superbowl!
We baked the chicken, made the rice and beans, and put together the salad. Alex made an awesome mustard viniagrette and then we ate.
We wanted to make Bananas Foster for dessert on Sunday night, but mom said it was too late (so we made it the next night (tonight, Monday). They were super delicious and very fun. Mom let us both light them on fire, with very long matches, but she had the fire extinguisher handy). Alex came up with a new name for the dessert: Bananas Koster. Here’s what they looked like (served with vanilla ice cream…the hot banana/rum/brown sugar melts it quickly). We will do a how-to later, time for bed now.
Banana (Max) Koster
Banana (Alex) Koster
Definitely glad we had long matches!
Tonight, even though we had A LOT of homework, we wanted to try to make pasta from scratch. It was so fun. And although it took some time, it was really easy. The ingredients are simple: eggs, flour, salt, water. Then you mix together, knead, let rest for 20 minutes, and then put through a pasta machine and STRETCH it. (Mom got a pasta attachment for our mixer for Christmas and this was the first time any of us, including Mom, tried making pasta from scratch).
The ingredients…so simple: eggs, flour, salt & water
Rolling the dough so it will fit through the pasta machine
Team work for good pasta
Glorious Pasta!!
Cutting the pasta into fettucine-size strips
Ready to cook!!!
Home-made pasta with ‘Amatricano sauce (i.e. pancetta/onion/tomato/pecorino cheese)
Today I gave the kids another mystery box. This one had chicken breasts, ginger, green curry paste, coconut milk, garlic, onions, tomatoes, spinach, bok choy, avocado, angel hair pasta and whatever else they wanted to grab from our pantry. (I am trying to get our family to cook and eat outside our comfort zone). I told the kids they had to use the chicken and at least one ingredient they had never used. I also told them they had 5 minutes to do research on the computer or in our cook books to come up with ideas. Both kid’s results were delicious, and very different.
The ingredients, including chicken, green curry paste, ginger, coconut milk, tomatoes, lemons, garlic, onion, bok choy (sorry it was still in fridge during photo)
Alex: For dinner I made Thai chicken with coconut milk along with added tomatoes and avocado – green curry sauce on top. I also cooked bok choy in vegetable oil and garlic as a side. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and cooked them in oil. Then I added the coconut milk, a little green curry sauce and lemon juice. I chopped up the tomatoes and let them cook in the sauce for a while and at the very end I added the avocado. I served it over angel hair pasta. For the bok choy, the recipe I looked at said to use vegetable oil to cook it in so I did, and it was good, but next time I am going to use olive oil (NOTE: we made it the next night with olive oil and garlic and it was much better!)
Chicken in coconut milk
Cooking the Bok Choy
Final coconut curry dish
Final Bok Choy dish
Max:For Dinner I made Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Ginger. I first seasoned both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and placed them skin side down in the pan. I cooked them for approximately 5 minutes on each side,than transferred then to a plate. I then added lemon juice to the skillet, and scraped up any browned bits that cling to the pan with a wooden spoon. I added the chicken broth and ginger, and brought the skillet to a boil. After turning off the heat, I added the basil and thyme to the pan and swirl the pan to combine, and spooned the herb sauce over it. I used pasta as a base for my meal, and placed the chicken on top of it.
Chicken in the making
In the kitchen
Final Chicken with Ginger and Herbs Dish
For tonight’s dinner we were inspired by a cookbook from Balthazar (one of our favorite “French” bistros located in Soho, New York). We don’t go there very often because its pretty expensive (especially for kids) but we decided to recreate a meal from there. We made Braised Short Ribs, our take on the Balthazar Salad, and Cream Puffs (or Profiteroles, as Balthazar calls them.) Of course we changed things up a bit. For the braised short ribs, instead of making it in a Dutch oven all on the same day, we used a slow cooker and let them cook overnight Saturday, refrigerated them during the day on Sunday, and then finished them off on Sunday night. Mom had made them before that way and thought it improved the flavor. Plus it made it easier to take the fat off because it hardens a little (its sort of weird: this orange layer of fat). The braised short ribs were even more work than the lamb shanks because we had to tie the short ribs together, braise them, create the braising liquid, cook them in the liquid, take them out of the liquid, untie, strain and reduce the liquid and then add the ribs back. But they were delicious! (Oh and we served them over egg noodles. The Balthazar cook book recommends mashed potatoes, but there is all this great sauce that really works with pasta…not mashed potatoes.)
For the Balthazar salad, we played around with the ingredients a little (the recipe calls for various lettuces, radishes, asparagus, green beans, avocado, ricotta salata, a roasted beet and blanched lemon zest.) Nobody in our family likes radishes or green beans in salad, and Dad doesn’t like beets so we decided not to use them. Then the dressing called for truffle oil, which we didn’t have, so we used truffle salt instead of regular salt. But we did blanch lemon zest and put on top. Great visual and all in all the salad worked deliciously. And finally the cream puffs. Who doesn’t like cream puffs?
The Whole Meal!
The Ingredients for Braised Short Ribs
Peeling carrots for braising liquid.
Slicing shallots for braising liquid (also included were garlic, onion, carrots, red wine and beef broth)
Tieing short ribs up.
Herbs wrapped up inside celery stalks
Cooking the meat
Cooking vegetables
Meat, after fat was scooped out
Silky smooth sauce…ribs about to be added back
The Salad
Viola! Meltingly soft short rib over egg noodles.
Mixing up the cream puff batter
Creme puffs,before baking
Chocolate sauce for cream puffs
Cream puffs filled with whipped cream, topped with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar, OK So we didn’t think about calories in this meal…
I am so excited (this is Alex)! I got a mushroom farm in a box from Max for Christmas, and started growing mushrooms a week ago. Look at how big they are now! I can’t wait to harvest and cook them. I am going to saute them in butter and truffle salt and serve on grilled bread. Will keep you posted on how big they get and how they taste versus the other mushrooms we cooked in the Great Mushroom Challenge… Thanks Max (from your mycologist sister)!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
So we harvested our oyster mushrooms tonight and sautéed them (as planned) with a little butter and truffle salt. Then we served them on toasted bread with a garnish of aspargus. It was good but needed something so we grated parmesano cheese on top with a little bit more truffle salt…perfection!
This dinner was the first Sunday Night Dinner in 2016! We made lamb ragu pasta for our entree, but the main focus of the night was Banana Tarte Tatin with whipped cream. It was our first time making the Banana Tarte Tatin, and we were very pleased by the results. We also made an arugula salad with slightly cooked walnuts, goat cheese, and cranberries. The Banana Tarte Tatin was surprisingly sweet, so we recommend not adding to much sugar to the whipped cream. The lamb ragu is pretty easy: just three main ingredients: ground lamb, onions, and chopped tomatoes (of course you need olive oil and salt and pepper….and grated cheese on top:).
The meal: arugula salad and lamb ragu. (Dessert was banana tarte tatin)
Cooking ground lamb and tomatoes for lamb ragu
The ingredients for Tarte Tatin
Cooking maple syrup, butter and vanilla bean
Placing bananas in the syrup
Ready to go into the oven(puff pastry on top)
Baked Banana Tarte Tatin (before the flip)
The Final Result (after the flip…pastry on the bottom now)!
Free form cinnamon pastries (from extra puff pastry)
Tonight we made one of our favorite dinners: roast beef and yorkshire pudding. This is also our traditional Christmas dinner. We also made brussel sprouts with pancetta for mom and cooked the last of our our green peas from our garden (for us, although we tried the brussel sprouts and they were pretty good). We also made an arugula, cranberry, goat cheese and walnut salad. We had a lot of sweet stuff left over (chocolates, sugar cookies, etc.) so we made a less sweet but still good dessert: lemon-poppy seed bread. Mom said it was the easiest and best Christmas dinner she had ever had. Happy Holidays!!
Christmas Dinner!
Yorkshire Pudding
Arugula-goat cheese-cranberry –walnut salad
Last peas from our garden (frozen since July)
Brussel sprouts with pancetta
Roast beef ready to roast (with a photo bomb from dad)
Team work: Max on pancetta, Alex on yorkshire pudding.
Lemon-poppy seed bread
Dessert: lemon-poppy seed bread
