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
On Saturday we knew we would not have a lot of time on Sunday to make dinner (because of soccer games and because we were going to see STAR WARS) , so we started cooking on Saturday. We made two types of turkey chili, one with beans and one without beans because some people don’t like beans. We cooked the chili in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours. Then we put it in the fridge over night. For dessert we made lemon sorbet using fresh lemons with a simple syrup of sugar and water and lemons that we juiced. Then we cooked rice in a rice slow cooker. For sides for the chili we had guacamole, grated gruyere cheese, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream. We forgot about the salad till the end and by that time we saw pancetta in the fridge, so we cut it up and cooked it in olive oil. Knowing that pine nuts go really well with pancetta, we than sauteed them in the same pan as the pancetta. We got all the mixed greens we had (spinach and arugula) and used it as the base of the salad. We put the pancetta and pine nuts in and then added goat cheese. Using the leftover olive oil from sauteeing the pancetta, we made a warm salad dressing with some sherry vinegar. It was a perfect balance of heavy food (chili) and light food (salad and lemon sorbet), and just the meal to get us into holiday spirit.
All of the ingredients for the chili
Chopping onions for the chili.
Adding the beans into the slow cooker.
Adding sugar to the simple syrup.
Lemons.
Juicing the lemons.
The sorbet’s final product!!
Final Dinner!
Help us X out hunger!
We believe in cooking for a cause: we love to cook and have plenty to eat but millions of kids don’t have enough food so we want to raise money and awareness about the issue of worldwide hunger. We were lucky enough to win $35,000 last summer and donated $11,666 to Action Against Hunger, an international charity dedicated to saving the lives of malnourished children, while helping vulnerable communities become self sufficient. Just $45 can save a live by providing a malnourished child with treatment. Please consider donating to this great charity–we did a lot of research and they are a 4 Star charity according to Charity Navigator! We are each donating $45 to Action Against Hunger from our allowance charity jar and will probably convince our parents to donate more…
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED! EVEN THOUGH ITS THE NEW YEAR, ITS NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE…FOLLOW THIS LINK TO DO SO Donate: https://goo.gl/cVNjUH
Time to empty your charity jar!
This is the dessert we were going to make on Monday, December 14, before the Gingerbread Adventure occurred. Wow! it is so good and so simple!! I think that this rivals our chocolate fudge brownies. And the amazing thing is that there are only four ingredients (chocolate, butter, eggs and raspberries…oh and a pinch of salt but that doesn’t count). Here is the finished product:
Chocolate Mousse Cake with raspberries
The first oozy slice!
And here are the illustrated instructions (this recipe is based on a recipe in Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes For Teen Chefs, by Rozanne Gold, but her recipe called for butter and olive oil and that seemed strange to us, so we did some research and decided we could probably increase the butter and eliminate the olive oil. Her recipe also called for orange zest, but we didn’t have any oranges so we decided to skip it–tasted amazing without it.
The ingredients…
Here’s what you need: 4 extra large eggs, 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, and raspberries to garnish (and pinch of salt)
Here’s what you do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate on low heat till smooth. Set aside to let cool.
Butter and chocolate melting
Beat the 4 eggs on high for approximately 8 minutes (they should triple in volume); you can add a pinch of salt: Note you beat the whole egg…don’t have to separate them.
Beaten eggs.
Butter an 8 inch pan and line it with a circle of parchment paper or foil. Combine the cooled chocolate mix with the eggs, beat on low till smooth.
Cake: prebake
Put the cake into a 375 degree oven. Cook for 18 minutes (middle should still be soft). Don’t over cook.
Into the Oven!
Let cake cool 10-15 minutes: put plate on top and flip to get out of pan, then use another pan to flip again (foil lining stays on the bottom.)
Fresh out of the oven
Place fresh raspberries on top. It’s probably pretty good without the raspberries but the contrast in taste between the chocolate and the berries is delicious.
Finishing touches: Adding fresh raspberries to the cake
And we are back to where we started! Time to eat
