Bell Pepper Focaccia

I made the Bell Pepper Focaccia out of August's Cooking Light.
I wasn't impressed by it. But that could just be faults with me, not the recipe. I think it may have been better if I had oregano, and rock or sea salt(which the recipe didn't call for, but I think it would have been better.)
I felt like trying something new, and I've never made any bread with yeast before. It didn't turn out to great, but that is partially because I misunderstood parts of the directions. Such as when I covered it for the first rise, a crust formed on it. I need to use plastic, not a cloth. I think I know what I did wrong for the most part. And I overcooked it just slightly.

Freeform Plum Tart!

Ever since I got home and saw my July/August issue of Everyday Food, I've had my eye on the Rustic Plum Tart. Yesterday I was debating back and forth between making it or Bizcocho de Naranja. Since I had everything for the plum tart except the plums, I decided if I could find some good plums, I'd make the tart. And I did. I just had to make some minor adjustments.
I took pictures. I just packed my camera before I copied the pictures onto my computer.

Plum Tart
Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter cut into pieces

2-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling

1 1/2 lbs red plums, quartered, pitted, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water (for egg wash)

In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt to combine. Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and oulse until dough is crumbly, but holds together when squeezed.

Turn dough onto floured work surface. Knead once or twice. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Flour a large piece of parchment (about the size of the baking sheet). Place dough on paper. Lightly flour dough and roll out into a 14-inch round. Put parchment paper with dough on the baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss together ingredients for the filling. Pour into the center of the crust, leaving a two-inch border. Fold border over fruit and brush with egg wash.

Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling, about 35-40 minutes. Tranfer baking sheet to rack. Let cool 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Serves 6. (or 7)

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska

Today is National Ice Cream Day (or so I've heard). In honor of it, I decided it was the perfect day to try out the Lemon Meringue Baked Alaska Recipe that I'd been eyeballing ever since I saw it in the Cooking Light 2006 cookbook, but since we only have limes in the house, it seemed only logical to make Lime Meringue Baked Alaska instead.

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska
32 vanilla wafers
2 cups low-fat creamy vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups lime sherbet, softened
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
grated lime rind from one lime

Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with wafers.

Place ice cream and sorbet in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon mixture into prepared pie plate and place in freezer.

Place egg whites in large bowl and beat with a standing mixer at high speed until foamy. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until it registers 238 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Pour hot sugar syrup over egg whites in a thin stream, beating at medium speed (this is why you want a standing mixer). Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in lime rind. Remove ice cream from freezer and spread over ice cream Loosely cover and freeze 4 hours or until firm.

Using a blow torch (or small culinary butane torch), lightly brown the meringue before serving. (Or just be boring and use the broiler.)

Triple Chip Nut Surprise Bars

I felt like making something yesterday. I had no flour (well, other than whole wheat pastry flour), and wanted to make something I could take to school and share. So with some lookse change I went to the store and spent a little over a dollar on a box of cake mix and experimented. And the results were edible, and I got quite a few yums. Only two complaint, one person said that it was too dry (theirs wasn't wrapped well). And another that the pretzels were stale. But that's because they were.
Triple Chip Nut Surprise Bars
named by Cressie

1 box white cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons peanut halves

25 mini pretzels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 pan.

In a medium-large bowl, beat cake mix with oil, eggs, and water for 30 seconds or until too thick for mixer. The dough will appear elastic, sort of like pizza dough. Fold together with spatula until there are no chunks of the mix left.

Combine all remaining ingredients except pretzels and fold into the batter as evenly as possible.

Pour batter into prepared pan and press down with spatula or hands.Press pretzels into dough in 5 rows of five.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, covering top with foil halfway through, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Supposedly Simple Supper (Serves 4.)

Last Friday I decided to make dinner so that I could see Aunt Annette and Uncle Larry and still get to bed on time.
Of course, the unpredictable variable (Dad) was the last to get here, by an hour and a half, and he was supposed to grill the pork for me. And of course, we couldn't eat without him.
A meal that should have taken 40 minutes took two and a half hours... I partially blame Dad, and I partially blame the kitchen. I couldn't prep and be with Uncle Larry and Aunt Annette at the same time.

Adapted from Cooking Light May 2006 page 162
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Pork Skewers

Pork

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 pork tenderloin (approx. 1 lb)

teaspoon chile paste

Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Combine first 7 ingredients.
2. Cut pork in half crosswise; cut each half into 4 lengthwise strips.
3. Combine pork strips and chile paste in a shallow dish, toss (or rub) to coat. Sprinkle spice mixture over pork and toss to coat. Let pork stand 10 minutes (or if you're me, an hour in the fridge)
4. Thread 1 pork strip on each of 8 wooden skewers.
5. Grill into cooked (Dad did this, so I don't know how long.)
6. Drizzle sauce over pork.

Grilled Tomatoes

16 cherry tomatoes

1. Skewer 4 tomatoes onto each of 4 skewers.
2. Grill (once again, that was Dad. I was making the couscous.)

Green Peanut Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

5.7 oz couscous

2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

2 sliced green onions

1. bring broth to a boil in a 1 1/2 quart pot.
2. Stir in couscous, cover, and let stand 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, peanut oil, crushed red pepper, and granulated garlic.
4. Fluff couscous with fork and stir in soy mixture, peanuts, and green onions.

And then of course, there was dessert. Aunt Annette and I made dessert after dinner. It was very simple. It was a way to use up the strawberries in the fridge. It was all the strawberries that hadn't gone bad (about 20 or so), sliced and evenly distributed among four bowls and topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Yum!

May 24: Pesto "Pasta"

Mills came over right when I was starting dinner. She helped by making the squash into ribbons. I think she did the harder job. I just made the sauce.
I found the meal quite satisfying and tasty, while different at the same time. It was another recipe I've been meaning to try for a while. And with 15g of carbs per serving, I don't think it messed too badly with Dad's diet either.

Pesto "Pasta
Serves 4
adapted from Vegetarian Times May/June 2006

1 large zucchini

3 medium-size yellow squash

1/2 cup pine nuts

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup cilantro

1/2 cup basil

salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1. Shave zucchini and yellow squash into ribbons using a vegetable peeler.
2. Puree pine nuts and next four ingredients (through lemon juice) in food processor into smooth. Add tomatoes and pulse until blended.
3. Toss squash with pesto. Top with parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

May 23: Scallop Salad

Caribbean Grilled Scallop Salad
I got this from the cookbook I checked out from the library... meaning I finally made something from it after having it checked out for over a month!

I thought it was quite flavorful and delicious.

May 21: Sunday Dinner

Fortunately, the Sopranos are almost over so Sunday night dinners won't be so insanely large anymore.

Or at least I hope not.

May 20: So I felt like making a cake

I've wanted to try making an ice cream cake for a little over a week.

So starting Thursday after school, I did.

I bought a $1 box of Pillsbury Chocolate Cake Mix, some Edy's Double Churned Vanilla Bean ice cream, and a box of Jif icing mix (which I later returned) on the way home from school.

After my homework that afternoon, I made the chocolate cake. And I mixed 5 scoops of the ice cream with some peppermint extract and a handful of chocolate chips.

On Saturday, I completed the cake. I cut one of the cake rounds in half and put a layer of ice cream in between. And later on did the same, but I felt the layer was too thin so I ended up with a cake with five layers.
I'd returned the Jif and bought some Whipped Topping and Junior Mints. I figured they'd hold up better on an ice cream cake.

And that's how I did it. Afterwards, I found a recipe for peppermint ice cream cake in the Cooking Light 2006 Complete Cookbook, and I think I'll try that, but in December when they sell Peppermint ice cream... or I could just use the chocolate cake recipe part and use any old kind of ice cream. I'm thinking strawberry... with fresh strawberries.

May 20: Saturday Lunch

I had fun with my lunch.

I took a wheat pita pocket from the freezer and defrosted it. I filled it with some Bulgarian feta and cucumber slices. I toped it with some cucumber slices and shredded mozzarela and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes.

It was quite a yummy lunch, along with some carrot sticks.