Merry Christmas

Tweet

Although 2011 has been a year of minimal recipes and posts, many of you dear readers have stuck with me despite my non-productivity, for which I am sincerely grateful.  I hope to return to the delights of culinary activity here at the turn of the new year.  Meantime, I hope the holidays are bringing you comfort and joy and that you are looking forward to a bright new year in 2012.


PS - Don't know what happened to my header graphic; do know I've got to fix it.

Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Merry Christmas To All

Tweet

Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Coconut Cranberry Frozen Yogurt

Tweet

[12-31-10: See Cook's Notes below for another, more coconutty, version made on a whim over Christmas.]

My intention was to get this on the table (read blog) in plenty of time for Christmas.

I don't consider this to be plenty of time, but that's my rather disorganized life at the moment (year actually).

Just now I was about to say that maybe 2011 will find me a more organized cook and blogger, but who am I kidding?  I've always been this way and will offer no more excuses. Hmmm ...  I feel a New Year's resolution coming on:  No more excuses; Iyam who Iyam.

I do love to make frozen concoctions and this one is as easy as pie (why do they say that? Pie is not necessarily easy). Let's just say that this can be made up in no time at all and doesn't require much organization.

Except, you do have to remember to drain the yogurt before hand.

Make this full-fat, low-fat or non-, according to your own dictates.  If you prefer to leave out the cream, substitute a little more milk.  And because the recipe is not made with an ice cream custard base, you can use whatever sweetener you prefer and the texture will not be affected.  I prefer my ice creams and frozen yogurts to be less sweet than the commercial standard, but feel free to kick up the sugar if that floats your boat.

Coconut Cranberry Frozen Yogurt
Christine's orignial recipe
print recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups plain yogurt, preferrably orgainc, drained
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup cream
1/3 cup sugar or 1/4 cup (scant) Splenda Sugar Blend, or 7-8 packets Splenda
2/3 cup unsweetened, finely shredded coconut, preferrably organic
1/2 tsp coconut flavoring (optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preparation:
Drain the yogurt by placing it in a damp cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl, set in the fridge for about 3 hours.  Use the drained liquid in another recipe or discard.  Use the drained yogurt in this recipe.
Combine the yogurt, milk, cream, sugar and extract and stir well.  Taste and adjust at will.
Stir in the shredded coconut.
Process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.  When the yogurt mixture is semi-frozen, add the cranberries into the machine while it is running to mix them into the yogurt.
When the yogurt has finished processing, it can be soft-served directly from the mixer or spooned into an aritight container and frozen for about 1 hour before serving.

Scoop this into your prettiest holiday dishes and enjoy.

Cook's Notes:
This is best served the same day.  If kept frozen, you will have to let it thaw for at least a half hour in order for it to be scoopable.

Editor's note on 12-31-10
Josh, Kelly and Jackson visited over the holidays and one night I made a different version of the recipe above using only coconut milk.  We liked it very much so here it is:
Using the measurements above, drain the yogurt for 24 hours so it's very thick.
To the yogurt add one can of whole or lite coconut milk, the sugar, shredded coconut and flavoring. Stir or whisk well to blend.
Process as above, adding the cranberries last.
Serve soft immediately after processing or pack in an air-tight container and freeze for up to 2 hours before serving.

Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Frosty Hips For Christmas

Tweet

My very best wishes to all of you in the years ahead!

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Merry Christmas!

Tweet

May the magic of the holiday season be with you now

and throughout the new year.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Rotisseried Leg of Lamb With Rosemary-Garlic Paste Filling

Tweet

This group of recipes should be entitled Christmas Redux. Late in getting them posted, I try nonetheless to keep my promises--even though in the world of blogging, Christmas is SO past.

This post is dedicated to Mr. CC and son Josh who not only love a good leg of lamb but who also were a tremendous help in my kitchen over Christmas, keeping a close eye on the roasting lamb amidst the cacophany of company, laughter and merriment.

If I had to pick just three foods in all the culinary queendom to combine into a meal, they would be garlic, rosemary and lamb. Throw in a good red wine and I would want for nothing else, no matter the season:

Two boneless butterflied legs of local lamb, spread with a thick paste of garlic and rosemary, rolled, tied, or, in this case, encased in netting, and skewered to the rotisserie spit of our gas grill. Just writing these words brings back the taste sensations of Christmas dinner.

At about 3 1/2 pounds each, in a 350 degree closed grill, the legs were a perfect medium-rare in 1 1/2 hours. We let them rest for about 15 minutes then sliced and served them with a roasted winter vegetable medley of celery root, parsnips, whole garlic cloves, carrots and garnet yams, accompanied by another tray of roasted broccoli, cauliflower, fennel and more whole garlic cloves. Ya gotta have your veggies.

To make the paste, I used a golden balsamic vinegar dressing that I'd made for a dinner salad the previous night. This turned out to be the perfect vehicle for the garlic and rosemary.

Golden Balsamic Salad Dressing
Christine's original recipe
Makes 1 cup
Ingredients:
2 ounces golden balsamic vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard (I use Maille)
1/4 teaspoon sugar or Splenda granular
pinch kosher salt
several grinds black pepper
3 ounces toasted walnut oil
3 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation:
In a measuring cup, pour in the vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk until combined.

Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the walnut oil then the olive oil.

Keep whisking until the mixture has thickened and is fully emulsified.

Taste and adjust seasonings.

Rosemary-Garlic Paste
Christine's original recipe
Makes about 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1 medium head of garlic, cloves separated, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon good olive oil
2 tablespoons golden balsamic dressing
Preparation:
Place rosemary and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Drizzle the olive oil then the dressing through the feed tube, pulsing all the while until emulsified. Mixture will be thick.

Rotisseried Leg of Lamb with Rosemary-Garlic Paste Filling
Christine's original recipe
Serves 8 to 10 with leftovers
Ingredients:
2 - 3 1/2 pound boneless, butterflied legs of lamb
1/2 cup Rosemary-Garlic paste
good olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:

Lay the unrolled legs on a cutting board, cut side facing up.

Spread 1/2 of the rosemary-garlic paste over the entire cut surface of each leg.

Roll each leg firmly into an oblong shaped log.

Tie with string or encase in an elasticized net bag (which was provided by my butcher.)

Rub the outside of each leg with olive oil and sprinkle generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Skewer the legs onto a rotisserie spit, leaving enough space between the legs to ensure even roasting.

Have the gas grill pre-heated to 400 degrees.

Once the rotisserie has been set up and the legs are turning over the grill, lower the heat to 350 degrees, cover the grill and allow to roast until the internal temperature reaches 135 to 140 degrees for medium rare.

Remove the legs from the spit and let sit, tented loosely with foil, for about 15 minutes. During this time the internal temperature will continue to rise 5 to 7 degrees.

Slice the lamb crosswise and serve hot.

Cook's Notes:

Preparing the leg of lamb above assumes that the cook has some knowledge of how to use a gas grill and a rotisserie set up.

May Visions of Sugar Plums...

Tweet

...dance in your heads

Merry Christmas!

I'll be taking a bit of a break for the holidays

My very best wishes to all of you for a joyous,

prosperous and peaceful 2007

Holiday Brie En Croute

Tweet

With Mushrooms, Rosemary, Marjoram, Thyme and Port

It wouldn't feel like the holidays at our house if I didn't make this practically foolproof appetizer at least once. Take it to a party, set it down among the other offerings, stand back, watch and listen.

People ask, "What's this?", while simultaneously popping a piece into their mouths. Then the eyes roll followed by gutteral sounds of pure pleasure that punctuate the air, making heads turn.

Such is the appeal of a round of brie that has been stuffed with a melange of mushrooms, onion, herbs, garlic and port, wrapped in puff pastry and served hot from the oven. Crackers optional.

This is the first of what I hope will be three items that I'll be submitting to my blogger buddy Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen for her special version of Weekend Herb Blogging, Holiday Cooking with Herbs. The other two waiting in the wings are my mother's Braided Raisin Bread and my own Persimmon Flan. I can't wait to see the round-up on December 23rd, as the food bloggers who regularly submit entries for WHB are such wonderful, creative cooks.

I made these last night for a special ornament party that our neighbors host every year. Always a much looked forward to party, the food and the friends keep getting better and dearer.

Mushroom Stuffed Baked Brie
adapted from a very old Sunset Magazine recipe

Ingredients:
2 8-ounce rounds of Brie (I've used one 16-ounce round and several 10-ounce rounds)
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
flour for the pastry
1 egg, beaten, for the pastry
1 pound of mushrooms, finely chopped (these can be all button or a mixture of several wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, shiitake, oyster and crimini)
1 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
2 teaspoons each dried marjoram and dried thyme
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
Pinch kosher salt
Several grinds Tellicherry pepper
1/4 cup ruby Port
1 tablespoon butter for the pan

Preparation:
Keep your rounds of Brie in the fridge until the last minute. You want them very cold.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, add the onions and saute until just softened.
Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and saute just a few more minutes.
Add the mushrooms, raising the heat to medium high, and saute until the liquid that is released from them has evaporated and the mushrooms are gently browned.
Add the Port and cook until the liquid has been absorbed.
Set the pan aside, off the heat, and cool to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.
When the stuffing has cooled, using a sharp knife cut each Brie round in half horizontally, laying the rounds cut side up.
Using a floured pastry cloth, roll out a sheet of the puff pastry to about 15x15 inches, then trim to a 12-inch diameter circle saving the pastry scraps for making leaves and berries to decorate the pastry packet. If you are making a larger Brie, trim your circle accordingly. There should be enough pastry to entirely enfold your stuffed Brie.
Place a piece of foil bigger than the brie packet on a cookie sheet.
Place the pastry round on the foil.

Place a round of Brie cut side up in the center of the pastry circle and spread with 1/4 of the mushroom filling, smoothing it out to the edges.
Place the other half of the Brie round on top of the filling, cut side down, and spread with another 1/4 of the filling.
Brush the edges of the pastry circle with some egg wash.

Begin to enfold the Brie by bringing an edge of the pastry up and over the Brie and mushrooms. The pastry should reach to the middle of the top of the Brie.
Brush the top of that pastry with more egg wash and repeat with the rest of the pastry, folding in the pleats of dough that are made as you go around.
You want to egg brush each part of the pastry that will be covered by more pastry, creating a seal. Cut the pastry if needed so you don't end up with too much on top.
Using the leftover scraps of pastry, cut out leaf shapes, stars, whatever you like and make a few "berries" by rolling the pastry into little balls.
Brush the top of the pastry packet with egg wash and lay the leaves and berries on the top, effectively covering up the pastry folds.

When finished decorating, brush a final egg wash over the entire top and sides of the Brie packet, taking care to not let egg drip under the packet which can cause it to stick to the foil while baking. I know this from experience.
Place the tray in the freezer and freeze the Brie packet, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Place the frozen Brie, or Bries, in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the pastry has turned a golden brown and the cheese and filling begins to ooze out from the pastry. (I've never known this NOT to happen, so I I just play along like it's all part of the charm. Last night both of my Brie packets oozed filling like a dam had broken, as you can see from the photos.)
Lastly, take your lovelies out of the oven and, using a very wide spatula such as my fish turner (which worked perfectly, by the way, making it a truly multi-tasking tool), remove them to the plate or platter on which you will serve them.
Surround them with crackers if you wish and decorate the plate festively with sprigs of non-toxic greens and red berries. Or not.

Then get on that fabulous black dress with the slit to mid-thigh and the cleavage down to, well, you know, throw on your mother's rhinestones and your kicky black sandal heels and head out to the party.