Delicious Links this week

April 8, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Delicious Links at 7:55 am | Comments »

Delicious Links

This week, our delicious picks include some of the most comforting comfort foods out there:

SimplyRecipes shows us How to Make Homemade Sausage – and it’s really not that hard. I tried this the other night, making patties from the sausage mix because I don’t own a sausage stuffer. Also would be great in your next lasagna recipe.
Broccoli and Chicken Noodle Soup is the ultimate in comfort food. She likens the hot soup to a “hug”, and I have to agree. Perfect for rainy days- or for days that just feel rainy (ever have those?)
Brown Sugar Pavlova with Banana and Rum Syrup just spells happiness for me. Just imagine the sweet meringue, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with that sinful syrup oozing over it… okay, I must go make this now.
Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. I’ve made many a home-made Philly Cheesesteak in my time, but never one as delicious-looking as this. The meat is finely marbled wagyu, and the cheese sauce has sake, pimenton-adobo sauce, and white truffle oil in it. Can you say decadence?
And finally, Homemade Bagels, which are surprisingly easy to make- and, as all breads you bake yourself and take straight from the oven, so much better than anything commercially available.

Breaking the Fast

April 7, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Breakfast Foods at 6:21 am | Comments »

Breakfast

Breakfast is just that, after all- breaking the “fast” from sleeping. As such, it’s not surprising that breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, the one meal you should never skip. Oh, and if you can eat something healthy, that helps too.

For years I skipped breakfast. As a night owl, the last thing I wanted when opening my bleary eyes in the morning was a full meal- a cup (or two) of strong, kick-me-awake coffee was all I could face. Then my husband was diagnosed with diabetes, and one of the cardinal rules in managing diabetes is never skipping meals. It was for love, then, that I rediscovered breakfast- and now it’s my favorite meal of the day.

However, because I’m still a night owl, I’ve had to find breakfast foods that didn’t have me slaving over a hot stove while half-asleep. That meant that pancakes, unfortunately, were out. But the following breakfasts are quick, easy, and can be prepared with eyes half-shut:

Strata. A breakfast casserole, if you will. The simplest strata- and my favorite- is made of buttered bread laid in a casserole dish, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, and drowned in a mixture of beaten eggs and milk. Cover and stick in the fridge the night before. On the morning of, stick in a preheated oven for around 30 minutes- and voila. All the goodness of french toast without all the work.
Overnight Porridge. We first saw this on Alton Brown’s Good Eats, and it’s our favorite way to make oatmeal now. What you do is start the oats with water (tip: add extra water if you like to sleep long) on low in a crock pot the night before. In the morning- hot steaming cereal. Mmm.
Scrambled Eggs. I’ve posted previously on how to make perfect scrambled eggs. It’s fast, and luxurious, and delicious.
Danish. Yes, a basket of old-fashioned danishes, served up with some good coffee and fresh orange juice, is a classic, and one of the best things to wake up to. I like to heat up the danishes and wrap them in a large white napkin in a pretty basket.

What are your favorite breakfast foods?

Top Three Foodie Flicks

April 5, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Food on Film at 5:32 am | Comments »

On the off chance that you’re reading this without much of an appetite, get ready: these films will get you hungry. They’re not all necessarily about food, but they do celebrate different types of food on the big screen- and that’s what makes them my favorites:

Chocolat
Starring the luminous Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp as a gypsy (which is delicious all by itself), this gorgeous film was one of the very first DVDs I bought. Every time I watch it, I have to have some chocolate after. A square or two of good bittersweet will do, or a cup of thick hot chocolate sprinkled with chili powder… mmm.

Tampopo
If you plan to watch Tampopo, a delightfully funny Japanese film, please, please make sure you have some ramen in the house. Or a Japanese restaurant to go to soon after. Ken Watanabe (yes, of The Last Samurai and Memoirs of a Geisha) is just awesome as the “Japanese John Wayne”.

Moonstruck
A beautiful film, Moonstruck is decidedly not about food- but it makes you hungry nonetheless. One of my husband’s favorite breakfast, egg-in-toast, is thanks to the scene in this film where Olympia Dukakis prepares it for her family. One of my favorite moments is when Cher is cooking Nicholas Cage a steak, and he says, “I like it well-done”, but she serves it to him bloody because “he’s a wolf”. Hah. And, really, who hasn’t tried slipping some sugar cubes in a glass of champagne?

Rainy Day Plain Spaghetti

April 2, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Pasta Please at 12:44 am | Comments »

Spaghetti

I love rainy days. Not zero-visibility, wrath-of-God thundering days, mind you- I mean enough rain to make the grass and trees look just a little bit greener, rain I can hear on our roof without fearing that it will take our window shutters off.

Today is such a day. The air is cool, and the dogs don’t mind getting themselves wet outside. On days like today, there’s nothing like a bowl of hot pasta- hot spaghetti to be precise- to curl up on the sofa with.

My husband introduced me to the joy of “plain” spaghetti- that is, perfectly cooked noodles with nothing more than a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper. That’s it. Sometimes, I like to throw on a bit of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, perhaps a clove of crushed garlic- but make no mistake about it: the pasta is the star here.

It follows, then, that the pasta must be perfect. Start with good pasta- fresh if you have it, but there are several dried pasta brands I love as well, including Barilla and De Cecco. Bring your water to a rolling boil, salt it well (think seawater), and cook your pasta according to the directions on its packet. What I like to do is this: if the packet says “11 minutes”, I start tasting it at 9 minutes.

Drain your pasta- do not rinse it- and, working quickly, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on it, sprinkle with kosher salt (not too much- the pasta is already salty from the cooking water), freshly ground pepper, the optional Parmigiano, and- you’re done.

Now, my husband and I like having this and this alone as a meal, but it’s also wonderful paired with other dishes, such as grilled chicken or salmon.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

March 31, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Cake Recipes, Celebrity Cooks, Chocolate at 12:34 pm | Comments »

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Before anything else: this cake is not a pretty one. It is at its most basic a recipe for chocolate mousse that you stick in a tin and bake in an oven. But oh my, if you like chocolate, this tastes amazing. It’s light and melts in your mouth, yet is impossibly rich. And because you bake it in a water bath (essentially steaming it), it’s incredibly moist.

The recipe is from Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, and for a while it’s the only recipe I made from the book- over and over again. The truth is, I think this one recipe will turn you into a Goddess, domestic or otherwise, in anyone’s eyes. Make it for the chocoholic in your life- if that’s you, so much the better.

Nigella’s Chocolate Mousse Cake

300g best dark chocolate (bittersweet is best here)
50g best milk chocolate
175g unsalted butter
8 large eggs, separated
100g light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

25cm springform tin
tin foil

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and put the kettle on to boil. Line the inside of the springform with foil, making sure you press the foil well into the sides and bottom of the tin to make a smooth surface.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave, let it cool.

In another bowl beat the egg yolks and sugars until pale and really thick, like mayonnaise.

Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form then fold gently into the chocolate mixture. Pour the cake batter into the foil-lined springform which you have placed in a large roasting tin.

Add the hot water from the kettle to come about half way up the sides of the tin and put into the oven.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The inside of the cake will be damp and mousse-like but the top should look cooked and dry.

Let it cool completely on a cooling rack before releasing from the tin. Now peel the foil gently away from the sides.

I like to sift some powdered sugar over it when we have company- but it really doesn’t need it.

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