Food and Drink list

[MsRad]

I need both of these myself, and I'll figure out a way to make them vegan. (I've had caramel made w/ coconut milk not so long ago, it was amazing!)

Thanks for all the yummy thoughts in my head Alanna!

i've made coconut milk dulce de leche several times now and it always turns out great. i also made old fashion caramel for a cake at christmas (a not so pretty buche de noel, but it tasted great so ftw) that required no dairy and it was great too.

[Jake]

one of my friends has this amazing food blog that is about traditional mexican food...she is also a photog and writer so it is very well done.

traditional mexican cooking, one recipe at a time. served with a pizca of culture and travel. | The Other Side of the Tortilla

nice. I drooled over this photo from your friend's blog

[tammy]

Jake, nothing like a good taco...we have a great little taco place right down the street....

[AlannaCA]

i've made coconut milk dulce de leche several times now and it always turns out great. i also made old fashion caramel for a cake at christmas (a not so pretty buche de noel, but it tasted great so ftw) that required no dairy and it was great too.

ooo...ooo....how do you make dulce de leche with coconut milk? please share that sounds great!

[AlannaCA]

alanna, i love cake and baking....can you post the dulce de leche recipe...i love caramel and coconut so sounds like a winner.

also how was your vanilla cake recipe. i am always looking for the perfect basics recipes (vanilla cake, chocolate cake, cookies, pound cake).

one of my friends has this amazing food blog that is about traditional mexican food...she is also a photog and writer so it is very well done.

traditional mexican cooking, one recipe at a time. served with a pizca of culture and travel. | The Other Side of the Tortilla

as you requested:

Yellow Butter Cake

2 cups A.P Flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup butter softened

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your cake pans and line with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Stir in sugar. Add butter, milk, and vanilla; beat with electric mixer at low speed for 30 secs. Beat at medium speed 2 min. add eggs and beat another 2 min. pour into pans and bake as directed below. Cool for ten min. loosen and invert on a wire rack.

Baking guide:

1- 13x9 cake: 35-40min

1- 10in bundt: 45-55

2- 9in rounds: 35-40

2- 8in squares: 30-35

3-8in rounds: 20-25

8 lrg 4in cupcakes:35-40

24 med 2in cupcakes: 20-25

Dulce de Leche sandwich cookies

cookie dough

2 cups A.P flour or gluten free flour mixer*

2 TBSP sugar

225g vegetable shortening or butter(my coworker used shortening)

water

* if you use gluten free flour once the cookies are baked they are super soft and very crumbly, sometimes hard to work with and not good for transporting but still very delicious.

1 can sweetened condensed milk.

Take off the label and boil in a pot of water( water should be half way up the can approx.) on medium the unopened can of milk for 2 hours straight. Cool completely and open can very carefully(some pressure may have built up inside)!

Put flour in the bowl and add sugar. Break in shortening or butter until well combined. Use a TBSP of water at a time if needed to help the dough come together. If using regular flour make sure you do not knead your cookie dough a lot of you will end up with a very tough cookie. Put in fridge for 2 hours or overnight and then roll out in a large sheet. Use a cookie cuter to make circles of any size. I like bite size but feel free to make them bigger and cut out a window in the top cookie. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Cool cookies. add a tsp of dulce de leche or your favorite jam and sandwich between too cookies squeezing enough so that you can roll the cookies in coconut and it will stick.

[AlannaCA]

I need both of these myself, and I'll figure out a way to make them vegan. (I've had caramel made w/ coconut milk not so long ago, it was amazing!)

Thanks for all the yummy thoughts in my head Alanna!

i posted the cookie recipe above in response to tammy's request

but here is the latkes recipe:

Horseradish-caraway crème fraîche

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 cup crème fraîche

1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish

Salt andPepper

1. Place the caraway seeds in a small sauté pan and cook over medium heat, shaking occasionally, until they become aromatic and begin to pop, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the crème fraîche with the toasted seeds and the horseradish. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, or to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days. Serve cool.

Carrot purée

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely diced

2 cups fresh carrot juice

Salt andPepper

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the diced carrot and cook for 2 minutes, until the color is vibrant. Add the carrot juice and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to maintain a good simmer. Cook until the liquid has been reduced by a little more than half, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove the mixture from the heat, cool for several minutes, and purée in a blender or with an immersion blender. Season with three-fourths teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, or to taste. Cover and refrigerate for up to a week. Serve at room temperature.

Latkes and assembly

1 large red beet

3 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 medium red onions

1 carrot

2 cups canola oil, divided

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup flour

Salt

Pepper

Kosher salt

1 recipe horseradish-caraway crème fraîche

1 recipe carrot purée

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Trim the beet, wash it and wrap it in foil. Roast it in the oven for 1 hour, until a knife easily pierces through the flesh. Cool before handling; remove the skin.

2. Peel the potatoes, onions and carrot. Using a box grater, grate the potatoes, carrot and beet separately, squeezing the moisture out of each vegetable using a colander or paper towels, then combine the vegetables in a large bowl. Grate the onion, squeezing the moisture from half and adding it to a large bowl with the other vegetables. Reserve the remaining grated onion.

3. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and the reserved grated onion. Sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and caramelized, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of grated vegetables, tossing to combine.

4. Stir in the eggs and flour, and season with one-half teaspoon salt and one-fourth teaspoon pepper.

5. Heat the remaining oil in a medium skillet until it shimmers. Drop the latke batter (beginning with a single "tester latke"), a quarter cup at a time, flattening slightly with a heat-proof spatula to form a pancake. Fry the latkes, 1 or 2 at a time, for about 2 minutes until they're a golden color on one side, then flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. Remove the cooked latkes to drain on a paper towel-lined tray, sprinkling each with a good pinch of kosher salt, and continue with the remaining batter; you should have about 14 to 16 latkes.

6. Serve immediately withthe horseradish-caraway crème fraîche and the carrot purée.

Each serving of 4 latkes with two tablespoons each of crème fraîche and carrot purée: 585 calories; 11 grams protein; 60 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams fiber; 35 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 118 mg. cholesterol; 766 mg. sodium.

[AlannaCA]

Steves Everything Marinade for steak:

dianas bbq sause or your favorite bbq sause. this should be the base and be about 1-2 cups. add soy sause, garlic, ginger, hoisin sause, Worcestershire sauce, seasame oil, green onion, a wee bit of lime juice or mirin

contains all of these things and you can add as much or as little as you want. i did and its soooooo good! marinate for 1-2 hours and then bbq. the flavour of a little bit of char and the asian flavours will blow your mind. i cant wait for cottage season so that i can through these on the bbq. its been a staple for the last 4 summers. we roast sweet potatoes and corn and even foil pack some asparagus with olive oil and garlic and throw those on to cook with the steaks.

its not even february yet but im already dreaming of days at the cottage!!

[Lochlan]

Thanks Alanna.

Two nights ago made potato skins with New Mexico hatched green chilis, onions, bacon and olives.

[MsRad]

Thanks Alanna.

Two nights ago made potato skins with New Mexico hatched green chilis, onions, bacon and olives.

Coincidentally, I rediscovered the glory that is baked potatoes two nights ago!

[Lochlan]

Coincidentally, I rediscovered the glory that is baked potatoes two nights ago!

potatoes are gems! Cheap and tons of options.

[MsRad]

potatoes are gems! Cheap and tons of options.

i put some tofutti sour cream, dried dill, and tons of nooch!

[Lochlan]

i put some tofutti sour cream, dried dill, and tons of nooch!

I've never cooked with dill....hmmmm. What do you all cook with dill?

[AlannaCA]

I've never cooked with dill....hmmmm. What do you all cook with dill?

i put tons of fresh dill in my tatziki(sp?) sauce, i use it on salmon also.

[MsRad]

I've never cooked with dill....hmmmm. What do you all cook with dill?

so many things! yogurt like Alanna said, and anything with lemon. it's good with totmatoes in soup and fish too, though i'm not advocating consuming it.

[Jake]

last night we went with a classic.

rib eye steak cooked medium rare with clarified butter, salt, and pepper.

creamy garlic mashed potatoes.

was going to make a caesar salad but got hungry and said fuck it.

earlier this week i made homemade macaroni and cheese with a cornbread crumble topping instead of bread crumbs. soooo good! oh yeah, and chocolate bread pudding for dessert with that meal :)

[Tight-Lines]

I had in-n-out last night for the first time in a while...

God damn that was a good burger/fries.

[tammy]

Coincidentally, I rediscovered the glory that is baked potatoes two nights ago!

baked potatoes are so awesome...i love to rub them with olive oil and kosher salt so the skin is tasty.

i used to have to go to outback steakhouse with coworkers and i would not eat the steaks becuase the quality wasn't great but instead would order a baked potato for lunch. it was like $2.50 and so good.

[AlannaCA]

I've made recently:

stuffed baby eggplant (meat version and vegetarian version)

- the meat version i made with ground chicken, egg, and breadcrumbs

-vegetarian version could also be vegan as long as you omit the cheese for on top. i stuffed it with portabello mushrooms and artichoke hearts and used bread crumbs to bind and spiced it up real nice. or use a soy cheese on top!

French onion soup with lots of sweet spanish onions, thyme and brandy. its so good with the croutons and crispy cheese on top

i made a portuguese fish stew with almost everything under the sun in iT! crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops, squid, octopus, mussels, clams and onion, peppers, tomoatoe and white wine. my grandmother taught me how to make this when i was a teenager. i wish she had stuck around a little longer, there was so much more that i could have learned from her!

i made an italian wedding soup. i made my own chicken stock and then made tiny chicken meatballs, store bought tortellini and spinach and presto supaer easy soup!

i made leek and potato soup. mmmm one of my favorites for on the -25 days here in toronto. red onion and chirizo sausgae(normally i use a cured ham but i didnt have any, so i substitued) cook those up and remove from the pot. i boiled water and the russet potatoes until tender and pureed together with a hand blender. i add the onion/sausage back and add my cleaned and chopped leaks. then i add a can of chickpeas for a little more somethin somethin in there. yummy! omit sausage and its vegan!!! still very yummy!

oh and last night i made a spaghetti squash in the microwave and then in a fry pan i heated a tbsp of olive oil some pureed garlic salt pepper and ricotta cheese. once heated i threw in my spaghetti squash enough so that its coated and enjoy. it was so good! i love spaghetti squash as a substitue for regular pasta. the squash itself has only 27 cals per 1 cup intead of the 250 something that a cup of white pasta has!

[ShawnPorter]

I just started brining a cow's tongue on Wednesday. It'll take about five days in the brine before I can cook it. Same prep as a corned beef, then cooled and sliced on my deli slicer (seriously... every home should have one) and served as a sandwich. Little spicy mustard and you're set.

Once people get past the initial "ick" factor of organ meat... it's usually quite good.

[AlannaCA]

I just started brining a cow's tongue on Wednesday. It'll take about five days in the brine before I can cook it. Same prep as a corned beef, then cooled and sliced on my deli slicer (seriously... every home should have one) and served as a sandwich. Little spicy mustard and you're set.

Once people get past the initial "ick" factor of organ meat... it's usually quite good.

here in toronto ive been to a couple amazing head to tail restaurants and they have been amazing! yes like you say once you get past the "ick" factor and open your mind to the possibilty that something that you dont normally eat can be good, theres a whole new experience waiting. the last place i went to i had the house made Charcuterie plate and i was blown away! mmm i might have to go back there again!

[RockelMan]

Yep the ick factor is and can be hard to look past. My Father in-law is a taxidermist and a hunter, I've gotten past the ick factor and my wife was long past it when I met her LOL

[ShawnPorter]

I grew up on a cattle farm, so it's all the same to me.

House made charcuterie is a blast; specially when you make it at YOUR house.

I do a duck breast prosciutto that only takes a week to cure-link here: Duck Prosciutto « Modified Ingredients and a house made mozzarella- link here: Mozzarella Cheese- delicious frustration. « Modified Ingredients that are not only tasty but a hoot to make. The first time you make cheese you literally say "holy shit, I just made CHEESE!" outloud.

[AlannaCA]

I grew up on a cattle farm, so it's all the same to me.

House made charcuterie is a blast; specially when you make it at YOUR house.

I do a duck breast prosciutto that only takes a week to cure-link here: Duck Prosciutto « Modified Ingredients and a house made mozzarella- link here: Mozzarella Cheese- delicious frustration. « Modified Ingredients that are not only tasty but a hoot to make. The first time you make cheese you literally say "holy shit, I just made CHEESE!" outloud.

OMG shawn i love your blog!!! its amazing! and the first thing i tried the other day was a duck breast prosciutto and it was my favorite! oh man, i'm starting to make my mouth water again! i think its so amazing that you make all those things yourself. i hope that one day im able to do things like that!

[ShawnPorter]

OMG shawn i love your blog!!! its amazing! and the first thing i tried the other day was a duck breast prosciutto and it was my favorite! oh man, i'm starting to make my mouth water again! i think its so amazing that you make all those things yourself. i hope that one day im able to do things like that!

The hardest part about the duck breast prosciutto is finding the fatty moulard duck breasts. I have a few local spots to pick them up, but any grocer can order them. Other than that, it's really as easy as the recipe sounds. Pack it in salt. 24 hrs. Wash off the salt. Dry, season, cheese cloth/butchers string wrap and wait seven days. It's deceptively simple!

[hogg]

Shawn, are you participating in Charcutepalooza?

My neighbor writes a blog on food called Punk Domestics. He recently gave us some duck prosciutto he made; I was very happy to accept it.