Sunday, April 3, 2011 Carnival Night Recipes

Carnival Night was a great success! The bunny may not have been impressed with the meal, but Uncle Carlos and Aunt Linda brought him bananas and basil so he couldn't really complain. And the people in attendance enjoyed celebrating the bunny's birthday with some awesome tasting food.

Deep Fried Salad with Kale Chips



Handful of green beans, one pack of button mushrooms, one jar of pickle spears.

Dry out the pickles, clean and destem the mushrooms, clean green beans and take off the strings if you need to.

To coat the veggies you'll need three bowls. One with flour, one with a milk & egg wash and one with corn meal. I used corn masa flour for the first bowl. I seasoned the milk and egg mixture with hot sauce and the corn meal I left alone.

Dip. Dip. Dip. Into the hot oil. Not rocket science. The green beans didn't really need that first bit of corn flour, they weren't moist enough to take any of it on. But the three dip process I've found really works wonders. Fish, squash...it adds a nice crunch to pretty much anything. And if you need to be gluten free the corn flour and corn meal is the way to go.

The kale chips were really tasty. Not everyone liked them, they can be a little bitter. But with enough seasoning I could be convinced to eat them every day!

Clean the kale, remove the ribs, toss with olive oil, salt and paprika and bake them in the oven in a single layer around 325 for about 15 minutes. When they're crispy they're done!


Pot Roast Sundaes



Believe it or not I've never made a pot roast. I'm not even sure if I've eaten one. I must have, it's not brain surgery. Big ole piece of marbled meat seared then cooked in the crock pot with celery, carrots, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and stock. Man I love my crock pot! I did it the day before the party, because food like this always tastes better the next day. I put the meat, veggies and juice in a smaller bowl and put it in the fridge so the fat would come together at the top and I could take it off. The next day I sliced the mean up cold, pureed all the veggies together and put it all in a pot on the stove to heat up, fall apart and come together in tastiness.

In a separate pot I made the mashed potatoes and then they went in the crock pot to stay warm! Love that crock pot, I tells ya!

Two scoops of potatoes, a scoop of pot roast, a sprinkle of cheese and a cherry tomato. I ate two of them. Crazy tasty.


Chili Cheese Dog Pizza



I had planned to make two kinds of pizza, this and a veggie. But the Chili Cheese Dog pizza was such a hit I made it twice. A few folks were brave enough to put mustard and relish on it! My husband made the chili for this one, good thing because I'd planned on just opening a can. GASP! I know. But I didn't feel like making a whole vat of chili for one or two pizzas. Thankfully my husband jumped at the chance to get back in the kitchen.

Chili, sliced hot dogs, cheese (mozzarella and cheddar)...we all wondered aloud why this was the first time our mouths were experiencing this. Incredible. Some suggested slicing the hot dog thinner, but that was nitpickyness. This was an amazing pizza combination. Talk of a pizza truck surfaced as someone suggested calling it "Vizza" :)

But it was not the time to be discussing business options and nicknaming a national dish after me. I had dessert to be making!

Cadbury Creme Eggs baked in a biscuit and served with Orange Butter Sauce.



OMG

Okay, the key here is to freeze the Cadbury Creme Eggs so they don't melt while the biscuit is baking. I used biscuit mix because I had it, but you can use any biscuit recipe you have, you could probably use the dough that comes in a can. Just remove the foil from the frozen creme egg (duh) and surround it with biscuit dough. My dough was sticky so I found myself using two hands to strategically plop, drop and slop bits of biscuit around it's entirety. Cover every little bit, no chocolate should be showing through and then plop onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

Mine baked for about 12 minutes. You'll need to add a little cook time because the center is frozen. That dough will need a bit more time to cook, trust me. My practice run was still doughy in the middle. If you've done a good job of covering the eggs in biscuit dough you won't have to worry about melted chocolate running out.

The sauce was just orange juice, a tiny spoon of sugar, butter and a corn starch slurry. I squeezed three oranges into a sauce pan and added the sugar and butter. In a separate cup I mixed water with a spoon of corn starch. When the sauce was reduced enough I added the cornstarch to thicken it. You could also use chocolate sauce, whipped creme, ice cream. Whatever your heart desires.

These were killer. No doubt about it. I had one the next day heated in the oven and I think it was even better. Or maybe they're just so good.......

Check out the video with music by In It For Storms!

And check out this month's Alternative Control \m/

-HH

Thursday, January 13, 2011 My Top Ten Kitchen Toys

Since taking over the cooking duties, the number of kitchen toys I’ve accumulated has quite surpassed the number of toys I have in other areas of the house. (If you catch my drift.) Some of these toys were bought at tag sales. I shudder to think of the actual retail price of things, although I’m getting better at setting aside issues of price and just buying what I need. For me “retail therapy” consists of me not thinking I’m worth the money and my therapist telling me otherwise.

But I digress.

My Top Ten Kitchen Toys

Number 10 – My Mandolin

This toy I bought retail, but I suppose you have to because the blades can dull pretty quickly. If I saw one at a tag sale I’d assume it was no longer a slicer. It’s a great way to make a low-calorie spaghetti substitute with zucchini. Cut it long ways using the small julienne blade and you’ve got yourself something tasty. You can also cut long thin slices using only the straight blade, these make great lasagna noodles, as we found out on Zucchini Night and when Arcane Malevolence first came to dinner. And the Seascape Fondue from Bento Schmento Night was made possible by my trusty mandolin.

Number 9 – My Food Processor

I have never met a blender that I liked. In fact, I bought a blender when I bought my mandolin and it was a piece of garbage that never ever worked. Meaning it never blended a thing. Maybe the stuff down around its blade was blended, but the rest of the blender contents remained unblended. Thus, it was an unblender and I gave it away. So when my husband came home with a 10 year old never been used food processor from the fine people over at Braun I’ll admit, I was skeptical. But this baby has the ability to blend and shred and puree and grate. I love it. Whether it was cheese for Pizza Night or cucumber melon soup for Mint Night, my food processor has always come through.

Number 8 – My Ice Cream Maker

I’ll admit it, I had a ton of ice cream trauma this summer. I’d forget to freeze the canister or I did freeze the canister and it still wasn’t working. As it turned out my freezer was dying so now I’m free to once again dabble in the art that is ice cream making. My ice cream garden has given way to many interesting flavors, including tomato basil and sage ice cream. I look forward to more experimental flavors. Peter Pepper ice cream, anyone?

Number 7 – Novelty Baking Pans

Bunnies, dinosaurs – I wish I had unlimited cabinet space. While these pans are made for children I think it’s a great way to add a layer of fun to your dinner parties! I’ve made cornbread no less than a dozen times in these individually portioned fun shapes. Bunny shaped ice cubes for Fruit Night, individual dinosaur meatloaves for Prehistoric Night (sorry, no link, it was before I hit the web). The Headbanging Hostess doesn’t shy away from an opportunity for some childlike fun – neither should you.

Number 6 – My Kitchen-Aid Professional Mixer

Good old, hand held mixer. Much less expensive than the stand up. Sure it might not do as many tricks, but it mixes just fine and I’ve gotten a ton of use out of it. And it’s red. I like that. I’m interested to see how long it lasts. I bought it last year to replace what had been my PARENTS hand-mixer, it was easily over 40 years old. Good old school American craftsmanship.

Number 5 – My George Foreman Grill

Who doesn’t have one of these? It’s the only way I cook chicken breasts. I’ve used it to grill wraps, skirt steak, zucchini, celery – you can even make cookies on it! Clean up is easy. It doesn’t take up a lot of space. This is a great piece of equipment.

Number 4 - My Salad Spinner

I just bought a new one because I discovered mold in the lid of my old one. Ick, I know. Hopefully it was a faulty design and it won’t happen with the new one. It’s mostly clear, so I’ll be able to see what’s going on in there. ANYWAY. Salad spinners make salad making doable. You have to wash the lettuce, but if you put the dressing on wet lettuce it won’t stick. So it has to be dried. And, while putting the lettuce on a towel in front of a fan or the A/C works, it’s much easier to whirl the water off in what will become your salad bowl (after you dry it out so the dressing doesn’t get diluted.) Water and salad don’t mix.

Number 3 – My Rubber Spatula

Pretty low-tech, I know, but incredibly useful. Mine is a ridiculous shade of lime green but I manage to use it multiple times a day. I’d like to have one in every size, so I could scrape out every bit of a cans content. It’s also heat resistant so it’ll go from can to pan without a problem.

Number 2 – My Crockpot

Quite frankly I’m surprised this isn’t number one, but that’s a ridiculous thing to say because I can’t possibly be surprised, I’m the one writing this. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you could cook a shoe in a crockpot and it would taste good. Chili, salsa, goulash, ropa vieja, skirt steak – I get a ton of mileage out of the crockpot. And it’s so easy! That’s the crazy part. Throw it in, turn it on and go. Eight hours later you’ll have an incredible meal. And it doubles as a warmer, serving dish and hot apple cider provider.

And my NUMBER ONE KITCHEN TOY…

My Excalibur Food Dehydrator

This was the number one tag sale buy of all time. Forty bucks for a dehydrator with temperature control, nine trays and tray liners that make fruit leather! OMG FRUIT LEATHER! I have made beef jerky a number of times, and let me tell you, there is no comparing homemade jerky with that commercial processed crap. It’s incredibly tasty warm. I’ve also dehydrated herbs. It’s doubled as a lettuce dryer when I was briefly without a salad spinner. I used it as a warmer for my Thanksgiving Feast and I use it to proof my homemade bread. So I get a lot of use out of that one machine - so random yet so useful.

If you have a small kitchen like me you need to be picky about what toys you give space to. Try to avoid single purpose items that you may not use that often and opt for multi-purpose kitchen electrics that will earn their space and prove their value time and time again.

-HH

Sunday, December 5, 2010 This Thursday Is Stock Night!

Last nights roast chicken carcass is at the bottom of this pot, topped with red peppers, carrots, onion, celery, green cherry tomatoes from the garden and some herbs. I'll let it simmer for about 6 hours, strain it and stick it in the fridge for some super flavor on Thursday.

It's Stock Night!

My post-Thanksgiving stock making yielded me almost two quarts of goose stock, which I will put in the crock pot with a nice piece of skirt steak and some mushrooms and onions for a stewey mess of deliciousness. My neighbor brought me a lifetime supply of carrots, so I'm thinking of maybe topping it with carrot chips, fried in goose fat, of course.

This chicken stock will find itself absorbed into some quinoa for a nice salad course. My neighbor also brought me a lifetime supply of broccoli - quinoa, broccoli and something else salad? Maybe. We'll see how long the broccoli lasts.

And for dessert? Some cupcakes or something - because I have tons of cake mix in stock.

Ba dum bum.

Why am I this crazy stocker? (ZING!) Because I don't really like to waste things. And these poor birds died for my dinner, the least I can do is utilize every bit of flavor available to me. And it's super easy! Throw it in a stockpot, throw in some veggies and herbs and BANG! Six hours later you have stock.

Anytime you're cutting veggies throw the ends into the freezer. That way, when you've got your carcass, the chopping is already done!

How easy is that?

Stock can be frozen in tupperware containers, ziplock bags, even ice cube trays (great for adding little bits of flavor to anything!) Try it!!!

-HH

Friday, November 26, 2010 The Day After - Making And Taking Stock

This beautiful goose actually didn't yield a great deal of meat. It was quite tasty, but not as abundant as your typical turkey.

Today I shall stick it in a big ass pot with some celery, carrot, onion and herbs and simmer the shit out of it until the bones have excreted all their flavor. That's how you make stock - basically.

Taking stock of yesterday and the faboo meal I cooked up it's easy to see how people get overwhelmed with holiday cooking and feasting. I totally got carried away with the feasting. The lower half of my body right now don't wanna know nothin'! First thing in the morning yesterday I started with the mashed potatoes and turnips, wrapping them in plastic and keeping them warm in the dehydrator all day was pure genius! (Thank you, Glory for the inspiration) My cooking was well ordered and mapped out. I choreographed different dishes from two ovens, thank goodness my neighbor is directly across the hall. I used her oven for the chestnuts and the stuffed pumpkin while mine was occupied with the goose.

I took another tip from Glory and papoosed my goose (took it out at 170 degrees and wrapped it in foil, newspaper and a blanket) so my oven was free to quickly cook my greenbeans. Bing, bang, boom - dinner was ready at 4:30. Not too shabby, I thought.

The food was excellent. The bird may have been overdone, we're not sure because we haven't had goose before, but I thought it was really tasty. And the plumwine, brandy, prune au jus I made was outstanding! Tons of flavor. And the sides...traditional as hell but totally scrumptious. End it all with an apple pecan dessert pizza pie and you got yourself a Thanksgiving!

But the most brilliant tip I can give you is inspired by my brothers girlfriend. Always dress up to the nines - for no one will ever expect you to do dishes. (Not that I would! Dave and I always do the clean-up. But I think if ever I go out to a friends house I shall rent a friggin' ball gown!)

Now, off to make stock in my jammies!

Bang on, my peeps!

-HH