A Source--"Cook's Illustrated"

Entering the retail world of food has been a education for me. Even though I was a Homemaking teacher  when there were such animals and a wife and mother for even longer, so many new ideas, food and nutrition facts and new methods have appeared since then that I have had to really be alert to all things new. Among  the many magazines that pass through our doors, a stand-out is COOK'S ILLUSTRATED. In fact, it is our go-to for equipment recommendations, methods of cooking and their cookbook THE AMERICA' S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK published by America's Test Kitchen is the book we recommend for new cooks who need a starter course in cooking and baking.

COOK'S ILLUSTRATED comes bi-monthly and has a plethora of information about food preparation, pots and pans, food products--too much to cover here. There are 32 items in the contents. One of them is for frying eggs. I know, I know! Who doesn't know how to fry 'em, and eggs are not that good for you. What about cholesterol? I eat them and I will continue to do so.

Pointers for the perfect fried egg, borrowed from August, 2013, COOK'S ILLUSTRATED, pp.12-13.

Preheat the pan for 5 minutes over low heat.
Use two fats--vegetable oil while the pan is heating and butter added just before the eggs.
Add eggs all at once. Cracking into small bowls and adding to skillet allows them cook at the same rate.
Turn heat to medium-high.
Cover as soon as the eggs are in place. Allow to cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Wait 15 to 45 seconds.

Ready to serve.
(I have a glass saucepan lid that fits for 8 inch skillet; so, I don't have to let heat out to check.)
Now, for a strip of bacon, toasted English muffins and a little orange marmalade.

Perfect breakfast--or dinner.
BTW we have both AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK and the current issue of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED available at Gourmet Gallery.

A Summertime Favorite, or Who Doesn't Love Peach Cobbler?

Peach cobbler always meant making a double pie crust, lining the pan with half and rolling a top crust. I still like it that way, but my niece sent me a recipe that is a hurry-up recipe that is so delicious that I usually make it that way.I have found several similar recipes, but they all require more steps than Lora's recipe. Here it is:

                               ( Luscious peaches. Watch at Farmers' Market. Probably will be the best)


LORA'S PEACH COBBLER

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Place 1/2 cup butter in 9X13X2 baking pan and put pan in oven to melt butter. When melted, remove from oven. Set aside.

Mix together:
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Add 1 cup "sweet" milk

Pour into baking pan over the butter.

Add 1 quart of sweetened peaches evenly over the batter.

Place into oven and bake until golden brown--about 30 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So quick. So easy. So-o-o-o-o-o-o good.

Any kind of peaches will work-- fresh, canned or frozen. I remembering reading that even the peaches that don't seem quite up to par will be wonderful in a cobbler.
Please enjoy this simple recipe.

Berries, Berries, Berries

In "the olden days" my school would dismiss mid-April so that the children could help with the crops--hoeing cotton, gathering tomatoes for the market. Not only was school out, but the berries were beginning to ripen. First, we had dewberries. There were bigger, sweeter than the mixed berries and blackberries that followed later in the spring. We picked and ate and took them home and washed them and ate them with milk, made cobblers, and jelly. (The blackberries made the best jam.) Sometimes Dad would come in from the farm with his hat full of berries--always enough for the cobbler. Mother had a special pan for that treat. I still have it--a little enamel off here and there, but it serves the that purpose.

BERRY COBBLER

Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust
l cup sugar + 2 tablespoons for topping
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 -5 cups fresh berries
4 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Heat oven to 350 F.

Roll out 1/2 the dough and line a 9" X 9" X 2" baking dish with it. Place a square of parchment paper cut to fit onto the dough. Blind bake the crust for about 8 minutes so that the bottom crust will not be soggy.
Turn oven up to 450 F.
Mix the flour and sugar thoroughly. Put berries on the blind baked crust. Add sugar/flour mixture and 3 tablespoons of the pieces of butter. Sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of water over the mixture.

Roll out other 1/2 of dough and place on top of berries folding the overlap under the bottom crust and pinch together so that the juice will remain inside the crust.* Make slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar and place remainder of butter on the top.
Bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature; then, reduce heat to 350 F and bake for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Cool a little if you possibly wait. Then, enjoy.

*To duplicate the cobbler below, roll out dough for top, cut into strips and weave over the top.
(Rachel can tell you how to do that.)

Back to an Old Favorite

On Memorial Day I made Cream Puffs. Remember those? Home Ec Class in high school? The lesson about leavening agents--that eggs and air and steam could make desserts rise, i.e. angel food cakes, sponge cakes, cream puffs, eclairs. According to FOOD LOVERS' COMPANION,  a cream  puff is also called choux pastry (shoo) pastry. Just in case you missed the lesson in Home Ec, during the baking, the eggs make the pastry puff into irregular domes. They are easy and fun. Not everyone in my family likes therm, but that's just fine. (The more for me idea.)

In case you cannot find the recipe, here is the Old One from JOY OF COOKING, 1952 edition.

CREAM PUFFS

"Please cease  to think of these as something to try out in your more adventurous moments. No need to shine up your rabbit's food--just have all ingredients at room temperature. But once the cream puffs are filled with, be sure that they are stored in a cool or refrigerated place, as they are subject to bacterial activity which maybe highly toxic and give no evidence of spoilage...."

Sift before measuring: 

     1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Heat:

      1/2 cup milk or water

Add: 

      1/4 cup butter

Bring these ingredients to the boiling point. Add the sifted flour:

      1/8 teaspoon salt

Cook and stir the batter until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove it from the heat. Beat in one at a time:

      2 eggs

Be careful to beat l egg until well blended before adding the other. Place spoonfuls of batter in 2 inch rounds on a greased tin*, heaping them well in the center.  Allow 2 inches between the puffs. In France the dough is chilled before being baked. Bake them in a hot oven 400 F for 1/2 hour. Reduce the heat to 350 F. Bake them 5 minutes longer. Test the puffs by removing one from the oven. If it does not fall it is thoroughly done. When the puffs are cool, cut a gash in the side of each puff and fill them with sweetened whipped cream  custard, etc.

The puffs were fun. Now I need to work on making a custard that is not lumpy!!!! However, Karyn's ice cream was good in them.

*An easier method--line a pan with parchment paper.

20 Bottles of Wine on the Wall, 20 Bottles of Wine. Take One Down and Pass it Around....

By Pure Luck I won twenty bottles of wine at the Kentucky Derby Party held at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and sponsored by the Lions' Club Foundation. This was a fund raiser for the Lions' Park that has been a place for kids to have fun for many years. Those Lions know how to give a party!!!!!

Now the question is, What to do with 20 bottles of wine? Drink some it. Yes. Share some of it. Definitely. Cook with some of it. Of course.

Drinking Some

With some Pinot Grigio or Chianti

Stuffed dates or figs:

12 dates, pitted, or 12 figs

2 to 3 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled

6 thin slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an baking sheet with aluminum foil

Cut a lengthwise slit in the date/fig. Stuff each one with just enough cheese to fill the cavity, but not spill out. Pinch dates/figs closed. Wrap each date/fig in a piece of prosciutto and arrange them, seam side down, on the prepared pan.

Bake for  10 minutes. Remove the oven and, using tongs, carefully turn dates/figs. Return to the oven and bake until browned and crisp, about 10 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature

(From Wine Bites--Simple Morsels That Pair Perfectly with Wine. by Barbara Scott-Goodman.--Available at Gourmet Gallery.)

With some Cabernet Sauvignon: 

1 - 11 oz box of Cornmeal Rosemary Shortbread Cookies from Wackym's Kitchen (Available at Gourmet Gallery)

Some softened butter

Some crumbled bleu or Gorganzolla cheese

Mix butter and cheese.

Place a little dab on each cookie. 

Enjoy with sips of wine.

Rachel's BBQ Sliders and Jo Ann's Cole Slaw

In case you did not taste these sliders when Rachel made them, duplicate them in your kitchen.
Any questions? Call about recipes, ingredients or equipment at 254-399-.. Ask for Jo Ann.

Smoked Chicken BBQ Sliders
Makes 24 Sliders

2 lbs smoked chicken, shredded (Smoked on the Cameron Indoor Smoker)
1 cup Chef Bradley's Lean Mean BBQ Sauce

Combine the Chicken and BBQ Sauce in a medium saucepan. Heat to a slow simmer.

24 rolls or slider buns. (We used Rhodes Frozen Rolls and let rise and baked according to directions.)
Olive oil or butter

Preheat a grill or broiler on high heat. Brush each of the buns with olive oil or butter. Grill or broil for about 3 minutes.

2 cups Jo Ann's Slaw (See recipe below.)
Monterrey Jack Cheese, sliced

To assemble:
Place cheese on bottom bun. Top with 1/4 cup chicken and some slaw. Serve immediately.

Jo Ann's Cole Slaw
(Borrowed from The Southern Junior League Cookbook  from years ago--with a little variation.)

1 medium red cabbage, shredded fine
1 small  white onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar (for an interesting variation, use apple-cider vinegar)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon salt

Place prepared cabbage, onion and carrot in a large bowl; top with sugar.
In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, oil, mustard, celery seed, and salt. Bring to a boil. Pour hot mixture over cabbage and cool. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Easter, Grandchildren and Fried Chicken

When Grandson requests fried chicken so that his international friend can experience it, what does Grandmother do? You know. of course. Buys whole chickens, cuts them so that there will be Pulley Bones (Some of you call them Wishbones.), gets out the cast iron skillet and gets cookin'.

Last year Bon Appetit , February Issue, printed "the only fried chicken recipe you will ever need." It's true. I'm changing it a little to suit my taste, but the method is essentially the best I've ever done. Granted, when I made fried chicken often, I never used a recipe, but, you know, one gets "out of practice."

If your family on a special occasion wants fried chicken, try this one.

THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER

2 T Kosher salt, divided
2 t plus 1 T freshly ground pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t cayenne (optional to me)
1/2 t paprika (optional to me)
1- 3 to 4 lb frying chicken, not Kosher, backbone and wingtips removed. (10 pieces)
(Tip: look for free-range chickens. The hormone enhanced ones have such large breast pieces that it is hard to get them done without getting them too brown.)
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 T cornstarch
3 c all-purpose flour
Deep-fry thermometer
Oil for frying.

Whisk 1 T salt, 2 t black pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic and onion powders in a small bowl. Season chicken pieces with the spices, put in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerator. (A ziplock bag works well for this.)

The next day l

et chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour. Whisk flour, cornstarch, remaining 1 T salt and remaining 1 T black pepper in a 9X13X2 baking dish. Whisk buttermilk, egg, and 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl.

Pour oil into cast iron skillet to a depth of 3/4". Heat until 350 F. on thermometer.

Set a rack inside a large-rimmed baking sheet for placing the chicken after it has finished frying

Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture. Dredge in flour mixture. Place 5 pieces into skillet. Fry chicken turning with tongs every 1-2 minutes. Maintain a steady temperature of 300-325 degrees F. 10 minutes for wings, and 12 for thighs, legs and breasts. Transfer to rack. Let set for 10 minutes.

During that ten minutes I make the gravy. Be sure to make the gravy in the same cast iron skillet used for frying the chicken. Drain off extra oil leaving enough for making the roux. Use equal parts oil and flour. Stir in  flour and heat allowing the flour to a light brown. Add milk gradually and stir constantly to avoid lumps. Salt and pepper to taste.
.
What to say? This in not something that I cook every week, but once in a while this comfort food just seems to be a must--especially when requested by a Grandson.