Gumbo repeat

I've been craving the gumbo we had a couple of weeks ago. Not quite as easy to make in Nebraska. Went to a few places looking for file powder. Finally found it at whole foods. That place kills the pocketbook for sure. Didn't want to shell crab so I'll be making some substitutions. We'll see how it goes. Wish I would have bought fondue stuff for tomorrow. It's going to be a cold one.

Owen just put in a request for cinnamon rolls so I'd better get busy.

Breakfast Surprise!!!

Last night while dinner was cooking I decided to make cinnamon rolls for the morning.  I used this recipe and a bread machine to make the dough.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place first 7 ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving. 

Instead of preheating the oven, I put the frosting in a container and covered the pan with the cut out rolls into the refrigerator over night. 

When I woke up I took them out and set the oven to 400 and brought them to room temperature while I showered.  Then I popped them into the oven for 15 minutes.

I frosted them while warm.

They turned out amazing.  The dough was perfect.  The rolls went well with lattes from my new nespresso coffee machine.

Christmas Dinner 2010

You will need to take a walk after this meal!  Delicious.

Fall River Rib Roast

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated lemon peel
• 4 teaspoons dried thyme
• 8 juniper berries, crushed
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4-8 drops Tabasco sauce
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 10 pound standing rib roast of beef

Combine parsley, lemon peel, thyme, juniper berries, garlic, pepper, and Tabasco in a blender or food processor.  Add oil tablespoon at a time, blending until a smooth paste is formed.  Add lemon juice and blend.  Rub mixture over surface of roast.  (recipe calls for covering and refrigerating for 24 hours but we just popped it in the oven and skipped that step.)

Bring roast to room temperature before proceeding.  Place roast in large, heavy roasting pan in preheated over at 500 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 350 and continue roasting for 15 minutes per pound for rare, 20 minutes per pound for medium or 25 minutes per pound for well done.  Let roast rest for 10 minutes before carving.  Serve with Horseradish Sauce.  Recipe to follow but we just used store bought.


Hunters Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup butter, melted and hot
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped
• 6-8 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 2-4 drops Tabasco Sauce
• 3 tablespoons minced Fresh Parsley

Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper in blender. Mix until well blended or food processor.  While machine in running, add hot butter in slow stream. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in whipped cream.  Add horseradish and Tabasco to taste.  Fold in minced onion and parsley and transfer to serving bowl.


Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pound green beans trimmed and rinsed
• 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise or heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoons Shallots (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil or veg oil
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (optional)

Steam the green beans until tender, about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile , in a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, mayonnaise, shallots, salt, and pepper.  Add the oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly until the vinaigrette is well blended. Toss the cooked beans with the red pepper and enough vinaigrette to coat, about 1/3 cup.  Serve warm with extra vinaigrette on the side if you like ( I just dump it all in and then I can't stop eating these green beans).

Wednesday in Washington

We spent the last 3 days out on an island in the Puget Sound.  The forecast called for rain everyday but we had pretty amazing weather.  We built the largest fires and hiked all around.  Today we took the passenger ferry back and headed for Seattle.  Lunch at Maximilien...a nicely kept secret located at Pike Place Market.  Almost too full for dinner and we made the most delicious spicy seafood gumbo.  I swore I was too full to eat even the smallest amount but ended up having two helpings.  Recipe below.

Gumbo with Shrimp

Gumbo poured over Pearl Cous  Cous provided the most wonderful texture

Ingredients

• 1/2 red onion diced
• one red and one orange bell peppers diced (or several of the small sized red/orange peppers)
• 6 tablespoons veg or olive oil
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz)
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup clam juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Creole Seasoning (makes it pretty spicy so may want to use less if you don't like it hot)
• 1/2 lb cooked andouille sausage (optional) we made it on the side 
• 1 lb large precooked shrimp
• 1 teaspoon file powder
• Pearled Couscous made according to package instructions 

Dice onion and peppers and have them ready to go.  Heat 6 tablespoons oil over med heat add in 6 tablespoons of flour and whisk until incorporated.  Cook mixture (roux) stirring constantly for 4 minutes. Careful not to burn.  Add in onion, garlic, and peppers and cook stirring occasionally until softened, about 8-10 minutes.

Add Tomatoes, stock, clam juice, bay leaves, creole seasoning and bring to boil over medium high heat then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes to blend flavors.  Stir in shrimp (and sausage if using it) Sprinkle in the file powder and stir for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and discard bay leaves.

To serve, spoon pearled couscous (or rice) into warm bowls and ladle gumbo on top.

Fudgey Friday!

Spent all day packing for Seattle but was able to throw together some peppermint pistachio fudge.  It's so good...now if only I had room to pack it.  Not sure the fudge will make the trip.  It will be fine in the fridge until we get home...but I must find a way.

Fudge

Ingredients

• 3 cups of chocolate chips
• 2 cups of small marshmellows
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pistachios
• 3 candy canes crushed

Line an 8x8 square pan with foil and smear with butter.  Add together the chocolate chips, marshmellows and sweetened condensed milk in a large microwave safe bowl.  Microwave 2-3 minutes stiring every minute until melted together.  Stir in vanilla until smooth.  Mix in pistachios.  Pour mixture into lined pan and cool.  Once cooled, pull fudge out of pan, sprinkle with crushed candy cane and cut into small squares.