Nonfat Gingersnaps

Contributed by SporkorFoon/ Original recipe by David Leibovitz

David Leibovitz, you are my hero.  Now, we all know that I have undergone some crazy adjustments to my diet to knock off the holiday weight (which worked like a charm and I’ve lost the 7 pounds I gained over the holidays plus 4 more! And these changes don’t make me want to eat my arm off anymore!  Score!), but I have reintroduced coffee and alcohol because I couldn’t take it anymore (and I reintroduced both of them by having an Irish Coffee. Two birds. One stone. Happy Teanna) and now I will introduce these amazing cookies.

Please click  here for Dave’s recipe and the story on how he came to create these amazing cookies!

Crazy Pumpkin Pizza with Leeks, Chorizo, Pine Nuts, Feta…

by SporkorFoon

Now, I know what you are thinking. This pizza sounds crazy. But let me tell you this. This is an unbelievably delicious, completely satisfying, and unique pizza.  I saw this on Tastespotting maybe two weeks ago and have been itching to try it ever since. 
If I open a restaurant or find myself on Top Chef one day (because I could make scallops and gremolata and be a part of this cast. Even though this is “Top Chef, not Top Scallop!”), this is the type of thing I would make that would really make you go “hmm”.  And if you are making this for the non-adventurous eater (“Meat and potat”uh”s”, as my father says), this would be one of those dishes where you tell them the ingredients after they try it (and fall in love with it).

I made some changes to the recipe, but you really have to give credit to Mike at Mike’s Table for coming up with this amazingly crazy recipe.The creamy pumpkin “sauce” along with the feta and chorizo and roasted squash was like nothing I have ever tasted before. The flavors were spicy and sweet, with a hint of pumpkin and warm flavors, and were complimented by the perfectly crunchy dough.  I will be sure to make this again and again.
Recipe adapted from Mike’s Table

Dough (good for 2 pizzas, or one thick crust)

3 cups flour

1 cup warm water

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1.75 tsp active dry yeast

1.5 tsp honey

1 tsp salt

Pumpkin Sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 shallot, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon thyme

1 1/2 tablespoon sage, roughly chopped

1 dried chile (I used a California chile)

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or use your own combination of cloves, cinnamon, ginger or all spice to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
20-25 kalmata olives, sliced

1 leek

1 cup butternut squash, diced and roasted

6-8 oz feta cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

3/4 cup chorizo

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Dough

First, prepare the pizza dough as that needs time to rest.

In a small bowl, pour warm water (as in pretty warm, but not piping hot) and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes until the water is cloudy or foamy. Mix remaining dough ingredients together. A food processor with a dough hook is definitely easier, but you’re welcome to use a hand mixer, too. Once the yeast is ready, add to remaining ingredients and mix well. The dough should naturally come together into a ball, being neither goopy nor overly tacky. If it is, add small amounts of water or flour to get the right consistency. Punch and knead the dough until it is smooth.

Very lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in a bowl, covering the top with a towel. Let sit in a warm place for about an hour.

After the dough has risen for an hour, cut it in two and form a ball out of each half and place these two on a lightly floured surface. Cover with a towel and place this back in your warm place again. Let the dough rise for an additional 45 minutes (the dough should roughly double in size).

Toppings

If using a pizza stone that requires heating, place it in the oven to heat. While heating the stone, rub a halved acorn squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, and let it roast in the oven. When fork tender (anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour), skin it, cube it, and set it aside.

In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts for 2 minutes or so. Set aside.

Remove chorizo meat from casing and brown for 7 minutes. Drain grease and set aside.

Rinse the leek well and chop finely.

Sauté the leek for 7 minutes or until tender. Set aside.

Slice olives and set aside.

Sauce

Begin by dry toasting the pepper in a pan for a minute or two. Sauté the minced shallot in a bit of olive oil over medium heat for 6 minutes and then add the minced garlic for 1 minute more. Add the pumpkin purée to the pan along with the vegetable broth, herbs, and seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes and puree in a food processor or blender. Return the sauce to the pan and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes further until you reach your desired texture. Set aside.

Finally, working quickly, toss your dough to the size appropriate for your pizza stone. Throw a generous sprinkle of cornmeal (to prevent sticking) or spray with vegetable spray, lay on the dough, ladle on the sauce, and toss on the toppings (if you have more handy than you can fit on your pizza, don’t overcrowd it–just hang onto it and eat them later). Bake this in the oven for roughly 20 minutes or until crust is golden.

Minty Chocolate Crackle Cookies

by SporkorFoon

I love chocolate crackle cookies.  These festive cookies, with their craggly white tops and paths of chocolate peeking through, are the ultimate Christmas cookie to me.

I decided that I wanted to change it up a bit, though, and add some mint to the mix. I’ve been loving chocolate and peppermint this season (but do NOT love the new Peppermint Mocha flavor of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts.  Gross.), so I decided to experiment a little with these.  And I am glad I did, because the peppermint really adds another delicious dimension to one of my favorite cookies in the land.  These are like winter in a cookie to me – minus the whole freezing my butt off as I walk to the subway while cursing the slushy snow and hoping a cab doesn’t drive through a puddle and spray me with grey gook part.

Minted Chocolate Crackle Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 4 dozen

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop bittersweet chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate and peppermint extract. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.

On a clean countertop, roll each portion of dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using confectioners’ sugar to prevent sticking. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss in confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into a ball shape. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, 12 to15 minutes (I actually had to bake mine for 20 minutes, so check accordingly).

Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

My First Attempt at Fondant!

by Teanna DiMicco of SporkorFoon

A friend of mine asked me to make her daughter’s first birthday cake.  She sent me a photo of the dress her little girl would be wearing and asked if I could design a cake that reflected the dress. It was a whimsical purple dress with green tulle and purple roses around the waistline.  I immediately knew that I wanted to focus on those adorable purple flowers.

Unfortunately for me, my icing skills are crap and I definitely can’t draw roses in buttercream.  So my next thought was fondant.

I always hear horror stories about fondant.  ”It’s impossible to work with.” “It is extremely delicate.” Or as one friend on facebook put it: “Fondant sucks.”

Needless to say, I was nervous.  But I forged ahead.  I turned to my best friend, Google, and type in “how to use fondant.”

Let’s get off subject for a moment.  Have you ever payed attention to what pops up as your type your search query into Google?  As I typed “how to”, I could have been distracted and clicked on “how to kiss” or “how to tie a tie” or, if I was really feeling ambitious, “how to solve a rubix cube.”  But I digress.

I found this tutorial on how to make fondant/gum-paste flowers by one of my favorite bloggers, Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen, where I discovered that I needed supplies such as a fondant pad and veining tools. I then found What’s Cooking America, which has THE BEST fondant Q&A on the internet.

Let the money spending begin.

I headed down to the NY Baker’s Supply store (my second home), and stocked up on seriously overpriced supplies such as a fondant rolling pin (which I discovered I really didn’t need for the small cake I was making), fondant pads, cutouts, pre-made fondant, fondant smoothers, gum-tex (to add to the fondant to help the flowers harden quickly and keep their shape) and other accoutrement. 2 hours and $100 later, I was back at my apartment, ready to make some fondant flowers.

I rolled out my fondant, cut out the flowers petals using a 2″ cookie cutter, veined the flowers, added some green bulbs in the middle, and gave them their shape by letting them dry at room temperature in a standard muffin tin. I made the tendrils by cutting thin strips of green fondant and wrapping them in a spiral shape around lollipop sticks.  Three days later, the flowers and tendrils were hard and held their shape!  I dusted them with a little luster dust and did a happy dance.  Holla!

Now it was on to the cake. Easy, peasy, no sweat, no problem.  My friend wanted a plain cake, so I decided to make a delicious 3-layer, 9″ butter cake, which is always a crowd pleaser. Seriously, who doesn’t love a cake that is filled with butter, egg yolks, and tons of cholesterol? I knew this cake would be delicate however, and was nervous how it would hold up against the weight of the fondant.

I started the cake at around 4 pm, and at 6:30, all cakes were cooled and ready to be iced.  I evened out the tops of the cake and iced the first layer. I topped it with a second layer. So far, no problem. I iced that layer, and grabbed the third and final layer.  When I picked up the cake layer, it felt a little wobbly and unstable, but I paid no mind and added it to the top of the cake.  Two seconds later, the layers edges collapsed.  As I tried to fix the edges of the cake, it only progressively got worse, as each layer began to crumble.

I knew there would be cursing and tears with this cake, but I thought my despair would be at the hands of the tricky fondant, not a simple butter cake! I was wrong.

In frustration, I either wanted to throw the cake across the room or pound my fists into the layers of the cake and have a huge tantrum.  Luckily, I was able to hold it together and instead tried a stronger yellow cake recipe.  Two hours later, the cake was cooled, and I carefully assembled the cake layers with success.  I breathed a sigh of relief. My stomach however, was doing backflips, not from nerves, but from constantly tasting cake and buttercream for four hours.  Needless to say, I almost lost it a few times.

I watched tutorial after tutorial on YouTube on how to roll out fondant and cover the cake. Thirty minutes later, I headed to my kitchen to try the fondant myself. I added the height and width of my cake and knew I needed to roll out my fondant to at least a 14″ diameter.  I rolled the fondant around the pin and transfered it to the cake.  It went on without a problem!  Holla!

I then began to smooth the sides of the cake and found it unbelievably therapeutic.  All of the stress of the afternoon dissipated as I pulled and smoothed the sides of the marshmallowy fondant.  Five minute later, the cake was covered and smooth.  I couldn’t believe it.  I made a cake with fondant!  Double Holla!

I attached the flowers to the cake, added a purple ring around the bottom, and reveled at the cake. Sure, it was a little lopsided. Sure, you could kind of see the layers through the fondant. But for my first time, I think I did an ok job!

Yellow Cake Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Arrange two racks in the center of oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of two 8-by-2-inch buttered cake pans with buttered parchment paper. Dust the bottoms and sides of pans with flour, and tap out any excess. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter at medium speed until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar, and continue until lightened, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides once or twice. Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition until batter is no longer slick, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, about 5 minutes.

Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed, alternating with buttermilk, a little of each at a time, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat in vanilla.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes; rotate the pans in the oven if needed for even browning. Continue baking until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 10 to 20 minutes more. Transfer to wire racks to cool, 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; set cakes, top side down, on wire racks, and allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed. Gradually at powdered sugar and cream for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Add remaining ingredients.

by Teanna DiMicco of SporkorFoon.com

First thing is first.  I am IN LOVE with this chocolate tart recipe. Sweet,tender, with hints of spice, it is topped off beautifully with a layer of melted bittersweet chocolate that adds the perfect, unexpected layer of chocolate delight.  The tart is a perfect vessel for the creamy, spicy pumpkin pie, the recipe of which is my favorite recipe to date. I did not use the Martha Stewart Recipe, as I did not have sour cream on hand, so I found a recipe on Joy of Cooking, and yes, it was a joy to cook this. 

Bad joke? OK. Sorry. 

Let me tell you a little secret: I had never even tasted a pumpkin pie until last year, because throughout my childhood pumpkin pie seemed unnatural to me. Pumpkins were for carving on Halloween, not for eating! You all must be mad, I thought! Actually, the whole concept of pie seemed unnatural to me. Why have pie when you can have cake, I thought?  And why have cake when you can have Carvel Ice Cream Cake?  It has crunchies in the middle!

But I digress. I do now love pie (although I still prefer Carvel Ice Cream cake. Seriously. I have no shame).  This will make a fabulous Thanksgiving dessert.

Chocolate Shortbread Tart Dough (adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
 1/4 tsp salt
 9 Tbsp very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
 1 large egg yolk
 1/2 tsp cinnamon
 1/4 teaspoon cloves
 4 oz semisweet chocolate

Put the flour, cocoa, spices, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in — you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses — about 10 seconds each — until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change — heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

 Press the dough into the buttered pan. Press evenly over the bottom and up the sides, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy-handed — press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but no so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust.  Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. For a partially baked crust, patch the crust as necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack
(keep it in its pan).

Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

Pumpkin Filling:

3 large eggs

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 – 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Leave oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in bottom third of the oven. 

Make the Pumpkin Filling:  In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills.  Bake the pie for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet).  (A knife inserted about 1 inch from side of pan will come out almost clean.)

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool.  Serve at room temperature with maple whipped cream.  Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. 

Makes one 9 inch  pie.

Pumpkin Challaaaaaaaaaah!

by Sporkorfoon

In college, my roommates and I would always yell out “Challaaaaaaaaaaaah!” (Like, Holla! but with the “ch” sound).  I graduated college in 2003 and to this day, I still do that.

Since I would like to impress my future in-laws (who are Jewish), I made some pumpkin Challah like a good little shiksa would. Sure, they live 250 miles away right now, but my boyfriend was with his parents whilst this was cooking up in the oven. I used my trusty little iPhone and sent him a photo of the finished results, titling the photo “Pumpkin Challaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”  His parents were very impressed, yet did not get my use of the word. You can’t win them all. But they were impressed and thought it was sweet that I don’t know what challah is supposed to taste like (seriously). 

Braiding this was a bit difficult. For some reason, I forgot how to braid. I kept having to put the loaf down and practice on my own hair. I almost held the strands up to my head to work them that way, but I used my better judgement for the sake of the loaf — and not having my hair filled with flour.

This recipe was courtesy of Martha Stewart. The loaf smelled wonderfully of pumpkin (does that sentence make sense? It does in my mind.) but did not taste that strongly of pumpkin (again???). Next time, I’ll definitely be a bit more liberal on those fall spices. 

Now, I’ve got two huge loafs of challah and need to make lots of French toast and bread pudding. Woe is me, right?

Pumpkin Challah Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Makes 2 loaves.

• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, (1 1/2 packages)
• 1 cup warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
• 3/4 cup egg yolks, (11 to 12 large eggs), plus 1 large egg yolk for glaze
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for bowl
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups homemade Pumpkin Puree, or one 15-ounce can
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• DIRECTIONS

  1. Proof the yeast: Place 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl, and sprinkle yeast over it. Stir to combine, and let sit until mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup warm water. In a medium bowl, combine salt, canola oil, honey, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Replace paddle attachment with dough-hook attachment, and add the pumpkin mixture to the mixer bowl; combine. Add the yeast mixture, stirring until combined.
  3. Slowly add flour, 1 cup at a time, until all the flour is incorporated into dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough, and then form it into two 8-inch loaves. Place the loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  5. While the dough is rising, heat the oven to 350º. Mix remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the loaves with the egg glaze, and bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, and serve.

  

    

Yes, as I said yesterday, it tastes as good as it sounds. In the second and final installment of this week’s winning dishes from Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars, I present to you this Caramelized Banana Crisp with a Hot Butter Rum Sauce.  

I had carte blanche to make whatever I wanted this week, as the concept of the winning restaurant was an American Workshop.  I had the idea to try this caramelized banana crisp, so I went with it.  I initially wanted to do a banana flambe crisp, by flambeeing (is that a verb?) the bananas and then putting them in the oven in the crisp.  But then I read somewhere that Eric Ripert said to not put flambe in a toaster or else it will explode.  And when Eric Ripert speaks, I listen.  

So I caramelized the bananas in a bit of butter and brown sugar until they got nice and… caramelly.  Then, I popped them in the oven with a delicious topping and hoped for the best. 

This. was. amazing.

The rum soaked, caramelized bananas take on a wonderfully creamy texture underneath the crisp sugary topping with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. 

In the words of Darrel Hammond, AKA Sean Connery in Celebrity Jeopardy from the Saturday Night Live glory days of the late 90s:  ”You’re sitting on a gold mine, Trebek!”

Now, we are not talking about the Penis Mightier here (that’s “The Pen IS Mightier”), but this may be the next best invention. 

Flambeed Banana Crisp with a Hot Butter Rum Sauce 

This is best served with a big scoop of ice cream.

Hot Butter Rum Sauce Recipe

Serves 2

For the Bananas

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 medium bananas

Melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and lower heat to a simmer.  Let simmer for 2 min. Slice bananas in a diagonal into 1/3″ inch slices. Arrange in a single layer in sauce pan, turning after 2 minutes, until golden brown on each side.
 
For the Crisp

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour 

1/4 cup oats

1/4 teaspoon salt 
6 tablespoons butter 

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter or spray two individual ramekins.

Combine bananas, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a ramekin.

Mix sugar, flour, oats and salt. Cut in butter until it forms crumbs. Scatter mixture over batter and bake 40 minutes or until browned.

by SporkorFoon

This is one of my favorite recipes ever. And healthy (zing!). You see, the creaminess of the butternut squash tricks your mind into thinking you are eating something laden with cream and cheese, but you’re really not. Genius. The sweet addition of basil and the sharp bite of the parmesan cheese really amps this dish up and creates such complex flavors. Best of all, no softening this squash up in the oven for an hour. By dicing the squash and cooking it in the vegetable broth, the squash is softened in about 15 minutes.

Oh, and don’t substitute any other broth for the vegetable broth. The flavor is nowhere near the same. Trust.

Recipe Courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1 cup vegetable stock
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound prawns, peeled and deveined
3/4 to 1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butternut squash, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Saute until the squash is golden and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is very soft, another 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the squash mixture to a blender or food processor and puree.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, warm the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the prawns with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add the prawns to the pan and cook until just pink, about 3 minutes.

In a large pot over low heat combine the cooked pasta, pureed squash mixture, and 3/4 cup milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining 1/4 cup milk if the sauce needs to be moistened. Add the cooked prawns, basil, and cheese. Stir until warm and serve.

Spice Crusted Salmon with Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potatoes and Sauteed Asparagus

by Spork or Foon

You want a quick, filling and healthy dinner? Try this recipe out. It is so simple and fast, yet the variety of spices will really get your tastebuds working. I like to make this with sauteed asparagus and cinnamon-sugar sweet potatos, but you can make this with whatever side you prefer.

Serves 2

8 ounces salmon fillet
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus
Sea salt and kosher salt to taste (or just kosher salt)
Water
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sweet potato

2 sweet potatoes
Vegetable Oil
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coarse sugar

Directions

Sweet Potato

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine brown sugar, coarse sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Slice sweet potato into 1/4″ rounds. Place in a shallow baking dish and drizzle with vegetable oil. Sprinkle sugars evenly over potato slices, place in oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

Salmon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine first six ingredients in a bowl. Rub mixture over salmon fillets. Bake salmon for 20-25 minutes (or until salmon flakes).

Asparagus

Heat olive oil in a saute` pan over medium heat. Add asparagus and a pinch of kosher salt. Saute` for three minutes. Lower heat to medium low and add enough water to just cover the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook for additional 5 minutes or until tender. Drain water, drizzle with olive oil and add coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

by Spork or Foon

Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with these most dedicated women by cooking each Wednesday.  Therefore, I am working my way through the book in honor of Shari and the fellow women, but slightly out of the order in which they are doing it, and in the order in which the book was printed. 

I have to note that my boyfriend (who also is an avid cook, and whom I can thank for getting me into cooking, and who will be my sous chef while we work our way through the book) got in an argument as to the “correct way” to work through the book. I wanted to follow the outline that Shari has on her page, where she starts with knife skills, then to garnishes, doughs, and so on and so forth and follows in the natural order of which, I believe, culinary schools follow.  He wants to do it in the way the book is printed – in three parts, ranging from basic to advanced techniques.  

He won. 

I’m a bit bitter, because the girl is always supposed to win.  If you knew my boyfriend, though, you’d see that it is impossible to win in an argument with him.  It doesn’t help that he is borderline brilliant, and usually right on any topic that is brought up.  And I’m glad that he doesn’t keep up with reading this blog (ahem, as much as he should) unless I remind him, so he won’t see that I wrote that. And I won’t bother him this week about reading my posts.

Chapter One it is. I guess that the people at Le Cordon Bleu feel that roasting a chicken is, by far, the easiest cooking method there is.  I mean, you throw a chicken in a roasting pan and call it a day, right? 

Start off by rinsing the chicken and then patting it dry. Then, season the cavity with salt and pepper and add the garlic and herbs. Then, truss the chicken. I followed the diagram very carefully.  What seems like a very easy process is actually, quite annoying.  I felt like a child trying to tie her shoe for the first time.  Bunny ear, through the loop…

The poor chicken never knew what was coming.

After removing the chicken from the pan, I finally got to cook a jus, basically a fancy French word (and seriously, what French word isn’t fancy?) for juice, by cooking the particles on the top of the pan with the fat and juices in the pan. No “Gravy Master” here (sorry, Dad)! Just fat in juice! 

It’s kind of like the episode of Friends where Joey drinks the fat. 

(And yes, I talk about Friends a lot. It’s a great show, and a lot of life’s lessons can be applied to an episode of Friends.)  

I grabbed my butcher’s knife, which I have yet to use since purchasing my set of knives several months ago. My heart always skips a beat whenever I accidentally pull the butcher knife from the block, as those knives are scary. Like, “if I accidentally drop this, I’m going to sever my foot at the ankle” scary. Like “don’t even enter the kitchen while this is in my hand” scary.  But I took an odd fascination with it this time around, as it was going to be put to use. So I butchered the chicken.  Literally.  This lesson obviously did not teach me how to carve a chicken.  I swung away like John McEnroe on the tennis court (not really), with the poor, massacred chicken, my tennis ball.

But the skin was not crispy. At all. In fact, it was very limp (can you tell from the picture? Don’t lie, you totally can). It was tasty, but limp. 

I actually have roasted a chicken Alice Waters style (which I will write about later in the week as a comparison), and the skin was perfectly crisp and delicious.   But I actually can’t tell the difference as to why the Alice Waters chicken skin was so crisp, but this was so limp? Alice’s chicken was just lightly brushed with oil.  Was it the butter molestation? The smathering down of vegetable oil?  

Was it the chicken’s revenge on me for not at least buying it a drink first?