Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake

I made this recipe from Cook's Illustrated for Christmas dessert. It's a good thing I got a Wii Fit for Christmas, because I feel personally responsible for making sure none of the cake goes to waste.

It's not a difficult recipe, but there are a lot of steps (most of them involve mixing heavy cream with various types of chocolate), so I'm just linking to the recipe.

This cake is both light and rich, and goes really well with coffee.

Chicken Pot Pie

There is perhaps no kitchen-related disappointment as great as that of an almost-empty Crisco container. The initial disappointment is the lack of Crisco for my pie crust, but the sadness comes later when I realize exactly what happened to all that Crisco. I ate it.

Anyway, I was able to scrape up enough of the shortening to combine with butter and make crusts for two chicken pot pies and one apple pie. An all-butter crust doesn't have the crispiness, an all-Crisco crust doesn't have the flavor. So I compromise by using half of each.

I like to make two pot pies at a time because I can freeze one and have it for dinner in a couple weeks. Pre-baked, it takes a couple hours to heat up in the oven and tastes just fine.

This is not so much of a recipe as it is loose guidelines. You can add other veggies. I like the simple combo of potato, carrot, onion and celery.

This recipe will fill two pies.

cook 4-5 chicken breasts in 4 cups of chicken broth (I made my own from a leftover rotisserie chicken). Set chicken aside to cool. Strain broth into another bowl.


for the filling:
3 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
4-5 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3-4 large carrots, diced
chicken broth
3 tbsp heavy cream
salt and pepper

Use your favorite crust recipe, or this one I adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
ice water

Stir together flour and salt. Cut butter into tablespoon-size chunks and add it to the flour. Cut it in a few times with a pastry cutter, then add the shortening and use your pastry cutter until shortening and butter are the size of small peas (or lentils?). Add water a couple tablespoons at a time, gently mixing with your hands between each addition until dough comes together. Of course, don't overwork it.

Using the pot the broth was cooked in, heat the butter over medium heat until foamy. Add onions and celery, and saute until soft. Add garlic and saute for a little longer, then add flour and stir it around until no white is showing. Add wine and stir some more. Add broth, potatoes and carrots. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The mixture should be the consistency of slightly thin gravy. Add cream, salt and pepper. The filling should be slightly salty--the potatoes will absorb it as they cook.

I make this with a full bottom and top crust, but I've also used Stovetop stuffing as a sort of crumbly topping with good results.

Bake pies on the bottom rack at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until bottom and top crusts are golden. A good way to keep the top crust from burning is to put a pizza stone on the rack above.

Mojito sorbet, pina colada sorbet and more

When it was 100+ degrees this summer, I found the best way to cool down was with a refreshing sorbet, made even more refreshing by the addition of rum.

I used my KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment, which made it super fast and easy. Also, this is a recipe where you can't go wrong...taste it halfway through freezing, and if you don't it adjust the ingredient amounts.

Mojito sorbet

juice of 1 lime (or more, to taste)
1 small bunch mint
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
rum to taste

Boil water, remove from heat, add sugar and mint. Steep mint for 5 minutes then discard. Mix ingredients in a bowl or pitcher, add more sugar, rum or lime to taste (you can also throw in some limeade if you're too lazy to squeeze limes. Just cut back on the sugar, or get rid of it altogether.) Put in refrigerator or freezer until cold, but not freezing.

Pour mixture into ice cream freezer and freeze according to directions. It takes about 20 minutes to get to a good thick consistency.

Pina Colada Sorbet
I must say, that of all the liquor sorbets I've made, I prefer the pina colada sorbet by far. It's got a lovely smooth, creamy texture and it's incredibly easy. I tried making it with fresh pineapple that I pureed and cream of coconut, but I found the texture fibrous. Maybe I should've strained the pineapple and just used the juice.

But why go to the trouble when R.W. Knudsen's pineapple-coconut juice works just as well and tastes just as good. Pour a bottle of cold pineapple coconut juice in the ice cream maker along with rum and sit back while your sorbet mixes itself.

Chicken Quiche-adilla

Terry, my carpool buddy, is always bringing delicious food to work for us to sample. Last Monday he brought two quiches: chicken quesadilla and bacon arugula. While the bacon arugula was tasty, the chicken quiche-adilla, as I renamed it, was wonderful. The jalepenos provided just the right amount of heat, and the rotisserie chicken stayed tender and flavorful. I generally like quiche, but sometimes it just seems like you might as well have eaten scrambled eggs because it's so eggy. Not so with this one. Jason said it reminded him of a pot pie, one of his favorite foods, and I was glad of that because maybe now I won't have to make him pot pies, which are way more time-consuming than this. Or maybe I'll start making my pot pies with a tortilla crust too. Enamored with the success of creating pies inspired by other food items, Jason has requested a Tater Tot Pot Pie. But I'm not sure about that. Not everything can be baked into a pie. Or maybe it can.

Terry said the recipe was probably from Cooks Illustrated, but Jason found it at grouprecipes.com, where it goes by the (boring) name of Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie.

Chicken Quiche-adilla

1(10") flour tortilla,burrito size
1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded in bite size pieces (about 3 cups)
/2c finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup drained, jarred pickled jalapenos,chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450. Grease 9" pie plate. Press tortilla into prepared pan and spray lightly with cooking spray.Toss chicken, cilantro, jalapenos, 1 cup cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in large bowl till combined. Spoon over tortilla.
Whisk eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and 1/2tsp salt in bowl until smooth. Slowly pour over filling, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until surface is golden brown,about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Notes: I was alarmed by the large amount of flour at first, but it worked out just fine. The cilantro I had was brown and goopy, so I omitted it. But really, cooked cilantro doesn't have much flavor anyway. I would suggest chopping up some fresh and sprinkling it over the pie when you serve it.

Bacon explosion: The love story of a man and his meat

strawberry margarita pie

I've always loved including liquor in food, mostly because when I was younger I could get my mom to buy the liquor for me if I promised to make her desserts like Black Russian cake or strawberry margarita pie. Now I have to buy my own darn liquor, but this pie is worth it. Plus I have most of a bottle of a tequila left, with which I can make real margaritas to accompany the pie. I can't remember exactly where I got this recipe. I think I adapted it from one of my mom's cookbooks that featured products by name, e.g. "Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk." But it's so hard to remember through the sweet tequila haze. This recipe is nothing more than a guideline--I've never really measured ingredients for it, but it always turns out fine, so adjust to taste.

Strawberry Margarita Pie

crust
1 1/2 cups pretzel crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar

combine pretzels, butter and sugar and press into pie pan. Bake at 350 until crust begins to brown, 7-8 minutes. Watch closely to prevent burning. Cool completely.

filling
about 1 pound strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup tequila (or to taste...the more tequila you use, the softer the frozen pie will be)
juice of 1-2 limes, depending on how much you like lime
1 tablespoon triple sec if you've got it (you probably won't miss it)
1 cup heavy cream (or two cups Cool Whip, if you must)

Blend everything except for the cream until smooth. I used my immersion blender, but you could use a blender or hand mixer. Pretend you're making a milkshake. At this point, you could drink it, but it's much nicer frozen.

Whip cream separately, then fold into strawberry mixture. Taste and add lime juice and tequila until it's a creamy version of your favorite strawberry margarita. Pour filling into cooled crust and freeze for several hours. Serve with a tequila garnish.

Green Curry

While it's easier to use a store-bought curry paste, making your own is definitely worth the effort, especially if you have a food processor or a mortar and pestle. I use a recipe I've adapted from Thai Home Cooking, which also has recipes for other curry pastes. I like my curry to be flavorful but not so spicy, and it's easy to adjust this recipe to your tastes.
Here's the ingredients you'll need for the paste:

2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
2 stalks of lemongrass, inner white part only, chopped
2 teaspoons lime zest
1/4 cup chopped cilantro stems
1/4 cup chopped shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons turmeric
small Thai chilies to taste (I use 2 and it's plenty spicy; the original recipe calls for 40)
2 cups Thai basil leaves

Toast the spices in a small frying pan over medium heat until you can smell them. This doesn't take long, so watch out for them burning. Grind them to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle.

Put all the other stuff in a food processor and process. I like to give it a few whirls with the tougher ingredients (lemongrass, garlic, shallots, ginger) before adding the basil. Add the spices at the end. If your mixture is too dry to process, add a few squirts of lime juice from that lime you zested.

The paste will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator, but it can be frozen as well.

You can use this paste for any dish calling for green curry paste, but I usually make green curry with chicken. Here's what you'll need in addition to the paste:

2 cups coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
about a pound of boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
various vegetables--I use a couple zucchini and onions, sometimes eggplant or potatoes
lime juice and salt to taste

carefully open the can of coconut milk and spoon off the thick coconut milk on top. You should get 1/4 cup or so, depending on the brand. Heat the coconut milk over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until it separates. If it doesn't separate, add a little oil. Add green curry paste and fry for two minutes. Add chicken and cook until meat is opaque. Add remaining coconut milk and whatever vegetables you're using. Cook for about four minutes, or until your vegetables are soft enough for you. Add lime juice and salt, and throw in the Thai basil leaves at the last minute. I like to serve this over jasmine rice. It'll serve at least four people.