Inside the Tyson Kitchen

Hodge Podge

2010-04-04T18:28:00.001-07:00

What do you get when you cross the working mother of a 3-year old without the ability to manufacture time?

Me!

Since I've found myself so crazy busy lately, I don't have the time to actually capture a recipe from start to finish. You know, when you have several hours in the day all to yourself? Quiet, and uninterrupted? I long for those days.

But often I look for inspiration in the most strange of places.

Like here.

What on earth could bring inspiration from this cabinet? Maybe it's as simple as a vodka tonic.

But then last night there was grilled salad. It's a culinary triumph.

A head of romaine lettuce, cut lengthwise. Drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, then placed cut side down on a charcoal grill for a few minutes. Then chop and combine with a few drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. Your tummy will sing.

But today was Easter. And I think someone once told me that any calories consumed on a holiday don't count.

Even if no one told me that, I believe it to be true.

This made for the beginning of a beautiful relationship between starch, cheese and fat. It's from none other than Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

It happens to be a recipe my father made often. In fact, I blame him and his parents for my wicked love of potatoes. No one person should love potatoes the way I do.

After an hour basking in the oven, this emerged.

And when you see this staring back at you, nothing can be wrong.

Butterfingers and the Boss

2010-03-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

A woman after my own heart, my boss happens to love Butterfingers. The way you love your children, or your parents. It's a deep, unending love. And few candies can inspire such love.

Except a Butterfinger.

So in honor of the boss's birthday, I've combined her favorite things... chocolate and peanut butter. Once I found this recipe for a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting I felt confident I had a winner.

Time will tell. If it's a hit, I'll be disappointed my annual performance review was several weeks ago. If it's a dud, I'll be grateful I have another year before the next one. And hopefully enough time will pass for her memory to fade.

However, I'm feeling confident. I licked the beaters. I know it's good.

The cake started with 3 layers of peanut butter cake. Since you can't go wrong with 2 layers of cake, why not go for 3?

After the cake layers have cooled completely, you can either follow the recipe instructions for a 3-layer cake, or take a walk on the wild side and cut each layer in half for a whopping 6-layer cake.

Glop on a generous amount of hip-expanding, peanut butter chocolate filling.

Next, attempt to wrangle the spoon and bowl of cream cheese frosting from your husband to slather upon the filled cake.

While I love a beautifully smooth frosting, I love the old-fashioned "look" of this cake. Nothing fancy. Just goodness.

Then pile on the chopped Butterfinger bars. And I do mean, pile on. Don't restrain yourself, unless you're saving a bar for yourself as a midnight snack.

It looks heavenly and beautiful, and it smells even better. I'm honestly hoping to find the cake in this same state in the morning. Cream cheese icing-eating husbands have been known to try and sneak a nibble.

And speaking of beautiful, these cubes met a big pot of risotto last night for Ina Garten's Butternut Squash Risotto. Somewhat of an acquired taste, the two youngest at the Tyson Kitchen dinner table last night - a 5-year old and our 3-year old - gobbled it up. Success.

Since every recipe and cooking experience is a lesson in itself, I offer you this lesson.

When you get excited about beautifully presenting your sweet creation in your new cake dome - that set you back a whole $10.00 - consider using a ruler.

To make sure your cake fits under said dome.

Here endeth the lesson.

"Old Bottling Factory"

2010-03-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

Ever intrigued by the simplicity of recipes from one of my favorite chefs, Ina Garten, I couldn't wait to try Nick And Toni's Penne alla Vecchia Bettola. Hopeful to learn the recipe was steeped in some sort of rich, Roman history, I was a little disappointed to find out the literal translation of "Vecchia Bettola" is "old bottling factory". However, when digging a little deeper, it also means a cheap, dumpy restaurant.

Regardless, I was ready to try what looked to be a delicious sauce. It has vodka in the recipe. Anything with vodka mustbe good.

And then I looked in the liquor cabinet. No vodka.

In the moments following my despair of no vodka in the house, I decided to press forward and try the recipe with a dry white wine, Pinot Grigio.

A few simple ingredients to make the sauce.

If you're disciplined and follow instruction, you'll buy canned, whole tomatoes rather than crushed.

(Now would be the time to admit I left out the fresh oregano.)

I started by chopping half and onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I cried the entire time. It had nothing to do with the onion. I was still weeping over no vodka in the house.

Next, cook the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent. It only took me about 6 minutes.

Add the crushed red pepper and dried oregano.

Pour in the white wine. (If you're a responsible cook, you'll have vodka in the house.)

Simmer the onion, garlic and wine mixture until the wine reduces by half.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes.

Then throw a lid on the pot and place in a 375-degree oven for 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, you'll have yummy, thick and rich sauce. Noticed the difference in color?

After the sauce cools, blend the sauce in a blender in several batches. (I recommend blending about 1 1/2 cups at a time.

Fast-forward to the end of a 5-hour work day (of which I could easily become accustomed). Place the desired amount of the blended sauce into a pan. Add some fresh oregano.

Add heavy cream to thin and enrich the sauce.

Ooooh... velvety, rich tomato cream sauce.

Make sure you have really good Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for this dish. It makes all the difference in the world.

Meanwhile, cook the penne pasta al dente. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and cook for about a minute.

Then, please the tummies of your family.

Drop In & Decorate® - Huntsville

2010-02-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

Today our family hosted a Drop In & Decorate® event in our home. The purpose of Drop In & Decorate® is to bake, decorate and donate cookies to a local charity. Our family chose the Downtown Rescue Mission in Huntsville, AL.

On Saturday, we started the weekend off with a kid-friendly breakfast of "homemade" cinnamon rolls. "Homemade" equals one can of crescent roll dough; one tablespoon of softened butter; cinnamon and sugar. Simple enough and really yummy, especially when paired with a sweet and buttery frosting. These definitely ain't your run-of-the-mill Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.

Then it was time to start cutting and baking the cookies.

One batch of dough down, and one to go.

And once all of the cookies were baked (even a few Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies) we were ready for the decorating.

Let the decorating begin!

There were colorful cookies.

And spring-like cookies.

Kid cookies.

And cookies made with love.

Beautiful cookies.

Patriotic cookies.

Even spiritual cookies.

A lot of cookies!

Happy cookies.

More cookies.

Even abstract cookies.

All kinds of cookies.

And, last but not least, one particular cookie by my beloved daughter - because she loves hearts.

Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi

2010-02-25T18:44:00.001-08:00

I love shrimp. Ranked right up there with butter and chocolate, I really love shrimp. And besides, any food that comes with it's own ready-to-eat handle ranks high in my book. Even Forrest Gump's pal, Bubba, found a plethora of ways to eat shrimp. And last night, in the Tyson Kitchen, we found another.

Shrimp scampi happened to be one of my mother-in-law's culinary triumphs. My beloved Mr. Tyson isn't terribly fond of shrimp (he also calls them "little tubes of cholesterol) but he loved his mother's shrimp scampi. Personally, I could eat shrimp 365 days a year.

This working mother has very little time during the week to triumph in the kitchen. But last night we discovered a simple, no frills shrimp scampi recipe from Ina Garten. Having modified for our family (specifically, time constraints) by using frozen shrimp (peeled, deveined and cooked), it was a triumph indeed.

Preparing for Drop In & Decorate!

2010-02-15T12:24:00.001-08:00

We're hosting a Drop In & Decorate event in our home in a few weeks. And in preparation of the event, I decided to start baking the cookies as early as possible. Since I'm planning to [hopefully] have about 100 cookies, I knew I'd need to "get on the stick". And quick. I'm a procrastinator that should really seek help in the form a 12-step program. But I doubt I'll ever get around to it.

Today was an ideal day for making dough and baking cookies. For the 5th time since January 1st, Huntsville encountered winter weather and today it was snow. We're not setup to deal with icy conditions. And at the Tyson house, our driveway resembled the glaze of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Sadly, the thought made me hungry for one, but traveling down our driveway had only one likely destination - slipping and sliding through our neighbors front door.

Our Drop In & Decorate cookies will be donated to the Downtown Rescue Mission in Huntsville - an organization that provides services to displaced and homeless persons. We're already considering the next event for our cookies to go to Hope Place.

I devised my own recipe, with the direction of several others. Finding a fool-proof, non-spreading sugar cookie recipe is difficult, if not darn impossible. But I persisted and came up with this.

Sugar Cookies
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup vanilla sugar (see note)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until light, fluffy and pale. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and almond extracts.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add 2 cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until dough forms a ball.

Divide dough into 3 (or 4, depending on your thickness preference) freezer (gallon sized) bags. Roll dough to bottom corners, cutting a small hole in the corners to allow air to escape. Roll in the bag to create an even square. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes. (8 minutes if you separated into 4 bags. Or 12 minutes if you separated into 3 bags.)

Note: Combine sugar and vanilla beans in a tight-sealing container. When using vanilla sugar from the container, replace the amount you used. That way, you'll always have vanilla sugar.

Using freezer bags allow for even thickness and cooking. It's a trick I will use forever!

These cookies really hold their shape and the spreading is very minor.

We're using several cookie cutters - circle, tulip, heart, star, fluted circles, fluted hearts, cross, butterfly, and geometric circles. Lots of fun shapes for spring and Easter. All in hopes of spreading love and the message of Christ.

I'm thinking of ways to incorporate Bible verses in the cookies, whether something printed and tied on the cookie with ribbon. Or even a label on the bag containing the cookie. Still pondering...

Cake Pops!

2010-02-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

Seems there's been a lingering theme in the Tyson Kitchen... cake pops. Whether just plain 'ol cake pops or cake pops with a theme, they're still tempting little orbs of smooth and sweet cake and icing.

These cake pops were designed for a fundraiser for the American Heart Association Heart Walk in Huntsville this coming weekend. And piggybacking on Valentine's Day, they're filled with love and yumminess.

The original cake pops recipe I found on Bakerella.com uses a box cake mix and canned icing... not very tasty, in my opinion. But the beauty in making cake pops is the possibilities are endless. So I found a top-rated red velvet cake and simple cream cheese icing to create a sublime cake pop.

I used vanilla coating for half of the pops.

And even carried the heart theme through from hearts to love.

There's even chocolate covered cake pops.

Since these are for a fundraiser I'm pondering the going rate for these little treasures.

Marshmallow Fondant-Covered Double Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-02-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

My beloved 3-year old daughter will go waltzing into school tomorrow with these for her preschool class Valentine's Day party.

Simply sublime double chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow fondant. I'm curious to hear how a gaggle of 3-year olds take to fondant (as opposed to the chain supermarket, preservative-filled buttercream). Hopefully they'll find a place in their HEART for fondant.

If nothing else, they can peel off the fondant and play fondant frisbee.

And perhaps I'll bring a smile to the faces of friends and co-workers come Monday with heart-shaped red velvet cake pops.

Celebrating Another Birthday

2010-01-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

Unlike we adults who often dread the anniversary of our birth, all of that dread and fear is quickly cast aside when watching your beautiful daughter celebrate her 3rd birthday. She's excited and she knows it's something to celebrate.

We started last weekend with her birthday party where the children feasted on grocery store cake with shortening-laced buttercream frosting. In contrast, the parents celebrated with grownup cupcakes doused with swiss meringue buttercream.

And today we made double chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream to celebrate with her classmates tomorrow at preschool. A triumph!

Grown Up Cupcakes: Pound Cakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2010-01-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Chapter 8: Celebrations
Fresh Flower-Topped Pound Cakes, page 270
Swiss Meringue Buttercream, page 304

Deep within the pages of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes are what, I believe, are some of the best cupcake recipes in existence. Throughout my many years of consuming cupcakes (and adding girth to what should be my small frame) I've come to one conclusion. I, personally, believe a pound cake makes the best cupcake. They're firm, dense and moist, and can withstand a plethora of frostings and toppings.

In preparation for my daughter's 3rd birthday party, I completed a dry run on the "Wish Upon a Starfish" mini cakes last weekend. After making the star cakes on Saturday, I tried 3 separate icing techniques - fondant, candy melts and petit fours icing. I didn't particularly like any one technique, so I axed the idea of mini cakes. Instead, I turned to the local bakery of our grocery store with my tail gently tucked between my legs. Although the lovely lady who helped me didn't seem keen to my personal failure, I was disappointed. But, alas, 3-year olds couldn't care less where the cake came from as long as there's cake.

I also planned to make the Brown Sugar Pound Cakes for the parents but, as usual, changed my mind.

Rather, I chose a simple pound cake recipe and a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Mind you, I've never made Swiss Meringue Buttercream before and as with most attempts, I put an almost immeasurable amount of pressure on myself to make a perfect recipe. But, really, what makes a perfect recipe?

The pound cakes turned out perfect, with one small concern. The recipe noted a yield of 36 cupcakes but I wound up with 26; quite a difference.

And I learned a really important lesson in making the Swiss Meringue Buttercream. No matter how much you believe you can make substitutions, you really can't. Especially when it comes to the egg whites. I've done this once before and feel certain I won't make the same mistake again. There's a culinary certainty that is no within my memory, and that it is when a recipe calls for egg whites, forget being "easy on yourself" and use REAL egg whites. Your time and patience will thank you later.

And after 2 attempts the Swiss Meringue Buttercream was sublime. Not too sweet but very rich and buttery.

Laced with luscious vanilla bean.

Follow Up to Slow Cooker Week: The Judgment

2010-01-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've been too busy eating this week to follow up with one important tidbit to Slow Cooker Week. I have, thankfully, spent some time on the eliptical machine actually exerting energy and producing a glistening southern gal glow in an effort to burn off some of the calories. But thankfully only one of the Slow Cooker Week recipes required exertion to burn off the calories. And that was the Macaroni & Cheese.

The Macaroni & Cheese was evil, sinful, rich and luscious all at the same time. Which brings me to this. Remember my premonition that the small elbow-shaped pasta might turn to mush? Thankfully the corkscrew shape I chose didn't get mushy. But, when attempting to re-heat, the Mac & Cheese was likened to wallpaper paste. It wasn't good stuff. Yuck.

This weekend is also a dry run for the mini starfish cakes. After baking 18 cakes, I think we might be safe for the birthday party next weekend. Tomorrow will be the coating dry run. I'm hopeful we all survive.

Slow Cooker Week: The Judgment

2010-01-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

Thankfully the frigid temperatures are slowly becoming less frigid and my Crock Pot has done virtually ALL of the cooking this week. I have exerted little to no effort to get dinner on the table all week long. What I'm doing now is trying to figure out exactly how I can repeat this next week without the rest of the household catching on to my lazy cooking habits.

So after testing / trying 4 recipes from the Year of Slow Cooking blog, here's the judgment:

Baked Potato Soup: Lord have mercy.

Get in your car.

Drive your car to the market.

Buy all of the ingredients (if you don't already have them).

Make this immediately.

This was, hands down, some of the best Baked Potato Soup I've ever tasted. In fact, it rivals the Baked Potato Soup at Houston's. While living in Atlanta, I made it a mission to get to Houston's every Wednesday for the Baked Potato Soup and a Grilled Chicken Salad.

I did make a few simple modifications. First, I halved the recipe to not wind up with 18 gallons of Baked Potato Soup (but I might be regretting it now). I replaced the chicken stock with water and chicken bouillon; replaced about 1/2 cup of the water with fat-free half & half. Before gently mashing the potatoes (keeping some texture) I removed about 12 ounces of the cooking liquid. Then added low-fat cream cheese, a heavy splash of fat-free half & half and a little of the cooking liquid.

Taco Soup: Almost too easy, but it was good - not great, but good. (Considering the resident princess ate almost an entire bowl, I think it's safe to say it was good.)

Macaroni & Cheese: Everyone loves macaroni and cheese, right? If you don't, this might change your mind. Of course the resident princess dove right in with both hands. I have to admit, when I threw everything in the Crock Pot I was a little skeptical. Anticipating a slight disaster due to the cooking time, I used a larger shaped pasta (corkscrews) so the pasta wouldn't turn to mush. I think the strategy paid off. I think. Maybe. Regardless, it was mmm-mmm-good.

And last, but not least...

Brown Sugar Chicken: All I have to say, is don't waste your time, electricity, or the chicken. Edible but not all that.

All in all an interesting week of meals. Julia Child would be terribly ashamed of me. I used less than 3 Tablespoons of butter this week. I'm so ashamed.

Next project: Planning the "Wish Upon a Starfish" mini cakes (complete with Ariel or "fish" theme) I'm making next weekend. The resident princess has a birthday party and I'm disappointed to not have found an over-the-top, extraordinary cake. And no cupcakes this year. All kids get a decorated mini cake and the parents get Brown Sugar Pound Cakes.

The Antithesis of MtAoFC

2010-01-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it's the frigid temperatures and the fact that we've had snow on the ground for more than 72 hours, but I'm feeling lazy and just shy of wanting to hibernate for the next 3 months. Since that's not a possibility and I still need to feed my family, I thought I'd let someone else do the cooking. My Crock Pot.

Poor Julia could, in fact, be shouting in the heavens to hear that anyone would ever use such a cooking appliance. But, for me - the working wife and mother - it's something that lightens the time-consuming pressure of getting a healthy meal on the table before midnight. I'll be sure to pay the proper homage to Julia by using mass quantities of butter.

So this week we're trying 4 slow cooker recipes found from the Year of Slow Cooking blog (now in the printed form of a cookbook):

Baked Potato Soup (reducing the calories by using low-fat cream cheese and 2% milk, along with a heavy, heavy splash of fat-free half & half)
Taco Soup
Macaroni & Cheese
Brown Sugar Chicken (creative way to get chicken / protein into a toddler)

Tonight we kicked off the "Week of the Crock Pot" with the Macaroni & Cheese. It was ooey, gooey and creamy. Approved by all, this will defintely find it's way back into our Crock Pot soon.

And then there was the vegetable - Braised Cucumbers. (Yes, the same braised cucumbers mentioned in "Julie & Julia".) I just couldn't help myself in wanting to try braising a cucumber. In short, the texture of the cucmber becomes slightly more firm, along with the richness of the butter, and takes on almost an artichoke heart texture. I used an English cucumber (also known as a Hot House cucumber) since the skin is thinner and there are less seeds. The entire family loved the cucumbers.

And speaking of braising, there are two whole artichokes in my fridge who will be gently and carefully braised this week and soon after, meet a velvety Hollandaise sauce. What a pair!

Simple Cinnamon Rolls

2010-01-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Tradition is important in the Tyson house and Saturday mornings are especially important. The resident princess enjoys cinnamon rolls [of the Pillsbury variety] every Saturday morning. It's part of her routine - her ritual - and she knows when it's Saturday. And she expects her cinnamon rolls.

So what happens when you've had sub-zero (seemingly) temperatures for several days and a very limited, virtually non-existent ability to get down your driveway to the grocery store for cinnamon rolls? I'll tell you what happens... panic, anxiety and fear that Saturday will be dreadful and painful once the resident princess learns that there are no cinnamon rolls in the house.

But then it hits you. Ah ha! There are crescent rolls in the fridge. So after a few minutes of consideration, I, along with the resident princess, made our way to the kitchen to make cinnamon rolls with crescent roll dough.

It was simple. We mixed together some cinnamon and sugar. I separated the crescent roll dough into a total of 2 pieces (4 triangles each). We lightly rolled the dough to seal all of the seams making one piece of dough. Next we sprinkled a generous amount of the cinnamon sugar over the dough, rolled it up, and cut into 6 pieces. We repeated the same process with the 2nd piece of dough. We ended up with 12 cinnamon rolls that were cute and petite. We mixed up a simple icing of confectioners sugar, milk and a splash of vanilla extract.

Princess approved and devoured.

Chocolate Croissants

2010-01-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

If you think I've gone to all the trouble of spending 12 hours of mixing and kneading and resting and rising and shaping to make Julia's croissants (and add some sinful chocolate), well, you would be wrong. While I'm still planning to someday soon tackle the challenge, today just wasn't that day. Today was busy with other exciting events.

The last few days have been filled with cold weather and snow; something we don't normally get here in the south. When the temperatures dip below 30ish degrees, our heaters can't adequately heat our homes (because they're heat pumps). Perhaps that's why there's such good whiskey made here in the south, like Jack Daniels and Woodford Reserve (Tyson house favorites), Maker's Mark and Jim Beam. (Come to think of it, maybe that's why those mountain folk make moonshine - to stay warm.) Did you also know there's such a thing as the American Whiskey Trail, a Kentucky Bourbon Festival (held every September) and the United States Congress officially recognizes bourbon as a "distinctive product of the United States"? Here endeth the lesson for the day.

These chocolate croissants were simple to make. One package of crescent roll dough and 80 (yes, exactly 80) semi-sweet chocolate chips.

A warm and sweet treat on an otherwise very cold evening.

Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes with Brown-Butter Icing

2010-01-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Chapter 2: Dipped and Glazed
Brown Sugar Pound Cakes, page 60
Brown-Butter Icing, page 314

One of the great Christmas gifts I received was Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, from my dear mother.

The same mother who taught me a fond and genuine appreciation of cooking. She was always patient, supportive and humble in teaching me to cook. If it weren't for her, I would have never acquired the foundation of knowing how to cook. From the simple to complex, she taught me.

I read Cupcakes cover to cover over the course of a few hours on Christmas morning. One particular cupcake immediately jumped off the pages into my brain - Brown Sugar Pound Cakes with Brown-Butter Icing.

Made exclusively with brown sugar and buttermilk (a triumph when it comes to cupcakes), these are slightly dense, like a pound cake. And although Martha's recipe indicated a yield of 28 cupcakes, I came out with 24. (It's possible I filled the cupcake liners with a scant more than the 3/4 full called for in the recipe.)

And while the cupcakes were baking, I learned another valuable life lesson. The kind of life lesson you learn the first time your heart is broken; you never forget. I have 2 cupcake / muffin pans - one non-stick; one not non-stick. This creates uneven cooking temperatures and cooking times. So, I'll need to remedy this before the next batch. But they turned out beautifully (unless you look hard and see what was the bubbled up goo of a few cupcakes in the not non-stick pan).

And then there was the icing, which is what, to me, cupcakes are all about. Well, sort of. It begins with butter, which instantly means it's going to be fabulous. You can never go wrong with butter. Butter makes everything better. Butter is the life blood of cooking and the life blood of my soul. I love butter. And did you know, I really - I mean, REALLY - love butter. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me to rub it on my thighs and they'll magically shrink into supermodel size. Yes, I'm still waiting.

The Brown-Butter icing is heavenly and just enough to elevate the sweetness without making the cupcake too sweet. The cupcake itself has a caramel essence brought by the brown sugar and is slightly heavy like a pound cake should be. And the nuttiness of the Brown-Butter icing is yet another element of flavor. Delicious!

The Morning After

2010-01-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Chapter Three: Eggs
Poached Eggs

How to poach eggs, page 117

Thankfully, we rang in the New Year in relative peace and quiet. That is, if you don't count the belly-aching laughter that filled our family room during an impromptu karaoke duet challenge with friends.

I can now say the very first thing I made on New Year's Day is poached eggs (if you don't count doing a quick soak on the black eyed peas). Over the last few days I've found myself constantly trying to find a way to make something within the pages of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and poached eggs seemed only fitting for breakfast. Although I was the only one who partook, that made the job less work and troublesome. You see, I was terrified of what would happen once the egg met the pan of simmering water.

But in following directions, I prepared everything as instructed - a pan of simmering water with a Tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water; a wooden spoon; a strainer / skimmer (I used a fish spatula); a bowl of cold water; and a paper towel.

Turns out, poaching an egg is very simple. But with all considered, failure could easily be met. And with this exercise, I discovered a few things. One, "simmering" is a relative term; it's all in how you interpret "simmering". Is it a very low, slow boil, or is it simply a heavy steam? Two, I learned that after poaching one egg, the second egg cooked far quicker than the first. I also found myself leaning over the saucepan like a hovering mother.

What resulted was delicious, creamy poached eggs.

The first egg was a good result.

But the second was better.

Poaching eggs made me think of making crepes. The first one is usually the dud.

New Year's Eve 2009

2009-12-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

This time last year we had just pulled off quite the coop by surprising my mother-in-law. It was the first time we all had the chance to see her since her cancer diagnosis only 2 months earlier. She was shocked, surprised and filled with joy to see us walk in the door to celebrate what was typically a private holiday for she and my father in law. But as luck would have it, both of her children and their families stormed the door to ring in the New Year - together, as a family.

During that visit I made it a personal mission to pack a few pounds onto her thighs. At every meal I found a way to use more butter, more cream, more fat. I wasn't sure I would be successful, but the Wednesday following New Year's I received a phone call from my mother-in-law announcing the addition of 7 pounds to the scale. I was elated, thrilled and filled with joy. More so because of the time spent together and memories made. Never could I imagine that those memories would be some of the last I had with her. But, damn, they were good.

Another New Year's Eve is upon us and it's bittersweet. Thankful and grateful for the time we shared with my mother-in-law, I wish it was as simple as turning back the clock. But since that's not possible, I can close my eyes and recall the smile on her face when we crossed the threshold of their Tennessee mountain home. I can recall the joy of her sharing a toast and herring at midnight. I can recall that our visit was one of the best times we ever had.

So tonight, as I shuffle through the kitchen cooking and cleaning, and cooking some more, she's on my mind - knowing that everything I've made for tonight she would love. Frankly, I could have sauteed dirt with pond water and she would have loved it. But, thankfully for our guests tonight, it's a little more substantial than that.

Tonight I'm making many new things. In fact, none made before. We're having Bruschetta on pan fried French Bread; Bacon and Bleu Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms; Crab Dip; Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes sauteed in Garlic Mushroom Butter; and Hazelnut Bread Pudding Praline Sauce. And to add insult to injury, Spicy Caramel Popcorn. (Even a little snack bag left in our guest room for our overnight guests.) No formal dinner or stuffy menu, just delicious food. And although I made meringues last night, I just can't find the right way to make them work on the menu. So, au revoir meringues.

As we ring in the New Year, I'll quietly remember my mother-in-law and the smile on her face. The same one she always had.

Meringues Chantilly

2009-12-30T12:40:00.000-08:00

While not deep within the pages of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Meringues Chantilly are light, heavenly clouds of creamy, sugary egg whites beaten into a frenzy.

The concoction of my 2nd favorite cook, Ina Garten, Meringues Chantilly are but the vehicle to carry something else that's delicious. Exactly what, I don't yet know. But for now, they'll be on the menu for New Year's Eve. I'm not quite convinced I'll adorn the meringues with roasted berries, but perhaps Creme Anglaise or Pralin (caramelized almonds). Although my history with caramel isn't a raging success, I'm feeling brave and boisterous.

I prepared the baking sheets as directed, using a 3 3/4" circle. I enlisted a trick by sprinkling a few drops of water onto the sheets to keep the parchment from moving around.

Meanwhile, I began beating the egg whites in my stand mixer with the whisk attachment. However, I had one BIG problem brewing. I thought I'd be frugal and use some remaining carton Egg Whites. Recalling from memory that 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters equals approximately one egg, I poured a cup of the egg whites. Turns out, one cup of egg whites equals approximately 5 1/3 egg whites (versus the 4 called for in the recipe). Rather than working the math to adjust the remaining ingredients, I dumped and started over. After all, there's no shame in failure. There is, however, failure if you don't jump back on that wooden spoon and go for it.

Even before the long, slow baking, they look beautiful.

My recipe didn't quite yield the 8 meringues the recipe indicated. Instead, I wound up with 7, with one being purposely formed for my little, 2-year old chef in training.

Now, still to ponder the proper adornment for these beauties.

UPDATE
Following the required cooking and resting-with-the-oven-door-closed time, the meringues turned out good.

I'm still considering what to put in the meringues, but leaning towards Crème Anglaise and Hazelnut Pralin.

Mayonnaise

2009-12-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Chapter Two: Sauces
The Mayonnaise Family

Mayonnaise, page 86

There were no particular motivators steering me towards making mayonnaise. It is, no less, a relatively simple sauce. However, what we Americans consume out of a jar or plastic container contains unpronounceable stabilizers and preservatives. But real, fresh mayonnaise will make you utter words and phrases not easily found in the dictionary.

Assembling the mayonnaise is easy. Egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard (wet or dry powder), salt and oil. I managed to break one of the yolks but even with an uneasy start, I quickly rebounded and got to whisking.

I followed the recipe to the letter, including the warming of the mixing bowl in hot water prior to adding the yolks. After whisking in, one teaspoon at a time, the oil (I chose a combination of 2 parts olive oil and 1 part vegetable oil) I began adding in a slow stream, thanks to the help of Mr. Tyson. It would seem it would be a long and laborious whisk, so I opted to transfer the bowl to my stand mixer. However, after streaming in several tablespoons of oil, I realized it wasn’t the best option. So, back to whisking by hand. And now, I can still feel the trembling of my right arm after the rigorous workout sure to bring pain in the morning.

And when I poured in the last addition of oil, I saw this.

Beautiful, shiny and full of flavor. It made for the perfect sauce / accompaniment to a cucumber sandwich on Kroger wheat bread. No salt, no pepper. Just bread (bland that it was) with cucumber and Julia's mayonnaise. Bliss.

With the leftover whites I plan to make meringues for New Years Eve. I'll fill them with something, but not sure what... yet.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2009-12-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

Funny, I feel somewhat like a copycat. I feel like I've taken the idea of someone else's and copied it, verbatim. But, alas, I'm not a true copycat.

The idea I'm speaking of is Julie Powell's; the author of "The Julie / Julia Project" which laid the foundation of the Julie & Julia movie (which I'll shamefully admit I've watched at least 3 or 4 times since Christmas Day). Julie Powell cooked her way through Julia Child's famed cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". This same cookbook has experienced a long-standing love in my family for many years. And I'm older than Julie Powell, so there.

I've been studying Julia Child's masterpiece for several days, reading it like a book. Cookbooks contain a plethora of information and Julia's is no exception. She diligently worked to bring the simplicity of French cooking to American cooks, and at the same time, helped to teach the simplicity of the most divine of cuisine - French. There's nothing stuffy or complicated about French cuisine, but rather taking an ingredient and exploring the almost endless possibilities. For example, eggs.

And with that I'm trying my hand at mayonnaise today. I'm committed to following the recipe word for word, after reading word for word multiple times. Eggs happen to be one of those ingredients that lay the foundation for so many food gems, like mayonnaise, Hollandaise, and gateaus (cakes). And since I'm only using the egg yolks for the mayonnaise, I'll use the whites to make meringues. It's a clear, dry day here today so it should be ideal.

Typically I try to photograph the process of recipes. But there's tremendous pressure selfishly applied to capture the greatest essence and state of a recipe. We'll just have to see about that.

There's certainly one thing I've discovered over the course of reading "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I can't find recipes for the Crock Pot, or cupcakes, or frozen meatballs. And that's precisely what I love most about this cookbook. No fancy ingredients (with the exception of sweetbreads and foie gras), and simple technique. I can't wait.

And with that, off I go to the kitchen to make mayonnaise. And later, cupcakes.

Holiday Baking

2009-12-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

Sunday (yesterday) marked the first official day of holiday baking in the Tyson Kitchen. And even butter... I mean, better... was every recipe was new. I've got a few tried and true - like Mexican Wedding Cookies and sugar cookies [for Santa]. But this year marked a turn in the culinary course of cookies.

I tried my hands at Chocolate Espresso Shortbread and, at first bite, felt a surge of joy come over my taste buds. I wanted to slap someone. They were incredibly easy to make and even better, loved the idea of rolling the dough inside a large Ziploc bag. Ingenious!

And there's another new recipe I tried to add to my holiday treats. Ina Garten's Fleur de Sel caramels. What resulted was a pot of goo resembling hot motor oil. At later glance, said motor oil was like a matte, coarse substance coating the bottom of the saucepan. I was afraid; very afraid. But Mr. Tyson brought his technical skills into the kitchen to rid said pan of the yuckiness. In this recipe there is an important lesson learned. When marrying the cream and butter mixture to the sugar mixture, put down the wooden spoon. I soon realized the constant stirring disrupts the increase in heat and actually prevents heating. I never made it past 205 degrees; far from the 248 required in the recipe. But despite this disaster, I will attempt this one again.

I also tried a play on peppermint cookies using a packaged sugar cookie dough combined with crushed peppermint candies. They were flat and boring. But at least one bite helped to freshen my breath. Blah.

And then there was the household favorite. Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Treats (as in, Rice Krispie treats) married with a layer of peanut butter fudge topped with a layer of chocolate fudge. Who on earth ever devised this completely unnecessary, calorie-filled, hip-exploding, bum-to-be-jiggling treat should be hurt. And badly. These treats were sinful and delicious and sinful all over again.

Within the last 24 hours, I've used 2 pounds of butter. I hope someone quickly reveals that butter cures all of the world's ailments, from gout to gangrene. Life would be really good.

The Tyson Pantry

2009-11-22T05:48:00.000-08:00

Now that the holiday baking season is upon us, I found myself looking at our pantry yesterday in disbelief. Disbelief that I could find anything; disbelief in knowing my mother wouldn't approve of its state; disbelief that I was out of brown sugar.

I have a basket that holds all of the "little" things like food coloring, gel coloring, and sprinkles. But once I pryed this out of the pantry I stood in another state of disbelief.

I found things like Red Hots used for something that I can't possibly recall.

And candy melts in various colors and chocolate chips.

The sight of this chaos was almost too overwhelming.

There are sprinkles... loads of sprinkles. Halloween; red, white and blue; pastel and Easter sprinkles and sugar.

And what the? Football sprinkles?

Cake Pops

2009-11-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing I've learned it's the advantage to making a carved / shaped cake is the scraps. Mounds of odd-shaped iced cake makes for either an interesting presentation on the dessert plate or melt-in-your-mouth cake pops.

I've been inspired by other food bloggers and their creative cake creations - whether cake balls, cake pops or whimsical cake treats. But at the end of the day, it's about the taste of the cake pop. While very creative and adorable, there are two things I'm not quite fond of about the pops I've seen. One, virtually all of the cake pop recipes I've seen involve a boxed cake mix. (Personally, I don't mind cake mixes but there's a far different flavor and texture involved when using scratch cake.) But since I used a cake mix as a portion of the cake recipe for the shaped cake, there is a boxed cake mix in the cake pops.

And two, another ingredient I don't prefer is canned frosting. I could spend days upon days citing the countless things wrong with canned frosting (unless you're my husband who believes a spoon and a can of frosting are a culinary match). There's nothing worse than canned icing.

After combining the cake scraps and some additional buttercream, I combined the two together. After rolling the cake balls and refrigerating for about 30 minutes, I melted the candy coating mixed with just a dab of shortening to lightly thin the melted coating. (After making numerous batches of cake pops, the tiny amount of shortening is a must.) Then inserted a candy stick into the cake ball to create the pop. I devised a drying mechanism using a block of styrofoam to allow the pops to dry.

I happen to love cake pops!

Can you tell?

In fact, we all love cake pops.

When it's all said and done, the opinion of my toughest critics (both Daddy and Baby) is what means the most.

Alas, a passing grade!

Fondant Covered Cake

2009-11-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

I've never dared to make a cake in the shape of anything beyond a square or circle. Not only am I a big chicken but I just don't think I have the creative talent. I believe I often have great ideas, but translating the idea from my brain to three dimensions is a subject that could likely fill many pages. But instead of thinking I can't do it, I took a chance (a big chance!) this weekend to see if I could tackle a shaped, fondant covered cake.

Before starting the cake, I really needed some new sheet pans. Thankfully there's a restaurant supply store nearby and despite wanting to give them my credit card and act like a rich woman at Tiffany & Co., I restrained myself and left with only two of these commercial half sheet pans. I'd trade shoe shopping for shopping in a restaurant supply store anyday. (Shocking. Yes.)

So pretty!

After making the cake, stacking the layers (with an evil buttercream to fill the layers) I carved the cake into the shape of a crest. Next was an outer crumb coat.

I could have done a better job on smoothing the buttercream crumb coat.

But overnight in the fridge, working a 2-pound ball of blue fondant, rolling and rolling, smoothing and cutting with an Xacto knife later, I stepped back to see this.

I'm pretty close to 100% completely satisfied with the end result. The lines could be more smooth and certainly cleaner but it was a first-time project. And as a mother who considers herself a teacher, I have to teach satisfaction with the quality of work when you give it your all.

And I did take a final task tip from the Cake Boss. After watching the show for several months I've noticed there's one thing they always use to "finish" a fondant covered cake - steam. Since I don't have a commercial steamer or even a hand-held steamer I resorted to the only household appliance I have capabale of producing steam - our iron. And it worked!

And for those who wonder about the shape of cake, it is the logo of my company. I made the cake to commemorate the completion of our annual business plan.

A Special Gift

2009-11-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while getting dressed, I turned towards our bathroom and stopped cold in my tracks. I stopped to see something I see everyday. And although I see this, I don't always look. But for some reason, today, I looked. And the looking made me longingly sad.

What I stopped to look at was a Christmas gift I received several years ago from my in laws. It was a gift, when I opened, that brought tears to my eyes and a warmth to my heart. Even my dear, late mother-in-law cried as I read the words.

This was one woman who loved her baby boy. Often I look back and realize she was a tough sell as it relates to measuring up to the woman best suited for her son.

She abundantly loved her son.

She was passionate about her convictions.

And she loved me.

It is one of the most touching and personal gifts I have ever received.

I still miss her. Terribly.

The Holy Grail

2009-10-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

Finally. I've patiently waited for several months to have in my possession the holy grail of the cooking world. One simple little thing.

And here she is.

There's something certainly mystical and magical about this cookbook. Perhaps it's the recipes contained within the slightly aged pages. Perhaps it's the hand-written notes made by my father, with his near perfect penmanship, about cooking time, quantities and wine pairings. Like a '79 Chateau Lafite.

It seems my father found his niche in cooking from Julia's cookbook.

But perhaps the most magical element of this cookbook is this.

I'm ready to curl up on the couch and sift through the pages of this, the holy grail of cookbooks, to find some new favorites. Too bad I can't curl up with that '79 Chateau Lefite.

Darn You Gigi

2009-10-03T14:44:00.001-07:00

I'd like to say there are only a handful of foods that inspire the vacancy of dietary responsibility. But, sadly, that would be an untruth of grand proportion. There are many foods that, just by their sheer sight or smell, cause me to abandon all respectable control (or any control for that matter). Foods like chocolate, or butter, and heavy cream, or potatoes and cheese. And then there's tender beef and succulent shrimp (bathed in butter), or bread and blue cheese. Oh, and don't forget ice cream made with real cream and toasted pecans on top. Maybe drizzled, no slathered, in homemade caramel sauce. Wait. I forgot bread pudding and it's trusty side-kick, bourbon cream sauce.

And now that I've made myself starved and hungry, I must confess a new-found weakness. But it is a weakness I pledge to abandon almost as quickly as I embraced it. At least I think so. (Especially since I indulged earlier today and can profess my strength in resistance.)

This weakness began several weeks ago at what I believed would be an innocent play date with the 18-month old son of friends. As they approached our front door, I noticed a large box carefully cradled in the hands of a dear woman, who I know under most circumstances would be carrying her son. But no. She was consumed with the cautious and tedious transport of delicacies. In her cradled arms was a box of Gigi's Cupcakes.

After carefully opening the box and viewing the 12 beautiful treats inside, then came the most difficult crossroads of my friendship with this dear woman – exactly which cupcake to consume first. There weren't words or gestures or movement. There was simply a moan of heavenly pleasure at the sinking of teeth into the fresh buttercream and dense cake. Resistance was futile and a complete waste of calories burned.

And yesterday on my way home from work, my car seemed to steer itself to Gigi's. I couldn't resist getting out of the car; there was some unidentifiable force pulling me off my bum and into Gigi's.

But today, all I can say is DARN YOU, GIGI! Darn you for being responsible for the width of my bum and thighs. Darn you for being so good. Darn you! Darn you over and over and over again. Darn you… until I see you again.

2009-10-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

Where are the words? Where are the words to describe feelings that are scrambling around in my mind about how I'm missing my mother-in-law? How exactly do I capture the sadness of not being able to talk to her, or see her, or take a picture of her?

Only weeks have passed since Maryanne left this earth to join her Savior. But in those weeks I've been constantly reminded of the grace and peace she brought to so many people, and ultimately, came right back to her.

I had a dream earlier this week. In my dream I was sad that I couldn't see her. And then, all of a sudden, there she was; across a room and coming towards me. I was overwhelmed with happiness that I could see her. But in my dream, I couldn't talk to her. And how bizarre that in reality - especially in the finality of death - we can still talk to our loved ones, but not see them in the flesh.

I miss her humor.

I miss how she inspired me.

I miss her laughter.

I miss her cooking.

I miss her, terribly.

A Day Inside the Tyson Kitchen

2009-09-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Monday's are busy around these parts, especially every other Monday when my fairy Godmother (aka my cleaning lady) quietly descends upon our disheveled and cluttered house to make everything fresh, new and clean again. I love her; I love her dearly. I hope we never part.

But often I must take things into my own hands. Things like the disinfecting of the Crate & Barrell butcher block cutting board we received as a wedding gift. After almost 12 years it's in need of constant cleaning and disinfecting.

To clean, I sprinkle one side liberally with kosher salt, about one tablespoon.

Then I cut a lemon in half and squeeze a small amount of the juice over the cutting board. You want just enough juice to combine with the salt and make a paste while keeping the lemon firm.

Place the cut side down on the board and scrub, scrub, scrub.

Repeat on the other side of the board and rinse well with water. Allow to dry completely before storing.

And speaking of cleaning, it's sad when I do something like this to the Tyson Kitchen.

But that mess means I made the taste buds of others sing with joy by giving them chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with caramel creme frosting and Martha Stewart's mint-filled brownie cupcakes. I can resist all of those, but for some reason, I just can't say no to these.

Herbed Croutons

2009-08-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I like simplicity. I happen to like simplicity almost as much as chocolate, bread and wine. And when it comes to cooking, I really like simplicity. (But for some reason, simplicity goes out the window on the weekends. As in, can I make things any more complicated and time-consuming?)

When I walked into the kitchen this afternoon several vine ripened tomatoes and a bag of Chicago hard rolls were staring back at me. I originally intended the tomatoes for fresh salsa. But this afternoon I decided to roast the tomatoes and make herbed croutons out of the rolls.

I diced up all 6 rolls into bite-sized pieces.

Then I added fresh thyme and fresh basil.

And after drizzling with a generous amount of olive oil (about a 1/4 cup total) I baked the croutons at 450 for 7 minutes.

As for the tomatoes, I suspect they'll meet a splash or two of balsamic vinegar before being poured over a layer of the herbed croutons. Yummy.

Caramel Project, Part II

2009-08-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

The verdict is in and éclairs were the chosen shape of the day (versus puffs).

To make éclair shells, you must begin with Pâte à Choux. It's a very simple process but requires the patience in stirring for the minute required (and also requires a strong arm!). Thankfully throughout my research and cooking experience, I have never seen a recipe different than this recipe which happens to be the same as Julia's. I like this consistency because trial and error to find the best recipe is not always fun and exciting.

Thankfully, these little darlings were perfectly petite and portioned. And it took a few tries to determine the best piping size for the best éclair shell. And I love that each one is unique and different from the next. Nothing remotely close to perfection here.

Pâte à Choux makes such a unique pastry case; sturdy on the outside but tender on the inside, with its interior easily giving way to whatever filling you choose to introduce. They're so delicate, you can even see the sunshine peering in through the windows to fill the éclair shells.

For these éclairs, I made a slightly sweet but very rich caramel pastry creme of caramel sauce, heavy cream and mascarpone cheese. Sublime and heavenly. Simply luscious. And fattening. Really, really fattening.

What I'm currently debating is how to dress the éclairs - caramel, chocolate, nothing? (If I actually had readers I could pose the question to more than the viral void.) So, I'm left wondering... how to dress? And I must wonder quickly since they're bound to go fast in this house.

Caramel Project, Part 1

2009-08-29T06:39:00.001-07:00

This morning I began what I believe will be the laborious process of making caramel éclairs. (I've debated whether to make éclairs or crème puffs, but the only difference is the size – an éclair is long and thin while a puff is round and slightly taller.)

Part 1 is making the caramel sauce. Begin by combining sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Over low heat, allow the sugar to melt completely. Once melted, increase the heat to medium-high and allow the sugar syrup to boil.

Continue to boil until it becomes golden in color; about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in 1 cup of heavy cream. (The mixture will bubble loudly.) Whisk to thoroughly combine the caramel and heavy cream. Add in a ½ teaspoon of good vanilla extract. Strain into a glass container and allow to cool to room temperature before moving to the refrigerator to completely cool.

Now, if you're me, you're going to see this happening in the pan and think, "What the?"

But despite my culinary doubts and angst thinking I'd just wasted 1 ½ cups of sugar and 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream, my doubts were quickly cast aside when my taste buds met the beautiful combination of water, sugar, cream and vanilla. Good gracious. My hips just can't take it.

Up next: crème puffs

Caramel Crème

2009-08-24T19:05:00.001-07:00

What happens when you combine caramel sauce, with a mixture of mascarpone cream and whipped cream? You get something so devilishly good that my mouth is already watering and my thighs are preparing for combustion.

This concoction has got me thinking about making Caramel Crème Puffs drizzled with a chocolate caramel sauce. This means I'll combine Julia's delicate Pâte à Choux with a light caramel crème followed by a caramel sauce (somehow combined with chocolate). And just to add insult to injury, some toasted chopped almonds would be a nice contrast.

Making Julia's Pâte à Choux will bring me to Recipe #2. And yes, I've yet to take on croissants. But it's more about finding 12 hours to tend to the dough.

Cannoli Cream Cupcakes

2009-08-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

A distressing, culinary itch presented itself earlier this week - cannoli. (I have a long time love affair with cannoli, dating back to my adolescence when my parents took me to a favorite Italian restaurant every year for my birthday.) But even when I realized I could scratch the itch by visiting a local Italian restaurant, it wasn't enough. I had to take it further and do more than just eat a cannoli, or make cannoli or make a copycat recipe from the Internet. Oh no... just like most everything else in my world, I had to over complicate.

After several days of research and recipe reviews I concocted a recipe for cannoli cream-filled cupcakes, marrying several different ingredients and methods. Filled with classic cannoli ingredients like ricotta cheese, cinnamon and chocolate I was hopeful these would scratch my cannoli itch. And boy, did they ever.

Cannoli Cream Cupcakes
makes 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans with a total of 18 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract.

Measure the cake flour by spooning into a dry 1 cup measuring cup and level the cake flour with a knife. Combine the 3 cups of cake flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk flour mixture with a wire whisk.

Add the flour mixture and 3/4 cup buttermilk alternately to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well after each addition, and beginning and ending with the flour. Use a standard size ice cream scoop to fill prepared cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes for 16 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Fluffy, and so pretty.

Cannoli Cream
15 oz. ricotta cheese (thoroughly drain in a wire strainer for at least 8 hours, or overnight*)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

*This is a step you MUST not skip.
Combine strained ricotta cheese and remaining ingredients until well blended. Set aside.

Frosting
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons half and half (or milk)
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Using a hand-held mixer, beat together butter, half and half, confectioners sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold sugar mixture into whipped cream, careful not to over mix.

To fill the cupcakes, fill piping bag with cannoli cream.

Using a decorating tip (recommended Wilton Bismark Tip 230) hold filled bag perpendicular to cupcake inserting dip 1-inch deep into the center of the cupcake. Squeeze a small amount of cannoli cream into the cupcake. Set aside until all cupcakes are filled.

To frost the cupcakes, fill a clean piping bag with frosting. Using a decorating tip (recommended Wilton Star Tip 1M) frost each cupcake beginning on the outer edge, piping inward towards the center of the cupcake.

If desired after frosting the cupcakes, lightly dust with shaved bittersweet or semisweet chocolate shavings.

And when you take a bite, nestled inside the moist and slightly sweet cupcake is the cannoli cream filling.

Delicious!

Aromatics and Sweet Stuff

2009-08-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was a busy day in the kitchen... baking, blanching, whisking, rolling, zesting and glazing to name a few. I had a specific task to complete - cooking a full meal for someone I don't know.

The day started with several aromatics, like carrots, to make Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits.

And celery.

And parsley. Beautiful parsley.

A naked lemon.

Fully zested to make Ina Garten's Lemon Cake.

Poor lemons. They got reamed.

And fell down.

All to make this really good!

Next, I'm taking several Cannoli Cream Cake recipes and modifying for cannoli cream-filled cupcakes, laced with a few drops of marsala wine. Meanwhile, I'm still attempting to conjure up the courage to make Julia's Croissants. Not sure if it's really courage that I need, but rather time. A whole 12-hour block of uninterrupted time. Maybe while the rest of the house is sleeping?

Recipe #1: French Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

2009-08-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I kept the vow for the first day and chose a recipe from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks - The Best of Bon Appetit. (I happen to think it's pretty close to biblical in the world of cookbooks.) There's a plethora of gems tucked within those pages; gems that could easily spell the quick demise of the pounds I've recently shed.

Today's recipe was French Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze. Sublimely simple ingredients and calculated preparation made for a sinful, yet delicate cake.

I've both read and heard that the key to ensuring a pleasurable result in most any recipe is to start with the best of ingredients. If you can, this is the place to splurge and indulge on things like chocolate.

Semisweet dark chocolate is irresistible.

Especially when the logo is so curious.

And when it's melted with unsweetened chocolate, butter and honey, it results in the perfect velvety bath for a cake laced with butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and breadcrumbs. Yes, breadcrumbs.

And what you have at the end is pure bliss.

One thing I concluded today was to focus solely on the recipe itself, taking far less pictures than I have before. I'm primarily focused on teaching myself (and perhaps achieving some uncomplicated personal goal) so I will rely on the principle of the recipe itself. And another thing, I believe in practicing something my mother drilled into me - read the recipe once, twice, and many more times before beginning. All too often a recipe can fail by missing one word - or in my case, looking at the wrong recipe when referring back to it for the instructions. Rather than spooning out dough for snickerdoodle cookies, I packed the dough into a 9-inch by 9-inch pan as though I was making snickerdoodle brownies.

Thankfully the French Chocolate Cake recipe was a hit, even though one key ingredient was omitted - orange zest. Instead of having a panic attack standing in the middle of our kitchen, I opted to forge ahead. But after tasting the rich and delicately tender cake, I believe it may have benefited from the orange zest. The zest would have added a subtle dimension. But as my husband pointed out, I can make it again. (Although he must like it fine since he's on his second piece.)

Best of all, I've joined my love of cooking with my fear of the uncomfortable and quest for control into something that feels as much awkard as it does rewarding. The love definitely came from parents and their love of cooking. From my mother's Beef Wellington to Scallop and Mushroom Pie, or my father's Vichyssoise and Au Gratin Potatoes - and every "normal" thing in between - it all came from them. Thanks mom and dad.

As I'm currently planning, the next recipe will be Julia Child's croissants - perhaps as early as this weekend. And since I read the recipe before hand, I've already started attempting to commit the recipe to some form of my memory. It's a total 12-hour process to create 50+ layers of dough.

Copycat

2009-08-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

I love to cook. I mean, I really love to cook. Starting as a young girl crafting and molding inedible mud pies in our backyard to one day dreaming of cranking out sublime, lighter than air pastries. Those dreams have never completely come true, and I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps it's time, fear, laziness or just plain a lack of ability.

I watched my parents cook for years; mainly my mother. But my father jumped on the bandwagon at one time, tackling one of the simplest of cuisine - French. I can't precisely recall how exactly he came to buying Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Volumes One and Two, but suddenly there were multiple pieces of Le Creuset (cookware) and quarts of heavy cream covering an entire shelf of our refrigerator.

While Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Volume One resides in my father's kitchen (I must plot its escape into my luggage during our next visit) I happen to have Volume Two; a notably very different set of recipes and techniques than its predecessor. What's the same is the simplicity in which recipes are based; simple ingredients and simple preparation. And today ingreidents are much more accessible than almost 40 years ago (when Volume One was published).

And after seeing Julie & Julia last night my desire to kick off my shoes and get into the kitchen is as strong as ever. (But my track record as a "food blogger" isn't so good... I've started and stopped numerous times, telling my husband it's stupid and silly. And I've always felt my photography skills were too weak to do any food the right justice. But that's hopefully all in the past... for now.) At this very moment, I'm actually contemplating being a true copycat [of Julie Powell and her Julie/Julia Project] and tackling a predetermined list of Julia Child recipes from Volumes One and Two. There are some very personal favorites, like Vichyssoise, Boeuf Bourguignon and Julia's scalloped potatoes with nothing more than potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, Gruyere and heavy cream. (There are remains, still, of these delectable potatoes on my hips consumed during my adolescence.)

Now I've been inspired to tackle the recipes of foods I happen to love (and happen to consider to be the Holy Grail of foods). Recipes of foods I can't find plentiful here in the south. Recipes like brioche; a simple egg bread but easy to completely destroy.

And cream of mushroom soup. (This Volume Two receipe is a simpler verson than its Volume One partner.)

And then there's Italian meringue, or what we Americans refer to as "Chantilly cream".

But, undoubtedly, there's one recipe I have never dared to approach. But I'm hopeful to conjure up the courage, although the entire recipe spans 7-1/2 pages.

And I can find one place where my parents noted a favorite; beef.

It happens to be the only folded page in the book so it must have been important.

And here's where my mother or my father noted the importance of searing the beef for Julia's Beef Stew with Onions and Red Wine.

Thankfully I've approached and tackled difficult recipes before, and have made repeatedly because they were a success.

It comes from this cookbook.

Bless its heart; it has seen better days.

And since I've had success with this cookbook, I'll take on what I believe are some of the easier recipes. (Could be famous last words.)

Which starts with this...

So, in short, today I'm going to create a list of recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Volume Two and The Best of Bon Appetit; my very own, personal version of a copycat project. To time constrain or not to time constrain? After all, that's what Julie Powell did. But if starting and stopping something with discipline is a prerequisite, I'm in trouble. It took me over an hour to write this post because life, being a wife, and motherhood all took priority.

Honey Basil and Cheddar Cornbread

2009-08-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

I happen to think that cornbread could very well reside in its own food group alongside chocolate, meat (preferably beef) and butter. If you think about it, they're all simple and easy to find ingredients and, for the most part, occur completely natural in the environment. And I like that. Cornbread, on the other hand, requires several ingredients; but each also relatively simple to find.

First, you'll need one of the key ingredients - corn. In this case, I've elected to use good old fashioned canned corn - both whole kernel and creamed corn.

Another key ingredient is fresh basil leaves. I happen to believe there is such a significant difference in fresh basil versus dried that when the opportunity to use fresh basil presents itself, I'm happy to oblige.

After combining the dry ingredients and adding the wet, in goes the corn.

Followed by the fresh basil.

And after all of the hard work, what presents itself fresh from the hot oven is a moist, sweet and slightly crunchy cornbread.

Honey Basil and Cheddar Cornbread

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canned corn
1/2 cup creamed corn
2 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk and egg. Whisk to combine. Add honey and mix well. Add mixture to dry ingredients. Add corn, creamed corn, cheese, basil and melted better. Stir just until moistened.

Pour into a greased 9-inch square baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into 9 squares. Serve warm with softened butter.

Cook's Note: Spice up your cornbread with the addition of a seeded and finely diced fresh jalapeno pepper!

Artichoke and Mushroom White Pizza

2009-08-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Tyson household loves pizza. Our love and affection run so deep for pizza, it's almost a 4th member of our household. The youngest of its members eats pizza backwards, devouring the crust first; almost as if to indicate she knows how to save the best for last.

Most of the pizzas in our house start with a pizza crust. The rest is left up to imagination and whatever ingredients reside in the refrigerator or pantry. This artichoke and mushroom white pizza is just that.

First, begin with a prepared, refrigerated pizza crust. I prefer the thin version.

Next, bake the pizza according to package instructions for temperature but bake for only 7 minutes. Notice I've "docked" the crust to prevent to much rising while baking. This is also called "blind baking".

The result is beautifully golden brown. Now, allow the crust to cool while preparing the remaining ingredients.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, prepared pesto, salt and pepper.

Mix well to combine.

Drain a can of artichoke hearts. (I chose to roughly chop about half of the can and use the remaining half as they came out of the can.)

Next, spread the cheese mixture on the cooled pizza crust.

Be sure to spread evenly.

Next, layer the artichoke hearts evenly on the cheese mixture.

For the mushrooms, begin with a blend of exotic mushrooms.

Next, heat 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the mushrooms approximately 5 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown.

Layer the mushrooms on top of the artichoke hearts.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the artichoke hearts and mushrooms.

And finally, sprinkle several generous handfuls of mozzarella over the Parmesan.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Scrumptious!

Artichoke and Mushroom White Pizza

1 package Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Crust
8 ounces Part-skim Ricotta Cheese
1 tablespoon Light Cream Cheese
1-½ tablespoon Homemade Or Prepared Pesto
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
16 ounces, weight Mushrooms (domestic Or Exotic)
14 ounces Canned Artichoke Hearts, Drained
½ cups Shredded Parmesan Cheese
½ cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Begin by preparing the pizza crust as indicated on the package. Bake the crust for 7 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while preparing the remaining ingredients.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, pesto, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

Spread the prepared cheese mixture over the cooled pizza crust. Layer the artichoke hearts, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Cherry Clafoutis

2009-07-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer like fruit, and nothing makes Mr. Tyson happier than dessert. So what happens when the two (fruit and dessert) become one? You get a delectable cherry clafoutis.

This happened to be my first attempt at a cherry clafoutis. For starters, I'm not a fan of cherries. But during a visit to Pigeon Forge, TN this past weekend my mother-in-law sent us back home with a gaggle of cherries.

This delicious cherry clafoutis starts with the cherries... sweet and plump little crimson orbs bursting with juice.

There's just something beautiful about a bowlful of cherries.

Cherry clafoutis begins with clean, pitted cherries. However, there are many a clafoutis purists who believe leaving the cherry unchanged (pits intact) makes for a sweeter, more complex clafoutis. Cherry pits, when cooked, supposedly release their natural almond essence.

Begin by making a simple batter of flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk thoroughly to ensure the batter is smooth. (Even better is to prepare the batter in a food processor or blender.)

Allow the batter to rest while pitting the cherries.

Place the pitted cherries in a greased deep dish pie plate.

Pour the batter over the cherries.

Bake at 425 for 25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Enjoy!

Cherry Clafoutis (adapted from Joy of Baking)

1-1/2 pound fresh cherries, pitted
1/2 cup flour + 1 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 Tablespoons sguar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract