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COOKING & ENTERTAINING: Bytes, A Blog________________________________
The Whirley-Pop
My family has been living without a microwave for over 6 months now. Admittedly, the only thing I miss it for is reheating leftovers for lunch, steaming broccoli and making popcorn. So I had been eyeing a stovetop popcorn popper for a while, and on a recent trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond my impulses got the better of me.
Well, the family loves the Whirley-Pop! This popper cooks the corn in the same amount of time as the microwave and I have yet to burn a kernel. I can't say that about my microwave efforts). The Whirley-Pop stirs the corn as it pops and claims to make "movie-style popcorn." The girls love to stir it. Serve it up inadorable red and white striped "fresh popcorn" boxes, the kind you see at carnivals and such. (I got mine at Cost Plus World Market.)
Here's a great recipe for Truffled Popcorn, inspired by a recipe found in an article about Super Bowl snacks in Food and Wine: Place the popped corn in a large bowl. Grate some parmigiano-reggiano over it with a microplane. Pour a couple of tablespoons of melted butter over it and add a couple of pinches of truffle salt. Toss. Holy umami! Note: the truffled p-corn was a little too weird for my 8 year old. Oh well. She'll come around one of these days.
-alyce eyster 7/9/08 *****
Get-Into-That-Bikini-for-Spring Break Salad
At the other end of the spectrum from the aforementioned German Chocolate Cake (see entry below), is a recipe I'd like to share for Super Protein Veggie Salad. Inspired by a tired new year's resolution to lose weight, this salad is vegetarian, but gets its protein from cannellini beans, wheatberries, nuts and the yogurt/cottage cheese salad dressing. The dressing stays low in calories and fat because it contains no oil, but it satisfies thanks to the creaminess of the dairy products involved. The recipe is based on a salad in the Moosewood Cookbook.
I use good quality canned beans for convenience. Use this recipe as a guide, season to taste and add and subtract as you go along. If I am in a hurry and don't have the dressing made, I'll add a sectioned orange and toss the salad with a bit of olive oil. This is a great salad for lunch or quick, light dinner because the bean mixture stays so well in the fridge and it can be assembled quickly.
Super Protein Veggie Salad
Serves 6
1/2 cup wheatberries, cooked
1 (19 oz.) can good quality canellini beans, rinsed
1 bulb fennel, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
red wine vinegar and olive oil, to taste
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 handfuls baby spinach
1/4 cup roasted and unsalted almonds, chopped
Dressing:
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1-2 Tblsp Dijon mustard
2 Tblsp Red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup cilantro
salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a Gladware container, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and refrigerate. Combine the dressing ingredients and blend with an immersion blender or in a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a salad bowl combine the spinach, top with the bean and wheatberry mixture and toss with the dressing. Top with the chopped almonds and freshly ground black pepper. Toss and enjoy.
-alyce eyster 2/29/08 *****
Rethinking German Chocolate Cake
Iíd never made a German Chocolate Cake before, so when my sister requested one in response to my offer to bake her birthday cake, I hit my cookbooks and the Internet in the name of research. Admittedly, it had never been a favorite. Not that I donít like it, I just prefer a darker chocolate cake. I found the original Baker's Chocolate recipe, which looked doable, but not that inspiring.
Then I found a more interesting recipe on David Lebovitz's website. Lebovitz, an alum of Chez Panisse and author of several cookbooks, lives in Paris. (After perusing his site, Iíll be returning to investigate his recommendations for my next trip!) Anyway, this cake turned out beautifully in an easy-to-follow recipe. (He credits the recipe to his friend Mary Jo Thoresen of Jojo in Oakland, with slight variation.) What makes this cake better than the traditional is the addition of unsweetened chocolate, making for a deeper, darker flavor. The filling is custardy and the toasted coconut and pecans give it depth. Plus, thereís also a bittersweet chocolate icing.
I followed the cake recipe with a few changes: I omitted the rum syrup step and iced the sides and top with the chocolate icing. The results were delicious, a hit with the family. Weíll be making this cake again. Find the recipe here http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/09/german_chocolat_1.html
-alyce eyster 2/8/08 *****
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