Tried this one recently. I like it.

Fusilli alla Caprese

For sure put the cubed cheese in at the end, with the heat off. Heating the cheese too long melts it into glop that sticks on your serving spoon. A little meltiness about the edges is fine, but the cheese should retain its structure and its identity.

Barely a recipe, but...
 

Hey, do you like iced coffee?

Vietnamese style or Thai -- whatever, they're both good, aren't they?

Thai sugars the living heck out of the coffee, then floats heavy cream on it. I think they do the sweetening with simple syrup.

The Vietnamese is a Winnie-the-Pooh sort of approach: the coffee is straight, generally espresso-roast, and it gets turned into something like coffee ice cream, liquefied, by stirring in quite a bit of condensed milk. Darn good with ice, though you shouldn't let too much ice melt into the mixture or it gets diluted.

Fix that by freezing coffee in an ice tray for this purpose.

But try grating a little nutmeg into your coffee grounds before brewing. To taste, of course, but don't go too strong. You want a touch of the flavor, and the sweetness of the condensed milk will bring it out.

If cardamom is more your thing than nutmeg, grind a few pods of green cardamom in with your coffee, milk it and ice it as above.

And cardamom and nutmeg both -- they dance well together here, too.

<Sip>

Sounds good UG. Esp. the Thai drink.

I got some coffee icecream thinking I could cheat but it isn't quite the same.

Curried Zucchini-Bean Soup
 

This is consistently good, easy, and fast. This last time, I used a brown and wild rice mix, and cooked that separately first, then added it.

Curried Zucchini-Bean Soup (from Sunset)
10 servings

4 cans pinto beans
2 T butter
3 cups finely chopped onions
1 cups chopped celery
¼ to 1/3 cup curry powder (or to taste)
8 cups chicken broth
1 cu long-grain white rice
6 zucchini, diced (or less, to taste, or substitute another veggie)
¼ cup Italian parsley
3 T lime juice
Salt and pepper

1. Drain beans, reserving ½ cup of the liquid. Rinse beans; set aside.
2. In 12-quart pan over medium high heat, cook butter, onions, and celery, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 10 minutes.
3. Add curry and cook stirring, 3 minutes more.
4. Add broth, reserved bean liquid, and rice; scrape browned bits from pan bottom. Cover, bring to a boil, 2 minutes. Reduce heat, simmer, covered until rice is just tender, 15 minutes.
5. Stir in zucchini, beans, parsley, and juice. Add salt and pepper. Heat until hot.

256 calories per serving.

Coffee AND Dessert
 

It's been twenty years now since I made this, but oh boy... from the Coach House Restaurant in Aurora, Colorado.

Coffee Kahlua Cake

First: 1 8-inch [20cm] layer white cake, as follows:

3 1/2 cups [823ml] cake flour
2 tsp [10ml] double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp [2.5ml] salt
2 cups [473ml] sugar
1 cup [236.6ml] butter
1 cup [236.6ml] milk
1 tsp [5ml] vanilla extract
7 or 8 egg whites

Equip: flour sifter, 3 8" cake pans, greased; mixing bowls.

Have everything at about room temperature. Sift Cake Flour before measuring, then resift twice with Baking Powder and Salt. Sift Sugar and cream Butter well; add the sifted sugar gradually to the creamed butter and continue creaming until very light. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter in 3 parts, alternately with thirds of the cup of Milk. Stir the cake batter until smooth after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and if desired, 1/4 tsp [1.3ml] Almond Extract. Whip Egg Whites until stiff but not dry. Fold egg whites lightly into cake batter. Bake at 350 F in greased pans for about 25 minutes. Makes 3 8" rounds.

Next, the Kahlua Cream Filling:

1 8-inch layer white cake as above
1 1/2 cup [359.5ml] powdered sugar
2 fl oz [59ml] Kahlua
6 serving packages Sanka, dissolved in teaspoon [5ml] warm water; or like quantity of other instant coffee
2 1/2 cups [591.5ml] whipping cream

Equip: mixer, mixing bowls, spatula.

Whip Cream and add in Powdered Sugar. Fold in Kahlua and Coffee. Slice cake layer in half and fill with this cream, if you're going for six layer cake, or else just keep it at three.

Then, the Kahlua Butter Frosting:

1 lb butter [454g]
4 cups [946.5ml] powdered sugar
2 eggs [English or Metric]
1/2 tsp [2.5ml] vanilla extract
2 fl oz [59ml] Kahlua, again
6 serving packages Sanka or other instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp [5ml] warm water

Combine all in mixer, frost cake's outside and top. This is a quite stiff frosting; take care not to break your rubber spatula in it getting it out of the bowl. A metal spatula stands up better to this stuff.

I ran into this eating at the Coach House; Mom later got me the recipe book -- The Best of Colorado's Gourmet Gold.

Slow-Cooker Red Beans, Andouille, and Rice
 

Recently, I spent some time in Philadelphia.

This has triggered a touch of homesickness. Even my spouse liked it there so much she can hardly wait to go back. She's amazed that the food there is so varied and good. True, I cherry-picked the places we ate, but still.

I personally am feeming hard for soft pretzels. Again. Yes, we have Auntie Anne's and Superpretzels but I want to good stuff without paying two bucks for a pretzel.

So.

I have been experimenting with recipes and find this one to be pretty good. I'll try cheese, garlic, jalapeno and cinnamon sugar next.

1 1/2 pkgs dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water

mix until dissolved
Stir in:

2 T brown sugar
1 t salt

until dissolved. Then add:

1 C bread flour
3 C all-purpose flour

knead until smooth and elastic.
place in lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise at least
30 mins in a warm place. An hour is best, IMO.
While that is going on, mix:

2 C warm water
2 T baking soda

stir to dissolve. This will be your final wash.

Take a piece of dough and roll into a string about 1/2" think and 12-14" long. You may adjust to your size pref.
Dip into the baking soda wash and then form into pretzel shape. Bake 10-12 minutes at 450 deg F.

Alt, you may brush with melted butter before baking as well as add coarse salt to taste. When done baking, you may also dredge in coatings of your choice.

Cool a few minutes (if you can) before eating. May be frozen and reheated in toaster oven for up to one month.

Kettle Corn video
 

Here is how you make Kettle Corn. A 2:1 ratio of corn to sugar and a lot of heat.

Very cute.

I've been thinking about making a quiche.


Sonoma Orchid Inn
Guerneville, California
Specialty Recipe

"Love Child" Quiche

Ingredients

One 9-inch unbaked pastry shell or your own pie crust recipe
1 cup grated, mixed cheeses: Swiss, Monterey Jack, and mild Cheddar
1/4 cup diced, sauteed leek
1/2 cup each: chopped mushrooms, diced asparagus, diced ham
4 eggs
1 cup half & half
A sprinkle of ground pepper and a dash of nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the cheese evenly in the bottom of the unbaked pastry shell and place it on a cookie sheet. To prevent the crust from becoming soggy, we recommend that you place the chopped mushrooms and diced asparagus in a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for about 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool and then strain or squeeze out the water and sprinkle the veggies over the cheese mixture. Top with the diced ham and sauteed leek.
Place the eggs, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl and whip together, then add the cream and blend well. Pour this mixture into the pastry shell and bake for 45 minutes or until puffed, golden, and firm in the center. Let it rest for just a few minutes before slicing into 6 generous wedges.

Scott Gold Thinks This One's A Must
 

...if you're omnivorous, anyway.

The Best Meat Marinade in the World

1 1/2 C [355ml] vegetable oil
3/4 C [180ml] soy sauce
1/4 C [60ml] Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP [30ml] dry mustard
2 1/2 tsp [12ml] salt
1 TBSP [15ml] cracked black pepper
2 tsp [10ml] chopped fresh parsley
1/2 C [118ml] red wide vinegar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 C [79ml] fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP [15ml] fresh lime juice

Heat all ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat until simmering lightly -- not foaming! Cool completely. Place meat in a ziplock freeser bag, pour in marinade, seal tightly. Refrigerate at least four hours, or overnight for tougher cuts, game, and the like. Gives the acids more time to tenderize. Yields about 3 1/2 cups of marinade.

--from The Shameless Carnivore: A Manifesto for Meat Lovers by Scott Gold. He says only people with no taste even in their mouths cook steak beyond medium rare -- a point of view I sympathize with. A little sear from the Maillard reaction on the outside, the meat warm and red throughout, touch of pink going gray towards the outsides.

My father's favorite marinade:
1 c dark beer
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp grated garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/4 c orange marmalade
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sriracha or other chili sauce

Combine well. Marinate lamb, beef or pork for 12-24 hours.

Two marinades, one acidic, one not so very. Excellent!

Yeah. Since the 2nd is fairly neutral, one can extend the marination period as long as you'd like (within reason!) without the meat turning to mush.

Looks like my typing had a code in ids node. For "wide" read "wine."