Sundays with the Jenns

A few friends and I have started to pick specific cuisines every week. We think of a few foods that are prevalent within that culture and we make them. This week was Jamaican week. We just made some fairly simple things that remind us of Jamaica.

~Jerk chicken thighs- they were marinated in lemon juice, sherry, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and jerk spices. Then, we pan fried them in the juices they were marinated in until just fully cooked. The result was a delectably moist chicken with some some good flavor.

~Potatoes that were cut in a large dice and covered in olive oil and jerk spices. They were then broiled in the oven until soft

~ Fried Plantains- cut up and fried in the deep fryer and then sprinkled with salt. Simple and delicious

~ Bread that was supposed to be like the Jamaican bread that is eaten with jerk. I couldn't find a recipe for that and so I decided to make up may own. The result was so yummy!

1 can coconut milk (heated to about 100 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
1 T sugar
Combine these ingredients and let sit for about 10 minutes until frothy.

3 1/2- 4 C flour
1/4 C olive oil, plus more for greasing
1/4 C sugar
1 t salt
Add flour about1/4 cup at a time. Halfway through the addition of the flour add the other ingredients. Mix well. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Turn into a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place to rise, about 2 hours or until doubled in size. Punch the dough down and put in a greased baking stone or pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1/2 hour.

1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 C olive oil
Put in a small saucepan and heat over low-medium heat until garlic just starts to sizzle.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the garlic infused olive oil over the top and put in the oven. Let bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.



This dough was very surprising and elastic looking. The end result was a fairly dense bread with an almost sweet finish. The coconut milk added a smooth tone that almost tasted creamy. Very easy and delicious!

Give Me S'more!

Who doesn't love that time honored tradition of roasting a plump marshmallow over a bonfire using a stick that you found from some tree (hopefully green) around the area. Whether you like them charred or golden brown, there is one use that has continued to be a crowd pleaser among young campers and older reminiscers alike, the S'more. Just edge that marshmallow from the stick onto a graham cracker piled with chocolate. Finish with one final graham cracker and there is a tasty treat for all to enjoy. Especially I think that everyone can agree that the best part is getting the sticky marshmallow all over your face, with crumbs of cracker clinging on for dear life, never able to be removed!! Oh wait... maybe not so much.

How can the same taste and feeling be brought to the forefront of memories without the messy cleanup? I have a couple of suggestions so that indoor cleanliness and peace may be kept with a similar tasty treat.

#1 S'more Crispies

1 box graham crackers
3 T butter
1 bag large marshmallows
10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Put the graham crackers in a large plastic bag and crush until the crumbs are coarse. There should be some variation in the sizes of the crumbs. Melt butter in a large pan over the stove. Stir in marshmallows until they are mostly melted. At this point about 1/2 C peanut butter may also be added for a slight twist. Stir in graham cracker crumbs until fully coated. Pour the mixture into a 9x12 greased casserole dish. Pat down with wax paper until the mixture is evenly spread across the dish. Let harden
Melt chocolate and pour over the top of the graham cracker mixture evenly. Let cool and let everyone enjoy!

#2 S'more Ice Cream Sandwich



This one is very simple and the recipe can be adjusted for however many you would like to make.

For 1 sandwich:
1/2 graham cracker, split in half
about 1/8 C vanilla ice cream
about 10 semisweet chocolate chips

Spread ice cream onto graham cracker and squish other part of the cracker on top. Marshmallow fluff or some other such product may be used in addition. Place chocolate chips around the sides. Mini chocolate chip would be good in this situation and may be rolled along the sides. Wrap in plastic wrap and refreeze for at least an hour.

The result is a very light treat that satisfies a sweet craving, but is little enough not to create guilt!

These treats are sure to bring out some nostalgia without the messy cleanup. Mmm s'morey.

Life Doesn't Always Work Out Like You Want It To

I should really learn one day that being lazy does not tend to produce the results that I would like to see. Every once in awhile you may get lucky and come up with something miraculous, pretending that it was creative genius all along. But on the flip side, things also have a very good chance of going awry.... poor poor "sesame seed balls"

Sesame seed balls are a common thing in the Chinese culture. Especially around Chinese New Year they are made with much zeal, popping up everywhere in dim sum. Traditionally they are made from a combination of hot water, brown sugar and rice flour. They are stuffed with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds and then fried. The result is a delicious, albeit very unhealthy dessert.
Because of the recent turning of the Chinese New Year to the year of the Rat I decided that these little nuggets of goodness would be a delicious and interesting thing to make. And this is where my problem started: I was going to try to make them using things only from the regular grocery store because I was too lazy to drive over to a Chinese grocery store. There was no red bean paste and so I thought that I could use Nutella, peanut butter, and maybe use up some strawberries that were at home. Maybe it could have been an interesting twist on a traditional treat. There was no rice flour so I decided that trying out soy flour for the first time may have been appropriate. How bad could they really get? Right? Wrong.

After spending a hefty amount of time making the dough, rolling each piece out, stuffing each piece, rolling each in sesame (and later poppy because I ran out of sesame) seeds, and then frying them, I figured out my mistakes. The strawberry compote that I made didn't match well with the sesame seeds. The balls really need to be deep fried instead of pan fried like I tried to do. The poppy seeds weren't th right thing to roll balls of dough in. The peanut butter and Nutella may have been good with a different flour. And oohhhh the flour! That was the worst choice of all. Soy flour has way too high of a protein content to be used in such a manner, staying dense instead of puffing out like they are supposed to. And soy flour? Come on! I know that soy products usually lend a fairly distinct flavor.

I had to throw them all out, not wanting another unsuspecting soul to stumble across them and take a bite, completely unaware of the impending doom. Sure they were very pretty, I had a fun time taking pictures of them, but they were a disaster that made the house smell like grease for the next couple of days. Moral of the story: don't be lazy! At least if you do, think it through first. I know about protein contents of flours and how that will affect texture, I just didn't think about it.

Sometimes things don't work out the way you my have wanted. That's okay. Chalk it up to a learning experience and try again. You can't win them all.

a story of a yummy sandwich

I have been meaning to make a really great sandwich for awhile as all kinds of incredible ingredients that were hand-imported from Italy continued to build up in my pantry. Plus, who doesn't like a really fresh and delicious sandwich with all of the fixings?
Extra virgin olive oil, white truffle oil (both from Italy), and pomegranate oil from Chicago that were used for dipping. Balsamic Vinegar from Italy was also used. Every one of them was so distinct and fresh, leaving us with an insatiable appetite for foccacia dipping.
My favorite bread to make: focaccia. It is always dense and delicious, with endless possibilities for toppings. My favorite is rosemary, sea salt, and olive oil.
The most delicious pesto that I have ever had, again from Italy.
Chicken sauteed in olive oil with a melange of spices.
Red onions sauteed with a bit of sherry.
We added spinach too, a perfect combination of sweet, salty, herby, fresh, and oh so delicious ingredients.

green tea is so delicious

The health benefits that are associated with green tea have been widely publicized in the recent past. Starting off as an integral part of ancient Chinese medicine, it has recently been suggested by evidence in studies to do a myriad of health-improving things. There are antioxidants contained in green tea to help rid the body of free radicals, it is suggested to help speed the metabolism, to lower cholesterol (especially Low Density Lipoproteins), to prevent cancer, and to help the immune system. As for me, I think it is just yummy.

Chai green tea is my favorite kind of hot tea. The first time I had it I loved it and from then on was searching for a place where I could easily buy it. After searching in every grocery store that I came across for about 3 months, I finally found it. I bought a ton of it from that store, soon to find out that the chai green tea phase had also reached many other stores. Chai is traditionally a combination of cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom, and ginger. It is usually paired with a stronger tea such as black or oolong, but the recent surge of the green tea craze has changed this a bit.

And then one day I got an idea, Chai Green Tea Cake:
1 package vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
3 chai green tea sachets

Heat these ingredients over medium heat in the stove. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.

1 C flour
pinch of salt
1 1/2- 2 C pudding mixture
1 t cinnamon
1/4 C blackberry jam
3 eggs, separated
more blackberry jam

Combine the first 4 ingredients. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until very foamy. Add a third of the egg yolks and mix. Add the remaining 2/3 and gently fold. Divide the batter into two 8-inch round, greased cake pans. Bake at 350 F for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. A couple of minutes before taking the cakes out, spread a thin layer of jam over one of the cakes.

3 T butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 C powdered sugar
about 2 T milk
1 t cinnamon
Thoroughly combine all ingredients and set aside.

After the cakes come out of the oven, let them cool completely. It may be a good idea to put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes before assembly. Put the cake with the jam on top on the bottom. Spread a little bit of the icing on top. Put the second cake on top and glaze with the remaining icing.

Chopped walnuts are a nice complement. They can be pressed on the sides for a simple addition. Also a berry such as a strawberry or raspberry is good to put on top.

The consistency of the cake very much resembles that of pudding. It is fairly dense and very moist. The flavors in the cake are very unique and match well with the freshness of the berries. Also, I definitely preferred it after is sat in the refrigerator for a little while. MMM antioxidants

Apple Crapple- Just Throw It All In

There were a couple of apples lying around that were starting to get soft and therefore needed to be used relatively quickly. I thought about making a crisp or a pie or some other concoction, but when I started mixing I got a different result. This is sort of a mixture between a crisp, a cake, and a bread. This is what I *think* I added.

2 Winesap apples, peeled, cored, and cut into a large dice
(a tarter apple, such as a granny smith may have been better)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1-2 t cinnamon
3/4 C oatmeal flakes
juice of 1/2 lime
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C flour
1/4 C coconut milk
3 T apple-cherry butter

Combine the first four ingredients until all of the apples are covered evenly. Slowly add the rest of the ingredients except for the egg and mix thoroughly after each addition. Taste one of the apples before adding the egg to check for the correct balance of flavors and adjust if necessary. Add the egg and then pour into a greased square casserole dish. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until the mixture is firmed up and golden brown.

The whole point of this dish is to use up any leftover ingredients that may be lying around. The flavor combinations may be altered dramatically. This take, with a little bit of a Thai flair yielded a gummy and cakey, but creamy apple concoction that had a bit of a bite to it. The addition of a little bit of cayenne pepper may be interesting, adding a different level of flavor.

Cinnamon, oatmeal (because of the fiber), and cayenne pepper are supposed to have a high satiety value. A piece of this will make you full quickly without having a huge amount of fat. (Ok, there is a little bit of coconut milk and a fair amount of sugar, but it's all about balance)
There doesn't have to be 2 sticks of butter in every dessert dish in order to make it delicious. :-)

Meg wanted Eggplant Parmesan.... this is what she got

I have always found eggplants to be very delicious and fairly interesting to work with. They can be used in a myriad of ways to create a diverse selection of flavorful dishes, from Greek-style Moussaka to Southern-style fried spears. Unfortunately I rarely have them around and therefore am usually in the mood for experimentation when I do.
This is what I came up with:

1 eggplant
curry powder
chili powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
parmigiano reggiano

Cut the eggplant into thin, long slices. Put slices on a cookie sheet that is covered with aluminum foil. Coat both sides with an even sprinkling of the above spices. Finely grate the Parmesan on top and bake at 450 degrees until cooked thoroughly, about 10 minutes.

1 pound ground turkey
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
a big handful of fresh spinach
curry
nutmeg
thyme
crushed red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
olive oil

Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add the ground turkey and cook thoroughly. (Fat can be drained here if a lot comes out.) Add the spices and allow the flavors to melange. Add the spinach and turn off the heat. Continue to turn the meat mixture so as to heat the spinach thoroughly. Plate by stacking a slice of eggplant, then the meat mixture, then another piece of eggplant, and then grate a bit more parmesan over the top.

This meal is very flavorful and relatively healthy. Enjoy!

finally another post... TAPIOCA

Ok, so I have been thinking about tapioca a lot lately... mostly because Jenn is successfully trying to overcome her aversion to it. The more that I have thought about it, the more I have come to decide that ist is really a versatile food item.

This summer while in Thailand I visited a cassava plantation with little knowledge as to what cassava was. All I knew before getting onto the farm was that people used it as some sort of food and that it contained cyanide... so I was a little confused. Later I found out that some parts are used in animal feed, some parts are used as human feed, and some parts are used to regenerate the plant. The part that goes to humans can be transformed into what we know of as tapioca.

Up until relatively recently my only experiences with tapioca included soley vanilla tapioca pudding, made when the milk in the house was getting too old. I loved the tapioca pudding, but to me it was what it was and there was nothing else to it. Again while in Thailand this past summer I had the ability to taste some of the Thai uses for it. Mostly what I encountered was still in the dessert arena but without the pudding consistency of pudding and with the addition of such foods as mung beans, corn, and of course coconut products. Very delicious!

Earlier this fall I tried to an idea that I saw on Tastespotting that was a pomegranite and coconut tapioca pudding. Coconut milk was used instead of regular milk and whole pomegranite seeds were mixed in after heating. It was incredible! Everything included in there was something that I love to eat and the flavors matched very appropriately. Jenn even said that she liked it!

On a seperate occasion Meg decided to make beef stew. I have never been much of a fan of beef stew and so I was a little bit apprehensive about it. After tasting the tomatoey sweetness of the stew, I discovered that I could too like beef stew! I was very astonished that I liked it and therefore was very curious as to the difference. It was that she used tapioca as a thickener instead of the usual corn starch or flour. It left less of a pasty texture in the mouth.

The versatility of tapioca is something that I had never before thought about. Now my head is swimming. Ranging from being a centerpiece in a dessert or the thickening side kick to another show, tapioca has a lot of potential. Who knew?