Hounds In The Kitchen » Recipes & Meals

Win Friends With Eton Mess {Recipe}

Rachel — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:46:04 +0000

For the past year, we have been dining with friends every Friday night. Alternating hosting with being guests, we compete not with each other but for the great dining experiences enjoyed together. Highlights have included a low country crawfish boil, the $5 Julia Child dinner, 18-hour braised pork, and the kid favorite, chicken and waffles.

Recently our friends served us Eton Mess. Neither Alex nor I were familiar with this layered dessert of crunchy meringue, sweetened whipped cream and fresh fruit. Upon a single taste we agreed that this dessert is perfection.

Eton Mess is a play of textures with simple, familiar flavors. The dessert is easy to make ahead and plate for individual servings as dinner comes to a close.

As the very name suggest sloppiness, it is perfect for a child to make. For our version, Lil picked the berries, piped the meringue, and dipped the chocolate strawberry garnish. I whipped the cream, but only because Lil was too busy playing. That component, too, is easy for the beginning cook.

Homer Simpson said “You don’t win friends with salad.” I add the positive “You win friends with dessert,” especially if your friend happens to be this adorable two-year-old.

Eton Mess
Serves: 8 (with a few meringues left over)
Time: 20 minutes prep, 2 hours cooking and cooling, 10 minutes plating

meringues:
2 egg whites (reserve yolks for mayonnaise, hollandaise, or another recipe)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

cream:
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups fresh strawberries, washed and sliced

8 chocolate-dipped strawberries (optional garnish)

for the meringues:
1. Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in a large clean bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Beat with a rotary mixer or whip until foamy, about two minutes. Increase the speed and continue beating.
3. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time, fully incorporating each addition until the egg white are smooth again.
4. Continue beating until whites are very stiff. Then whip in the vanilla.
5. Transfer meringue to a piping bag or gallon ziploc bag, pressing mixture to release any air bubbles.
6. Using a one-inch round tip or a one-inch cut in the corner of the bag, pipe the meringue onto a cookie tray covered with a silicone mat or parchment in two- to three-inch rounds.
7. Bake meringue in a preheated 275 degrees F oven for 45 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 250 degress F and continue cooking until meringues are lightly brown and hard to the touch. Turn off the stove but leave cookie sheet in the oven with the door closed until cool.

for the whipped cream:
1. Place 1/2 cup whipping cream in a large clean bowl or bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Using a whisk or whip attachment, slowly whisk the cream.
3. After it becomes foamy, increase the speed a little.
4. Slowly add sugar until fully incorporated.
5. Continue to whip just until the cream stiffens into solid peaks. Whipping too long will end up with butter and buttermilk, so watch this closely.
6. Stir in vanilla extract.

assembly:
1. Select clear glass cups or goblets, one for each guest.
2. Fill the bottom with 2-3 crushed meringues.
3. Layer on 1/4 cup of sliced strawberries.
4. Top with a dallop of whipped cream.
5. Layer on more meringues, berries, and cream.
6. Top with a chocolate-dipped strawberry, if desired.
7. Serve immediately.

Here’s the Simpsons reference:

Added to Simple Lives Thursday #96.

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Win Friends With Eton Mess {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Grilled Bok Choy & Tatsoi {Recipe}

Rachel — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:12:44 +0000

Remember last week when I picked strawberries and toured Bird’s Farm? The bok choy and tatsoi in the high tunnel were too beautiful for me to resist.

Rich in Vitamin A and C, these greens are tasty ways to supplement your diet. They are mild in flavor, sweeter than kale or mustard greens, and the crunchy stem adds texture to dishes.

The young plants are often sold as baby bok choy or baby tatsoi. The stems are so tender when young they can be eaten raw, sautéed in a stir fry mix, or cooked quickly as in our favorite preparation: grilled bok choy.

I predict bok choy and tatsoi will be the next ‘hot’ green vegetable like kale is now. They are even easier to assimilate into the standard American diet and oh so delicious.

Do you eat bok choi and tatsoi? What’s your favorite way to cook them?

Grilled Bok Choy
Time: 10-20 minutes heating grill, 5 minutes preparation, 5 minutes cooking

1 head of young bok choy or tatsoi per person
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Slice the head in two lengthwise and wash thoroughly for any sandy soil that may reside in between leaves.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and soy sauce and sprinkle on a light coating of salt and pepper on the cut side.
3. Grill the bok choy, cut side down, over very hot coals for 4-6 minutes or until the greens are browned but not burnt. Serve immediately.

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Grilled Bok Choy & Tatsoi {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Marvelous Mint {Wordy Wednesday}

Rachel — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Mint is a weed by any definition. Many gardeners even consider it invasive – the stuff will fill a space and beyond.

Our patch resides in a bed alongside the house bordered by the sidewalk. For the most part, this contains the spread and last year oregano actually overtook some of the mint zone.

We “tend” (mint actually requires no work) our mint madness because we love the herb. Lil eats the leaves fresh like salad greens and makes them into nests and garden sculptures.

I harvest fresh leaves frequently for drinks and dessert garnishes. At least once a year I fill the dehydrator, crushing the dried leaves for tea.

When mint flowers in late summer, bees and other pollinators ‘sup on the nectar while my family enjoys the petite purple blooms.

Despite it’s overgrowing habit, I’m mad for mint.

Do you grow mint? If so, how do you enjoy it?

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Marvelous Mint {Wordy Wednesday} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Super Mom Makes Homemade Mayo {Video Recipe}

Rachel — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:50:11 +0000

One dark and stormy night, tragedy struck the Hound household. Sweet Lil wanted to make tuna salad but there was no mayonnaise in the house. “Help!”, the selective eater cried out, unable to eat plain tuna or the delicious meal her parents cooked.

Super Mom heard her cries and rushed to the rescue!

With forearms of steel and patience for pouring, Super Mom cracked an egg, squeezed a lemon, and began whisking. Streaming oil into her potion, Super Mom transformed the three liquids into a semi-solid sauce: mayonnaise!

A few days later, Super Mom taught Lil how to make homemade mayo herself so she would never be helpless again. Kudos to intern Cami for capturing and editing the moment.

With a little practice, you too can gain the Mayo Master badge of honor and be able to create the delightful emulsion at a moment’s notice! You could employ the use of a blender, but every true super hero knows how to make mayonnaise by hand.

Have you made mayo recently? How did it turn out?

PS. Join Super Mom (that’s me) on Mother’s Day for a class revealing all my secrets for homemade condiments at Franklin Park Conservatory. Space is limited and every participant goes home with a jar of mayo, mustard, or ketchup!

Handmade Mayonnaise
Makes: about one cup
Time: 5-10 minutes

1 fresh egg yolk (use a pasteurized egg if you’re worried about salmonella)
1/2 fresh lemon
1/2 – 1 cup oil (use any lightly flavored oil)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt

1. Pour egg yolk into a clean medium mixing bowl.
2. Juice lemon into bowl and whisk the yolk and juice together.
3. While continuing to whisk, add one teaspoon (or one slight pour) oil and whisk until incorporated. Repeat with several more teaspoons.
4. Slowly begin increasing the amount of oil, whisking continuously. The mixture will begin to change color towards a lighter yellow and develop a stiffer texture.
5. Continue whisking and adding oil until you reach the texture of mayonnaise. Stir in salt.
6. Store in a clean container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

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Super Mom Makes Homemade Mayo {Video Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Kentucky Derby Pie {Recipe}

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:01:39 +0000

I’m not sure I ever watched the Kentucky Derby as a child. I certainly have no memories of it.

The horse race came into my life through Alex’s grandmother. She wasn’t a huge racing fan but she always watched the Derby. Towards the end of her life, when she was living in Columbus near us, we spent several spring Saturdays cheering on riders together.

Though Gram is no longer alive, we continue the tradition of watching colorful jockeys every Derby Day. We drink mint juleps with fresh mint from the backyard and usually throw in a few other culinary nods to Ohio’s southern border state.

Last year I wanted to create a Kentucky Derby pie. I had tasted one before that a long lost friend made. Searching the internet revealed a variety of pies, most containing corn syrup or other evils. I imagined I could do better with natural ingredients.

Experimenting resulted in a dense, walnut studded pie with dark chocolate, one I will make again this Saturday. The one-bowl pie is easy to bake up for Derby Day or any time.

Kentucky Derby Pie
Serves 12
Time: 1 hour

1 pie crust, unbaked
1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate pieces or bar, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line 9 or 10 inch pie plate with unbaked pie crust and form edges.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, butter, bourbon, vanilla, and salt.
4. Stir in chocolate and walnuts until they are well incorporated.
5. Pour filling into prepared pie crust.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the filling comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.

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Kentucky Derby Pie {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Rhubarb Infused Vodka

Rachel — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:40:00 +0000

It’s rhubarb season in central Ohio! I like rhubarb in jam, strawberry rhubarb pie, and my grandmother’s rhubarb crunch. But my favorite way to enjoy this slightly sweet, floral, first “fruit” of spring is in a vodka infusion.

You might think I’m a lush but hear me out. Rhubarb is tongue-searingly sour and requires a lot of sugar or another strong flavor to temper the tart. Until I infused vodka with rhubarb, I had never truly appreciated the subtlty of the rhubarb flavor.

Making an infusion, with rhubarb or any other fruit, is dead simple. Chop or mascerate fruit in a clean glass container. Fill with vodka to cover all the fruit. Age in a dark place, tasting regularly, until the infusion matches your desired flavor. Strain out the fruit and enjoy the infusion as a mixer or on its own with fizzy water, a delightfully low-cal, high-zest drink.

In the case of rhubarb, I like to leave the infusion for up to two weeks. The clear vodka will turn a dusty red color and keep its piquancy for up to a year. The picture above shows the last of our 2011 rhubarb infusion, in one of my favorite jars made in Columbus Ohio, surrounded by the fresh rhubarb from the Greener Grocer that will make this year’s batch.

I am reserving some rhubarb to make into a shrub, a sweetened vinegar infusion. I suspect that the shrub method will show off the many characteristics of rhubarb much like the vodka infusion I hold so dear.

Do you like rhubarb? How do you prepare it?

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Rhubarb Infused Vodka is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Cornbread & Butter Beans & You Across the Table…

Rachel — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:55:41 +0000

…eatin’ beans and makin’ love as long as we are able.” – Carolina Chocolate Drops, video below.

The above tune is a catchy one. On autoplay in my mom’s head last week, she wanted to build a meal around it. Is it obvious now where I get my propensity to create odd theme dinners?

We added a line from another CCD song, Knockin‘, to round out dinner: “Chicken in the fridge, half a bottle of wine, sit and eat your fill, then give me some of mine.”

Alex fried chicken, Dad made the cornbread, we all drank a half a bottle of wine, and I cooked butter beans.

The all-knowing-Internet tells me that butter beans are lima beans, though a true southerner might correct me. I could only find dried limas at the market so that’s what I used.

Beans stewed low and slow with onion, herbs, and pork fat is no new thing to my family. What amazed us was that cornbread and butter beans is more than a fine lyric – it’s a well-matched set of sides. The savory melds with sweet and the buttery bean texture offsets the crunchy cornbread.

Cornbread and butter beans is a combination that will most definitely be repeated often, like a great song stuck in your head.

Butter Beans
Makes: 12 large side-dish servings
Time: 24 hours, active cooking 60 minutes

3 cups dried butter (lima) beans
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large handful fresh oregano, washed and minced or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 stalks fresh thyme, leaves washed and minced or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
20 grinds of fresh black pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Wash beans. Cover with 4 inches of water and soak overnight.
2. Twelve hours later, heat a skillet. Add bacon fat, butter, and onions. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Add onions to beans. Stir in all ingredients other than lemon juice and cover with additional water as necessary.
4. Heat in a crock pot on low for 10 hours or until beans are tender and liquid is absorbed. If you are close to serving time and the beans are too liquidy, simmer on stove top to boil off some water.
5. Adjust salt and add lemon juice. Remove bay leaves.
6. Puree beans for 30 seconds with immersion blender for buttery texture.
7. Serve hot with cornbread.

NB. An appropriate dessert would be the Carolina Chocolate Drop cookie I created last year.

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Cornbread & Butter Beans & You Across the Table… is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

So Tired, So Simple – A New Pour-Over Coffee Ritual

Rachel — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:46:50 +0000

This whole house-selling business is exhausting. I get up early to work on house projects and stay up late wondering how we will manage showings and what house we will buy. Like the addict I am, I’m making coffee a lot more regularly now.

As recently as six months ago, I was grinding beans by hand and futzing with a French Press. To be honest, I couldn’t tell that the finished product was much better than what my parents make with a drip machine but I liked the routine.

Jason from Thunderkiss Coffee introduced me to a better way: the pour-over method. The pour-over eliminates grounds in the mug, bulky appliances on the counter, and about 60 seconds from pour to sip.

The Way I Pour

I fill and start the electric hot water kettle. As that’s warming, I pull out my mug, paper filter and $3 plastic filter cone. Someday I’ll spring for a vintage ceramic cone and reusable gold filter but for now I’m hanging tight with the cheap ones.

I scoop a heaping tablespoon of ground coffee (that’s right, I buy pre-ground coffee now because our hand-grinder was a mess and I realized I needed to upgrade to an expensive burr grinder or give in) into the filter. Typically by this time the water comes to a boil. I allow it to cool for just a second (Coffee Geek says coffee brews best at 192-204F) and fill the filter.

As the water drips down, I add more until my cup is filled. I usually unload or load the dishwasher in the 1-2 minutes I’m waiting for the coffee to finish.

Toss the grounds into the compost collector, rinse the cone, and I’m ready to face the day.

How do you brew?

PS. I’m sorry that I didn’t take a picture of the final product. I was, you know, tired.

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So Tired, So Simple – A New Pour-Over Coffee Ritual is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Food Dialogues with US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance

Rachel — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:42:00 +0000

Do you know about the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA)? It is a newly created umbrella organization of state farm bureaus and grower’s councils. Their mission is to “lead the dialogue and answer Americans’ questions about how we raise our food”. Their new website Food Dialogues is designed to help facilitate conversations about how people, the planet, and businesses are affected by agriculture.

I have been a member of the Ohio Farm Bureau (OFB), member of USFRA, for over a decade. This relationships started because of their Nationwide insurance discounts and continues because I want to be part of the food culture in Ohio.

Conflicted History

My feelings about the Ohio Farm Bureau, and hence the USFRA, are mixed, though. While the OFB presents the stories of friends Sippel Family Farm and Marilou Suszko in their lovely and informative Our Ohio magazine, the values advocated by OFB are often out of line with my own. I passionately argued against the intrusion of ‘livestock care board’ into the Ohio state constitution while the Farm Bureau helped deceive Ohioans into voting for Issue Two a few years ago. Similarly, while I believe in the rights of workers to organize, the Farm Bureau presented anti-union arguments in last fall’s Ohio Senate Bill 5. I truly couldn’t understand their position on SB 2, as the farm bureau itself is an organization of workers.

The USFRA is made up of other groups that ruffle my feathers, including Monsanto, Dow AgriSciences, and DuPoint as “Industry and Premier Partners”. Behind the scenes, these monied and influential businesses promote agricultural bills that generally work against the diverse, organic, small farms that I believe are healthiest for farmers, consumers, and the environment.

Continue the Conversation

Despite conflicts, I believe that staying in the discussion is important. If local food advocates turn their backs on the USFRA, our voice will be lost. Perhaps by making some noise about what we want to see in the food system, we can affect change.

There are so many reasons to speak up. The honeybees and rivers need advocates to call attention to how farm waste can affect species far from farm sites. People who do not have the time or courage to speak up – the working poor, undocumented immigrants, and children – need us to insist on affordable food that does not compromise human and environmental health. People like me who care about antibiotic overuse must speak up for the farm animals who are given disturbing quantities and varieties of medicines to stay alive during stressful raising conditions. Farmer workers themselves, sometimes locked into contracts to use products that may be harmful to their personal health, need consumers to demand safe growing conditions.

The USFRA is hosting conversations virtually at Food Dialogues and on their facebook page. I set up my profile and joined the Facebook page to ask questions like:

How will the USFRA support and grow the number of small organic farms in the US?
Why is there arsenic and antidepressants in chickens and what is the USFRA doing to stop this practice?
How can environmental protection be promoted when agricultural subsidies encourage over-production?
Transporting livestock to slaughter, produce across the country, and even farm workers between farms uses an excessive amount of fossil fuels. The Eat Local movement reduces this demand. How will the USFRA support reduced ‘food miles’?
Why are there no councils or groups of produce growers in the USFRA? Maybe if a vegetable council promoted fresh produce, Americans would have more access to affordable fresh food.

Please join me in dialogue about growing food in the US. Leave a comment below (about agriculture, food, or anything you like) and enter to win a prize package of a Crock-Pot Programmable 6-Quart Slow Cooker and two reusable designer shopping bags from Envirosax.

Giveaway details: Prize package is a Crock-Pot Programmable 6-Quart Slow Cooker and two reusable designer shopping bags from Envirosax. Prize Pack ERV – $68. Prize is provided and delivered by USFRA; Entrants agree to not hold Rachel Tayse Baillieul or Hounds in the Kitchen liable for the prize. Entry open to US resident adults 18 years of age and older. Entries as comments on this site will be accepted from 10 am EST Wednesday April 11, 2012 – 10 am EST Wednesday April 18, 2012. One winner will be chosen on Wednesday April 18, 2012 by random.org and notified via email. In the event that a winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure: The US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance paid me a stipend to introduce readers to their Food Dialogues website and Facebook page. All opinions are clearly my own.

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Food Dialogues with US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Original Ideas for Hard-Boiled Eggs {Friday Five}

Rachel — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:23:00 +0000

After the eggs are dyed and the baskets filled, many families are left with dozens of boiled eggs.

Hard-boiled eggs are full of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Mixing boiled eggs into egg salad, slicing into potato salad, or eating whole for breakfast is fine but with an abundance, maybe you want to try something new. Here are five unusual ideas:

1. Pickled Eggs – Local food truck The Coop has a serious following for their pickled eggs. Theirs have a light vinegar and herbal flavor. For a more colorful pickled egg, try pickling them in beet juice. Simply Recipes shares four pickled egg recipes.

2. Scotch Eggs – Leave it to the Scottish to devise a way to enrich an already robust food by wrapping a peeled hard-boiled egg in sausage and bread crumbs and then deep frying it. I’ve never eaten one but with Charcutepalooza bulk sausage in the freezer and an appreciation for saturated fats, I think we must make scotch eggs next week.

3. Cook Ethnic – Doro Wat, a common Ethiopian chicken stew, contains boiled eggs cooked in the spicy sauce. Boiled eggs sometimes make an appearance in Indian curries too. Make Chinese marbled tea eggs by crackling the shell of your boiled eggs and soaking them in soy sauce and spices. The Steamy Kitchen recipe for marbled tea eggs looks intriguing.

4. Asparagus Chimichurri – I know we will make my asparagus chimichurri with boiled egg again this week. It was so tasty! Toss finely chopped boiled eggs on any warm green vegetable for added richness and flavor.

5. Slingshot Ammunition – If you know Alex, it might surprise you to learn that he was in a fraternity for one year during college. It will likely not surprise you that one of his fondest frat memories is of hurling things off the top floor of the house with an oversize slingshot. When I asked him for a unique idea for using boiled eggs, he instantly said “slingshot”. I can imagine that a hard-boiled egg is a great ammunition, though I hope we won’t be using ours in this way!

What are your favorite ways to use hard-boiled eggs?

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Original Ideas for Hard-Boiled Eggs {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!