Magazine Wednesday - Martha Stewart Living - Haricots Verts with Pecans and Lemon

I have a ton of food magazines, but Martha Stewart Living is one of my favorite magazines to find food inspirations and recipes. One thing I really love about Martha Stewart Living is the pull out recipe cards. It has been years since I started collecting them and I'm still going strong. Every time I get a new Martha Stewart Living magazine I read through the whole thing once, then remove the recipe cards and put them in a safe place.

I love green beans. They are one of my favorite vegetables and probably the green vegetable I serve most in my kitchen. They are simple and delicious and I'll often eat a bunch of them before I even get them to the table. Green beans are kind of like really great french fries to me. I usually cook them very simply - blanching them for a few minutes to get the "raw" taste out, a tiny bit of butter, salt, fresh cracked pepper, sometimes fresh garlic or garlic powder.

One year I used the recipe for haricots verts that I found in Martha Stewart Living and thought it was just great. It really dresses up your average green bean into something worthy of a dinner party. Plus, it's insanely pretty!

Photo from Martha Stewart Living

Haricots Verts with Pecans and Lemon
via Martha Stewart Living, October 2004
prep time: 10 mins. total time: 20 mins
serves 4

coarse salt
1 pound haricots verts or this green beans, trimmed
½ cup pecans
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground pepper
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 425°. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt and haricots verts. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes; drain. Transfer to a serving dish.

Meanwhile, spread pecans in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Coarsely chop nuts when they are cool enough to handle.

Whisk vinegar, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl; season with pepper. Whisking constantly, pour in oil in a slow, steady stream; whisk until emulsified. Just before serving, gentaly toss beans with vinaigrette and chopp nuts; sprinkle with zest. Serve warm.


The vinaigrette could easily be used on other vegetables - like asparagus - and be equally as great.

Here's to Martha and full bellies.
- Cait

Spotting Dinner - Carnitas Soft Tacos

When it comes to tacos, I love soft ones. I think they hold their stuffings much better than hard taco shells. I don't eat tacos very often, but sometimes I get a bit of a craving for them. With all the upcoming wonderful seasonal vegetables expected to show up in markets in the next few months, tacos would be a delightful treat. When I was poking around on TasteSpotting I found cookingontheside's soft tacos and knew I'd be trying this recipe out.

Photo from cookingontheside

Carnitas Soft Tacos
via cookingontheside
Adapted from the National Pork Board’s Arizona Carnitas with Green Chiles recipe on a pork shoulder package

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into thin slivers
• 1 4-oz. can diced green chiles, undrained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Flour or corn tortillas

Recommended Toppings:

• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Chopped tomato
• Chopped cilantro
• Guacamole
• Sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350° F.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in ovenproof heavy large covered pot over high heat. Add half of the pork cubes; sprinkle with half of the salt and half of the black pepper. Cook pork until starting to brown, stirring often. Remove pork. Repeat with remaining pork cubes, salt and black pepper, adding more oil if necessary. Drain drippings from pot.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same pot over medium heat. Cook onion in hot oil until tender. Stir in undrained chiles and garlic; cook for 2 minutes. Return pork to pot. Add chicken broth. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve pork in tortillas topped with toppings.

You could definitely add some fresh hot peppers like jalapenos or habanaros depending how spicy you like things and of course salsa.

Here's to peppers and full bellies.

- Cait

Spotting Lunch - Red Lentil Soup

Sometimes I crave a good bowl of soup. Something rather new to me (my parents weren't too adventurous with foods when I was growing up) are lentils. I had lentil soups several times thus far and greatly enjoy it. When I was looking up some soup on TasteSpotting and found rhyleysgranny's soup, I was rather excited. I saw a dish with lentils cooked on Barefoot Contessa the other day, and finding another recipe for using them is going to inspire me to try cooking with lentils.

Photo from tea and wheaten bread

Red Lentil Soup
via tea and wheaten bread

Ingredients

250 gms/8 oz smoked streaky bacon
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 medium potato chopped
2 or 3 carrots chopped
2 red/orange/yellow pepper chopped (The more wrinkly they are the sweeter they are)
225g/8oz red lentils
1 teaspoon of paprika
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
A 400g/14oz can of tomatoes
900mls/1 1/2 pints approx. chicken stock (Keep some more to the side in case you find the soup too thick)
Black pepper
A little oil

Add any veggies around that need using up.


Method

Cut up the bacon and fry gently in the oil.
Add onion and spices and cook slowly until soft.
Add the carrots potatoes peppers and tomatoes then the lentils.
Give it all a good stir.
Add the stock and simmer until the lentils are nice and soft.

Using a stick blender, purée the soup.
Add more stock if you find it too thick.

It freezes well too if you are like me and incapable of making a small pot of soup.


I love how simple this recipe is - a great thing for trying a new major ingredient! One of my favorite ingredients is crème fraîche, which would be perfect to top the soup off. I'd have a simple salad and some bread with this bowl of soup to make a nice lunch.

Here's to new ingredients and full bellies.
- Cait

Spotting Breakfast - Scones with Honey and Dried Fruit

Sometimes I'm not in the mood for a full blown breakfast. That feeling really kicks in after something like a holiday weekend filled with all kinds of food goodies. I often enjoy a muffin or scone and a cup of tea or coffee instead of a whole meal, so when I saw carina's scone with honey and raisins on TasteSpotting I thought it would be the perfect addition to a morning checking e-mails or editing photographs. Not only did the scone itself look amazingly yummy, but carina's photography is breathtakingly beautiful. The only downside is that carina's website "carina-forum" isn't in english. The recipe is kind of "funny" looking because of the google translation, but it looks simple enough to mess around with to figure out.

Photo from Carina-Forum

Scones with Honey and Dried Fruit
via Carina-Forum

400 ml wheat flour
2 st.l. honey
50 g cold butter
2 st.l. orange liqueur
200 ml natural yogurt
70 g dried fruit
50 g chopped walnuts
1 ch.l. baking powder
1 ch.l. baking soda
dried peel of half an orange
1 egg
pinch of salt

preheat oven to 200 degrees C (392 degrees F)

cut dried fruit into pieces and put into orange liqueur

toast nuts in frying pan until golden

mix flour with baking powder and baking soda

cut butter into flour mixture

add orange peel, lightly beaten egg, yogurt, salt, honey and knead dough

add fruit and nuts last

sprinkle work surface with flour and roll dough to 3cm thickness

use circle cutter to cut scones

line baking pan with parchment powder, and put scones in a single layer

bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown

slice and serve with butter or jam

* carina's notes - The amount of flour depends on the thickness of the yogurt you use. It's better to use very thick yogurt.

I'm not super sure about the tempature. I'd probably choose to round it up to 395 degrees F and make sure to keep an eye on the scones. I'm going to have to experiment with this recipe... It was disappointing to find out the website wasn't in english, but I couldn't use that as an excuse to not post about the scones.

Here's to google translations and full bellies.
- Cait

Easter Weekend

This past Sunday was Easter, so my sister was visiting from college. I had posts planned for the weekend but didn't get around to them because of the holiday. My sister went back to school today, so the rest of the week will be running smoothly. I did get a dessert post up on Saturday - Delicious Desserts - Chocolate Overdose Cake. I didn't post as much as I wanted, but I did cook a ton. So as a treat I'm going to edit my food photographs tonight and make a lovely post about what I made for Easter. We had brunch and dinner, both were great.

Here's to holidays and full bellies.
- Cait

Delicious Desserts - Chocolate Overdose Cake

Since I've been posting meals all week long without adding desserts, I thought a dessert post would be the perfect treat for the end of the week. When Annie posted a recipe for chocolate cake and I came across it in my reading list on my dashboard, I fell in love. I'm not usually a huge chocolate fan, but when I do want chocolate - I want a ton of it. This cake has all kinds of chocolaty heaven in it - brownie, mousse, actual cake, and ganache. This would make an amazing surprise for any chocolate lover you may know...

Photo from Annie's Eats

Chocolate Overdose Cake

via Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the brownie base:
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the chocolate mousse filling:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
1 7/8 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. sugar

For the chocolate cake:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1/4 cup hot water
7/8 cup sugar, divided
7/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, soft

For the ganache:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
18 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces

Directions:
To make the brownie base, line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and spray the sides with nonstick cooking spray. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, salt and baking powder. Stir with a fork to mix. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.

When the chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove the bowl from the saucepan and gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add in the flour mixture in two additions, folding with a rubber spatula until completely homogenous.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Set aside, prepare the cake batter, and bake the two layers at the same time.

To make the cake, line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with a round of parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides of the pan. Combine the chocolate, cocoa and hot water in a medium heatproof bowl; set the bowl over a saucepan containing 1-inch of simmering water and stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. (Note: at this point, my mixture was pretty thick and I thought I had ruined it, but mixing in the sugar was like magic and it made it smooth and liquidy again.) Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30-45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Pour into prepared pan; smooth batter to edges of pan with an offset spatula.

Bake the brownie and cake layers at the same time: the brownie for 25-30 minutes and the cake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack. Allow the brownie to cool completely in the pan. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Once the brownie layer has cooled, run a knife around the edges to separate it from the pan. Remove the sides of the springform but leave the brownie layer on the springform base. Form a ring of parchment paper around the brownie layer and extending up the sides of the springform pan - reclose the springform so that the parchment is fitted tightly to the sides.

To make the chocolate mousse filling, place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer or fridge. Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place the semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with plastic wrap and allow to heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Transfer the melted chocolate to a stainless steel bowl and set aside until needed.

Place heavy cream and sugar in the well-chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the chilled whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. By hand, whisk to combine 1/4 of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until smooth and completely incorporated. Add the combined whipped cream and chocolate to the remaining whipped cream and use a rubber spatula to fold together.

Spread the mousse over the top of the brownie base evenly. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Place the cooled cake round over the mousse, pressing down lightly. Chill for at least 1 hour.

To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream and the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place the semisweet chocolate in a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Chill 1 cup of ganache for 1 hour. Allow the remaining ganache to come to room temperature (about 40 minutes).

Remove the springform ring and parchment collar from the assembled cake. Carefully transfer the cake to a serving platter, removing the springform base and parchment round. Use a spatula to smooth the room temperature ganache over the cake top and sides, covering evenly.

Place the chilled ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a shell tip and pipe a shell border around the base of the cake. Pipe 12-16 rosettes around the top of the cake to indicate servings. Serve chilled and store leftovers in the fridge. Cut the cake with a hot, dry knife.

I'm actually thinking about making this cake but in a bunch of mini single serving versions. So kind of like fancy cupcakes - but better. Now, I just need a reason to try it out. Would anyone like to come over for chocolate cake and super cold milk?

Here's to cocoa beans and full bellies.
- Cait

Spotting Dinner - Coffee Braised Bison Shortribs

I love shortribs. I've only ever had them at one restaurant - No. 9 Restaurant in Lambertville, New Jersey. Their shortribs are AMAZING. That's what I order every time I eat there. I did have equally amazing braised lamb shanks with polenta and vegetables there in the winter last year, but the shortribs weren't on the menu that night. Why do I get the same exact dish every time I go to that restaurant? Because it's probably one of the best tasting things I've ever put into my mouth! So when I was looking for dinner inspiration and searched for "shortribs" on TasteSpotting and foodwoolf's coffee braised bison shortribs came up - I was sold. I love shortribs, I love coffee, and bison is oh so yummy.

Photo from foodwoolf

Coffee Marinated Bison Short Ribs
via foodwoolf
Adapted from the February 2008 Bon Appetit issue

This is a start-the-day-before dish, that requires 6-8 hours of marinating. I suggest doing this before you go to bed or do it first thing you wake up the day you're going to make the short ribs.

Marinade:

* 4 cups water
* 3 cups chilled strong brewed coffee
* 1/2 cup coarse kosher salt
* 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
* 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 2 cups ice cubes
* 4 pounds bison (often labeled buffalo) short ribs, cut between ribs to separate

Short Ribs:

* 1/4 cup chopped bacon (about 1 1/2 ounces)
* 2 cups chopped onions
* 1/2 cup chopped shallots
* 6 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 tbsp Siracha chili sauce
* 1 cup strong brewed coffee
* 1 cup low-salt chicken broth
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preparation

For marinade:
Stir 4 cups water, coffee, 1/2 cup coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl until salt and sugar dissolve. Add syrup and next 3 ingredients; stir until ice melts. Add ribs. Place plate atop ribs to keep submerged. Cover and chill 4 to 6 hours. Drain ribs; discard marinade. DO AHEAD: Drained ribs can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

For short ribs:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Sauté bacon in heavy large wide ovenproof pot over medium heat until beginning to brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to plate. Increase heat to medium-high. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, cook ribs until browned on all sides, about 7 minutes per batch. Transfer to large plate.

Add onions, shallots, garlic, and Siracha to pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Add coffee and broth; stir, scraping up browned bits. Add chili sauce and all remaining ingredients; bring to boil. Add bacon and ribs, cover, and transfer to oven. Braise until meat is tender, about 2 hours 15 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm in 325°F oven until heated through, about 20 minutes, before continuing.

Transfer ribs to plate; tent with foil to keep warm. Spoon fat from surface of sauce. Boil sauce until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes. Pour sauce over ribs.


The recipe seems a bit complicated since there are different steps to it... It's well worth the effort though. I was once told that the shortribs at No. 9 Restaurant are watched over for 24 hours... As for the bison - bison is quickly becoming available at major grocery stores these days. You might be able to find it at a specialty butcher in your area... and if you can't you could substitue traditional beef shortribs for the bison ribs.

This dish served with your favorite mashed potato recipe and seasonal vegetables would be a great surprise for a special family dinner.

- Here's to bison and full bellies.
- Cait