For this week’s Two Spoonfuls post, I’m tackling Chapter #6 of Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For The Food.  This week’s technique: Braising.  Braising and Stewing both begin with searing or pan frying the main ingredient and finishing the cooking by simmering.  The meat is seared, to brown it, then cold water and veggies are added, the dish is covered and the entire dish is simmered “slow & low”, to achieve maximum flavor and tenderness of the meat.

The difference between a Braise and a Stew:

Braise = uses a large piece of meat, small amount of liquid, covered and cooked on low heat.

Stew = uses lots of smaller pieces of meat, submerged in liquid, covered and cooked on low heat.

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This was a fun chapter for me, because I love a good braise or stew.  Especially in the Fall and Winter.

It was a bit tricky to find oxtails in August, but my persistent husband managed to find some frozen at our local grocery.  Braises and Stews are great “One Pot” meals, that (for the most part) don’t leave you with a sink full of dishes when you’re done.  They also tend to make quite a bit of food – and it keeps getting better as leftovers.  Leftovers can also be frozen for nights when you don’t want to cook!  And above all – they just taste good.  All that cooking time results in a wonderful, tender meat and savory sauce.

Alton gives us a few bonus tips in this chapter – including a section all about Pressure Cookers. (I don’t own one – do you?)

Alton also includes a selection of recipes to try out your new Braising/Stewing skills.

I really wanted to try Oxtails, but Alton doesn’t provide a recipe for these, so I used an Emeril recipe for Braised Oxtails with Sweet Potato Pudding and Fried Okra.  I’m not a fan of okra – so I left that part out. Overall this recipe was easy, and definitely a learning experience:

Emeril calls for cutting the oxtail into 1″ pieces.  This is very difficult to do, since the tail bones are not straight, but instead branch out into the meat.  I left mine whole and ate the meat off the bones when they were finished.

Like most recipes, the browning will take longer than you expect.  Factor that in.

(The finished dish!)

We didn’t like the Sweet Potato Pudding.  It was extremely sweet, and had alot of butter pooled at the top.  Plus, the meat is so tasty, it would have been much better paired with a simple starch: plain mashed potatoes or cooked rice.

The Oxtails and their accompanying sauce = fabulous!

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And now I’m going to sign off on the last Two Spoonfuls post for me.  I think this series has run it’s course.  I’ve enjoyed trying new recipes, new techniques and learning from the great Alton Brown.  I want to thank everyone who has been reading along and commenting on this series of cooking blog posts.

I’ll still be blogging about my kitchen adventures, but not on a set schedule.

As Julia would say: “Bon Appétit!”

Jenn : )

My latest Etsy find:

This beautiful bag from Sinem Inugur.

I just love this fabric print and the gorgeous pop of orange inside.

This bag came to Seattle all the way from Istanbul, Turkey and the craftsmanship is superb.

Sinem has a degree in textile design.

She handpaints some of the fabrics that she uses for her bags.

Like this tote bag:

I also like this shoulder bag:

This messenger bag:

And this lovely grey everyday bag (just in time for Fall!):

Feel like adding something pretty and sophisticated to your look?

Check out *Sinem’s Shop* on Etsy!

Jenn : )

It’s product review time!

Well, it was product review time two weeks ago, technically, but it has been very chaotic at the Maruska house and so I’m posting this a bit later than intended.  Ginny has been very understanding and has graciously done some extra baking while I’ve gotten caught up.  (Thanks!)

My product review is for the Chocolate Bar Brownie Pan from Williams-Sonoma.

This is a very nice pan – it’s a good weight and made wonderful brownies -

they were just the right blend of crunchy and moist (I especially like the crunchy part!)

But the best part of the pan, was that it came with the recipe for the brownies.

This one’s not for the faint of heart, folks.

That’s 1 & 1/4 sticks of butter with bittersweet chocolate.

Plus cocoa powder….

…in my favorite mixing bowl.

Have I told you about this bowl before?

I went to a potluck dinner back in college and afterwards the host gave me some things to take home and she put them into this plastic bowl, which someone had left behind.  This bowl is beat up.  It’s ugly.  It’s scratched and stained.  But it has the best shape of all the mixing bowls I have.  It’s deep and has straight sides (which cuts down on splattering immensely.)  and I love it.  When it’s in the dishwasher and I need to mix something – I miss it.  It’s scratched and stained because I use it so much.  After all these years,  I pity the gal who left this bowl behind.  Sometimes the best things in life really are free!

But back to the brownies…

Instead of fussing with a double boiler,

the chocolate and butter can be melted in the microwave.

Once the dry ingredients have been mixed with the wet…

…you’ll have to summon all of your willpower not to grab a spoon and go crazy.

This part of the recipe is not easy.

Those spoons are close by…

Gooey batter goes into the pan…

…crusty, moist brownies come out of the oven.

These are drool worthy,

seriously good brownies.

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In conclusion:

Pros:

Delicious recipe for brownies (you may never go back to the boxed kind).

The pan worked great – these were done right at 35 minutes, as promised.

12 perfect serving sizes straight from the pan.

Oh the crusty, moist goodness!

Cons:

Cost of pan.  I think $30 is a bit steep.  But if you don’t treat yourself to special cookware very often and you love chocolate, this would be a nice indulgence.

Clean up.  Even after soaking, I needed a vegetable scrubber to get into the nooks and crannies of the words “Chocolate” in each square.  That really didn’t take that long, though.  Definitely a fair trade off to wow your friends with these yummy goodies!

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Overall, I’m happy that I have this pan and I’ll use it again to share with friends.

Jenn : )

Hello readers!

For this week’s Two Spoonfuls post we’ll be exploring Chapter #4 of Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here For The Food.

Chapter #4 covers Pan Frying, Immersion Frying and Sauté.  I’ve chosen to cover each of these in a separate post, because immersion frying (deep frying) is a new technique for me, and I want to give it my full attention.

This week I made Alton’s recipe for Eggplant Parmesan, in which you pan fry the eggplant before assembling the final dish.  Yeah, I know – everybody has panfried something before, but what Alton brings to the table is a wealth of sciencey information, charts and illustrations covering every aspect of frying.  After reading this chapter, you’ll know all about: breading, batters, the anatomy of a French fry, why oil and water don’t mix, fat saturations, smoke points, you name it!

Alton’s Basic Steps For Breading and Pan Frying:

1. Season dry food with s & p.

2. Set up an assembly line to bread your food.

3. Dredge food in flour (seasoned but not salted).

4. Shake off excess flour (very, very important).

5. Coat food in eggs (beaten with 2t. water per egg).

6. Coat with crumbs.

7. Let rest for at least 30 minutes so egg has time to set.

8. Fry in fat no deeper than 1/2 height of food.

Eggplant just beginning to fry.

Nicely browned and crispy.

I layered my slices in an 8″ x 8″ dish, switching between vertical and horizontal.

The final meal – fabulous!

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So…..

……..have you ever followed a recipe and when you’re all done you think to yourself “What did they mean by that?” I’ve tried many, many recipes in my day and occasionally I come across one of these.  For me it’s usually something along the lines of “Now add anchovies”  when anchovies weren’t part of the ingredient list.  Things like that can usually be explained by an editing error or simple oversight.

Oddly enough, I found myself with that same feeling of “What the heck, Alton Brown?” after I completed this recipe.  There were minor things that can be explained by personal preference; for example, this recipe calls for a mere 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs.  Maybe I used a larger eggplant than Alton did… or maybe I couldn’t help myself and was a little more heavy handed with the panko than he is (I love panko!).  But I used at least twice the amount of panko that was called for.

But the big question on my mind is why (why, Alton?) does this recipe say “In a heavy-bottom pot, heat 1/2 inch oil to 350°F.” While at the same time you instruct us to “Cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices…” And the last of your Basic Steps For Pan Frying clearly says: Fry in fat no deeper than 1/2 height of food. ???

I don’t know the answer to that one.

All I can say is that the eggplant was quite tasty, and overall easy and fun to make.

But I’m scratching my head as to why you’ve contradicted yourself.

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Alton doesn’t share this recipe online, but there are many other Eggplant Parmesan recipes that you can try, incorporating Alton’s Basic Steps For Pan Frying.  My advice:  have a pair of tongs handy, minimize splattering by frying in your Dutch oven, and don’t use too much oil, it’s overkill.

From Tyler Florence

From Bobby Flay

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Next time: Immersion Frying (gulp!)

Now lets see what sweet things are happening over in Ginny’s kitchen!

Jenn : )

Today would regularly be our Friday Two Spoonfuls post. But, since the other spoonful is livin’ it up in Florida right now on vacation, I’m sneaking in a little vacation, too. ; )

That hasn’t kept me out of the kitchen, though.

Yesterday I made some Valentine’s Day cupcakes.

My first time making red velvet. (Yummy)

I used *this* recipe for the cupcakes.

And I used the cream cheese frosting from *this* recipe to top them off.

(Double yummy)

And for the piece de resistance, tiny heart sprinkles, which I received in a wonderful little goody package from Ginny. She also gave me some of her priced cupcake liners, too – what a generous gal!

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I’ve been a very lucky girl lately, and a bit overwhelmed by some unexpected kindness from friends. Not only did Ginny share her love of cupcakes with me, but when she heard about the trouble I’ve been having with my sewing machine, she made and sent me this:

It’s a little plush sewing machine! Isn’t it the cutest?!?

Sewing something pretty with a little needle.

It’s a genuine Bernina, just like mine!

Thank you, Ginny – for cheering me up while my Nina’s been away. : )

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This morning I made a trip to the post office, and since I wasn’t expecting anything, I almost didn’t check my box. But I’m so glad that I did, because look what was waiting for me inside!

This is a lovely little wool pin that Maia made and sent to me!

It’s so pretty, and I wasn’t expecting it at all.

What a wonderful Valentine’s Day surprise! Thank you, Maia!

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I wish you all lots of Valentine’s Day love.

Share some with a friend,

it can make all the difference in the world.

Best,

Jenn : )

Hello all!

I’ve been taking a blogging vacation over the holidays. Things have settled down a bit now, I’ve started new projects for the New Year and it’s time to get back to business!

Two Spoonfuls will be starting the year off right – focusing on the basics, with the brilliant mind of Mr. Alton Brown to guide us. I’ll be tackling Alton’s big book of kitchen knowledge: “I’m Just Here For The Food”, while Ginny will be studiously reviewing Alton’s big book of baking: “I’m Just Here For More Food”.

Our goal here is not to do a boring old book review, but instead to broaden our horizons, try new cooking techniques and share the results with you in way that we hope, will spark your own culinary creativity!

Alton’s first book, “I’m Just Here For The Food” introduces us to what the essence of cooking really is:

“cook (v) – to prepare food for eating by means of heat.”

When we learn to manipulate heat and understand how food is prepared with it, our cooking choices become numerous. With Alton’s book as a guide, we are going to learn all about:

Searing

Grilling

Broiling

Roasting (my personal favorite!)

Frying (pan and immersion)

Sauteing

Boiling

Poaching

Simmering

Blanching

Steaming

Braising

Stewing

Pressure Cooking (this will be a new one for me!)

And also…

Brining

Marinating

Rubs & Sauces

Eggs

Microwaving

Phew! That’s 20 topics – enough to keep me out of trouble and my husband pleasantly full tummied for a good, long while!

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* Alton’s Notes *

Alton’s books are a wealth of knowledge about all things cooking. Here are a few of his tips on getting started… along with a couple of my own personal observations as to why his advice is sound.

1. When trying a new recipe, read through the ingredient list, item by item. Note any tools that are needed, techniques called for and times mentioned.

(The time thing used to be… (ok, sometimes still is), a big hurtle for me. For that reason alone, it’s always best to read through a recipe before starting. On more occasions than I’d like to admit, I have started making cookies at 7:00 pm, only to get half way through the recipe and discover that they need to chill in the fridge for 2 hours before baking. I’ve had some late baking nights!)

2. Get together your Mise En Place. This is French for “put in place”: in professional cooking, proper planning of equipment and ingredients for a food preparation and assembly station. Meaning: wash, chop and measure all your ingredients and gather your tools BEFORE you start cooking.

(Want to know why I’ll never forget this step? I once hosted a formal dinner party that had several courses, one of which was a salad. To save myself a little time, I used a package of mixed salad greens and added to it. Now, there’s nothing wrong with balancing labor intensive dishes with time saving ones inorder to save your sanity. But when you don’t take a moment to look over your ingredients before you start putting things together….. well, someone could end up with a plastic coupon for more salad greens on their plate. I will NEVER forget how I felt when one of my guests stopped eating and said “What is this?”)

3. Look at your recipe again for “hidden dangers and booby traps”. An example of this is “preheat oven”. Alton also notes that sometimes a recipe will mention an ingredient in the instructions, but that ingredient isn’t part of the ingredient list. Alton says “Internet recipes are notorious for this kind of thing.”

(I have also found a couple of online recipes like this.)

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I am really looking forward to learning new cooking skills with Alton and my readers.

Join me in two weeks for our first lesson in heat and Searing!

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And stop by again soon to see what new projects I’m working on,

I’ll be blogging more often from now on! : )

Hey, let’s go see what Ginny and Alton are up to!

Jenn : )

As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Ina Garten. Her recipes are un-complicated, tasty and fun to make. So you can imagine how excited I was when Ginny informed me that Ina has a new cookbook out! I am now the proud owner of Ina’s latest: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. This cookbook is one of her best: it’s just loaded with great recipes, lots of photos and many of Ina’s notes and tips. I think her notes make this book especially interesting to read and the recipes tempting to try.

This week I made Ina’s Chive Risotto Cakes. And, true to form – they are very good! They include nine ingredients: Kosher salt, Arborio rice, Greek yogurt*, eggs, chives, Italian Fontina cheese, pepper, olive oil and panko* and they can be assembled ahead and sauteed just before serving (I love the make-ahead recipes, keep ‘em coming, Ina!)

* Greek yogurt is rich and thick, and flavored with honey.

* Panko is a course, light breadcrumb used in Japanese cooking. I find them in the Asian section of my local grocery. They will give any food a nice crunchy texture.

Simple ingredients combine to make a pleasing meal.

These were delicious – great for a light dinner or lunch.

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* Jenn’s Notes *

The rice mixture needs to cool for at least two hours before being made into patties and sauteed. Ina suggests two hours or overnight – which makes this a great make-ahead meal.

When the rice is boiled it may look over cooked – don’t worry! The Arborio will still be firm.

I thought my cooled rice mixture looked “loose”, like it might be too moist, but I was happy to find that the mixture held together once it was in the hot saute pan and the patties could be gently turned.

I ran out of panko about half way through cooking – so I substituted regular store bought plain breadcrumbs that I seasoned with a little salt, to coat the remaining patties – this worked just as well.

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If you’re looking for a new cookbook to spice up your kitchen (haha) – I highly recommend Ina’s newest. It’s so straightforward and many of the recipes can be assembled ahead. She’s even included a list of foods that can be served with drinks (like for a get-together with friends) that don’t require any cooking at all.

I look forward to trying many more recipes from this book!

Now, are you in the mood for even more comfort food?

Ginny is serving up homemade pot pies – let’s go see!

Jenn : )

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.

We had friends over and made stew and an apple crostata, drank wine, played Risk and watched one really really really scary movie. We got only about a half dozen knocks on the door from little trick-or-treaters, but they were traveling in large groups this year – I hardly have any candy left. All in all a very enjoyable night!

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again – my orchids are all in bloom. I must be treating them well, as they are loaded with blossoms, pressed up against the windows to gather the light.

Orchid

Violet

Christmas Cactus

Can you believe that it’s November already? Neither can I.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who visited my shop this past month. I’m thrilled that so many of my needlebooks and taskets will be given as holiday gifts this year.

I’ve added my hand embroidered ornaments to the shop now. If you’re looking to decorate your tree with something made by a real person, topping your gifts with something that can’t be bought in a mall or giving friends a very special handmade gift, I hope you’ll consider these ornaments that I’ve lovingly made. : )

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Jenn : )

Hello everyone!

I’ve had a busy time over here – getting out Issue #1 of my newsletter, shopping for birthday gifts for friends and family over the weekend (now I’ve got to box them up to take to the post office tomorrow) and yesterday I made cupcakes for Josh to take to work with him (Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Ina’s “The Barefoot Contessa Parties!”)

All this time I’ve been working on a secret embroidery project. I’ve been so excited to share it with you, but I’ve been waiting until I had them all finished. So, without further ado, here is my latest project: hand embroidered bookmarks!

Ginger Kitten,

Cinnamon Kitten,

Sugar Kitten,

Pepper Kitten,

& Nutmeg Kitten.

Word-Bot,

Page-Bot,

Type-Bot,

Ink-Bot,

& Chapter-Bot.

I’ve just finished a *huge shop update* – you can check them out in more detail there.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a terrific day!

Best, Jenn : )

Jenn fact: Whenever I make a sale and need to go to the post office, or I need supplies and need to go to Joanns = I walk. Walking is really my main (and sometimes only) form of exercise. And I walk ALOT.

I just recently replaced my sneakers and I was pretty shocked by the difference in condition of the old pair vs the new pair.

(Click on photo for a horrifying close up – eeek!)

See where the heels have worn away? I sure knew when I’d stepped in a puddle!

Poe gives the new pair her seal of approval!

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In other news…

I was very flattered recently to be asked to do an interview by Suzanne (her Etsy shop is BlissCandles).

I hope you’ll check it out *here* and also take a look around her blog: MustLoveEtsy, where Suzanne has interviewed many Etsy artists and craftspeople, who create a variety of handmade items.

A big thanks to Suzanne for inviting me to do this fun interview!

I hope you all have a terrific day!

Jenn : )