Christmas Dinner on Boxing Day.

Christmas was such a happy, happy time.  Like last year, we spent it here in Chicago, enjoying the oddly mild weather and our cozy festive apartment.  Christmas morning we just cozied up in our pajamas, opened presents and ate traditional family Christmas breads (German Braid bread from my side, and Orange Rolls from Alex's!), all while double fisting coffee and champagne.  We celebrated the rest of the day with Brian and Sara and their family, which featured delightful cousins and a delicious Christmas dinner.  

We continued our Christmas festivities with a yummy dinner on St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day).  I love making fancy dinners, and what better time for one than during the Christmas season!  It was so fun to come up with a menu and pick out wines to go with each course.  (Thanks to Alex and his watching Evangeline nearly all day, this dinner turned out quite successfully!)

First Course

Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Second Course

Seared Scallop Salad with Haricots Verts and Truffle Oil

Third Course

Sweet Citrus and Herb Bouquet-Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Orange Marmalade Glaze

Asparagus

 Nutmeg and Black Pepper Popovers

Fourth Course

I intended to make a Berry Pavlova for dessert, but we had eaten so many sweets during the days previous that neither Alex or I wanted any more sugar, so we just ended up eating leftover Orange Rolls from Christmas Day.

Seared Scallop Salad with Haricots Verts and Truffle Oil (adapted from a 2000 Bon Appetit recipe--I couldn't find truffle oil anywhere, so I substituted truffle flavored olive oil!)

2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar

1 tablespoons minced shallot

2 tablespoons truffle flavored olive oil

3 ounces haricots verts or other slender green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch lengths

2 handfuls baby kale greens

4 large sea scallops

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Mix vinegar and shallot in small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper. Cook haricots verts in medium pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Refresh under cold running water.

Mix kale and 1 tablespoons vinaigrette in medium bowl; toss to combine. Let stand 20 minutes. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle scallops with curry powder. Add to skillet and cook 3 minutes; turn over and cook until almost opaque in center, about 2 minutes longer. 

Mound half of kale mixture in center of each plate.  Using half of haricots verts for each plate, place haricots verts atop kale. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over haricots verts and scallops. Place 2 scallops on top of each plate. Sprinkle salads with chives.

Nutmeg and Black Pepper Popovers (from Bon Appetit)

Whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisk 3 large eggs and 2 1/2 cups whole milk in a large bowl until well blended. Gently whisk in flour mixture, followed by 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (do not overmix). 

Preheat oven to 425°. Melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; grease 12 standard muffin cups with 1/2 teaspoons melted butter each. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins, filling cups three-quarters full and dividing equally. Bake popovers until puffed, golden brown, and crispy around edges, 30-35 minutes. Using a thin knife or an offset spatula, remove popovers from pan. Serve immediately.

Sweet Citrus and Herb Bouquet-Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Orange Marmalade Glaze (from The Cozy Apron)

(Serves 4)

4 cornish game hens (roughly 1 ½ lbs each), rinsed and dried off

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed down

16 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 lemons, sliced into 8 thin slices

2 small oranges, sliced into 8 thin slices

Orange Marmalade Glaze 

Orange Marmalade Glaze:

½ cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Add the orange marmalade and the orange juice to a small pot set over medium-low heat, and stir to incorporate; once the mixture comes to the simmer, reduce the heat to low, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 10-12 minutes, until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally; once reduced, strain the mixture into a small bowl, and allow it to cool for about 20-25 minutes (it will also thicken up slightly) before using to glaze the hens.

---

Season and stuff the hens 24-48 hours in advance, and refrigerate until an hour before roasting time. Prepare the cornish game hens by liberally seasoning them, both inside the cavity and out, with the sea salt (about 1 tablespoons worth), the freshly cracked black pepper and the Italian seasoning.  Next, prepare your herb bouquets by dividing the small bunch of flat-leaf parsley into 4 portions; add to the parsley about 4 sprigs of the fresh thyme and 1 sprig of the fresh rosemary, and tie the herb bouquet into a little bundle with some string, just to help the bouquets to stay together.  Stuff one bouquet into the cavity of each hen, then stuff 2 slices of lemon and 2 slices of orange into the cavity as well; and place the hens on a wire rack, breast side up.

Preheat oven to 375; line a baking sheet with foil, and place a wire rack onto the baking sheet.

Before placing the hens into the oven, brush some of the Orange Marmalade Glaze all over each hen (save some glaze to apply during the roasting). Now place the hens into the oven to roast on the lower-middle rack. After about 20 minutes, brush some more of the glaze over the hens, then continue to roast. After another 20 minutes, brush the hens with more glaze, then continue to roast for another 20-35 minutes, depending on the size of the hens. The total roasting time for the hens should be approx. 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the internal temp reads 160° when inserted into the thigh and the juices run clear.   Once roasted, remove the hens from the oven, and allow them to rest for about 10-15 minutes; serve the hens while hot, one whole hen per person, with additional slices of fresh citrus for garnish, if you desire.

Vegan Donuts.

Note: I usually spell doughnuts "doughnuts," because I really feel like the "ough" is so rich and decadent, just like doughnuts ought to be.  But there's something just so...non-vegan about the spelling of "doughnut".  Therefore, these deserve to be spelled "donuts".  Not because I'm slighting them, but because they're of a rather different category than the traditional doughnut. 

My sister-in-law Emily went vegan for about a month or so and insisted that I go try Lux's vegan donut.  Honestly, I was a little wary, but it turned out to be quite the enjoyable experience.  

It was definitely a very different type of donut--it was a very similar taste and texture to a donut muffin: light, fluffy, crumbly, not dense or doughy. (Apparently these donuts are covered in vegan butter and then cinnamon sugar--after barraging Emily with a thousand questions, I still really don't know what "vegan butter" is supposed to be...but it was pretty darn tasty on these donuts.)  

I asked Alex what he thought and he said they were "good" but that he didn't pay too much attention to them.  I suppose I don't have the most solid definitive review either.  Basically, I enjoyed them.  In no way were they gross.  In fact they were very yummy (like everything Lux bakes).  But I'm reticent to give a more glowing review because the taste wasn't the most memorable for me.  In fact, the most memorable part was that they were vegan.  

But gosh, were they pretty.  And overall, very delicious eaten with an almond milk latte and sweet potato egg bake...Thanks Emily!    

October Snapshots.

Oh, October.  You are so lovely with your crisp, golden days distracting from the inevitable winter.  Please come back...
 

//Some recipe links to go along with some of those pictures//
divine crackly banana bread
bread-pudding-pancakes
super yummy apple galette
peach and blueberry pie

Late Night Doughnuts.

Oh, doughnuts, doughnuts.  The perfect autumn breakfast (...and lunch...and dinner).  Making your own doughnuts really isn't that difficult, and what better activity to do on a cold fall night?  We made these Sour Cream Old Fashioned doughnuts from Handle the Heat a few nights ago, and they really were divine.  (There may or may not have been a few hot, angry tears shed when the last crumb was devoured...)

Here's the recipe, transcribed for ease.  I just did a vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk glaze (with a little sea salt!), which worked just as well.

DOUGHNUTS:

2 1/4 cup (255 grams) cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 2 large egg yolks 1/2 cup sour cream Canola oil, for frying

GLAZE:

3 1/2 cup (350 grams) powdered sugar, sifted 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup hot water

In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until sandy. Add the egg yolks and mix until light and thick. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream, ending with the flour. The dough will be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use a doughnut cutter or two differently sized biscuit cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible, dipping the cutters into flour as necessary to prevent sticking. You should get about 12 doughnuts and holes.

Pour 2 inches of canola oil into a heavy bottomed pot with a deep-fry thermometer attached. Heat to 325°F. Fry the doughnuts a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry on each side about 2 minutes, being careful not to let them burn. Let drain on a paper bag to soak up the excess grease.

For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk until smooth. Immerse each doughnut into the glaze. Place on a wire rack above a sheet pan to catch any excess glaze. Let sit for 20 minutes until glaze is set.

Here is a picture of a super cute baby, and one of some beautiful golden leaves in Giddings Square, because I know you probably won't mind.  

Lazy Bread.

At the thought of baking bread, a whimsical and pleasant image arises, usually involving flour covered aprons and milkmaid braids.  There's something so earthy and natural and wholesome about bread baking.  These thoughts make me long to attend Kneading Conferences  and be a hip, down-to-earth, linen-clad member of a 'Grain Alliance'.   But then I remember, honestly, that I really don't like making bread.  I think it's the kneading...and the waiting for the bread to rise, punching down, and waiting again, and, dear goodness, the dough between my fingers and under my nails that just won't go away.  Ultimately, my distaste for the art crops up to my own impatience and finickiness.  I'd rather spend my time baking pies and mixing cocktails.  I guess I'll never be on the cover of Kinfolk.

However.  

Lately, I'm very skeptical of all the preservatives, additives, and "dough enhancers" found in grocery store breads (dough enhancer is not a secret baker's term for yeast).  I know, I know, old news.  They've been there for decades.  But bread is a probably my second favourite food group, and I don't like the thought of all that stuff going into my body at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  So a little while back, I began buying Ezekiel bread.  But after a while, even though my stomach said "yum yum," I felt a little guilty about spending 4+ dollars on a loaf of bread.  Enter personal dilemma.  But then I remembered that I a while back I pinned a recipe for World's Easiest Bread on Pinterest-Land-of-Rarely-Realized-Dreams.  

So I took a look at the recipe, and it has changed my life.  Exeunt personal dilemma.  As it turns out, I can bake bread without having to be covered with sticky dough.  But more importantly, I don't have to be wondering every time I swallow that carb-y deliciousness "hmmm, what's in this?" 

Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon Instant or Rapid-rise yeast (I use regular yeast--just use hot water so that it proofs)

1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until it comes together.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours.   Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes (I suppose you can probably do this with bread pans if you want a more traditional shape...I'm going to try to bake the current batch this way).  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. 

I love that I can mix the ingredients together, go to bed, and then have fresh baked bread an hour after I get up in the morning!  It's nothing special, but for basic, easy, no-effort-required bread, I'm very satisfied.  Enjoy!  

Holy Donut.

Before leaving Maine, we stopped at The Holy Donut, a Portland treasure, and good enough to grace at least one of the thousand "best donut shops in the nation" lists.  Are we sure glad we did.

  

Apparently these doughnuts are made with potatoes.  This is what gives them such a soft, moist, bread-y texture.  Who knew the humble potato would be the secret ingredient in the Best Doughnuts in the Land?  (Well, I think they are the best...If I had to rank, I'd give them a 10/10.  Al gives them an 8/10.  This is pretty good: his highest ranked goes to the Doughnut Vault with "9.something/10".  I suppose he hasn't found his Beatrice Doughnut yet.)  

This was our selection: an old fashioned, a chocolate sea salt, a berry cannoli, and a holy cannoli.  Oh, the deliciousness.  Rich, yet light.  Sweet, yet mellow.  Perfect combinations of flavors that sent us reeling from their freshness.  Yum yum--they were truly exquisite.  I really can't bear to think about them any longer.  

Don't mock us for how many we ate.  There were three of us (Evangeline basically ate two herself), and we did go straight from the doughnut shop to the airport.  The only thing to make you even the least bit happy about cramped legs for four point five hours is the fact that you might have four of the most delicious doughnuts in the world, and definitely the best snacks on the plane.   

Next time we're in Maine, we just might have to go in and buy the whole shop.  

Mastering the Art of French Baking, among other things.

Since Evangeline has not yet decided that being born is a good idea, I've been keeping myself occupied with other things...such as obsessively cleaning the apartment, whitening our sheets with natural non-bleach whitening techniques, reorganizing the pantry, and covering furniture scratches with this blessed concoction.  I actually really enjoy these sorts of productive activities--they give my life some semblance of order, which, these days, I feel has been tremendously lacking.  

// Fun Things To Do (Even with a Belly of Monstrous Size) //

40 weeks.

Get nails did.  

I snagged a sweet groupon which got me a manicure/pedicure with lavender paraffin wax (which was just heavenly).

I've never been good about caring for my feet, but I think I may start seeing as when the lady who did my toes saw mine she sighed and remarked, "I can see you haven't gotten this done in a very long time..." 

Go to Millennium Park for free outdoor concerts.  

Alex and I went to their first concert on Wednesday evening and I was so happy we went (he'd been so excited about it).  The highlight of the concert was Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, and it was phenomenal.

Master the Art of French Baking.  

I made this chocolate almond cake courtesy of Julia Child, which, let's just say, is sinfully delicious.  

(Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)

Ingredients

For the cake:
• 4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons rum or coffee
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (132 grams) + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs, separated
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup (35 grams) almond flour/meal
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup (57 grams) cake flour, sifted
For the icing:
• 4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 tablespoons rum or coffee
• 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Slivered almonds, for garnish

Instructions

To make the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Combine the chopped chocolate and coffee or run in a small bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir as the chocolate melts and remove from heat as soon as it's smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and 2/3 cup sugar until pale and creamy. Add the 3 egg yolks and beat until thick. Add the cooled melted chocolate. Stir in the almond extract and almond meal/flour and mix until just combined.
4. In a separate bowl and with a whisk attachment, whip the 3 egg whites and salt on high speed until foamy. Slowly add the tablespoon of sugar and whip to stiff peaks.
5. Add 1/4 of the whipped egg whites to the batter and fold gently until combined. Add and fold in the remaining whites in 3 additions, alternating with the sifted cake flour. Fold only until the streaks of egg whites disappear, do not overmix.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake until the edges are set but the center still jiggles when the pan is bumped, about 25 minutes.
7. Let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to remove cake from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing:
8. Combine the chopped chocolate and coffee or run in a small bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir as the chocolate melts and remove from heat as soon as it's smooth.
9. Add the butter a tablespoon at a time and use a whisk to beat it into the chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
10. Let the icing cool to a spreadable consistency, stirring it every 5 minutes or so. It should take about 15-20 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
11. Spoon the icing on top of the cooled cake and spread it to cover. Garnish with slivered almonds.  

Nostalgie.

Perhaps it is the fact that my in-laws are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in France (!!!), but I have been so longing for France these days...longing for the food, the people, the atmosphere...Oh, I miss it so!  

Here's a recipe for a deliciously light, summery peach and blackberry galette which I made to console myself...

Crust

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbs. sugar

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

3-6 tbs. cold water

Filling

2 ripe peaches

8 oz. blackberries

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

**Note: I should have made an egg wash for the crust (as you can tell in the picture), but I was a wee bit too lazy...

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shortening and cut it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and stir with a fork until the dough is moist enough to gather into a ball.  Roll out dough and place on a cast iron skillet.   

Slice peaches and place in bowl with blackberries.  Add lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch, and mix to combine. 

Pour the filling into the centre of the dough, and fold the sides of the crust over the fruit.  Bake for 40-50 minutes. 

//

And forgive me if I photographically reminisce about my trip to France a few years ago with my sister...

Paris: 

Rouen: 

Dieppe: 

More on Doughnuts...

...we just can't seem to get enough of them.

This past weekend, Alex and I tested out Dinkel's Bakery (within walking distance from our apartment!), a little Lakeview treasure which has been open since 1922.  A full on bakery, they have far more than just doughnuts, which definitely complicated our decision making somewhat...in the end we ordered a raspberry "kolacky," a maple bacon doughnut, and a regular old old-fashioned.  Mm. A+.  The maple bacon was divine--better than Glazed and Infused's (which definitely skimped on the bacon a little...).  The old-fashioned was lighter than both those from the Doughnut Vault and Firecakes (as I've mentioned, I'm a sucker for super dense doughnuts), but it was less sweet than it's competitors, which I enjoyed.  And the kolacky...well, it's hard to go wrong with a fruit filled pastry. Yum yum.

Ambiance-wise, it doesn't have the same "cool kid" appeal as the downtown doughnut shops, with its pink signs and fondant-covered cakes in the window.  However, the delicious doughnuts and nice sunny outdoor seating definitely will be bringing us back.

Sing a Song of Sixpence.

Awakening this morning to a dreary mist of rain outside our windows for yet another day, I felt that something warm and cozy and delicious was needed to counteract the gloom.

It didn't take much effort to come up with the answer: pie.  What is more comforting than a warm, tart, drippy berry pie?

I loosely based my on this recipe from Food & Wine, but I'll share my version here, as it turned out to be really lovely.

Crust

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tbs. sugar

1 c. vegetable shortening

5 tbs. cold water

Filling

1 pint blackberries

1 pint blueberries

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 tbs. flour

1 tbs. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375°.  

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shortening and cut it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and stir with a fork until the dough is moist enough to gather into a ball.  Roll out dough and place in pie plate.  

Mix together the berries, sugar, flour, spices, and lemon juice, and then pour into the rolled out pie crust.  Place the top crust over the filling and crimp edges. 

Bake the pie for 50 minutes to an hour, until the fruit is bubbly.  

Eat whenever you want (the original recipe wanted us to wait 4 hours?  Nonsense!).  It will be delicious no matter what.  

my makeshift rolling pin.

the little sprigs of green peeking out in the previous photo are the delightfully whimsical tendrils of our rosemary plant.  

                   

oh, so perfectly drippy.