A Lesson In Patience - Valentines Day Cake Pops

 

 

 

 

I was at Rylees Ace Hardware on Michigan Avenue recently to demonstrate how to make Cake Pops.  You say a hardware store?  Well owner Lori  has an entire kitchen area in her flagship store.  It’s rather lovely, and unique.  I always tell our guests you never know what you’ll find going on at Rylees Ace Hardware!

 

This time it was Cake Pops. Now this is not a particularly difficult process, but it is time consuming.  You have to have patience.  The chocolate or coating has to be just the right consistency, you have to wait for it to dry (unless you want sprinkles, then it has to be “tacky” enough) and you must be organized.

There are lots of ways to go about this and there are hundreds of “how to’s” on out there. 

Let’s cut to the chase.

1.  Bake a cake and cool it completely (I used a normal box cake and got over 3 dozen cake drops/pops). A friend suggested finding a full baked discounted cake and mixing it together, to save a few steps.  Brilliant idea!

2.  Mix in 1 can of prepared frosting

3.  Chill completely

4.  Using a small (I used a #70 truffle scoop) scoop – get them all out, roll them up and place them in the refrigerator to chill – once again

 

5. If making “pops” – get a piece of Styrofoam and cover it with aluminum or clear wrap – so you can  use it over and over again.

 

6.  Melt your coating, following package directions – I used almond candy bark and chocolate couverture, I like the couverture because it gives a high glossy finish.  If you need to “thin” out – use a bit of Crisco.  It will help melt evenly through your coating.

7.  For “pops” swirl a bit of coating around the tip of the stick and place it into your “pop” and once again place in the fridge for firming up.

8.  Now you are ready to coat!  I always use a small amount of coating, this way if it gets gooey, gummy or stuff in it, you’re not wasting a lot of dollars on chocolate!

9.  Once you dip the cake drops/pops make sure that you let the excess coating drip off.

10.  Place in the Styrofoam or on parchment paper, and then wait once again for it to dry.  If you’re using sprinkles, now’s the time, before it gets hard!

11.  Finally – you can enjoy.

 

I placed some cake pops in individual wrappers, in a ball jar, as a gift.  They are easy to make, and fun.

 

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

 

 

Last Saturday, February 1, 2014 I had the incredible opportunity to cook with a group of Moms.  We get together about once a year, spearheaded by my good friend Barb who “mentors” the group.  Actually, I think it’s just a reason to get together and have fun!( By the way the  “official” name of the group is Koinonia a Biblical Greek word meaning Christian community). We needed to get together; West Michigan has been under a “polar vortex” which translates to – Michigan Winter!  It has been cold, dreary, and little sunshine!  Of course we were under blizzard warnings – but only got 6” of snow!  Not enough to stop us ladies from getting together!

We cook together; simple food, fun food and satisfying food.  There are lots of laughs and this time a few tears due to a personal loss of a member’s mother but we had hugs all around – smiles all around – sharing all around.

I’ll admit, it’s not easy to please everybody in this crowd, there are a ton of food likes, dislikes, and the occasional, “I’m not touching that!” The goal is to introduce a few great ideas, and talk about ways to help busy moms with food!

This year, I became a bit brave, and reached out to my friends at Tecumseh Smart Chicken and Susan Boeck!  I was hoping for a few magazines, or an apron, or well I’m not really good at asking for donations.  Susan is a very warm hearted individual, and her company, well they donated all of the chicken! 

 

It came packed, on ice, in two big boxes, and to say the least, I was doing happy yippy skippy dances!  What an opportunity to showcase how important knowing where your food comes from, and that humanely raised poultry is available. 

Our Menu was easy:

Warm Goat Cheese with pepper jelly & crackers

Spinach Salad with pomegranate, grapes, and avocado, and home made lemon vinaigrette

 

Lemon Rosemary Roasted whole chickens

Roasted Root Vegetables

 

 

and Truffles (though I will admit, they didn’t set up in time, and we ate them by the spoonful!)

 

Roasting a whole chicken is sometimes daunting to people.  I know that a lot of chef’s work at this “simple” meal to perfect it over a lifetime. 

I took the time to brine my chicken, though with the Smart Chicken, I probably wouldn’t have had to.  It’s important once you take the chicken out of a brine (or any other cut of meat) to dry it off, otherwise you’ll steam the chicken!  I like crispy skin!

I showed the group how to remove the wishbone before roasting, and we talked about how that makes it easier for carving – a trick that I used in culinary school! 

We then stuffed it with a lemon, cut in half (after we removed the zest and some of the juice for our salad dressing) added some fresh rosemary, trussed them up, placed them on top of some celery to raise them off the cookie sheet, drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil (evoo), salt and pepper then  put them in a 400 degree oven.  Normally, I’d probably roast them at a little lower temperature, but these birds were huge, and I was hungry!

 

We then got to cutting up root vegetables including potatoes, parsnips, onions, carrots and sweet potatoes.  We then layered them on sheet pans with a bit of evoo and salt and pepper and into the ovens they went.  Root veggies tend to caramelize and the sugars come out, and well you sometimes don’t need much more!

 

Onto the salad we went, opening a pomegranate, mixing up a fresh vinaigrette, and showing how to open up an avocado!  All in the guise of having fun, but learning a bit.

 

It wasn’t long before we started smelling the chicken.  It takes about 15 minutes per pound, so we had about 5 pound chickens – about 1 hour and they were done!  You can check the doneness several ways; an internal meat thermometer at 165°, or the juices running clear, or the drumstick wiggles!  We did all three!

The hard part, letting it rest before we got to carving!  About 15 minutes, a very long 15 minutes I might add!

I showed them how to carve a chicken, and let anyone who wanted to learn, get at it!  Sometimes you just got to dig in, and “hack away” to learn how!

Once it was done, and we placed them on a platter, we pulled out the veggies, got the salad ready, said grace, (by my good friend Barb – a lovely grace it was!) and then we got down to business!  Eating chicken.

It was pretty funny though, everyone had to “pick” a bit of chicken before it got to the table!

All in all a great chicken dinner!

 

Chicken Brine

½ cup	Kosher Salt
¼ cup	Brown Sugar
5 cups	Cold water
8	Garlic cloves peeled, diced
2	Cups orange juice
2	Quarts ice water
1	Spanish onion

 

Place salt, sugar, 2 cups of cold water, garlic and bay leaf in sauce pan.  Bring just to a boil to dissolve the sugar and salt, turn off the heat.  Add the onion, oj, and  cups of water.  Remove from stove, and add the container with ice water.  Mix well, cool until it reaches 40 degrees.  Rinse your chicken with cold water, and dry (this is to remove bacteria and such) place the chicken in a large enough container to hold the brine and the chicken, a small cooler, or a Stock Pot.  When the brine has cooled, pour over the chicken, you may need a weight to keep it covered!  Keep in the brine for 12 – 24 hours.  Remove chicken, and discard the brine.  Dry the chicken thoroughly.

Roast with your favorite seasonings.

 

If you don’t have room in your refrigerator, use a beverage cooler for your brine/chicken!  Works wonderful!

Roast the Chicken in a 350 – 400 degree oven for 15 minutes per pound, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165.  Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes!  Loosely cover with aluminum foil if you wish.

 

Roasted Root Vegetables – 1 – 2 veggies per person!

 

Assorted Veggies:

Carrots

rutabagas

turnips

parsnips

sweet potatoes

potatoes

 

Cut into large, uniform dices

 

2 – 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

 

Toss the veggies in the EVOO and spread on a cookie sheet.  Roast with the chicken for approximately 45 minutes, until fork tender, 

 

 

 

 

Julienne Raw Brussels Sprout Salad

Julienne Raw Brussels Sprout Salad

 

I’m not sure where I got this idea, but it wasn’t original.  It might’ve been a professional chef magazine, or one of my “I’m in love with food” magazines, but I did make it my own.

 

I love Brussels Sprouts, roasted and crunchy, not the “I’ve cooked these in water until they are mush” kind.  I’m a vegetable snob, ask my husband and he’ll let you know, I’ll return a dish to the kitchen, if my veggies are icky! 

I tried to use a small slicer to julienne the sprouts, but gave up and used a knife instead. 

 

Dressing

1 tbs good grained mustard

3 tablespoons honey

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup to ¾ cup EVOO

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all the ingredients together.  Yes this is too much for one salad, but it’ll keep for a few days in the refrigerator!

 

Now for the salad!

1 serving as a vegetarian entrée!

2 cups Brussels sprouts (clean) – julienne or chopped fine – raw

1 cup spinach – julienne
1/4 cup black beans

¼ cup almonds

½ small avocado – diced or smashed however you like it

2 tbs pomegranate arils (that’s seeds!)

1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Feta Cheese crumbles to taste (this is an afterthought – I think it would be wonderful on my salad!)
 

Toss together, and enough dressing to coat, but not drench and enjoy

 

 

Cranberry Sorbet

Cranberry Sorbet

 

Everyone is making cranberries this season, and my mouth is watering.  I buy at least 8 bags to use throughout the year, surprisingly fresh cranberries are hard to find immediately after Thanksgiving and I like to have them throughout the year!  The fresh ones freeze in the bag just as they are and will keep for at least one year- that is, if you don’t eat them up!

Here’s a refreshing way to serve cranberries.  You do need an ice cream machine, if not spread the sorbet mixture in a 9 x 11 pan, and place in the freezer, stirring occasionally until frozen.  Then you can make a GRANITA out of it!  What’s that – well use your fork, and scrape up the mixture – like a frozen ice, and scoop it out – it’s still wonderful!

 

Cranberry Sorbet

4 ½ cups fresh cranberries, washed, drained, stems removed and discard

2 ¼ cups granulated sugar

2 ¼ cups white cranberry juice

1 ½ cups water

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

2teaspoons chopped fresh lime or orange zest

 

Place cranberries, sugar, white cranberry juice water and salt in a 3 ¾ quart saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes, until the berries pop.  Cool 10 – 15 minutes.  Drain cranberries (reserve liquid) and place in a work bowl of a food processor fitted with an “S” blade or a blender.  You may need to do this in two patches.  Add 1 cup cooking liquid and puree until smooth.  Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and pulp; discard seeds and pulp.  Stir in remaining liquid, corn syrup and zest.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 6 hours.

 

Follow the manufacturer’s directions for your machine

 

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

 

I was at the Metro Health Farm Market yesterday with Visser Farms. The last day of the market for 2013!  I’ve mentioned many times how much I love the market days!  I made butternut squash & apple soup, and I so love this recipe.  It’s really a guideline; you can make it your own by adding in more apples, using apple cider instead of broth or water, or by thinning it with a bit of heavy cream, yogurt or sour cream.  Mix up your spices by using paprika, a bit of caynne, or whatever suits your fancy.

 

Start out with a basic mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots

 

Caramelize them with a bit of evoo in the bottom of your pan

Add the apples and butternut squash, a bit of stock, water, or apple cider

 

Simmer, this is the best part, your home will be smelling of Autumn and spices.

When the veggies are “fork tender”  move them to a food processor, blender, food mill or immersion blender and whirl away until smooth.

 

Return to the pan, and let simmer adding in stock, water, or cider to taste.  Make sure you season with S&P and I used Sultan’s Gold by Johnny Secreto!

Dish up and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy it also!

- Tuxedo Junction Catering “a personal chef experience”

Chef Terri Rees

 

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

 

 

Yield: Serves 4-6.

 

Ingredients

•1 medium yellow onion, chopped

•1 rib of celery, chopped

•1 carrot, chopped

•2 Tbsp butter

•1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped

•1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped (squash and apple should be at a 3 to 1 ratio)

•3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegetarian)

•1 cup water

•Johnny Secreto Sultan’s Gold Seasoning to taste

Roasted Chopped Chestnuts for garnish

 

1 Set a large saucepan over medium-high heat and heat the butter for 1-2 minutes. Do not let it turn brown. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes, taking care to turn the heat down if the vegetables begin to brown.

 

2 Add squash, apple, broth and water. Bring to boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until squash and carrots soften. Puree, and return to a clean pot.

3 Add salt and spices to taste, and garnish with chives or parsley.