Paella Part 2

I made paella yesterday using my mom's 33 year old paella pan. My mother had never made paella in this pan and has only used it once, no doubt to serve fruit. This enamel covered cast iron pan is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It held the heat really well and was wide enough to cook a paella for 4 people. I didn't take any pictures as I was in a hurry to eat and go out, but rest assured that this pan is awesome.




I am totally getting into cookware. Ever since watching Julie and Julia last week I want a set of Le Creuset cookware in the fabulous orange called Flame (I also love the turquoise called Caribbean- but would want a matching set in either colour). Even though these lovely casserole dishes and pans are expensive they are lovely and apparently hold the heat and cook very evenly. I know what I'll be asking for for Christmas for the next 10 years.

Poached Egg

Another Julie and Julia post, I followed Julia's tips to making the perfect poached egg. IT WORKED! The last time I tried to make a poached egg it was a yolk with stringy satellite whites floating in the water. This time I only had a few satellite whites but overall it came out great. I didn't take a picture of it, cause I ate it for breakfast. Basically the technique involves bringing the water to a boil and then reducing it to a simmer. This helped as the boiling water broke up the whites the last time I made poached. I used a wooden spoon to gently move the white over the yolk and removed it after 10 minutes with a slotted spoon. LOVELY!

Jamaican Beef Patties

Before I discuss the patties I need to gush about the movie Julie and Julia. Wonderful movie. It not only made me want to cook, go to cooking school and return to Paris, but it made me want to use butter in every meal. I came home and made braised apples in butter to go with my pork chop. Julie and Julia is sweet and lovely and I want to watch it again and again. Even though I'm not a fan of French cuisine, I am inspired to look through my cookbooks for French inspired recipes. Everyone should see the movie.


I found this recipe while flipping channels one day. I came across Canadian Living Cooks and they were making pocket food. The patties caught my eye as they were an afternoon snack everyday during grade 5 and 6. I made cocktail sized patties, but easily could have made larger ones. There is one problem with this recipe... the patties didn't last long enough. I made them for my father on his birthday and by the end of the night, the entire batch was gone.

Ingredients

DOUGH

• 2 c All-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 ts Baking powder
• 1 ts Curry powder
• 1/2 ts Tumeric
• 1/2 ts Salt
• 2/3 c Shortening
• 1/4 c Butter or margarine
• 1/3 c (approx) ice water

FILLING

• 2 ts Vegetable oil
• 1 sm Onion, chopped
• 3 Green onions
• 2 Cloves, garlic, minced
• 1/4 ts Cayenne pepper
• 1 lb Ground beef
• 1 tb Curry powder
• 1 ts Dried thyme
• 1/2 ts Tumeric
• 1/4 ts Salt
• 1/4 ts Pepper
• 1 c Water
• 1/2 c Fresh bread crumbs

Instructions

DOUGH: In large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, curry powder, tumeric, and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until crumbly. Drizzle in water, stirring with fork and adding up to 2 tb more water if necessary, to make a soft dough. Form into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.*(Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 weeks.)*

FILLING: In skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook onion, green onions, garlic and cayenne pepper for 3 minutes or until softened. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Over high heat, saute beef for 5 minutes or until no longer pink; drain off fat. Return onion mixture to pan along with curry powder, thyme, tumeric, salt and pepper; cook for 3 minutes over medium heat.

Pour in water; bring to a boil. Add crumbs; simmer for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened but still juicy. Let cool. *(Can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)* Divide dough into 16 pieces. On floured pastry cloth and using stockinette-covered rolling pin, roll out each piece into 5-inch circle. Brush edges of top half with water; place 2 heaping tbsp of filling in the centre. Fold in half, pressing edges together with fork to seal. Prick twice; place on ungreased baking sheet. *(Patties can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)* Bake in 375 F oven for about 20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Source: Canadian Living Magazine Feb/93

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

When I found out that I couldn't eat cow's milk products because I can't metabolize milk fat, I thought my days of eating/making cheesecake were over. Four years later I realized that there is no reason why I couldn't make cheesecake with a different soft cheese. So I googled it and found one recipe that seemed easy enough to make without much difficulty. I tried it and added cheery pie filling on top because Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Rosemary Pears sounds great, but I LOVE cherry pie filling! The only problem I had with this recipe was the crust. The recipe called for 32 graham crackers and 1/2 cup of ground almonds. This made the crust almost as thick as the cheese filling. The next time I make this recipe I will reduce the graham crakers to about 20.

Coconut Cake

This cake was made for my father's golf association bbq. I used 2 boxes of vanilla cake mix (one for each layer) and added two handfuls of sweetened coconut to each batch along with a tablespoon of coconut extract. I used Martha Stewart's lemon curd recipe for the filling but used coconut milk instead of lemon juice and opmited the zest while adding cocounut extract. The filling tasted delicious. I made buttercream icing spiked with coconut extract. I tried to make it look like a golf green but the green sanding sugar got away from me. I would have liked the cake to have looked more porfessional, but at least it tasted good.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Bobby Flay's Buttermilk Biscuits

They are always delicious. I don't use buttermilk, instead i mix soy milk with a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and it does the trick. These biscuits are good with breakfast, on a picnic with fried chicken, or anytime you want soft buttery goodness.

Toad in the Hole

Jamie Oliver's Toad in the Hole- his looks great.

I made Jamie Oliver's Toad in a Hole. This recipe combines two of my favourite things, hot Italian sausages and Yorkshire pudding. Although mine did not look as great as Jamie's did, it tasted pretty good. The only thing i would do differently would be to put it in a wider, shallower pan so that there would be more crunchy parts.

My Toad in the Hole