Stoneview

Lately I’ve been making this banana thing as a dessert or snack. Cut up a banana and sprinkle over 2 teaspoons chocolate chips, 1 1/2 teaspoons grated unsweetened coconut, and 1 1/2 teaspoons nuts. Microwave 30 seconds.

We had a light dinner yesterday of shrimp and vermicelli. For a sauce I mixed sesame oil, low sodium soy sauce, the juice of a lime, crushed red pepper flakes, and  minced garlic. I poached the shrimp in salted water just until they turned pink, served the atop the cooked noodles and sprinkled with sliced green onions, black sesame seeds and torn fresh mint. Yum!

Yesterday turned out to be quite a busy day as Daniel woke up with a sore throat and a fever of 101.5 so there was a lot of scheduling, rescheduling and doctor visiting to do. He’s got the flu and most kids are running fever for 4 or 5 days so I guess he’ll miss a fair amount of school this week. The postman left my copy of Book Book Book #3- can’t wait to read some of that!

Since Chris was home for spring break we celebrated my birthday early and had a nice meal at lunch time just before he left to head back to the grindstone. The cake was a bit of a rush job and the frosting was still a bit soft but it tasted lovely. This is from the May 06 Fine cooking.

Fancy layer cake

2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces room temperature unsalted butter
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour two round cake pans, tapping out any excess flour. Sift together the dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and blend these into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the vanilla and milk and beat on medium-high for 60 seconds until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and mix a few seconds more. Divide batter into each of the two prepared pans. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes in the pans then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Buttercream frosting

5 large egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

With a mixer set to medium-high, whisk the egg whites and salt until foamy. Sprinkle in 6 tablespoons sugar and beat until almost stiff peaks but not quite. In a small saucepan, bring remaining sugar and syrup just to a boil. Remove from heat and turn mixer on again. Stream in the sugar syrup at the edge of the bowl, and continue to beat another 5 to 7 minutes or until just above room temperature. With the mixer still running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until it is all incorporated. Beat in the chocolate. Chill in the refrigerator until it’s a spreadable consistency, stirring from time to time.

To assemble the cake:
Mix 1 cup seedless raspberry jam with enough Grand Marnier to get a spreadable consistency, about 1/4 cup. Press through a sieve if desired. Cut both layers in half horizontally. Place bottom layer onto cake stand, spread with jam, spread with frosting and repeat for next two layers. Place top layer on and then frost outside of cake. Chill 3 or 4 hours before serving.

For the meal Jason grilled some broccolini that was absolutely delicious. We had salmon mousse on cucumbers for an appetizer and the main course was this yummy stuffed pork roast I’d seen on Martha earlier in the week.

Fennel stuff pork roast

1/2 cup light miso
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup orange marmalade
salt and pepper
center cut pork loin roast, butterflied
olive oil
1/4 pound slab bacon
1 medium bulb fennel, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 sprigs fresh tarragon
1 clove minced garlic
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons sweet vermouth
juice of a lemon
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
zest of an orange

Preheat oven to 475 F. Stir together miso, 1/2 cup lemon juice and marmalade in a shallow baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve 1/2 cup for later. Add the meat to the baking dish and marinate for 15 minutes, turning to coat. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until fat is rendered. Add fennel and onion and cook about ten minutes or until fennel is softened. Add tarragon and garlic, cook another 60 seconds. Discard tarragon sprigs. Stir in sugar and vermouth. Cook, stirring, until liquid is nearly gone. Add juice of a lemon, red pepper and fennel seeds and cook until liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, stir in zest.

Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper and spread filling mixture over the meat. Roll up tightly and tie with kitchen twine every inch or two. Rub roast with olive oil and bake until brown, 20-25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F. and continue baking until internal temperature reaches 130 F.  Increase heat to 500 F; brush roast with reserved marinade and cook another 5 to 8  minutes or until glaze is dark brown. Remove to the stovetop and allow meat to stand 15-20 minutes before carving.

This is my favorite thing to do with leftover baked potatoes. With Chris home on spring break this week there are precious few leftovers to eat for lunch and he’s certainly looking for lunch every day! Here’s what we had today.

Fried potatoes

leftover baked potatoes, diced
salt and pepper to taste
canola oil

Coat the bottom of a nonstick skilled with a little canola oil and heat just to the smoking point. Add your potatoes and seasonings and toss occasionally until very crispy and browned. If you have any leftover meat, dice finely and add just at the end of cooking to heat through.

Today I had a little bacon and chicken leftover from dinner so I cut that into very small dice (there was only a tiny bit) and tossed it in. We had just enough romaine to make a small salad each.

I’m getting set to mail my last Secret Pal package out hence the lack of photos and posts since I can’t show what I’m making other than these delicious cookies.  She said she likes chocolate so I’ve done some chocolatey nut filled cookies that ought to travel well. There are plenty leftover for hungry college students on spring break and hungry teenagers getting home from school.

Walnut Pistachio Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 2/3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 cups walnuts
1 cup pistachios

Cream the butter in the bowl of a mixer until soft. Add the sugar and mix until well blended, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat until thoroughly incorporated. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cocoa and salt. Chop the nuts in the bowl of a food processor by pulsing until pieces are the size of large peas. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and pulse the mixer just until everything begins to come together. Turn out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and press together forming a 6 x 6-inch square about 1 1/2-inches thick. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice dough square into 4 equal logs and slice each log into cookies about 1/4-inch thick. Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 400 F.

While I was out yesterday I stopped at Idylwilde to pick up some salad fixin’s and took a peek to see if they also had the tilapia I needed for dinner. There was no tilapia but the Canadian salmon looked wonderful and I picked up a few pieces for dinner. Normally I find salmon a bit fishy and choose Arctic char instead but these were just gorgeous. I seasoned with salt and pepper and dusted very lightly with flour, tapping the excess off and then browned them 5 minutes on each side in a smoking hot pan with some canola oil. Fish perfection if I do say so myself. On the side are some simple steamed carrots and sugar snap peas with a touch of butter and some seasoning. A little toasted bread and dinner was complete. Sometimes all you need is simple!