Oh, right! Food! I bet you came here for a recipe. Here’s another resolution for us: use the slow cooker. We made a super delicious slow cooker pork shoulder for a potluck over the holidays, and it made us remember the biggest time-saving tool in our kitchen arsenal. I’ve got a new friend who is a slow cooker genius, so I’m hoping to try a few of her recipes in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, let’s kick off 2012 with another slow cooker pork recipe – Asian pork ribs.

My only caveat with this recipe is that it only takes 5 hours on low in the slow cooker. I read these types of recipes and they make me instantly crabby because I can’t add everything to the crock at 8 a.m. only to revisit it after work. Luckily, everything can be mixed the night before and if you’re able to stop home at lunch to turn on the crock, they’ll be  ready when you walk in the door after work. Serve with rice and lightly steamed broccoli or a veggie of your liking.

Ingredients

4-5 lbs country pork ribs

1-2 small onions, cut into wedges

2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth or stock

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce (Available in the Asian aisle or at an Asian grocery)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (can be grated with a Microplane but I got a ginger grater for Christmas and it’s pretty awesome for this task)

1 Tbsp garlic, finely minced or run through the garlic press

1 Tbsp cornstarch

red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Note: The marinade can be mixed the night before, but we didn’t pour over the ribs until just before turning on the slow cooker as to not over-marinate. We added the ribs & onions to the crock and put the sauce and the crock on the fridge overnight.

Yield: about 6 servings (with ~4.5 lbs package of ribs)

1. Cut the onions into large wedges. Layer the onions and ribs in the crock of the slow cooker. Add a few grinds of black pepper & red pepper flakes over the top of the ribs (there’s enough salt in the soy sauce and chicken stock that the ribs didn’t need any additional salt).

2. Mix the broth, soy sauce, black bean garlic sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, honey, grated ginger, garlic and cornstarch in a medium bowl and whisk briefly to combine.

3. When you’re ready to turn on the slow cooker, pour the marinade over the ribs and turn the slow cooker to low for 5-6 hours.

4. When the meat is tender and slightly falling off the bone, the ribs are ready to go. They can be removed from the slow cooker, and the sauce can be thickened slightly in a saucepan if you like. We didn’t take the time to do this, but I think the gingery sauce would have been delicious over rice!

A long time friend of mine, another Sarah in fact, asked me what became of my poor, neglected foodie blog the other day. I told her that I had recently stopped neglecting it and just posted a recipe for pumpkin muffins. “I’d like to see some dairy on your blog,” she said. “Cheesecake? Ice cream? I’m looking for inspiration,” I asked. Without hesitation, she replied, “Ice cream. Peppermint.”

Of course, this is me we’re talking about, and anyone who knows me knows I can’t drive to South Dakota for Thanksgiving with just one flavor of ice cream in my cooler of dry ice. Especially when we’re quickly approaching the holidays and thoughts of pumpkin ice cream immediately started dancing in my head. Oh no, friends. We are going to do this up right. We are going to have ourselves a little Holiday Ice Cream Extravaganza.

So I thought we’d ease into this Extravaganza with an ice cream I’ve made before, and my personal holiday favorite – pumpkin. I’m one of those nuts who has been snapping up every can of Libby’s she can find due to the sad, sad pumpkin shortage of the last few years. Now that we’re through those dark days, I suggest we celebrate with a bowl of something that is totally opposite of those silly healthy pumpkin muffins!

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Pumpkin Ice Cream

Adapted from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

Makes approximately 1.5 quarts (~1.5 L)

Note: I have made this before, and I thought the resulting texture was a little…squashy. Other friends have reported that their pumpkin ice cream had no such texture issues. Maybe I’m just picky, but I do recommend pushing the pumpkin through a fine mesh sieve for ultra-smooth ice cream. However, it is a real pain in the butt, and you might try pushing it through in batches rather than the whole can at once.

(I also have some thoughts on the addition of cornstarch and corn syrup  in this recipe which I will discuss at great lengths in a later post. I KNOW YOU’RE SUPER EXCITED.)

Ingredients

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
5 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger (if you try to use fresh it can curdle your cream)
8 oz (240 mL) half and half (or just mix your own – 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream)
1 – 15 oz can of solid pack pumpkin
8 oz (240 mL) heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Special equipment: Fine mesh sieve (optional), ice bath, ice cream maker

Directions

0. Push the pumpkin through a fine mesh sieve. You will lose about an ounce of pumpkin in the process, but I think the texture of the ice cream is improved. A small lump of deep orange and very fibrous, very dry pumpkin will remain, as shown in the photo above.

1. Measure out your spices, separate your eggs, and pour the half and half (or cream/milk mixture) into a medium heavy saucepan. Pour the cream and vanilla into the final bowl set over the ice bath.

2. Heat the half and half over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally. While the half and half is heating, whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium bowl, until the mixture lightens to a pale yellow. (I used a small hand mixer for this step because corn syrup is really difficult to whisk.) Whisk in the spices and cornstarch.

3. Once the half and half has been brought to a simmer, slowly add it to the egg mixture while continuously whisking (with an actual whisk this time). Pour the final custard mixture back into the saucepan.

4. Heat the custard mixture over medium heat until it thickens slightly or coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow to boil, or you will get scrambled eggs! (If you are paranoid about what this means in terms of SCIENCE, you’re aiming for coagulation, not curdling, and eggs have 2 different temperatures where these phases occur. You can use an instant read thermometer as a guide -  you’re shooting for 170-180°F/76-82°C. With practice, you will learn to see, hear, and feel when the custard is adequately thick.)

5. Remove custard from heat and whisk in pumpkin. Pour through another mesh sieve into the cream and vanilla mixture sitting on the ice bath to strain out any bits of egg that curdled, or skip this if you only have one mesh sieve like me. (Or try it with the pumpkiny sieve, only to discover that the sieve is crammed with pumpkin bits and nothing is going to strain through it no matter how hard you try.)

6. Once the custard has cooled on the ice bath, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

7. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Dish up, and enjoy a bit of frozen pumpkin heaven!

Sometimes I like to go on a health kick. I mean, who doesn’t from time to time? With all of the news about how terrible we eat, how fat we are becoming, and that wacky British dude and the First Lady launching nationwide efforts to get our citizenry eat a darn vegetable – sometimes it’s enough to guilt inspire a person to at least try to eat better. (My health kicks, of course, are much to the dismay of my boyfriend, who likes to hide when I start ranting about eating too much meat and not enough vegetables, again.)

That being said, a person cannot live off of salads alone. You can try, but if you’re anything like me, 3 p.m. rolls around and you’re craving something sweet and carb-y to carry you on through dinner time. The last few weeks at work have been great for curbing afternoon snacking, as we have been enjoying the constant drudgery of carting load after load of laboratory and office junk to our new office space via underground tunnel. Now that the busywork of moving has subsided, I find myself back to ye olde “Ugh it’s only 3 and I’m already hungry?!” and I do believe that calls for some muffins.

Have you tried Vitamuffins? In theory, their nutritional specs are pretty good, boasting tons of fiber and protein in a low-calorie muffin-like substance, which makes them all the rage in the health and diet community. I can’t say I’m a fan, although I’ve only tried the blueberry flavor.  In addition to being fairly non-delicious and full of unpronounceable ingredients,  a box of 4 is upwards of $5 at my grocery store! The usual fare at nearby campus coffee shops is not much better – not only are the baked goods on the opposite end of the healthy spectrum, they are also expensive and the varieties never change from week to week.

So, I have found myself pining for this imaginary muffin. Something a little hearty, with spices that match the season, and maybe some nuts or some chocolate to round things out. Something that is not terrible for you, but also doesn’t make you feel deprived when you’re just inches away from raiding the candy machine down the hall. And I think I have found it, thanks to the great folks at King Arthur Flour. These whole wheat pumpkin muffins are the perfect answer to my grandma’s delicious (and sugary-oily-cream-cheesy) pumpkin bars – an autumnal baked good that reminds you pumpkin can actually be good for you, and delicious enough that you will actually want to eat it.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yield: Approximately 12 muffins (I got 12 plus a few mini-muffins with the leftover batter)

Nutrition Info (Approximate, using SparkRecipes calculator) Per Muffin: 145 calories, 4.7 g fat (0.6 g saturated fat), 215 mg sodium, 2.5 g fiber, 3.0 g protein

(Adding 0.5 cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter makes each muffin about 190 cals, 8.5 g fat, 3.0 g fiber, and 4.0 g protein.)

A word on flour: I used whole wheat pastry flour, and I thought the texture of the muffins was excellent. The muffins came out hearty and fluffy, and not too dry or dense like I have experienced when baking with regular whole wheat flour. Try to  find it at Whole Foods, or a natural foods co-op in the bulk aisle, or look for Bob’s Red Mill at your supermarket. (Wheatsfield in Ames is where I get mine.) However, any combo of whole wheat, AP, or even King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat will get the job done.

What to do with the leftover 2/3 cup of pumpkin, you ask? Try a pumpkin smoothie (1/2 banana, handful of ice, milk, plain yogurt, pumpkin and a teaspoon or so of that pumpkin pie spice) or pumpkin overnight oats.

Ingredients

1.5 cups (6.75 oz/191 g) whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, AP flour, or a combination thereof
1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice (Store bought, or make your own, or 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, and 1 tsp ground cinnamon if you just need enough for this recipe)
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs
1 cup (8 oz/225 g) pumpkin
0.5 cup (4 oz/118 mL) milk (I used whole milk)
0.5 cup (4 oz/113 g) packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (ProTip: Measure the oil first and then molasses with the same spoon, the molasses slides right off the spoon!)
1 Tbsp molasses

Optional: About 1/2-1 cup of your choice of bits: toasted walnuts or pecans, raisins, small chunks of apple or dried fruit, chocolate chips.

Directions

0. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C). Grease a regular muffin tin with non-stick spray or line with muffin liners.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, milk, sugar, oil and molasses until well combined.

3. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined. Do not over mix.

4. Optional: fold in nuts, chocolate, etc.

5. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full. Bake at 400 °F (205 °C) for 18-20 minutes (10-12 minutes for mini muffins), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan, and then remove the muffins and cool on a rack. Cool completely and store in an air-tight container.

Muffins will keep at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

The problem is that sourdough starters seem to be these mythical creatures that are only kept by grandmothers of yesteryear, and they’ve kept the same vat going since the Civil War. In order to obtain some starter, you’ve got to know someone who knows someone who knows a grandmother, or you’ll just have to buck the system and try to start your own. I posted on Facebook that I was looking for a mythical grandma with some starter, (obviously the #1 go-to-place for sourdough starters) and I got lots of helpful tips on starting my own from the air, and one friend suggested that I order some dried starter from the internet. It had never occurred to me that you could purchase dried starter – but commercial yeast is dried, and if the starter has been properly preserved, the bacterias should survive as well. She recommended this eBay seller, and for only $6.50 I figured what did I have to lose? Plus, since I started my starter back in February, I didn’t think I’d have much luck catching good yeasties from the air in my cold, dry, cold, cold, dry house. (You can also buy fresh starter from King Arthur Flour.)

My starter came in the mail on a Tuesday, and I decided to start it that night. Seeing as my house gets down to 58 °F during the day and night during the winter, I was worried it would take forever for the yeasties to get going. So I did what any sensible person would do – I tucked the jar of starter in my coat pocket, and took it on the bus with me to work. The building where I work is about 1.3 billion years old, and in the winter the steam radiators that pump out heat constantly. So starting that Wednesday morning, I set my starter on the windowsill next to the radiator, and a bag of flour resided on my desk. Because I am a giant dork.

Sarah’s Starter Lab Notebook

Day 1: At about 9 p.m., I mixed 1/2 tsp of dried starter with 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp water in 8 oz canning jar. Ripped a small square of paper towel, and screwed the jar rim over the paper towel to let it breath. Set near the heat register (in my house) overnight.

Day 2: In the morning the starter was not showing many bubbles. Took it to work, and set on the windowsill near the radiator. In the early afternoon a small patch of dry goop had formed on top of the starter, added 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp water at this point because I was worried it was getting dry. So this was about the 16 hour mark. Checked in the late afternoon, very small bubbles are apparent on the surface and when the starter is gently swirled in the jar. Did not feed again at 24 hour mark.

Day 3: In the morning the dry layer had returned to the top of the starter. The layer was quite a bit larger this time, covering the entire starter, and sticking to the sides. It actually formed a slight dome because of the bubbles underneath! This time I decided to peel the dried patch off the top of the starter. Fed 3 Tbsp flour, 3 Tbsp water. Very obvious yeast and fermented smell from the bacteria (like a brewery) and lots of bubbles! Towards the evening, the starter wasn’t doing much, so I threw away about 3-4 Tbsp of the starter and added another 2 Tbsp flour + 2 Tbsp water. The starter doubled quickly – within an hour, so it must have been hungry.

Day 4: When starter has calmed down, consistency is much more runny, it has very small bubbles, and the yeast smell is more apparent over the sour smell from the bacteria. (The sour smell is a little more developed now – yesterday it was more like a brewery, today it is a little more like a fermenting apple, neither of which are bad smells in my opinion!) Kept just 1 Tbsp of the starter in the jar, and added 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp water. Starter had doubled after about 3.5 hours. The instructions say not to feed your starter before it has reached its peak, because that will make for a weaker starter. Let it sit another hour before dumping all but 1 Tbsp of starter again, this time I added 2 Tbsp flour, 2 Tbsp water. Starter doubling pretty rapidly again, already doubled after 3 hours. Hopefully starter will double by the evening, and I can start a loaf of bread! The recipe I am looking at calls for 2/3 cup of starter, so this afternoon’s feeding I will give more flour. (I only ended up with 1/3 cup that night, enough for 1 loaf. It continued to bubble away vigorously over the weekend and I had several cups by the following Monday.)

(Some people will say you should let your starter go for a week or two before using it, but I figure what do you have to lose! Except some flour. My first loaf of bread from that weekend was successful, but subsequent loaves have had a better texture.)

This is called expanding the starter, for the first loaf of bread that I made. Basically the wet starter becomes part of a stiffer bread dough. Later these pieces are cut up and incorporated into more flour, water and salt for making a traditional sourdough loaf.

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I started my starter about two months ago, and I’ve been keeping it in the fridge and feeding it about twice weekly – tossing all but 1/4 cup and feeding it with 1/2 cup flour and slightly less than 1/2 cup water.  After my first few loaves, and some sourdough pizza dough, I decided to give sourdough English muffins a try. These little buns are surprisingly easy and fun to make, and the finished product is nothing short of fantastic.

I’ve wanted to make English muffins for a while, but the Alton Brown recipe I was familiar with required metal rings (fashioned from tuna cans or purchased) to mold the muffins on the griddle because of the very wet dough. I am not a canned tuna aficionado, so I was happy to find a recipe that used a somewhat stiffer dough which allows the muffins to be griddle-baked without assistance.

This recipe comes from Clotilde, who is having a lot of fun with her own little sourdough starter friend named Philémon. (I think that all sourdough starters should have clever nicknames. I’m trying to think of one for mine!) The dough comes together quickly, and it is soft and somewhat reminiscent of a certain pretzel dough from the bit of butter and sugar in the mix. I was able to complete these in an evening – and depending on the activity level of your sourdough starter (and when you start the muffins), you may or may not have to fridge them overnight before the second rise. Subsequent batches I have let fridge overnight, and I do think it allows the flavor to develop a little more. Luckily a bit of commercial yeast ensures they will rise eventually!

I think griddle temperature is probably the most crucial thing here – a careful balance between efficient internal cooking and slow surface browning is key. The muffins are finished in the oven for 6-8 minutes after the griddle to ensure the interiors are cooked through. My first batch browned a little too quickly in the griddle, and needed just a few extra minutes in the oven to make sure everything was cooked in the center. They won’t brown much more in the oven, so you have a little wiggle room with your first batch!

I wasn’t going to sample one of these right after they came out of the oven, since it was already after 10:30 p.m. when I got around to baking them, but the slightly sweet smell from the honey in the dough and the cornmeal on the griddle – well, I just had to check to make sure the crumb was right? For science? And then I danced around the kitchen for a moment after splitting open the first muffin – success! Craggy and chewy and crumby, and a flavor that goes above and beyond anything I’ve bought at the store. So give these a whirl, for the sake of science if nothing else.

Sourdough English Muffins

Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini

Makes 6-8 muffins, depending on how big you make them. Doubles or triples with ease, and your friends will love you forever if you tuck 4 of them in a quart-sized zip-top bag and bring them over to share!

These keep for a week or more in the fridge, and will probably freeze well although I have not yet tried freezing. Fork-split before toasting – stab the fork tines all around the middle of the bun and split to get the craggy interior crumb.

Ingredients

8.5 oz (about 250 g) bread flour, or a combination of 1/3 white whole wheat flour and 2/3 bread flour (Feel free to experiment with this ratio)

3 oz (85 g) ripe sourdough starter, fed 12-24 hours before if you store it in the fridge (6-8 hours before if you store it on the counter, Clotilde has a picture in another post.)

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast (SAF Instant or Red Star Bread Machine/Rapid Rise Yeast, not active dry)
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp butter , softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk plus more if needed (You can also use buttermilk, although I haven’t tried it.)
cornmeal or semolina flour for sprinkling

Make the dough

1. Place flour, starter, milk, salt, yeast, butter and honey into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir by hand with a wooden spoon, or the paddle attachment just until the dough comes together. Add a little more milk at this point if unable to incorporate all of the flour. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 8 minutes on low to medium-low speed, or knead by hand ont the counter for 10 minutes. The dough will be smooth and tacky, but not sticky.

2. Wipe out the stand mixer bowl and lightly oil, and roll the dough to coat. Cover lightly with plastic wrap or a towel and allow to rise on the counter for 4 hours. At this point, you can proceed to make the muffins or place the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

Shape the Muffins

1. If the dough has been stored in the refrigerator overnight, allow to come to room temperature before proceeding.

2. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter, trying to deflate as little as possible. Using a small knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 6-7 equal pieces. (I used the scale, each should weigh about 2.5-3 oz/70-85 g) Shape the muffins by pinching the bottom and rolling lightly to seal and form a tight skin. (Clotilde links to a shaping tutorial in her recipe.)

3. Generously sprinkle a silicone baking mat, parchment paper, counter or baking sheet with cornmeal or semolina flour. Place the shaped muffins on the cornmeal, and sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap, and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours, or until puffed and almost doubled in size. (Pre-puffed, puffed.)

Bake the Muffins

1. I used a well-seasoned cast iron skillet without any grease or oil, but you could also lightly grease any non-stick skillet. Preheat the skillet over medium-low heat, and preheat the oven to 350°. Have a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking sheet ready for the finishing the griddled muffins.

2. Gently transfer the muffins one at a time to the preheated skillet, being careful not to deflate. In my 10″ skillet I can fit 3-4 muffins. Be vigilant – check the muffins frequently, especially with the first batch, and turn the heat down if you find they are browning too quickly. Once the muffin is lightly golden brown, gently turn to the other side and repeat. (Err on the side of lighter brown, remember you will be toasting them again!) The muffins took anywhere from 3-6 minutes per side, depending on my skill with the temperature setting. The longer cooking in the skillet, the less time they will need in the oven.

3. Repeat the process with subsequent batches, starting the next batch on the griddle while the previous batch is finishing in the oven.

4. Transfer the griddled muffins to the prepared baking sheet, and finish in the preheated oven for 6-8 additional minutes. I tested the internal temperature of the muffins, and checked that they were above 190 °F (88 °C) before cooling.

5. Cool the finished muffins on a wire baking rack. Do enjoy one hot out of the oven – no additional toasting required!

We made these delicious delights way back in October, but I was lazy about blogging back then. (Yeah, I know, I’m still pretty lazy about blogging.) This definitely falls into the “afternoon project” category of recipes – that is, you’re going to need a lot of dishes, a bit of time, and an extra bit of ambition if you want to crank these out. The actual process isn’t all that difficult, but as for the steps – there are many. Luckily, this recipe lends itself wonderfully to batch cooking – make a boatload during the next ice storm, freeze ‘em, and you’ll be good for a month.

Gnocchi literally means “lumps” or “knots,” and can be made from just about any starch – potatoes, bread crumbs, semolina or just plain old flour. (Kind of an anti-climactic name – like going to IKEA for the first time and finding out that they have cleverly named all of their products with the Swedish word that describes the item.) These gnocchi are made with a combination of sweet potatoes and Russet potatoes – the sweet potatoes give color and flavor, and the Russets have enough starch to ensure that the dumplings don’t fall apart when boiled. The potatoes are roasted first, riced, and combined with egg, Parmesan cheese and pepper.

Forming the gnocchi is actually pretty quick, but the dumplings are so tiny that you have to do this many, many times. The dough is cut into tiny cubes, rolled into balls, and then pressed against the backside of a fork to get the characteristic ridges. You can cook the gnocchi when they are still in ball form rather than ridged form, but I think the ridges are fairly easy to make, and their purpose is to trap some sauce against the dumpling when all is said and done. Plus they look awesome and will impress Italian grandmothers around the world. Here are the gnocchi in ball form, and here is a close-up of the ridging process:

After roasting, ricing, mixing, cutting, and gnocchi-ing, we’re almost there. This being a recipe from dearly departed Gourmet, you of course need to fry some sage and chestnuts to go along with your gnocchis. Gourmet assured me that I would be able to find bottled roasted chestnuts at the supermarket, but there were none to be had. Thank goodness I live in a town with at least five Asian grocery stores – I went across the supermarket parking lot and wandered around my nearest Asian market for about 10 minutes before finally finding some raw chestnuts and asking the cashier if they stocked any that were pre-roasted. Why yes, she said, they had three varieties. I asked if she had a favorite, and she recommended some that were vacuum-sealed (pictured here) rather than bottled, because they had less sodium. Thanks, Ames Asian Market!

Finally, the gnocchis are boiled briefly, until they gracefully drift to the surface of the water, at which point we skimmed them off and dropped them into the fat that had been used to fry the sage and chestnuts. We kept them in there for a few minutes until they got a little brown on the edges. Then everything is tossed together in a big bowl, and served hot. I had only eaten gnocchi once before, at a restaurant, and these surpassed the restaurant gnocchi in flavor and texture. Creamy orange pillows of nutmeg-scented potatoes, slightly salty from the parmesan cheese. These take a little courage and a little time, but the end result is worth the effort.

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Adapted from Gourmet

Makes ~3-4 cups cooked gnocchi.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish, or 4 generously as a main.

Gnocchis can be made up to one day in advance and refrigerated until ready for cooking. Chestnuts can be sliced up to one day in advance and sealed in an airtight container in the fridge.

Uncooked gnocchi can be frozen individually on a sheet pan, and then sealed in a ziploc bag once the gnocchis are frozen solid. Do not thaw before cooking. Gourmet says you can freeze up to 1 month, but I think you could probably push it to 2-3 months. When I make these again I will report back on longer-term freezability.

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Ingredients

1.25 lbs (0.5 kg) Russet potatoes

0.75 lbs (0.33 kg) sweet potatoes, about 1 large

1 large egg

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1.5 to 2 cups (200-250 g) all-purpose flour plus more for dusting

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 – 3/4 cup sage leaves

1/3 cup roasted chestnuts, (these come bottled or vacuum sealed, check your Asian grocery store) sliced thinly with a paring knife, sharp vegetable peeler or mandoline

2 Tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter

Make the Gnocchis

1. Preheat the oven to 450° with the rack in the center position.

2. Stab potatoes with a knife or fork several times, and place on a roasting pan. Roast until just tender, 45-60 minutes.

3. Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove peels and push potatoes through a ricer or food mill onto a sheet pan or flexible cutting mat.

4. Whisk egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Measure out cheese and flour, and make sure you have then nearby.

5. Form riced potatoes into a mound, and make depression in the center. Pour egg mixture into the well in the center of the potatoes, and knead everything together. Knead in cheese and 1.5 cups of the flour. Continue to knead potato mixture, adding more flour as neccessary, until the dough comes together and is smooth and slightly sticky.

6. Cut dough into 6 equal pieces, and dust each piece with flour. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a rope that is 1/2 inch in diameter. Repeat each subsequent piece.

7. Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces, and gently roll each piece into a ball place on a sheet pan or cutting mat lightly dusted with flour.

8. Using the back side of a fork held at approximately a 45° angle with respect to the counter, roll each ball on the back of the tines. (See photo above) Basically the gnocchi is pressed against the fork and then quickly flicked off and away from the fork. Place formed gnocchis on a sheet pan covered in parchment or a silpat, separated slightly so they do not stick together.

Fry Sage Leaves and Chestnuts

1. Start a large pot of water to boil the gnocchis, and salt it well.

2. Heat olive oil in a 10-12″ skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry sage leaves in 2-3 batches, stirring them around just for 30 seconds or so, or until the green color lightens a shade. Remove with a spider or a slotted spoon, and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

3. Fry sliced chestnuts in batches, again about 30 seconds for each batch, stirring slightly while cooking. Fry just until chestnut slices turn golden brown and crispy. Transfer to paper towel to drain, and sprinkle lightly with salt. Turn heat to medium low, and leave remaining oil in skillet.

Cook Gnocchi

1. Add the butter and a pinch of salt to the skillet with the residual frying oil and cook over medium low heat until the butter is just melted.

2. Once water has reached a gentle boil, cook the gnocchis in 2-3 batches. The gnocchis will rise to the top as they cook, after about 3 minutes. Skim the gnocchis off the top of the water as they are finished cooking.

3. Turn up the heat in the skillet to medium, or slightly higher if needed. Place the cooked gnocchis into the skillet with the butter and the oil, and fry for 2-3 minutes until the gnocchis are slightly brown on the edges. Be careful not to overheat the butter/oil mixture and burn the butter solids at this point. Remove the browned gnocchis to a serving bowl and toss with fried sage and chestnuts.

]]> http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/sweet-potato-gnocchi/feed/ 0 foodiescientist Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi IMG_6642 Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi Sweet potato gnocchi http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/food-links-late-jan/ http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/food-links-late-jan/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:34:50 +0000 foodiescientist http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/?p=120 ]]> I’m working on a few recipe posts that I’ll hopefully have done soon, but in the meantime, here’s some interesting links I’ve encountered in the past few weeks:

- Alton Brown gives an hour-long seminar at Google (before Thanksgiving, so I’m a little late to the game). There’s a lot of Yay Google! blah blah blah in the first 10 minutes or so, but it is definitely entertaining, and will fill the gaping AB hole in your heart if you don’t have cable like me.

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-Ellie Krieger, host of Food Network’s Healty Appetite, details how to make sloppy joes and tortilla soup from every day fast food ingredients! Yeah, you read it right. Wow, just wow.

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- Not So Humble Pie blog features a variety of science-themed baked goods. I may be a decent baker, but I am so not dedicated to the art of decorating: Gingerbread scientists – Petri dish cookies – Binary cupcakes – and many, many more.

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- Bacon and Cupcake mugs at Cakespy. Not that I need more coffee mugs, but these are totally cute.

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- On pressure cooking at Bitten Blog. This is something that has always intrigued me, I think it would make dried beans, etc. a lot more accessible. I’ve had a few Indian friends who swear by this technique since they cook so many legumes on a regular basis.

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- Knife Skills 101 at CRAFT Blog. Lots of good information and great photos here.

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- Thanks to Steve at Tree Lobsters for letting me repost this comic. If you’ve ever met me, you know this is exactly the kind of scientific paper I’d love to write.

Seen any interesting food links around the web lately? Let me know in the comments!

A confession: I’m not a huge fan of soups. I have a hard time getting behind a liquidous dinner unless that dinner is in the form of a chocolate milkshake. There’s just something so soupy about soups. My mother blames my lifelong soup indifference on an evil babysitter that terrified me as a young child, and would feed some sort of questionable soup to the daycare kids on a regular basis. Regardless of my early life soup trauma, I’ve grown to appreciate the dish on my own terms. I generally favor stews, stoups (thanks, Rachel Ray) and giant bowls of Chinese noodles over anything consisting of just broth or a bunch of blended vegetables, but I’m growing, ok?

This chicken soup takes a little extra effort to make it extra delicious. If you’ve never made stock before, this is one application where it truly shines, and I think you should give it a try. Stock is another one of those necessities of yesteryear that has fallen by the wayside as we’ve grown accustomed to the convenience of the modern supermarket (along with two of my other favorite food pastimes, canning and bread making). For my stock-making endeavor, I was fortunate enough to have two turkey carcasses for starting materials, tucked away in the freezer since Thanksgiving. My mom chuckled a bit and my uncle gave me some grief when I asked if I could take the Thanksgiving turkey remains back to Iowa. To an outsider, this seems like a truly silly practice. It is so much easier to pitch the bones in the trash, and it takes some effort to get in the habit of making anything from scratch. But deep down we know we shouldn’t settle for the stuff in the can with the blue label, and that making stock is actually pretty hip – it is frugal, green, and delicious.

……

Stock and broth are different on a fundamental level. Broth is made from the juices of the meat, and stock is made by cooking the bones and connective tissues for many hours at a low heat, releasing the collagen. The final result also has a drastically different consistency – broth is a liquid, while stock once cooled will gel like a delicious bowl of poultry-flavored Jell-O. A little creepy at first, but the gelling lets you know the bones have done their work. Stock is worth your time because it is much more rich and delicious than broth, and you can control the sodium content and ingredient list from start to finish. And it totally impresses the ladies.

One piece of advice – stock takes time, and if you’re going to make a go of it, save several chicken or turkey carcasses so you can make a big batch all at once. Also you should not start the stock pot at 6 o’clock at night, because you will finish at approximately 1 a.m. (This was not my idea.) You’re also going to need to buy some cheesecloth and a few large containers or freezer bags for long-term storage. Once the stock is made, chicken noodle soup comes together quickly. A few more spices, some cooked chicken and simmered veggies, and a few noodles at the very end. Bust out the Zestas and you’re ready to eat.

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Poultry Stock

Adapted from Alton Brown

Yield: 16-20 cups, depending the quantity of starting ingredients and the size of your stockpot

Ingredients

6-8 pounds poultry carcasses

2 large onions, quartered

6-8 carrots, peeled and cut in half

4 ribs celery, cut in half

2-3 tsp dried thyme

3 bay leaves

18-20 peppercorns

1 tablespoon minced garlic (we used the stuff preserved in olive oil in a jar) or 2-3 cloves, crushed

2-3 gallons cold water, enough to cover the carcasses in a 12 or 16 quart stock pot

Make the Stock

1. Add all ingredients to a 12 or 16 quart stock pot, and cover with water. Place a steamer basket or smaller pot lid into the stock pot to hold the bones under water.

2. Cook the stock on high heat until bubbles begin to rise to the surface. Turn the heat to medium low, and maintain a gentle simmer.

3. Skim the scum from the top of the stock pot every 10-15 minutes for the first hour, and then every half hour for the next 2 hours. Simmer uncovered for a total of 6-8 hours, adding additional water as needed to keep the bones covered. When bones break easily, the stock is finished.

4. After the simmering, strain the stock through a colander or fine mesh strainer into another large pot or heat-proof container, removing all solid vegetable/bone pieces from the stock. Cool immediately until below 40 °F in a sink full of ice (or just stick it outside if you live in Iowa and it is January). Refrigerate overnight.

5. In the morning, scrape the solidified fat off the top of the stock. The stock should resemble a loose Jell-O consistency if you’ve done everything correctly. At this point if several small pieces of vegetable remain in the stock, re-warm the stock slightly and filter through cheesecloth.

Store stock in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer up to 3 months. We froze two 8-cup containers of stock for soup, and kept one 4-cup container in the fridge for a stew we made later that week. Bring the stock to a boil for 2 minutes before using in recipes.

—–

Chicken Soup

Adapted from several sources, but kind of made up on the fly. Pretty similar to Tyler Florence without the initial vegetable sweat (although that may be something to try for next time).

Serves 4, with leftovers

Ingredients

8 cups chicken stock

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1-2 stalks of celery, chopped (we are not celery fans here, and 1 stalk was enough for us)

1.5 Tablespoons minced garlic

1 bay leaf

2-3 cups cooked chicken meat, cut into smallish pieces (leftover rotisserie chicken worked nicely)

4-6 ounces dry egg noodles (depending on how noodley you like your soup)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

12-16 ounces of water or broth, depending on how liquidous you like your soup

Herbs that would be nice, but we did not have on hand: fresh or dried thyme and/or tarragon, fresh parsley for serving.

Make the Soup

1. In a large pot, bring the stock to a boil for 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and add the chicken, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs. The meat will shred slightly as the cooking continues.

2. Add the vegetables and bring to a simmer for three to four minutes. Add more water or broth at this time if needed.

3. Add the noodles and turn up the heat slightly to a low boil. Boil until the noodles are soft, seven to eight minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley if desired, and plenty of saltine crackers.

Edited to add: I’ve been asked about where stock/broth should be interchanged in a recipe, and I’m definitely not an expert, but I will offer an opinion. I think for recipes (soups, whatever) where you are going to have a significant number of additional herbs & spices, stock is a good option. Depending on the consistency of your stock, I’d say 2 parts stock to 1 part water/broth is going to be a starting place. (Like I said, ours was a loose Jell-O consistency, and the soup used about 8 cups stock and 3 or so cups of water.) The stock is not really thicker than broth when cooked in a soup, but it does have a heavier and richer “mouth feel” due to the high concentration of proteins. If you are going to make a very simple broth soup, I think the stock may be too plain for this application, and you may want to consider a high-quality commercial broth, or make your own broth (basically the pan juices from cooking a piece of meat).

]]> http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/lets-talk-about-stock/feed/ 0 foodiescientist Homemade chicken soup Homemade chicken soup stockisnot Homemade turkey stock Cooled chicken stock http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/a-very-merry-pretzel-christmas/ http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/a-very-merry-pretzel-christmas/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:18:00 +0000 foodiescientist http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/?p=94 ]]>

Apologies for my posting laziness of late – I have been spending the vast majority of my free time working on a knitted shawl for my cousin’s wedding in February. Oh, and shoveling. Because it will NOT. STOP. SNOWING. This had to be the year I decided I was “sick of living in apartments” and wanted something “more like an actual house.” It has snowed so much, in fact, that this was the first Christmas since moving to Iowa that I decided not to make the 4.5 hour drive back to my hometown for the holidays. As Christmas drew closer it seemed more and more likely that everyone else would be stuck here too, and so we had a Very Merry Snowbound Christmas that did not involve ending up in a ditch somewhere along Highway 20.

When I first posted on teh facespaces that I wouldn’t be making the drive to see my family, a friend replied to my post with one word: “pretzels.” This friend was hosting the Christmas party that a slew of snowbound friends would be attending, and had suggested multiple times in the past that I abandon any scientific career aspirations to run a pretzel cart which would follow her around day in and day out, delivering fresh pretzels on demand. Her brother-in-law, an Iowan living in Manhattan, also told me I had real promise as a pretzel cart lady in the big city. (Aren’t people my age supposed to drop everything and move to NYC to pursue their “dreams?” Maybe I missed that boat. Plus, that job sounds really, really cold.) Regardless of your pretzel cart career aspirations, this recipe is definitely a tasty project on a blustery winter day. The pretzels are the perfect party food, and there are many options for baked-on toppings or dips.

The secret to these pretzels is a quick dip in a solution of boiling water and base. I had to go back to the source to figure out exactly why boiling pretzels in a basic solution is necessary for maximum deliciousness. It is actually a pretty interesting process – the heat and the base will quickly denature and break down the proteins on the surface of the pretzel, providing a bunch of shorter-chain peptides that will facilitate browning via the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction happens when sugars and proteins react with one another, producing a variety of compounds that are hard to characterize with SCIENCE! but we generally recognize as “brown” and “tasty.” (A fellow graduate student in my group was working on characterizing these Maillard reaction compounds for her PhD thesis and it was very complicated, to say the least.)

The basic environment helps speed up the Maillard reaction two different ways – first, as I mentioned above, there are more small protein pieces to react with the sugars (only one end of the protein can react, and breaking it up creates more ends) and second, the base creates an environment in which it is easier (see: thermodynamics) for the sugars to react with the end of the protein. Phew. That was a lot of SCIENCE!, but I hope you at least got the gist of it: boiling in base = brown & tasty. I have made you a drawring to summarize:

Truly authentic pretzels are boiled in a bath of lye, or sodium hydroxide as we call it in the chemistry biz. Considering it is expensive and downright dangerous to do this in your own home, we’ll stick with a slightly less exciting base, sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. This means a pretty big sacrifice on the pH scale, with the sodium bicarbonate solution having a pH around 8 or 9, and the lye solution having a pH around 13. What this means in pretzel terms is that the lye solution is going to be able to denature and break up a lot more proteins, thus producing more brown and tasty. The authentic lye-dipped pretzels would have a much harder and crunchier exterior than the pretzels produced by this method or anything you’d buy at the mall. However, this is still a basic solution and you’re going to need a non-reactive pot for the baking soda solution, something made of stainless steel or possessing an enameled coating. Stay away from aluminum and cast iron for this task.

Soft Pretzels

Adapted from Alton Brown

Yield: 16 pretzels

Note: I made a 1.5 times batch and made the pretzels slightly smaller from the original recipe since I was taking these as a party finger food. My adjustments are below.

For the Pretzels

18 oz warm water (110-115 °F/43-45 °C)

1.5 Tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons kosher salt

1.5 package/3.75 teaspoons instant yeast (bread machine yeast)

33 oz all-purpose flour (about 6.75 cups, I used half AP/half bread flour)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1-2 egg yolk beaten with 1-2 Tablespoons water for egg wash

Coarse pretzel salt or kosher salt

Spray oil for bowl and parchment paper/silpats for pans

For Baking Soda Bath

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

Make the Dough

1. If you are using active dry yeast, mix the sugar and salt into the warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to proof for 5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to foam slightly. This step is not necessary for instant/bread machine yeast, although it doesn’t hurt.

2. If using instant yeast, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Mix in melted butter and pour in the water.  Combine with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until the ingredients are well mixed.

3. Switch to the hook attachment on the stand mixer and knead on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, or 6-8 minutes by hand. Rinse out and oil the mixing bowl, form the pretzel dough into a ball and roll around in the bowl to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Shape the Pretzels

1. When the dough is almost doubled in size, mix the 10 cups of water and 2/3 cup baking soda in a non-reactive pan, and bring to a rolling boil. Preheat the oven to 450 °F/230 °C and line two half sheet pans with parchment or silpats.

2. Once the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl onto a lightly oiled work surface and punch down slightly to remove gas pockets. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces (I used my kitchen scale here). Roll the dough into 6″ ropes and allow to rest for a few minutes so that the gluten can relax.

3. Once the ropes have relaxed, continue rolling out until the ropes are about 18-20″ in length. Form into a pretzel shape and set aside.

4. Once you have formed 6 pretzels, use a slotted spoon or spider to dip them one by one into the boiling water, for 30 seconds each. Remove the boiled pretzel and place on one of the prepared sheet pans. After boiling the batch of 6 pretzels, brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with salt.

5. Bake the pretzels for 10-12 minutes, or until dark golden brown. Place on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serving options: Velveeta + canned chillis dip, mustard, cinnamon, butter, jam, garlic butter, etc.

This recipe takes about 2 hours from start to finish, and the pretzels are best eaten the day they are made.

I’m not sure what it is about dudes who grew up in the 70′s, but in the last five months I have had two requests from two separate guys for pineapple upside-down cake on their respective birthdays. Both of them loved it growing up, and both of them said that they hadn’t enjoyed a slice since their mothers passed away. You’ve got to respect a cake that instills that kind of nostalgia.

I made my first ever pineapple upside-down cake the day after my final PhD defense, a day in which I also assembled this monster of a cake. We were having a double party for my defense and for one of the aforementioned birthdays, and I had promised my guests multiple cakes. After baking, assembling, frosting, and ganache-ing the monster layer cake that was my defense celebration cake, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pineapple upside-down cake is about as simple as it gets.

You’re going to need one bit of special equipment for this cake – at least it is unusual for me, a girl who was raised cooking with Teflon. That is, you’re going to need a cast iron skillet. I’ve been lucky enough to, uh, have one “on loan” from my boyfriend’s massive cast iron collection for the past few months, since he was the one to request the cake the first time around. The pan I borrowed is a real beauty – it was his grandmother’s, and it has such a lovely patina from decades of use. I’m sure I’ll eventually need to acquire a cast-iron skillet of my own, but luckily you can find a lot of these antique beauties on eBay, or buy a new one for pretty cheap from Lodge. Seasoning of cast iron is pretty interesting and I’ll have to come back to it in a later post, but for now just make sure you follow the seasoning instructions included with a new pan, even if it claims to be pre-seasoned.

Both of the cake recipients reported that their mothers used plain ol’ yellow cake mix for the cake part, and did not bake the cake in a cast-iron skillet. This recipe makes the cake part from scratch, and comes from Alton Brown’s baking book, I’m Just Here for More Food. Although I am a huge fan of yellow cake from a box + chocolate frosting from a can, this recipe demands something different. In AB’s recipe, cake part is slightly denser and drier and not as sweet as something you’d find from a box. Considering the cup of brown sugar and entire stick of butter that composes the upside-down part, I think it is better that the base is less like birthday cake and more like cornbread (and there is actually another recipe for pineapple upside-down cornmeal cake, also by AB).

Even without using a mix, the cake comes together very quickly. The butter is melted in the skillet, and the brown sugar is incorporated to make something like a slurry. The goal here is not to caramelize the sugar – that magic will happen during the baking process. The pineapple rings and maraschino cherries are arranged in the sugar slurry, and topped with pecans and pineapple juice. The batter is assembled via the muffin method, which requires you to mix all of the dry ingredients and all of the wet (including sugar!) ingredients separately, and then combine the two with just a few quick stirs in order to ensure that very little gluten is formed in the process. (Just say no to chewy cakes!)  The entire skillet is then deposited in the oven – and after baking, once the volcanic caramel has cooled slightly, all that remains is a brave flip onto a serving platter and upside-down cake is served.

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Adapted from I’m Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown

Note: You will need pineapple juice for both the upside-down part and the cake part, and the respective amounts are listed separately for each part. In total you will need 8 Tablespoons, but I couldn’t find any sort of reasonable quantity of pineapple juice at the store, so I ended up buying a 6-pack of tiny pineapple juice cans. So I just need to make 4 more cakes, right?

The Upside-Down Part

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

7 pineapple rings, canned in heavy syrup

7 maraschino cherries (buy the stemless cherries, they are cheaper and you obviously don’t need the stems)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons pineapple juice

The Cake Part

1 cup (4.75 oz) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, large

5 Tablespoons pineapple juice

1 cup granulated sugar

Mix The Dry and Wet Ingredients Separately

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk together.

2. Combine eggs, sugar and 5 T of the pineapple juice in a large bowl and whisk together.

3. Set both mixtures aside and proceed to the upside-down part.

Make the Upside-Down Part

1. Place the oven rack in the center and preheat to 350 °F/175 °C

2. Melt the butter in the cast-iron skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Add the dark brown sugar and stir until incorporated, 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat to low once the brown sugar is completely mixed with the butter

3. Place one pineapple ring in the center of the pan, and encircle it with the remaining pineapple rings. Place one maraschino cherry inside each pineapple ring.

4. Sprinkle the pecans over the top of the pineapple rings, and gently pour the 3 T of pineapple juice over the top of the mixture in the skillet.

Mix The Batter

1. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir briefly to combine. Be careful not to overmix – make sure the flour is incorporated, but there will be lumps.

2. Gently pour the batter over top of the pineapple rings in the cast-iron skillet, and it should spread to cover the fruit. Don’t worry if a few pecans float to the sides or top.

3. Place the skillet in a preheated 350 °F/175 °C oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes clean, or the cake registers 210 °F/99 °C.

4. Once removed from the oven, allow the skillet to cool slightly. Place a serving platter over the top of the skillet, and using an oven mitt, invert the skillet onto the platter. This can get a little messy, as the cake will leak caramel all over the place if you miss the center of the plate!

The cake will keep at room temperature, wrapped tightly or stored in an air-tight container, for up to 5 days.

—

Merry Christmas!

This recipe is not your grandmother’s Chex Mix, because it is my grandmother’s Chex Mix. It is also one of my favorite things about the holidays. This Chex Mix is spicy and salty, and way more intense than the run-of-the-mill store bought variety or the recipe on the back of the Chex box. This recipe includes crazy stuff like cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce, and the look and smell of the spices and oil all blended together may make you want turn your back and walk away. Don’t be intimidated – once this goop is spread over a pan full of cereal and dotted with butter, just a short time in a cool oven will transform the mix into toasty, crunchy, salty deliciousness.

About that spice mix. You’re going to need a whole heckuvalot of spices that you may or may not use again until your next installment of my grandma’s Chex Mix. Beau Monde? Summer savory? Indeed these jars only cross the threshold of my spice rack but once a year.

- Beau Monde: This spice blend seems to only be available from Spice Islands brand spices, which are readily available in South Dakota and Iowa supermarkets.  (Although I’ve never tried to find it anywhere else. Let me know how that goes for you.) Although the Spice Islands website claims that Beau Monde is merely a mixture of celery, onion and salt, the various internet recipes that I found also include cloves, cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg. I’m fairly certain there are no cloves in the Spice Islands version of Beau Monde, and indeed it does smell and taste mostly like celery salt. So if you can’t find Spice Islands Beau Monde at your grocery store, proceed with caution!

- Summer Savory: I have also always purchased the Spice Islands brand of summer savory – however, since it is an actual herb, I doubt the flavor varies as much from one manufacturer to another. It smells to me like a more earthy thyme. The internet doesn’t really agree on its flavor profile – I’ve read it described as “spicy” and “aromatic” which is about as vague as it gets. Although I don’t really use it in any other recipes, it seems like it would be a nice addition to sausage dishes or hearty stews.

- Marjoram: This spice is related to oregano, and supposedly has a milder flavor. However, in this Chex Mix we are using ground marjoram which seems quite pungent to me when compared with the dried or fresh leaf oregano I use in Italian recipes. Along with the savory, it adds a slight touch of sweetness to the mix.

- Hickory Smoke Salt: This stuff is crazy powerful, and is definitely one of the overriding flavors in the spice mix. It also gives the spice blend the distinctive black goopy texture and pungent aroma. Be careful when pouring the hickory salt into the measuring spoon – this stuff aerosolizes instantly and will make you sneeze! My grandma’s original recipe calls for two tablespoons of this stuff, although I’ve been cutting back in recent years because it makes the Chex Mix very salty if you use the full amount.

- Worcestershire sauce: This is not really a weird ingredient, but I would just like to say that it never occurred to me until Friday that Worcestershire sauce is fermented fish sauce, kind of like that stuff they throw in your Thai food. I had this epiphany while celebrating my friend’s successful PhD defense on Friday night, when she mentioned that the bartender at this drinking establishment would make vegetarian bloody Marys without the Worcestershire sauce upon request. Of course, the Thai fish sauce is primarily fish and salt, while Worcestershire sauce contains a slew of other savory ingredients in addition to the fish. Learn something new every day, yes?

At the bottom of the pan you'll get pieces of cereal - especially Wheat Chex pieces - that are saturated with the special sauce. I avoided them as a kid, and my mom always took care of those black squares at the bottom of my bowl.

The bulk of this recipe – the Chex, pretzels and nuts – is of course like every other Chex Mix recipe out there. But it is the unique blend of spices that makes me think of the Christmas season growing up in South Dakota. I’m going to get a little corny here for a moment, but this stuff tastes like home more than any other recipe, and I look forward to making it every year. Sometimes being a grown-up is ok, because we get to take old traditions and make them our own, and make up new traditions as we go along. This is one tradition that will be around in my family for a long time to come – a tradition that they will have to pry from my salty, buttery hands.

Nerd alert: I rearranged the Chex boxes several times in order to get their arms to match going from box to box. Yep.

Chex Mix

Adapted from Jean Kearney

A full batch of this recipe yields about 2.5 gallons of snack mix. (40 cups/9.5 liters) You can try to make a smaller batch, but I think you’re better off just getting some festive holiday containers and giving it your favorite people. It will keep for at least a week at room temperature, sealed in an air-tight container.

Notes:

-DO NOT BURN THIS STUFF. It is not delicious. You will know if it is burning if the Rice & Corn Chex start to get a brown edge on them. The worst part is that the butter burns at this point. Watch your oven temp and stir more frequently if need be.

-You will need one very large, deep roasting pan (or like a large pan that they use for catering) or two smaller pans that will fit the width of your oven. If you don’t have a standard-sized oven, you will probably want to make this in two batches. I was lucky to find some pans at my supermarket after searching a few stores around town -  it seems pretty tough to come by deep aluminum roasting pans these days. (Therefore I wash and reuse mine every year, and they have probably lived in 3 or 4 different apartments with me.) The disposable aluminum roasting pans are particularly nice because they are so bendable and you can easily make them slightly narrower to accommodate your oven, as you can see below:

On to the recipe!

The Spice Mix

2 Tablespoons Beau Monde seasoning (Spice Islands is recommended.)

1.5 Tablespoons hickory smoke salt (I used this quantity this year, you can use slightly less if you wish.)

2 teaspoons garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)

2 teaspoons summer savory

2 teaspoons ground or crushed marjoram

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup oil, vegetable or canola

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

dash of Tabasco (or more, to taste)

The Cereal Mix

1 box each of Rice, Corn and Wheat Chex

1 bag of pretzels (I usually use about 1/2 to 3/4 of a bag, depending on the bag size, this is up to you)

2 – 11.5 oz cans of nuts, lightly salted (I usually do 1 mixed nuts + 1 cashews, because I love cashews)

3 sticks of butter (Can be scaled down by 1/2 stick or up to 1 stick, unsalted is best)

Make the Spice Mix

1. At least 2 hours before you plan on making the Chex Mix, mix all spices, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco in with the oil. Whisk the spice/oil mix vigorously to ensure a good emulsion. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for a few hours or overnight.

Make the Cereal Mix

1. Preheat oven to 250 °F/120 °C

2. Pour the cereals, pretzels and nuts into the roasting pans, being careful to distribute evenly between pans if you are using two pans.

3. Dot the cereal mixture with pats of butter, about 1/2 Tbsp pats distributed evenly over the mixture. There is no need to use softened butter here.

4. Give the spice mixture another good whisk and pour evenly over the cereal mixture. Even after mixing, the spices will quickly settle to the bottom – if you are using two pans be careful to evenly distribute the gloopy black bottom layer of the spice mixture evenly between the two pans.

5. Stir the mixture, and place in a preheated 250 °F/120 °C oven for 45 minutes Remove from the oven and stir every 10-15 minutes while baking. Be observant of the oven temperature and do not let the mixture burn!

6. Remove the Chex Mix from the oven after 45 minutes, and allow the mixture to cool in the pan for about an hour. Stir two or three times as the butter and oil may settle to the bottom of the pan while cooling.

7. Place in resealable plastic bags or tins, and enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner until after New Year’s. (Yes, I love to eat party mix for breakfast, why do you ask such a silly question?) The Chex Mix will keep sealed in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.

]]> http://foodiescientist.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/not-your-grandmothers-chex-mix/feed/ 17 foodiescientist Chex Mix! Chex Mix! Chex Mix! Chex Mix! Chex Mix! Chex Mix!