The first day of Fall slipped quietly by. I barely noticed. The climate, where I live, usually brings warm and beautiful weather-- but, then it can change to be overcast and cool. My garden is so confused. So it my palate.
This is the time of year when I still want to grill summer veggies, and yet my yearning for home baked bread and soups starts to kick into gear.
I had an itch for Corn Chowder and home baked bread that needed to be scratched. I've made Ina Garten's Cheddar Corn Chowder, but I wanted to try a different version. I had bookmarked a version from Cook's Illustrated, a while ago, because it had many positive reviews. Soup and bread is hard to resist, so I decided to make one of my husband's favorite bread recipes-- Buttered Rosemary Skillet Rolls. The rolls are adapted from (gasp) "The Pioneer Woman". Ree's original recipe uses frozen bread dough. I make my own, and these rolls are one of the easiest-- and most faithful-- recipes you'll ever use. Just look at the pool of melted butter! Doesn't it make you swoon? (Paula Deen has nothing on me, with these rolls.) I am not ashamed.
I've lost count on how many times I've made these rolls. I use instant yeast, and it takes about 10 minutes for me to make the dough, using a stand mixer with a dough hook. The dough rises, perfectly, in about 45 minutes. Once shaped into rolls, the second rise takes about 20 minutes. TIP: I turn my oven to WARM, then turn it off. This acts as an "incubator" for my dough, and speeds up the process of proofing the dough. The rolls bake in about 25 minutes. (I bake them in my beloved cast iron skillet). You can use a cake pan, if you wish.
What's missing in this post?I'll tell you. My typical step-by-step photos are! I hadn't planned on blogging about the soup, nor the rolls. I really just wanted to re-shoot the rolls, as the finished shots on my original post didn't turn out right. (This is what happens when you don't check your lens, and you've smeared melted butter all over it.) Fortunately, I automatically photograph most anything I eat. My friends are used to it, now. I'm glad that I did, because the soup recipe is worth sharing with you.
VERDICT: I have to tell you that the Corn Chowder definitely scratched my itch. I have to share it with you. I owe it to you. It was creamy, and I did not miss adding cheese to it-- as Ina's recipe does. Some of the corn kernels are reserved, and added towards the very end of the cooking time. This gives the soup a texture of creamy, with some crunchy al dente texture of fresh corn. I loved it. I didn't have salt pork, so I used regular bacon-- and that worked just fine. I did add some finely chopped red bell pepper, to the recipe. I liked the color, and the flavor, that it contributed to the soup. As for the bread...
...well, who can beat the smell of fresh baked bread? The rolls turned out, once again, to be very tender.
I love this recipe. There's something about sea salt & fresh rosemary that makes these rolls very addicting.
This meal represented the flavors of summer corn, and the promise of home-baked bread, with fall weather. Both of these recipes will remain in my regular rotation file. They're both that good! You can see step-by-step photos on how to make these rolls here. (Printable recipe cards are at the end of this post.)
While shopping at the meat section of my grocery store, I was smitten with a row of beautiful, thick boneless pork loin chops. I don't recall the last time I cooked this cut of meat, so I asked the butcher to wrap up three chops to make for Sunday supper.
It's a little scary how I can recall from my memory a particular recipe that I've bookmarked, and have moved very high on my "must try" list. Then again, I almost always find a recipe from any Cook's Illustrated publication.
I have bookmarked dozens of recipes from one of my favorite recipe sources. The Complete America's Test Kitchen Show Cookbook is worth every penny, as it has every recipe they've made, through Season 10. Christopher Kimball, and his team of chefs do a lot of recipe testing to perfect so many recipes. Boneless pork chops can be easily overcooked-- whether you fry them or bake them. I am not a fan of baked chicken or pork, because I am a firm believer that searing meat and then roasting them has a much better flavor. America's Test Kitchen came up with a great idea, I thought, and tonight was the night to test their technique. Here's their quote:
Published March 1, 2006.
Why this recipe works:For a quick and flavorful pork chop recipe with moist, juicy meat, we settled on the pan-searing method and added flavor with a glaze. To prevent the chops from drying out we seared them on just one side until they were well browned, added the glaze mixture, then gently "poached" the chops in the glaze. This approach helped the chops retain moisture and reduced the glaze to the right consistency.
To begin, you'll want to make the glaze. The ingredients are all items that are in my pantry: apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar), apple cider, light brown sugar, soy sauce (I used low-salt Tamari) and Dijon mustard, and a pinch of cayenne. Whisk that together and set aside.
Trim the chops and slash through fat and silver skin with sharp knife, making 2 cuts about 2 inches apart in each chop (do not cut into meat of chops). Pat chops dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Add pork to skillet and cook until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn chops and cook 1 minute longer; transfer chops to plate and pour off any oil in skillet.
Add the glaze mixture; cook over medium heat until center of chops registers 140 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; transfer chops to clean platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. The ideal temperature should be 155F once the meat has rested, as it continues to cook.
NOTE: Because my chops were 2" thick, I covered the pan and allowed these to poach/cook for about 18 minutes.
When chops have rested, add any accumulated juices to skillet and set over medium heat. Simmer, whisking constantly, until glaze is thick and color of dark caramel (heatproof spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), 2 to 6 minutes. TIP: You'll want to see increased bubbles, caramel color, and a spatula just starts to make trails.Be patient, as the pan sauce will begin to thicken.
Return chops to skillet; turn to coat both sides with glaze. Transfer chops back to platter, browned side up, and spread remaining glaze over chops. Serve immediately.
Perfection! I'm hungry!
TASTING NOTES: The glaze is A-ma-ZING! Seriously, it's thick and sweet, a little tangy and slightly savory, and flavorful... it gets several O-M-G's from me! The pork was so moist and juicy. Craig and I split one of the chops, as they were very large. My 6'2 22 year-old son ate an entire chop, along with some smashed potatoes and a green salad. The dinner table was pretty void of conversation as we each enjoyed this very quick and delicious way to serve pork. This recipe moves up very high on my rotation list. In fact, I think this glaze would be excellent with salmon. Love, love, LOVE this recipe. SIDE NOTE: Yes, the pork appears to be slightly pink, in the middle. This is safe, according to the USDA website. The internal temperature should be 145F. If you doubt, click here to read it!
A printable recipe card follows.
Thank you America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated!
I am a huge fan of roast beef sandwiches. I prefer that my roast beef is rare, while my husband prefers medium. Either way, a fresh sourdough roll with mayo and deli mustard, Swiss cheese and sweet pickles is my winning formula. The problem is finding good deli roast beef. I often wonder how long the beef has been in it's shrink wrap package, and I prefer to eat grass-fed beef. I spotted a recipe in a food magazine (and I won't name it) for Salt-Encrusted Beef. I've always wanted to try the technique of making a salt-flour dough and wrapping it around beef. The magazine photo looked delicious. But...
..I ended up with an unappetizing piece of gray meat. I was so disappointed that even though I had cooked the meat to 130F, the meat continued to cook until it was well past done! Contrary to the recipe, I should have taken the meat out at 120F, and maybe I would have had better luck. In short, this recipe was a total bust, and I ended up caramelizing a lot of onion so I could make a palatable sandwich out of gray shoe leather. Unfortunately, the meat was very dry and I never posted that recipe. You can thank me for that!
While flipping through one of my many Cook's Illustrated cookbooks, this version of Slow Roasted Beef (January 2008) caught my attention. I always enjoy reading the article that precedes their recipes because Cook's Illustrated does a lot of homework to perfect each recipe-- and I have to say that I have yet to be disappointed. Here's a portion of the article, so that you can understand why this recipe worked:
First step: selecting the best cut for our roast. Our favorite, the eye-round, has good flavor and tenderness and a uniform shape that guarantees even cooking. Next step: choosing between the two classic methods for roasting meat—high and fast or low and slow. Low temperature was the way to go. Keeping the meat's internal temperature below 122 degrees as long as possible allowed the meat's enzymes to act as natural tenderizers, breaking down its tough connective tissue (this action stops at 122 degrees). Since most ovens don't heat below 200 degrees, we needed to devise a special method to lengthen this tenderizing period. We roasted the meat at 225 degrees (after searing it to give the meat a crusty exterior) and shut off the oven when the roast reached 115 degrees. The meat stayed below 122 degrees an extra 30 minutes, allowing the enzymes to continue their work before the temperature reached 130 degrees for medium-rare. Final step: seasoning. Salting the meat a full 24 hours before roasting made it even more tender and seasoned the roast throughout.
I made this recipe several months ago, but I wasn't thrilled with the photos. Since I'm home, healing from a winter cold, I'm editing some of the numerous food photos that I've been too busy to work on. I'm going to make this again, so I thought I'd share it with you-- overexposed photos and all...
On Cook's Illustrated's recommendation, I bought 2 pounds of grass-fed eye-round. The cost was $5.99 per pound, and I think it's well worth it. Grass-fed beef is leaner, by the way. It also tastes better, has a nice texture to it and it's hormone-free. What's not to love about that?
Sprinkle all sides of roast evenly with salt. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.
Pat roast dry with paper towels; rub with 2 teaspoons oil and sprinkle all sides evenly with pepper.
Heat remaining tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until starting to smoke. Sear roast until browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.(Sorry, the shot is a bit out of focus. I was using my older camera, which didn't shoot well in low light.) Now, Roast until meat-probe thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 115 degrees for medium-rare, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours, or 125 degrees for medium, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hours.
Turn oven off; leave roast in oven, without opening door, until meat-probe thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 140 degrees for medium, 30 to 50 minutes longer.
I have to say that my therma pen is one of my many favorite kitchen tools. It's accurate and has saved me from overcooking a lot of meat dishes! Now, that's what we're talking about! The color is beautiful and appetizing. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest 15 minutes.
Slice meat crosswise as thinly as possible and serve. The beef was juicy and flavorful. Next time, I'm adding garlic powder or my Susie-Q seasoning to give it more of an Italian flair.
This would be excellent served with creamy mashed potatoes and peas-- how traditional is that? This roast beef was destined for sandwiches....
I'm not thrilled with how the sandwich photo turned out. You'll have to take my word that I am very pleased to be able to make my own roast beef, at home. My hat's off to Cook's Illustrated. This one is a winner. In a way, this beef reminds me of the Santa Maria Tri-Tip recipe (without the unique smokey flavor) that I got from Cook's Illustrated. It's too cold to grill, so an oven method like this is a great winter substitute. A printable recipe is at the bottom of this post.
Is it safe to come out, now that the holidays are over? Don't get me wrong-- I'm not a Grinch during the month of December. This Christmas, however, will go down in my personal history as the day that my appetite disappeared for two weeks. The sight or thought of food did absolutely nothing for me, can you believe it?! Apparently a new medicine that my doctor prescribed decided to kick in on Christmas Eve. My husband watched, with a perplexed look, as I two two bites of my slow-roasted prime rib. The creamed spinach and special potatoes amounted to about 1 teaspoon of each. I didn't even photograph the finished meal because I felt queasy and downright miserable. My appetite is slowly returning, and I've lost 12 pounds since December 1st. It's a good thing, but I also know it's important that I eat-- so I have to psyche myself into eating. (I'll explain more at the bottom of this post about my newly diagnosed Diabetes to spare those of you who want to pass on my stories of injecting a new drug and my progress.)
I made this dish in early December, while I had already begun my pre-holiday goal of eating healthier and dropping some pounds. Time, and my appetite setback, got in the way of posting this. Now that I can enjoy looking at food again, I'm happy to share this recipe with you. While organizing the photos, I could recall how much I loved the flavor of this dish. I had bookmarked this Cook's Illustrated recipe several months ago and then I stumbled across it again. Per Cook's Illustrated, "authentic versions call for a 24-hour marinade and a tandoor, a traditional beehive-shaped clay oven—requirements that keep the dish mainly in the realm of restaurants." In the method of CI that I love so much, they set out to reinvent this Indian classic into a recipe that could be made year-round in the oven. This is how they did it:
We begin with 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, or a mix, with breasts cut in half), trimmed of excess fat and skin removed.
Garam Masala is a key component for this recipe. I'm still learning about Indian cooking, so it wasn't until I made Cook's Illustrated's Tikka Masala dish, I wasn't familiar with garam masala. According to CI, "Though there are countless variations of garam masala, the warm flavors (garam means “warm” or “hot” and masala means “spice blend”) dominating this Indian spice blend are consistent: black pepper, dried chiles, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander are staples, while cloves, cumin, fennel, mace, and nutmeg frequently turn up as supporting players." Finding this spice blend has become much easier. I found mine at my local supermarket.
You need yogurt, to marinate the chicken with. I used Greek Non-Fat yogurt, because I love how thick and rich it is.
You also need chili powder and cumin...
There's a little more prep work to go-- you need the juice of two limes, freshly minced garlic and ginger...
Using sharp knife, lightly score skinned side of each piece of chicken, making 2 or 3 shallow cuts about 1 inch apart and about 1/8 inch deep; transfer to bowl. The prep work took me about 30 minutes, between washing my hands a lot while taking photos. Ready?
We're going to "bloom" the spices and reserve half as a rub, and the other half to flavor the yogurt that we'll marinate the chicken with. Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
The aroma is packed with so much flavor! We're just getting started...
Transfer half of garlic-spice mixture to medium bowl; stir in yogurt and 2 tablespoons lime juice and set aside. In large bowl, combine remaining garlic-spice mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and salt. I didn't photograph the next step of using my hands to gently massage salt-spice mixture into chicken until all pieces are evenly coated; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.(It's a bit messy and I didn't want to get my camera all dirty.) Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and toss until chicken is evenly coated with thick layer.
Next, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 325 degrees.
Arrange chicken pieces, scored-side down, on wire rack set in foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture.
Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 125 degrees for breasts and 130 for legs and thighs, 15 to 25 minutes. (Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Transfer chicken pieces to plate as they reach correct temperature.) After removing chicken from oven, turn oven to broil and heat 10 minutes.
The broiler is ready...
Once broiler is heated, flip chicken pieces over and broil until chicken is lightly charred in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees for breasts and 175 for legs and thighs, 8 to 15 minutes.
The method of broiling the chicken mimics the way that juices fall, in a tandoor oven, on the coals along with rendered fat, creating smoke that flavors the food.
My husband loves Indian food. He was both surprised and thrilled to see his "Foodiewife" making a dish I'm really not familiar with. I admit, I was looking forward to tasting this dinner.
VERDICT: When my husband really likes the flavor of something, he let's out a slow moan. I smiled, as he savored the flavor of this dish and he complimented me over and over again. My husband can handle really spicy food much better than I can. On a scale of 1-5, the heat of this dish is about a 2.5. If you love to breathe fire, you might want to kick up the spice heat. To me, it was perfect. This is not boring chicken! It was tender, flavorful and very healthy. I loved this dish so much, that I'm going to pay closer attention to learning how to make more Indian dishes. I am really bonding with the traditional Indian spice combination, and I look forward to adding more spices to my pantry. Cook's Illustrated did it again-- they figured out how to make juicy, lightly charred, well-seasoned meat with just the right degree of tenderness. A printable recipe card is at the very bottom of this post.
In closing, here's a bit of personal sharing on my newly diagnosed Type II diabetes. (Feel free to skip this paragraph and go to the recipe card, and I won't feel offended.) I'm on a very new type of medicine that I need to inject once a day, called Victoza. Having watched my son inject himself with insulin for the last twelve years, I had no problem learning how to inject myself with Victoza. The drugs works great, in that my glucose levels are normal again. The side effects, though, reminded me of morning sickness when I was pregnant in 1988. The nausea has pretty much calmed down, but I just don't feel hungry most of the time. I'm very blessed to have Dr. Allen King as my endocrinologist. Dr. King is one of the foremost experts on diabetes, and his office is in my hometown. He is the author of The Diabetic Bible, and I trust his knowledge of this disease. Emotionally, I'm okay. While I fully understand that Diabetes is not caused by obesity, and it's a genetic predisposition-- my goal is to lose enough weight with the hope that I won't need to take medication. Dr. King says we'll take that one day at a time. In the meantime, I'm doing my water aerobics at least four days a week, and some weight training with a personal trainer. Thanks for listening.
I can still eat the things I love, by the way. I'm not giving up baking, nor nibbling on a home baked cookie or two. The word "moderation" has taken on a meaning as a healthier way of life. I can do this! Heck, I'm doing it now!
I have been unable to visit my favorite food blogs for weeks-- and I apologize if I haven't personally responded to those of you who have left such kind comments for me. Believe me, I want to. Work has been very busy for me, and I pretty much hit the sack shortly after I arrive home at the end of my night shift.
I'm going to try and post more recipes, to make up for my absence. I've miss you guys!
is worth every penny, as it has every recipe they've made, through Season 10. Christopher Kimball, and his team of chefs do a lot of recipe testing to perfect so many recipes. Boneless pork chops can be easily overcooked-- whether you fry them or bake them. I am not a fan of baked chicken or pork, because I am a firm believer that searing meat and then roasting them has a much better flavor. America's Test Kitchen came up with a great idea, I thought, and tonight was the night to test their technique. Here's their quote:
is one of my 
, and I trust his knowledge of this disease. Emotionally, I'm okay. While I fully understand that Diabetes is not caused by obesity, and it's a genetic predisposition-- my goal is to lose enough weight with the hope that I won't need to take medication. Dr. King says we'll take that one day at a time. In the meantime, I'm doing my water aerobics at least four days a week, and some weight training with a personal trainer.
