More Saveur Recipies

Just flushing out old drafts not much to see here, it's sort of a follow on from this post if you will.

Greek Mac and Cheese. So I think the title says all that you need to know about the recipe, but the reason I was a huge fan of it was the picture on Saveur's site, I want that cast iron thing the mac and cheese is in.

Cheesy Corn Casserole looks like a pretty sweet side dish for some BBQ and well I'm a sucker for corn recipes.

Saveur corn recipies

It's a little late in the corn season, but what the heck.  This has been sitting in drafts for long enough it should get the hell out of here.

So first up, chilies stuffed with corn and cheese then battered and fried.  I actually made these and it was delicious.  I used pepper jack and Emerald City Brewing's Dotty lager for the beer batter.   For whatever reason I didn't take a picture of it, but I thought it was pretty damn delicious.

The next recipe is sure to gross out a few people, but if you've ever had fresh corn (like picked that day) I can see how this would be good.  Sweet Corn and Milk Drink is essentially a corn smoothie with cinnamon for some kick.  I would do it if I was growing corn myself.

I like this recipe because I'm a sucker for the word Succotash.  There's nice place called Palomino restaurant that served succotash as a side, since then whenever I see it somewhere I try it.  This is really just a salad, and corn adds a nice sweetness to this type of a dish.

Next recipe is a corn custard.  This looked appealing because custard is typically a desert, and this takes it as a more savory dish.

The final recipe I took a liking to on Saveur was Corn cakes with a pesto sauce.  Though this isn't the exact thing I want, back home there was a little taco stand that had these corn cakes that where the perfect mix of spicy and sweet.  The stand closed down likely because it was in the worst location, but I'm still looking for something to fill beautiful corn cake itch that have.

Icecream fever at Saveur

The last week my feed from Saveur has looked like this

How to make 25 ice cream toppings including rich caramel icing, butterscotch sauce and hot fudge.  Then how about some books on ice cream making, followed by ice cream cone taste testing, some list of 25 ice cream and gelato recipes, how to make ice cream, how to make ice cream by hand.  Then for kicks how about Fig ice cream recipies, Onvi ice cream, Ice cream cookie sandwhiches, Mexican ice pops, and some strawberry shortcake bars.

Any how you get the picture; and Saveur we get it.  It's hot as fuck on the east coast, shut up already.  It's the middle of Juneuary here in the PNW, and I'm pretty sure we haven't gotten over 80 yet this "alleged" summer.  I bet you will never guess what was bought yesterday in my house?  Ice cream bars and then we went out for Froyo, so yeah posting about heat apocalypse soothers for your East coast brethren is probably awesome for page views but you're making me fat(er) over here.


Fuck it, I'm going to get some gelato.

K is for Cake (best I could do)

Saveur those bastards have been posting cake recipes left and right and its all I can do not to make them all and wallow in them like fat kid heaven.  Everyone looks amazing, and the ingredients let me know that they will be over the top.

First up:  Black Forest Cake

Image via Saveur credit Todd Coleman

Next as a special treat for my best childhood friend: Lemon Cake

Image via Saveur credit André Baranowski

And finally for me, my favorite flavor on the whole planet Coconut Cake

Image via Saveur credit Todd Coleman

I'm sorry for the drool and other bodily fluids you have on and around your keyboard now, but wait!  I give you the finale!

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches, Profoundly V lead me to yourcupofcake.com, and well for the Real V in my life Carrot Cake cookie sandwiches would pretty much fit the bill.

Image via Cupofcake

G is for Graham Crackers

Image via Pollystyle

Those bastards at Saveur are always pushing my buttons, and pushing my cooking ability.  This time the posted about Graham Crackers that look amazing.  So amazing that I actually bought some despite the fact that PayPal is their payment processor and I Hate (with a capital H) PayPal.  I really bought them so I would have something to compare against when I try to make these, I feel like you have to have a flavor firmly fixed in your mind to help you when you create something delightful.

Smoker at home

A few weeks ago, I started on a really masochistic streak with my cooking and tried to smoke a Corned Beef Brisket on my barbecue on a week night.  I got it on the coals by 6pm and didn't finish until about 2 in the morning the next day.  It turned out pretty good, but still needed another few hours to be truly fall apart tender. I cheated around midnight and put it on a roasting pan in the oven at 250 so I could try to sleep rather than having to check the coals every half hour or so, but the experience got me thinking about ways to achieve that smoked flavor without all of the work.  Wouldn't you know it Saveur had my back.

The Parsley Thief

I follow several food related blogs Saveur being one, but they sometimes link to other blogs.  The Parsley Thief was one they linked to a while ago and I've been following her ever since.  This recipe is one of the reasons you might consider following her.

Black Bean, Chicken and Rice Bowl with Apple Salsa

It sounded good to me on paper, but the Apple Salsa blew me away.  It had that quality that Pico de Gallo has where nothing in there is spicy, but it tastes spicy.  I didn't have a lime when I started this little journey but I am so glad I didn't use lemon juice, I drove to the store and bought a lime.  That flavor sealed it as far as I'm concerned.  If you look really close you will see that I clearly spent way too much time getting the apple diced finely but the texture was worth it.  Everything took a little over an hour to chop, prep and cook for me (plus driving to the store like an idiot time) and I'm fairly fast with a knife so your results will vary.  As Katie (the parsley thief) notes the apple salsa can be made ahead of time as the citrus keeps the apple from oxidizing.  Even 3 days later it still looks pretty in my fridge, so take the time to chop it down into tiny beautiful squares and just toss the bowl you make the salsa in into the fridge.

That is some serious soup

So I've had this link saved away for a little bit, and given that it decided to be winter here in the PNW, I thought soup would be an excellent addition to my life.  I decided to make Karfiolleves or Paprika spiced cauliflower soup.

It was tasty and a little buttery, but pretty nice way to spend the snowpocalypse.

Eggs poached in Tomato Sauce aka Shakshuka

Via Joe and Jo

I cannot believe this has been sitting in my drafts for so long.  I actually made this and was super excited about it at the time too.  I looked on both cameras, looked all through Picasa, and cannot believe that I didn't take a picture of the outcome!  You will have to settle for a Flickr picture instead, but this was really good.  I served it with Naan, but it is a Jewish dish so Pita's may be more traditional.

The recipe I followed of course comes from Saveur, but they never called out the name of this dish.  It was only when I started searching for eggs poached in tomato sauce that I found out.  Another dish I found while I was looking for more information about this dish was Moroccan Ragout with poached eggs.  The Shakshuka was almost a vegetarian dish (eggs are ok with some vegetarians but cheese made with animal rennet is not)  the ragout adds a lamb sausage.  I will do the Shakshuka again, but the lamb sausage sounds pretty good too.

Saveur is trying to kill me

I've suspected it for some time now, but this post proves it.  Saveur is trying to kill me. With food.  Dead.

Hot Crab Dip with Pita Chips

 Fuck.

 INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cored and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan, separated
Juice and zest of one lemon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. Old Bay seasoning
¼ tsp. celery salt
1 lb. lump crab meat, cleaned
1 scallion, finely sliced


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter the inside of a 8" x 8" baking dish. 
2. In a 12" skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook the bell pepper and shallot until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring, to make a roux, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream until the mixture comes to a boil, about 1 minute. Reduce to a simmer, cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add 1/3 cup parmesan, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, Old Bay, and celery salt. Gently fold in the crab. 
3. Transfer the mixture to the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining parmesan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is browned and the dip is bubbling. Garnish with the scallions and serve with pita chips. 

 NOTES: To make your own pita chips, cut fresh pita pockets in wedges and toss with 4 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cook at 400° for 12-15 minutes.

Alternative Thanksgivings

Saveur has some interesting Thanksgiving day menus up on their site, might be useful for people looking for idea for tomorrow.

They have a Mexican inspired menu, includes a chili rubbed turkey and jalapeno cornbread.

A French inspired menu, with Turkey Confit and roasted squash with sage bread crumbs.

A Vegetarian inspired menu, with wheat berry pilaf and pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap and hazelnut crust.

A Southern inspired menu, with southern mac and cheese and crusty buttermilk biscuits.

A Thanksgiving for two menu, with stuffed turkey breast and cranberries with port.

The menus are pretty diverse, and some of the recipes are interesting enough I may try them someother time.  My menu for Thanksgiving is already pretty set.  I am on the hook for a brined turkey and mashed red potatoes.  My mom is making sweet potato puff (this is ridiculous sweet potatoes and coconut just saying), my mother in law has the biscuits, corn, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.  I have room and thought space for one more thing, I made boiled cider over the weekend so I may try for an apple tart or something fancy pants.

Are any of you doing something fancy for Turkey day?