tortellini salad

not every meal can be a freddington, and sometimes you just don't have the time or the energy to do anything fancy.  i've made this tortellini salad a few times, and i figure it's finally time to post it.

this particular dish is quick (less than 30 minutes to prepare), easy (can you boil water?), and tasty.  i'm sure there variations on the theme that are also worthwhile.


ingredients:
- one 9 oz package of pre-made tortellini (i used spinach and cheese this time)
- one pint frozen green peas (courtesy of dad's garden)
- bacon pieces
- parmesan cheese

preparation:
simmer the peas for approximately 20 minutes or until tender.  i add a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper, but other seasonings can certainly be used.

cook the tortellini per the package instructions.  yes, it's pre-made (so it's technically cheating), but whatever.  it takes approximately 8 minutes to cook in a pot of water with a little olive oil.

toss the pasta with the cooked peas, sprinkle in some bacon pieces, and top with cheese.  bon appetit!

beef freddington

what, you ask, is beef freddington?  well, it is what you get when you adapt beef wellington by removing the mushrooms.  this recipe is probably the most ambitious thing i have ever cooked (and certainly the fanciest), and i created it the day after thanksgiving (by special request from my sister).  she wanted beef wellington but hates mushrooms (and frankly, who can blame her for that).

selfie!

after reviewing the all-knowing internet, i found ways to adapt the recipe to remove mushrooms...but most resources vehemently declared that removing the mushrooms effectively makes it something other than "beef wellington."  so my sister said that i could call it "beef freddington."  i think this works just fine.

because you sometimes need to eat something other than turkey the day after thanksgiving

the basis for my recipe comes from chef gordon ramsay's beef wellington recipe (see video here and recipe here), to which i made various adaptations.  it's not a terribly difficult recipe to follow, but the preparation is a little time-consuming.

ingredients:
- about 1.5 pounds beef tenderloin (yeah, this is xpnsv)
- proscuitto (i used 6 slices)
- english mustard
- one small eggplant
- package of raw chestnuts (approximately 1 pound unshelled)
- 2 cloves garlic
- puff pastry (i used two sheets of frozen pastry)
- 1/2 granny smith apple
- rosemary and thyme
- salt/pepper
- 2 egg yolks
- olive oil

preparation:
i roasted (and shelled) the beforehand using instructions found online, which turned out to be a good thing.  shelling chestnuts is very time-consuming, and it makes ones thumbs hurt after awhile.  i ended up with about a quart of shelled nuts.

i salted/peppered the tenderloin, put olive oil in a hot cast-iron pan, and seared the meat just enough to get a nice caramelized color on all sides (including top and bottom).  as a hint, pressing the meat up against the side of the pan helps provide a nice sear.  remove the meat from the stove and brush english mustard on the entire tenderloin.  set aside to cool while preparing the duxelles.

you might think it's too much mustard...but it is not

the duxelles is the filling between the puff pastry and the meat (apparently used as a tasty moisture barrier).  where normally it's made of minced mushrooms, i made my own version.  mix the (chopped) eggplant, half a granny smith apple, the garlic, and the chestnuts and blitz together with salt/pepper in a food processor.  i made a rather coarse mixture, but i think it would work better to make a very fine mixture.  cook the mixture in a hot, dry pan (maybe medium heat) to help dry out any remaining moisture.  i also added fresh rosemary and dried thyme.  once the mixture is starting to brown (it took maybe 10-15 minutes), remove the duxelles from the pan and set aside to cool.

using a long sheet of cling wrap as a platform (leave it on the roll), take the proscuitto and overlap it a rectangle.  i made my rectangle to rows of three.  add a little black pepper.  once the duxelles are cooled, spread them on the proscuitto (leaving a clear edge of approximately 1/2" around the perimeter).  put the beef in the center and use the cling wrap to fold the proscuitto/duxelles around it.  tightly wrap the cling wrap around the beef (squeezing the ends together to create a log).  refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow it to get firm.

 

 

encase the beef in puff pastry; i had to connect my two sheets of puff pastry together to get something long enough to fully encase the freddington.  trim any excess pastry (use it for dessert!  i cut it into squares, brushed with butter, added a little jam or honey/nuts, twisted the tops together, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and baked at 400°F for about 15 minutes) and twist the ends of the freddington together.

yummy

again, tightly wrap the freddington in cling wrap and return the cylinder to the fridge.  i did my prep in the morning and didn't cook it until evening, so i left it there awhile.  apparently this is something that you can prepare in advance for dinner parties or whatever.

when you're ready to cook, remove the freddington from the fridge and brush with egg yolk (i mixed the two egg yolks with a little water to make it easier to brush on).  for decorative purposes, use the back of the knife to create a line down the spine of the freddington, and then twist the knife down the sides to create a ribbing effect.  sprinkle the top with a little salt.

bake in the oven at 400°F for approximately 35 minutes or so.  the meat shouldn't be overcooked, so you're looking for a nice rare to mid-rare.  i used a meat thermometer to tell me when the internal temperature was approximately 125°F.  remove from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

almost a pretzel texture on the very outside

verdict:
this was totally worth the effort.  the aroma as i sliced the freddington was amazing; there was a sweetness (probably the chestnuts and the apple), but it wasn't overly sweet.  the eggplant was hard to distinguish, which makes me think that mushrooms may not be noticeable if they were used, either.  the english mustard (used because it has more of a kick than regular mustard) isn't overpowering, but you can definitely taste it on the palate.  obviously, the middle of the roast was a little more rare than the edges, but everything was exceedingly tender.

so good...

i would make a few changes to the recipe in the future, though:

• as i noted previously, i would chop the duxelles a little finer in the future, and i might use a little more apple.
• for future wrapping purposes, i would probably also overlap the cling wrap; the roast was a little longer than i had anticipated, so there wasn't quite enough width of cling wrap to effectively roll the freddington.  having a doubled width would make that a non-issue.
• i'd also do a better job putting the puff pastry sheets together.  as you can see below, there was a slight split in the seam.
• i would also roast this on a baking rack (as opposed to directly in a pan).  despite the moisture barrier of the duxelles, there were still some juices that the puff pastry sat in, and cooking on a rack would prevent that slight sogginess.

it split =(

stuffed shells

i am by no means an expert at cooking italian cuisine.  however, i have cooked my mom's stuffed shells recipe for italians before, and they have told me how good they are.  i figure this is pretty high praise...especially considering how she originally got the recipe off a box of pasta.

i've adapted the recipe in recent years due to my own experimentation and due to the fact that mom has incorporated vegetables into her shells.  and since i happen to like how that works, i've blatantly stolen her methods.

 ingredients:
- box of large pasta shells
- container of ricotta cheese (i used a 15 oz container)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- parsley
- garlic powder
- basil/oregano
- salt/pepper
- jar of spaghetti sauce (i used almost a whole 24 oz jar)
- one zucchini (smallish)
- sausage (i used two links of pre-cooked italian-style chicken sausage)

note that this recipe won't make enough stuffing for a whole box of shells.  i tend to overstuff the shells, so i end up with 16-20.

preparation:
cook the shells according to the package instructions.  while the shells are cooking, mix the three cheeses, the eggs, herbs, and spices.  note: reserve a little mozzarella for the topping since it melts so nicely.  in the cooking pan, spoon a thin layer of sauce.  add chopped sausage and zucchini to the dish.  i sliced the zucchini into medallions and then sliced each medallion in thirds.  the sausage, i simply cut it into small chunks.

after the shells are cooked and drained (let them cool a little bit), spoon about 1 tbsp of cheese mixture into each one.  place the stuffed shells into the pan.  spoon more sauce over the pan of shells (enough to coat them all) and sprinkle with cheese.  as i said before, the recipe calls for mozzarella, but i had to make use of parmesan...the horrors!

cover and bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes (or until the sauce starts to bubble).

i only fit maybe 10 shells into my pan.  however, the lovely thing about this recipe is that you can freeze the shells for use later.  i stashed the remaining 7-8 shells on a pan in the freezer for a couple hours until they hardened.  that way, they're easy to transfer into freezer bags.

verdict:
i know this is a good recipe; it's pretty much tried and true.  there are a few things that didn't work quite so well this time, though.  i don't think i cooked everything quite long enough.  although the sauce was starting to bubble, the zucchini was a touch al dente.  this may be in part due to the pan i used; it isn't one that's cooked shells before, so i maybe needed a little extra time.  also, i didn't have any aluminum foil, so i had to tent the pan with parchment paper (with aluminum on one side).  necessity is the mother of invention!

baked pineapple

pineapple is pretty much awesome.  admittedly, it's not an apple, and it doesn't taste/smell like pine, but that's beside the point.  and baking a pineapple should make it twice as awesome.  especially if it's done to look like how (a surprisingly cheerful) gordon ramsay cooks it.  which is to say that it's baked in a salt crust.  for reference, the recipe is here.

unfortunately, i am not gordon ramsay.  which means that my experiment was pretty much a failure.  i'm not even bothering to photograph this disaster because, well, it kind of looked like a regular pinapple afterwards.  i ended up just butchering the pineapple in a traditional fashion for later consumption.

part of the problem may be that i used a non-miniature pineapple.  using a regular sized pineapple may have made it need to bake longer, which i didn't really do.  a secondary problem may have been my salt-crusting technique.  i don't think i made the salt mixture wet enough (not enough egg), so it didn't stick.  very frustrating.

maybe i'll try it again...but not anytime soon, i don't think.

shrimp creole

so jackie recently gave me an assortment of spices and a recipe for what is supposedly the most authentic gumbo ever.  said recipe came from diane at spice it to a tea (in brevard, nc).  upon closer examination, the recipe says it's for shrimp sauce piquante (aka shrimp creole), and wikipedia seems to imply that gumbo and shrimp creole are slightly different recipes.

regardless of semantics, it is in fact pretty darn good.

this particular recipe probably took me upwards of four hours to finish, and it makes about six servings.  i was quite impressed.

ingredients:
- 2/3 cup oil (i used grapeseed oil)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 3/4 cup sliced scallions
- 2/3 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablsepoons minced parsley
- one pound canned whole peeled tomatoes (i was duly informed that using the "san marzano" brand was imperative)
- eight ounce can tomato sauce
- approximately 1 pint of chopped okra
- 1 tablespoon minced chives
- 4 tablespoons dry red wine
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 whole allspice
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon mace
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups water
- 2 pounds shrimp

preparation:
instead of using water, i decided to use the shrimp shells to make stock.  the shrimp i got were headless and pre-deveined, so i just peeled them and add the shells to a pot of water.  i boiled them for about an hour or so with a little garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne.

i prepared the vegetables (it takes a surprisingly long time...maybe 30 minutes or more) and added them all to a bowl before even starting on the roux.  i should also note that i didn't specifically measure the vegetables.  if there was a little more or less, i wasn't too fussed.

for the roux, i heated the oil in a large pot and gradually added the flour, stirring constantly.  the roux should be cooked over low (to medium-low) heat until it turns a medium brown (the color of peanut butter).  this takes a significant amount of patience and constant stirring, and i ended up spending about 30 minutes getting it to look right.

remove the pot from the heat and add the vegetables (sans okra) and parsley.  mix well with the roux and return to low heat.  cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables begin to brown (approximately 15-20 minutes).

mix in the canned tomatoes and sauce, add the chives, wine, seasonings, and lemon juice, and stir thoroughly.  raise the heat and bring to a low boil for maybe 15 minutes.  add the water/shrimp stock, stir, and simmer for 45 minutes.  add the shrimp and okra and simmer for 20 minutes.  remove from heat and allow to stand (covered )for about 10 minutes before serving.

verdict:
served over white rice, this was a good dish for a cold, blustery afternoon.  i was expecting a little more kick, but it wasn't excessively spicy.  the tomato seems to tone things down a little, but a light burn does hit the palate after the first couple bites.  i would cook this again, though i might be tempted to throw in even more vegetables and maybe some sausage.  maybe that's not an authentic way of adapting the recipe, but it seems like it would be a most enjoyable adaptation.

a few comments, though:

• if you let someone else help measure out the spices and whatnot, it helps if said assistant can read the measuring spoons.  mine isn't sure if she used two teaspoons (or two 1/2 tablespoons) of salt!
• despite the recipe's direction to crush the bay leaves, this i would rather leave them whole (and then fish them out before serving) in the future...because crushed bay leaves seem to get stuck in teeth.
• more shrimp may be preferable.  after the fourth serving, the number of shrimp seemed to taper off.
• this is a rather time-consuming (but worthwhile) dish; apparently it is a good idea to double the size of the sauce recipe and then freeze it for future use (thaw it and drop in fresh shrimp at that point in time).  it would certainly help the problem of "what am i going to do with all these extra chives and parsley?"

pumpkin banana bread

referencing again my pumpkin experimentation, i decided to attempt a pumpkin bread with cream cheese.  things morphed when i realized i didn't have as muh pumpkin puree left as i thought.  so i tossed in a soft banana that happened to be laying around.

this attempt was based on the banana bread recipe, with some minor revisions.  the flour/sugar/etc proportions are the same, but i obviously used pumpkin puree.  i had maybe 2-3 cups of puree, which didn't seem like enough...so i mushed up a small banana, as well.  in addition, i added some ground cloves, some cinnamon, and some nutmeg because i figured it'd be a good idea.

due to poor planning and inadequate research, my attempt at incorporating cream cheese backfired.  clearly, just putting chunks of cream cheese in the bread batter does not work; it doesn't bake particularly well, it isn't particularly appetizing, and it makes the bread fall apart.  so i ended up breaking the bread open and spooning the cream cheese out.  in hindsight, the internet says that mixing the cream cheese with sugar, egg, and vanilla extract, and spooning a thin layer into the banana bread would be the way to go.  duly noted, internet...duly noted.

aside from wasting cream cheese, the bread itself is marvelous.  will have to try again!

pumpkin pancakes

once i made pumpkin puree, the next step is to do something with it.  i decided to experiment with pancakes.  for dinner, no less!

this recipe, which was cobbled together from about three pumpkin pancake recipes i found online, took maybe 30 minutes or so to prepare and cook, and it makes about three brian-sized portions.

i will also say that the ordinary syrup i had in my pantry was apparently "too old," so i was presented with a container of maple syrup on the condition that i threw the previous syrup away.  needless to say, that was done...

ingredients:
- 3/4 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- cinnamon, nutmeg, clove
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- dried cranberries

preparation:
mix the dry ingredients (and cranberries) together in one bowl.  mix the wet ingredients together in a second bowl, and then slowly incorporate them into the dry ingredients.

bring a pan up to just over medium heat (this is the tricky part; previous stoves required a medium-high heat for pancakes, but my current one didn't like that).  add some oil or butter to the pan, and spoon in a dollop of batter (between 1/4 and 1/3 cup per pancake).  i started with canola oil but switched to butter on jackie's recommendation.  she thinks i should use coconut oil in the future (which is probably not a bad idea; i've used it before with good results).

as with all pancakes, cook until the edges bubble and then flip.  remove and eat.

pictures and discussion:
this was a mixed result.  i started out with unimpressive results that are documented below.

initial, not-pretty pancakes:

i started out using my cast iron pan.  i've successfully cooked very pretty pancakes on cast iron before, so i know it's possible.  however, i'm fairly certain that i got the pan too hot, which made for some cajun-style pancakes.  however, despite their appearance, they still tasted good.  they didn't even have the crunchy texture usually associated with burnt food.

subsequent, prettier results:

i swapped to a regular non-stick pan (and butter) to get these results.

overall verdict:
although tasty, i admit that these pancakes are not very traditional.  they were kind of dense and not particularly fluffy.  additionally, the pumpkin inside seemed to be a little moist (not uncooked, but definitely not pancakey).  still, they were very autumnal; pumpkin and cranberry does seem to play together nicely, and the maple syrup is an excellent topping.

i think the issues were the result of several factors:  first, i may have used too much oatmeal.  i started with about 1/2 cup, but i added a little more to thicken the batter.  the oats probably made for a little extra-dense cake.  also, i may have used too much pumpkin.  none of the recipes i referenced used quite so much, but i thought, "hey, more is better, right?"  a little less pumpkin would have still given the flavor without the unnecessary moisture.  finally, getting the temperature right from the get-go is probably an important factor.

maybe next time i'll just break down and get bisquick and add pumpkin?