Wine + Art

On a recent trip to Baton Rouge, I went to Corks-N-Canvas, an art studio that mixes learning to paint with drinking wine.  I was instantly intrigued--we all think of pairing wine with cheese, but why not art?

The studio focuses on the concept of art as entertainment.  With a little instruction, anyone can paint.  My mother had already been to the New Orleans Magazine Street location where she painted a crooked house. My mother happens to be extremely artistic, so her pieces looked very good.

That was an interesting thing about the class.  Yes, we were all painting the same object, but, everyones looked different. Very different. There was a bonafide artist sitting next to me, and her painting was downright inspiring.  The class was three hours long--though I was so into it, I could have used an extra hour or two.   Music even played lightly in the background (I was impressed by the playlist, which included India Arie).  It was therapeutic.  I was able to focus all of my energy in one place--the tip of my paint brush and the strokes that followed.

I have no doubt that this concept will be popping up all over the country.  Those of you with a lot of liquidity, look into franchising options!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Who doesn't love red velvet cupcakes?!  The recent red velvet cupcake craze has been pretty remarkable.  I  am a red velvet fiend, but I didn't fall in love with the RV until 2007.  I was at a friend's graduation party, and she had catered a red velvet cake.  One bite and I was in love with the almost-chocolate taste combined with the cream cheese icing--a perfect match.

I have been looking for  a good red velvet cake recipe pretty much since then.  I have gone all over the U.S. tasting red velvet cake--from Picadilly in Louisiana (the cake is rumored to have southern roots), to red velvet cheesecake at the cheesecake factory, and even Starbuck's--which only recently added red velvet cupcakes to their menu (avoid them at all costs--not worth the money, calories, and not fair to your taste buds!)  

So, I recently experimented with a recipe when I made these cupcakes for a fundraiser.  It was the BLSA (Black Law Students Assoc.) annual "Soul Food Lunch" fundraiser.  A portion of the proceeds went to the Haiti relief effort.  

Though the taste was not the best I've ever had (and I've had a lot), the texture was incredibly light and the cake absolutely melted in my mouth.  It was almost dangerous--multiple cupcakes could easily be consumed.  For that reason alone, I will be making these again.  Tomorrow actually.  I have a feeling that cupcakes and Champagne will make a great pair...

Cheese Soufflé

Yet another venture into the world of the mysterious *soufflé.*

This dish was such a delight due to both its taste and texture.  Though it tasted like scrambled eggs with cheese and near perfect seasoning, the texture was incredibly light and airy.  I imagine that clouds have a texture similar to soufflés.

Unlike chocolate souffles, I cooked the center completely through--so it was not gooey inside.  The recipe which would have made one regular sized souffle, or 5-6 mini souffles, used only 4 eggs (plus one egg white) and one cup of cheese.  That's less than a serving each of egg and cheese per souffle serving.

I used Julia Child's "cheese souffle" recipe in her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1. So, you can find the recipe in the book.

The texture alone makes the 25 minutes or so prep time worth it.  So next time you are having a lazy morning in, consider making this very special treat.  I served mine with bacon and orange juice, in my sunlit living room.  It's the little things...

Step 1: Dusting the ramekins with bread crumbs or parmesan cheese (If these were dessert souffles, we would use sugar.)  Souffles need something to cling onto so that they can climb the wall of the dish.

Step 2: Make a roux (oil+flour). Correct seasoning.

Step 3: Add the egg yolks, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Step 4: Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Incorporate into the egg yolk mixture by folding.  If you overfold or stir, your souffles will not rise.

Step 5: Fill the ramekins with the mixture. Then bake.

Remove from oven when the tops have lightly browned.

Voila!

*If you plan on purchasing Julia Child's incredible book, I recommend Amazon.  The list price is $40, and the Amazon price is $26.40.

Why I decided to bake my own bread: Whole Wheat Bread

We live in a "push a button" kind of society.  Whatever negative stimuli we experience, we have the option to "push a button" and make everything better.  Need to deliver a message? Push the "talk" button on your cell phone or the "send" button via email, text, or tweet.  Cold on a winter night? Push a button and turn the heat on, or turn your electric fireplace on.  No need to gather wood and start a fire.

Technology is wonderful.  But there are numerous problems that can be attributed to it--like obesity.  When we are hungry, we don't have to go outside and pick berries or hunt animals.  We can "push a button" and pizza or chinese food will be delivered to our door. Or, we can stop at a Fast Food place and order french fries.

My point is: maybe it's a good thing if it takes you longer than 5 minutes to make your food.  Which leads me to one of my latest projects: bread.  If you read the ingredients on your "Roman Meal" or "Sara Lee" bread, you will likely find high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.

I really like this recipe because the bread was moist and tasted wholesome.  If you have never worked with yeast before, it can be intimidating.  I don't have a bread machine, so I used the dough hook on my stand mixer.  If you don't have a stand mixer, you can knead the dough with your hands. I used water instead of milk which made it lighter.

Recipe- Honey Whole Wheat Bread (one 9"x5" loaf)
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk, heated to warm (105-115F)
1/8 cup honey
1 egg
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Dissolve the yeast and warm milk in a bowl.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  Using a wire whisk, stir in the honey and egg.  [By hand: Add the flour, salt, and butter and stir with your hand or  wooden spoon until a rough mass forms.  Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, 5-7 minutes.] [With a stand mixer: put the liquids into the bowl of your mixer.  Add the flour, salt and butter.  Attach the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth, 5-7 minutes.]

2. Form the dough into a bowl and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft free spot until the dough doubles in size, two hours.

3. Punch down the dough on a clean work surface.  Flatten the dough with the heel of your hand.  Fold the dough (like a letter) into thirds.  Preheat oven to 375F.

4. Place the folded dough, seam side down, in a buttered 9x5" loaf pan.  Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it has doubled in size, one hour.

5. Place the loaf pan on the middle rack of the oven.  Bake until golden brown, and sound hollow when tapped on the top, 35 minutes.  Careful not to overbake, or it will be dry.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Baking Flops!

Everything does not always come out just right.  Especially your first attempt at something.  Like everything, baking takes practice!  Things often turn out bad for one of two reasons: either the recipe or the execution.  My deceptively beautiful lemon meringue pie (below).

Who remembers the parmesan parsley muffins I made for book club back in October??  I was being really ambitious, so I decided to make two types of muffins--one sweet (sweet potato muffins), and one savory--these awful parmesan parsley muffins.  I'm not sure if the error was in the recipe or the execution, but parsley overwhelmed the muffins.  

My most recent catastrophe was much more tragic.  My mom, who is the busiest person I know, had been wanting to make a lemon meringue pie.   It was Christmas day, and I decided to make the pie.  I am certain that it is my execution that doomed this pie.  And the sad part is, it took soooo long, and required several hours to set in the refrigerator.  Everyone's taste buds were anxiously awaiting the  completion of this pie.  The lovely meringue (below).

Where it wrong:  1.  The filling never set.  When I cut into it, the filling had not solidified.  I'm pretty sure that this is because I was not used to the slow-to-heat range I was using at my house.  This could have been easily remedied with an instant-read thermometer.  The filling that never set (below).

2. The meringue on the pie had condensation on it when I took it out of the refrigerator.  This is because it did not completely cool when I first put it in the refrigerator.  Plus, I put it in an air tight container because I did not want the pie to taste like the Christmas feast that was in the refrigerator.  

I'm confident that if I attempted this pie again, I would be successful.  Plus, I think the meringue came out beautiful!  It was just so sad when I had to dump the pie in the trash can :(

5 Minute Chocolate Cake

This is an excellent recipe for anyone who has ever had one of those *cravings* for something chocolatey.  This recipe requires no special equipment--just a mug and a fork!  The entire recipe, start to finish, takes less than 5 minutes.

As for taste, it hits the spot and satisfies that chocolate craving.  I recommend serving it with whipped cream or ice cream.  Mine came out a little dense and dry, so the ice cream I ate with it really balanced it out.  But I really couldn't complain for cake "baked" in a microwave!

Recipe- 5 Minute Chocolate Cake (thanks to the fabulous a. pankey for discovering this during her website browsing!)

4 tablespoons cake flour 

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder in a mug.

2. Add the egg, milk, and oil to the mug.  Mix well.

3. Microwave on high for 3 minutes.  The "cake" will rise several inches over the mug and then fall.  

4. Shake the cake out of the mug onto a plate. 

5. Enjoy!

Banana Bread French Toast

Looking for something to do with that leftover banana bread?

Try this twist on your classic "french toast."  Just make sure you baked the banana bread in a 9x5 loaf pan instead of muffin tins.  My banana bread loaf was short in height since I halved the recipe.

Just slice your left over banana bread (banana bread recipe). My slices were about a 3/4" thick.  The thicker the slice, the lower the heat you should use when making the french toast.  I then whipped one egg with 2 tablespoons of milk, a dash of nutmeg, a dash of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.  (I only made one serving).  Next, I dipped the slices of banana bread in the egg mixture.  After a couple of minutes, I turned them over.  While the banana bread was soaking up the egg mixture, I put a skillet on the range on medium-low heat.

I then transferred the slices to the skillet (you may want to use some form of grease--butter, veg. oil--if your skillet is not non-stick).

 After a few minutes, I turned the slices over and waited for the other side to brown.  After they were cooked, I dipped each slice in a cinnamon/sugar mixture (1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons sugar).  I then topped it with butter and syrup.

Delicious and easy!

Vegetable Stock

So, I'm really into making soup.  This week, I made curried corn chowder.  I have been meaning to try making my own vegetable stock, and I finally got around to it.

The entire process of making 6 cups of stock took about 3 hours.  I have not yet decided if it was worth my time, but I am a bit of a "quality control" freak, so I appreciated having control over what went in it.  (all organic veggies, low sodium)

If you are using store bought broth, make sure that it does not have MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, listed in the ingredients.  You often find msg in canned broths or cubes.

You can pretty much use scraps (carrot peels, celery leaves, ends of leeks) to flavor your stock.  Just be cautious of veggies with strong flavors.  Those strong flavors could overwhelm the stock (cabbage, eggplant).

Vegetable Stock-Recipe
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 big yellow onion, chopped
1 leek, root and dark green tops removed, chopped
1 big potato, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
8 cups water
1 bunch fresh italian parsley
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

1. Saute the vegetables in the butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the vegetables from sticking to the pot and burning.  After 5-10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the onions are tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
2. Return the heat to high.  Add the water, parsley, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the water no longer tastes like water, but tastes like broth, at least 2 hours.  Pour the stock through a colander and use right away, or cool it to room temperature before putting in the refrigerator or freezer.