Fo-ca-ca-ca-ccia!

Once your kids take their first steps, say their first words and have their first birthdays there isn't much to celebrate their "firsts" with after the age of 2. This weekend I was thrilled to be able to celebrate my oldest mini meringue's first......drumroll please...... foccacia!  I couldn't be more proud, yes I was beaming from ear to ear.  I've always been a little leery of my bread making skills, anything that deals with yeast puts doubts in my mind faster than it takes for the actual yeast to work its magic and rise the dough! After a trip to the local mall and a walk through what I call my heaven on earth aka. Willams-Sonoma, my little overachiever of a meringue talked me into making something out of her cookbook Kids Baking. She got all the ingredients together and I had her read through the directions before we began.  In two and half hours we were going to be blessed with an amazing focaccia that she made and I couldn't be more proud of her.

Foccacia

1. To make the dough.  In the bowl of your kitchen aid mixer, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt.  The warm water must be between 115 and 125 degrees.  The directions said to use an instant read thermometer, we used our finger.  That's completly accurate, right?  Pour the water and olive oil into the flour mixture. and stir with the dough hook attachment until a rough, shaggy dough forms.

2.  Knead the dough.  The directions said to dump the dough onto a work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes until its smooth and no longer sticky but since we used our kitchen aid mixer and 10 year olds have the upper arm strength of a gangly giraffe we took the kitchen aid route. Let it do the job for us.

3.  Let the dough rise.  Gather the dough into a ball.  Wipe out the bowl and oil it with about 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.  Put the dough into the bowl and turn the ball to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.  Set the bowl in a warm spot and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. 

4.  Shape the dough.  Oil the baking sheet with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.  Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the baking sheet and press gently to flatten into a 10 by 7 inch oval.  brush the dough with the remaining 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and cover loosely with a large piece of plastic wrap.  Set the pan in a warm spot and let the dough rise for about 20 minutes, until puffed and doubled in size.

5.  Prepare the topping.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  We strayed from the directions at this point. In a small bowl we added a teaspoon and a half of already chopped garlic, some herbs we had on hand (basil, rosemary & thyme)  and added a small amount of olive oil.

6. Finish and bake the focaccia.  When the dough is ready, remove the plastic wrap.  Press the tips of your fingers into the dough all over the surface to create "dimples".  Scatter the garlic mixture evenly over the dough.  Drizzle the dough evenly with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Put the pan in the oven and bake the focaccia for 25 to 30 minutes, until puffed and the top is browned.  Remove from oven, let cool, cut into squares to serve with dipping oils.  Ours came from the local farmers market but can be found online.  They are delicious.

We loved the focaccia and we love our mini meringue!!!  On the "will we make again" meter its a 10!!!  So that means yes, yes and oh yes we will! 

French for "Pepper"

I have started dvr'ing...is that a word...a cooking show on the Cooking Network called  French Food at Home.  I love everything about this show.  I love the music that plays during the show, I love the kitchen Laura Calder cooks in and I love the clothes she wears.  As for the food I'm not that big into it, I mean when was the last time anyone you know made quail for dinner?  While looking at the website for her recipes and anything else I could find, yes it was a mild obsession that day, I can across this recipe for Steak au Poivre which is french for Steak with Pepper.  What intrigued me about this recipe was the sauce.  I am a fan of "the sauce", give me anything as long as it comes with a little sauce on the side and I will eat it up.  Which makes me giggle when thinking of a good friend of mine that won't eat anything that comes with sauce on it! I'm amazed I still think of her as a friend.  LOL!   This recipe was great for us because one I could use up some of our cow in the freezer and I had all the ingredients on hand to make it...well sort of as you will read.  Click on the recipe name to see the original recipe by Aida Mollenkamp below is my version of hers.

Steak au Poivre aka.  Steak with Pepper

2 sirloin steaks

Chicago Steak Seasoning by Weber

Grill the steaks on grill to desired doneness.

For the Sauce

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 small shallots (substituted a small yellow onion) thinly sliced

1/2 cup beef broth

1/4 cup bandy (which I substituted whisky)

1/4 cup heavy cream

I was unaware that the butter and oil were ingredients for cooking the steak in a pan on the stove so I included them in my sauce recipe....still turned out delish.  Add butter and olive oil to the pan along with the onion slices and cook until softened.  Stir in beef broth and the whisky.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to incorporate any browned bits and cook until slightly thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the cream and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Season with salt and pepper or I just threw in a little more of the Chicago Steak Seasoning.  Serve in bowl along side those mouthwatering sirloins hot off the grill! 

We served these with Giada de Laurentiis Parmesan Popovers.  Love this recipe as they turn out great every time but I must make a public service announcement regarding these.....GREASE THE PAN LIBERALLY!!!!! 

On the "will we make again" meter its an 8!!!

Spring is here!

Spring is here and with that comes Mother Natures game of tease!  One beautiful day of summer like temps that get you itching for preparing the garden and flower pots then a week of cool temps and rain that would send any tomato plant heading right back to the store it came from.  My garden is pretty sparse this year since the temperatures at night get very cool still, I'm afraid if I plant anything it will just die from being too cold with not enough sun.  The sturdy rhubarb is up and pretty proud looking but then again it would take a nuclear event to wipe that stuff out!  The strawberry plants have flowers on them to signal they will bear fruit this summer.  The chives came back from last year which I was surprised that they were perennial.  A new rosemary plant adorns my front door as does some seriously wimpy looking basil.  I buy plant after plant of that stuff and never get it to keep.  So far this spring I am on plant #3 and I'm keeping my fingers crossed but its not looking good.  With all the dreary weather I headed to the library and checked out these books and will thoroughly enjoy kicking up my feet and snuggling under my lap quilt and browse through these great cookbooks.  Who knows by the time they are due back at the library summer like temps might be here to stay! 

Dutch Baby Pancake

A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, or a Dutch puff, is a sweet breakfast dish similar to Yorkshire pudding. It is baked in a pan and falls soon after being removed from the oven. It is generally served with fresh squeezed lemon, butter, and powdered sugar or fruit toppings and syrup have been used too.  According to Sunset magazine, Dutch babies were introduced in the first half of the 1900s at Manca's Cafe, a family-run restaurant in Seattle owned by Victor Manca. While these pancakes are derived from the German pancake dish, it is said that the name Dutch baby was coined by one of Victor Manca's daughters. In 1942, Manca's Cafe owned the trademark for Dutch babies, although the cafe later closed in the 1950s.  It is thought by some that the "Dutch" moniker refers to the group of German-American immigrants known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, where "Dutch" actually comes from the German word "deutsch."

The mini meringue's and I decided to make this for breakfast last weekend.  The recipe we had did not call for any sugar or vanilla to be added but next time I make this I will include it.  The Dutch Baby came out very blah in taste so I can see why syrup, fruits and powdered sugar would be needed to jazz it up.  This recipe was super simple to prepare...enjoy!

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and place one stick of butter into a pie pan to melt while the oven is heating up.

Have your mini meringue's crack 5 eggs for you.  We use the crack in a bowl and transfer the "shell free" eggs into a separate container method!  Once all eggs are cracked and shell free pour them into a blender and blend on high speed for one minute.

With the blender running add to the eggs 1 1/4 cups milk and then add 1 1/4 cups flour.  Blend together ingredients for an additional 30 seconds.  Pour batter into pie plate with butter melted.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 minutes before cutting and serve with fresh fruit!

One of the mini meringues said it was great and had 2 pieces, the other two and myself thought that it was ok and needed something else.  Next time we will add some vanilla to the batter and sprinkle with powdered sugar at the end. 

Viel Spa!  That's German for Enjoy!  ")