back to basics

Fondue is a great option for a party because most of the preparations can be done ahead of time, leaving you and your guests time to enjoy the party while the food cooks in front of you. Fondue can also make a cozy evening for two. For a dinner party, you may opt to have a fondue party and serve cheese fondue, a main course of fondue, and a dessert fondue. For two, you may focus on one type of fondue to highlight.

The traditional cheese fondue includes a combination of Gruyere and Emmentaler cheese, as well as a dry white wine or hard cider, and a splash of Kirsch. To make cheese fondue, you will need the following ingredients:

10 oz dry white wine or hard cider

6 oz Gruyere

6 oz Emmentaler

2 T cornstarch

1 T Kirsch

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 clove garlic

fondue pot/cauldron

Dippers:

Sliced granny smith apples (squeeze lemon juice over them to prevent browning)

Baby carrots, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower flowerets

Cubes of bread (Italian bread or baguette, pumpernickel)

Instructions:

1. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub over the inside of the fondue pot, discard.

2. Shred the cheeses using a box grater or food processor and toss well with cornstarch.

3. Heat wine in the cauldron over low to moderate heat until it reaches a simmer. Drop a handful of cheese in and stir in a figure 8 pattern until mixed. Add another handful of cheese, and continue to mix and add cheese until combined. Add Kirsch and stir to combine, season with nutmeg, stir, and serve with Dippers.

The main course fondue is a great option for entertaining because everything can be prepared ahead of time. It’s common to use either a soup stock or oil to cook the meat in; some people prefer the flavor of the oil, others like the lightness of a soup stock. Vegetable or chicken stock won’t impart quite as much flavor as beef stock, and can be good choices.

In advance you will want to prep the meats, which can include tenderloin, sirloin, shrimp, chicken, and even lobster. Cut the meats into bite-size pieces, peel and devein the shrimp; keep each meat in a separate bowl. For non-meat eaters, keep a supply of fresh ravioli on hand. You’ll want to have dipping sauces on-hand for the meats; you can prepare these in fondue trays or small bowls ahead of time. Suggestions include blue cheese dressing, cocktail sauce, teriyaki sauce, steak sauce, pesto, and a garlic butter sauce. For the fondue event, simply heat the stock in the cauldron until it simmers, and skewer the meats or ravioli and place in the cauldron until cooked through.

Lastly, there’s the dessert fondue. Chocolate fondue consists of chocolate and heavy cream, with dippers such as fresh fruit and angel food cake. A dessert fondue is not the place to skimp on the quality of chocolate; with so few ingredients, be sure to buy good quality chocolate. To make chocolate fondue, you will need:

1/2 c heavy cream

8 oz chocolate (bittersweet or semi-sweet preferred, can use quality milk chocolate), chopped

Optional: can add 2 T liqueur, such as Frangelico, Grand Marnier, or Framboise

Dippers: strawberries, sliced bananas, sliced kiwi, pear slices (use lemon juice to prevent browning), bite-sized pieces of angel food or pound cake

Instructions:

Bring cream to a simmer in the cauldron over moderate heat. Reduce heat to low and add chocolate, whisk until combined. Remove from heat and add liqueurs, whisk until combined. Serve with dippers.

Sit back and enjoy yourself; adults and children alike will have a wonderful time with a fondue dinner.

Pizza may possibly be the perfect food. Children and adults both love it, and it can be served in a variety of ways that cover most food groups: bread, dairy, vegetables, meats, and even fruit.

The Italians believe that good pizza is all about the crust. There should not be an overabundance of toppings, because that would detract from the bread, which is the star. It’s up to you if you want to follow this philosophy, but either way, you can take your pizza to the next level by making it from scratch. It’s more affordable than delivery and tastes infinitely better than a frozen pizza and most delivery options. Making a pizza crust from scratch is easier than it sounds, and it really doesn’t take much more time than waiting for the delivery driver. For the dough, you’ll need:

3/4 c warm water (110 degrees)
1 package dry yeast
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp salt

First, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in a large mixer bowl. Allow it to sit for five minutes so the yeast can proof. Add 1 ½ cups of flour and the salt, and mix with a dough hook on a low speed. Gradually add the remaining flour as the dough will absorb it (you may no need it all). Knead for about 7 minutes. Turn the dough out on a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. Put the dough into a large, oiled bowl and roll the dough around until it’s well-coated. Cover it with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit for 30 minutes while you prepare the toppings. After 30 minutes, divide the dough into two balls and roll out each on a floured board into 8 inch rounds.

Brush the dough with olive oil, and top with your favorite cheese and toppings. Bake on a sheet pan coated with cornmeal at 475 F for 8-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown around the edges and the cheese is bubbling. Always allow the pizza to rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it; this allows the juices to go back into any vegetables on the pizza, preventing a soggy crust after cutting, and allows the flavors to further develop.

You can turn making pizzas into a family event, or even a pizza party with your friends. Have about eight different precut toppings available, such as sliced red onions, caramelized onions, sliced red and yellow bell peppers, olives, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, figs, and sauteed mushrooms. Offer a mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, feta, and even goat cheeses. The possibilities are endless.

While a good pizza crust is delicious when simply brushed with olive oil and topped with mozzarella, salt, and pepper, you can offer even more different combinations by offering sauces. Go beyond the traditional tomato sauce with an alfredo, garlic oil, or pesto.

Play around with the basic dough recipe to make it your own. Add some chopped herbs, garlic, or grated parmesan when mixing the dough. Enjoy the process of making your own dough, of making the crust the star of the pizza, just as the Italians do.

Few things are as comforting as the scent of bread baking in the oven. Many people are intimidated by the idea of making bread, especially yeast breads, but there are foolproof methods to help you out. The kneading process will be easier if you have a stand mixer, but it’s not necessary. If you’re looking for an added benefit of a little stress relief, do knead your bread by hand; you may be surprised as to how therapeutic it can be.

For a basic sandwich bread, you will need the following:

1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

1 package dry yeast

1 tsp honey

6 oz warm milk (110 degrees)

3 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 T honey

1 large egg yolk

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¼ tsp salt

1. Combine the warm water, yeast, and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a mixing bowl if making by hand). Allow to sit for five minutes for the yeast to proof; it will foam and give off a “yeasty” scent.
2. Add the butter, milk, and remaining honey, mix on low or by hand to blend. Add the egg yolk and 1 cup of the flour. Mix on low speed or by hand for a minute, add the salt and another cup of flour. Continue to mix (or knead by hand) and gradually add remaining flour as needed (depending on the humidity of the air, more or less than the total 3 cups may be needed. If using a stand mixer, let it knead the dough until the dough is mostly clear of the sides and may stick a bit to the bottom of the bowl, about 7 or 8 minutes total. If kneading by hand, work until it forms a smooth ball.
3. Lightly oil or butter a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl; roll the dough around until it is completely oiled. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until double in volume, about an hour or two.
4. Grease an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan. Shape the dough into an 8 inch log and place in the pan. Cover again with the kitchen towel and allow to raise until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C). Bake dough for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Turn the bread out of the pan and allow to cool completely (this is important; cutting into warm bread will change the texture of the bread). Store in a sealed plastic bag.

This will be so much better than anything you buy at the grocery store!

Okay, so not really. Where I live, we all know that though we have a heat wave, it is certainly not the beginning of spring. We are hopeful that just maybe, we won’t have such bitterly cold weather anymore. It’s warmer today, and it will be raining later on (rain means snow melts faster!). Tomorrow we will be above 50 degrees F (!), and I fully intend to take advantage of it.

After the rain moves out of the area, I’m shoveling out my grill. Well, whatever snow is left around my grill will be removed. That hamburger I’ve been craving for weeks now will be mine!

I’m telling you, this is the part of winter that I like: the brief little spring teasers that give me a pick-me-up and allow me to go back to my winter cooking. Oh, I will be grilling a few things to enjoy this week: hamburgers, chicken breasts for salads, perhaps even a few hotdogs that I can refreeze and pull out in a couple of weeks when I’ve got the winter blues again. Yes, you read that right: hotdogs. I’m ashamed to admit that about twice a year, I eat hotdogs. And not the healthy ones. What can I say? Sometimes a cultural dish is more important that eating 100% clean.

Oh, I’ve tried the healthy hotdogs. I don’t like them. I probably should find some sort of vegetarian hotdog to try (do they make those?), because for me, hotdogs are simply an opportunity to load up on condiments: cherry tomatoes, onions, relish, cheese, and maybe a little mustard.

I’m so excited, it’s ridiculous. I’m excited for grilled food (I’ll throw some veggies on, too), but I’m almost more excited because this taste of summer will most definitely help me enjoy the rest of winter.

I love taking pictures of food. I have a rather inexpensive digital camera, so for quite awhile now, my pictures have not been anything special. I’d see food blogs that had just the most amazing pictures, and then I would see my pictures.

There was no comparison.

I did some research into cameras, though I really can’t afford to buy a new camera right now. When I saw the pricetag of the camera I would need, not to mention the lens…well, I would need to win the lottery or have a major career break-through.

So I started tinkering with my little powershot. And then I found the setting for Super Macro. Hmm. Perhaps I could make this work. I even baked a batch of cupcakes, just so I could take pictures.

Oh my. That picture is quite large! Oh well, I’m pleased with the results, nonetheless. And, I have completely renewed by desire to cook and bake up a storm…all so that I can take new pictures with my old camera. And the best part? I don’t have to learn how to use something new. Sometimes the basics are all you need…

Making pizza from scratch is easier than you might think. The following recipe will produce enough dough for about six individual pizzas, or two regular size pizzas. The individual pizzas are great for a pizza party or kids, because everything can pick their own toppings. Here’s what you’ll need:

3/4 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1 package dry yeast
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp salt

First, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in a large mixer bowl. Allow it to sit for five minutes so the yeast can proof. Add 1 cups of flour and the salt, and mix with a dough hook on a low speed. Gradually add the remaining flour as the dough will absorb it (you may no need it all). Knead for about 7 minutes. Turn the dough out on a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. Put the dough into a large, oiled bowl and roll the dough around until it’s well-coated. Cover it with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit for 30 minutes while you prepare the toppings. After 30 minutes, divide the dough into two balls and roll out each on a floured board into 8 inch rounds (alternatively, divide into six balls and roll out into small rounds).

Brush the dough with olive oil, and top with your favorite cheese and toppings. Bake on a sheet pan coated with cornmeal at 475 F for 8-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown around the edges and the cheese is bubbling. Always allow the pizza to rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it; this allows the juices to go back into any vegetables on the pizza, preventing a soggy crust after cutting, and allows the flavors to further develop.

And voila! Delicious pizza. You can further experiment with the crusts by adding chopped herbs, garlic, even shredded cheese.

This dough also freezes really well. Right before you put the dough into the oiled bowl, simply break the dough in half; wrap one half with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer, and use the remaining dough as directed. Later, thaw dough in refrigerator overnight and allow to rise at room temp in oiled bowl for about 45 minutes.

I learned a lesson. I saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen yesterday, in which they made French onion soup. Now, the caramelized onions and triple deglazing looked fantastic, so I decided I would make it for lunch today.

In the summer, I try to purchase the produce that looks good, and design my cooking around it. I really should be doing the same thing in the winter. This recipe calls for 6 large yellow onions, or 4 pounds of onions. My store only had small yellow onions and large white onions. So I decided to buy 2 white onions and a big bag of the little yellow onions.

I start chopping onions and realize the white onions are bad. Both of them. Most of the small onions are green in the middle, so they are old too. I’m getting annoyed at how many onions I’m peeling…I can chop onions quickly, but peeling just gets messy, especially when you have a small workspace and cutting board.

Now I’m swearing up a storm and yelling at myself for picking a dish before checking on the quality of the ingredients. Then I reminded myself that these onions all looked fine, and I made the decision not to go to another store to look for large yellow onions.

The onions are now in the oven and are giving off a scent so powerful that my eyes are watering! Once the are caramelized, it will all be worth it, but until then I will be sniffling and blinking much more than usual.

Oh well, the end product should be worth it. It’s an extremely cold day, and nothing is more satisfying than a warm, rich bowl of soup. And soup topped with a crouton and cheese? Now that is perfection.

As my two week challenge draws to a close, I want to take a moment to think about what I’ve gotten from this experience. The most important aspect is that I really can make some quick meals, eat them without feeling rushed, and clean up the kitchen in an hour’s time. I think my problem to this point has been in feeling the need to create more extravagant meals when I cook; not necessarily things that are impressive, but definitely things that are time consuming.

Searching out some quick-cooking was important to this. The peeled and deveined frozen shrimp are now a freezer staple in my house. I’m able to make a 1 portion meal using this protein. Individually wrapped chicken breasts are also important. They store well in the freezer and are easy to thaw in water. One of these is about 2 portions for me, so they work great for utilizing leftovers in salads or sandwiches.

And yet…I’ve had some odd cravings near the end of the challenge. First there was the mad cheeseburger craving. Granted, it was late at night and I was getting hungry before bed, and our temperatures had been sub zero for days, so craving a grilled burger (a summer food) probably wasn’t all that strange. The following day, however, I wanted a hotdog with kraft macaroni and cheese. Talk about wanting processed food! Again, since I only eat hotdogs once or twice a year, and only eat them grilled, I’m guessing what I was really craving was summer.

No idea as to why I wanted macaroni and cheese out of the box, though. It’s not even a traditional comfort food for me, as I started eating that in college.

This challenge has definitely yielded some unforseen results. As my grill is covered in snow, I doubt I will be having any burgers anytime soon, but that’s okay. Because I could not feed my craving, I have realized I’m willing to wait for the real deal.

And that’s a good outcome of the challenge.

In an effort to get more “true” whole grains into my diet, I’ve been wanting to try wheatberries for awhile now. When I say true whole grains, I mean actually eating grains, not grains that have been ground or refined into flour. I don’t think they are all that “whole” anymore.

Basically, wheatberries are what are ground down into whole wheat flour. They are also delicious in their “before” capacity. All you have to do is cook them in simmering water for 45-60 minutes, then serve. I made this salad: http://cookingwithina.com/2009/01/16/wheatberry-salad/

It’s really quite delicious, and it’s better the longer it sits. I adore balsamic vinegar, and it really melds nicely with the fresh chopped vegetables in this salad. I think a scoop of this salad would be particularly lovely incorporated into a larger green salad, as well.

This salad is also great to make mid-way through the week when you’re trying to use up vegetables, cooked or raw - just chop them up and toss them in. Because the salad is best served at room temperature, I think it would be wonderful at picnics, though you may need a more adventurous croud to try it. I think I will take this to a family event to see how it’s received. My family is picky and from a meat and potatoes background, so it should be interesting!

This weekend, I think I’m going to make demi-glace. It’s a rich French sauce that few people make from scratch anymore (I think a lot of chefs even buy it) because it’s so labor-intensive and time-consuming, but I’ve always wanted to try it. Plus, I have a piece of venison in my freezer that I need to make, and I found an interesting-looking recipe that requires demi-glace.

I’m not a big venison fan, but I come from a family of hunters. I promised my dad I would try it again (this was back in September, I think), and I’ve been searching for a recipe ever since. It’s been 10 years since I last venison, when I had the brainiac idea to make a venison & broccoli stir-fry.

Who knew that broccoli could taste like venison?

If you’re guessing the dish was atrocious, you would be right. But, my skills in the kitchen a lot better now than they were 10 years ago, so perhaps I can make this dish tasty.

Now I just have to find a nice demi-glace recipe. Something tells me I will have to break out Julia’s book for this one.