R2D2 Cake

Here is the R2D2 cake that Salt made and Pepper decorated for our nephew's 5th birthday party.

Lemon Cookie

Salt has perfected this recipe for lemon cookies. Slightly cakey in texture. Modified from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe for Sugar Cookie Cutouts after a night of drinking and other debauchery...you know the type of night that you don't have the patience to roll out and cut cookies into shapes. We've also made the glaze with orange zest and juice, making them taste like a cookie version of a dreamcicle.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Powdered Sugar Icing

• 2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
  
• 2 tablespoons milk plus additional milk as needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill about 30 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into 1/2 inch balls and press down on them with the bottom of a drinking glass to shape. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack; cool.

4. Powdered Sugar Icing: In a small bowl, combine 2 cups powdered sugar and lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until icing reaches spreading consistency. Dip cooled cookie tops into glaze and put them back onto the wire rack to cool and dry completely.

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

We went out to brunch with some friends (BJ and Robin) in Chicago at a place called Toast. Salt had pancakes...each layer was a different type of pancake: blueberry, lemon poppyseed, and banana pecan. It was topped with topped with a berry granola, vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit and drizzled with honey. Salt's favorite layer was the lemon poppyseed. So we went searching for a recipe to replicate it. Here's what we found...

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

2 cups unbleached ap (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup poppy seeds
zest of 4 lemons
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted

butter, to serve (and for pan)

To make the pancakes combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a large bowl. In another bowl the buttermilk, eggs, butter, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Add the wet to the dry. Stir all the ingredients until they are just combined. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix.

Heat your skillet, pan, or griddle to medium-hot and brush it with a bit of butter. Test for the right temperature. If a drop of water dropped onto the pan starts to dance, you are in the ballpark. Pour about 1/3 of a cup of batter into the skillet. Wait until the pancake bottom is deep golden in color, then flip with a spatula and cook the other side until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter.

The Publican review

I recently visited some friends in Chicago. We decided to check out the gastropub The Publican. They advertise as being specialists in shellfish, pork and beer. (a Palace to Porcine Pleasures) If that doesn't sound like an ideal place for two guys to eat out for the evening, I don't know what does.

Oyster sampler platter. I'm not sure which ones we got since it was chef's choice, but the web site lists the following varietals...so pick the 6 that sound the best and imagine that is what we had...because they were delicious.

• Kumamoto (oyster) Oakland, Washington; sweet, buttery, cucumber
• Penn Cove (oyster) Northern Puget Sound, Washington; fresh, briny
• Watch Hill (oyster) Rhode Island: precious, firm.
• Raspberry Point (oyster) P.E.I., Canada; rounded, substantial
• Wianno (oyster) Cap Cod Massachusetts; briny,sweet
• Peter's point (oyster) Blue Hill, Maine; virtuous & crisp
• Bagaduce (oyster) Bagaduce River, Maine; unyielding, brackish.
• Island Creek (oyster) Duxbury, Massachusetts; firm, beautiful

Spicy pork rinds Slagel Family Farm, Fairbury, Illinois
I always think of pork rinds as those bags of nasty that you get at road side gas n' sips. These were delicious. A cone full of light, fried, spicy pork goodness.

Suckling Pig Slagel Family Farm, Fairbury, Illinois; choucroute & toulouse sausage
This was a good sampling of different cuts of pig. But the best was yet to come.

Beets Nichols Farm, Marengo, Illinois; ricotta & balsamic
Roasted beets with ricotta it was served as a salad of sorts between courses. Very tasty.

Porchetta Becker Lane Organic Farm, Dyersville, Iowa; turnips & rosemary
This is the dish that made the whole evening worth the effort of coming to the restaurant. It was a pork tenderloin with pork belly wrapped around it. It was absolutely delicious.

Dessert? Are you kidding me? There was no way I was fitting another morsel of food in my belly. But according to our waiter, who was very attentive and friendly, he would have been highly disappointed if we were able to order dessert. We did not disappoint.

Oh and we tried several different beers, but since I can remember a name of any of them, I'm not going to review them. Let's just say they were good...really good.

The Publican
837 W. Fulton Market
Chicago, IL 60607

Hot sauce

There are several member of my extended family who love spicy foods, so I thought of doing something on the hot side for my gift baskets this year.

Here's the hot sauce recipe that I will be using for Christmas gifts this year. I intend to try it out this week to make sure it is good. But really with these ingredients, how can it go wrong??? I'll update this post after I've made it to report how it goes.

Habanero Hot Sauce


Ingredients

• 1 small onion -- chopped
• 2 cloves garlic -- chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup carrots -- chopped
• 2 cups water
• 3 Habanero chilies (3 or 4) -- minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Quick note: This is probably a no-brainer to say, but do be very careful when handling the Habaneros. Use latex gloves if you have them when mincing them and do not touch your face or eyes until you have washed your hands thoroughly.

Saute onion in oil until soft. Add carrots and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat. Add chilies, lime juice and salt to the carrot mixture. Place in processor and puree until smooth. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Update: this hot sauce turned out beautifully. It is a great orange color and has a nice kick to it, but not so overwhelming as some other hot sauces. Perfect for the people I'm giving it to for Christmas!

Lemon Curd

Preparations continue for the holiday gift baskets with this tasty treat: Lemon Curd. For anyone who's never seen or tasted it, lemon curd will come as a surprise. It's roughly the same consistency as custard, but a brighter yellow and the scent of lemon wafting from the mix can transport you right back into summer...a nice treat during the cold winter months.

It is great on scones, on pastries or you can use it as filling layers for a cake.











Lemon Curd
Makes 1 serving.
Ingredients

1/3	cup lemon juice plus zest, from 2 lemons
2	large eggs
1	egg yolk
1/2	cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
2	tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1	tablespoon heavy cream
1/4	teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Heat lemon juice and zest in small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and yolk in medium nonreactive bowl; gradually whisk in sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot lemon juice into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture registers 170 degrees on instant-read thermometer and is thick enough to cling to spoon, about 3 minutes.

2. Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in cold butter until incorporated; stir in cream, vanilla, and salt, then pour curd through fine-mesh strainer into small nonreactive bowl. Cover surface of curd directly with plastic wrap or pour into sterile jars and seal; refrigerate until needed.

The curd will keep for about a month in the refrigerator.

Homemade Vanilla

Something new for this year's Christmas goodie bags: homemade vanilla extract. You need to start this one a little bit in advance...around four to six weeks ahead of time...so plan accordingly.

The nice thing about making your own vanilla extract is that it isn't difficult to do and it takes only a few supplies.

First step is to choose the type of vanilla bean you want to use. Here are some varieties and the characteristics of each.
Madagascar - the strongest, most intense vanilla flavor with a full body
Bourbon - notes of berry and ripe fruit
Mexican - sweet and smooth, mellow and spicy
Tahitian - delicate, exotic, and floral
Tonga - rich, full flavored
Indonesian - sweet and woody
India - high percentage of seeds, sweet, woody, and spicy

I ordered some Madagascar beans for my first attempt at this and they just arrived yesterday. The smell from the package was almost overwhelming.


Ingredients and equipment
Large mason jar
Lid and screw down ring
2 cups vodka
6 vanilla beans

Directions
Cut the beans in half lengthwise.
Add the beans to the jar.
Cover with the vodka.
Store in a cool, dark place and shake every couple of days for at least a month. The longer you let it stand, the more intense the flavor will be.
When you get it to the point you like it, strain in through a coffee filter or cheesecloth into dark bottles and seal tightly.

Variations
You can vary the flavor by using different combinations of beans or adding another spice during storage.
Add a few buds of edible lavender.
Add a whole clove.
Add a part of a cinnamon stick.
Add a teaspoon of brandy per 8 ounces. You can also make the vanilla in brandy or rum for a different flavor.

12/9 UPDATE: It has been a few weeks since I started the vanilla and it already looks great! This is definitely the way to go to make vanilla extract.