Bostini Cream Pie - Daring Baker October 2007

+The Cream+

Making the pie was a 2 day event. The kids and I started the cream Sunday night (10/7/07) we separated eggs, mixed milk, and cooked cream. DS was so cute stirring the cream on the stove and protested greatly when he had to give up his turn; however, he had positioned his chair just in the spot where he could easily get out off the "cool" cooking tools and play with them. while DD was ladling the cream into the ramekins I look over the see DS playing swards with my large off set spatula and the tongs...he was having a blast. DD had made Creme Patisserie with Daddy before so she had a good idea of what she was doing. She was the one that checked to see if the creme coated the spoon, dipping it into the cream and blowing on it to cool it enough to run her finger through it straight to her mouth in one quick swoop only to say a few more seconds mom and then she would test it again. DD then was so excited to be able to ladle the cream into the ramekins with her measuring cup. She told me at bed time that ladling the cream was her favorite part of the day. The cream is now in the refrigerate waiting for us to make the cake tomorrow morning.

+The Cake+

At first the kids did not want to make the cake, they were too busy laying in bed reading books. Once I got the ingredients out and started juicing the Lemons they were at my side. DD whipped the egg white, that is a great job for her, and DS played drums on the counter with the measuring cups.

+Assembly+

DD wanted to put on the chocolate sauce from the start and often asked when she could do it. In the end the kids did not eat the Pie and DH and I did not find it very good. I have a better Chiffon cake recipe that I got off of the Barmy Baker Blog, and my husband makes a Creme Patisserie with milk and if I am going to go to all the trouble to make this I would make a real chocolate ganache. Great Idea, just needs some work.

Mushroom Bisque

A few years ago Panera Bread had a mushroom Bisque that I just loved. Their Mushroom bisque has changed slightly since then, but I still love it. I set out to make that soup and I created a wonderful bisque that was very close. that was before I had a blog and I never put the recipe to writing and now I can not remember how I made it. The following recipe is good, but it is not even close to the one that I created over 2 years ago.



1 medium onion thinly sliced
2 pounds button mushrooms, sliced
2 T olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

In a large soup pot add the oil and slowly caramelize the onions and mushrooms cooking about 20 minutes. , stirring periodically.

Add the stock and cook for a few minutes season to taste add the cream and heat through.

While writing this post I got to thinking that I did type this recipe before on babyfit.com and after about 40 minutes of searching I found one of my very first attempts at the soup...

1 Medium onion, finely chopped
2 T. Butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 -2 pound Mushrooms, Sliced
3 T. Flour
1/3 C. White Wine
4 C. water or chicken stock/broth (I used water)
2/3 C. Cream
1 T. Sour Cream
2 bouillon cubes (do not need if used stock)
2 dashes worcestershire sauce
salt and Pepper to taste

Sauté onions in butter for a few minutes add the Mushrooms and garlic and continue sautéing for about 10 minutes. Add flour and cook long enough to cook raw taste out of it (about a minute). Add the wine, water (stock, seasonings and cook for another 10 minutes. Lower heat add cream and sour cream and heat through. Serve.

In the Woods

Some of the the best parts about going mushroom picking is the beautiful scenery
and we found a great climbing tree too. That is my sister up there and the kids thought it was great that the two of use were up in the branches climbing that tree.

We also brought a picnic lunch that we enjoyed in a pine forest. The wind in the canopy above us was a wonderful sound.

Pumpkin Blossoms in October

In early October my Daughter's school went on a field trip to the pumpkin farm. it was very warm that day, well above average, and the field was not just covered in orange pumpkins but in beautiful yellow blossoms. I asked the hay ride driver if I could have some and he said I could help myself.

I love zucchini flowers and I wanted some all summer and never once found any but pumpkin flowers, how different could they be. I always batter and fry my blossoms tempura style and this time I wanted to try something new. I had found a recipe on the William-Sonoma website for spaghetti with zucchini blossoms and saffron and I thought that this would be perfect because I could make a new dish with the blossoms and enter the spice of the month on Sunita's blog, which is saffron for the month of October.

I have to say that I should have looked at the recipe closer because the flavor was lacking, and blossoms were slimy, and the cheese was clumpy. I have a few William-Sonoma cookbooks and I have enjoyed the recipes very much but this was an absolute bomb, how disappointing.

Lost my pictures

I had a computer that I used for only pictures and it died the other day. Hubby is trying everything that he can think of to retrieve the pictures but it is taking time, this includes all of my food pictures. I have taken more in the past few days and I will be posting a food entry soon.

Menu for week 10/12/07

• Mushroom Bisque
• Chicken with Tarragon Mushroom sauce from Tyme for Cooking
• White chicken Chili
  
• Roasted chicken

I am going out of town for the weekend to pick mushrooms and go hiking so the menu is a little short this week.

Wholesome Waffles

My Daughter had been asking for waffles for a few weeks and I had been putting it off because I don't like making them. Getting out the beaters to whip egg whites for breakfast never is appealing to me. Then one day I thought to myself why go to all that trouble just waffle iron the pancakes, its not She will know that I cheated. So that is what I did and they were pretty darn good.

1 cup rolled oats
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
1/4 olive oil
1/4 cup flax seed

In a large bowl combine rolled oats and buttermilk and let soak for 15 minutes. Meanwhile stir together dry ingredients, add to oats and stir in egg and oil. cook in a waffle iron until golden on both sides. Serve with maple syrup or good jam.

Olive Tapenade Pasta in 12 Minutes

You can't really see the olive tapenade in the pictures but the flavor really came through and it was Delicious, the kids ate 3 helpings each and would have eaten more if there was any left.
A dish this fast and flavorful I will be making this recipe again!

1/2 a package of Pasta to your liking
1 cup (or more) tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/4 cup (a handful) of chopped basil
1/4 cup (a handful) of chopped parsley
1/3 cup of store bought mixed olive tapenade (I got mine at Trader Joe's)
Parmesan cheese
Pepper

Cook pasta according to package direction. Drain Pasta and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, stir, serve and enjoy

I am sending this dish in for Presto Pasta Nights #33 at Once Upon a Feast.

Apple Cake

1½ Cups Flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. Cayenne
1/2 Cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
4 cups grated apples
1 cup bran (all-bran)1/2 cup pecans

preheat oven to 350F.

peel and grate the apples

In a bowl combine dry ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in apple, bran, pecans and flour mixtures

Spread batter into a 9" buttered baking pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

15 Bean Soup

Quick method

Place rinsed beans in a pot with 3 quarts water

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and continue to boiling for 60 - 70 minutes
After 60 Minutes, add ingredients. Simmer for 30-45 minutes

ok that is what the bag said, this is what I did

I rinsed the beans and placed them in a pot with 2 quarts water and 1 quart chicken stock, bay leaf and boiled for an hour. I then added a smoked turkey wing, pepper and soup seasoning, turned to heat down to simmer for a half an hour. I then turned off the heat for an hour while I went to the school to pick up my daughter. When I got home I turned the soup on to simmer again. sauteed some carrots, celery, and leeks and then added them to the soup and let it cook while the corn bread baked, about 20 minutes.

I find that cooking beans always takes longer then the 2 hours that it says on the bag, I have found that it takes a good 3 hours and at the end of the 3 hours the beans still hold their shape but are tender.

I have used a nice smoked ham before but the soup tends to get a little greasy. Smoked turkey wing adds a lot of smoke flavor without the grease; however, if you want ham in your soup buy a ham steak and cube that up and add it to the soup with the vegetables.

Seafood Pesto Pasta

This dish is so easy and Delicious. I first made it from Ingredients only purchased from Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has a seafood medley with shrimp, scallops and calamari in their frozen food section (about $6.00 for the bag) that is so easy to use and I also purchase a bag of Trottole, zucchini, garlic and olive oil and this time I added some home made pesto and WOW was it great.

Start a pot of water to boil. season with salt. Once boiling add pasta

Mince garlic and place in a large cold pan with 2 or 3 T of Olive oil

Slice zucchini and add to garlic and saute for about 3 -4 minutes. Add the seafood and cook until it is opaque.

drain pasta (follow package directions for cookign time)

Mix cooked pasta, seafood and about 1/3 of a cup of pesto, squeeze of lemon (lemon is a must) and serve.

Post #100 and a Soup Terrine

I just noticed that this will be post number 100. I can't believe that I started this blog to figure out why people do it, I had no intention of being such an admit blogger and falling in love with it. I HATE writing, it is work for me, it is not something that comes naturally and yet I love to food blog. My LOVE of food, recipes, cooking, eating, and cookbooks is that much stronger than my hate for writing. I know that sometime you can't call what I do writing, but you get the idea.

~Soup Terrine~

I have wanted a soup terrine for a few years but I could never find the right one. either it cost a lot more then what I wanted to spend or it was so ugly that I just didn't want it. The other day I found the perfect terrine. It was only $20.00 and it looks good too. I am so happy with it and have been making soup just so I can use it.