make ahead

Carrots in Pistachio Herb Butter

I whipped this butter up a month ago and after making a batch of these carrots I stashed it in the freezer.  Today I made another batch to serve 2 people, and next week I could use what remains of the butter to serve at least 8.  After making the butter all you have to do it cook the carrots, in small or large batches.  This is a terrific semi-make-ahead side dish.

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The herb butter can be made well in advance which, if you’re a good planner, makes this a super simple side dish to serve at a holiday meal or on a busy weeknight.  I stored mine in the freezer for over a month and it was still great.

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In addition to making the butter ahead you can prep the carrots up to two days in advance and store them in the fridge.  That makes finishing these a breeze, taking no more than 15 minutes.

I personally loved the flavors, but my husband wasn’t crazy about the combination of herbs and pistachio.  I’m still going to recommend this dish, though.  I found the flavors to be a nice change from the typical flavors in cooked carrots.  There is a slight bit of heat thanks to the hot sauce.  The crunch of the chopped pistachios on top is really nice and adds great texture contrast.  The herbs brighten things up, instead of weighing them down like brown sugar and butter do.

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After cooking the carrots you drain the water, reserving some of it, and return the carrots to the pot.  Then you add in your desired amount of butter and some of the water to make a sauce.  The original recipe uses all of the butter for 3 pounds of carrots, but I used less and it was fine.  Add less than you think you need, stir with a little water (less is more here as well) taste and add more butter if you desire.  You may also want to season with salt.  Once in their serving dish sprinkle with the reserved pistachios.

Carrots in Pistachio Herb Butter

From Fine Cooking

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup salted, roasted, shelled pistachios
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 1 tablespoon packed fresh mint leaves
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  • 4 to 6 drops Sriracha
  • Kosher salt
  • Carrots, peeled and cut into pieces about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide (1 pound serves 2-4. 3 pounds serves 6-10)

Directions

Make the Butter

  1. Coarsely chop the pistachios in a food processor. Set aside half of the nuts. Pulse the remaining nuts until they are very fine but not pasty.
  2. Add the parsley and mint, and pulse again until the herbs are finely chopped.
  3. Add the butter, cheese, zest, hot sauce, and 1 tsp. salt; pulse until well blended.
  4. If working ahead, scrape the butter onto plastic wrap, shape into a log, wrap, wrap in foil or parchment and freeze.  Seal the reserved pistachios in a small zip-top freezer bag or other airtight container and freeze.

Make the Carrots

  1. Put the carrots in a pot, add enough water to just cover them, and add a pinch of salt.
  2. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes until desired tenderness.
  3. Drain carrots, reserving 1/4 cup of the water.  Return to the pot and add butter (a chunk at a time adding a little water as you stir) until carrots are coated to your liking. Taste and season with salt if needed.
  4. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with reserved pistachios.

 

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

Roasted vegetables are fall perfection.  Anytime of the year perfection for me, really.  But fall and winter seem to be better for the rich and warm flavors and the delicious caramelization of the veggies that takes place in the oven.  One of my favorite things about them is their versatility.  You can use your favorite vegetables.  My favorite combination includes brussels sprouts, sweet potato, onion and cauliflower.  I can’t think of a better side dish, can you?  If you’re still planning your Thanksgiving menu, consider roasting a big tray of vegetables.  You can do all of your prep, including tossing with the oil and salt, the night before.  Refrigerate and roast right before dinner.

After starting this lovely dish in the crock pot I started thinking about what we would eat with it.  I decided on brown rice and salad.  But then I remembered that we had broccoli and cauliflower already cut up and just waiting to be transformed into something magical.  I was honestly pretty worried about roasting the broccoli with my normal method.  I’ve done it before and felt like the ends got too blackened and crunchy, even for me.  So I looked up a recipe for roasted broccoli and found this from Ellie Krieger.  As luck would have it, this particular recipe uses broccoli and cauliflower.  Perfect.

We loved these.  I ate the remainder of them for lunch the next day straight from the fridge.  One of the reasons they were so good is the garlic.  I smashed whole cloves and mixed them in with the vegetables.  If you cut the garlic too small, it burns.  I learned that lesson the hard way!  The garlic mellows enough through the cooking process to not be an unwelcome addition to your bite.  Cooking the vegetables covered allows them to steam before roasting, which keeps the broccoli from burning on the tips and cooking unevenly.  I will probably try this method with my normal line up of vegetables the next time I roast them.  However, I think you could get by with less covered steam cooking, maybe 20 minutes covered and 30-40 uncovered?  I’ll mess with that and see how it goes.

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

From Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

  • 1 small head cauliflower (2 pounds), cut into florets
  • 2 large stalks broccoli (1 pound), cut into florets
  • 1 head garlic, broken into cloves, peeled and smashed but still intact
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Place cauliflower and broccoli into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, toss with the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.
  3. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1/2 hour.
  4. Remove the foil, stir and cook for 30 to 40 minutes more, until vegetables are tender and nicely browned, stirring occasionally.

Overnight French Toast

Breakfast.  The most important meal of the day.  It also happens to be the most boring meal of the day for me most of the time.  I am not organized enough, and I don’t get up early enough to fix anything more exciting than a bowl of cereal and some fruit.  Every now and then I have enough time to scramble a few eggs, but that is rare.  So, when I have an opportunity to make something good for breakfast I make the most of it.

This weekend our great friends Carrie and Jason came up to visit.  We had such a nice and relaxing time together.  Sunday morning we had French toast casserole and migas for breakfast.  It was quite a delicious feast and something I plan to make again when we have guests.

The French toast is prepared the night before and allowed to sit in the fridge overnight to let the bread soak up the sugar, butter, eggs and milk.  I was pretty exhausted the night I was supposed to make the French toast and I almost felt like skipping it and just going to bed, but it took me less than 15 minutes to put it all together and pop it in the fridge so don’t let time be your excuse not to make this.

This breakfast is so very simple and easy.  In the bottom of a 9×13 pan goes a mixture of butter, brown sugar and corn syrup that has been melted together on the stove. The thick slices of French bread are placed atop this sugary sticky goodness, and the mixture of eggs, milk and vanilla is poured on top of everything.  Cover this in foil and go to bed.  When you wake up bake the dish for 45 minutes and voilà.  Breakfast.

The tops of the bread slices are golden brown as they come out of the oven.  The inside of each slice is creamy and delicious.  The bottom of each slice is covered in the rich buttery sugar sauce that has caramelized and become something very special thanks to its time in the oven.  So delicious.  Next time I will add some ground cinnamon and nutmeg to the milk mixture.  I served it with butter and syrup, and my husband had the ingenious idea of putting the sliced strawberries we had at the table on his slice.  Any kind of fruit or berry would be a good complement to this sweet, rich and crazy good French toast.  Make this some Saturday morning and make your breakfast guests very, very happy.

Overnight French Toast

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, sliced
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Combine the corn syrup , butter, and brown sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until the sugar has melted. Pour this mixture over the bottom of a greased 9×13 inch casserole dish.
  2. Place the bread slices over the sugar-butter mixture in the dish. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt; pour this mixture over the bread. Cover the dish and let it stand in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  4. Uncover the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Serve while hot or warm or the French toast will harden in the pan. It can be reheated.

Daring Bakers: Tiramisu

Tiramisu.  Oh, I’ve made it before.  I’ve made it more than once.  It is simple, easy and delicious.  Tiramisu is a piece of cake when you use store-bought lady fingers, a cream mixture of store-bought mascarpone cheese and sugar, and brewed coffee.  This challenge uses nothing store-bought.  This challenge is so much more than store-bought.  This challenge is a challenge.  A devilishly delicious and decadent challenge.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

As is my habit with Daring Bakers challenges, I waited until the last minute to make this dessert.  Thankfully I read through the recipe on Monday of this past week and realized that I would need at least 4 days from start to finish to complete it.  Each component requires your attention and an overnight chill.  Conveniently, the components can be prepared and chilled for a few days in advance.  So I made a plan for how to get this done without going crazy.

Day 1: Make the Savoriardi Biscuits (Ladyfingers)

Day 2: Make the mascarpone

Day 3: Make the pastry cream and zabaglione

Day 4: Whip the cream and assemble the tiramisu

Day 5: Consume your masterpiece

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