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Chef Recomended

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Rum-Soaked Raisin Biscotti

This recipe comes from Goslings Rum Company….

It has been a while since we posted a recipe and I thought these sounded like just the thing for a relaxing weekend. By posting it now, you have time to go and get the ingredients You can even start soaking the raisins while you sample the marinade.

Ingredients

  • 3 c. all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. fine salt
  • 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 c. raisins
  • 1 c. Goslings Black Seal Rum
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

Procedure

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  • Using an electric mixer, beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
  • Combine raisins and rum. Microwave 2 minutes; let cool.
  • Add rum-raisin mixture and orange zest and beat until combined.
  • Divide dough in half and transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
  • Form each half into a 2 1/2-inch-wide, 3/4-inch-tall log.
  • Bake until dough is firm but gives slightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through.
  • Let cool on sheet on a wire rack, 20 minutes.
  • With a serrated knife, cut logs into 1/4-inch slices on the diagonal and arrange, cut side down, on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets.
  • Bake until biscotti are crisp and golden, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets and flipping biscotti halfway through.
  • Let cool on sheets on wire racks

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Chef Recommended – Orzo Risotto with Shrimp

I was looking for something different to make this weekend while Ann is out of town visiting her Mother; and would you believe, a fun email arrived with a suggestions for me — Risotto with Shrimp. Ann doesn’t eat shrimp so it was perfect! This recipe comes from Jenn Segal a reformed Chef. Her website and her similarly named cookbook is “Once Upon a Chef.” I love risotto but I don’t make it very often. This recipe uses orzo which is easier to make than using true risotto. This one also ready in under an hour! Jenn provides step-by-step instructions on her website.

Let me know what you think. I will let you know how it turned out in the comments. Here is her recipe:

Orzo Risotto with Shrimp, Peas & Bacon

By Jennifer Segal

Adapted from The Ultimate Meal Prep Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Rice-shaped orzo is cooked like risotto in this easy, one-pot pasta dish.

  • Servings: 4
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 Minutes
  • Total Time: 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 5 slices (5 oz) bacon, diced
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-1/2 cups orzo
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • Heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning, such as Emeril’s Essence
  • 2 pounds extra-large (21/25) shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 cup frozen green peas (no need to thaw)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Instructions

  • Melt one tablespoon of the butter in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
  • Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Do not brown. Stir in the orzo and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the broth, salt, pepper, and Cajun/Creole seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring once midway through, until the orzo is nearly tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Stir the shrimp and peas into the orzo (it will be quite creamy/brothy at this point; that’s normal). Cover and cook over low heat until the shrimp are opaque throughout and the orzo is tender, about 5 minutes.
  • Off the heat, stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter, the lemon juice, and chives. Right before serving, stir in the crispy bacon. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, then spoon into bowls and serve.

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Chef Recommended – Easy Vegetables

Dive Mom has been asking for more vegetables and fewer desserts in our Chef Recommended posts so being the cooperative person that I am I am posting two very easy vegetable treats.

Steamed Green Beans

This can’t be any easier. Bring home a bag of fresh green beans and trim the ends off (I prefer to do it on a bias with a pair of kitchen scissors). Set up your steamer and boil the water. When you are ready to put them on, add about half a cup of white wine or brandy to the water and then steam your beans. Don’t overcook them, you want them to be crispy. Now put them in a dish and add a little olive oil and salt to taste. This is a great time to try that herbed salt you have up in the cabinet. Cover and let the salt finish its work for about fifteen minutes and then serve.

Spaghetti Squash

Split the lengthwise and remove the seeds (save those for Dive Mom). Lightly apply some Olive oil and salt to the inside of the squash and lay face down on a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Cook for about thirty minutes until the fibers are easy to separate and look like angel hair pasta. Scrape out these fibers into a large serving dish and add butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese to taste. In our house, we like lots of butter and cheese so we tend to layer the butter and cheese to make sure everything gets a good coating. As a hint, use your microplane for the cheese and it will coat better with less cheese (or it will allow you to add more.) Cover for about fifteen minutes and then serve.

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Chef Eric Recommends – Chocolate Guinness Cake

Photo by James Merrell, from nigella.com

According to Nigella Lawson This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can’t say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of describing it is to say that it’s like gingerbread without the spices.

There is enough sugar – a certain understatement here – to counter any potential bitterness of the Guinness, and although I’ve eaten versions of this made up like a chocolate sandwich cake, stuffed and slathered in a rich chocolate icing, I think that can take away from its dark majesty. Besides, I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to echo the pale head that sits on top of a glass of stout. It’s unconventional to add cream but it makes it frothier and lighter which I regard as aesthetically and gastronomically desirable. But it is perfectly acceptable to leave the cake un-iced: in fact, it tastes gorgeous plain.

Ingredients – For the Cake

  • 250 millilitres guinness
  • 250 grams unsalted butter
  • 75 grams cocoa powder
  • 400 grams caster sugar
  • 150 millilitres sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 275 grams plain flour
  • 2½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Ingredients – For the Topping

  • 300 grams cream cheese
  • 150 grams icing sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornflour
  • 125 millilitres double cream (or whipping cream)

Method

  • Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350ºF, and butter and line a 23cm / 9 inch springform tin.
  • Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter – in spoons or slices – and heat until the butter’s melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
  • Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
  • When the cake’s cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and cornflour and then beat to combine.
  • If using double cream, add it and beat until you have a spreadable consistency. If using whipping cream, whisk first to soft peaks, add a couple of spoonfuls into the cream cheese mixture and once this is combined, fold in the rest.
  • Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

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Chef Recommended Osmanthus Cake

In looking through my email today I found an unusual cake recipe, Osnanthus Cake from the Woks of Life website. You are probably asking what is Osmanthus? Well… Osmanthus is a sweet, fragrant flower native to East Asia. You may find it as a dried tea, in syrup for baking Chinese desserts, or as a flavoring in wine for braised meat dishes. The closest equivalent you might know of is elderflower. Both elderflower and osmanthus share the same lightly floral, yet not overpowering flavor.

You can find the complete instructions for making this cake including photographs at the Woks of Life Website but here is what you will need:

Osmanthus Cake

This cake is the perfect dessert dressed up with whipped cream and berries (or just a scoop of ice cream), or the perfect breakfast and afternoon tea cake..

  • Servings: 12
  • Prep Time: 25 Minutes
  • Cook Time:35 Minute
  • Total Time: 1 Hour

INGREDIENTS

For the Cake

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter(at room temperature)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup oil (we’ve used neutral flavored coconut oil, regular coconut oil, avocado oil, and vegetable oil with success)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup osmanthus syrup
  • 1 1/3 cups almond flour
  • 1 cup self-rising flour (plus extra for dusting)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Glaze

  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar(sifted)
  • 4-5 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons osmanthus syrup

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round springform pan. You can also use an 8-inch square pan, but the pan should not have a dark non-stick coating, or it’s likely it will burn. 
  • Add the room temperature butter, sugar, and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1 minute. If your coconut oil is solid, add it at the same time as the butter. If it’s liquid, add it after the butter and sugar have had a chance to cream together.
  • The mixture may be a little separated if you are using liquid rather than solid coconut oil. That’s okay. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. It should be golden in color and thickly emulsified. Mix in the osmanthus syrup. Give the bowl another scrape to make sure everything is mixed evenly.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, self-rising flour, and salt. Turn the mixer speed to low, and gradually add the dry ingredients in three batches.
  • Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Immediately place into your preheated oven, and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F, and tent the cake with foil. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
  • The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. NOTE, poking the cake prematurely may cause it to collapse in the center. (If this happens, it’ll still taste good, so don’t worry!). Remove the cake from the oven to cool. It should be a deep brown color.
  • Cool for 20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. A paring knife around the rim of the pan helps loosen it. Let cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.
  • If glazing the cake, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, milk, and osmanthus syrup until you get a smooth glaze. Start with 4 tablespoons of milk and only add the last tablespoon if the glaze looks too thick. Pour over the cooled cake.

Let me know how it turns out for you….

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Chef Recommendation – Strawberry Oat Bars

I have heard some comments that all I recommend are high sugar deserts. Well that is probably right but I went out and found a posting from Martha Stewart entitled 17 Smarter Dessert Recipes That Are Great for Everyone, Including People with Diabetes There were some very interesting ones and this one caught my eye, It could be done with any fresh fruit or even with frozen strawberries. Maybe you might want to give it a try. Here is the recipe from Martha Stewart…

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

  • 1 1/2 cups pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup raw macadamia nuts
  • 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1 cup strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

Directions

Instructions Checklist

  • Step 1 Pulse dates, nuts, oats, and salt in a food processor until combined.
  • Step 2 Press the date mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
  • Step 3 Mash half the strawberries and spread on top of date mixture. Top with remaining strawberries. Slice into rectangles.