Simple Tiramisu
recipe from Cooking for Engineers

Ingredients:
About 20 lady’s fingers (the crisp ones, not the soft ones)
2 shots (2 oz, 60 mL) espresso
1/2 c. (120 mL) coffee
1 c. (240 mL) heavy whipping cream
1 lb. (455 g) mascarpone cheese
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. (44 mL) rum or brandy (we used Kahlua)
Cocoa powder
Shavings of unsweetened dark chocolate

First, start by assembling the ingredients (see above). Chill whipping cream and bowl. Mix coffee and espresso and chill. Whisk the whipping cream until it reaches stiff peaks. This can be accompanied in a few minutes with an electric mixer or by hand (times will vary depending on arm strength and stamina).

Put the cheese, sugar, and brandy into a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Add more sugar or alcohol as desired. Fold in the whipped cream to create the cheese mixture.

Soak lady fingers in espresso for a couple of seconds, rotating to coat all sides. Place lady fingers side by side on bottom of an 8×8-inch pan. Put half the cheese mixture on lady fingers in pan. Smooth with a spatula or spoon. Sift cocoa powder liberally on surface of layer. Apply second layer of lady fingers and remaining cheese. Sift cocoa powder and half of chocolate shavings. Cover in plastic wrap and chill.

To serve, use the remaining chocolate shavings by sprinkling a bit onto eight plates. Cut tiramisu into 8 rectangles and serve on plates (or simply spoon them out).

Sadie came into our lives in a most unusual way – we came home from running errands in October of 2005 to find her chained up to our light post out front. We brought her inside (fully intending to take her to the SPCA), but her sweet disposition won me over in seconds. She had a collar on that had a phone number listed, but the number had been disconnected. After asking around the neighborhood and trying to find out who she belonged to, we found out she had been wandering around at large for over a year, and that her original owners had moved away without taking her with – that she essentially was homeless. She was part of our family within a week. After taking her to the vet, we found out she was 6 or 7 years old. Even though we knew we’d only have a few years tops with her (life expectancy for a Beagle is usually 11-13 years), we welcomed her with open arms. We were rewarded with the pleasure of her company for the last 6 ½ years.

We knew she was on the decline when she started developing cataracts, and then eventually, was stone deaf. In the past year, it was getting increasingly more difficult for her to get around. We were preparing ourselves for the inevitable – even though I feel an empty place in our hearts and our home right now, I know she’s better off. Hopefully you all will know the love and loyalty of a special pet in your life. I know my life was better because Sadie was part of it.

I’ll get back to posting regularly tomorrow, but for today, I just want to reflect on her and my time with her.

Rabbit, Mushroom and Tarragon Stew
recipe from the We Are Never Full blog

What you need:

* 3 rashes of bacon, cut into pieces
* 1 small onion, diced finely
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 box of button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced lengthwise
* 1 whole rabbit, cut into pieces
* 3 sprigs of tarragon – 2 with tarragon leaves removed and chopped and 1 left whole, bruised by back of a chef’s knife
* 2 1/2 cups of white wine
* 2 heaping tablespoons of dijon mustard
* 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
* 1/2 cup light cream

What to do:

1. Heat heavy-bottomed pan/pot to medium-high and cook bacon pieces until almost crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Pour bacon fat into a bowl and, starting with one tablespoon, add the fat back to the pot. Cook onion, garlic and mushroom in the bacon fat until medium-soft (about 5-6 minutes). Remove and set aside in the bowl with the bacon.

3. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper. Add a bit more bacon fat (or butter if you’d prefer) back to the heavy-bottomed pan and add your rabbit pieces. Sear the outside on all sides of each piece until they are nice and golden brown (about 6 to 8 minutes). Remove to a plate for a moment.

4. I know, I know… lots of removing of food from the pan. They’ll be back soon. Deglaze the bottom of your pan with wine – keep heat up to medium and scrape all the bits from the bottom of the pan. After about a minute or so, add your chicken stock, tarragon, bruised tarragon sprig and mustard. Stir.

5. Now, add back everything – rabbit, mushrooms, bacon, onions, garlic, etc. – to the pan. Bring to a boil and then lower to medium/medium-low and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. After that, continue to simmer the dish uncovered for another 20 to 30 minutes. It will cook down to a thicker sauce.

6. Finish by stirring in the cream and fishing out the loose tarragon sprig. Enjoy!

But back to what you’re looking at – I these were taken when I was still in Dodd Hall, and when P. was going out to the farmers markets and I attended vicariously through these photos. Out of all the things I missed last year, that was a biggie for me. So needless to say, these pictures became my motivation – when I was learning to walk again, it was in hopes of being able to walk by the time the farmers markets started this year. I’m so happy that I’ve got there with time to spare.

So in all honesty, I’m not sure which pics were taken where, as I’ve totally lost my frame of reference, and P. doesn’t remember. But enjoy, anyway – and remember that this is only about 4 or so months away…

Rattlesnake Sliders
recipe by Jeff Krump of Ezra Pound Cake

Makes 12 small burgers

1 lb. ground chicken
1 lb. andouille sausage, casings removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ tbsp. coarse ground pepper
½ tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
12 soft dinner rolls (preferably King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls)
Condiments: shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, cheese, sliced onion, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, chili sauce

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Using a food processor, process the andouille until finely chopped. Transfer the andouille to a large bowl. Add chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne. Mix gently, being careful not to overwork the mixture.

Form the mixture into 12 patties, and place them on the grill. Cook until the internal temperature registers 170F, about 5 minutes per side. During the last minute of grilling, add the cheese to the tops of the burgers, and toast the rolls (cut side down, about 30 seconds).

Considering that I had the better part of a bag of Meyer lemons also in the fridge needing to be used up, this recipe seemed like a no-brainer when I first saw it.

They came out tasting as good as they look, incredibly light and moist and chock full of huge blueberries. My favorite part was the streusel topping – somehow it just worked with both of the other main ingredients.

Streusel Topped Meyer Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
recipe from Fifteen Spatulas food blog

Ingredients:
8 oz all purpose flour (about 1.5 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
Zest of 2 meyer lemons
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 extra large egg
1/3 cup milk
2 cups blueberries
Streusel crumb topping (recipe below)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Prepare the streusel crumb topping (recipe below).

Whisk to combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and meyer lemon zest. Take a tbsp of the mixture and toss it with the blueberries. This ensures that the blueberries stay suspended throughout the muffin, instead of falling to the bottom.

Place the vegetable oil, egg, and milk in a bowl, and whisk to combine. Add that to the flour mixture, and remember, leave lots of lumps. If there aren’t any lumps whenever you are using the muffin method of baking, you have overmixed and invited more gluten (and toughness) to the party than was welcome. Don’t worry, a few lumps will bake out.

Dump in the blueberries, and fold them in gently. Use a disher to portion them out into the muffin cups, and sprinkle the crumb topping all over the tops. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no wet batter. Let them cool, and enjoy!

Streusel Crumb Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
2.5 oz flour (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon (cinnamon goes beautifully with blueberries)

Dice up the butter into cubes, and work all of the ingredients together with your fingertips, until it forms a bunch of crumbs and clumps. You can now sprinkle it over the tops of your muffins.

Chicken Sate Wraps
recipe courtesy Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1/2 c. matchstick cut carrots
1/3 c. chopped green onions
2/3 c. light coconut milk
1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
2 c. shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
1 1/3 c. packaged angel hair slaw

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add carrots and onions; saute 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk and next 5 ingredients (through pepper); cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the chicken; cook 1 minute, stirring to coat.

Remove from heat; cool. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla, and top each with 1/3 cup angel hair slaw. Roll up. Cover and chill. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 wrap)

Nutrition: 321 cal (28% from fat), 10.1g fat, 24.1g pro, 49mg chol, 37mg calc, 844mg sod, 4.3g fib, 0.9mg iron, 25.5g carb.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
recipe from Anissa’s Kitchen

4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded OR
1 large can chicken with juice
1 (6.2 oz) Rice a Roni or Uncle Ben’s quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter
2 c. heavy cream

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling and then stir in the rice, reserving the seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat. In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper and flour. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the contents of the seasoning packet until the mixture is bubbly. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the flour mixture by tablespoons to form a roux. Whisk in the cream a little at a time until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir the cream mixture into the broth and rice mixture.

Cook over medium heat until heated through, about 10-15 minutes. Do not boil once the cream has been added. Makes 6 servings.