Onion Rings

This is a very common sight in my messy kitchen: several cookbooks open, often all Barefoot Contessa's, flags and notes all over the place.
Oh and the butter, too, isn't a rare sight.

This isn't a rare sight either, come to think of it. This is a nice (and cheap!) bottle of Pino Noir from the Russian River Valley. And very cool Candlewick glasses from Auntie Carroll; I spotted the very same shaped glasses in a scene in Benjamin Button!
So to the onion rings.... Last week Erol was craving steaks with blue cheese, and I thought this was the perfect time to make these onion rings.
They turned out perfectly - light and crispy with great flavor. I planned on concocting a spicy mayo-based sauce (ala Outback) but they didn't need it. Unlike with a beer batter, you won't take a bite and end up wrestling with the entire piece of onion that comes out of the batter; each bite comes off cleanly, which is not a huge deal, it's just kinda satisfying.

I will make these again, but next time I will use my Dutch oven (super heavy cast iron, enamel coated pan) rather than my regular stock pot. The oil temp did not reman steady in this pot, which was frustrating. For this meal my main focus was on these onion rings and I wanted to serve them right away, so unfortunately my steaks suffered a bit and became a little overcooked. I won't make that mistake again because these onion rings hold up longer than the recipe indicates, and they stay crunchy for a long time, so I'll do them first next time and then concentrate on the steak.
Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings
Ina Garten

2 large Spanish onions (or 3 yellow onions)
2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal
1 quart vegetable oil

Peel the onions, slice them 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for a few hours.) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt, and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Pizza Party!!

How to have your own make-your-own-pizza party:

Step 1: Friends. Invite over some awesome friends, the more certifiable the better! Haha just kidding - normal people will be just fine, too.

Step 2: Ingredients. You definitely don't have to make everything from scratch, but why not?? It doesn't take much time and it's fun and satisfying. The menu was Caesar salad, pizzas with several toppings to choose from, and almond cake.

Step 3: Assembly. Do what you can ahead of time, and do what you must last minute. I prepped every single thing for this party that day, including shopping for the groceries. I first made the pizza dough, then the almond cake, the Caesar dressing, and then prepared the pizza toppings and cubed the leftover sourdough baguette for croutons. All of this can be done a day or more ahead of time.

Step 4: Party time! Fry up the croutons, toss the salad, let your friends serve themselves. Later roll out the pizza dough and set out all the toppings, and all you have to do is throw them in the oven.

I forgot to take a proper picture of the salad, so I snapped one half-way through my bowl. It was lemony, salty, creamy, cruncy, and delish! Caesar Dressing
Ina Garten

1 extra-large egg yolk at room temperature (or substitute 2 T. mayo)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
8 to 10 anchovy fillets (optional) - I used a big squirt of anchovy paste
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
2 teaspoons kosher salt - I used only 1 t. and that was plenty
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good mild olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the egg yolks (or mayo), mustard, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until smooth. With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube until thick. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and pulse 3 times.

If you don't have a food processor (or don't want to get it out and have to clean it after...), wisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Store the dressing in a container that you can shake before adding it to the lettuce, and use it cool or at room temp.

Croutons
Bakery bread such as French or Italian bread, baguette, or sourdough
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper

Preheat broiler, or oven to 450. Cut the bread into medium-sized cubes. Toss them onto a baking sheet in an even layer and drizzle generously with olive oil, add salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly. Broil or bake them just until nicely browned and crunchy.

Alternately, these can be made on the stove top in a large skillet. Heat the largest skillet you have on high. Add the olive oil, then the bread cubes, salt, and pepper. Stir around to coat, and cook them until browned and crunchy.

Yesterday I used a sourdough baguette and cooked them in a skillet on the stovetop.

OK, next comes pizza! Here are the before and after pics:Top left is Eric & Lisa's (aka the "Pile It On and Pile It On Good" pie). You wouldn't believe what's under that mountain of mozarella and blanket of pepperoni! They get an A+.

Top right is the masterpiece of the brothers Garcia, Marcelo and Hugo. It is supposedly Cindy Crawford with a mustach and a booger (did I mention this is more fun when your friends are certifiable??). They get a B because besides the fact that it's a creepy looking abstract face, it actually looks quite easily edible.

Bottom right is the work of Gretchen. Irratic sauce placing, sparce cheese, clemintine segments???? ("But people put pineapple on pizza!!" she says.) She gets a B-. Love ya, girl, but that's one sloppy looking pizza pie! LOL!! But she did say it tasted good.

Bottom right is mine and Erol's - his half is sausage and mushroom and mine is pepperoni and green peppers. It tasted great!

Here was the set-up: rolled out pizza dough on cornmeal, jarred tomato sauce (I was going to make my own, but decided to take this shortcut), shredded mozzarella (freshly grated in the food processor - I don't buy pre-shredded unless I really need the convenience), cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, sliced mushrooms and green peppers. (Aparently the bowl of citrus was placed in too close proximity to the rest of the toppings; the mistake could have been made by any of us. I'll bump G's grade up to a B+.) Pizza Dough
Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

Makes 2 12-inch pizzas (I made the recipe twice for our pizza party)

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
14 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 t. table salt
1 1/2 T olive oil, plus more for bowl

In a small bowl, sprinkle sugar and yeast over warm water; stir with a fork until yeast and sugar dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt to combine. Add yeast mixture and oil; pulse until mixture comes together but is still slightly tacky. Dough should pull away cleanly from your fingers after it's squeezed. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead 4 or 5 times, until a smooth ball forms.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough. Fold dough back onto itself four or five times, then turn smooth side up. Replace plastic wrap; let dough rise again in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 30-40 minutes.

Punch down dough; turn out onto a floured work surface. Using a bench scraper or knive, divide the dough into two equal pieces. Knead each piece four of five times, then form a smooth ball.

--> At this point each ball of dough can be wrapped loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerated until you're ready to use them. Let them come back to room temp before the next step though.

Preheat the oven to 400. Sprinkle your work surface with cornmeal and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to form the crust. Transfer the dough onto a sheetpan and add your favorite toppings. (Or if you have a baking/pizza stone, let it preheat in the oven and add then top your pizza on a flat surface like the back of a sheetpan, something that allows you to easily slide the pizza, with toppings, onto the baking stone.) Bake until it's done according to how you like it, about 10 minutes or so. For a crisper crust without using a baking stone, when the pizza is almost finished cooking slide it off the pan and directly onto the oven rack for a few minutes.

For dessert we had almond cake, which was so easy to make and smelled soooooooo yummy. I'll definitely be making this cake again!

Almond Cake
from Cooking for Mr. Latte, which I discovered from the Amateur Gourmet blog post that raved about this cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream (8oz), at room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
7-ounce tube almond paste
4 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tsp almond extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting the cake

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan.

Mix the sour cream with baking soda. In another bowl, sift the flour and salt together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the almond paste, a little at a time, at medium speed, and then beat for 8 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time; mix until incorporated. It will look curdled; don't worry. Blend in the almond extract and sour cream mixture. Mixing at low, gradually add the flour mixture; beat just until blended.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake about 1 hour, until dark golden brown and it shrinks from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. It will sink in the middle as it cools. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve.

You can store this cake for up to two weeks in the fridge. I recommend bringing it back to room temp before serving.

Still messin'.............

I cook, I make a mess, I take the silly pictures....
and every once in a while I get around to posting the recipes and stories!

I'll throw in a super-easy recipe right now, just since I don't have to look anything up to do so. It's the cornbread in the bottom row of the collage.

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 cup grated cheddar (or other cheese)
1 minced jalapeno (seeds and membrane removed for less heat)

Prepare muffin mix according to package directions. Stir in grated cheese and minced jalapeno.

If you have a cast iron skillet, place it in the oven while it preheats, and then leave it to get hot for a few extra minutes. Carefully remove the skillet and add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt, then pour in the batter. (Spread it out to the edges but it won't fill the pan.) If you don't have a cast iron skillet, use another baking dish and don't preheat it, but still grease the pan with plenty of butter.

Then cook according to the package directions for cornbread.