Everything's better with butter

I never met a poached egg that wouldn't benefit from a close relationship with a good Hollandaise Sauce.  Notice I said a 'good' Hollandaise Sauce.  Like other events in our lives, your first experience with Hollandaise Sauce will determine your future.  If you meet a good one, you'll love Hollandaise forever and always.  And, you'll be very picky about your sauce.  On the other hand, if your first experience is with a weak, gloppy, grainy mess you'll never ever be willing to give it a second chance.

Thankfully, my first experience with Hollandaise Sauce was a magical moment.  I've always loved the tart of lemon and who doesn't love BUTTER!!!

As has been mentioned before, I didn't grow up here.  I grew up in the tropics.  As a result of that happy experience, there are many different foods that I never have the opportunity to try or learn to like as a child.

Example:  We didn't have apples (except for very rare occasions when my parents were willing to part with more than their usual percentage of income  allotted to the food budget).  So, I never learned to like them.  Probably because by the time apples got to where we lived, they were well past their 'best by' date.  Or, more likely, because my first recollection of eating an apple was a disaster.

It was at a expatriate potluck gathering and around the time of my sixth birthday.  Mom splurged and bought some apples.  I remember it was evening (after dark) and we were eating 'al fresco'.  All of us kids were running around in the dark having a blast.  The women had done a beautiful job of decorating the tables and stringing lights in the trees.  It was one of those magical evenings.  Mom called me over and explained to me how special these apples were and told me how lucky I was to get this chance to eat one.  Expecting something really spectacular, I sank my teeth into it.  As I pulled the apple away from my mouth instead of leaving a piece of sweetness in my mouth, that apple took my first loose tooth.  Of course it hurt.  And, of course I started screaming and crying hysterically because my apple was all bloody.  It was like a Halloween horror movie.  Is it any wonder I'm still not a huge fan of apples, applesauce, apple juice, most anything with apple it in?

But, I digress.  Back to Hollandaise Sauce.  Sorry, got all distracted there for a minute.  You'll forgive me when you see that it helps to illustrate the point that your first experience is very important.  And, mine with Hollandaise Sauce was superb!

Post college days, at my first job, someone mentioned artichokes.  I didn't recall ever tasting one.  Being adventurous, I decided to try artichokes.  Having no idea what to do with them, I dragged out my trusty cookbook and looked them up.  (You notice and laugh that I mention my cookbook - singular - THOSE days are gone!)  Thankfully, my then lonely cookbook is very well illustrated.  The photo that went with the artichoke instructions was lovely.  And the sauce it mentioned to serve with the artichokes looked intriguing.  I decided to give it a whirl.  Thankfully, I didn't have any mishaps while preparing it and that sauce turned out blissfully delicious.  I've had a love thing goin' on with Hollandaise Sauce ever since.  But, boy am I picky!!!

Here's the recipe for the best Hollandaise Sauce I ever ate.  Keep in mind, this sauce is very finicky.  Too slow and it never comes together.  Too fast and you have scrambled eggs.  Patience, my friends, patience and luck.  And good eating!

Hollandaise Sauce

INGREDIENTS

3	large egg yolks
1	T lemon juice
½	c firm butter*

Directions

1. In a 1½ quart saucepan, vigorously stir egg yolks and lemon juice with wire whisk. Add 1/4 cup of the butter. Heat over very low heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk, until butter is melted.

2. Add remaining 1/4 cup butter. Continue stirring vigorously until butter is melted and sauce is thickened. (Be sure butter melts slowly so eggs have time to cook and thicken sauce without curdling.) If the sauce curdles (mixture begins to separate), add about 1 tablespoon boiling water and beat vigorously with wire whisk or hand beater until it's smooth.

3. Serve immediately. Store covered in refrigerator. To serve refrigerated sauce, reheat over very low heat and stir in a small amount of water.

Makes about ¾ cup sauce.

Saucy Affair

Sometimes the recipe is just too much work and you decide to dump the hard part and keep the interesting part.  That’s what happened the other day.  I have this recipe for Broccoli Timbales with Lemon Sauce.  The hard part is the broccoli timbales.  The interesting part is the lemon sauce.  I’d never made this recipe because fussing with ramekins over a broccoli dish just didn’t seem worth it.

The reason I’d never tried to make just the lemon sauce was because the person who wrote up the recipe didn’t see fit to separate the ingredients and instructions for the lemon sauce from the rest of the recipe – bless her pea-pickin’ little heart, if she has one.  (Note to self:  When you write recipes, separate the parts!)  My copy of this recipe (printed from the Internet) has my pencil scribbles all over it, noting which parts are timbale parts and which parts are lemon sauce parts – not just in the Ingredients list, but also in the Directions.

I give you now the extracted recipe (both ingredients and directions) for Lemon Sauce.  I served it draped and drizzled over steamed broccoli (grins!) or asparagus or green beans or any other thing that needs a little ‘ZING’.  I’ve made it a Lime Sauce and an Orange Sauce on occasion, too.  Hope you try it.  It’s really yummy.  In fact, I may have been know to sit and very slowly dip one of my tiny little Espresso spoons into a small bowl of Lemon Sauce and gently lick the spoon clean repeatedly until the bowl was empty, leaving the steamed broccoli sitting on my plate growing cold and rubbery in neglect.

Lemon Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1	cup heavy whipping cream
2	T lemon juice
1	T all-purpose flour
1	T butter, softened
1	t chicken bouillon granules
¼	t salt
⅛	t white pepper
3	T snipped fresh dill

Directions

1.     In a small bowl, combine heavy whipping cream and lemon juice; let stand for one hour at room temperature.

2.     Combine flour and butter to form a paste.  In a large heavy saucepan, combine the lemon-cream mixture, chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Whisk butter mixture into cream mixture until smooth and mixture is thickened.  Add snipped dill.  Remove from heat.

3.     Spoon sauce under, around, or over whatever you like and garnish with dill sprigs, if desired.

Note:  If you decide to switch it up by changing to lime or orange juice, you may want to swap herbs – like going with cilantro for the lime juice or going with thyme for the orange juice.

Um…if you really, really, REALLY want the Broccoli Timbales recipe I might be coerced into posting it here someday.

The Parsley Waltz

Last spring Elizabeth and I thought we were going to cook our way through a recipe book that I own called 100 Great Recipes – Vegetarian by Vicki Smallwood.  Put your mind at ease.  We didn’t do it.  You won’t have to suffer through that experience with us.  Turns out that not all 100 recipes were compelling enough to prompt us to buy the ingredients and take the time to experiment. However, we did find a few worthy of our efforts.

Our deal was that one of us would pick the recipe and buy the ingredients, while the other one ‘hosted’ the event (read ‘clean my house’).  We took turns each week; one week at her place, the next at mine.  So, I’m not sure how it happened that Elizabeth picked out the recipe, I ended up buying the ingredients, and then we ended up cooking at her house.

I confess I wasn’t sure what to expect of a recipe call Green Couscous.  Reading over the list of ingredients didn’t help.  But, Elizabeth was determined to try it.  What could I do?  I went shopping.  Cooking day came and I still had my doubts.   We plowed ahead with chopping and heating and tossing.  By the time we took our first bite, all my fears were gone.  Delicious!  We indulged in ‘seconds’ and ‘thirds’.  It was a good thing we doubled the recipe or I wouldn’t have had any to take home for my taste-tester.

It’s a quick recipe that I’d be proud to serve anytime, anywhere.  It’s fresh, loaded with flavor, and uncomplicated.  Curly-leaf parsley and fresh mint waltz together through the bowl with the lemon juice, diced cucumber and tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil in this yummy dish…Mmmmm!  The subtle ingredient is the bouillon cube that is added to the hot water before reconstituting the couscous.  It provides a wonderful background of flavors for the star ingredients.  It should been eaten sooner than later, so the mint doesn’t turn wimpy and the cucumbers and tomatoes don’t disintegrate.  But, trust me, that won’t be a problem!  ‘Cause this disappears really FAST!

Green Couscous

INGREDIENTS

1	cup couscous
1	Vegetable stock cube
1	4-inch piece cucumber (English)
2	Large tomatoes
1 ½	oz fresh mint
1 ½	oz fresh curly-leaf parsley
2	T olive oil
2	t lemon juice
	Salt Freshly ground black pepper

1.     Place the couscous in a large bowl.  Dissolve the stock cube (or paste-concentrate) in 1 ¼ cups boiling water, then pour over the couscous and stir once.  Cover with plastic wrap and set to one side to soak for 10-15 minutes.

2.     Halve the cucumber.  Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber and discard.  Now cut the flesh into fine dice.

3.     Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and discard.  Cut the flesh into fine dice.

4.     Remove all the stalks from the mint and parsley and then finely chop.

5.     Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the couscous, along with the tomatoes and cucumbers, and fork through. Season to taste and serve.

Serves 4

I'll bring dessert

I'll bring dessert."  The words were out of my mouth before I could think it through.  If I had thought it through, I probably wouldn't have picked dessert.

Being invited to lunch at someone's home is always followed by "What can I bring?"  That's just the way I was raised.  Mom drilled those words into my head.  And I've come to love the unexpected possibilities of uttering those words.  But in this case, I really should have spent that split-second more time before opening my mouth.  It was too late to take them back.  The search was on for an easy, yet "it looks complicated" dessert.

You'd have to see my kitchen to understand how silly this next sentence sounds.  Instead of looking through my cookbooks and cooking magazines, I hopped on the computer and started an Internet search for a dessert recipe.  My kitchen is small.  But even with that limitation (and trust me, it's a limitation!), I have devoted three (yes, count them, three!) kitchen shelves to my cookbook, cooking magazine, and recipe clippings collections.  There are stacks of cookbooks beside the microwave.  There are file folders and shirt boxes full of recipes I've clipped out of magazines and newspapers.  There are cooking magazines like Everyday Food, Cook's Country, Food Network Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine...shall I go on?...hiding in every nook and cranny I can find.  Then, just to bring everything into perspective, there's a sign high up on top of the highest cupboard that says, "I can cook, I just don't".  As icing on the cake (so to speak), my husband found a comic in the Sunday paper a few months ago that he clipped and posted on the side of the refrig.  It shows a woman (not unlike myself) sitting at her kitchen counter with cookbooks spread out everywhere, recipe clipping dripping off the counter top, and her eyes glued to her computer monitor.  The small child at her side asks, "What's for dinner, Mom?"  The woman speaks without looking up, "Hot dogs, I'm busy reading recipes."  My husband thinks it's hilarious.  I get the irony, but I'm not laughing.

The specifications for dessert were:  Chocolate & Fruit.  Well, chocolate is easy.  Fruit, on the other hand, can be tricky.  My fav is, and always will be, Raspberries.  A quick e-mail to a fellow recipe collector got me some ideas.  The Internet search began in earnest.  And, as expected, results came pouring in.  Knowing my friends taste in desserts, I was pretty sure that cheesecake would have to be part of the picture.  And, something lemon.  The sorting and sifting through the pile of results wasn't going to be fast.

Surprisingly, I was wrong.  The 'sort' went like this:  Chocolate and raspberries.  Lemon and cheesecake.  Oh!  Raspberries on lemon cheesecake.  Oh...I have to make two desserts.

That's how I ended up bringing two desserts to lunch -- Decadent chocolate cake with raspberry sauce AND Citrus cheesecake with raspberries.

Here they are (thanks to Betty Crocker):

Decadent Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

Cake

1	cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1/2	cup butter or margarine
1/2	cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
4	eggs, separated
1/2	cup sugar

Sauce

1	box (10 oz) frozen raspberries, thawed, drained and juice reserved
1/4	cup sugar
2	tablespoons cornstarch
1	to 2 tablespoons orange- or raspberry-flavored liqueur, if desired

Glaze

1/2	cup semisweet chocolate chips
2	tablespoons butter or margarine
2	tablespoons light corn syrup

Garnish
 

1/2	cup whipped cream
	Fresh raspberries, if desired

1.    1 Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom and side of 8-inch springform pan or 9-inch round cake pan with shortening. In 2-quart heavy saucepan, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cool 5 minutes. Stir in flour until smooth. Stir in egg yolks until well blended; set aside.

2.    2 In large bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until soft peaks form. Using rubber spatula, fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Spread in pan.

3.    3 Bake springform pan 35 to 40 minutes, round cake pan 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (top will appear dry and cracked). Cool 10 minutes. Run knife along side of cake to loosen; remove side of springform pan. Place cooling rack upside down over cake; turn rack and cake over. Remove bottom of springform pan or round cake pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4.    4 Meanwhile, add enough water to reserved raspberry juice to measure 1 cup. In 1-quart saucepan, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in juice and thawed raspberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Boil and stir 1 minute. Place small strainer over small bowl. Pour mixture through strainer to remove seeds; discard seeds. Stir liqueur into mixture; set aside.

5.    5 Place cake on serving plate. In 1-quart saucepan, heat glaze ingredients over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chips are melted. Spread over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down side. Place whipped cream in decorating bag fitted with star tip. Pipe a rosette on each serving. Serve cake with sauce. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Citrus Cheesecake with Berries

Ingredients:

Citrus Crust

1	cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4	cup sugar
1	tablespoon grated lemon peel
1	egg yolk

Filling

5	packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 3/4	cups sugar
3	tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1	tablespoon grated orange peel
1	tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4	teaspoon salt
5	eggs
2	egg yolks
1/4	cup whipping cream

Topping

3/4	cup whipping cream
1/2	cup fresh raspberries

1.    1 Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 10-inch springform pan. In medium bowl, mix all crust ingredients, using hands. Press one-third of mixture evenly on bottom of pan. Press remaining mixture halfway up side of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

2.    2 In large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 3/4 cups sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, the orange peel, lemon peel and salt with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Beat in eggs, 2 egg yolks and 1/4 cup whipping cream, beating on low speed until well blended. Pour into baked crust (pan will be full). Bake 20 minutes.

3.    3 Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Bake about 35 minutes longer or until center is set. (Do not insert a knife because the hole could cause cheesecake to crack.) Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven 15 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling rack 15 minutes.

4.    4 Run knife around side of pan to loosen cheesecake. Refrigerate uncovered about 3 hours or until chilled; cover and continue refrigerating at least 9 hours but no longer than 48 hours.

5.    5 Run knife around side of pan to loosen cheesecake; carefully remove side of pan. In chilled small bowl, beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Spread whipped cream over top of cheesecake. Garnish with raspberries. Store in refrigerator.