Ali's Kitchen: Cupcakes on the Second Try

On Tuesday (St. Patrick's Day), a friend and I went on a pilgrimage to the Mecca of cupcakes: Magnolia Bakery.  The intent was to partake of a green cupcake to celebrate the "holiday."  (Extra points for choosing the location that's one block from St. Patrick's Cathedral.)  Magnolia came to prominence, as any solid SATC fan knows, through the creation of its now-hallowed red velvet cupcake.  As a good Southern girl (sort of), I of course love red velvet cake.  Unfortunately, the cupcake in question on the day in question left something to be desired (dry), probably due to the MOBS which descended upon the tiny bakery.  This was my first trip to Magnolia, and I suspect they simply weren't on their A game.

Today (Friday), I decided to try my OWN Magnolia Bakery red velvet cupcakes.  The recipe is available on Epicurious... or so Epicurious says.  Whatever that recipe was did NOT yield ANYTHING even CLOSE to being a successful cupcake, let alone a legendary Magnolia cupcake.  I couldn't even eat them, and into the trash they went, even though I felt bad wasting the food.  But trust me, even if there were some soup kitchen that accepted home-baked goods, these were so bad that I wouldn't inflict them on anyone, much less someone who is genuinely hungry.  With that rationalization helping ease my guilt, I went to work on a DIFFERENT batch of cupcakes (I had to buy buttermilk for the Magnolia recipe, and we'll never use it for anything else here).  This batch was FAR more delectable and, dare I even say, cupcake-like.

From Joy of Cooking, Buttermilk Layer Cake

From Ali's head, Buttermilk Layer Cake - The Cupcake Remix

First of all, I halved the recipe, because oh my God, we don't need that many cupcakes here.  Working in a small kitchen, I find it helps me to think in terms of groups when preparing a recipe.  The ingredients, with their amounts and in their groups, are:

A

1 c. plus 1/6 c. cake flour (not the self-rising type)

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

B

6 Tb. unsalted butter, softened

4/6 c. sugar

C

1 whole egg, plus 1 yolk (or, plus 1 1/2 whites)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. buttermilk

Here's your method to make 12 cupcakes:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature (60-70 degrees, that is).

2.  Sift group A together and set aside.  Beat group B on low or medium speed until nice and creamy, about 2 minutes.

3.  Whisk group C together (does not include buttermilk), then stir flour mixture (A) into the butter/sugar/egg mixture (B+C).  Alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk, stirring each addition until smooth.

4.  Spoon into cupcake cuppies!  Bake in the top third of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Let cool COMPLETELY, then frost.  If you are actually inspired enough to make your own frosting, I applaud you.  I use Pillsbury reduced sugar vanilla, and add some of the leftover red dye from the disastrous attempt at red velvet cupcakes which were, again, a total and utter lie.  

Cupcakes:  Success

Le yum yum!

Ali's Kitchen: Chicken Breasts With Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes

Well, howdy. We here at Yum Yum decided to follow in the footsteps of our 43rd President and take January off. It's important to follow the right example, you know. But now the White House is back to work, and so are we. Here's a simple, no-frills recipe that's easy to whip up on a week night, provided you have:

- chicken breasts
- (herbed) goat cheese (or ricotta)
- sundried tomatoes
- olive oil
- your favorite herbs, dried or fresh

I'll just bet you have some sundried tomatoes in your pantry somewhere, either dry-packed or oil-packed. And I know you have olive oil and dried herbs. And I'm just willing to bet that you have some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in your fridge somewhere. This recipe really rests on whether you have some sort of smashable, whippable cheese (which is not cream cheese, for goodness' sake). For the sake of argument, let's say you do. Alrighty then.

1. Rinse and dry your tomatoes (this may follow steeping in warm water if they're dry-packed), then chop coarsely.
2. Depending on how many tomatoes you decide to chop up, plunk a proportional amount of your cheese of choice into a medium bowl. Adjust the portions to your personal tastes; I used roughly 50% more sundried tomatoes than goat cheese.



3. Mix the tomatoes, cheese, a healthy drizzle of olive oil, and a healthier dusting of your herbs (mine was simply basil since I used herbed goat cheese) in the bowl, smooshing and wooshing about until it's somewhat mousse-like, and the entire mixture looks orangey with chunks of red - no pure white from the cheese should be left.

4. Slice your rinsed and dried chicken breasts down the middle (starting from the thicker side) to form a pocket. Fill with the tomato and cheese mixture. Top the chicken breasts with a nice, thick coating of freshly cracked pepper. Pop in the oven (which was preheated to 350, oops) and leave them for about 25 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breasts).

5. Use your leftover tomato/cheese mixture for a yummy cracker spread for your afternoon snack the next day.

Le yum yum!

My Christmas Cupcakes

To start, know dear Reader that nothing I make will be as fancy as what my Ali makes. I love the simple things... that is to say the hacks, the corner-cutting route is the way I tend to go. A dinner party at my house is a lot of hiding the take-out boxes and baby vomit stains on the carpet. Enough about my disgusting home life-

All you need to make these is store bought cake mix, store bought icing cans- I used 2 vanilla, one I dyed red- and packaged ice cream cones. I also used green icing in a can by Betty I think (you should know I talk about major brands like they were girlfriends of mine, Martha Stewart, Betty Crocker etc) and various sprinkles and cinnamon candies. I also used green food color in the cupcake mix.

I thought it would be fun to enlist the help of my husband to decorate... let's just say someone was really into it(me!!) and someone was not(His are the ugly ones).

From Dec2008

From Dec2008

From Dec2008

From Dec2008

From Dec2008

And now you have amazing (if not mildly offensive looking) cupcakes!!

Ali's Kitchen: Swedish Holiday Treats

Happy Holidays!

I am ALL about my [admittedly meager] Swedish heritage this year. I may only be about 1/16, but I know the name of my most recent Swedish ancestor (Maria Pollan, née Larson), so that counts for something, I figure. My Nana, who has had a very tough year, always identified with her Swedish heritage, if not necessarily in the kitchen. It'll be a fun, and for me meaningful holiday exercise to attempt a few traditional Swedish recipes.

A word about Swedish holidays:

St. Lucia's Day
Lussekatter
On the feast day of St. Lucia, little Swedish girls (and Norwegian girls and Danish girls and Italian girls and a bunch of girls) dress up in white gowns with red sashes, wear wreaths with burning candles on their heads (yeah, really) and pass out the Christmas presents. You know this if you, like me, had the American Girl Doll Kirsten Larson, who was a plucky Swedish immigrant in 1854 (or something). Kirsten had a St. Lucia's Day outfit, and I think the outfit even came with a little plastic lussekatt, the saffron bun baked and eaten on St. Lucia's Day night. It all sounds terribly cute until you consider the fact that the wreath with candles is supposed to symbolize the *fire that wouldn't burn St. Lucy after she was sentenced to death*. Isn't that festive? I pulled the below recipe from a website to which I will NOT link, because they had all kinds of typos and it was just generally an "off" recipe, so I had to modify.

Jul/Midwinter
Glögg
The Yule is celebrated on December 24th in Sweden, though it's also tied to the old Germanic pagan festivals related to the Winter Solstice on December 21st. This is the day when Swedes tie one on and really enjoy their version of spiced mulled wine: glögg (pronounced something like "glug"). There are so many various recipes for glögg that you can feel free to assemble the main ingredients and use them in whatever proportions please you best.

Any Swedish Holiday At All
Köttbullar
Swedish. Meatballs. 'Nuff said. Always, always served with lingonberry preserves. Seriously, in Sweden if you try to eat köttbullar without lingonberries? They will arrest you and beat you. I've provided the classic preparation from Fresh Direct, but I'll outline my method, too.

LUSSEKATTER
(Saffron Buns)
INGREDIENTS
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon yeast 1/2 cup sugar 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, beaten 1 beaten egg white for egg wash
PREPARATION
Pound saffron threads to break down strands. (Ali note: Or just tell the people reading your recipe to get saffron powder, jeez.)
In a small saucepan, heat milk to lukewarm.
Mix yeast with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.
On low heat, melt butter in saucepan with milk. Add crushed saffron. Let cool.
In large bowl, mix together flour salt and remaining sugar.
Stir yeast into cooled milk mixture. Mix into dry ingredients, beating to mix well. Add beaten eggs.
Knead in bowl for 5 - 7 minutes. (Ali note: Kneading in the bowl is somewhat confining. After the eggs are mixed in well, feel free to jump right to your floured board, or counter, as the case may be.) Turn onto floured board and knead another 7 - 8 minutes. (Ali note: If it's sticking to your little fingers, try adding a bit more flour to your board or counter; that’ll mix in and firm up the consistency a little. Conversely, if it's too DRY to stick to your little fingers, sprinkle some water on as you knead 'til it's about the right texture - something like Play-Doh.) (Don't forget to wash your hands before you start this recipe, including under your filthy little fingernails, you scab.)
Put dough in lightly greased bowl, turn to coat all sides, cover and put in warm, draft-free place to rise for about 1 hour.
When dough has risen, knead lightly to push out air and divide into small pieces (about 10-12). (Ali note: Whoever wrote this recipe was high if they thought this amount of dough makes 10-12 of these things, the size of which would cook in 15 minutes. I ended up with closer to 18, and still needed a little longer in the oven.)
Using the hands, roll each small piece into a strip about 8 - 10 inches long. Shape each strip into an 'S' or a figure 8. (Ali note: For authentic look, place a raisin or currant in the dimples of each bun.)
Place on lightly buttered cookie sheets. Cover with clean cloth and let rise again, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
When dough has risen, brush lightly with egg white.
Bake in preheated 375° F oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned (which was a bit longer than 15 minutes).
Let cool on wire rack.

GLÖGG
(Um... Glögg)
As noted above, you can make glögg in nearly any way you choose. This is my favorite amalgamation:
INGREDIENTS
1 bottle dry red, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1 cup brandy
3-4 cinnamon sticks
6-8 cloves
1-2 teaspoons ground cardamom (ideally you use 3-4 whole caramom pods, cracked, but good luck finding those in most grocery stores)
1 tablespoon dried orange peel (or the peel of 1 whole orange)
1/3 cup sugar (ideally brown, but if you're scrimping and just have white, go for it!)
Currants or raisings
Almond slivers
PREPARATION
Simple: Heat. On the stove. For at least 45 minutes. Don't let it reach 170 or so (that means keep it just at steaming and below simmering), unless you want nonalcoholic glögg. A clean meat thermometer is handy for this purpose.
Put a small handful of currants (or raisins) and almond slivers at the bottom of each glass.
Pour the glögg into your glasses through a sieve to strain out the cloves and such, and enjoy.

Skål!

KÖTTBULLAR
(Swedish Meatballs)
I made this with 2 lbs. ground beef (you can also use veal with the beef, about 1/3 to 1/2 the total amount of meat; that's how the restaurants usually do it) instead of 1 1/3 lbs., which is what the original recipe called for. Watching *me*, the literature nerd, try to figure out that sort of conversion? Must have been priceless. I had to appeal to my civil engineer father for guidance. This is what he came up with:
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 egg plus 1 egg white
2 lbs. pounds lean ground beef (But for goodness sake, not too lean.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (Most recipes call for white pepper, but this one doesn’t differentiate; I used white)
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tbs butter
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

PREPARATION (The "real" way)
Soak breadcrumbs in milk for 5 to 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
To a bowl add onion, egg, ground beef, soaked bread crumbs, all spice, salt and pepper.
Mix all the ingredients together with your hands and shape the meat mixture into small balls, less than an inch in diameter. If the mixture starts to sticks to your hands, wet them with cold water.
Heat a skillet with butter and extra virgin olive oil.
Sauté the meatballs in 3 or 4 batches, turning them frequently to keep the meatballs from sticking. Drain them on paper towels.
Drain the excess olive oil and scrape off and discard any browned bits of meat that may be sticking to pan after the meatballs are done.
To the same pan add butter and flour and stir until it browns.
Quickly add a can of beef stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until gravy thickens.
Remove from the heat and serve immediately with the meatballs.

PREPARATION (The weenie way)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
After you've formed the meatballs as described above, place in a lightly greased, uncovered Pyrex dish.
Cook for about 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the meatballs; eyeball it and do a touch-test to test for doneness. Rotate halfway through so the entire sphere gets browned as it would have in a frying pan.
Remove from pan, and drain on paper towels; keep warm after draining.
Use pan scrapings to make gravy as described above, adding extra beef broth or stock to increase volume as necessary.

(Sorry for the freaky lighting. Still getting the hang of this new camera!)

Enjoy your Swedish feast, you crazy Vikings! } :- )

(That's clearly a Viking helmet, BTW.)

(Shaddup.)

The Alternate Thanksgiving of Amazingness for Two

Happy Thanksgiving (belated a day...I was busy thanking & snacking)!  Never being one who was overly enthused by turkey, my Thanksgiving menu is both yummier (in my opinion) and faster to make!  My plans this holiday to hang out with my dad and step-mom were also shot (due to one bad back and one really bad cold) so this dinner is for two (though technically like, 8 people could have probably eaten this all and been completely satisfied).

The Menu:

Appetizers:

Baked Brie with Figs

Dates

Soppressata salami (yes!)

Entree:

Mixed Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin with Shallot-Port Reduction

Sides:

Brussels Sprouts with Currants and Pine Nuts

Smashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese and Chives

All I can say is this is one of the most fantastic meals I and my uber-wonderful co-chef have ever made (yes, I allowed him to graduate from sous chef since he actually does a lot more than Tarot-the-cat.  Similarly, our cat slept in the corner the entire day and only came out of his coma to eat a small piece of beef and later barf on the carpet after eating his cat food too quickly for the second day in a row).  The recipes came mostly from Cooking Light's Nov 2008 issue for those who want to know but I've changed a few things around of course.

Baked Brie with Figs:

I made this earlier in the day since I knew it would be way too much at dinner. It's really easy. Get a wheel of brie at the store...mine was actually a relatively big one at 14 oz, but I believe they also come in 4 and 8 oz sizes as well. Preheat your oven to 350.  Put the brie rind and all on a pie pan (I had a glass one, but I'm sure putting it on a cookie sheet would be fine too) and brush a little melted butter on it.  Arrange slices of fresh figs (if you live in California) on the brie and pop in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until it feel nice and soft when you press on the center of it.  Take it out and remove the slices of figs and put to the side.  Take a fig spread (our favorite is the Organic Adriatic Fig Spread jar with the orange top) and slather on a nice amount right on top of the wheel (again leave the rind...I swear rind is good this way). Put your cooked little figgy slices back on top for decoration.  Eat with baguette slices!

Prep Work:

It would have been easier if I had done it this way instead of the kitchen madness that ensued. But it was damn worth it.

-Chop about 4 big shallots up finely...you will need 1/4 cup for the reduction and 1/4 cup for the brussels sprouts so do it all at once.

-Chop up about 3 tbs of fresh chives for the potatoes.

-Take out about 3/4 cup or 6 oz of goat cheese from your fridge.  Let it get more room temperature.  I got one of those little medallion sized goat cheeses and that seemed about the right amount.

-Peel about 2 lbs of potatoes (in my case I believe this was about 5 medium sized taters).  We went for red, but any baking type should do.  Chop them into 1" pieces so when you boil them they won't take forever to get soft.  Put your pot of cold water on to boil and hey, toss the potatoes in while you're at it for good measure as they should start out in the cold water.  Add a pinch of salt in there. Once they boil they should take about 15 minutes of simmering to get soft.

-Chop up a tsp of fresh thyme.

Step One: Start your reduction.

In a saucepan (or in my case I used my medium sized cast iron skillet...just make sure whatever you're using is deep enough to contain all the liquid) combine:

-2 cups of ruby port or other sweet red wine (we went for Krohm Porto ruby port wine)

-1 1/2 cups of fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

-1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots

-1/8 tsp of salt (like I would measure this out...just toss a pinch in!)

-2 sprigs of fresh parsley

-1 spring of fresh thyme

Bring to a boil and let reduce to 1 1/4 cups for about 15-20 minutes.  While that's reducing we'll keep going.

Step Two: Get your steak on!

Take out your steaky!  First of all I felt a little confused as to what part of the cow a beef tenderloin is, but felt it had to do something with filet mignon. Basically, I think I learned the filet is the end of the entire tenderloin, but the important thing is: Can I find it in a grocery store?  So while perusing the meat dept. at my local Safeway I only found giant 6 lb tenderloins or individual filet steaks.  Quite the discrepancy.  My recipe calls for a two lb tenderloin so if you're making this for two I suggest taking it down to 1 1/2 lbs or maybe even 1 lb.  The thing is, this meat came out so good you may want the 1 1/2 just for after dinner, pre-Thanksgiving coma snacking.  Which is exactly what I asked my Safeway meat girl.  She came back with a 1 1/2 lb filet mignon but all in one piece (instead of in individual steak or medallion size) and it was damn pretty.

Ok, now press about 1 tsp of salt and 1 1/2 tbs of cracked mixed peppercorns into the outside of your steak.  Instead of making this in the oven in a shallow roasting pan as the recipe called for, we decided to heat our oven to 350 and then sear the tenderloin for about a minute on each side in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil on the stove.  Once that's done just toss it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes in the same skillet (NOTE: this only works if you have a cast iron skillet.  Non-stick varieties need not apply).  If you'd rather the original method the recipe called for putting it in the roasting pan with some spray oil for 33 minutes at 450.  But I like my steak a bit rarer.

Now this is when the lightning speed happened.  I actually had to turn my steak off and just let it chill for a while because my reduction was taking too long.  I don't want that to happen to you so....that's why I'm having you start the reduction first.

Step Three: I'm be-SIDES myself!

So that last step is really quick.  Hopefully your potatoes are soft now.  Technically your boyfriend did this part of the meal so he should have to write this up but he looks busy connected to his laptop.  So!  (Status update: He is editing the photos for this post!  Love him!)

Before we do that we are going to toast some pine nuts and get the sprouts started.  I purchased about 1 lb of sprouts I believe but whatever looks good to you.  We also always search for the littlest sprouts since they will be more tender and leave the others for people who believe bigger is better (seriously, does it always have to be about size with you?).  

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tbs of pine nuts (I added a little more since I like them).  Cook about 2 minutes or until toasted then chop coarsely.  I added a tiny bit of olive oil and NOW I realize why that didn't seem to work so wonderfully, though the nuts still came out fine, I just had to blot them off in the end.  Melt some butter in a pan over medium-high and then add 1/4 cup chopped shallots.  Let these saute for a minute, stirring frequently, and then toss in your sprouts (George always cuts a plus sign into the "stem" part so they cook faster), 2 tbs of dried currants, 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (you chopped this in the prep part), 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper.  Toss and add 1/2 cup of fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth.  Cover, reduce heat and let cook for around 7 mins.

Meanwhile, drain your potatoes and return them to the same pan or pot you boiled them in (and remember, in Courtney's kitchen peeling your potatoes is always optional, though this time we did) on low heat.  Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tbs of butter.  Mash those babies!!  Then put in the goat cheese you let soften up and 1/4 tsp of black pepper.  The heat should still be on low so it shouldn't take all that long to get melty.  Stir in 1 cup of 2% milk and let cook 1 minute (this way is nice because then the milk won't make your hot potatoes turn room temperature!)  Lastly, stir in the chives you chopped up earlier.  Them taters are done!

Step Four: Finishing up

Your reduction should be ready to take your relationship to the next level. Strain the mixture through a sieve (or in my case a colander) and remove all the solids.  WHAT?  Remove all those tasty shallots!?  I know.  I thought that was whack too so I tossed my herbs, but put my shallots in a nice little bowl to throw on my steak later.  Combine 1 1/2 tbs of all-purpose flour and 3 tbs of water in a separate little bowl.  Return your port mixture to the pan and add the flour mixture to it while you whisk it in.  Whisk it!  Whisk it good.  Bring it to a boil again until it gets nice and thick (I swear I looked away for a second and then it was perfect, so it happens pretty fast) then remove it from the heat and whisk in 1 tbs of butter and a dash of balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 a tsp). Holy eff you're reduction is done!  Your steak probably is too, so I hope you took that out.  Carve into it to make sure it's done the way you like.  Doing it my way was perfect.  It was nice and pink, but redder toward the center so there is something for everyone.

Also, just finish up your sprouts.  Uncover them and cook about 4 mins or so until your broth evaporates.  When I uncovered mine my broth was ALREADY evaporated, so I took this as a sign that god loves me and wants to continue to shower my life with beef tenderloin.  When they look good and tender ( I love how green they get a minute after you first put them in) they are done!  All that's left is to sprinkle on your chopped toasty pine nuts.

Now that may seem like a lot of steps, but it's a great alternative to cooking a turkey for four hours.  With good planning this meal hardly takes more than a hour to make.  Which leaves more time for the greens (come on guys, vegetables!) California is so known for.  Plate everything, light your instant-romance candles and enjoy!  The reduction sauce has a tendency to get a skin on the top of it as it's cooling.  After you slice some beef portions and put it on the plates, just stir the sauce before you ladle it over the meat.  I absolutely LOVED the sprouts too because the shallots, pine nuts and currants mixed together amazingly and taste like candy.  And mashed potatoes with goat cheese have such an awesome tang.  I was really happy (and thankful) everything came out to perfection, and the meal was so good that I didn't even feel the need to contemplate dessert.  We just ate everything!

 (All photos by George P. Macklin.)

Ali's Kitchen: Potato and Leek Gratin With Cumin

It's cold. My head hurts. It's the perfect time for this dish. This recipe for potato and leek gratin with cumin comes directly from the "Recipes for Health" feature of the New York Times Health section, ironically not the Dining & Wine section. At first glance you (depending on your cultural baggage) might think, "Potatoes? Gratin? What is this doing in 'Recipes for Health?'" Well, here's why:

Cheese isn't bad for you! Neither are potatoes! Calcium and protein. Fiber and potassium. THE. END.

Well, not The End, obviously, but let's point something out: This recipe uses less than 1 cup of Gruyère, in a dish meant for 6-8 people. You can use even less cheese, if you like, and you'll still get the creamy effect. That's hardly a lot of dairy fat. And, since this is from the Health section, they've substituted the cream that's in many gratins for lowfat milk. Works just fine everytime, and your tummy (if it's sensitive) will thank you. Herewith, the text of their recipe, interspersed with pictures from Carlita Canon:

INGREDIENTS

1 garlic clove, cut in half
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound leeks, white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise, sliced and rinsed of sand
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle or a spice mill (I had cumin seeds as well as ground cumin, but not a mortar/pestle or spice mill. I just used the ground cumin.)
2 pounds russet potatoes or Yukon golds, peeled if using russets, scrubbed if using Yukon golds, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (I'm using red potatoes because for some bizarre reason, that's all the grocery store had. I think I also bought more than 2 lbs - our grocery doesn't have a scale, oddly enough - because this practically overflowed my 2.2 lb casserole.)
3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (3/4 cup, tightly packed)
2 1/3 cups low-fat milk

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Rub the inside of a 2-quart gratin or baking dish with the cut side of the garlic clove. Brush lightly with olive oil.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a wide, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the leeks. Cook, stirring often, until tender, for about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and stir in the crushed cumin seeds. Stir together for half a minute and remove from the heat.
3. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the leeks mixture and half the cheese, and toss together. Arrange in the baking dish in an even layer. Pour in the milk.

Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven.

4. Bake the gratin for 45 minutes, checking after 30 minutes and pressing the potatoes down into the milk with the back of a spoon. At 45 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and again press the potatoes down into the liquid. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

There you have it! In retrospect, I would add that:

- Putting a cookie sheet under the pan is helpful, in case the milk boils over in your small casserole;

- Possibly cover the top with aluminum foil for at least part of the early cooking so it doesn't get too brown. The color doesn't make a difference in the AWESOME taste, but if you need to serve this to someone other than your living partner, it might be a nice touch.

The article means this recipe for a vegetarian main dish , but we are having it with sautéed chicken breasts, whipped up while the gratin is cooling. Simply:

1. Rinse, pat dry, lightly salt and pepper the chicken, etc. and so forth with your basic prep.

2. Dredge the breasts through some milk, then through some flour mixed with coriander, paprika, and garlic powder, just to keep things interesting.

Coriander and paprika are fun with the cumin, but use your own favorite spice here.

3. Preheat some olive oil or butter or both in the UNWASHED pan you used for the leeks.

4. Sauté about 5-7 minutes per side (totally depends on the size of the breasts).

(If you use GARGANTUAN chicken breasts like some of us, then when both sides are brown and they STILL aren't done, take the gratin out to cool and put the chicken in the oven in its place, in either a 400-degree-safe pan, or in another casserole. If your chicken breasts are big enough that 8 minutes per side didn't do it in the pan [these are the Frankenstein breasts about whose growing process I'd like to keep in the dark], then at least 10 minutes still at that 375ºF should do it. If you're hopeless at cooking poultry, like I am, then a meat thermometer always helps.)

Boom. Dinner. Le yum yum.

Amsterdam Vacation Culinary Roundup

Dag! Here in the Netherlands, specifically North Holland, the food is solid, warm and wholesome. Since Amsterdam has long been a crossroads for cultures, and the Netherlands long a colonizer to the world, this breeds an interesting combination of flavors and textures. Observe:

Zuurklooschotel met riesgling
("Sauerkraut with Riesling" - Salted pork, bacon, sausage, frankfuter and rozeval potato)


What K lovingly refers to as "half a pig"

Jet lagged on our first evening, we ordered room service in. And what pleasantly surprising room service it was. I think those oval-shaped things are the "bacon," since Europeans are weird like that. The sausage was absolutely succulent, and the "frankfurters" were a far cry from Nathan's Famous. This meal was so delectable that I was forced to admit my non-abhorence of sauerkraut. I can't even tell you about the mustard. OH MY GOD, THE MUSTARD. However, it was the SALT, not the mustard, that swelled my eyes up to veritable capsules the next morning. Worth it, but I really should have known better.

FYI, they sell beer here that's up to 9% alcohol.

It tastes super, duper fabulous

I don't know if it's the increased alcohol content or the supposedly-cleaned-daily pipes that lead to the superior taste and easier headache ratio (said the gal who gets a headache from one beer, normally).

Another thing they do differently here: Goat cheese.

Je suis le chevre

It looks creamy, and if one had never seen cheese outside of the 48 contiguous states, one might assume it was Brie. But it's not Brie. It's good.

Yet ANOTHER thing they do differenetly here. Fries. With MAYONNAISE:

All your cellulite are belong to us

That shite is disconcertingly tasty, but I suspect only when it's "real" mayonnaise. None of that bottled BS.

Here we have some cheese. Didn't get the name of the cheese - just "Dutch cheese," aged and young. With mustard. OH MY GOD, TEH MUSTARD.

Sinuses open farther than a yogi's hip joints

One night we had Indonesian for dinner. This is a prevelant cuisine in the Netherlands, due to the fact that the Dutch colonized Indonesia for some inhumane amount of time. I can never remember if it was four or six hundred years, and cannot be bothered at this moment to Google the fact.

This is a rijsttafel:

"rice table"

Ours consisted of - vaguely from back row to front row, left to right - beef satay, spiced chicken, spiced beef, spiced fish (with hidden chilis, OMG), vegetables in coconut milk, vegetables in coconut sauce, [second row] fried chicken (wrapped in some kind of dark pepper skin), cucumber salad, shrimp crackers, something I didn't catch, soy bean paste. (And steamed rice in the front there.)

All I have to say is that HOLY CRAP, INDONESIAN FOOD IS GOOD. And SPICY.

And now, for the Dutch master work: PANNENKOEKEN!

Banana pancake, front. Apple pancake, background


Bacon pancake

Those crazy Europeans and their "bacon." Which is really "pancetta." Pssh.


And you know what? Our last night we felt entitled to be a little lazy, so we camped out at the hotel's restaurant, which conveniently showcased another couple of Dutch strenghts: Seafood and game.

Oysters:

The Aftermath. They were Dutch.

Duck!

It was literally a choice between duck, quail, pigeon, venison, and a bunch of fish we'd never heard of. All hail the adventurous Dutch palate.

My favorite thing about Amsterdam, just discovered since I've never been before, is that you can walk anywhere and everywhere. So it makes a whole bunch of sense to me why their food is so rich and yummy, and why they're still so comparatively slim. The one Dutch treat I didn't get to try was a herring roll, with pickles and onions. Granted, working at a Swedish restaurant gave me more than enough exposure to herring (ugh) and I know that I actually don't care for it, but herring here would have been like, say, blood sausage in the U.K. Oh well. Next time!