D is for Dove and Dark Chocolate

Dare I say it about my own food?

Yes.

Dinner was delicious.I don't want you to think that this meal was all chocolate, by dove I do mean the bird.

While me and the Mrs. were dating I always pushed her palette to taste new and different things. I still do it, but the difference between then and now is there is a lot less of me talking her into trying something new. "Just try it," is usually enough. Another thing that is different is I know when it is a loosing battle. There are just some things that my beloved will not eat. During the course of this project I knew that there would be times that she would not participate, and I would have to find other people to dine with. This was one of those times.

Instead of cooking for my wife, I cooked for my wife's family. I went over to the in-law's house and took over the kitchen. This was the first time that they were my guinea pigs, and I have to say they were really good sports.

Enough about my in-laws, let's talk about the food.

How in the world am I going to cook this dove? In a Dutch oven, of course. Since dove is wild game, I wanted to prepare it in a more rustic and "campy" way. I didn't want it to be a stretch to imagine preparing and eating this dish outside around a campfire. Now granted I did not cook this over an open fire, but the point is -with a cast iron Dutch oven, you could.
Here is how you do it.

Dove in a Dutch oven

• 1 pound of dove breasts
• 1 pound of hot Italian chicken sausage
• 2T Butter
• 1 large onion, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 pablano peppers, sliced
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 1/2T oregano
• 1T salt
• 2T black pepper
• olive oil

In your cast iron Dutch oven, coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil (~4-5T) and turn the stove on high heat. While your oil is getting ready, get your sausage ready. Cut the membranes holding the sausage links together and separate the meat. Once the oil is ready, drop in your sausage. and stir constantly so brown the meat. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to leave the oil in the pan. Turn down the stove to medium heat and drop the dove breasts. Brown them on both sides, but you are not cooking them through. It takes about a minute on each side, and then remove the meat from the Dutch oven.

Pour out the olive oil and add new fresh oil along with some butter. When the new oil has heated in the pot, add the onions and mushrooms. Pour in the white wine and stir the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pot. Let the wine reduce by half (~5-7 minutes ) Add in the garlic and peppers and let cook for another 2 minutes. Put the meat back in along with the chicken stock, put the lid on the Dutch oven, and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

...and now Dessert.

Before I begin, let me just say this dessert will change your life. Great, now how to make it.

Dark Chocolate "Ravioli"

• 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1T Half-and-Half
• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 1 egg white
• 2T sugar

In a double boiler melt the chocolate, sour cream and stir in half-and-half until it is a thick paste consistency.
Unfold the puff pastry and cut into 12 pieces. (cut the square in thirds. cut the third in fourths)
Pierce one side of the pastry pieces with a fork. Spoon a bit of the chocolate on one piece and then place another pastry piece on top. Crimp the edges of the pastry with a fork and put them on a baking sheet. Brush the top of the "ravioli" with the egg white and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!
-J

C is for Corn and Cookies

Craving anything corny?

This week, we have had a lot to Celebrate:
1. I have a job at Gigi's Cupcakes, but more importantly I really enjoy it.
2. St. Patrick's Day
3. Me and the Mrs. have been married three months!

Before we get to this week's recipes, I would just like to say that I appreciate all you readers out there. We are only three letters of the alphaBITE in, and I have had several of you send me very helpful articles and ideas to prepare for the rest of this project. Thank you very much, and keep them coming! And of course keep reading. Now on to the food; I'm hungry!

Corn Chowder

• 5 large ears of Corn


• 2 slices of bacon


• 1T butter


• 2T olive oil


• 1 cup of onions, large dice


• 1 1/2 cup white mushrooms


• 2T flour


• 1T salt


• 1T black pepper


• 2 carrots


• 3 cups milk


• 1 cup heavy cream


• 1 1/2t Chili powder


• 1/2t garlic powder


• 4 scallions

Clean, wash, and dry your corn. Cut the corn kernels off into a large bowl. Take care to not cover your kitchen counter in corn (like I did) get the corn IN the bowl and set it aside.

In a large pot, brown the bacon. Once it is crispy, remove bacon bits onto a paper towel. In the same pot, heat butter and olive oil, and add diced onions, mushrooms, and flour. While the onions and mushrooms cook, peel carrots and cut them into 2" lengths. You will use them in the chowder for flavor, but will not serve them. Also roughly chop scallions.

When the onions are transparent and the mushrooms are darker add in the carrots, corn, chili powder, and garlic powder. Stir until the spices are evenly distributed. Pour in milk and cream. On medium high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer and thicken. (30-45 minutes) Toss in the scallions and let simmer for five more minutes.
Serve with bacon pieces on top.
If you don't like bacon, dont add them on top of your chowder.

Clover Chocolate Cookies

Before I share this recipe with you, I have to admit I did not come up with any of this one. In my research for the project I came across these cookies on a blog called LilaLoa. With the claim that this is the "The End-All for Chocolate Cookies Recipe" I had to try it, and then I found on the same blog this awesome way to decorate them. Since our friends decided to have a St. Patrick's Day dinner, I had to bring them.

The recipe for the cookies is here. One thing to note, the recipe calls for 1 CUP of butter, NOT 1 pound of butter. That doubles the recipe. (good thing that I had enough stuff to double the recipe in the pantry...) For the icing:

Mint Icing

• 1 cup of powder sugar


• 1T butter


• 1/2t peppermint extract


• 1-3T milk


• 1-2 drops of green food coloring

Stir in soften butter and peppermint extract into powder sugar. Add milk one tablespoon at a time to sugar until the icing is thick, but still fluid. Separate 1/4 of the icing and add in food coloring until it is the desired color green. Once you have your icing mixed, decorate cookies. LilaLoa has very detailed instructions with illustrations that you can find here. They are really fantastic cookies.

I hope you all had a great week, and I hope that you are as excited for "D" as I am.

-J

Can you believe it?

The week that I am on the letter "C", I start work at a cupcake bakery, Gigi's Cupcakes.
Fate?
Maybe.

Check out their website by clicking here.

Which one is your favorite, I'd love to make you a Cupcake!
-J

B is for Brunch

Bring your kids, Bring your wives, we are having Brunch.

This past Saturday, we had a few friends over to help me kick of the Alphabiteical project. When I told my friends initially about the project, each one of them offered themselves as taste testers. What great friends I have. Since it was such great weather here Codi and I got the porch ready for a brunch of fun.

ButterBall Bread

When I decided that I wanted to make my own bread I looked up several recipes, but then I called my grandmother, Carr, who used to bake the best bread. She told me all that she could over the phone and then sent me recipes in the mail. It took her a while to locate all her different recipes and after she found them, she wanted to test them out so that she knew that they would work. In the mean time I kept up my research and testing out some of the ones that seemed the best. I had good results with my initial attempts, but thought that I could still make it better. I then decided to combine three different recipes and came to this one. It is delicious!

• 3 1/2 cups warm water (Carr says "make sure it is not too hot. About the temp you would give a baby)
  



• 2 packets of yeast
  



• 1/3 cup honey
  



• 5 cups of Bread flour



• 1/2 cup of honey



• 3T melted Butter**



• 1T salt



• 3 cups Bread flour



• 2T melted Butter
  

Combine water, yeast, 1/3 cup of honey, 5 cups of Bread flour until a very runny dough is formed.

Let sit and rise for 1 hour.

Punch down and add 1/2 cup of honey and 3T melted Butter and mix the dough with the dough hook attachment with your mixer. **Melt Butter five minutes before you add it to the risen dough. It combines in the bread dough better and creates a better texture for the bread.

Add in the salt and 3 cups of bread flour. mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. Turn the dough ball out on to a floured surface and kneed the dough by hand until it is slightly sticky to the touch. Butter two large bowls with one tablespoon of melted butter each. Split the dough ball in half and place in each bowl.

Turn the dough around the bow so that all surfaces of the dough are coated with butter.

Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let rise for 2 1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray four 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down dough and split dough evenly between four pans. Bake for 30 minutes. Place on a cooling rack for 45 minutes.

Beefy Buttermilk Biscuits

• 1 lb ground chuck



• 1/2 cup diced onion



• 1/2t garlic powder



• 1 1/2 cups Barbecue sauce



• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese



• 2 1/2 cups self rising flour



• 1/2 cup shortening



• 1 cup buttermilk

Cook beef, onion, and garlic powder in a large skillet. Drain the grease and put back in skillet. Add the BBQ sauce and let simmer for 3 minutes.

In a bowl add flour and shortening. Cut in the shortening with a a pastry blender, until the flour is the consistency of wet sawdust. Mix in buttermilk. Turn out dough on a floured surface and kneed. Roll out dough and fold over four times. Roll out dough and cut 3" rounds. Place biscuits in a greased muffin tin. Fill cups with beef mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Bacon and Baby Spinach Pinwheels

• 7 slices of thin slice Bacon



• 2 cups of Baby spinach



• 1/3 cup grated parmesian cheese



• 2 sheets of puff pastry dough



• 1 egg white



• 1/4t black pepper



• pinch of salt

Cook Bacon until crispy. Place on a paper towel to cool. In a food processor, place spinach and chop. Finely chop Bacon. Spread out puff pastry dough on a sheet of wax paper. Brush with egg white and spread Bacon, Baby spinach, parmesian cheese, salt and pepper.

Roll the dough in a log and freeze for 20 minutes.

Cut in 1/2" pinwheels. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Berry and Basil Salad

• 2 lbs strawBerries



• 1 pint Blueberries



• 1 pint raspBerries



• 1 pint Blackberries



• 10 large Basil leaves



• 1/2 cup of sugar



• 1T vodka

Chop strawBerries and place in a bowl and stir in sugar. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. Place all berries in a large serving bowl. Slice Basil into thin strips and toss in the berries and vodka.

Banana Creamies

• 20 sheets of filo dough



• 3 ripe bananas



• 3T melted Butter



• 1 1/2t unflavored gelatin
  



• 3T boiling water



• 1/3 cup sugar



• 3T all purpose flour



• 2 egg yolks



• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk



• 1T vanilla extract



• 1/2 cup whipping cream



• 1/4 cup sugar

For the pastry:

Place one sheet of filo dough on the cutting board. Brush melted butter and place another sheet on top of the first. layer five sheets of dough and then cut 3" squares. In a mini muffin tin press dough down and bake until golden brown in a 400 degree oven. Place on a cooling rack.

For the Banana cream:
Chop and mash bananas into a thick paste. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. In a cold sauce pan whisk 1/3 cup sugar and flour. Combine egg yolks to milk and whisk into sauce pan on medium high heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Whisk in bananas, vanilla extract, and gelitin. Whisk until thick (2 minutes). Place mixture in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let set for 3 hours.

Whip cream and sugar in the mixer for about 3 minutes.

Place banana cream and whip cream into plastic bags and cut the corner off.

Pipe banana cream into filo cups, and top with whip cream.

Bellinis

• 1 ripe peach, pitted but not peeled cut into 1" cubes.



• 1t fresh lemon juice



• 1T simple syrup
  



• 2 cups of Prosecco

Place peaches, lemon juice, and simple syrup in the blender. Blend well.

Divide peach mixture into four glasses Pour over Prosecco and gently stir.

(serves 4)

-J

A is for Almonds and Apples

And so it begins.

Almond Crusted Chicken atop Angel Hair Pasta

• 3 chicken breasts


• 3/4 cups chopped almonds


• 1 1/2t paprika


• 2 egg whites


• 1T butter


• 4T olive oil


• 5T Apple jelly


• 1/2t garlic powder


• 1t salt


• 1 1/2t black pepper


• 2T Apple cider vinegar


• Angel hair pasta


• 4T fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

Place chopped almonds on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 300 degrees for five minutes. After they roast, set them aside to cool. Wash the chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel. Combine chopped almonds and paprika. Dip the chicken breasts in the egg whites and then in almond mixture until all sides of the chicken are coated. Lay the chicken back on a baking sheet and place them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This allows the coating to set.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, place the butter and 2T olive oil and heat the pan to medium high heat. Crisp the chicken for five minutes on each side. While the chicken is crisping, add apple jelly, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small sauce pan on low heat. After both sides are done, place in a casserole dish with 2T of olive oil and pour apple jelly glaze over the chicken, but hold about a tablespoon in the sauce pan.

While the chicken bakes, cook the angel hair pasta. In the sauce pan with the reserve glaze, add apple cider vinegar. Reduce the sauce on medium low heat. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and chopped parsley.

Then you eat.

For dessert, Apple Pie. I followed this recipe from foodnetwork.com, and it is delicious.

It's so Appetizing.

-J

For Starters

This is the start of something new for me. I have been thinking about writing a cookbook for sometime now but really struggled to find a starting point. It is just overwhelming with all the different types of food there are out there and all the different ways to cook. The other thing getting in my way was I wanted to make the cookbook easy to use. How am I going to organize the recipes that I decide to share? How do I make it both fun for myself, and also fun for a reader? These thoughts kept running through my head constantly, but I never had an answer for any of them.

Well friends, while I was at the grocery store shopping for food to take my mind off the day, (yes I do that often) I was milling around in the produce section. I decided to buy a leek. Not once in my life have I had leeks outside of a restaurant, and I was excited to plop that thing on my cutting board and see what I could make happen. Then while I was trying to decide what protein me and the wifey were going to have for dinner the next night, I saw this bright orange sticker with the word "LAMB" in big bold type - and it hit me. The alphabet, it was so simple. I bought the leek and the lamb chops and rushed home to make dinner. That night, me and the Mrs had an "L" inspired meal and I shared with her my thoughts about this project. Immediately, she was supportive and started thinking in her head the many possibilities that this project could take the form of.

So here is the deal: for 26 weeks, I am going to cook my way through the alphabet starting with the letter "A". (good thing "X", "Y", and "Z" are at the end so that I can do some research... by the way, does anyone know where I can get some zebra steaks?) I love food. I love cooking food, sharing food, thinking about food, and yes I love eating food. It is my hope that you will join me on this journey and challenge here on the blog and hopefully at the dinner table.

-J