Mardi Gras Mambo

It is Mardi Gras season over here in Louisiana and I have been considering and unconsidering (yes I know unconsidering isn't a word. Just having a little fun. Work with me :) and reconsidering trying my hand at making a king cake since late January. Yesterday, perhaps in a spurt of madness, I decided to go for it at 7:30 p.m. Why so late???? Good question. I have no idea. It could be because the night before I stayed out till God knows when with a handful of people I have known all my life, and a whole lot of folks I will likely never see again, trying my dead level best to melt a microphone and set of speakers...amps... whatever, with just the sound of my lovely voice. You might be thinking how embarrassing...how debasing....how sad. I would say to you, yes...I feel quite certain it was all three, but now I don't have to go to the other side saying I never sang karaoke, because I was too chicken,  and that counts for something. So there. Take that! :) There are no chickens at this blog! There are only birds of prey soaring ever higher...surveying the earth below...swooping to take what they want...leaving a path of dead microphones and auditory destruction in their path! You get the picture. I digress. Let's move on :)

So between the hours of 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. I made this king cake.

 It was really MUCH easier than I thought it would be, and I learned some things too. Over all , I had a great time making this cake. I just wish I would have started at a more reasonable hour. FYI- 7 p.m. is way to late to start a yeast dough when you have to go to work the next morning :) King cake can not be rushed. It takes time. It has to rise, be punched down, shaped and rise again. It has to be baked, cooled and iced. The procedure while it sounds a little difficult, was amazingly easy, and there are large spaces of time to do things like cleaning or laundry while the dough rises.  Just block it out for a day off, and start earlier than 7 p.m., unless you have the next day off as well.

I used Chef John Besh's recipe for the sweet dough. One thing that stood out to me about this recipe is it doesn't require a dough hook, or even a mixer. It is a pretty simple recipe to accomplish and it is all done by hand!!! I adapted his recipe, which was a traditional plain king cake, to a filled version, because I like cream cheese and other stuff in my king cake. I also made a berry filling to go with the cream cheese. It was very yummy. You can't go wrong with berries. I made the berry filling after the dough, but that is one of the things I learned. So I am going to tell you to make it first and chill it in the refrigerator while you are making the dough, so it will thicken and not be runny when you are trying to fill your king cake. Let's get started.

Berry Filling Ingredients

1/4 cup blueberries

1 lb strawberries hulled

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water

Wash strawberries and blueberries.

Slice strawberries about 1/4 inch thick, and add along with blueberries to a medium sized sauce pan. Add honey,

brown sugar,

vanilla,

 

 

 lemon juice,

butter,

cinnamon,

                           

and salt to sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat (Sorry salt. Your photo op just didn't work out ). Stir frequently. When all sugar is melted and fruit has cooked down to tender, mash strawberries up a bit with the back of a fork. Next, add the cornstarch to a small bowl. Add the water to the cornstarch and whisk until it is thoroughly combined and looks like milk. Add this mixture to the berry mixture and stir.

Continue cooking and stirring until the berry mixture thickens. Once thickened, transfer berry filling to another container and allow to cool. Once it has cooled some, stick it in the fridge so it will thicken further.

Cream Cheese Filling

1-8 oz package of cream cheese

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp powdered sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly with a rubber spatula and set aside. 

 

JOHN BESH'S KING CAKE (Serves 10–12)

As you knead the dough for this Mardi Gras cake, watch for it to begin to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If that doesn’t happen (because the moisture content in flour fluctuates with the humidity), add a spoonful or two more flour.

For the cake:
1 cup lukewarm milk, about 110°F
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp dry yeast
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup melted butter
5 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated fresh lemon zest
3 teaspoons cinnamon
Several gratings of fresh nutmeg


*A note about baking and measurements. In baking, measurements are meant to be precise. So just in case you don't know this (because I didn't know it for a long time) there is a difference between a liquid measuring cup and a dry measuring cup. In cooking the difference might prove insignificant, but in baking it could mess you up. Also when filling a liquid measuring cup, get eye level with the measure, like this....

 

Not like this...

The small optical illusion you get when reading it from above the cup can be enough to mess you up. I hate to be so bossy...but ummmm...

For the cake:
Heat your milk to 110°F. I used a candy thermometer for this. It took almost no time at all to get to 110°F.

Pour the warm milk into a large bowl.

Whisk in the (sifted) granulated sugar,

yeast

and a heaping tablespoon of the (sifted) flour

Note* Make sure you measure out the entire amount of flour, and then take the heaping tbsp from this amount. Otherwise you won't know how much your heaping tablespoon took from the total amount. Not that I have personally experienced this or anything. I mean, I don't think I even know anyone who would ever do this, but...it just seems like it could complicate things...so don't do it, just in case :) 

Mix until both the sugar and the yeast have dissolved. Once bubbles have developed on the surface of the milk and it begins to foam, whisk in the butter, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest.

(Note* At the end of this blog I am including a few tips about dealing with eggs, if you're interested)

 

Add the remaining flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a large rubber spatula.

 

After the dough comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl, shape it into a large ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.

Come on! You've totally got this. Set the timer on your stove and settle in for the long haul. The recipe says we gotta do it. I tried it first though, and it really wasn't that bad, and besides do you really want to go to the other side saying that you never kneaded dough? or made a king cake? or got flour in your hair? Don't answer that. Let's get to work :)

On a floured surface, push the dough with the heels of your hands.

 

When the dough is in the shape of a giant macaroni shell, like this…

flip it,

 

and push it some more. 15 minutes more.

Push…macaroni…flip…push…repeat :) Just think of the history behind what you are doing. Think of the tradition of making bread through out time. Push…macaroni…flip…push…repeat. Think about how easy you've got it. Your flour came in a bag. You didn't have to grind it up with a mortal and pestle, after all. Push…macaroni…flip…push…repeat. Think about king cake, king cake, king cake!!! Before you know it the timer will be going off and you'll be done :) Then you'll form the dough into a ball, place it back in the bowl,

cover it with plastic wrap and set it aside in a draft free place to let it proof, or rise. Approximately 1 and 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. When the dough has doubled in volume (how cool is that?!?) remove it from the bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Using your fingers, press the dough into a long, flat, rectangular shape.

Generously spread the surface of the dough with the cream cheese filling, staying about an inch and a 1/2 with in the edges on all sides. Spoon the berry filling in a thinner strip on top of the cream cheese filling down the length of the dough. Fold one edge of the dough rectangle over the filling, long ways. Fold the other edge of the dough over the first edge and pinch the two edges together. You should now have a long tube of filled dough about 3 inches wide.

Next place a large, parchment paper lined and lightly sprayed,  cookie sheet right up to the edge of your dough. Carefully roll your dough tube, a little at a time, on to the cookie sheet, shaping it into a ring as you go. Pinch the two ends of the tube together to form a ring, and set aside to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.

When the ring has doubled in size,

place it in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes (Mine could have baked a few minutes less. Keep an eye on it. Ovens can vary). While it is baking make the icing.

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup condensed milk

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 - 2 oz package toasted slivered almonds

(most places use colored sugar. I just prefer the almonds)

1 fave bean or plastic baby to hide in the cake after baking

Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and condensed milk, until the icing drops from the whisk in a thin ribbon and as many of the powdered sugar lumps as you can get out are gone. Divide the icing between 3 small bowls.

Add purple die to one, green to another, and a couple of dots of yellow and a small dot of orange to the last one.

Mix each until the color is even.

Put slivered almonds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and spread them out evenly. When the cake comes out of the oven put the almonds in for about 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them. They will cook quickly. Toss them around with your hand, being careful not to touch the hot bottom of the cookie sheet, once around the middle of toasting.

Allow the king cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before attempting to transfer to a serving dish, and even then, put your dish right up to the edge of the cookie sheet and be very careful.

Use the parchment to help you move the cake. Ice the cake in alternating stripes of purple, green and gold. Sprinkle the icing with toasted almonds and sugar as you ice the cake, so that the almonds will stick while the icing is still wet. Hide the baby in the bottom edge of the cake and serve.

So, if you are far away from Louisiana this year, or even just curious about what all the Mardi Gras/king cake hub bub is about, add this cake to your to do list, and Let the Good Times Roll! It is a great cake and much easier to make than a lot of versions, as it is all done by hand. Hope you have a happy and safe Mardi Gras :)

Love,

Stephanie H.

P.S. I have had that pair of Mardi Gras beads in my jewelry box since I was a little girl :)

P.S.S. Oh yeah, here a few tid bits about dealing with eggs.

1) In case you didn't know. In general, recipes call for large eggs.

2) Here is how I separate eggs. I think it is easier than using the shell. Some folks may prefer to keep it off of their hands, but when you are separating 100 eggs at a time, trust me, you start to not worry about getting it on your hands :) Here goes.

My Granny would probably whip me if I didn't mention that you should wash your hands :) Hand washing is practically a religion in our family. Get out two bowls and sit them side by side. Crack your egg over the first bowl, and dump the whole egg into the palm of one of your hands, while discarding the shell with the other.

 

Gently move the egg back and forth in between your hands letting the white slip through your fingers into the bowl below.

 

Gently place the separated yolk into the second bowl.

3) If you've ever accidentally gotten a piece of egg shell in your eggs, you know it is practically impossible to get it out with your fingers. It just keeps slipping away.

Here's a trick. Use the larger egg shell to scoop it up. The little piece of shell will go right to the larger shell.

Then you can easily get the shell out of the other shell.

 

The picture is a little blurry, but you get my drift. Special thanks to my lovely assistant MRob for offering his photography stylings during this egg aside.

New GoOd CrAzY Look

By now you've seen that I changed the look of my header bar. I was never satisfied with the look of it, but I finally decided that if I didn't just go ahead and start the blog I would noodle it forever and never start. This look feels much more representative of myself as well as the spirit of the blog. From the broken chicken wire symbolizing my break out from the "chicken coop" (no fear :) to the blue bird of happiness, the flourishing garden (keep your fingers crossed) and 3 tiered cake top hat I think it is

pretty GoOd.

I hope you like it too. It took me most of the day and some of last night, but my OCD is now sated and I can enjoy my evening with the cousins for "Cousin Karaoke Night".  In the spirit of "No Fear" I plan to do a duet of "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" with Mississippi Rob! I'll let you know how that goes, LOL :) Hope you have a great Saturday night!

Love,

Stephanie H.

One Steak-2 People-4 Meals

Earlier this week I pulled one of my daddy's steaks (my dad raises cows, and we buy meat from him) out of the freezer to cook for mine and MRob's dinner. As you know I am counting calories these days, so Rob and I weren't about to take down that big old steak in one sitting. I ended up cooking 2 meals for both of us out of the one steak. The first meal I made was a steak salad with thin strips of seared steak, avocado, tomato, goat cheese crumbles and finished off with a champagne grapefruit vinaigrette. The second meal was a steak sandwich topped with smothered rutabaga and red pepper hash. MRob went straight crazy over this sandwich. He really liked it, and of course he said the same thing he always says whenever I cook rutabaga. "How come you don't cook rutabaga more?" I honestly have no answer for this. I love it every time I cook it, but then for some reason I forget about it. It is just one of those great subtle southern flavors of time past, that often gets overlooked these days. If you haven't had it before, go get you one and smother it up. I promise you won't regret it. It is sheer sweet and earthy goodness. So anyhoo, I thought I would share these recipes with you. I counted the salad at around 430 calories, and the sandwich at around 419 calories.

So, now for how to make the steak salad. First you want to marinate the meat for at least 45 minutes or so. The steak I used was about an 8 oz porterhouse. I cut the meat away from the bone and divided it into two pieces so that it would fit in my dish better. Place your steak in a shallow dish and squeeze the juice from 1/2 a grapefruit over the entire steak.

             

 

Next sprinkle over the steak 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp celery seed, and about 5 sprigs cilantro chopped. Give about 5 turns of the pepper mill, and then rub the dry ingredients in over the surface of the meat, flipping the steaks over and getting the juice and dry rub into the meat on both sides. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate the steaks for at least 30 minutes.

While the steaks are marinating...

squeeze the juice from the remaining half grapefruit into a medium sized bowl.

Chop 1/2 shallot, 1 clove garlic and 5 cilantro sprigs fine, and add to the grapefruit juice.

Add 1/8 cup champagne vinegar...

 

and 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil to the juice bowl. Add 6 turns of the pepper mill and 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk dressing to incorporate ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

 Next heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

 

While pan is heating, move steaks to a clean plate and pat dry. This is an important step to searing and browning the steak properly.

When the steaks are cooked to the proper doneness for your liking remove from pan. I did ours pretty rare for this salad, and I think it compliments the other flavors best, but I know some folks just don't eat rare meat, so cook it how you like it :) When steak is close to "your" done sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Next you want to trim the excess fat and slice the steak into thin (about 1/4 inch thick) slices. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of this part. Weigh out 2 oz of steak slices for each salad, and put the rest in the refrigerator for the steak sandwiches.

Place 1 cup of romaine lettuce on a plate. Cut an avocado in half and put half in the refrigerator for later. Cut the Avocado half in half again (which would be a 1/4) and cube the quarters separately. Sprinkle 1 group of cubes onto each of the plates of romaine. Cut two slices of tomato (a little less than a a 1/4 inch thick) and dice each. Add diced tomato to salads. Add 2 oz steak slices to each salad. Sprinkle each salad with one tbsp goat cheese crumbles, and finish by drizzling a tbsp of the prepared champagne grapefruit vinaigrette over the salad. Prepare to not feel like you are eating healthy, although you pretty much are.

There you have it Steak Salad with Avocado and Champagne Grapefruit Vinaigrette. Hope you like it.

We sure did :)

Ingredients List

8 oz porterhouse

1 grapefruit cut in half

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp celery seed

10 sprigs cilantro

1/2 shallot

1 clove garlic

1/8 cup champagne vinegar

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil + 2 tbsp for pan

black pepper mill

1/2 tsp salt, and a pinch more for salting steak

2 cups romaine lettuce

half avocado

two slices of tomato diced

2 tbsp goat cheese crumbles

Now for meal number two. You're gonna love this steak sandwich :) I know it sounds kinda weird, and I guess it is, but it was really, REALLY good.  First you need to make the dressing.

Cut 1/2 of a red pepper in half. Remove seeds and ribs. Cut half in slices about 1/4 inch thick. Dice the other half. Spray a medium sized skillet with olive oil spray and add the diced red peppers plus one slice of red onion diced. Saute until translucent and tender. About 5 to 10 minutes. Move the sauteed vegetables to a food processor, mini chopper, or bullet. If you don't have any of these move them to a bowl. You can mash the vegetables and mix sauce with a fork. Add to the processor 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp fat free sour cream, 1/2 tsp brown mustard, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt. Pulse or mix thoroughly to make a sauce.

                           

Refrigerate.

Peel Rutabaga and cut in half. 

Slice rutabaga into sticks about 1/4 inch thick and then cut into cubes. Dice 1 slice red onion. Spray a medium sized pan with olive oil and preheat. When pan is heated but not too hot add rutabaga cubes, diced onion, and red pepper slices to pan. Cover with tight fitting lid and cook over medium heat until fork tender. Check periodically.  You may have to add a little water a tbsp at a time to keep from burning because so little oil is used. If you want to avoid this, just use a tbsp of olive oil instead of the spray. This will increase your calories, but it will keep it from sticking and you will get a true smothered flavor. I'm trying to keep the calories low, so I used the spray.

In another skillet spray 10 squirts I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray. Add steak slices from previous meal to the pan. Add 1 beef bullion cube crushed, 1 cup water, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp

onion powder.

Continue cooking until most of the liquid is cooked into the meat and it is fully browned, but not dry. Toast one Nature's Own sugar free whole grain hamburger bun. I know...fancy...but where else are you gonna get a sandwich roll for 110 calories? If you have have the answer to that question, PLEASE comment it below :).

 

 

Spread hamburger bun with prepared red pepper sandwich spread. About 1 tsp per side. Add 2 oz

steak slices. 

 

Add 1/4 cup rutabaga hash on top of steak slices.

OK...

now prepare yourself...

this is where it gets kinda redneck :) I'm covering my eyes.

Shred half of a Frigo light cheese head cheese stick over the hash.

I know...seriously, I know...

but you just can't get any other cheese for 30 calories. Sorry. I didn't make the rules. I'm just trying to live with them and not eat card board. Trust me...this works. Just don't tell anyone you are eating half a shredded cheese head. They will never know if you don't tell them. Say it's fresh mozzarella or something, or just don't say anything. Silence is golden :)

Let's move on.

There you have it awesome steak sandwich with rutabaga hash and...ummm...fresh mozzarella. Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Seriously good stuff.

FYI- 15 Special K sea salt cracker chips were added into this meal for the total of 419 calories. Not bad! If you haven't tried Special K cracker chips you really should. They are the best low calorie chip I have had. 30 chips for 110 calories. 

Ingredients List

1/2 red pepper

olive oil spray

2 slices of red onion diced

1 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp fat free sour cream

1/2 tsp brown mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

1/2 rutabaga

10 squirts I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray

left over steak slices

1 beef bullion cube crushed

1 cup water

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 Nature's Own sugar free whole grain hamburger buns

Frigo light cheese head cheese stick

P.S.  I am not a dietitian. I count calories using a free online calorie counter. If you are really serious about calorie counting you should totally double check me, because calories change from brand to brand. I just like to try to be creative with my calories and thought it would be nice to share some of the things I like to eat. Hope you enjoy :)