Phyllo Nests with Strawberries and Honey

We didn't have any strawberries so we tried this recipe with blueberries. It was really, good. They phyllo was a little drier today - I left in the fridge instead of refreezing it - so it made working with the dough stressful. good news is that I think because the dough is coated with butter a little dryness doesn't really effect the baking quality.

I would definitely make this for gusts, and it's nice because after the nests folks can choose how they assemble the dessert - changing the honey, whipped cream and berry amounts to suit there tastes. Most likely this would be good with any kind of berry, and probably out of control with some kind peach like this grilled peach with whipped cream and caramel recipe.

Recipe: Gourmet's Phyllo Nests with Strawberries and Honey

FAIL - Vegetable Quesadillas

So what could make the seemingly inoffensive quesadilla so terrible? How can you screw up cheese and veggies melted in a tortilla? ANSWER: No cheese!?! Seriously this recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook doesn't call for any cheese. I'm usually game to try most WW recipes - they taste good, but this was foul, foul, foul.

So instead we headed over to El Chilito and ate much better tacos.

Baking is f'n hard - Pound Cake

So in preparation for the fondue party this evening I've attempted to make a pound cake for dipping. The only pound cake I can recall every eating in my life is Entenmann's and according to the recipe I followed in Christopher Kimball's The Dessert Bible: "Pound cake is a tricky recipe" (158).

Apparently what makes it so tricky is that there is no chemical leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda). Without this the way to get the cake right is to have the butter and eggs at the right temperature. {For a more info about the importance of butter check out "Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies that Sing"}Butter should be creamed when it is between 65 and 67 degrees, and eggs should be room temperature. In my house I think it takes a little over a half hour for butter out of the fridge to reach that temperature - without a thermometer it's hard to gauge, but according to Kimball it should bend easily, but not too much.

If you get the temperature right, the mix of sugar, butter and eggs should look dull and thick, NOT grainy or separated. So even though I walked into the recipe thinking I nailed the temperatures after I had added about half the eggs the batter changed from dull and thick to separated and grainy. Kimball suggests wrapping a hot towel around the bowl while you mix to correct the temperatures. The hot water situation in my kitchen isn't the best, and I'm generally impatient, so I took my mixing bowl out into the Texas sun and stirred until the batter looked about right.

What is so interesting about making this cake is correcting temperature mistakes. I've tried twice, with little success (tasted good both times, but fell apart once, and didn't rise properly the second time) to make this Strawberry Cake from scratch, and I think after this I have a better idea of how to handle my ingredients.

Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

I tried Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables from Cooking Light tonight, and it was delicious, but I don't see how cooking vegetables in bacon grease makes for a light dish. That said, I would definitely make this again. I screwed up the bacon a little, slightly too burnt and in the midst of my bacon panic the noodles cooked a little bit longer than they should've - not a disaster, but definitely not al dente. Other than my own timing issues, the only confusing part was when (and, I guess, if) I was supposed to add the actual bacon back into the dish. I went for it, but I suppose if I was more concerned about calories I would not add it in.

I think it would also work really well with autumnal vegetables - keep the onions and garlic, but sub in butternut squash and parsnips for the zucchini and corn. Pete also suggested adding brown sugar to the bacon (the indulgent billionaire's bacon if you will) to the autumn version. I'm not sure if that will make it too sweet, but maybe if you added red pepper flakes after cooking you could achieve a sweet and spicy dish.

Recipe: Cooking Light's Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

Toblerone Dark Chocolate Honey-Almond Fondue

Invited to a potluck fondue party at my friend's home this weekend. Though I had a ridiculous wedding registry, a fondue pot did not make it on to the list, so I'll be borrowing one. This recipe from Bon Appetit serves 4-6, so I think I'm going to have to double it.

I ended up not doubling this recipe and it served about 8=10 people pretty well. This was fine, for fondue I guess. The only thing I'd say is mix milk and dark chocolate, and that the kirsch flavor is unnecessary.


Recipe: Bon Appetit's Toblerone Dark Chocolate Honey-Almond Fondue

Cassoulet

This Cassoulet from Cooking Light looks very good, but seems like it'll be much better in the winter time! I'll have to wait and see.

Recipe: Cooking Light's Cassoulet

Phyllo Pizza with Feta, Basil, and Tomatoes

So Pete declared this the best thing I've made yet, because this recipe calls for a mix of mozzarella, feta and parmesan. I bet this recipe would be even better if you threw some black olives on the top of it, arguably any pizza ingredient would work on this.

The only snakey part of this recipe is handling phyllo. I spent the few minutes of dough handling time freaking out that the dough would dry up instantaneously, it didn't. The only snafu I ran into was not reading the phyllo package directions - THAW OVER NIGHT. I do this often with recipes that call for an overnight marinade, a good reminder to make a note on my recipes for the week list of what needs more time to prep.

Recipe: Cooking Light's Phyllo Pizza with Feta, Basil, and Tomatoes