Stuffing

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone... and with it, stuffing.

I used to detest stuffing. Nothing seemed more unappetizing to me than a mix of chestnuts, bread, celery, and assorted other ingredients, all cooked inside a turkey. Obviously, those things shouldn't go together. They even look bad- all brown and mushed together. However, when I finally got up the nerve to taste, my opinion changed completely.

At my house, we always make a Midwestern stuffing- that is, with chestnuts, bread, and celery. I've never had cornbread stuffing, or any of the other kinds. I don't like the idea of cornbread and sausage stuffing. Why would you want to put more meat inside a turkey? Too close to turducken, if you ask me. Anyway, our stuffing recipe comes from a 1994 edition of Bon Apetit magazine, and it's amazing. There's nothing better.

Since I discovered the joys of stuffing, I feel like I have to make up for all the years I didn't eat it. The best way to eat stuffing is warm and liberally covered with gravy. Cold with gravy comes in a close second, with plain coming in third. Any way you eat it, there's no doubt it's delicious.

Well... I didn't expect this

I know I got tired of blogging after only 2 months, but I decided to check up on how the pageviews on the blog were doing and I'm absolutely blown away. 75 pageviews in November, without  a new blog post in months! If I'm getting that much traffic, maybe I'll start back up again, considering it is Thanksgiving and there's so much to talk about...

Recipe- Japanese Style Noodle Soup

Japanese Style Noodle Soup

Adapted from “Asian Pasta” by Linda Burum

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups water

One 2 inch square piece of konbu (type of dried seaweed)

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry (or cooking wine in a pinch)

1 chicken breast (boneless or bone in)

½  16 oz. package of Thai rice noodles, cooked according to package directions and rinsed briefly to prevent sticking

A couple of handfuls of fresh spinach, cleaned and sliced into thin strips

½ lb. (aprox.) shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (use the stems, they cook up nicely)

In a large saucepan, bring the broth, water, konbu and chicken breast to boil.  As soon as it boils, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.  This will poach the chicken breast.

Remove the chicken breast.  Set it aside to cool.  When it is cooled, shred it (by hand is the easiest).  Meanwhile, remove the konbu from the broth and discard, add the soy sauce, sugar, sake or sherry to the broth, and heat to a simmer.  Add the spinach and mushrooms, cook at a simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

Divide the noodles among 4 bowls.  Divide the shredded chicken among the bowls.  Add the broth mixture to each bowl and enjoy.

This is the noodle soup that kept me going through the Snowmageddon... enjoy! 

Recipe- Grandma Freese's Chocolate Cake

Grandma Freese’s Chocolate Cake

In a small saucepan bring to a boil:

2 sticks butter

1 cup water

2 tablespoons Droste’s coco powder (we recommend Droste’s – nothing else tastes quite the same).

Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer, combine:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

With the machine running on low, pour the contents of the saucepan into the mixing bowl, mixing well.  The batter will be very runny.  Pour the contents into a greased and floured 9 x 13’ baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking combine the following is a small saucepan:

2/3 stick butter

2 tablespoons Droste’s coco powder

4 tablespoons milk.

Bring this mixture to a boil.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2/3 of a package powdered sugar, stirring until smooth.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and immediately pour the frosting mixture over the hot cake.  It will soak in, making the cake fudgey.  Allow cake to cool.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy! This cake is amazing, and it tastes even better when it's a couple of days old! 

Soup on a (REALLY) Snowy Day

To the weather: PLEASE STOP SNOWING!!! Hasn't it been enough? There's already two feet on the ground! Do we need any more? NO!!! I don't see any advantages to this blanketing of snow, so please give it up. Sincerely, The DC Teen Foodie.

Actually, there is one advantage, and that is soup! After going out in the snow and wandering around looking at all the stuck sand trucks, the one thing you want when you get home is soup. Today didn't disappoint. My mom found a recipe for Asian chicken-noodle soup and it was amazing. The broth was vegetable broth, soy sauce, sugar, some seaweed, and the chicken was poached in it. The noodles were just plain rice noodles. There was also spinach and shitaake and button mushrooms. It was sort of like pho in that you could mix in whatever you wanted. I can't really describe it, but it tasted like soy sauce and warm and cozy. The best thing was that I could eat it while watching the snow pour down. I think there's almost 3 feet now.

Another thing I forgot to write about yesterday is the fudge cake I made yesterday. It's my great-grandmother's recipe. It's called a fudge cake because you make a fudge type sauce that you pour over the hot cake just as it comes out of the oven so it soaks in and makes the cake fudgy. I don't get to make it often anymore because it calls for Droste's cocoa powder (it's a really nice Dutch brand) and the stores around here don't seem to sell it anymore. We finally managed to find some before Christmas, so I've gotten the chance to make the cake again. Yes, I could make it with other inferior cocoa powder, but it changes the consistency and the taste. Better not to make it than make it wrong. Hmm... that's a good motto, isn't it?

Ace of Cakes

Usually I don't watch TV. If I do, it's either the Caps game or whatever my siblings happen to be watching. However, this weekend I am at a friend's house, and she is a Food Network junkie. We've been watching different programs, and she was kind enough to instruct me on which ones are the best. She likes Dinner: Impossible, the one with the lady who makes Italian food, and, of course, Ace of Cakes. 

For those who don't know, Ace of Cakes is about a cake decorating company. They decorate cakes for special events. I think it's the coolest thing to come along on TV since... hockey? I only saw one episode, but I think this is going to be my new obsession. 

I'm so jealous of what they do on Ace of Cakes. It combines two of my favorite things: baking and art. It really is art what they do. Would you be able to make a little fireman holding a ring on top of a cake for someone who wants to ask his girlfriend to marry him? I wish I could. I can barely make a cake look presentable if it involves frosting. I am a pretty good baker, but I just can't figure out how to frost a cake properly. I always end up getting crumbs in the frosting. Maybe I should go apprentice to Charm City Cakes, the place where they shoot the show.. they're based in Baltimore! (Another good reason to go there: Chef Duff, the head of the company, has a cute 14 year old nephew who helps out sometimes!!) 

For those who are interested: Charm City Cakes, their website. I'd suggest going through the gallery- their cakes are AMAZING! 

(For the opposite effect, check this out- CakeWrecks. These are how your cake ISN'T supposed to turn out!)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The first thing I have to tell you before I begin the story is that I've never liked Brussels sprouts. They are green and nasty and stinky. Every time we had Brussels sprouts, I would never eat them. Even smelling them made me shudder. I think this behavior encouraged my siblings to hate them as well. Hence, we almost never had Brussels sprouts in my house. Our sprout-free lives ended, however, when we started getting the veggie box from South Mountain Veggies.

We received Brussels sprouts, and we had to eat them. My mom usually just boiled them, and we would always complain, so she tried something different. She roasted them with garlic and olive oil and then sprinkled them with balsamic vinegar. The result? I liked them! I don't know about my siblings, but I thought they were wonderful. The sprouts almost caramelized- they were crispy on the outside and melted on the inside. They were sweet and soft with only a hint of the original stinky Brussels sprout flavor. Taken with a piece of garlic and a splash of balsamic, I think they were probably the most delicious vegetable I'd eaten in a long time.

For those who have picky teens or just don't like Brussels sprouts, try roasting them. I can almost guarantee you will like them. Try it- I dare you. You may be surprised.