Suzanne cooks up A QUILL QUICKIE
Some of the Quills are wizards in the kitchen; some aren’t. Not that we're naming names.
Anyway, we understand grills (not Quills) are out all over the nation as we celebrate this holiday weekend. So, the Quill (not the grill) Question is: What do you consider your pièce de résistance in the kitchen?
STELLA offers her fabulous dessert: ORANGES COINTREAU
6 large oranges.
Vanilla bean ice cream.
Orange sherbet.
Jelly of choice.
Cointreau (or Triple Sec--it's cheaper)
MERENGUE TOPPING
4 egg whites.
Pinch cream of tartar.
1/2 c sugar.
BRANDY
Slice off enough of bottoms of oranges to make them balance on a platter. Slice off tops of oranges and take out pulp. Line insides of oranges with vanilla ice cream around 1/2" thick. Put a small amount of jelly and Cointreau (or Triple Sec) at the inner bottoms. Fill rest of space with orange sherbet. Freeze until you're ready to serve.
Egg whites and cream of tartar should be beaten stiff, then sugar added slowly and whole mixture beaten stiff again. Heap meringue on top of oranges and be careful to seal off the ice cream/sherbet filling. Evenly space oranges on knock-em-dead platter, warm the brandy a bit, set it on fire and pour over oranges at the table.
This dessert is guaranteed to bring a giant chorus of, "Ooh!" and really finishes things off nicely when served following my favorite Zeek's Green Froggy pizza. Do check on how much time to allow for pizza delivery and don't light the brandy for the oranges too soon. Remove pizza box from table before setting brandy afire.
LORI dishes:
Truthfully, I used to have a whole file folder full of recipes that could have been my pièce de résistance. I was Martha Stewart. I created, baked, decorated and served with flair. At holidays, our table and countertops were overrun with cookies of every variety and flavor. I made my own nutty buns. I rolled out my own pie crusts. There was no recipe too tough for me to tackle.
My how times have changed! These days, most of our meals are left in the pots and we circle the stove to fill our plates. Dessert is a ready made pie that I personalize by baking it myself. The only homemade cake is one my husband favors, that he makes for the boys when they come home.But there is still one particular cake that I sometimes make for specialguests. I'm talking really, really special guests, not your run of themill important people. It's a white chocolate cake, and it's super rich and yummy.
Set the oven at 350 degrees. Oil and flour two 9" round cake pans.
Ingredients:
3/4 to 1lb of white chocolate -- 1/2 and 1/2
1 C butter
3/4 C buttermilk
2 Cs sugar
1 C powdered sugar, give or take (for frosting)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 C chopped pecans
1 C coconut
Cream together butter, sugar and egg yolks; add vanilla and mix; add half of melted white chocolate (cooled) and mix. Mix together baking powder and flour; add to the butter, sugar, egg yolks mixture until smooth alternately add in the buttermilk, egg whites, pecans and coconut. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
NOTE: cake is *very* heavy and won't rise much at all. Remove cakes from oven and let cool.
Melt remaining white chocolate, let cool, then add in powdered sugar (and maybe a few tsps of milk) until smooth spreading consistency. Frost cake. Enjoy!
JAYNE shares:
I have recently discovered some great new veggies. They are sold here in Seattle at the Pike Place Market as "Garlic Spears" and I'm probably the last person on the face of the earth to find them.
Garlic spears are the flower tops from Elephant Garlic and they are fabulous either alone or roasted together with asparagus. They don't actually taste much like garlic and don't leave the after taste (or the after breath, for that matter). They have become a great addition to the Frank Diet and they don't require any tofu!
Roasted Garlic Spears & Asparagus Frank
Rinse half a pound of garlic spears
Prep half a pound of asparagus by rinsing and snapping off woody ends of stems
Dry garlic spears and asparagus on paper towels. Toss asparagus and garlic spears with olive oil and salt and spread out on baking sheet. Roast at 350 degrees until asparagus is fork tender. Timing depends on thickness of asparagus. If you are using thick asparagus (or "fat grass" as they say down at the Market) give them a four minute headstart in the oven before adding the garlic spears which are much thinner and will cook in about four
or five minutes.
ELIZABETH tells all:
I'm good with fresh seafood. Clams steamed in garlic and wine and herbs, scampi over white basmati rice (garden parsley adds a wonderful savor), Maine lobster (steamed--why screw up a great thing?), prawns, mussels in herb cream sauce.
Recipes? Um, I'm too lazy to follow a recipe. Don't use them. I sniff the seafood, sniff available herbs, sniff various wines, decide if lemon or lime would be good, olive oil or butter, steam or saute, AND NEVER EVER EVER OVERCOOK THE SEAFOOD.
SUZANNE confesses:
Does making a great cup of tea count? My skills in the kitchen can best be summed up by this piece of T-shirt wisdom: “Many people have eaten my cooking and gone on to lead normal lives.”
So what's in your kitchen or on your grill this holiday weekend?
Anyway, we understand grills (not Quills) are out all over the nation as we celebrate this holiday weekend. So, the Quill (not the grill) Question is: What do you consider your pièce de résistance in the kitchen?
STELLA offers her fabulous dessert: ORANGES COINTREAU
6 large oranges.
Vanilla bean ice cream.
Orange sherbet.
Jelly of choice.
Cointreau (or Triple Sec--it's cheaper)
MERENGUE TOPPING
4 egg whites.
Pinch cream of tartar.
1/2 c sugar.
BRANDY
Slice off enough of bottoms of oranges to make them balance on a platter. Slice off tops of oranges and take out pulp. Line insides of oranges with vanilla ice cream around 1/2" thick. Put a small amount of jelly and Cointreau (or Triple Sec) at the inner bottoms. Fill rest of space with orange sherbet. Freeze until you're ready to serve.
Egg whites and cream of tartar should be beaten stiff, then sugar added slowly and whole mixture beaten stiff again. Heap meringue on top of oranges and be careful to seal off the ice cream/sherbet filling. Evenly space oranges on knock-em-dead platter, warm the brandy a bit, set it on fire and pour over oranges at the table.
This dessert is guaranteed to bring a giant chorus of, "Ooh!" and really finishes things off nicely when served following my favorite Zeek's Green Froggy pizza. Do check on how much time to allow for pizza delivery and don't light the brandy for the oranges too soon. Remove pizza box from table before setting brandy afire.
LORI dishes:
Truthfully, I used to have a whole file folder full of recipes that could have been my pièce de résistance. I was Martha Stewart. I created, baked, decorated and served with flair. At holidays, our table and countertops were overrun with cookies of every variety and flavor. I made my own nutty buns. I rolled out my own pie crusts. There was no recipe too tough for me to tackle.
My how times have changed! These days, most of our meals are left in the pots and we circle the stove to fill our plates. Dessert is a ready made pie that I personalize by baking it myself. The only homemade cake is one my husband favors, that he makes for the boys when they come home.But there is still one particular cake that I sometimes make for specialguests. I'm talking really, really special guests, not your run of themill important people. It's a white chocolate cake, and it's super rich and yummy.
Set the oven at 350 degrees. Oil and flour two 9" round cake pans.
Ingredients:
3/4 to 1lb of white chocolate -- 1/2 and 1/2
1 C butter
3/4 C buttermilk
2 Cs sugar
1 C powdered sugar, give or take (for frosting)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 C chopped pecans
1 C coconut
Cream together butter, sugar and egg yolks; add vanilla and mix; add half of melted white chocolate (cooled) and mix. Mix together baking powder and flour; add to the butter, sugar, egg yolks mixture until smooth alternately add in the buttermilk, egg whites, pecans and coconut. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
NOTE: cake is *very* heavy and won't rise much at all. Remove cakes from oven and let cool.
Melt remaining white chocolate, let cool, then add in powdered sugar (and maybe a few tsps of milk) until smooth spreading consistency. Frost cake. Enjoy!
JAYNE shares:
I have recently discovered some great new veggies. They are sold here in Seattle at the Pike Place Market as "Garlic Spears" and I'm probably the last person on the face of the earth to find them.
Garlic spears are the flower tops from Elephant Garlic and they are fabulous either alone or roasted together with asparagus. They don't actually taste much like garlic and don't leave the after taste (or the after breath, for that matter). They have become a great addition to the Frank Diet and they don't require any tofu!
Roasted Garlic Spears & Asparagus Frank
Rinse half a pound of garlic spears
Prep half a pound of asparagus by rinsing and snapping off woody ends of stems
Dry garlic spears and asparagus on paper towels. Toss asparagus and garlic spears with olive oil and salt and spread out on baking sheet. Roast at 350 degrees until asparagus is fork tender. Timing depends on thickness of asparagus. If you are using thick asparagus (or "fat grass" as they say down at the Market) give them a four minute headstart in the oven before adding the garlic spears which are much thinner and will cook in about four
or five minutes.
ELIZABETH tells all:
I'm good with fresh seafood. Clams steamed in garlic and wine and herbs, scampi over white basmati rice (garden parsley adds a wonderful savor), Maine lobster (steamed--why screw up a great thing?), prawns, mussels in herb cream sauce.
Recipes? Um, I'm too lazy to follow a recipe. Don't use them. I sniff the seafood, sniff available herbs, sniff various wines, decide if lemon or lime would be good, olive oil or butter, steam or saute, AND NEVER EVER EVER OVERCOOK THE SEAFOOD.
SUZANNE confesses:
Does making a great cup of tea count? My skills in the kitchen can best be summed up by this piece of T-shirt wisdom: “Many people have eaten my cooking and gone on to lead normal lives.”
So what's in your kitchen or on your grill this holiday weekend?
posted at 5:35 AM
