I decided to try something new and take a stab at this Paper Chef shindig. The basics is a judge picks four ingredients on you’ve got a few days to whip them all up in to a recipe. This month Deeba at Passionate About Baking had the task of picking the ingredients and she went with Riccotta, Ginger, Dark Chocolate and the fourth ingredient had to symbolize Autumn. I went with apples since picking them in the fall is one of my newest favorite autumn activities.

Prior to the ingredients being selected I thought that once I read them I would instantly know what I wanted to make. But that was not the case. After giving it some thought I decided on an apple-ginger cupcakes with a ricotta cheese chocolate icing. I made the icing up as I went and it turned out really good — light, fluffy and smooth. The icing complemented the cinnamony cupcakes. The flour could also be substituted for a whole-wheat flour and the sugar reduced to make more of a muffin.

Also, as a tip, to keep apples from browning while you dice them, as soon as they are cored and diced drop into a bowl of ice water. Store in the fridge between dicing and cooking and drain right before using. Mine stayed nice and crisp.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes -

• Two apples diced (pick your favorite, I used red delicious)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 inch fresh Ginger root finely diced
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Ricotta Cheese Icing-

• 2 cups Ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 oz dark chocolate
• 1 teaspoon milk

In a skillet melt 1/2 stick of butter on low heat. Increase temperature to medium high and add finely diced ginger sauteing for a minute. Add apple pieces and mix to cover in butter. Cover apples in coat of cinnamon, more or less depending on preference. Cook for about 5 minutes or until apples start to soften. Set aside and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill 24 cupcake tins with paper liners.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda and salt) and sift together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In standmixer with beater attachment, or using a handmixer, combine wet ingredients (oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar and vanilla) on low speed. Slowly mix until well blended. Add dry mixture in slowly until all incorporated.  On low speed add apple mixture. Spoon mixture into cupcake liners. You can fill nearly to the top because it won’t expand too much when baking.

Cook 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cupcakes comes out clean.

Ricotta Cheese Icing —

In standmixer with beater attachment on medium speed mix ricotta cheese, orange juice and powdered sugar until well combined.

While mixing melt dark chocolate and milk either using a double boiler or by slowly heating in the microwave. Add chocolate to cheese mixture and beat on high until mixture stiffens. Refrigerate for at least an hour before icing cupcakes.

I used a ziplock back to (messily) pipe the icing on top the cupcakes. You can just spread it with a spoon.

Just because you can’t take a hot shower doesn’t mean you can’t eat well. I went camping this week at Worthington State Park on the Delaware River. It was absolutely gorgeous. While my cooking goal for the weekend was to catch a fish, fillet it and cook it on an open fire didn’t materialize because I didn’t catch a fish, I got to try another of my outdoor cooking options.

BBQ Pizza has been really trendy lately and I’ve seen a lot of recipes for it. And while I didn’t want to worry about bringing any of the fancy ingredients I’ve seen used on said pizzas, I figured a quick easy pizza would be a tasty alternative to burgers and hot dogs.

I made the dough before I left, refrigerated it and then took it out of the ice chest at the camp site. It worked perfect that way.

The recipe for the dough came from a Bobby Flay recipe on the Food Network. I made some adaptions.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup lukewarm water (105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for oiling bowl
• 1 3/4 to 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup plus extra for flouring rolling surface yellow cornmeal (I used a coarser grain because I like the texture)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Whatever you want to top with it, I used store bought sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperonis but the sky is the limit.

Mix 1/3 cup of warm water and sugar. Pour dry yeast over sugar water and let stand in warm place for about 10 minute until it doubles in size.

In a large bowl combine yeast, remaining water, olive oil, 1 3/4 cup flour, corn meal and salt. Combine ingredients until they make a ball of dough.

Turn dough out onto flat surface and knead while slowly combining the remaining flour. You should knead for 5-10 minute to get the gluten going.

Place dough in a bowl that has been coated with olive oil. Roll ball of dough around in the bowl so its also covered in olive oil and then cover with a clean dish towel.

Let the bowl sit in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about an hour. Then turn dough out onto the counter and give it a swift blow to punch the dough down. Divide into four sections.

If you want to use this dough immediately, go for it. If not, form each piece into a small disk and wrap tightly in saran wrap. I put two in the freezer to be used in 6 months and two in the fridge for camping.

Putting it all together

For the camping trip I also packed a can of pre-made pizza sauce. If you want to make your own, go for it, but the can was easy to pack and quick to use. I brought a bag of grated mozzarella cheese and some pepperonis for toppings.

If you’re using a

When you’re ready to use the dough, take it out a few minutes and let it start to warm up. You can start kneading it in your hands to get it going.

I used a cutting board, but bring some flat surface to roll your dough out on. Use cornmeal instead of flour to dust your rolling surface to give the bottom of our pizza that pizzeria sweetness and crispiness. I also forgot a rolling pin and had to use a diet coke to roll my dough. When you’ve got it rolled cover both sides with a little olive oil, I brought some in a little squirt bottle.

After topping it come the hard part, getting it onto the grill. I got a little help, but you want to try to get it off the board and onto the grill without tearing the pizza. I used a spatula, my hands and sort of slid it off. I’ll warn its tricky. If you don’t feel comfortable with your available grill cooking the pizza straight above the fire, you can put it on aluminum foil, which will also make transfer easier.

Let the pizza bake over hot coals for about 15 minutes or until the crust is your desired crispiness. During the cooking I nudged the pizza a couple of times to keep it from sticking.

When its done it will be a tasty meal option that includes a smokey flavor from the grill and will even have pretty grill marks on the bottom.

In honor of the start of the season, I prepared a Top Chef throw-back to start my dinner. The crab-avocado salad is inspired from season 3′s Trey. You can see the original here.

I made several changes, some for reasons like champagne vinegar is difficult to find, and others because lump crab meat can be difficult to find.

Here’s my take:

• 2-3 ripe avocados
• package of artificial crab meat
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (a whole teaspoon if you like it)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cilantro paste
• the juice of half a lime

Dice crab and avocado, taking care to keep avocado in cubes and keeping the gooey green portion from the outside. Place in bowl.

In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients. Carefully fold mayo dressing into avocado and crab.

Chill and serve cold.

They serve all you can eat boiled crabs plus corn and chicken wings. My fellow diners raved about the chicken wings but I was too occupied with the crab to try any. The corn was super buttery and tasty.

Eating crabs in the Northeast is much different than eating them in the South, where they clean them before they cook them and make life a little easier for the diner. But it takes me back to crawfish boils, so I wasn’t complaining.

They’re booked for the next several weeks, but I’m told there are opennings at the end of the month and they’ll keep running until November. This is their web site for more information.

Me digging into the crabs. This photo caught me mid-bite.

Wilmington at sunset.

It didn’t last very long. Esteban ate it the way a fresh tomato should be eaten, with a little salt.

So I took a stab at it and entered the State Fair cookie bar competition. It had to be an “original” recipe so I concocted these. I didn’t bring home a ribbon but I wanted to share the recipe. They’re pretty taste and well worth it, I think. And you’re reading that right: 2 whole cups of corn starch.

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups corn starch
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 lb. plus ½ cup butter, softened
1 orange zested
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
6-8 bananas
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup dark rum
1/2 cup whole shelled pecans
1/2 cup miniature marshmallow

To prepare cookie bottom:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients. Slice butter into tablespoon pieces and add to bowl.
Combine by smashing butter and incorporating it into the dry ingredients. It will not form a ball of dough, but instead of will have crumble texture.
Using a small rolling pin evenly spread a thin layer, no more than a centimeter thick, of the dough on the bottom of a greased 9X13 inch pan. Retain extra dough for topping.
Poke holes in the dough with a fork to allow ventilation while baking, about 2 centimeters apart covering the whole dough. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. While still warm, lightly sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over cookies.

To prepare filling:
Increase the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees after removing the cookie base. Cut bananas into quarters by slicing in half and the splitting long ways.
In a larger skillet melt 1/2 cup, or 1 stick, of butter over low heat. Add brown sugar and stir to create a thick syrup that has a paste consistency. Increase to medium high heat.
Add bananas to the pan laying the quarters in the mixture with the flat side down.
Stir the bananas and mixture gently to coat all of the banana pieces. Unlike traditional bananas foster, it is okay if the bananas break into pieces while stirring. Sprinkle cinnamon over the mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.
Add 1 cup of rum. Let simmer to heat the rum. Flambéing is optional. Use a kitchen lighter or tip the pan to ignite the rum. Let mixture simmer until the rum is reduced and the mixture is a thick consistency, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

To prepare cookies:
Spread bananas evenly on top of the prepared cookie bottom in the 9×13 inch pan. Use bottom of spoon to smash larger pieces
Spread whole pecans with the flat side down across the cookie filling, pressing them slightly into the mixture and only placing them close enough together to ensure a pecan in every bar. Place marshmallows on top in the same fashion, setting them in the spaces between pecans.
Sprinkle remaining cookie dough on top as a crumble.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cookie topping is a light brown and marshmallows are light toasted or melted.
Let sit or refrigerate until completely cooled. Using a knife score the cookies and remove as bars. Best served chilled.

I had an unusual weekday off today. Which meant I spent the bulk of the day in my kitchen whipping up new concoctions. Those will be added later.

But I wanted to take a moment to praise my newest kitchen gadget: an oven thermometer.

I was reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and she recommended the use of an oven thermometer. I had always trusted the what I assumed to be complicated process that made my oven heat to exactly the temperature I selected on the dial.

Today while working on my State Fair cookie bar entry (like I said recipes will come later, this one likely next week when I actually enter the State Fair baking competition), as I was saying, I realized that my oven actually runs about 5 degrees cooler tha what I selected on the dial.

So I cranked up the temp a little. And got my cookies were the perfect brownness.

Since I had never made coq au vin before I researched several recipes. My recipe was inspired by a Emeril Lagasse recipe I found on the Food Network’s recipe.

The biggest concern I had when looking at the various recipes was that the portions were huge. Most called for a whole chicken or 8 legs with thighs and legs intact. That was just too much for me. So I reduced the recipe down in some respects but not in others. I also changed a few other items. It took me less than two hours to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound bacon
• 1/2 cup plus 1.5 tablespoons flour
• 5 chicken thighs, skin on
• Black pepper
• A medium size vidallia onion thinly sliced
• 2 8oz containers of sliced portabello mushrooms
• A bunch of green onions sliced
• 3 carrots thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of chopped garlic
• 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups red wine (I used cooking wine because I had some on hand)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup butter
• 6 red potatoes

Because this recipes moves pretty quickly, I went ahead and pre chopped everything before I got started. I recommend also doing that.

In a large pot or skillet over medium heat cook bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside. If you have a dutch oven pot or skillet, this would be a great time to use one, unfortunately, I don’t have one.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and then cover in flour.

With the bacon grease still hot, place the chicken skin side down in the pan. Brown the chicken about 4 minutes on each side over a medium heat. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add your chopped vidallia onion to the pot and saute in grease until soft, about 4 minutes. Then add garlic, green onions, carrots and mushrooms. Saute about 5 minutes, stirring occassionaly to prevent burning and to move the ingredients around. Mushrooms should start to shrink in size. Reduce heat to a low temperature.

Add bay leaves and thyme. Put chicken onto the bed of vegetables. Add chicken stock and red wine. You may need to adjust your amounts depending on the size of your pot so that the chicken is mostly covered in liquid.

Cover the pot and increase the temperature to medium until the broth comes to a boil. Lower the temperature and let simmer, covered for 35 minutes. There’s not need to stir, but you can check occasionally to skim the grease from the bacon off the top.

While the chicken is cooking, quarter red potatoes and in a seperate pot boil the potatoes until soft. Drain and coat with 1/4 cup of butter and set aside.

After the 35 minutes is up on the chicken, remove the chicken thighs and set aside. Mix 1.5 tablespoons of flour and 1 tablespoon of butter together. Whisk into the veggies and broth. The broth will thicken. Return chicken to the pot and let boil, uncovered for 5 minutes to let the broth reduce down.

Serve by placing potatoes on plate, put chicken piece on top and the cover with broth and veggies. You can garnish with a piece of the crispy bacon.

Last week while at a neighborhood bar one of my co-workers owns, I was lucky enough to have a tasty BBQ pork sandwich. Chuckie, a regular at the bar, made the delicious meal for all the patrons. He was also good enough to give me the recipe. Its got a zesty kick compared to your normal store bought sauce.

Ingredients:

• 20 Italian long hots peppers (less if you get a spicy bunch)
• A pint of Meyers dark spice rum
• A stick of butter
• A gallon of generic ribs and chicken BBQ sauce (Chuckie said he get the off-brand Pathmark kind)

Grill the Italian peppers on an open flame grill until they’re lightly charred.

In a large bowl, heat generic bbq sauce.

Melt in a stick of butter. Add peppers and rum. Let marinate together and then top your chicken or pork.

I’m not really sure what this dish is called.

It’s one of the foods I learned by watching my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my mother all prepare. But like how the Spanish language was lost between generations, the name of this dish was as well. I remember my grandmother calling is calabaza, but I don’t think the word for squash does the taste of the dish justice.

I’ve made a few alterations, mainly to make it more single-dish friendly. Omit browning the noodles if you want to speed it up even more, but the flavor the noodles get from being fried first make all the difference. I use yellow squash and zucchini. My cousin and I disagree on this point, she thinks adding the zucchini makes it a different dish. But I think its tasty and adds a nice element of color.

Ingredients:

• Squash and zucchini (I used 6 small pieces, but three large pieces are perfect)
• Package of vermicelli
• 1 lb Pork chops
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons cumin
• 1 can of whole kernel corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• vegetable oil

I like to get all of my chopping aside first. Slice squash into thin strips and set aside. Cut pork into cubes. My mother would leave the pork on the bone, but I like to take it off and cut into little pieces. Mince garlic.

In a large skillet or pot, heat enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom. Break vermicelli noodles in half. Snap them over the sink or a garbage can, you don’t want the little pieces in the pot since they’ll burn quickly.

Brown the noodles, using a pair of tongs to turn them constantly to prevent burning. Once most of the noodles are brown, remove the pot from the heat, remove the noodles from the pan and place in a separate bowl. By very, very careful when removing the noodles because they will be very hot and burn on contact with your skin. Set the noodles aside.

If you’re going to use the same pan/pot to prepare the rest of the food, make sure you’ve gotten every single piece of noodle out. Since I don’t have a ton of dishes, I use the same one, but if you don’t mind washing the dishes, you can switch.

Add more vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pot and add garlic. Let the garlic simmer for a minute.

Add the cubed pork to the pan. Let it brown on one side the stir to heat other side. Add cumin to cover the pork.

Once the pork has been browned, add remaining ingredients and about two cups of water, or enough to cover the pork. Let simmer with the lid on until the noodles are soft, about 10 minutes. (If you don’t brown the noodles, you will need more water and this will take longer.)

Remove lid and let simmer about another 10 minutes until the squash is soft and most of the water has boiled out of the pot. Add additional cumin, garlic powder, salt or pepper to taste.

I serve with hot sauce and corn tortillas.