Test Kitchen #3: Savory Muffins

Recently, I purchased an entire bag of fresh shredded Parmesan only to get it home and realize that the recipe I had bought it for only required it as a garnish. When Dad called Monday morning to discuss Tuesday's recipe, I said, "Do you have any ideas how I can get rid of all this extra Parmesan?" He immediately answered,
"How about muffins?"

This week's test recipe challenged the traditional notion of the breakfast muffin. Dad had found a recipe in USA Weekend magazine that asked the question, "Why do muffins have to be sweet?" USA's Pam Anderson, the author of The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great, provides a master recipe for baking muffins from scratch and then adds your choice of three other combinations of ingredients to create a savory twist. Some of the options include adding goat cheese and olives to the mix or feta and sun-dried tomatoes for a Mediterranean flavor. We chose the Italian flavor; prosciutto, Parmesan and basil.


This recipe is my favorite so far in the photo op category. One of the best things about baking muffins or cookies is that you have plenty of options in order to find the prettiest ones for the shot. We decided to double the recipe and yielded 18 muffins. Doubling should have produced 24, but in the second batch, Dad decided he wanted HUGE muffins, so we filled the muffin pan cups all the way up to the top. The larger muffins came out beautifully, but if you decide to make them this way, keep them in the oven for 30 minutes instead of 25 like the recipe indicates.


The Verdict
These muffins were really tasty but also extremely filling. Ms Anderson's column, Cook Smart, promotes healthier cooking and while the master recipe contains yogurt instead of oil, it also contains eggs and a considerable amount of butter. The recipe thankfully includes the nutrition information for those of you that want to keep track of your fat and calories. If you're a weight watcher, one muffin works out to be about 6 POINTS.

Since I was kind of eating bits of muffin while I was shooting them, I didn't realize that I had inadvertently eaten about 2 1/2 muffins. They had come out of the oven around 1PM and by 5, I was still quite full and worried how I was going to eat dinner with my friend Beth later that night. Even Dad thought he would wait a while and probably just go with soup for dinner.

The master recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard. If you don't normally have Dijon in your house, why waste the expense on buying a whole jar just for one recipe. I mixed a couple of tablespoons of Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard with a couple of tablespoons of mayo and that worked just as well. We saved the left over mustard and spread some on the muffins when they were done. An excellent complement to the prosciutto flavor and a little different than using butter. Dad also suggested trying the recipe with diced ham instead. Partly to cut the cost and partly to cut the salt. Prosciutto can be very expensive; over $18/lb at our local grocery store.

I think this would make a great addition to any brunch buffet. You just might want to warn your guests how filling they are. Or take Pam Anderson's suggestion from the recipe. Pour the batter into mini-muffin cups and serve as small hors d'oeuvre sized treats.

They also make great breakfast sandwiches. Since I had dinner plans last night, I left the remaining muffins for Matt. He sliced up two small ones and topped each one with a fried egg. I got a happy text message during dinner that read " Thanx! They rocked!".

I highly recommend trying these muffins. Your guests will praise you for their beauty and original flavor. For the complete recipe, see USA Weekend online. Or email me and I'll be happy to send you a PDF.

A Valentine's Day Getaway

In what is becoming an annual tradition, Kathy and I spent the Valentine's Day weekend in Greenwich at the Hyatt Regency. Our first visit to the Hyatt came in 2007 after our trip to California for a wedding was canceled due to a severe snow storm. We had made it all the way to the Bronx when we finally got confirmation that our flight was canceled. Not wanting to lose the weekend getaway we had planned, we searched for a place to stay and found the Hyatt. We became hooked.

The Hyatt offers many great things for a short getaway. It is within an hour of our home, has an indoor pool and a great restaurant but most importantly it has a huge four-story atrium with paths winding among the trees found within. Winfield's, the hotel's restaurant, and a bar both located in the atrium, offer plenty of opportunities to spend time in this relaxing setting. This year our trip started by arriving late in the afternoon on Valentine's Day. After checking in, we proceeded to the heated indoor pool for a relaxing swim. There's something right about swimming while it is 40 degrees outside.

That night we headed to Winfield's for a romantic dinner for two in the atrium. Having enjoyed excellent meals there on past visits, we had high expectations and Winfield's did not disappoint. For the Valentine's Day holiday, the restaurant had a special dinner menu for the night. Kathy and I decided to start out with the seafood martini for two. This was a unique idea: shrimp, crab and lobster arranged in a martini glass with cocktail sauce on the side. The seafood was fresh, well prepared, and the cocktail sauce had just the right zing to it. A good way to begin the meal.

For the main course, Kathy had the Chilean Sea Bass on a bed of mac and cheese orzo. Sea Bass has become one of Kathy's favorites, and this one was on the mark. The mac and cheese orzo was an interesting side, having just the right amount of cheese while, at the same time, not being too overwhelming. I decided to try something different and ordered the lamb chops with mashed potatoes. This was the first time I ordered lamb and I really enjoyed it. The meat was tender and full of flavor. I am looking forward to trying it again.

To top the evening off, we had dessert (what's Valentine's Day without some sweets?). Kathy had an excellent slice of Junior's cheesecake with strawberry compote and I had a chocolate heart filled with a mix of berries. We had a great time with excellent food and good conversation in this beautiful setting.

We awoke Sunday morning and went swimming again (I can't pass up a pool these days). We had selected a hotel package which included the Sunday brunch at Winfield's. All I can say is Wow! The spread was impressive: several stations, a good range of cold and warm buffet foods, and a enormous dessert table.

We started the brunch off with some mimosas. After surveying the room, we both settled on some eggs and sausage as a first course. Some of the other food highlights were the sushi bar, the roast beef carving station and the omelet station. But the star of the show for me was the pancake station with it's three foot round griddle! I have to admit I made two visits to this station, well rewarded each time with some excellent fluffy pancakes with syrup and whipped cream. Needless to say we ended brunch feeling quite stuffed and looking for a nap. Thank goodness our package included a late checkout.

In the end, I can't say enough about Winfield's. Whether for dinner, breakfast or brunch, we have never had a bad meal there in the 3 visits we've made to the Hyatt. This, plus the wonderful environment have us looking forward to the next visit.

Test Kitchen #3: Mexican Pork Loin

Last week's test kitchen was postponed as Dad was in Arizona visiting my sister, Christine, and his good friend Mehdi for his birthday. When he returned he brought me a salsa cookbook that he found in his travels. In keeping with the southwestern theme, I decided to try this recipe for a Mexican Pork Loin that I just got from a freelancer friend of mine, the fabulous Miss Jane.

The smallest pork loin I could find at the store was just shy of two pounds, which would be a lot of food for a two person lunch. But when Matt decided to work from home on Tuesday, and with Mom off from school for winter break, I suggested maybe a dinner test kitchen would be a good idea. More test subjects equals more opinions. It may come out good this time, but I'm always interested in how to tweak it for the future.

Jane's recipe uses couscous instead of rice and I used a different frozen vegetable, but other than that it was just as delicious as she said it would be. These are the ingredients and steps as we prepared it, but feel free to add more beans or get crazier with the spices. I played it safe with the spices for the first time out, but I would kick it up more in the future. The wonderful thing about Mexican food it's very forgiving and open to endless varieties.

Mexican Pork Loin

Ingredients: (Serve 4)
2 pounds Pork Tenderloin, cut into one-inch chunks
2 limes or bottled lime juice
2-3 cloves of garlic
Dash of cumin and cilantro
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
Chili powder (sprinkled to coat meat)
Sprinkle of salt & pepper
1 16oz. can of Black Beans, drained & rinsed
1 package of SteamFresh Southwestern Corn
1 cup uncooked Texmati Red & Brown rice
(Needs 45 minutes to cook, see package for directions. Makes 3 cups cooked.)
1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese

Suggested Garnishes:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Scallions

1. Place chunks of pork loin into a bowl and squeeze the juice of two limes all over. (If using bottled juice, 2 Tablespoons equals about 1 medium lime.)

2. Add minced garlic, dash of cumin, and sprinkle of cilantro.
Coat meat lightly with chili powder and a little salt and pepper.
Marinate for at least one hour in the fridge.

3. In large skillet, combine 1 cup of dry rice with 2 1/2 cups of water and a teaspoon of butter. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 more minutes. Fluff with a fork.

4. While the rice is simmering, in another large pan, heat oil and add meat, squeezing a little more lime juice over the top.

5. Stir until almost cooked through, add the black beans and let cook in with the meat. Lower heat to simmer so the beans don't get too mushy and the meat doesn't get tough. Add parsley.

6. When there is about 10 minutes left on the rice, microwave corn for about 3 minutes. (About 2 minutes less than the bag instructs)

7. Once meat is tender, add corn, cover and simmer for a few minutes. You can judge the tenderness if a wooden spoon easily cuts through the meat and there is no pink left in the center.

8. When the rice has been removed from the heat, stir in shredded cheddar cheese until a little sticky.

9. Portion rice out evenly into 4 bowls. Pour meat mixture over rice.
Garnish with your choice of sour cream, salsa or scallions.

The Verdict and Ideas For The Future
Everyone liked this dish quite a lot, but next time I would definitely make more rice. Dad and I thought 3 cups of cooked rice would be plenty, but it barely divided into four bowls. Mixing the cheese into the rice was also a big hit, leaving people wanting seconds that were sadly not there to offer. I can see why Jane's son likes it so much. The garnish of scallions and salsa also topped everything off nicely, gluing all the flavors together.

I've made the Texmati rice many times and the only difference here was the size of the pan. Dad didn't have two large pans and we chose the larger to cook the pork, so the rice ended up in a smaller pan. I think this difference made the rice absorb the liquid unevely and made it kind of mushy. I also remembered at the last minute that I usually cook the rice in chicken broth instead of water to infuse some flavor, which it was kinda of missing.

Everyone really liked the pork and it was surprisingly tender which was such a relief. I don't have a ton of experience cooking pork and was really nervous that it would be tough, which is another reason why I thought this would be a good one for Dad and I: safety in numbers. (Or as Dad would say, if it comes out bad, you have someone else to blame.)

One suggestion was to make the pieces a little smaller. I personally would marinate the meat longer because I felt that the flavor hadn't reached the inside of the meat sufficiently. It would be interesting to see how this would work with the pork in slow cooker all day with the spices and then shredded up. Like a Mexican pulled pork over rice instead of a sandwich. Mom also thought you could have eaten this dish with small hard or soft tortillas, making your own tacos.

Dad wanted some diced onions, or maybe some celery, cooked in with the meat and the beans, but it was too far along by the time we came up with that idea. There's always next time. Either way you tweak it, we've found a new family dinner recipe and I fear cooking pork just a little less than before. ¡Excellente!

Test Kitchen #2: Beef Vegetable Turnovers

This week's test kitchen with Dad should really be titled, "Make it up as you go," because that's exactly what we did. After last week's experiment, I told Dad that it was his turn to pick the recipe. He began describing this version of beef wellington that he wanted to try made with stew meat and puff pastry. Sounds like an interesting challenge. When I arrived today, after noon and hungry from my workout, I asked, "So where's the recipe?"

"No recipe. I figured we just make this stuff up as we went along."

And so we did. It came out pretty good for something we literally pulled out of the air. After a few minutes of brainstorming at the kitchen table, we set to work. With the snow coming down, Mom was coming home early and we would have a hungry test subject to feed.

Beef Vegetable Turnovers

Ingredients (Makes 8 turnovers)

1 pound of stew meat, cut into half inch cubes
1 package of pastry dough (2 sheets to a package)
4 medium sized carrots, thinly sliced
3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 1/2 cups of beef gravy

1. Saute all vegetables and garlic in a large skillet until tender.
Transfer into a bowl and set aside.

2. Place beef in a large ziploc bag, add flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Seal bag with a little air inside and shake the bag vigorously to evenly coat the meat.

3. Add beef to skillet. When the meat is mostly browned, add vegetables back into the pan.

4. Stir in 1/2 cup of the beef gravy and mix well until thickens.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
(Do not put hot filling into pastry dough.)

5. Preheat oven to 425°.

6. Flour a work surface and roll out 1 sheet of pastry dough until you have a 12" square. With a pizza wheel or knife, cut the dough into quarters so that you have 4 6" square pieces.

7. Take approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cups of the cooled meat mixture and place in the center of one of the squares of dough. You can wrap them up a few different ways. Make sure you press and seal all the edges together with you fingertips.
A: Fold one corner of dough to it's opposite corner creating a triangle.
B: Gather all four corners in at the center to make a square pouch.
C: Fold in two side towards the center and roll up like a burrito.

8. Place turnovers on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush all with egg wash making sure to cover the seams.

9. Place in the upper middle rack of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Using a food processor to chop your vegetables cuts your prep time down significantly. Plus, you can get nice thin slices that are all relatively uniform. We served each pastry sitting on a small mound of mashed potatoes and drizzled the top with some of the remaining gravy. It was very good and one portion was very filling. I liked the twisted square shape the best made by gathering the four corners to the center. (See top left corner of the baking sheet in the picture above.)

The test subject (Mom) enjoyed it too and as a reward shared with us her chocolate cake that she had baked the night before. She was planning on taking it to a party this evening, but the snow is keeping her home. We couldn't let it go to waste!

Monday Morning Stomachache

For those of you seeking out the antacids after Sunday night's Big Game eating fest, we feel your pain. On top of some traditional game favorites, like homemade chili, nachos, and guacamole, we also consumed these lovely cupcakes brought over by our friend Marc.


Courtesy of Crumbs Bake Shop in Stamford, these humongous cupcakes were amazing! On their web site, they list 29 different varieties! With six cupcakes and four people, we agreed to cut each one in quarters thereby each getting a taste of each one. The math worked out to about 1.5 cupcakes each. I bailed out after trying the fourth one. I was just too stuffed. But I made sure to get my share of the strawberry pink one mostly because it matched my outfit and nail polish. (I can be girlie once in a while, you know!)

Marc was is severe pain after the battle to conquer the cupcakes was complete, having drank many glasses of milk on top of the layers of chips, pizza pockets and potato skins that were already residing in his belly. I took a hilarious video of him trying to muscle down the last portion. I wish I could post it, but aside from the fact that I do want to be invited to his and his fiancé, Lizette's wedding this year, the video file was just too large to post. :)

Kudos to Mike who never gave up and made sure that no cupcake was left behind. You're an honor to your brothers and to the sport of football.

Til next year, go Lions!

Rewarding Restaurants: Boston

Recently we've been trying to stay in and cook at home more. Mostly because when cooking our own meals it's obviously easier to control the ingredients thereby hopefully being a little healthier. The other reasons to eat in are not only to watch our budget but to spend our extra pennies on a really worthwhile experience. Lately, Matt and I have felt that our visits to many restaurants have ranked anywhere between mediocre to a severe let down with a side of regret. We get turned off by lazy service and half-hearted employees who don't seem to hide the fact that they'd rather be somewhere else. Admittedly, when we go out, we're often not as health conscious as we ought be because we see dining out as a treat and a chance to try some new things. But there's nothing more disappointing than heading home with an empty wallet and a belly feeling like it's been filled with concrete. So we're trying to keep a new pact to lay off going out unless there's something out there that we're really craving.

However, traveling brings a unique opportunity to let down your guard in hopes of finding something rewarding. Last week I headed up to Boston to visit one of my closest childhood friends, Julia. Visiting her family for the holidays, Julia was getting ready to head back to London, where she and her boyfriend live, and I was determined to spend a day with my old friend before she departed. While in town, she was doing some part time work for her mom's financial planning office in the Brookline area. I arrived around noon-ish and we set out down the block in search of lunch. We settled on Orinoco, a Venezuelan kitchen. With it's rustic decor and cozy tables, this was the perfect environment for two friends to catch up. Our server was friendly and talked to us about their Arepas; small corn meal pocket sandwiches stuffed with a variety of different fillings. Julia had the Queso de Mano, an Arepa stuffed with hand-made Venezuelan cheese. The cheese is thick and soft, not unlike a fresh mozzarella, and with a smooth, light flavor. I had the Pernil Arepa, marinated pork with fresh tomato and I opted to add the cheese in the pocket as well. With such reasonable prices and the small stature of the sandwiches, I guess I expected to be hungrier, so I also order some tostones; mini-cakes of fried green plantains. Although delicious, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I was unexpectedly filled from the corn bread sandwich. We left satisfied but not over stuffed. A delightful lunch for two just shy over $20 is an nice surprise.

After an afternoon of catching up while wandering through the Museum Of Fine Arts, we met up with her mother Carla, for dinner. Julia and I practically shared the same play pen as babies, so Carla is like a second mother to me and it was so nice to see her. She wanted to take us out and after much discussion we settled on a (literally) small place called Ten Tables.

Julia & Carla

Aptly named, Ten Tables in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, is a small restaurant with a warm feel and a big heart. We enter the small dining room without a reservation. With a welcoming smile, General Manger Stan Hilbert informs us that a party of three had just canceled and that we can have their table right up front. Such luck! I'm sure we've all experienced the blank stares or the upturned noses when walking into a small restaurant without a reservation. Such airs and attitudes will not be found in this room tonight. The vibe is so comfortable and the guests at remaining nine tables are clearly enjoying themselves.

Mr. Hilbert is also our waiter for the evening. He gladly answers any questions we have about the menu, like what part of the cow the hangar steak comes from and why it tastes better when cooked medium rare. He asks if he can offer us some wine with our dinner. While I stick to water because I have a long drive home ahead of me, I sample Julia's malbec, a smooth red from Argentina. For appetizer, we share a home-made country sausage with cabbage, bacon and pear. Full of flavor and not heavy, we can tell the rest of the evening's offerings will be made from quality ingredients.

For dinner we decide on a Pork Chop with Potato Gratin for Julia, Atlantic Swordfish for Carla and I take the Hangar Steak with Rosemary Polenta. Everything is absolutely wonderful! Thrilled by each of our choices, we pass forkfuls of each dish around the table to make sure everyone gets to taste everything. The steak is prepared just the way I like it and the polenta reminds me that I must register for my class at the Culinary school soon. I have to know how to make this myself! The pork chop is extremely tender and in perfection combination with the potato. The swordfish is also quite good, but it's the lemon bread salsa that is intriguing. This crunchy topping with spicy broccolini and cauliflower complete the meal.

Dubreton Pork Chop With Two Potato Gratin,
Swiss Chard & Sage Butter

As we get up to leave, I couldn't be happier to have spent this evening with good friends in this humble kitchen. If you look hard enough, you can find good food almost anywhere, but combining it with excellent service is a rare feat. Upon reading their web site you'll see that owner, Krista Kranyak's goal was to create an environment where people felt part of a big group dinner party where they could be at ease with family and friends, whiling away the night. She has clearly succeeded.

As I make my way home, I can't wait to share the pictures and experiences of the day with Matt. There is still hope for restaurants yet. Now if we could just find something worthwhile, less than 100 miles from home. If anyone out there has any suggestions, we're all ears!

Restaurant ideas in the CT area?
Post here or email me at kathy@thebellyspot.com