June « 2009 « DinnerCakes

Kitchen Tips: How Grills Heat

June 5th, 2009

by Chef Edwin

Ah, the wonders of summer and the great weather it brings. This weekend is looking pretty good and with good weather comes grilling. But did you ever stop to wonder how grilling works? How it cooks your food? (No? Well, see you Monday then!) How your delicious burger is born in fire?!?!?! Well, wonder no more!

Whether it be charcoal or gas, a grill cooks your food with three kinds of heat transference: conduction, convection and radiant heat. Conduction is your most straight forward. Science 101 states that heat makes molecules move faster. The faster they move, the more often they bump into other molecules, transferring heat to them. This is called conduction. Your metal grating in your grill that you rest the food on is a great conductor; heat transfers through it all very quickly. Your food, however, is not such a great conductor. This is why you always preheat you grill. That initial contact of meat with metal is a burst of energy, forcing heat in deeply and quickly. The outside of the meat continues to receive most of the heat, passing it slowly inside. This is why you can have a steak with a thick crust and a rare interior (mmmm).

Convection is the transfer of heat through the air, but in a special way. The heating of he air molecules in a closed girl causes air circulation. As the molecules heat, they rise, cooking the meat and forcing the colder molecules down to be heated by the fire. This rotation of air is not a primary method of cooking, but it does account for part of it; especially in indirect grilling.

Radiant heat is your tricky one. This heat actually never touches the food. (crazy, right?) It’s infrared energy. Think about the sun and how it can still warm you on a cold day. It’s not heating you through conduction because the air around you is still cold, and yet warmth it’s providing.

So in short, the flow of heat from the the fire to the meat is radiant heat, the heating of the grating (and then the direct heating of the meat) is conduction and the heating of the surface of the meat is a combination of conduction, radiant heat and convection. Got it? Happy grilling!

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Spicy & Hot Tofu Puffs

June 4th, 2009

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Can you tell that I’m on an Indian food kick?

Just yesterday I decided to treat myself to the Indian buffet near my office for lunch. So delicious, and so much food! My birthday is on Saturday and, I’m not sure if any of you are aware, but calories actually don’t count on your birthday (or the days leading up to and after your birthday).

So a few weeks ago when I saw a recipe for Chile Pea Puffs on 101 Cookbooks, I was ecstatic and decided to make something similar. I took out the paneer and added silken tofu, garbanzo beans, Indian chillies, cumin and curry powder.

I couldn’t find wonton wrappers at the grocery store, but I picked up phyllo dough. Unfortunately it was my first time working with phyllo; I got impatient and I did a pretty sorry job with them. I’m not jumping at the chance to work with phyllo again, but the filling was great!

The Indian chillies give this quite a lot of heat. If you don’t like heat, then you’ll want to leave the seeds of the chillies out, or leave them out entirely along with the red curry powder (seriously, it’s hot!). My husband who, like me, doesn’t eat a lot of tofu and isn’t totally comfortable with it yet, didn’t even know that there was tofu in this until I told him. We were both pleasantly surprised! I recommend that tofu-phobes give this a chance – this recipe had both of us scratching our heads as to why we don’t work with tofu more often!

Spicy & Hot Tofu Puffs
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/2 cups green peas, cooked
1 can garbanzo beans (15 ounces), drained
1 package silken tofu (12 ounces), cubed
2 Indian chillies (seeds removed for less heat!), crushed
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced
wonton wrappers or package of phyllo dough (if using wonton wrappers, use instructions here)

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine all prepared ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and crush lightly with the back of a fork.

Allow phyllo to thaw. Unroll and place mixture onto center of one piece. Fold edges together to make a pocket, brushing edges with egg whites to hold in place and secure seam. Place on baking sheet, forming a single layer of puffs.

Cook for 4 minutes, then turn puffs once and cook until crisp and golden brown.

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Food Photography – Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream

June 3rd, 2009

by Chef Edwin

One of the best ways to repay a favor, as far as I’m concered, is with food. I helped a friend out a bind and she wanted to repay me with ice cream. It had been a while since we had hung out so we decided to hit up Pop’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream in Old Towne Alexandria.

Walking in, you can’t help but be struck with a bit of the 50’s style red & white motif and server’s uniform. Their menu is simple with only four kinds of sundaes. In the world of Cold Stone and Baskin Robbins, this places doesn’t fit it. And you know what? I like it that way.

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Crisp and Juicy Curry Chicken

June 2nd, 2009

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

We hope you all enjoyed Rainbow Week! It was a lot of fun for us to do. If you have suggestions about other themes you’d like to see, please let us know!

And now a confession – this is my new favorite dinner recipe. I can’t believe that there was actually was a time when I didn’t really like cumin or curry; now they’re some of my staple spices.

This dinner is so easy and delicious. I like having a bit of crispiness to my chicken, but of course without all the fat that comes with frying and using oil. I coat the chicken with a variety of Indian-style spices and a little bit of plain bread crumbs – it locks in the juiciness of the chicken and provides for some excellent flavors.

I like to serve it with couscous, but it would also go well with steamed rice. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Crisp and Juicy Curry Chicken

For couscous:
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup peas
1-2 cloves garlic
dash salt
whole wheat couscous

For chicken:
1 lb chicken breast, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon coriander, ground
1/4 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red curry powder
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
3 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine spices for chicken in a small bowl and stir with a fork. Add chicken halves to a gallon Ziploc bag with a tablespoon of water. Add spices to bag and toss gently to coat the chicken (you could dredge the chicken to coat it, but I’ve found I get a much better coating when I use the Ziploc).

Bake chicken for 20 minutes until cooked through. While chicken is baking, saute onions in a small pan for 5 minutes until transcluscent. Cook couscous according to package instructions, toss lightly and add onions, peas, garlic and salt. Cover and keep warm until chicken is ready.

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Sometimes All You Want is Quick and Cheap – Shredded Cabbage Stir Fry with Grean Peas

June 1st, 2009

by Chef Edwin

The weather was beautiful this past weekend; gorgeous break in the rain we’ve been having lately. I had a special hope for this weekend because of some climbing plans and couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday. A group of us drove up to Seneca Rocks for a day of climbing the peaks. I had never been to Seneca before and it was an excellent experience. The view from 900 feet is… indescribable.

As usual, when Sunday rolls around I’m drained and really don’t want to make anything involved; I want quick. I also want something that’ll give me plenty leftovers for the week and, hey while we’re at it, something not too pricey. Cabbage is cheap. Very cheap. McDonalds cheap; and, with a few spices and a little stir fry action, tastes much better. This is really more of a side dish than a main dish, but honestly, when I’m feeling lazy I’ll just eat a ridiculous amount of a side dish to avoid the effort (don’t judge me).

Shredded Cabbage Stir-Fry with Green Peas

1 head green cabbage; cored and shredded
2 cups frozen green peas; thawed
1 serrano chili (or any small, hot chili); minced
6 tablespoons oil
1 3/4 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (hot or sweet)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Heat a large pan or wok to medium heat and add oil (swish around if in a wok). Let the oil heat up for a few seconds then add the turmeric and bay leaves. Cook only for a few seconds until fragrant (too long and it burns) then add cabbage and green peas. Cook, tossing occasionally, for one minute to coat the cabbage and vegetables in oil.

Add the turmeric, cayenne and curry powder; tossing to coat. Stir fry for five minutes until the cabbage begins to soften but still maintain some crisp. Be sure to toss on occasion to prevent burning and ensure even cooking (if you like your cabbage with a bit more crisp, stir a bit less often). Add the chili pepper, sugar, salt and garam masala and cook for a minute.

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