Blueberry Shortbread Bars

Last week I was looking in the freezer and realized that we have four bags of frozen blueberries. I have the unfortunate habit of always buying too much extra food, especially since there is only the two of us to feed (The Husband and myself). I could easily go a few weeks without buying any extra groceries. At least if we are ever snowed in we will be ok.

Since I wanted to start using up my frozen blueberries before freezer burn got to them I decided to make this recipe. The recipe comes from here. The original recipe has almonds and blackberries but since The Husband is allergic to nuts and hates blackberries I decided to christen them Blueberry Shortbread Bars.

Instead of creaming together regular sugar and butter this recipe starts off with icing sugar and butter.

All creamed together.

I then added cinnamon and vanilla extract instead of almond extract.

Then the flour in two batches. The original recipe calls for ground almonds but I just substituted an equal amount of flour.

After I added the first batch it was crumbly.

After the second batch it was positively powdery. At this point I was peering doubtfully at the contents of the bowl wondering if the mixture was going to hold together.

After a lot of pressing in the pan it held together with no problems. I just used my fingers but I suppose you could use the bottom of a glass to do this.

I added the blueberries on top. I didn’t bother to thaw them.

The recipe calls for reserving a cup of the shortbread mixture to crumble on top of the fruit. In order to give it some texture I grabbed small handfuls of the mix and compressed them in my hands before crumbling them on top. This way I ended up with bigger pieces and smaller pieces.

After the bars came out of the oven I let them cool down and then sprinkled them with icing sugar to finish them off.

This is the kind of dessert that you make for your elderly aunt who doesn’t like sugary desserts. In my case I made this for The Husband who likes desserts of all degrees of sweetness. The crust is buttery and the topping is fairly thin so it doesn’t overwhelm the shortbread. This is not a super sweet dessert (I’m a fan of super sweet things), so I merely found it ok but The Husband really liked this. This recipe was really simple to make and requires only a few basic ingredients. It is something that can be made on the spot as long as you have some frozen fruit in the fridge. Now I just have to think of something else to do with all the other bags of fruit!

Technorati Tags: Dessert,Shortbread,Blueberries

Chocolate Buttercream Cake

I love chocolate. If there was a detox program for chocolate dependence I would quite possibly check myself in. Every time I get a new cookbook I mentally make a note of all the chocolate desserts and keep them in mind for future occasions, because I cannot, unfortunately, make desserts too often as my tortoise-like metabolism cannot handle it.

This recipe comes from one of Ina Garten’s cookbooks and I had been eyeing it for a while. I actually made this for New Year’s day, which if you have been following my blog realize was a fiesta of gluttony. Oh well, the holidays come but once a year. All the same, as much as I love rich food I am glad that they are over and I can get back to my regular eating habits.

The recipe began with the basic creaming of butter and sugar.

Once that was done I added my eggs and vanilla extract.

The recipe called for prepared coffee but since I didn’t feel like brewing up an entire pot I used some coffee extract. Every time I open this bottle it smells like fresh coffee in the kitchen.

This then got mixed in with some buttermilk.

Cocoa powder. Yeah, I can’t be bothered to sift anything. Maybe if I were having the Queen over for tea I would go through the trouble but not until then.

The milk, cocoa powder and flour were added in alternating batches until they were completely combined.

I had to restrain myself from just eating the cake batter. It was super chocolaty and thick. I think The Husband is the only person on the planet that does not like the taste of raw cake batter or cookie dough.

Before baking.

After baking. I’m not quite sure why it developed a crack. Oh well, at least it was going to be covered in frosting and no one would notice.

For the frosting egg whites and sugar were placed over simmering water until the sugar had dissolved.

Once that was done I added in some cream of tartar and whipped them.

I then added in a criminal amount of softened butter spoonful by spoonful until was all incorporated, hence why it looks so yellow.

Next step was adding in melted chocolate…

and beat the frosting until it was nice and fluffy.

In order to make sure that the two layers sat properly on top of each other I trimmed a bit off the top which is why it looks a little decapitated.

I love frosting cakes. There is just something so fun about smearing great globs of buttercream on a cake.

I decorated the cake simply by adding some chocolate sprinkles on top.

This was really good but oh so rich. A bit too rich for me even; Buttercream is something which can only be eaten in small quantities. I forgot to take a picture when I cut it. Oops, I was a bad blogger. The cake itself was very dense and fudgy but the frosting was a bit light on the chocolate. I think my personal preferences run towards cocoa powder based frostings rather than melted chocolate. I’m glad I made it and everyone really liked it. After the meal was over I safely stowed the leftovers in the freezer to keep them far away so I wouldn’t be tempted.

Technorati Tags: Chocolate,Cake,Chocolate Cake,Buttercream

Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is named after the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo to celebrate his victory. It also happens to be damn tasty. This something I made for New Year’s day and The Husband being a meat lover he was really happy with this dish. I was expecting this to be harder than it actually was and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that difficult. The recipe I used is here. The one thing about this dish is that it can be a bit pricy. We waited until beef tenderloin was on sale and bought a piece and froze a few weeks before I made it. This is really great for a special occasion and feeds an army.

First up was making the mushroom duxelles which is basically a paste made up of finely chopped mushrooms, French shallots, garlic, thyme and butter.

I so had to take out three quarters of the mushrooms that I had put in the food processor in the first picture; I had gotten overly ambitious. I blitzed them in batches along with two French shallots until they were finely chopped but not mushy.

I then threw them in a pan along with thyme, salt, pepper and roasted garlic paste. I let them cook until they were done and the liquid had mostly evaporated.

Next I seared the beef tenderloin on all sides. It was a bit tricky to do the sides but I grabbed it with a pair of tongs and held it in place to do it.

 

This recipe is a meat lover’s dream. Meat, wrapped in more meat.

The tenderloin had to be slathered in the mushroom mixture and then covered in prosciutto. In order to do this and not have everything slide off everything had to be put together and then wrapped tightly in plastic wrap so it could hold its shape.

 

I put a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and then laid the prosciutto out in a thick blanket. I then spread the cooled duxelles on top.

 

I took my tenderloin and rubbed it with Dijon mustard and placed it in the middle.

The next part was little tricky. I grabbed the sides of the plastic wrap and yanked everything together really tightly until it made a nice meaty package. I then put it in the fridge to set and hold its shape.

The pastry was easy since I didn’t actually make it. Frozen puff pastry is my friend. I will tackle trying to make it one day, eventually. I took two packages and rolled them out big enough to cover the meat. See how the prosciutto/mushroom/beef package is holding together without coming apart?

I then folded up the sides to make a pastry envelope, cut slashes on top and brushed it with beaten eggs. This then went in the oven. To make sure it was not overcooked I stuck a meat thermometer in. I have one of those kinds that has an end that you put in your meat, you leave it in, shut the oven door and then you attach it to your base which gives you your temperature.

While the Beef Wellington was cooking I made the gravy. I ran out of shallots so I sautéed onions instead.

I added brandy. Lots of brandy.

Preserved green peppercorns.

Then garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, cream and beef broth.

I cranked it up to a boil and let it reduce for a bit.

In the oven along with the beef I was also making roasted potatoes.

The puff pastry turned nice and golden. A little overdone on the ends. Oops.

For me the meat was perfectly done. Not too red but not overcooked either. The combination of the flaky pastry along with the salty prosciutto, the garlicky mushrooms and the tender beef was phenomenal. After I snapped the last picture I doused my plate with gravy. The Husband was a huge fan of this meal. Usually he doesn’t like eating too many portions of leftovers but this time he said he would “sacrifice himself” in a very “generous” manner. I have promised him that I will most definitely make this again in the future. If you’re feeling flush with cash (beef tenderloin + prosciutto adds up) this is a great main course to make for a special occasion.

Technorati Tags: Beef Wellington,British Food,Beef: Main Course