Day Three Hundred Fifty Six: Oh Snap! Snapper

I saw Martha's recipe for Snapper with Bell Pepper Salsa on Monday and I rushed out and quickly bought the ingredients.  (Well, as much as one can rush out and do anything with three children in tow. It took us a good half and hour to locate a favorite pair of shoes for the trip. But I digress.)  The dish is simple, colorful and oh-so-good.

Make the salsa by combining red bell pepper, avocado, jalapeno, onion, lime juice, olive oil and fresh herbs. I used cilantro.  Cook the snapper for about five minutes until opaque throughout.

Divide salsa among four lucky people. Top with snapper.

The salsa was so good, my husband and I actually had a brief fork squirmish over who was going to eat the last of this salsa.

I let him win, but only after I extracted a promise from him to do the dishes.

(Are you taking notes, ladies?)

Day Three Hundred Fifty Five: Beef Carpaccio**

Sunday I made Martha's Beef Carpaccio, which is basically raw beef tenderloin drizzled in a lemon vinaigrette.  It's really rich and tasty, but maybe not for finicky eaters or those with high cholesterol.  Here's how it's made:

Wrap about one pound of beef tenderloin in plastic wrap and throw in the freezer for about an hour, or until firm.  Using a very sharp knife, cut the beef across the grain into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

If you don't need an urgent visit to the emergency room after severing a finger, move onto the next step.

Gently pound the slices between pieces of waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour.  Serve with arugula and sliced pear, drizzled with lemon vinaigrette.  Top with shaved parmesan.

Easy, good and oh so chic.

**No fingers were severed during the making of this dish.

Day Three Hundred Fifty Four: Easy-Peasy* Roasted Halibut

After ingesting entirely too many birthday calories, some healthy eating was in order.  I happened to see Martha's recipe for Roasted Salmon with Butter, which was adapted from one of those How To Cook Everything Cookbooks.  I think the premise of these cookbooks is brilliant. The author told Martha you could use any thick filet or fish steak instead of salmon.  I used halibut.

It's a simply brilliant (or brilliantly simple?) recipe.  Put butter on a rimmed baking sheet in a 475-degree oven until butter melts. (I actually used a little less butter than the recipe suggests.)  Place fish on top of butter, and roast until fish is cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes.  Sprinkle with some herbs if you like.

The fish comes out flakey and moist and delicious.  I served mine with salad greens.

I could almost hear the pounds falling off my hips.

* I am aware that "peasy" is not a word.  It's called poetic license.  

Day Three Hundred Fifty Three: Happy Birthday Favors

As part of the favors for my birthday dinner, I spent the morning of my birthday making one of Martha's favorite chocolate chip cookies: Jacques Torres's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Since the recipe makes about 10,0000  100 cookies, it was no small task.  Even though I've made them before, I still love these cookies. I think I might have cooked a few batches a couple minutes long, but hey--a girl is sometimes too knee-deep in Downton Abbey to notice a timer chime.

I use an ice-cream scoop to make sure all the cookies are exactly the same size:

Once the cookies cooled, I put them in the favor boxes with the chocolate nut clusters, (minus the jam-filled muffin coffeecakes), along with a few other goodies. 

I tied them up with bakers string and topped the whole thing off with my personalized favor tag.

Even though my husband made fun of me for making them, I know several guests enjoyed them on the car ride home.

Happy Birthday to me.

Day Three Hundred Fifty Two: Gettin' My Jam On (Everything)

As I mentioned when I made the Personalized Gift Tags, my birthday was Friday.  My husband planned a dinner with a few friends, and I wanted to make little boxes of late-night snacks for them to take home.  As part of the boxes, I thought to include a little something for breakfast the next morning.  I decided on Martha's Jam-Filled Coffee Cake Muffins because they look seriously decadent and I thought the crumbly, brown-sugar top would keep them moist until they were ready to eat.  (I don't know this to be the case, I was just guessing.)

Martha's recipe calls for the muffins to be made in 2 3/4-inch by 2-inch panettone papers, which are basically fancy, slightly sturdier, cupcake liners.  Despite heroic efforts, I was unable to find panettone papers that size.  I decided to try these adorable, slightly smaller paper muffin cups.  Since these cups are smaller than the suggested cups, I divided the batter between fifteen muffins cups instead of twelve.

Divided batter in ridiculously adorable muffin cups:

A teaspoon of strawberry jam on top:

Covered with a brown-sugar crumble:

I can smell success...or is that just the brown sugar?



About twenty minutes later I checked the oven to find this:

Hmmm.  Looks like I should have used a few more cups.  Nary a single muffin was presentable for my guests.  If you ignored the dripping dough on the outside, however, and actually ate one... They. Are. Delicious.  A herd of elephants or Justin Beiber fans could not keep me from trying this again.

Day Three Hundred Fifty One: Tied Up In Knots

While many kids will only eat the toppings from a pizza, my three-year old daughter only likes the crust.  She will forgo all the greasy goodness of the cheesy toppings for the yeasty castoffs any day.  For her I made Martha's Garlic Knots.  They are just like that really fattening (and amazingly yummy) bread sticks you buy at a pizzeria...only you made it so it's better.

You can make your own dough, or use ready-made pizza dough from the freezer section. Roll it out and then cut it into narrow strips. 

(This is where the photo of the narrow strips of dough should be.  It's currently missing.)





Then tie the narrow strips into little knots (kids LOVE this part) and throw on a baking sheet.

Once they are golden brown, toss them with a mixture of garlic and olive oil.

Fresh from the oven, these are de-vine and probably illegal in California and New York.  

Day Three Hundred Fifty: Beefy Rolls

Only fifteen days remaining...I'm currently in a state of shock that I'm nearly finished.

Tuesday I made Martha's Beef and Scallion Rolls for my husband.  He loves beef and Asian food, so I was positive this recipe would be a hit.

It's a pretty simple recipe, although it is rather involved.  First, cook thinly-sliced red bell peppers over medium-high heat and set aside.  After cutting the tenderloin into thin slices, pound each slice between two pieces of plastic wrap until each are 1/8 inch thick.  (If you've had a rough day, take this opportunity to relieve some stress.) Divide the bell peppers and scallions among the newly-flattened slices of beef, roll tightly and secure each with a toothpick.

After browning these little beef rollups, remove the toothpicks.  Make a sauce with soy sauce, rice-wine vinegar and sugar; cook until thickened.  Drizzle the sauce over the rolls.  I served mine with store-bought sushi and spring rolls.

My hubby and I agreed that more salt would not have gone amiss in this recipe.  Other than that, this was a delicious recipe that is fancy enough for company.

I love being right.

Day Three Hundred Forty Nine: Chicken For the Gang

My kids love chicken drumsticks, (really, any part of the chicken) so I'm always looking for new ways to bake it.  I decided to try Martha's Cornflake-Crusted Baked Chicken, even though it sounds like one of those recipes that comes from the back of the cereal box.

This recipe is basically chicken dipped in an egg wash and rolled in crushed cornflakes.  It's baked at 400 for 30 minutes.  The result is beautiful, golden-crusted chicken. I don't think my photos do them justice.

 They were such a big hit, I actually had to make a second batch for our ravenous gang.*

* "Ravenous Gang" in this scenario being three very hungry children, ages six, three and one-year old.  

Day Three Hundred Forty Eight: Nutty About Chocolate

On Monday I made Martha's Dark Chocolate Nut Clusters to include in my birthday favor bags.  They are a handful of almonds held together with rich, dark chocolate.  Sweet and salty. Perfect for late-night snacking.

First you melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  I'd like to point out that I followed the chocolate-melting guidelines and my chocolate melted beautifully.

Ta-da!

(Note:  I was so excited the chocolate melted correctly, I did a little dance for the stovetop.)

To make the nut clusters, just drop a few teaspoons of this yummy chocolate on a non-stick surface.  Drop a few almonds on the chocolate base and finish by drizzling with more chocolate on top.  Put in the refrigerator to harden.

The result is not only pretty, but so good, you'll find them hard to keep out of your mouth.

Day Three Hundred Forty Seven: Not-Your-Usual Tuna Salad

Since I was trying to be very healthy and low-cal, Sunday I made Martha's Tuna, Avocado and Romaine Salad.  In addition to the named ingredients, it also has sliced radishes and a vinaigrette made with Dijon mustard.  It uses canned tuna, which makes the recipe ridiculously easy. My avocados were actually labeled with a "ripe" sticker to make sure the buyer was aware they were ready to eat.

I call this Salad for Dummies.  

Very good, especially when slathered with enough of this yummy Dijon dressing to drown a tuna.

That's still healthy, right?

Day Three Hundred Forty Six: Personalized Gift Tags

Friday is my birthday and my husband has set up a little dinner with a few friends.  Like us, they all have children and I know it is a sacrifice of time and money to celebrate with me.  As a thank-you, I'm going to make each of them a little basket of goodies to enjoy after the party.  

I'll be showing you what I make for the snacks later in the week, but I started last week by making personalized tags for each gift.  I used Martha's clip art from a wedding favor idea and had a personalized stamp made.  It has a vintage car on the top and says "Snacks for the Road" underneath.  

I stamped the design on a 4-inch square card stock.  In pink.  Because it's all about me.

They are really too cute.  I can't wait to attach them to the gift boxes.

Day Three Hundred Forty Five: Dressing Surprise

Over the weekend I made Martha's Flank Steak and Arugula Salad.  The meat makes my husband happy, and the salad makes my waistline happy.  How often do you get to mix red meat with salad greens?  So I admit, flank steak isn't a favorite cut of mine, but this one is well-seasoned and definitely worth a try.

The thing about this salad is the dressing. I loved it, but you may be surprised to hear what's inside it.   Are you sitting down?

Balsamic vinegar and Salsa.  That's all.

I used our favorite roasted chipotle salsa and mixed in the balsamic.  It was spicy and full of flavor.  About knocked me off my rocker it was so good.  Well, I wasn't actually sitting on a rocker, but if I were, I'm pretty sure I would have lost my balance.  Nearly.

Day Three Hundred Forty Four: Chocolate Happens

After my success with the chocolate fondue on Tuesday, I decided to make my husband Martha's Chocolate-Covered Strawberries.  I figured it couldn't be very hard to melt chocolate and dip strawberries into it.

Chopped nuts for garnish?  Check:

Gorgeous strawberries, ready for dipping?  Check:

Rock hard chocolate? Check:

You might be wondering..."Isn't that chocolate supposed to be melted?"  Why yes, clever person, it should be.  But the longer I melted the chocolate in the double boiler, the harder it became.  I practically had to chisel it out of the bowl when I was done.

Needless to say no strawberries were dipped into chocolate that night. (Sorry, honey.)

The next day I did a little internet research and found out that making one of the following mistakes will cause your melted chocolate to "seize":  1) heating the chocolate over too high of heat, or  2) allowing steam/moisture from the double boiler to get into the chocolate.

I'm pretty sure I didn't do one of these things.  I positive I did both.

I've always been a bit of an over-achiever.

Day Three Hundred Forty Three: Chocolate Fun-due

As a little treat for my kids I made Martha's Chocolate Fondue on Tuesday.  I had not thought of it before, but what could be more fun for kids than dipping fruit into melted chocolate?  That has to rank up there with making your own ice cream sundae.

Fondue is simple enough to do:  just melt chocolate with heavy cream. It turns into a lovely, glossy chocolate-y dip.  I served a few spoonfuls with some dried peaches, strawberries and marshmallows.  The kids were overjoyed at the prospect.

If you try this at home, fair warning:  It took about four minutes for my middle daughter to be completely covered in chocolate....and she's usually a pretty pristine eater.

In addition to nearly ruining a darn cute cardigan, she also managed a pretty impressive chocolate mustache.  She was so covered with chocolate that afterward, I undressed her and hosed her off in the shower.

The kids found the whole chocolate business very entertaining.

Day Three Hundred Forty Two: Hugs and Kisses Anyway

For my son's Kindergarten class, I decided to make Martha's X and O's Cupcakes for Valentine's Day.  They look like this:

They are simple cupcakes and icing with those little round cinnamon candies in the shape of little X's and O's. I  was impressed with my decision:  cupcakes, icing AND candy?  What Kindergartener wouldn't be tickled pink?

I happened to buy the cinnamon candies first and let my six-year old try them. Like most kids his age, he has an loose, almost liberal policy on candy:  he never declines it.  He liked the cinnamon candies so much he nearly gagged on them.

I think his candy policy is more conservative now.

So, I bagged the X's and O's and made Martha's Chocolate Cupcakes instead.  I tinted the icing pink and piped it onto the cute, if less clever, chocolate cupcakes.

I didn't hear any complaints when the empty cupcake platter arrived home that afternoon.  I think they were a hit.

Day Three Hundred Forty One: I Heart You

I can't believe I have only a few weeks left of this experiment.  If you've been following all along I will admit:  I am slogging through these last few weeks.  It's been a very busy spring for me and I've fallen behind on my blogging.

But I'm still here.  I'm like the tortoise and the hare.  In my life I'm the hare.  On this blog I'm the tortoise.  But like that intrepid little turtle, I will make it to the end.

After my failure with the meringue hearts I had to make something else for my daughter's pre-k class.  I decided on Martha's Brownie Hearts.

After making a batch of brownies, just take a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the hearts:

Finished heart:

 

Adorable, no?  I got about six hearts out of one batch of brownies.  With my clever head for numbers, I quickly realized I would be baking brownies all night long in order to feed a classroom of three-year olds heart-shaped brownies. 

I decided on almost-as-adorable, if much less curvy, brownie squares.

I don't think the three-year olds noticed the difference.

Day Three Hundred Forty: Breaking My Heart

I volunteered to make a Valentine's Day treat for my kids' classes and so over the weekend I tried a recipe I was sure would be a hit with the under-three crowd:  Martha's Meringue Hearts.

I have had such success with meringue that it has truly become one of my most favorite desserts.  It can be cake!  It can be frosting!  What's not to love?  

With this recipe I made a basic meringue, tinted it with pink, then piped hearts onto a baking sheet.  I let my kids sprinkle the cookies with heart-shaped sprinkles and following the recipe, set to bake...for two and a half hours.

Unfortunately that seemed to be about half an hour too long. Because while my cookies looked great, they tasted a little burnt.  I tossed the entire batch.

What a heart-breaker.

Day Three Hundred Thirty Nine: Amaretto-Bourbon Punch

Tuesday we hosted a Mardi Gras cocktail party as a fundraiser for my children's school.  I wanted to serve a special cocktail for the occasion, but was unsure what to offer.  To make the best decision, I tried a few new cocktail recipes in advance.

The things I sacrifice for my children.

Friday I tried Martha's Amaretto-Bourbon Punch.   It's not a hard recipe, but the ingredient list isn't short.  It includes seltzer, bourbon, fresh lemon juice, sparkling apple juice, simple syrup, and amaretto. It's garnished with lemon and Maraschino cherries.  In addition to being gorgeous, it's a perfect cocktail for a mixed crowd:  it's full-flavored, but not too strong...sweet, but it won't leave a man wondering where you hid the little paper umbrella.

These were a huge success and for proof I will offer this evidence:  no fewer than a dozen people asked for the recipe and nearly the entire batch (Martha's recipe tripled) was finished before 11 p.m.

I call that a winner. 

Some photos from the party:

Buffet centerpiece:

 Close-ups of the centerpiece:

Another table centerpiece:

King-cake table:

Close-ups of Chandelier:

King Cake fresh from NOLA:

Day Three Hundred Thirty Eight: Cinnamon Buns

With all these photos I've been snapping and saving lately, my poor little computer is filling up.  He's like your grandpa after Thanksgiving dinner:  slow and sleepy.  I've made some efforts to clean up and delete extra files, but in my deleting fervor, I permanently deleted some photos for this blog that I had not posted yet.

:bangs head against wall:  

So, while on Thursday I made Martha's Cinnamon-Nut Buns, (sans nuts) this is the only photo you will see to illustrate their yummy goodness.  Martha's photo:

Since you won't get to see the photo of the cinnamon buns I made, I might be tempted to tell you how wonderful they were and how I basically knocked this recipe out of the proverbial ballpark.

I didn't.

The baseball metaphor may still be appropriate, however, since my cinnamon buns were hard as rocks.  

Day Three Hundred Thirty Seven: Scones For You

Thursday I made Martha's Blueberry-Almond Scones...without the almonds.  I am sure they are lovely with almonds, but since my son has a nut allergy I decided to leave them out.  These are surprisingly easy to make, and you get to use a pastry blender, which is this little medevial-looking torture device.

In case you were wondering, a pastry blender cuts the butter into little crumbly pieces, which results in lovely, flakey breads.  You could accomplish the same thing with a couple of knives, but a pastry blender looks much cooler.

I guess there are several ways to make scones.  After the dough is made you can either: scoop them with a spoon and drop them onto a baking sheet (like a traditional cookie), or you can pat the dough into a circle and cut the into pizza-style triangles.  If you use the latter method, you end up with these perfect triangles of flakey, blueberry goodness:

These were so pretty they looked store-bought.  I was unreasonably proud of them and took more photos of them than a Vogue cover model.   I was so proud, in fact, I packed some up and left them on the doorstep of my British BFF.  She enjoyed them throughly.

And I didn't even have to impress her with my pastry blender-wielding skills.