Jack is Cooking Pannekoeken with Apples

Well Hello Internet!

Pancakes are one of my favorite things, in fact just last night i had a fantastic dream about blueberry pancakes, filled to the brim with blueberries in a way that is only possible in a dream.  This is a recipe for apple pancakes, called Pannekoeken due to its Dutch nature.  It would be possible to make this with almost any fruit, the spices can be adjusted accordingly.

Fresh out of the oven

The first time i ate a pancake like this was in Amsterdam, and have always wanted to make them at home.  It is almost easier than regular pancakes, but it involves the oven.  The batter is very different from american pancakes, and is basically just a sweet version of yorkshire pudding - or a popover.

delicious caramelized apples

You will need a skillet that can go on the stove, and in a hot oven.  Cast Iron is good, or something that is all metal and won't melt.  Nothing with a rubber grip basically.

Here's what you will need:

4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

1 apple of your choice
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum

Preheat oven to 450°

1.  In a bowl, mix the eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk together.  Whisk until its bubbly, cover and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes

2.  Cut the apple into slices.  if you want you can remove the skin, but i left it on.

3.  Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat.  Throw in the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.  Stir until its bubbly, and the sugar has started to caramelize a little.  Cover with the apples, so the apples are evenly distributed over the sugary butter.  Toss the rum in, careful not to let it ignite.  (you could if you want to, and have a little Flambé action going on!)

4.  Pour the batter over all the apples, but do not stir.  Let it cook for about 30 seconds on top of the stove, and then put it in the oven for 15 minutes.  Do not open the oven at all during these 15 minutes, or it will deflate.

5.  Turn the oven down to 350° and let it bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and enjoy immediately!  You can eat this with syrup if you like, but the sweetness of the apples due to the caramelization is enough on its own, and it is extremely delicious on it's own.

a perfect saturday breakfast

Jack is Cooking Blueberry Almond Tarte

Well Hello Internet!

I made a delicious blueberry almond tarte for thanksgiving this year.  I felt there needed to be something besides pumpkin and pecan pie.  So i made this delicious creation instead.  

It is very simple to make. There are basically only two elements that need making, and that is the crust, and the Crème d'Amandes.

you will also need:

Blueberries (1 pint)

Almond Slivers

a 9 inch tarte ring

You can use any crust you like pre made or otherwise, but i like to make a hazelnut crust, which is excellent for any sweet crust.

Here is my recipe for hazelnut crust (this will make about three 9 inch tarts) 

125 grams powdered sugar

250 grams butter

3 eggs (room temperature)

300 grams flour + a little extra

150 grams hazelnut meal

75 grams almond meal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1.  Cream the butter and the sugar in a mixer.

2. Add the eggs one at a time until full incorporated into the butter/sugar

3. Mix in the flour, hazelnut meal, and almond meal.  it is possible that the dough will still be a little wet, so just add in a little more flour until the dough holds together in a ball.

4. Refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour).  This dough can be frozen, and used at a later date.

While the Crust is Chilling you can make the Crème d'Amande.

For one 9 inch tarte you will need this:

165 grams butter

165 grams sugar

165 grams Almond Meal

2 eggs (room temperate)

30 grams corn starch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or 1/2 a vanilla bean scraped out)

30 ml Goslings Rum (or other dark rum)

1. Cream the butter, sugar, and almond flour.  

2. Add Eggs one at time.

3. add corn starch

4. add vanilla and rum, and mix until fluffy.

This can also be put in the fridge and or frozen until the time you want to use it.

To make the Tarte:

(preheat oven to 375°)

1.  Roll out the crust, and place in tarte ring.

2.  Fill evenly until with the crème d'amandes. (you don't want to fill it all the way up.  about 80%.  There will be displacement!!)

3.  Artfully place the blueberries on top of the crème d'amandes, but do not push them down.  just let them rest on top for now.

4. take the almond slivers and place them around the edge of the taste, on top of the blueberries.  if you desire you may also put them in the middle.  

5. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until the top is nicely golden.  You will notice that the blueberries have sunken into the crème d'amandes,  which is exactly what should happen!

When it cools remove it from the Tarte Ring

And Serve it warm with whipped cream

There is no way this cannot be delicious!

Jack is Cooking Endives au Jambon

Well Hello Internet!

I was in the store the other day (the kind that sells food), and although it is not endive season the endives looked particularly delicious.  So i thought i would make Endives Au Jambon, which is a classic french dish (i presume) comprised of Endives wrapped in Ham, bathed in béchamel and topped with cheese baked in an oven.  There are two ways to do this - the quickest way to do it is to just blanche the Endives, before wrapping them in ham and baking them.  The Second way is to butter braise them which takes a little longer but is extra especially delicious - in a buttery Julia Child kind of way.  So i suggest the latter.  It's very easy to do, and all you need are endives, ham, cheese, flour, milk, and butter.  oh and some lemon juice.  and some salt and pepper.  and some nutmeg...

Heres exactly what you will need:

5 or 6 Endives (2 per person)
5 or 6 slices of ham (1 per endive)

4 tablespoons of butter
juice of one half lemon
3 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
salt and pepper
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup water

1/2 pound gruyere cheese (grated)

You will also need 1 heavy bottomed pot, 1 small pot, and a casserole dish.

The First thing to do is to butter braise the Endives.  To do this we can follow Julia Child's recipe which is this:
(preheat oven to 325°)

Rub 2 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a heavy pan (like a Creuset).  Take the Endives (which have been washed) and place them in the pan.  I like to rub them around in the pan to get them coated in the butter.  add some salt and pepper, the lemon juice, and the 1/4 cup of water.  Cover the pot and on the stove slowly boil for 10 minutes.

Endives Braising in Butter

After 10 minutes, uncover the pot and turn the heat all the way up and boil for another 10 minutes - until there is only 1 - 2 tablespoons of liquid left in the pot.  At this point take some waxed paper, and put on top of the endives - this will keep them from burning in the oven.  Place them in the oven for 30 minutes.

After about 20 minutes it is time to
make the Bechamel for the next stage.  To make the béchamel place 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan on the stove.  When the butter melts add in 3
tablespoons of flour.  you will have a yellowish paste.  with whisk in hand add the milk in slowly - 1/4 cup at a time - continuously whisking.  You don't want to have any lumps, so make sure that all the lumps disappear before you add the next 1/4 cup of milk.  (NEVER STOP WHISKING!) once all the milk is in, and it has come to a boil you will have a nice thick sauce.  at this point add the salt and pepper, and a generous pinch of nutmeg.

By this point the Endives will be Ready so take them out of the oven.  Turn the oven up to 450°

After Coming out of the Oven

Get your casserole dish out, and pour some of the béchamel into the bottom of it.  (about half).

Next with some tongs, carefully take each Endive and roll it up in a piece of ham

Ready to Roll

After rolling, place each roll into the casserole dish on top of the béchamel sauce.  once you have all of the rolled up Endives in the dish, pour the rest of the béchamel over them and top with the gruyere cheese.

After Cheesing

Place back in the oven at 450° for 30 minutes and cook until the cheese has gone all bubbly and brown.  If you want you can also place it in the broiler at the very end to give the cheese a nice browning.

Here it is after emerging from the oven:

Nice gooey melted Cheese

Close-up

And that's about it!  its good served with a green vegetable of your choice!  i used sautéed mustard greens. 

Jack is Cooking Peach and Berry Pie

Well Hello Internet!

Since yesterday was the hottest day of the year (i think it got up to 108°  -  which as a LOST fan obviously holds some special significance...)  I decided that i should turn my oven on to 400° and make a pie.  An extremely Delicious, gooey, oozing pie filled with very delicious Ingredients.

it all started because i found a Peach in my fridge.  Peaches are my absolute favorite fruit, and after eating it for breakfast, i just had to have more.  I hadn't baked anything in a while, so i figured i would make a pie.  but that's not all i found in the fridge, there were a few blackberries also!  This got my mind gears moving and i decided that i would make a Peach and Blackberry Pie.

However, since I had eaten all of the peaches and blackberries in my fridge I would have to go buy more.  So I braved the heat, and walked to Union Square market to buy some more Peaches.  Upon arriving I encountered more berries than I could walk away from, and so along with the Peaches and Blackberries i had set out for, i returned home with blueberries and gooseberries.  (GOOSEBERRIES!)

Delicious Fruit

and Baking Ensued!

Here's what you will need to make this pie - and you should definitely make this pie.

for the Crust (Pâte Brisée)- from Julia Child:
2 cups A/P flour
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
1 and 1/2 stick (6 oz) chilled butter - cut into small cubes
4 tbspns chilled vegetable shortening
1/2 cup of iced water

For the Filling:
7 or 8 Peaches
8 oz blackberries
8 oz blueberries
8 oz gooseberries (stemmed)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tbspn corn starch
2 tsp vanilla extract
the inside of 1/2 a vanilla bean (optional, but steps it up a notch)
3 tbspns Rum

For the Crumble
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/4 tspn nutmeg
3/4 cup granola
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Cold Butter

preheat oven to 400°

To make the Crust
Put all the ingredients except the water into a bowl, and cut the butter and shortening into the flour until it resembles a texture similar to oatmeal.  don't overmix the butter in, just get it to this crumble state.  (later i will do a post purely on Pie Crusts)

Add half of the water in, and mix until it just comes together.  if it is still very dry slowly add a little bit more water, but depending on the humidity of the day you will use more or less water.  (since it was VERY humid yesterday i used very little water at all)

once the dough has come together in a flaky ball, take walnut sized pieces smear them with the heel of your hand against the counter.  this will finish the mixing of the butter and the shortening.  gather all the dough together and wrap it up and chill is for an hour.

Next! prepare the fruit!

Peel and slice the peaches (this is a tedious, messy operation), put them in a bowl with the rest of the fruit, and add all the rest of the ingredients, and mix it up gently, as you don't want to destroy the lucious berries.

the fruit!

Now, since that probably took about an hour, take the chilled dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured board, and place it into your pie container.  Add the filling to it.  don't worry if its overflowing a little bit.  LET IT OVERFLOW!

put this in the fridge while you make the crumble.

to make the crumble (this ones easy!):
add all ingredients together in a bowl and mix (with your hands!!!!) until crumbly.
put it over the filling

before baking
(as you can see i actually made two.... but the ingredients listed here are only for one!)

place it on a tray and cook it first for 20 minutes uncovered.  then cover with tinfoil and bake it for another 25 minutes.  finally remove the tinfoil and bake it for a further 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes.

and then:

yummmmm

and then

want to eat

 and then

must. wait. 30. minutes 

and then yes you can eat it, and just look how delicious and gooey and sticky and scrumptious this is...

and save some for somebody else!

mmmmmm........

Jack is Cooking Pea Souffle

Well Hello Internet!

the other day (actually a couple of weeks ago... this post got lost somehow) i made a pea souffle with my newly learned knowledge of making souffle.  

apparently souffle's are very easy to make!

all you need is to make a bechamel, and egg whites, with whatever filling you want!

heres what you will need:

flour 1 tablespoon
butter 2 tablespoons
milk 3/4 cup
salt and pepper
a little nutmeg

frozen peas
garlic
an onion (chopped up)
salt and pepper
paprika
olive oil

6 egg whites
a pinch of salt

pepper jack cheese (grated)  you could use cheddar, or any other cheese of your own fancy.

preheat the oven to 450°

So First!  i sauteed the peas, garlic, and peas, in a little olive oil and flavored them with some salt and pepper and some paprika.  when they were all done i put them in my blender and blended it until it was a fine mush.  or one might say a purée...

Next!  i made my béchamel.  that's pretty easy.  first you melt the butter.  then you add the flour to the butter, and mix it together.  then you add the milk stirring constantly.  when it comes to a boil it should be a pretty thick mixture.  yum yum!  this is an important base to lots of different recipes.  i like to add a little nutmeg for flavor.  after it was done i mixed the pea purée into the béchamel.

then i took my egg whites and whipped them up until they were nice and stiff.  after that i took the egg whites and folded the béchamel purée mixture together.  really really fold these!  no mixing!  you must keep the fluffiness of the egg whites or it won't work!

after that i filled some ramequins half way, then put a nice little bit of cheese into each one, and filled them up to the top with more of the mixture.  and then a nice coating of cheese on top!

into the oven, and cook them until they have puffed up and gone nice and golden brown on top!

mmmmm mmmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Banana Flambé

Well Hello Internet!

this morning i decided to make banana flambé for breakfast. its pretty fun setting things on fire, and bananas are delicious, so these two things naturally go together!

this might be one of those don't try at home things, but i dunno whatever. if you think u can do it go for it. hahaha

what you need:
bananas
butter
powdered sugar
rum
vanilla extract
lemon juice

Jack is Cooking Root Vegetable and Leek Soup

Well Hello Internet!

This past sunday, julie and i decided to make a Root Vegetable and Leek Soup!

its very easy to make.

heres what you need

1 leek

1 potato

1 rutabaga

3 carrots

3 parsnips

1 onion

2 inches of ginger

parsley

chicken stock (3-4 cups)

salt and pepper (1/2 tablespoon each- more pepper if you want)

cinnamon

half and half (1/2 cup)

first chop everything up into 2 inch cubes (except the ginger.  chop that up pretty finely)

then with a little butter sauté the carrots, onions, ginger, and parsley for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start getting a little clear

put the rest of the vegetables in the pot with the chicken stock (enough that all the vegetables are covered)

cook for about 45 minutes.  at this point all the veggies should be nice and soft.  take a potato masher

and mash them all together.  i prefer the masher to an immersion blender, because i like it still a little chunky.  then add in the half and half, the salt and pepper, and the cinnamon (just a dash)

cook it for 15 more minutes, then serve.  i served it with a spoon of greek yogurt, some chives, and a dash more cinnamon

mmmm mmmm delicious

Jack is Cooking Roast Turkey!

Well Hello Internet!

So the main event of the Christmas Dinner : Turkey!  well almost the main event, there is ham also.

But anyways, the Turkey!  this is actually pretty easy and almost impossible to screw up.
you can put whatever herbs and spices you want on it, but we had a heritage breed turkey, and honestly its so darn good that it doesn't need anything except butter and stuffing!

So we took the turkey, and i put some of the delicious pancetta chestnut stuffing and i stuffed it in both ends.  then i took a whole lot of butter and rubbed it all over the turkey.

so somebody might notice that my turkey might be upside down.  however, i think its right side up.  and thats  because the skin on the breast is delicious, and if its in the bottom of the pan it gets soggy.  this way it gets really nice and crispy.  so BREAST UP!

after you've covered it in butter, put maybe an inch of water in the pan.  this is important.  very very important!  its the key to moist turkey!  then put tin foil over the whole thing.  but try to have it not touch the turkey.  imagine almost a tent of tinfoil.   this will contain some of the steam from the water, but let some out too.

Then roast it at 350 for about 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 175°.  for our turkey it took 4.5 hours.  when there is going to be about 45 minutes to an hour left cooking, REMOVE THE TINFOIL  this will allow the skin to get crispy!

  take it out and let it sit for another 30 minutes to an hour

 it will eventually get to 180°

then get your carving tools out and carve away!  Save the pan and the drippings to make Gravy

mmmm mmmm delicious

Jack is Cooking Mashed Carrots and Swede (Rutabaga)

Well Hello Internet!

The other vegetable side dish in the Christmas Dinner that we made is mashed carrots and swedes.  this is something that my grandmother used to make, and is especially delicious.  In england the vegetable is called Swede, but here in america they call it a Rutabaga.

whatever you call it its pretty darn good.

This is the easiest thing we made!

heres what you'll need:
carrots
swedes
butter
salt and pepper
nutmeg

so first peel and cut all the vegetables and put them in a pot covered with water.  boil until they are tender, but not mushy

remove and strain, and put them back into the pot. and mash up with a potato masher

add some butter, salt, pepper, and a little bit of nutmeg, and mash again!  keep it a little lumpy though, you don't want this to be creamy.

so that's the carrots!

mmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

Well Hello Internet!

Tonight i made a whole load more cookies!  this time i made chocolate cookies, and i have to say they are dangerously delicious.  woah man!

anyways they are real easy to make

here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cupmilk chocolate chips

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 2/3 cup pamelas gluten free pancake and baking mix (flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup walnuts

So First:

 

in a double boiler (i used a bowl in a pot of water) melt the butter and chocolate together over a low heat

 

meanwhile, in a bowl mix together the egg, sugar and vanilla

 

in another bowl, mix the flour, the baking powder and the salt together

 

by now the chocolate and butter have melted into a delicious mixture of chocolate and butter.... mmmmmmmmm

 

before you eat it all (and its cooled down a little bit), slowly pour and mix it into the sugar and egg

 

then slowly mix in the flour mixture, alternating with milk.  so a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk, etc.  until you have a nice batter.  this dough is going to be slightly more runny than normal.

put the dough in the fridge for like an hour.

preheat the oven to 350° (my oven takes about an hour...)

 

take a teaspoon, and spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet.  i sprinkled some christmas sugar on the cookies

 

bake them for 11 minutes, and out the come!  let them cool for 5-10 minutes on the pan, before putting them on a rack.  they will be so soft when they come out of the oven still, that they will melt through the rack at first!!

mmmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking more Cookies!

Well Hello Internet!

so today i made an experimental batch of cookies, to test out for christmas!  i used 5 different types of fillings, to see how successful they may or may not be.  either way they will definitely be delicious!  but some fillings may or may not work.

so from from left to right:

nutella, strawberryjam, four fruit jam, blueberry jam, peach preserve (jam?)

then finally after searching high and low, i found some coloured sugar:

and i baked them for 10 minutes:

the blueberry jam appears to be a lot more liquidy and therefor does not contain within the cookes as well.  also these are gluten free cookies, so the dough spread out quite a bit more.

they are extremely delicious!

for the recipe check out the previous cookie post.

to make them gluten free, i used pamelas gluten free pancake and baking mix, instead of flour.  although i had to use a little bit more than normal flour, to get the right consistency with the dough.

i will continue in my gluten free experiments, as more and more people seem to be gluten free

mmmm mmm delicious

Jack is Cooking Nutella Bomb Snickerdoodles

Well Hello Internet!

so since i had so much dough left over from last night, i decided to make more cookies today!  except this time, i made them even more f***ing delicious than they were!

heres what i did:

first i took the balls of dough, and i made hollowed them out

then i filled this pocket with nutella

i then reformed the ball around the nutella concealing it within!

then i rolled the dough in cinnamon sugar

put them on the cookie tray

and baked them at 350° for 12 minutes

here it is!

when you bite into it the nutella bomb explodes!

mmmm mmmm super delicious!

Jack is Cooking Really F***ing Delicious Sugar Cookies

Well Hello Internet!

So yesterday i went on a tour of the French culinary institute to investigate the possibilities of taking a pastry course.  and oh man was it awesome!  i got a contact sugar high!

i was so excited that i ran home and i decided to make cookies!  and then while they were cooking i was still so excited that i wrote a song about making the cookies! the song is called "really f***ing delicious sugar cookies"  and yes i say the "F" word a lot  in the song, so if your sensitive or something don't watch it.  but your gonna miss out on its supreme awesomeness!

 so check out that video at the end of this post!!!

but heres how you make these really f***ing delicious sugar cookies!  (aka the lyrics to the song!)

preheat oven to 350°

heres what you'll need:

2/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup butter

1.5 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3.5 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

So you take the butter, and the shortening, and the sugar and you mix it all together

until you get a nice creamy substance that looks really f***ing good

and then you take the eggs, and the vanilla extract, and you mix that into the creamy substance

until it looks really f***ing delicious

Then in another bowl, you take the flour and the baking powder and the salt, and you mix it together until it looks like flour again!  then you take this flour mixture, and you slowly mix it into the creamy delicious mixture, until you get a nice big ball of dough that looks really f***ing delicious!

Then you take this big ball of dough, and break of smaller balls, and roll them around in your hand until you have little balls of dough.  then you take these balls of dough, and you roll them around in sugar, (i also rolled some around in cinnamon sugar to make snickerdoodles)

place these sugar coated balls of dough on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven

and out they come!  and oh man are they really f***ing delicious!

the snickerdoodles are excellent with nutella on them.  i still have half of that really big ball of dough left, so i am going to make more cookies tomorrow night.  but im gonna do something really super special that is even better than this, so i will make another post about it!!!

mmmm mmmm delicious!

oh yah!  heres the song!