Married to Rock

So when I was home sick last week, I watched a bunch of episodes of Married to Rock. And then last night I watched the most recent one (there really isn't much on TV right now, don't judge me). And now I've been telling everyone what a good show it is and everyone is looking at me like I am insane. Um, hello? Rock "stars" (if I'm being honest), Rock wives/girlfriends, and drama?! It's a perfect reality show. Much to my husband's dismay, who keeps saying, "WHY are you watching this?"

No idea. None. But I am fascinated.

First of all, I love Josie Stevens. Her boobs are the biggest I have ever seen. And she is so not afraid to show them. (I would post a picture here to prove my point, but I'd probably get sued for using a photo without paying for the rights, and I am a lawyer so therefore I freak out about these things.) Also, she is such a sweetheart! Every time someone needs something, she runs right over and says such sweet, nice things. Also, Etty Farrell? Smart! When she gives relationship advice to one of her friends, I'm all "I think I want to be her friend." And AJ Celi? Confident and self-aware. Can you see that I know their names? That's how much I have watched this. I'm not gonna lie, I thought they were all going to be dumb bimbos. And now I just want to have a cocktail with them.

There's something wrong with me isn't there?

Cooking Machine. Right here.

See this beautiful thing?? THIS is what my lovely, wonderful husband got me for Christmas. Apparently, when we were at Williams Sonoma on Christmas Eve I pointed it out and proceeded to claim that I can't possibly get one that is less than 9 cups, because that would just be pointless. According to him, he then proceeded to panic. He could not remember what size the one he had ordered was. He ran away from me in the store (seriously, I could not find him anywhere!) and got one of the employees to help him find the one he ordered so he could be sure he got the right one. Luckily, he had gotten me an 11-cup processor so he figured he was safe. I had no idea he was getting this for me, despite the fact that I mentioned I wanted one every time we went into Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table. I was so excited I began planning our dinners for the next week that would allow me to use this lovely machine as much as possible. Here is what I have made so far:

• Salsa
• Marinara
• Bread crumbs (seasoned and plain, so EASY!)
• Basil Pesto
• Enchilada sauce

I need more ideas. Does my hubby know me or what? But I am trying to remind my KitchenAid mixer that I still love it, I don't want it to get jealous and stop working on me.

Baklava

Still sick. Luckily I don't have court or clients this week (yet) so I am spending my day on my couch watching Married to Rock. And planning my baking. Tonight I will be making Baklava. This is my dad's absolute favorite dessert. He goes nuts for it, and asks me to make it for him every Christmas. Its my family's traditional recipe, that I have changed very slightly since I started making it. So.....voila!

Filling:

• 1 pound nuts, chopped (I usually use walnuts, but this version I make tonight will be with pistachios)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 2 tablespoons rose water (It's easy to find this in any middle-eastern grocery store, and some major grocery chains sell it as well

Syrup

• 1 cups of sugar
• 1 cups of water
• 1 cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 pound phyllo dough (If this is frozen, you will need a few hours for it to thaw)
• 1 cup of melted butter (it's not a health food)

To make filling, chop nuts (or just buy the pre-chopped nuts, also works great) and combine with remaining filling ingredients. Toss together. 

Melt butter. Brush bottom of a 9x13 pan with butter and begin layering with phyllo dough. Phyllo dough should be soft enough to work with, but be sure to keep it moist and prevent it from drying out. I do this by keeping a dampened kitchen towel over it. You basically layer the phyllo dough to fit the bottom of your pan. After each layer, brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Bottom layer should be about 8-10 sheets. Sprinkle a little less than half of the nut mixture over the phyllo. Continue with the phyllo layering, using 4-5 sheets. Sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the phyllo, reserving about a half a cup for the top. Layer with another 8-10 sheets of phyllo. On the top layer of phyllo, brush with melted butter, then evenly sprinkle the remaining nut mixture for topping.

Using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into diamonds or squares. Cut diamonds by cutting four long rows and then cutting into those four long rows making diagonal cuts. Be sure to cut all the way through the baklava to the pan. Place baklava in 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.

While baklava is baking, make the syrup. Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and boil until sugar is dissolved. Add honey and lemon juice. Simmer until sauce begins to thicken, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. At this point you can also add a little rose water to add more flavor.

Baklava is done when you see the pastry flaking and is golden. Remove baklava from oven and pour about 3/4 of the mixture over the baklava. Allow to cool for about half an hour. Pour remaining syrup over baklava. Done!

• 
  

Sick. Right before Christmas. Fantastic!

Family law clients are out of their damned minds. Okay, moving on.

So I am sick. It's so fantastic being sick right before Christmas. Apparently my body is not aware that I do NOT have time to be sick right now. I have to make cookies. And cakes. And french onion soup. Ugh. I'm going to drug myself up in the hopes that it will make me at least half functional. If I stand long enough to work my Kitchenaid to make these just for today, I'll be happy. I'll try for more tomorrow. Anyway, ever since I was a kid my dad has made what he calls "Canela." Canela is basically the Spanish word for cinnamon. But this is basically a drink that my dad has made during Christmas since I was a wee little one, and it always makes me feel better. Now that I'm all sickly, I'm making it in the hopes that it will turn me into a human again.

Take about 4-5 cinnamon sticks, and place in about 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil the cinnamon in water for about an hour. Check the Canela every 15-20 minutes and when you start to see the water reducing, add more water. This will basically make a dark, strong cinnamon water. Add sugar and allow it to melt. I usually put in about a 1/2 cup, but you can add more or less to make it more or less sweet. Once sugar is melted, remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks. Pour cinnamon concentrate into a pitcher. Add about 2-3 more cups of water to dilute the concentrated mixture. Refrigerate.

This makes your house smell so amazing. And it is a totally home-y, holiday drink. I basically consider it my Christmas replacement for Sweet Tea. Now let's hope it gets me through this damned sickness!

Chocolate cake + Bailey's = Best Christmas ever

Chocolate cake can be a mood-lifter. It can give you a moment of great pleasure and happiness. It can also be dry, and bland. I have made a lot of chocolate cake over the years. I started baking when I was about 11, because my mother absolutely hated to bake and it was the only way that myself or my sister got to eat baked goods - if I made them. The very first thing I ever baked completely on my own was from a box. Chocolate cake. Since then, I never, NEVER make any cake, cookie, muffin or anything from a box. Because here's the thing people: it's not that hard. Basically, the cake box just contains all the dry ingredients pre-mixed. Plus a million preservatives and other crap that has a lot of chemical names I cannot say. And they never taste as good as made from scratch. So since it's not that much harder, and maybe 5 minutes more work, I beg you to please make this cake - without a box. Everyone you feed it to will love you. I get asked for this recipe every time I make it. So here ya go:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee (I have also used espresso, which just gives it a richer flavor)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.(I'm a layer cake kinda girl, but a 9x13 inch pan works, and also this can be used for cupcakes, I've done that a lot too)
• Just a side tip: If you can, line the bottom of your cake pans with a circle of parchment paper, it makes removing the cake from the pans soooooo much easier, it will make your life better)
2. In large bowl (or if you are as obsessed with your KitchenAid like me, you can use your mixer) combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
3. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla into the well in the center. Slowly incorporate and then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Don't freak out if this batter is too thin, it should be!
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Depending on your oven, this might take up to 50 minutes. 
5. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. If you used parchment, you can remove the parchment now. 
6. Once cake is completely cool (do not frost this cake warm, the frosting will melt), frost cake.

My fave frosting for this cake is a chocolate ganache because it makes it even richer. Just melt (in the microwave is fine, just do it for short times to make sure not to burn the chocolate) 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped with 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. For a little pizazz, add some rum. Pour over the cake and you're done. I have also been known to top this cake with cream cheese frosting and raspberries to make it even more festive. You really can't go wrong either way.

And last but definitely not least. When serving the cake, serve with coffee and Bailey's.  It's so amazing, it make Christmas that much better.

Confrontation Class

My poor husband, the non-lawyer, is taking a class for his company about "Confrontation in the Workplace." Basically they want a bunch of techies and engineers to not run away in fear whenever someone gets pissed off (which is pretty much what they do now). They all had to take a survey before the class to see their level of confrontation. Basically they all got "Confrontation Avoider." I, of course, then proceed to BEG and PLEAD for him to please bring me home a copy of the survey so my lawyer friends and I can take it. I have been unsuccessful. In fact he said "Do you guys really need a survey to say you are confrontational??" Um, yes. We are competitive, we want to see who is the most confrontational, duh. He has had one class. He came home and said:

Hubs: "In class today they told us the wrong ways to be confrontational."
Me: "Uh -huh" (Busily reading)
Hubs: "For example they showed us a video where the woman yells at the man to stop being a big baby."
Me: (Laughing)
Hubs: "See! I watched that and thought, oh crap my wife does that all the time."
Me: "But that's just funny."
Hubs: "Well, they say that's not the right way to fight."
Me: "Well tell them that I wouldn't say it if you weren't being a big baby." (Back to reading)

As you can see, I'm really good at learning my faults.

Bread!

So last year for Christmas my dad bought me a book on baking bread. Mostly to amuse himself. See, my dad thinks it's just hilarious that I can bake tiered cakes, pies, cookies, fudge, cheesecake (usually) and cannot, for the life of me, bake bread. Everytime I try to make it, it doesn't rise properly and it comes out like a block of bread. So he bought me the book and told me to "practice" and then chuckled. (Let's just say it was not a good idea to bring over to my parent's house one of these blocks of bread. Until I figure this bread thing out, I will never live it down.) So Saturday afternoon started the 24 hour trial that was Ciabatta. Here is the recipe I used from my dad's book combined with a friend's recipe. Oh, and I used my KitchenAid mixer because I live for my KitchenAid mixer. You can do it by hand, you just have to knead with hands wherever the recipe says to stir in KitchenAid mixer.

(Day 1)

1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) - This was a damned pain

1/3 cup warm water

1 cup bread flour

(Day 2)

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) - was still a pain the next day

2/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. To Make Starter: In a small bowl stir together 1/8 teaspoon of the yeast and the warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. (You shouldn't see many granules at this point)  
2. Using a standing mixer, stir together yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the water, and 1cup of the bread flour. Stir 4 minutes (do not move this from the stir setting). When starter becomes smooth and starts to form a ball, transfer starter dough into a bowl that has been lightly oiled, then cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand at cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 day. The starter will be a little bubbly.
3.  To Make Bread: In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, starter dough, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened. (It should start looking like a sticky dough). Add salt and mix until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
4. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. This can take up to 3 hours, but dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.  Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and separate in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened warm kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
5. At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425 F (220 degrees C). (You can get a baking stone for about $10 at Target - they're also great for baking homemade pizza)
6. Transfer loaves on parchment to warmed baking stone. (I made my hubby do this, I am prone to falls and spills). The easiest way to do this is to place the loaves on the parchment onto a cooking sheet and then sliding the parchment from the cookie sheet onto the stone.
7. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. If you knock on the bottom of the ciabatta and it sounds hollow, it is done. Cool loaves on a wire rack.

Results: Pretty darned good. It's not as good as fancy-bakery bought bread but after all that work you feel rather good about yourself. Unless of course you're married to my husband, who says after you place both loaves onto the cooling rack: "Wow, two whole days of work and we got two loaves of bread. Aren't these like $1.50 at Jewel?" Thanks dear. Anybody who reads this (all 4 of my friends) please let me know if you have tips on baking better bread. It is much appreciated. And the tip had better not be "Go to Jewel" because my husband already took that one.

I'm less rant-y now

It snowed in the city!

When I walked off the train yesterday it was snowing lightly. That made me very happy. And of course I had to listen to Christmas carols on my way home after that.

Then today, it snowed again! This is making me feel all festive.

I'm going to bake something Christmas-ey this weekend. Maybe this:

I get hungry just looking at that. Chocolate and raspberries basically scream Christmas to me. I have an old recipe that I might adjust and try to make a little yummier. Recipe to come!