Author: The Blind Guy Cooks

There’s an app for that: Brie en Croute

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Brie en Croute after being cut open exposing all that gooey goodness.

Although Brie en Croute is enjoyed year round, I associate it with Christmas and holidays as it just seems so festive. The fillings you can use are limited only by your imagination; everything from a raspberry and almond to a pepper jelly and pecan filling to an olive and garlic compote. The Brie en Croute pictured above has a filling of a Scotch Bonnet pepper jelly and pecans.

Making a Brie en Croute is almost too easy; especially if you purchase your puff pastry. Here’s a video demostrating how to make puff pastry should you decide to make your own. It really isn’t too hard but it is time consuming: puff pastry. It is originally in French but has been overdubbed.

Here’s what I did to make the Scotch Bonnet pepper jelly and pecan Brie en Croute:

Ingredients

1 egg
1 tbsp. water
All-purpose flour
12″ x 12″ sheet of puff pastry or1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed.
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ cup Scotch Bonnet pepper jelly
1  Brie cheese round (approximately 8 ounces)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Make an egg wash by beating the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Sprinkle the flour on the work surface.  Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface and roll the pastry sheet into a 12 x 12 inch square. Cut the corners off the sheet of puff pastry to form a circle. Next, spread the pecans in the very center of the pastry in the approximate size of the Brie wheel. I like to take the outer container of the Brie and center it in the middle of the pastry and then lightly tap it giving me a guide to the size of the Brie wheel. Spread the jelly on top of the pecans and then place the Brie wheel on top of the jelly. Using a pastry brush, brush some of the egg wash on the outer edge of the pastry and then fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover and seal. Brush a little more egg wash over the seams to help seal.  Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Decorate with the pastry scraps, if desired and finally brush the entire pastry with the egg mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes before cutting and serve with the crackers or crostini.


Brie en Croute before cutting open. Use the scraps of puff pastry to decorate the top of your Brie en Croute.

Steak and Guinness Pie: Bacon, Steak, Guinness, and Cheese. What more is there?

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I have been wanting to make this Steak and Guinness Pie so I could blog about it for a long time. This recipe is my adaptation of a steak and Guinness pie recipe of Jamie Oliver’s. He uses a puff pastry for the crust where I choose to use a regular pie crust.

This is a great soul warming comfort food that would be fantastic on a cold winter day; especially one where you were snowed in.

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This recipe is written to use a single nine inch pie pan which works very well. I just happen to have small, five-inch, one and a half cup individual pie pans that I like to use for dishes like this.

Ingredients

4 slices bacon (sliced)
1 pound beef (cut into ½ to ¾ inch pieces)
1 onion (medium dice)
2 stalks celery (diced)
2 carrots (diced)
4 ounces mushrooms (quartered)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 Guinness
1 cup beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon rosemary (minced)
1 bay leaf
2 pie crusts
1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Flour for dredging

Directions

Fry the bacon in a 12″ cast iron skillet. When completely browned, remove from skillet with slotted spoon leaving the grease in the pan. Set bacon aside. Dredge beef cubes in flour and add to skillet to brown on all sides and then remove beef from skillet and set aside.

Add the onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Leave vegetables in the skillet and add the Guinness and deglaze the pan. Add the stock, bacon, beef, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the beef is tender, about 2-3 hours.

Line the bottom of a pie pan with the first pie crust and fill with beef stew. Sprinkle the cheese over the beef stew and cover with the top pie crust. Crimp the two shells together and make a couple slits in the shell to allow steam to vent during cooking. Mix the egg and water and brush it onto the top of the pie crust. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in a preheated 350° oven until golden brown on top.

ItaloAmericano Cuisine: Veal Parmesan

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Before you even ask, “How could you cook with veal,” and tell me “It’s inhumane!” Let me tell you this veal came from a responsible producer. You can read about them here: Strauss Farms Veal. Don’t be afraid to cook with and eat veal; just choose your producer with care.

Veal Parmesan, as well as chicken Parmesan, is a wonderful Americanized Italian food. You will have a hard time finding it in Italy. It is another one of those wonderful cases when Italian immigrants modified a common food from their homeland to fit their new life.

Here’s what I did for veal Parmesan:

Ingredients

2 veal cutlets (about four ounces each)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup shredded provolone cheese

Instructions

1. BREAD VEAL. Place flour in shallow dish. Beat eggs in second shallow dish. Combine bread crumbs, ¼ cup Parmesan, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in third shallow dish. One at a time, coat veal cutlets lightly with flour, dip them in egg, and dredge in bread-crumb mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer to wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and let sit 5 minutes.

2. COOK VEAL. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat ½ cup oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook cutlets until lightly browned, about 2 minute per side. Transfer to wire rack set inside baking sheet and bake until veal is tender and deep golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

3. MAKE SAUCE. Meanwhile, pour off excess oil. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until sauce is thickened; about 10-15 minutes. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper; cover and keep warm.

4. ASSEMBLE. Combine remaining Parmesan and provolone in medium bowl. Top browned veal cutlets with cheese mixture and bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Transfer half of sauce to platter and top with veal cutlets. Spoon remaining sauce over cutlet. You may also serve with a thin spaghetti. If you do, plate spaghetti and then top with sauce, veal cutlet and remaining sauce.

My new favorite way to cook eggs: Shirred Eggs

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Shirred Eggs fresh from the oven.

I have discovered my new favorite way to cook eggs; shirred eggs or as the French call them, oeufs en cocotte. Not only are these insanely delicious, they are extremely easy to prepare. With the holiday’s quickly approaching and often times needing to prepare a breakfast for many people, this is also a great way to make a lot of eggs all at once.

Your guests will ooh and aah over what appears to be a very complicated breakfast. Once they bite into these creamy, cheesy, delectable eggs they will be even more impressed. Enjoy it! Only you will know truly how easy these are to create.


Shirred eggs prior to baking.

Here is my recipe for shirred eggs or oeufs en cocotte. (Makes one serving)

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons shredded Gruyere cheese
a few sprigs of thyme
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a four inch ramekin. You can use a smaller size but you may have to adjust your cooking time.

Crack the eggs into the ramekin. Pour two tablespoons of cream onto the eggs. Season with a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Sprinkle the cheese and thyme leaves onto the eggs.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the egg is ‘set’ to your preference. Serve immediately. The eggs will continue to set up once after they have been removed from the oven so get them to the table as soon as possible.

Corn Bread from Scratch

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On Sunday, I posted a recipe for my Buttermilk Pancakes made from scratch. In the post I questioned why people purchase convenience items like these since they are so easy to make from scratch. Tonight I made some black bean soup and a corn bread. The corn bread did not come from a box; and why should it?

Chances are, most people have all the ingredients for corn bread in their pantry. Why should you spend the extra money on having those common ingredients prepackaged for you?

Here’s all you need to do:

Ingredients

1 ½ C all-purpose flour
1 C cornmeal
¼ C sugar
2 t baking powder
¼ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 C milk
½ C unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Grease 10″ cast iron skillet. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared skillet and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Additional note:

You may use a 9″ square pan instead of the cast iron skillet if you would like. I, however, prefer the cast iron skillet as it heats more evenly and gives the corn bread a crisper crust.

Buttermilk Pancakes from Scratch

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It’s a lazy Sunday mornings and everyone in the house is in the mood for a big breakfast. Mornings like this make me smile as they give me a chance to whip up a batch of my from scratch buttermilk pancakes.

I’ve never quite understood why people purchase certain convenience foods; especially things like any of the “Helper” boxed dinners, Alfredo sauce, and today’s subject – pancake mix. It isn’t because these things are inherently terrible or necessarily bad for you; they are full of unnecessary chemicals and preservatives though. I don’t understand why simply because things like this are just not that difficult to make from scratch. In my opinion, not only do they taste much better, but you control what goes into your food. Here’s my from scratch buttermilk pancakes. You could substitute regular milk for the buttermilk or simply add a tablespoon of lemon juice to each cup of milk and let it set for at least five minutes to make your own buttermilk substitute.

Give this recipe a try. You’ll make some of the best pancakes you ever tasted. You may even start singing, “They’re so light ‘n fluffy-brown, They’re the finest in the town…”

Ingredients

1 ½ C all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 ¼ – 1 ½ C buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 T vegetable oil

Directions

In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Start with mixing 1 ¼ cups buttermilk to the flour. Add up to another ¼ cup if necessary if the batter is too dry. Add the two eggs, vanilla, and oil, whisking until mixed but still a bit lumpy.

Heat griddle and ladle ¼ cup of pancake batter onto hot grill. When the pancake begins to bubble flip and cook a couple more minutes on the other side.

Additional note

Using a ¼ cup measuring cup to measure out the batter will result in a pancake that measures approximately 4 inches in diameter. This recipe will produce 12 to 15 4 inch pancakes. I like this size because any leftover pancakes can easily be frozen with a piece of wax paper between each pancake. They can easily be taken out of the freezer and reheated for a great mid-week breakfast. Four inch pancakes easily fit in most toasters for reheating which produces a nice crispy cake as opposed to a soggy cake reheated in a microwave.

Roasted Butternut Squash Chipotle Soup

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I included this soup in a post last October that contained three recipes. I made this again today and tweaked it just a little. This soup is also so good I thought it deserved its own post. You can easily make this a vegetarian soup by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Here it is:

Roasted Butternut Squash Chipotle Soup

Ingredients

Approximately 4 pounds of roasted butternut squash (instructions below)
Two carrots
Two stalks celery
One small to medium sized onions
Several cloves of garlic
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Olive oil (for sautéing)
Walnut oil (for roasting squash; you may use olive oil instead)
1 cup heavy cream
One canned Chipotle peppers plus a little of the adobe sauce

Directions

Roasting the Butternut Squash
Preheat oven to 375° F. Slice squash length wise in half and scoop out seeds. Rub walnut oil over cut side of squash and place face up on baking sheet. Season with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and fresh ground nutmeg. Roast until squash is fork tender, approximately 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Making the soup
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in large pot. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and salt and sauté until soften, about 10 minutes. Scoop flesh from roasted butternut squash into pot. Add chicken broth and diced Chipotle peppers along with some adobe sauce from peppers. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Working in small batches, transfer soup to blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Return to pot, stir in cream, and serve.

Spaghetti aglio e olio — Every man needs to know how to make this

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During our daily morning meeting today, I mentioned that it is World Pasta Day. Upon doing so, one of my co-workers said that she had made the most fantastic pasta last night that was really light and simple, and tasted so good. She said it only had 5 ingredients. Right away I knew she was talking about spaghetti aglio e olio; spaghetti with garlic and oil.

This recipe is very easy. Every man, especially a young bachelor, needs to have this recipe in his recipe repertoire. As long as he doesn’t burn the boiling water, he is sure to impress a young lady with his cooking skills.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced, or more to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 pound spaghetti
Grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano

Directions

Bring 6 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes in the oil until the garlic begins to brown. Turn off the heat (the garlic will continue to brown; you don’t want it to over-brown and become bitter).

When the spaghetti is done, drain, return to the pan, and drizzle the oil mixture over the spaghetti. Stir until evenly combined. Sprinkle the grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano on top and serve.

Cheddar Ale Soup

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Cold, rainy days are perfect for warm, hearty soups. One of my favorites is cheddar ale made with a nice hoppy brew. If I would have had some pretzel bread, I would have made bread bowls and served this soup in a pretzel bread bowl. Cheese, beer, pretzels and bacon… the four basic food groups!

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

4 slices bacon
4 tablespoons salted butter
½ cup minced onion
½ cup minced carrot
½ cup minced celery
1 small bay leaf
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached.)
1 (12-ounce) bottle ale (I used Schlafly Dry Hopped APA.)
2 cups half-and-half
1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 pound Sharp Cheddar, grated (about 4 cups)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Directions

1. In skillet, cook bacon until crisp; crumble and set aside.

2. In large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter; add onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are translucent and softened, about 4 minutes.

3. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes longer.

4. Gradually whisk in ale and chicken broth; stirring until mixture is bubbling and thickened.

5. Remove bay leaf and transfer to blender. Purée until smooth. Return to pan and add dry mustard and cream. Bring soup to simmer, stirring often so it doesn’t scorch on bottom of pan.

6. Add cheese a handful at a time; stir until cheese is melted and soup is hot, but do not let soup boil. Remove from heat, remove and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Serve topped with crumbled bacon.

A bit of an unusaul tart: Pecan Brie Tart

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Think of a tart and you usually think of a sweet, fruit filled creation. However, the history of tarts shows a more savory beginnings. Tarts in medieval times traditionally were meat filled pastries. Over time they transformed into the sweeter fruit and custard desserts we find today.

This weekend I was given a challenge to make a dessert that contained the following three ingredients: butter, whipped cream, and brie. The first two were easy. It was the brie that caused consternation. In the end, I think I came up with an excellent sweet and savory tart. Here is what I did. This recipe will make four, four inch individual tarts.

The tart shell

Having never made a tart before, I went in search of a quick and easy tart shell recipe. I settled on David Lebovitz’s adaptation of Paule Caillat’s tart dough recipe. Caillat teaches the art of French cooking in Paris. Her recipe is a little unconventional as she begins by browning the butter and the dough is mixed while the fats are hot rather than cold as is typical. This recipe will make enough dough for a 9 inch tart pan. I used four smaller 4 inch tart pans to make individual tarts.

Ingredients

90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
150 g (5 ounces) flour

Preheat the oven to 410º F.

In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, such as a Pyrex bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.

Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.

When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula.

Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough, about the size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks.

Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved dough to fill in and patch them.

Let the shell cool before filling.

The filling

Ingredients

8 oz good quality brie (I used a triple cream brie)
½ cup finely chopped pecans
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
3 ounces whiskey (I used Templeton Rye)

Directions

Cut brie into 4 equal wedges and place in tart shell.

In a saucepan, heat pecans, sugar and whiskey over medium heat, stirring until bubbly. (I chose Templeton Rye because I thought the nutty, buttery flavor of the whiskey would add to the flavors of the brown sugar and pecans. I was right.)

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minutes or until thickened.

Working quickly, spoon pecan mixture over Brie.

Bake in 375?F oven for 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Because my challenge called for whipped cream, I simply whipped some heavy cream and added a dollop on top of the tarts. They would have been just as delicious without the whipped cream.

A note on whipped cream. For the life of me, I cannot understand why people buy Cool Whip when in under five minutes you can have real whipped cream without unpronounceable chemicals. All you need is to make sure your cream is very cold and a good quality whisk. It also helps to chill the bowl a few minutes too so it is also cold. Poor the very cold cream into the chilled bowl and whisk away. You will be amazed at how quickly you will have a very light and airy whipped cream.