fruit | Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats

Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

Episode 140 – “My Pod”

Posted: May 30, 2020 in Season 9
Tags: alton brown, cream, creme brulee, custard, dessert, dressing, fruit, good eats, pear, poached, salad, sugar, sweet, vanilla

Two days ago marked five years since Ted was diagnosed with cancer. It was also his birthday yesterday, so we certainly have some things to celebrate this week! Good eats will absolutely be on our plates the next few days, including the steak au poivre from episode 141 – stay tuned for that. Thank goodness we will be having nice weather too!

I just finished up the recipes from episode 140, which were three vanilla-centered recipes. I had to order some vanilla beans for these recipes; I didn’t get the most expensive ones, but they were fairly plump, moist, and aromatic, so I think they were sufficient. In case you wonder why vanilla beans are so expensive… Did you know that vanilla flowers can only be pollinated on one day every year? They also often have to be pollinated by hand. In addition to that, vanilla pods have to cure after they are harvested, which takes months.

Fruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing

To first showcase vanilla, and specifically vanilla extract, Alton whipped up a fruit salad with a vanilla dressing. To make the salad, place the following items in a large mixing bowl: 1 Granny Smith apple (peeled, cored, and diced), 1 C halved seedless red grapes, 1 pear (peeled, cored, and diced), 10-12 halved medium strawberries, 1 peeled/diced mango, 1 sliced banana, and 1/3 C toasted chopped walnuts. I toasted my walnuts in a small skillet until they were fragrant.

Walnuts, toasting in a skillet.

Granny Smith apple and red grapes.

Granny Smith apple and red grapes, along with pear, mango, banana, and toasted walnuts.

To make the dressing for the salad, whisk together in a small bowl: 1 t vanilla extract, 1 t lemon juice, 1 t honey, 1/4 t Kosher salt, 1/4 t pepper, 1/2 C plain yogurt, and 1/4 C mayonnaise.

Vanilla extract, lemon juice, honey, Kosher salt, and pepper.

Plain yogurt and mayo added to the dressing.

Add the dressing to the fruit, and toss to coat. Season to taste with additional pepper.

Dressing added to fruit.

Strawberries added.

Alton’s vanilla fruit salad.

When I made this fruit salad, I was reminded that I should make fruit salads more often. I liked the combination of flavors and textures that Alton chose, as some of the fruit added tartness and crunch while others were softer and sweeter. The nuts were a nice addition, and I don’t think I’ve ever included them in a fruit salad before. The dressing itself is only very mildly sweet, which is really all you need with all of the sugar from the fruit. The only thing I question with this recipe is whether it truly exhibited the power of vanilla extract. I appreciate that Alton included a vanilla recipe that only used extract, but this recipe was pretty faint in the vanilla department. I would argue that Alton should have perhaps demonstrated how to make homemade vanilla extract, as he could then have used the homemade extract to make a delicious vanilla poundcake. Or, he could have used the homemade extract to flavor a cocktail. Just my two cents.

Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is Alton’s second vanilla-based recipe, and he uses a whole vanilla bean for this one. To start, use a sharp knife to split a vanilla bean open and use the back of the knife to scrape out the seeds. Bring a quart of heavy cream to a simmer, along with the scraped vanilla bean and its seeds.

Scraped vanilla bean.

Scraped vanilla bean placed in a quart of cream.

Once simmering, remove the pan from the heat and let the vanilla steep in the cream for 15 minutes.

Cream after steeping.

While the cream is steeping, whisk 6 egg yolks in a large bowl until they have lightened in color and preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Slowly add 1/2 C sugar to the yolks; vanilla sugar is ideal, if you have it. You can make vanilla sugar by placing a vanilla bean in some sugar. In fact, you can make it at this point of this recipe by rinsing the steeped vanilla bean and placing it in some sugar for later use.

Six egg yolks.

Six egg yolks, beaten and then sugar was whisked in.

Next, slowly add the warm cream to the eggs, whisking in just a little bit at a time until it is all added.

Ready to slowly add warm cream to yolks.

Custard after adding all of the cream.

Line a roasting pan with a tea towel and place six ramekins inside, dividing the custard among them. Alton filled his ramekins after placing his roasting pan in the oven, but I found it easier to fill the ramekins on my countertop.

Custard poured into ramekins within a tea towel-lined roasting pan.

Either way, once the filled ramekins are in the roasting pan inside the oven, add hot (not boiling) water to the roasting pan until it comes about half-way up the ramekins.

Custards in the oven and hot water added to come halfway up the ramekins.

Bake the custard for 40-45 minutes or until it is set, but still jiggly in the center. Okay, so I had enough custard to fill six ramekins plus a larger, shallower dish (see photo above). My shallow custard was very obviously done after about 30-35 minutes, as it had greater surface area.

Shallow custard after baking.

My ramekins were still very jiggly at 45 minutes, and my intuition told me to cook them longer. I ignored my intuition, however, as I could hear Alton stressing that you do not want to overcook the custard.

Ramekins after baking – still underdone in the middle.

Yeah, I should have listened to my intuition. My ramekins were still very wobbly in the center after cooling to room temperature. I decided to put them back in the oven again, and I ended up cooking them for at least 20 minutes the second time around. They were a little more golden on top than they should have been, but they ended up setting up just fine. Let the custards cool to room temperature and then refrigerate them until ready to serve.

Custards after

To brulee the custard, sprinkle an even layer of sugar (again, vanilla sugar is best) over the top of the custard.

Sugar sprinkled over the custard surface.

Using a torch, heat the sugar until it begins to brown in places. Then, pick the ramekin up and rotate it as you hold the ramekin at a 45 degree angle, letting the molten sugar flow over the surface as you continue to brulee. My sister-in-law gave me a small butane torch years ago, so I used that. Alton prefers to use a high-powered torch from a hardware store.

Alton’s creme brulee.

This was a delicious dessert, even despite my initial under-baking. The custard was perfectly smooth and rich, and had a deep vanilla flavor. Alton’s brulee method of rotating on an angle worked perfectly, giving a perfect golden, sugary crust every time. This is a wonderful recipe – just be sure to cook the custards until they are just barely wobbly in the center. Oh, and if your ramekins are sized as mine are, you will likely have enough custard for at least eight desserts!

Vanilla Poached Pears

My mom got on a short kick years ago of making poached pears. I recall her making at least three or four types of poached pears over, what seemed to be, just a few short weeks. If I’m being honest, I remember hoping she would finally make something different for dessert! I don’t believe that I had ever made poached pears prior to this recipe of Alton’s that I prepared last week. This recipe starts with pouring a 750 ml bottle of riesling or viognier into a large saucepan.

A bottle of Riesling.

Add 1 C water, 5 oz sugar (vanilla sugar is best), and 1 vanilla bean that has been split/scraped.

A vanilla bean, split and scraped.

Wine, water, sugar, and scraped vanilla bean being brought to a simmer.

Bring the wine mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. While the liquid heats, peel and core (from the bottom) four pears, leaving the stems intact; Alton did not specify a certain type of pear in the episode. Oh, and to core his pears, Alton used a spade drill bit, so Ted picked one up for me. The drill bit worked really well!

Pears, ready to be cored with a spade drill bit.

Cored pear.

Place the prepped pears in the almost-boiling liquid and cover the pan.

Pears added to simmering liquid.

Let the pears cook for 30 minutes or until they are knife tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and let them cool for 30 minutes at room temperature. Conversely, I see that the online recipe instructs you to cool the pears in the refrigerator.

Pears after cooking for about 30 minutes.

While the pears cool, increase the heat under the cooking liquid and reduce the liquid until you have about one cup remaining, which should take 20-25 minutes. I found that it took a little longer than this for my liquid to adequately reduce to a syrup.

Cooking liquid before reducing.

Cooking liquid after reducing.

Once reduced, serve the pears with the warm syrup.

Alton’s poached pears.

Vanilla flavor and aroma were very evident in these pears, as the vanilla seemed to have actually permeated the pears themselves, and the syrup also had a lovely vanilla infusion. The syrup was sweet, but not cloyingly so, which I really appreciated. I should have cooked my pears a little longer than I did, so mine were a bit too firm, but that was my error. All in all, this recipe did a great job of showcasing vanilla and is a great way to utilize fruit in a dessert. This would also be an easy dessert to serve for a dinner party, as you could easily double the syrup and cook multiple pears in a large pot.

Episode 138 – “A Pie in Every Pocket”

Posted: April 20, 2020 in Season 9
Tags: alton brown, chocolate, deep fried, dessert, dough, empanada, fruit, good eats, mango, pastry, pie, pocket pie, pop tart, poptart, snack, toaster

My quest appears now be to complete a blog post during nap time. Will it happen this time? I’m guessing not, but we’ll give it a shot. We’re all still in isolation as we wait for this pandemic to be deemed as safely past. Since we can’t go out to eat, we may as well cook, right? We have been trying to support some of our local restaurants by getting takeout here and there, but I’m also cooking as much as I can with a six month old baby. Lately, I’ve been futzing with sourdough, as I have my mom’s old starter and a new one I picked up from a local eatery. This episode has nothing to do with sourdough, though. Instead, it deals with pocket pies. The recipes from this episode are all contained in one link, which is here.

Well, I did not successfully finish a blog post during nap time. In fact, it’s now nap time again two days later! Let’s give this another go.

Alton’s pocket pies have numerous iterations, so you can play with fillings, cooking methods, etc. The online link contains recipes for his pocket pie dough and for two fillings. To make the dough, pulse together in a food processor: 2 t baking powder, 3/4 t Kosher salt, and 9.5 ounces flour; this will “sift” and aerate the flour.

“Sifting” flour, Kosher salt, and baking powder in the food processor.

Place 2.5 ounces of shortening in ice water to chill for a few minutes. Once chilled, remove the shortening from the water and place it in a large bowl.

Chilling shortening in ice water.

Chilled shortening in a bowl.

Add the flour mixture to the shortening and use your fingertips to work the shortening into the flour. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in 3/4 C milk, stirring well (you want gluten development here).

Chilled shortening in a bowl with flour mixture on top.

Milk poured into well of dry ingredients.

Turn the dough onto a counter and knead it 10-20 times with your hands.

Finished dough after kneading.

Roll the dough until it is 1/2″ thick and cut rounds with a 2.5 inch circular cutter. Roll each round until it is a thin disc measuring 5-6 inches in diameter. Place the dough rounds between sheets of wax paper and let them chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before forming pies.

Dough rolled to 1/2″ thick and cut into rounds.

Dough rounds rolled to circles and placed between sheets of wax paper.

Alton’s favorite fruit filling for hand pies is a curried mango filling. You want this filling to be chilled before you use it, so you’ll want to make it several hours ahead. Peel and dice four mangoes, and place them in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/2 C cider vinegar, 2 t curry powder, and 1/4 C fresh lime juice to the pan.

Mangoes, brown sugar, cider vinegar, curry powder, and lime juice in a large saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, place a lid on the pan, and decrease the heat to a simmer. Let the filling simmer for 30 minutes.

Simmering the mango filling after bringing it to a boil.

Finished mango filling.

Cool the filling at room temperature for an hour, and then place it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours; a metal bowl will speed up the chilling.

Alternatively, for dessert pies, you can make Alton’s favorite chocolate filling. To do this, put 10 ounces of softened butter in a large ziplock bag. Add 2 1/2 C sugar, 1/4 C + 1 T cocoa powder, and a pinch of Kosher salt.

Chocolate filling ingredients in a large plastic bag: butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and Kosher salt.

Seal the bag and mash the filling with your hands until it is combined. When you are ready to fill pies, you can simply snip one of the bottom corners off of the bag and pipe the filling directly onto the dough.

Although there are no real recipes for other fillings in this episode, Alton did mention some other filling possibilities. For example, you could use leftover beef stew as a pie filling. Or, you could make mini pizza pies by filling the dough with pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings.

Regardless of which fillings you utilize, to form the pies place a large spoon of filling on one side of each chilled dough circle. Rub the edges of the circle with egg wash (1 egg plus 2 t water). Fold the dough over the filling to form a half moon, and press any air out with your fingers. Press the edges together with your fingers to seal them well, and use a fork to crimp the edges together. Place the sealed pies on a parchment-lined sheet pan and cut three small steam vents in the top of each pie with kitchen shears. Doh! Nap time appears to be over again!

Fast forward to another nap time a day later, and here we are. Now, back to baking the hand pies. Bake the pies at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the pies cool for several minutes before eating. I baked some mango pies and some chocolate pies, and some of them leaked a little bit, especially the chocolate ones.

Chocolate filling piped on dough circles.

Steam vents cut into pies.

Mango pies before baking.

Mango pies after baking.

The crust here was very pie-like, though I think the crust would have been better if it had a little more flakiness to its texture. The mango filling was sweet, but not overly so, so you could easily eat these for breakfast or a snack. I had to use a slotted spoon when I placed the mango filling on the dough, as the filling was pretty thin and seemed to run all over the dough. The curry flavor was definitely evident, but it wasn’t completely overpowering.

Pan frying is another option for cooking hand pies. To do this, heat a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, adding a pat of butter. Once the butter has melted, place two hand pies in the pan, jiggling the pan to be sure the pies do not stick.

Chocolate filling on dough.

Chocolate pies to be pan fried.

Chocolate pies frying in a pan with butter.

Flip the pies once they are golden brown. I pan fried some chocolate hand pies for dessert and they leaked less than the baked chocolate pies. The pies came out looking a little flat – like pressed sandwiches, but I liked the richness of cooking the pies in butter.

Pan-fried chocolate pie.

These pies seemed much more indulgent than the baked ones. The chocolate filling was very rich and had a slight grittiness to its mouthfeel from all of the sugar. I’m sure the grittiness could be remedied by making the filling in a mixer, but it’s certainly more fun to mash it together in a plastic bag!

If you want to get super indulgent, you could always try deep frying your hand pies. To do this, heat two quarts of canola oil to 375 degrees in a Dutch oven. For hand pies that will be deep fried, do not cut steam vents in the tops, but rather use a fork to dock the dough a few times. Fry the pies, a few at a time, until they float and are golden brown. Transfer the fried pies to an inverted cooling rack on newspaper, and allow them to cool for at least five minutes before eating. I did not end up deep frying any of my hand pies, as I just ran out of time to try this application. I imagine that these would be the crispiest pies.

You can store cooked fruit or chocolate pies at room temperature for up to a week. Pies with meat fillings can be refrigerated/reheated for up to a week. You can also freeze uncooked pies on a baking sheet, throwing them in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes when you are ready to eat them.

In addition to his baked, pan-fried, and deep-fried pies, Alton also made homemade toaster pastries in this episode. Yep, you can make pop-tarts at home. To make these, make a full batch of dough as for the hand pies above, but divide the dough in half after kneading. Roll each of the two dough pieces into a 12″ x 10″ rectangle, using a knife to trim the edges. Divide each dough rectangle into six 4″ x 5″ rectangles, cutting them with a pizza cutter.

Half of the dough rolled into a 12″ x 10″ rectangle and cut into six 4″ x 5″ rectangles.

Rub egg wash (1 egg plus 2 t water) all around the edges of six of the 12 smaller rectangles. Spoon a couple tablespoons of your desired filling (Alton used fruit preserves) onto the center of each egg-washed rectangle, spreading it with a spoon.

Egg wash rubbed around edges and filling spooned onto rectangles.

Use a fork to dock the remaining six dough rectangles and place these rectangles on top of the filled/egg-washed rectangles. Use your fingers to press any air out of the pastries and to seal the edges tightly.

Second batch of dough rectangles being placed on top of filling after docking with a fork.

Edges of pastries pressed together.

Crimp the edges with a fork and bake the finished pastries for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Crimped pastries placed on parchment-lined sheet pan.

Toaster pastries after baking for 20 minutes.

Cool the pastries, storing them in plastic for a week or freeze for a month. Reheat the pastries by toasting them in a toaster on the lowest setting.

One of Alton’s toaster pastries.

These were fun and easy to make, and were my favorites of all of Alton’s hand pies. Kids would really enjoy eating these, and you could fill them with any number of fillings. The resulting dough was crispy at the edges and tender in the center.

I have made many empanadas and hand pies (usually savory) over the years. I do have a dough recipe that I overall prefer over Alton’s, as it is easier to work with and results in a very flaky crust, but Alton’s crust is pretty good too. For dessert, I’d opt for pan-fried chocolate pies and for breakfast I’d certainly make Alton’s toaster pastries. Regardless of how you cook them or which fillings you choose, hand pies are equally fun to make and eat.

Episode 133 – “Cobbled Together”

Posted: February 23, 2020 in Season 9
Tags: alton brown, berry, biscuit, blackberry, breakfast, cobbler, crisp, dessert, dough, fruit, good eats, grunt, peach, rhubarb

I haven’t really had much time for baking or desserts lately, which are some of my favorite things to make. This episode, though, forced me to take the time to make a few sweet treats for dessert and/or breakfast. Cobblers, crisps, and grunts were made in this episode, and Alton explained that any fruit found in the jam/jelly aisle of the grocery store will work well in these desserts; feel free to mix it up!

Rhubarb Peach Cobbler

A cobbler was made first, which Alton described as a fruit dessert topped with a pie crust-like topping. I really try to avoid making ingredient substitutions in this project, but I had to find a rhubarb alternative, as rhubarb isn’t in season yet and I could not find frozen rhubarb locally. I opted for leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving that we had tucked away in the freezer. Oh, and I used frozen peaches in place of the fresh peaches. To make the dough place 9.5 oz flour, 1 oz sugar, 1 T lime zest, and 1 t Kosher salt in a food processor, pulsing 3-4 times.

Flour, sugar, lime zest, and Kosher salt in food processor.

Flour, sugar, lime zest, and Kosher salt pulsed in food processor.

Add 4.5 oz cubed unsalted butter and 1.5 oz cubed lard (both fats should be chilled), and pulse until the mixture climbs up the sides of the bowl.

Lard and butter added to flour.

After pulsing in the fat.

Add 1-3 T ice water until the dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers.

Dough after adding ice water.

Place the dough in a large Ziplock, pat it into a disc, and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. You can also freeze the dough for up to three months.

Dough placed in Ziplock bag to chill.

When your dough has chilled, it is time to make the fruit portion of the cobbler. Combine in a bowl: 1 C sugar, 2 T cornstarch, and 1/4 t Kosher salt, whisking to combine. Add 1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1/2″ pieces (this is where I subbed my frozen cranberries). Add 1 lb sliced peaches (I used frozen) and 1 T fresh lime juice, and toss the fruit with your hands.

Sugar, cornstarch, and Kosher salt.

Cranberries and peaches added to sugar mixture.

Crumble 1/3 of the cold dough over the bottom of a greased 9×9″ glass pan and top with the fruit. I could tell that my fruit mixture was not going to fit in a 9×9″ pan, so I used a 9×13″ glass dish.

1/3 of dough crumbled into the bottom of a baking dish.

Fruit added to the dish.

Roll the rest of the dough within its Ziplock and cut the sides of the bag. Remove the top side of the bag and invert it over your hand so the plastic side is touching your hand.

Dough rolled out inside Ziplock. Top of bag removed to invert dough directly onto fruit.

Press the dough side onto the top of the fruit and peel off the remaining bag.

Dough placed on fruit.

Bake the cobbler at 375 degrees for 60 minutes, or until golden. If you use frozen fruit, as I did, you will need to bake the cobbler for 90 minutes. At the end of the baking, place the cobbler under the broiler for 3-5 minutes. Let the cobbler cool for 15-30 minutes before digging in.

Cobbler after baking.

Alton’s cobbler.

I was really happy with this cobbler, though I wish I could have made it with the rhubarb. The cranberries contributed a nice tartness in place of the rhubarb, though. I really liked the crispy, flaky texture of the cobbler topping, which is only lightly sweetened. If anything, some people may wish for this cobbler to be a little bit sweeter, but I happened to like its tart flavor. This cobbler is best when eaten the day it is made, as the crust portion loses its crispy, flaky texture over time.

Blackberry Grunt

I can’t say that I honestly knew what a grunt was until I watched Alton prepare his version. Basically, a grunt is a fruity filling topped with dough that is traditionally cooked on the stove; it gets its name from the grunting sound it makes as it cooks. Unlike the dough in the cobbler, the dough in this recipe is not sweetened. Really, the dough in this recipe is like a biscuit. To make the dough, place 9.5 oz of flour in a food processor, along with 2 t baking powder, 1 t Kosher salt, and 1/4 t baking soda. Pulse the flour mixture a few times to combine.

Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and Kosher salt in food processor.

Transfer the flour to a bowl and use your fingers to “cut in” 2 oz of cold, cubed unsalted butter; do this by using your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour.

Cubed cold butter.

Cubed cold butter added to flour mixture.

Dough after cutting in the butter.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in 1 C buttermilk. Stir the buttermilk into the flour just until combined loosely.

Buttermilk added to flour.

Dough stirred until just combined.

Dump the dough onto a floured piece of parchment paper, dusting the top of the dough with additional flour. Wrap the parchment up over the dough and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

Finished dough placed on floured parchment before going into refrigerator.

While the dough chills, combine 1 C sugar, 1/2 t ground ginger, 1 C water, and 1 lb 3 oz fresh or frozen blackberries in a bowl, stirring to combine.

Sugar, ground ginger, and water.

Blackberries to be added to water/sugar.

Pour the fruit into a 10-inch cast iron pan over medium heat, bringing the fruit to a simmer. Once simmering, decrease the heat and continue to cook the fruit until it has thickened. It took quite a while for my berries to thicken – I would allow at least 45 minutes for this step.

Berry and sugar mixture in cast iron skillet.

Berry and sugar mixture cooked until thickened.

When the fruit is ready, use a 1-ounce disher or two dinner spoons to place dumplings of dough on top of the berries, working from the outside to the inside.

Biscuit dough placed on top of berries.

Bake the grunt in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Grunt after baking.

Alton’s blackberry grunt served with vanilla ice cream.

The dough in this recipe yielded a topping with the texture and flavor of a biscuit, which contrasted nicely with the fairly sweet fruit. I should have cooked my fruit a little longer, but impatience got the better of me and I ended up with a slightly soupy grunt. Still, though, the flavor was really good and the leftovers made for a nice breakfast.

Individual Berry Crisps

A crisp is last in this episode and this recipe is the fastest one to prepare. For the crisp topping, combine: 5 oz flour, 2/3 C sugar, 1 1/2 C chopped nuts, and 1 1/2 C crushed gingersnaps, crackers, or cereal.

Flour, sugar, nuts, and crushed gingersnaps.

Cut in 4 oz of cold unsalted butter, cubed.

Cutting cold butter into dry ingredients.

Crisp topping after cutting in the butter.

In a second bowl combine 12 oz frozen berries, 1/4 C sugar, 2 t cornstarch, and 1/2 C of your prepared crisp topping. Stir the fruit mixture well and divide it among four ramekins that are 7-8 ounces. I actually used our French onion soup bowls.

Frozen berries, sugar, cornstarch, and some of the crisp topping.

Fruit mixture divided among ramekins.

Top each crisp with 1/2 C of the crisp topping. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan and bake them for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Crisp topping placed on top of fruit.

Let the crisps cool for at least 15 minutes before eating.

Alton’s individual berry crisps.

This was my favorite recipe of this episode. Not only was this super easy and fast to make, but it was also really delicious. I used crushed gingersnaps in my crisps and I highly recommend doing so – they add great crunch and gingery flavor. If you use Alton’s ratio of 1/2 C crisp topping to each crisp, you will have quite a lot of crisp topping left over. I was able to make six crisps with one recipe of crisp topping. This is a really great recipe for any day of the week.

Episode 128 – “Dis-Kabob-Ulated”

Posted: July 31, 2019 in Season 9
Tags: alton brown, beef, dessert, fruit, good eats, grill, kabob, kebab, lime, marinade, meat, pineapple, sirloin, skewer, spicy, syrup, vanilla

Recent happenings have caused me to fall way behind on this blog, which actually provides a great distraction at times. After feeling “off” a couple weeks ago, I ended up having various tests done, which led to a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia last week, which can be a life-threatening pregnancy complication. I am currently 30 weeks pregnant, and I am being tested/monitored weekly, with a goal of taking the pregnancy to 37 weeks before delivery. It all depends on how my body handles things in the coming weeks, but I am unfortunately facing the reality that I will be delivering this baby early; it is just a question of how early.

I made the recipes in this episode quite a while ago actually, but am only now sitting down to finally write. My newest lab results should be in today or tomorrow, so I am trying to distract myself in the meantime. Since this is sort of a summery episode, I figured I’d better get on it while the warm weather is still here! The recipes from this episode are great to make on a hot evening because they are both grilling recipes and thus won’t heat up the house.

Spicy Beef Kebabs

First up, Alton makes beef kebabs in this episode. You will want your meat to sit in the marinade for 2-4 hours before grilling, so be sure to allow adequate time for marination. To make the marinade, combine 3 cloves of garlic, 2 t smoked paprika, 1/2 t turmeric, 1 t cumin, 1 t Kosher, 1/2 t pepper, and 1/3 C red wine vinegar in the bowl of a food processor.

Ingredients for the marinade: three cloves, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, Kosher salt, and pepper.

Ingredients for the marinade: three cloves, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, Kosher salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar.

Process the marinade until smooth, and then drizzle in 1/2 C olive oil with the machine running.

Drizzling olive oil into the marinade.

Alton’s beef skewer marinade.

For these skewers, Alton recommends using boneless beef sirloin, of which you will need about 1.5 pounds.

Boneless beef sirloin.

Cut the meat into two-inch cubes, place the cubes in a large plastic bag, and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and toss the meat to coat thoroughly.

Boneless beef sirloin, cubed.

Marinade poured over beef cubes.

Place the meat in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours. Before threading his meat onto skewers, Alton likes to pre-arrange his meat on a sheet pan, placing cubes of similar sizes on the same skewers for even cooking.

Beef after marinating for several hours. Pieces of meat arranged such that pieces of similar size go on the same skewer.

Once your meat is sorted, thread the meat onto metal grilling skewers, placing about five or six pieces on each skewer; leave about a half inch of space between the meat cubes.

Beef cubes threaded onto metal skewers.

To grill the skewers, first be sure that your grill grates are pretty clean and preheat your gas grill to medium-high. Place the skewers on the grill, rotating them every two minutes for a total cook time of eight to 12 minutes. For this cut of beef, Alton prefers his meat to be cooked to medium doneness, which should take about 12 minutes.

Skewers on the grill.

Skewers, rotating every two minutes.

Alton’s beef skewers, cooked and ready to rest in foil.

The beef from Alton’s skewers.

When done grilling, wrap the hot skewers in foil and let them rest for a few minutes before eating. To cook the skewers on a charcoal grill, remove the grate and place four bricks around the center mound of charcoal. Rest the skewers on the bricks, suspending the meat above the hot charcoal. I cooked my skewers for the full twelve minutes recommended by Alton, and I thought the meat was a tad bit chewy. The marinade for this recipe was excellent, however, and made the meat super flavorful. I could see using this marinade for a variety of meat preparations. This recipe made for a quick, easy, flavorful meal. My only gripe was that the meat was a little bit too chewy, so I might try cooking the meat a little less next time.

Vanilla Lime Pineapple Skewers

If you are looking for a side dish for your beef kebabs, or for a dessert to follow, Alton has you covered with his pineapple skewers. Begin by splitting a vanilla bean in half and scraping out the seeds/pulp. Reserve the bean. Place 1 C dark brown sugar, 1/2 C lime juice, a pinch of Kosher salt, and the vanilla pulp/pod in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.

A vanilla bean.

Dark brown sugar, lime juice, Kosher salt, and vanilla bean.

Whisk the mixture until the brown sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to steep for two hours. After steeping, remove the vanilla pod and discard it.

Whisked until the sugar dissolved.

Syrup, set aside to steep.

Cooled syrup after removing vanilla bean.

Transfer the cooled syrup to a plastic squeeze bottle. Next, prepare your pineapple by cutting the top and bottom off of the fruit. Stand the fruit on one end and cut the pineapple into quarters. Lay the pineapple quarters down and cut them in half, creating eighths. Cut the core off of each eighth of pineapple, discarding it. Finally, use a sharp knife to fillet the pineapple off of its skin.

Pineapple cut into eighths.

Thread each eighth of pineapple onto a metal grilling skewer, squirt them with the vanilla syrup, and grill them for four minutes per side, for a total of 12 minutes. As you grill the fruit, squirt it occasionally with the vanilla syrup.

Pineapple threaded onto skewers.

Vanilla syrup squirted onto pineapple.

Horrible photograph, but grilling the pineapple for four minutes on each side.

Alton’s grilled pineapple.

Serve the pineapple warm. This was a fun, summery dessert that was easy to prepare. The pineapple softened and became sweeter, and its flavor was complimented nicely by the flavors in the syrup. The lime juice added a nice tartness to an otherwise very sweet syrup. You could certainly use this syrup on other fruits also, or you could simply take Alton’s suggestion and eat the syrup over ice cream. Either way, the syrup is a multitasker!

Episode 118 – “Melondrama”

Posted: February 7, 2019 in Season 8
Tags: alton brown, cantaloupe, dessert, fruit, good eats, honeydew, melon, muskmelon, salad, sorbet, summer, vodka, watermelon, wok

Seeing as it is currently 12 degrees outside here, it really isn’t peak melon season. I take the episodes in the order they come, though, so we enjoyed a couple melon recipes in February. Although the melon was not of the greatest quality, these recipes still managed to give us a little taste of summer.

Hot Melon Salad

I have wanted to make this melon salad since I watched this episode with my dad when it originally aired in 2005. I remember that it just sounded so good to me when I first watched this episode. Alton prefers to use a high-powered outdoor gas burner for his wok, which is a setup my dad adopted after watching Good Eats. I do have my dad’s outdoor burner, but it needs a new hose, so I used our flat-bottomed wok on our regular old stove. Whether you are cooking indoors or out, heat your wok on a hot burner until water droplets instantly turn to steam upon hitting the pan. As with any stir fry, be sure to have all of your ingredients ready ahead of time, as the cooking goes very quickly. The ingredients for this dish are 1 1/2 T olive oil, a thinly sliced red onion, 8 ounces of cubed honeydew melon, 8 ounces of cubed cantaloupe, 1 T basil chiffonade, Kosher salt, black pepper, 2 t red wine vinegar, 2 ounces feta cheese, and 1 T toasted pine nuts.

Ingredients for salad: red onion, basil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, toasted pine nuts, and feta cheese. Not pictured: melon.

Speaking of cantaloupe, did you know that all of the cantaloupes in this country are really muskmelons? Anyway, once the wok is hot, add the oil to the pan and swirl to coat.

Oil in hot wok.

Add the sliced red onion and toss until heated through.

Onion added to hot wok.

Next, add the cubed melon and toss again, cooking until the corners of the melon just start to brown slightly. Add the tablespoon of basil, along with a pinch of Kosher salt and some black pepper.

Melon added to onion.

Basil, Kosher salt, and pepper sprinkled over melon.

Drizzle the vinegar into the pan and transfer the salad to a serving dish. Finish the salad by sprinkling on the feta and pine nuts.

Red wine vinegar drizzled over fruit.

Pine nuts and feta sprinkled on to finish the salad.

Alton’s hot melon salad.

We had this as a side dish one night and we ate the entire salad. I really like the flavors in this salad and how they compliment each other. The melon becomes sweeter from the heat, yet the red wine vinegar gives just a light touch of acidity. The feta adds some much-needed salt, while the red onion gives some pungency. The crunch of the pine nuts is a nice addition to a salad that is otherwise composed of ingredients with fairly similar textures. To me, this dish would be a perfect summer grilling side dish, and I intend to make it again, just as soon as deck season arrives.

Melon Sorbet

A fresh melon sorbet is the second recipe in this episode, and it is super easy to throw together.

Sorbet ingredients: watermelon, lemon juice, vodka, and sugar.

Puree a pound plus five ounces of watermelon in a food processor.

Pureed watermelon.

To the pureed melon, add 3 T fresh lemon juice, 2 T vodka, and 9 ounces of sugar. The vodka serves to lower the freezing point of the sorbet, making the texture softer and less icy.

Lemon juice, vodka, and sugar added to watermelon puree.

Refrigerate the melon mixture for at least two hours before churning in an ice cream maker.

Churning sorbet after chilling.

Once churned, transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and freeze for 3-4 hours before eating.

Watermelon sorbet.

The amounts of watermelon flavor and aroma in this sorbet are amazing, especially considering that I could not get great fruit. The color of the sorbet also seemed more vibrant than the color of the melon itself. As for texture, this sorbet stayed pretty soft and scoopable, and had very few large ice crystals. This sorbet truly is a taste of summer. It is quite sweet, so I have to wonder if a slight decrease in sugar could make this even better, though I suppose that could also alter the final texture of the sorbet. Perhaps I will just have to make two batches of sorbet once melon is in season – one with the original sugar concentration and one with a slightly lower concentration. I also intend to try this with some other types of melon, though I would imagine the sugar would have to be adjusted accordingly for the sugar contents of different melons. This sorbet is super refreshing, easy, and can brighten up even the coldest of winter days.

Episode 104 – “Going Bananas”

Posted: August 8, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, banana, bananas foster, Butter, dessert, dessert sauce, fried, fruit, good eats, ice cream, plantain, rum, sweet

My back has been bothering me for the last six days, so I haven’t been able to be as active as I like to be. Though it is a nice, albeit smoky, summer day, I find myself rather confined because of my darn back. Seems like a good time to write a blog post.

Banana Ice Cream

I can honestly say that I like all fruit I have tried. That being said, bananas are definitely lower on my favorite fruits list. Alton, of course, came up with some recipes to showcase bananas, starting with his banana ice cream. You will need 2 1/4 pounds of bananas for this recipe, and you will need to place them in the freezer (still in their peels) overnight.

2 1/4 pounds of bananas

The online recipe tells you to remove the bananas from the freezer and let them thaw for about an hour. In the episode, however, Alton instructed to let the bananas thaw completely, which took five hours for my bananas.

Frozen bananas beginning to thaw.

Frozen bananas, thawing.

Thawed bananas.

You freeze and thaw the bananas to get a mushy texture, which is desirable for making this ice cream; basically, the bananas will replace the eggs that are in a custard-based ice cream. Once the bananas are thawed, peel them and place them in a food processor. Add 1 T fresh lemon juice to the bananas and process them; the lemon juice will prevent browning.

Thawed bananas in food processor.

Fresh lemon juice.

Fresh lemon juice processed with bananas.

Add 3/4 C light corn syrup to the processor, along with either 1/2 t vanilla extract or, preferably, the scrapings from one vanilla bean.

Corn syrup.

Vanilla bean, split in half and ready to be scraped.

Scrapings from a vanilla bean.

Corn syrup and vanilla added to bananas.

With the machine running, drizzle in 1 1/2 C heavy cream.

Heavy cream.

Heavy cream, drizzling in with processor running.

Chill the ice cream base in the refrigerator until it reaches 40 degrees.

Banana ice cream base, ready to be chilled.

Once chilled, process the banana base in an ice cream maker.

Ice cream base in ice cream maker.

Churned ice cream.

Freeze the ice cream, airtight, for 3-6 hours before eating.

Churned ice cream, heading to the freezer for several hours.

Alton’s banana ice cream.

This is one of the easiest ice creams you will ever make, as there is no cooking of custard, etc. The texture of this ice cream really does seem similar to that of a custard-based ice cream, as the bananas give quite a smooth, rich mouthfeel. And, if you want banana flavor, this is loaded with it. Being kind of “meh” about bananas, we enjoyed this, but I think true banana lovers would find this amazing. This is a cold and easy summer treat.

Bananas Foster

I remember going to some fancy restaurant as a kid, and my brother and I ordered bananas foster for dessert. Prepared table-side with lots of flair, we were awed by the flames enveloping our dessert. I don’t think I had eaten bananas foster since that time, and Ted had never had it, so it seemed like it would be fun to give it a go at home. I don’t have the greatest track record with flames, such as when my fish and chips caught on fire in episode 22, but I figured I’d give it a whirl. For this recipe, you will need two bananas, 2 T unsalted butter, 1/4 C dark brown sugar, 1/4 t ground allspice, 1/2 t ground nutmeg, 1 T banana liqueur (I got a miniature), 1/2 t orange zest, and 1/4-1/3 C dark rum.

Brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and banana liqueur.

Two bananas, halved with their peels on.

Rum.

Orange zest

Alton prepared his bananas foster on a table-side burner, but I opted to make mine on the stove. Either way, place a large, heavy skillet on the burner over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, slice two bananas lengthwise in half, leaving their peels on to prevent browning. Melt the butter in the pan, and add the brown sugar and spices.

Melted butter.

Brown sugar and spices added to butter.

Stir this mixture into a syrup and add the banana liqueur.

Banana liqueur added to syrup.

Remove the bananas’ peels and place them, cut side down, in the pan for one minute.

Bananas added to the pan.

Flip the bananas and cook them for another minute. Some of the bananas may break, but they will still taste great.

Bananas flipped after one minute.

Using two forks, transfer the bananas to a plate.

Bananas, transferred to a plate.

Allow the sauce to return to a simmer and then turn off the heat.

Sauce returning to a simmer.

Add the rum to the pan, swirl it around, and ignite it with a long-handled lighter.

Rum added to pan and ignited with burner OFF.

Continue to swirl the pan until the flames extinguish.

Swirling the pan until the flames go out.

Cook the sauce for 30 more seconds and stir in the orange zest.

Orange zest added to sauce.

Spoon the sauce over the bananas and add some vanilla ice cream. Or, you can serve your bananas foster over waffles

Alton’s bananas foster with vanilla ice cream.

. I have to admit that this was a really fun one to make, as my flames were at least a foot high! If you were bold enough to try this around kids, they would be super impressed, as I was when I saw it years ago. Yes, there is some alcohol in this dessert, but most of it cooks out (hello, flames!). In addition to the fun flair (or should I say flare?) of this dessert, it is also super tasty. The bananas get tender and caramelized with spices and brown sugar, and then you pour over the warm, buttery, rum-flavored sauce. Add in some cold vanilla ice cream and it’s a pretty fantastic combo.

Fried Plantains

The only plantains I’ve really had have been in chip form from a grocery store, so I was eager to cook with this ingredient for the first time. Our chain grocery store did not have plantains, but a local, smaller market did.

Two plantains.

To make Alton’s fried plantains, you will need the following items:

a rack over a sheet pan
Rack over sheet pan.
a wide skillet with 1 1/2 C vegetable or canola oil at 325 degrees
Oil heated to 325.
an inverted sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper on it
a wooden/plastic spatula
Inverted sheet pan with parchment, and a spatula.
a medium bowl with 2 C water, 1 t Kosher salt, and 3 crushed cloves of garlic
Bowl of water with Kosher salt and garlic.
a tea towel or a pad of paper towels for blotting
2 plantains, peeled (you may need to score the peels with a knife) and cut into 1-inch medallions
Plantains, peeled and cut into medallions.

The first step is to place the plantain medallions into the oil for 1 1/2 minutes. Flip the plantains and cook them for 1 1/2 minutes more. You want the plantains to be golden on both sides.

Plantains in hot oil.

Flipped plantains in oil.

Decrease the heat under the oil and transfer the plantains to the parchment paper on the inverted sheet pan.

Plantains transferred to parchment.

Use your spatula to smash each plantain medallion to about half of it’s original height.

Smashed plantains.

Next, place the smashed plantains in the bowl of water with the garlic and salt for at least a minute. Alton never really specified why you place the plantains in the water, but I’m assuming it is to remove starch and impart flavor.

Smashed plantains, placed in water.

After their soak, move the plantains to towels to dry.

Soaked plantains drying on paper towels.

While the plantains dry, increase the heat under the oil, bringing it back up to ~325 degrees. Once at temperature, fry the plantains again for 2-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Plantains back in hot oil for second frying.

Transfer the fried plantains to the rack over a sheet pan and season them liberally with Kosher salt while they are still hot.

Fried plantains on rack. Seasoned with Kosher salt.

Fried plantains

We ate these for lunch one day and they were great. They are reminiscent of french fries, yet with slightly sweeter flavor. They are golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You could really pair them with any condiment you like. I ate mine with some hot sauce, which I thought was great with the subtle sweetness of the plantains. I really liked how Alton had you prep everything in advance for this recipe, as it made the frying process super easy. I highly recommend making these, and they’d make a great side for any burger or sandwich.

Episode 101 – “Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut”

Posted: May 30, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, cashew, crust, dessert, dried fruit, fish, fruit, good eats, herb, macadamia, macadamia nut, mahi mahi, nut, parsley, pesto, pie, pie crust, pistachio, sauce, sweet

While I breeze through some episodes, this episode was one that took a little while for me to complete. Not only were there five recipes in this episode, but they also all contained nuts; this made for some pretty rich food, so I had to space the recipes out a little bit. First was Alton’s cashew sauce.

Cashew Sauce

This recipe is really two recipes in one: one for cashew butter, and another for the cashew sauce that is made WITH the cashew butter. To make the cashew butter, combine 10 ounces of roasted/unsalted cashews with two heavy pinches of Kosher salt in a food processor.

Ten ounces of roasted/unsalted cashews.

Cashews and Kosher salt in food processor.

Cashews and Kosher salt processed in food processor.

Place 2 T honey in the microwave for ~15 seconds to loosen it up, and combine the honey with 1/3 C walnut oil.

Honey, heated in the microwave to “loosen.”

Walnut oil.

Warm honey combined with walnut oil.

With the food processor running, slowly add the oil/honey until the mixture is smooth.

Honey/oil drizzling into cashews.

If you just want cashew butter, you can stop here.

Cashew butter.

To continue on and make Alton’s cashew sauce, whisk 1/2 C of your cashew butter with 3/4 C coconut milk and 1/4 t cayenne pepper in a saucier over medium heat. Once smooth, use the sauce as desired.

Cashew butter, coconut milk, and cayenne pepper in a saucier over medium heat.

Cashew sauce

Alton recommended serving the cashew sauce over chicken or rice. I chose to serve my cashew sauce over some sweet potato “noodles” and meatballs, along with a little bit of cilantro.

Cashew sauce served over sweet potato noodles and meatballs.

First off, Alton’s cashew butter is super delicious; it’s sort of like a richer, sweeter, better peanut butter, and it is great on pretty much anything. We were also fans of the cashew sauce, which was rich, nutty, and had a perfect punch of heat from the cayenne pepper. And, if you are too lazy to make your own nut butter (it is worth it, though), you could always use purchased nut butter to make the sauce. This sauce is also super versatile, as you could use it over meat, pasta, or vegetables.

Pistachio Mixed Herb Pesto

I love pesto and it is something I make every summer. I typically make basil pesto, so I can use up the last of my fresh basil, freeze the pesto in batches, and continue to dream of summer as the weather gets colder. Sage pesto is nice to make in the fall too! Alton’s pesto recipe in this episode was a little different from the other pestos I have made in the past, as parsley was the primary herb and toasted pistachios were the nut of choice (I toasted my pistachios in a 400 degree oven for ~5 minutes).

Pistachios before toasting in the oven.

Pistachios after toasting in the oven.

Ingredients for pesto: garlic, thyme, tarragon, sage, oregano, olive oil, Parmesan, parsley, and toasted pistachios.

To make Alton’s pesto, drop 1/2 to 1 clove of garlic into the lid of a running blender, chopping the garlic finely (I opted for a full clove since I like garlic). When the garlic is chopped, turn off the blender and add 2 T fresh lemon thyme (I could not find lemon thyme, so used regular thyme), 2 T fresh tarragon, 1 T fresh sage, 1 T fresh oregano, 2 C packed flat leaf parsley, 1/2 C grated Parmesan, and 3/4 C toasted pistachios.

Garlic, chopped in blender.

Thyme, tarragon, sage, and oregano added to garlic.

Parsley added to blender.

Parsley added to blender, along with Parmesan.

Pistachios in the blender.

With the blender running, drizzle in 2/3 C olive oil until emulsified.

Pesto, after drizzling in olive oil.

Alton recommends serving his pesto on pesto or toast. I served the pesto over zucchini “noodles” with fresh Parmesan.

Pesto over zucchini noodles.

This pesto is super flavorful, tastes like a variety of herbs, and has great color. Since everyone always thinks of basil and pine nuts/walnuts for pesto, this version really mixes things up. And, if you happen to have fresh herbs in your garden, this can also be a relatively inexpensive pesto recipe. Give this one a try for a tasty twist on pesto.

Pistachio Fruit Balls

For a sweet treat using nuts, Alton made these pistachio fruit balls.

Ingredients for pistachio fruit balls: roasted pistachios, dates, dried apricots, orange juice, golden raisins, creme de cassis, and dried cherries.

Begin this recipe by grinding 1 C roasted pistachios in a food processor. Set the pistachios aside.

Pistachios in food processor.

Ground pistachios.

Next, in a large bowl combine 1/2 C pitted dates, 1/2 C dried apricots, 1/2 C golden raisins, and 1 C dried cherries.

Combined dried fruit.

Run the dried fruit mixture through a meat grinder with a medium die, catching the ground fruit in a bowl.

Dried fruit running through meat grinder.

Ground dried fruit.

Add half of the ground pistachios to the ground fruit, along with 1 T fresh orange juice and 2 T creme de cassis. Note: creme de cassis is a black currant liqueur.

Pistachios added to ground fruit.

Pistachios added to ground fruit, along with OJ and creme de cassis.

Using your hands, work the mixture together until thoroughly combined. Once combined, use a melon baller to form individual balls of the fruit mixture, and roll the balls in the remaining ground pistachios.

Combined fruit/nut mixture.

Fruit ball, rolling in ground pistachios.

If you find that the mixture is too sticky, you can put some vegetable oil on your hands. Store the fruit balls in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Pistachio fruit balls.

The online reviews of this recipe are mixed, which I find surprising. We thought these were a really great, healthy, sweet snack. Some reviewers complained of this being a messy or difficult recipe, but I found neither to be the case at all. You could always substitute a different liqueur if you did not have creme de cassis, but I wanted to test the recipe as written. These fruit balls had just the perfect amount of sweetness, held together perfectly, and had great crunch from the pistachios. We ate these as a snack every day for a week. I liked this recipe!

Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi

When Alton made this recipe in the episode, he used mahi mahi, but I could not find mahi mahi where I live. Instead, Ted splurged and picked up a couple halibut fillets. This recipe makes enough for four servings, so I halved the recipe for us. To make the recipe for four servings, coarsely crush 5 ounces of roasted macadamia nuts; you can do this in the food processor or you can put them in a tea towel and whack it on the counter.

Macadamia nuts to be chopped.

Chopped macadamia nuts.

Put the macadamias in a bowl and add 2 T flour, 1/2 C Panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 a stick of butter, melted. Stir the mixture to combine and set it aside.

Chopped macadamia nuts, flour, and Panko.

Chopped macadamia nuts, flour, Panko, and melted butter.

Preheat your oven to 425, placing a rack in the center of the oven. While the oven preheats, line a sheet pan with foil and brush it liberally with vegetable oil. Place fish fillets (6-8 ounces each) on the foil and season them with Kosher salt and pepper.

Fish fillets placed on lubed foil and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Stick the fish in the preheated oven for five minutes to par cook.

Par cooking the fish.

Remove the fish from the oven and brush it with coconut milk; it should take about 2 T.

Fish after par cooking.

Par cooked fish brushed with coconut milk.

Pat the nut mixture lightly onto the fish, crumpling the foil up around the edges of the fish to keep the nut crust from sliding off.

Nut crust patted onto fish, and foil propped up.

Stick the fish back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes, or until golden brown. My crust took the full 10 minutes to be golden.

Fish after cooking.

Let the fish rest at room temperature for ~10 minutes before eating. Honestly, I was worried that the time needed to make my nut crust golden would render my fish overcooked, but the fish turned out to be perfectly cooked. We enjoyed this on a warm evening, with a glass of white wine and a squeeze of lemon.

Alton’s macadamia nut crusted fish.

This is a rich fish dish that would be worthy of serving for a special occasion. The fish was moist and the nut crust was rich, crunchy, buttery, and nutty. Great recipe. Oh, and if you don’t know, keep the macadamia nuts away from your dogs, as they are toxic.

Macadamia Nut Crust

It turns out that the macadamia nut crust above can also be used as a pie crust. So, again, to make the crust, chop 5 ounces of roasted macadamia nuts (you can roast them in the oven for about 5 minutes at 400 degrees).

5 ounces of macadamia nuts

5 ounces of macadamia nuts to be roasted

Five ounces of macadamia nuts, roasted.

Combine the chopped macadamia nuts with 2 T flour, 1/2 C Panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 a stick of butter, melted.

Panko and flour.

Panko and flour combined with chopped macadamia nuts.

Half a stick of melted butter.

Half a stick of melted butter added to nut mixture.

Pat the crust mixture into a pie plate and use with any pie filling recipe. If you need to blind bake the crust for your pie recipe, bake it at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Well, I ended up making this pie crust twice. I needed to blind bake my crust because I was making a no-bake key lime pie, but it turns out that 20 minutes is way too long to blind bake this crust. Yep, my first crust was scorched.

Crust mixture pressed into pie plate.

Burnt crust after 20 minutes.

When I made the crust the second time, I began checking it at 10 minutes and it was done in about 15.

Second crust, patted into pie plate.

Crust after baking 15 minutes.

A slice of key lime pie with macadamia crust.

This crust added a great crunch and nutty flavor to my pie, and it was very easy to prep with no rolling/chilling of dough. The downside of this crust was that it was super crumbly, so it didn’t make for pretty slices of pie. Other than that, though, this was a buttery, nutty, crispy pie crust.

Episode 98 – “Spice Capades”

Posted: April 13, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, anise, cinnamon, clove, compote, coriander, cumin, curry, curry powder, dessert, fennel, fish, fruit, good eats, pomade, salmon, seafood, spice, turmeric, vanilla, vegetable, vegetarian

From herbs in the last episode, the Good Eats trail takes us to spices in episode 98. So, what is the difference between a spice and an herb? An herb is a leaf, while a spice is a different part of a plant. If you want to keep your spices fresh longer, it is ideal to purchase spices in their whole forms, grinding them in a spice-only coffee grinder just prior to use. I remember that my dad began grinding his spices after watching this episode when it aired in 2004. Read on for Alton’s spice-friendly recipes.

Dried Pear and Fig Compote

A fruit compote is the first thing Alton made in this episode.

Ingredients for fruit compote: white wine, dried figs, dried pears, vanilla bean, lemon zest, star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, Kosher salt, lemon juice, and honey.

To make his compote, place 4 ounces dried figs, 4 ounces dried pears, 2 T honey (Alton used orange blossom), 1/2 a vanilla bean, 1 C apple cider, 1 C white wine, a 1-inch strip of lemon zest, 1 T lemon juice, 6 whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise pod, and 1/2 t Kosher salt in a medium saucepan.

All of the compote ingredients placed in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, decrease the heat to low, and continue to simmer the compote for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I found that it took the full 1 1/2 hours of simmering for my compote to thicken as Alton’s had.

The compote, brought to a simmer and left for 1 1/2 hours.

After simmering, remove the cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and lemon zest; good luck finding the cloves – we didn’t find some of them until we ate the compote!

The compote after simmering.

Serve the compote warm over ice cream or you can refrigerate it for later use. We ate the compote over vanilla ice cream and it was very flavorful and spicy.

Compote over ice cream.

All of the spices seemed to be well-balanced, though clove was perhaps the most dominant spice. The compote was pretty sticky in texture and had little pops of crunch from the dried fig seeds, which were quite prevalent. Due to the rich color of the compote, and its spices, the compote seems to me like a good dish to make in the fall. This would also be great over a pork tenderloin. This is a recipe that truly shows how spices can contribute to a sweet dish.

Vegetable Curry

For a weeknight vegetarian dinner, consider giving Alton’s vegetable curry a try.

Spices for Alton’s vegetable curry: coriander, onion powder, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin seed, mustard seed, and fennel seed.

Spices, divided for their addition in the recipe. Yellow bowl has cumin seed, fennel seed, and mustard seed. Red bowl has coriander, onion powder, cinnamon, and turmeric. Green bowl has Kosher salt, sugar, and pepper.

The recipe begins with poking holes in a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. Microwave the veggies on high for 2-3 minutes, or until thawed.

A pound of frozen vegetables.

A pound of frozen vegetables, holes poked in the bag before microwaving.

Next, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, adding 2 T vegetable oil to coat the pan. To the oil, add 1 t cumin seed, 1/2 t mustard seed, and 1/2 t fennel seed. If you have a splatter guard, Alton recommends that you use it now.

Cumin seed, mustard seed, and fennel seed added to hot oil in skillet.

Meanwhile, whisk together in a bowl 2/3 C plain yogurt and 1 t cornstarch, setting the bowl aside.

Yogurt and cornstarch.

Yogurt combined with cornstarch.

When the mustard seeds begin to pop in your skillet, add 1/2 t freshly ground coriander, 1/2 t onion powder, 1/8 t ground cinnamon, and 1 t ground turmeric.

Coriander, onion powder, cinnamon, and turmeric added to skillet once mustard seeds began to pop.

It is also time now to add two crushed cloves of garlic and three dried red chilies with their stems and seeds removed.

Two cloves of crushed garlic and three red chilies with their stems/seeds removed.

Garlic and chilies added to the skillet.

Cook this mixture until the garlic begins to turn golden, but watch it very carefully as the spices could easily burn. When the garlic begins to brown, add the thawed bag of vegetables to the pan, along with 1/2 t Kosher salt, 1/4 t sugar, and black pepper to taste.

Thawed frozen veggies, stirred in, along with Kosher salt, sugar, and pepper.

Stir the vegetables until they are heated through and coated with the spice mixture. Finally, quickly stir the vegetables into the bowl of yogurt.

Spiced vegetables added to yogurt.

In the episode, Alton appeared to serve his vegetable curry as a side dish, but I opted to serve his curry over rice for a main course.

Vegetable curry served over rice.

We thought this curry was pretty impressive, though the chilies really didn’t make it very hot. I would prefer to have more heat in my curry, but that is just personal preference. Otherwise, this curry had a nice combination of spices and came together in a matter of minutes. To get some protein, you could always add some tofu or meat. I would not say this recipe wowed me, but it is good for what it is – an easy weeknight vegetable dinner. And, it does have lots of spice flavor.

Broiled Salmon with AB’s Spice Pomade

Alton’s third spice recipe features salmon. It begins by placing an oven rack in the top third of the oven and preheating the broiler. Brush a sheet pan with canola oil, placing a skinless three-pound side of salmon on the pan; I opted for a smaller piece, or really two pieces, of salmon since there were only two of us eating.

My salmon.

Sprinkle the fish all over with 1 to 1 1/2 t Kosher salt and with 1 t black pepper.

My salmon, sprinkled with Kosher salt and pepper.

In a blender combine 2 t onion powder, 1 t garlic powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t whole cumin seed, 1 T whole fennel seed, 1 T whole coriander seed, and 1 star anise pod.

Spices for Alton’s pomade: star anise, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cumin seed, coriander, onion powder, and fennel seed.

Star anise, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cumin seed, coriander, onion powder, and fennel seed placed in blender.

Blend all of the spices and pour in 1/3 C canola oil while the blender is running.

Canola oil to add to spice blend in blender.

The finished pomade.

Brush this spice “pomade” all over the fish and let the fish sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Salmon, brushed with pomade and left to sit for 30 minutes.

After resting, broil the fish for 15 minutes and check it for doneness. To check fish for doneness, look for three things: 1- the fish should be firm and bounce back when touched, 2 – the fish should flake easily when scraped with a fork, and 3 – the fish should be at 131 degrees in its thickest part.

Salmon under broiler.

Broiled salmon.

Keep in mind that Alton’s cooking time is for three pounds of fish, so you will need to modify cooking time for a smaller piece of fish. My salmon was honestly overdone on the edges. To me, a good salmon recipe is one that does not overpower the fish, yet enhances it. I think this recipe does that. The fish is flavorful and moist, but has the added flavor pop from the combination of spices.

Curry Powder Blend

The last recipe in this episode is for Alton’s curry powder. I have a lidded tin in my basement that contains nothing but curry powders. For as long as I can remember, my parents used this tin to house their curry powders, and I inherited it a couple years ago. We have sweet curry powder, Thai curry powder, hot curry powder, and maharaja curry powder. Never, though, had I made my own curry powder… until now.

For Alton’s curry powder, in a lidded container combine 2 T cumin seed, 2 T cardamom seed (I had to use ground), 2 T coriander seed, 1/4 C ground turmeric, 1 T dry mustard, and 1 t cayenne pepper.

Cumin seed.

Cumin seed and cardamom.

Cumin seed, cardamom, and coriander seed.

Cumin seed, cardamom, coriander seed, and turmeric.

Cumin seed, cardamom, coriander seed, turmeric, and dry mustard.

Cumin seed, cardamom, coriander seed, turmeric, dry mustard, and cayenne.

Shake the mixture to combine. Since Alton’s curry powder contains lots of whole spices, you can grind the curry powder just prior to use.

Alton’s curry powder.

I never knew my paternal grandmother, but my dad began serving me her curry recipe when I was very young, and it has always been one of my favorite things. It is fun to alter the curry by mixing different curry powders each time. To really test Alton’s curry powder, I used it exclusively in Grandma’s curry and it passed the test very well.

A bowl of my grandma’s curry made with Alton’s curry powder.

Alton’s curry powder is a mixture of sweetness, nuttiness, citrus, bitterness, and moderate heat. I would call this a very good all-around curry powder, and it has been added to the tin for future batches of curry goodness.

Episode 92 – “The Pouch Principle”

Posted: January 8, 2018 in Season 7
Tags: alton brown, dessert, fish, fruit, good eats, papillote, pouch, ramen, salmon, shrimp, snapper, stone fruit, vegetable

Red Snapper en Papillote

When watching all of these Good Eats episodes, certain recipes really jump out at me. In this episode, the recipe for snapper en papillote was the one that made me super enthusiastic. I really loved the red snapper in a salt dome that I made way back in episode 10, so another snapper recipe made me excited. Unfortunately, the seafood store where I previously found whole red snapper has closed, so I had to turn to the grocery store; the fish monger was unable to get a whole red snapper, so I wound up with some other type of snapper (honestly, I don’t know exactly what it was). My fish was also not cleaned, so I had to do that myself, with a little help from my husband. If you do happen to be shopping for a whole red snapper, be sure to check the eyes of the fish, as true red snappers will have red eyes. If, like me, you cannot find red snapper in your area, Alton says you can substitute whole trout, tilapia, arctic char, or tilefish in this recipe. Regardless of the type of fish you use, for this recipe, a 1-2 pound fish will work best. Start by rinsing 1 C of couscous in cold water; sprinkle it with Kosher salt and set it aside while you prep the fish.

Couscous.

Couscous, rinsed in cold water and sprinkled with Kosher salt.

Prep the fish by rinsing your whole fish under cold water, scraping it with a knife to remove any remaining scales. Trim off all fins, but leave the tail intact. Pat the fish dry, including inside the fish, and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper, leaving a long overhang (the parchment needs to be large enough to fold over the whole fish). Place the fish diagonally across the parchment, sprinkling it all over (including inside the cavity) with Kosher salt and black pepper.

My whole fish, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Place a handful of fresh oregano and parsley inside the fish, along with a few slices of lemon and red onion. You can stick anything extra under the fish.

My fish, stuffed with fresh oregano, parsley, red onion, and lemon.

Sprinkle the rinsed couscous all around the fish, along with 1 C of drained/quartered artichoke hearts, 1 C halved cherry tomatoes, and 2 t garlic. Place lemon slices and sliced red onion along the top of the fish, and drizzle everything with 1/2 C white wine. Finally, dab 1 T of butter along the top of the fish.

Couscous, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, garlic, lemon, red onion, wine, and butter added to fish.

Fold the parchment paper over the fish, creasing the three open sides of the packet. Staple the whole package shut, placing staples about every inch.

Parchment folded and stapled over fish.

Place the fish in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

Fish packet in 425-degree oven.

Once out of the oven, cut the parchment packet open and serve the fish.

Fish after cooking for 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, this recipe didn’t wow me as much as I hoped it would, but some of that may have been due to my fish, which was kind of “blah.” I am open to trying this again with a different whole fish. I did like that this recipe is a one-pan dinner with built-in sides of couscous and vegetables, and the fish was nicely cooked. My couscous did end up being slightly gummy, but the combination of flavors in the dish was great, and I did like the presentation. If you can get whole red snapper where you live, I think this might be a great recipe to try.

Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Julienned Vegetables

The second recipe in this episode is super easy and is made in individual servings, making it easily adaptable for any number of guests. As with the snapper recipe above, parchment paper is used here to create a pouch, but this time there is one pouch per person. Start with a fairly large rectangle of parchment, folding it in half. Use scissors or a knife to cut a large half-heart shape from the creased side of the parchment. Unfold the parchment to reveal your full parchment heart. Ahhh… takes me right back to 3rd grade.

Sheet of parchment, folded in half.

Half heart shape cut out of parchment.

Whole parchment heart.

On the right side of the parchment heart place 1/3 C carrot strips, 1/3 C fennel strips, 1/3 C snow pea strips, and 1/3 C leek strips.

1/3 C carrots on right side of parchment heart.

1/3 C carrots and 1/3 C fennel on right side of parchment heart.

1/3 C carrots, 1/3 C fennel, and 1/3 C snow peas on right side of parchment heart.

1/3 C carrots, 1/3 C fennel, 1/3 C snow peas, and 1/3 C leeks on right side of parchment heart.

Place an 8-ounce salmon fillet (skin side down) on top of the vegetables and season everything with Kosher salt, pepper, and 1/8 t ground coriander.

Salmon fillet placed on top of vegetables. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and coriander.

Place the wedges of a small peeled orange on top of the fish and sprinkle the whole mound with a “wee shot” of vermouth.

Orange, peeled and cut into wedges.

Orange wedges placed on top of fish.

Fish, veggies, and oranges drizzled with vermouth.

Fold the parchment over the fish, creasing the edge at the top of the heart, and folding the edge up. Go halfway down the length of the fold, make a crease, and fold again, sort of like sealing a calzone. Continue creasing and folding all the way around the heart, twisting the parchment tip and folding it under.

Parchment folded over fish and sealed by creasing/folding all the way around.

Place the whole packet in the microwave and cook on high for 4 minutes, or cook for 12 minutes in a 425-degree oven. Since there were two of eating Alton’s salmon packets, I opted, for comparison’s sake, to cook one packet in the microwave and the other in the oven. My microwaved fish was moist and flaking easily after 4 minutes, but my oven fish needed several more minutes to be cooked.

Fish after cooking in the microwave.

I found this to be a successful recipe, resulting (in the microwave case) in nicely cooked fish. The orange wedges paired nicely with the fish and contributed a lot of moisture, and the whole dish had just a hint of vermouth.

Salmon en papillote with oranges and vegetables.

Once again, this was a nice one-packet meal, as each packet included the fish and accompanying veggies. Plus, you can have this on the table in less than 30 minutes and it is healthy.

Ramen Shrimp Pouch

The third recipe in Alton’s series of pouch recipes is for shrimp lovers and is definitely a quickie that could be prepped any day of the week. As with the salmon pouches above, you can make as few or as many of these packets as you need to suit your number of diners. To make this one, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lay out a large square of foil for each diner. On the center of each foil square, layer in this order: 1/2 of a block of noodles from a ramen package, 2 T chopped dried mushrooms, 5 large shrimp that have been peeled and deveined, 2 T chopped onions, 2 T chopped scallions, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a pinch of Kosher salt.

Half a block of ramen noodles per diner.

Half a block of Ramen noodles per diner, plus dried mushrooms.

Five large shrimp on top of noodles and mushrooms.

Chopped onions and scallions on top of shrimp.

Shrimp seasoned with red pepper flakes and Kosher salt.

Ball the foil up around the top of the shrimp, leaving a small opening at the top. Use the opening in each foil packet to pour in 1 T vegetable broth, 1 T mirin, 2 t soy sauce, and 1 t sesame oil.

Foil balled up around shrimp.

Liquid ingredients: sesame oil, vegetable broth, mirin, and soy sauce.

Foil balled up around shrimp and liquid ingredients added.

Crimp the foil closed tightly, leaving a tiny steam porthole in the top of each packet. Place the packets in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; you may want to place them on a baking sheet, just in case they leak.

Shrimp packets in the oven.

Shrimp packet after 15 minutes in the oven.

Though I am not a shrimp lover, I thought this was a very clever and tasty dish. The shrimp were perfectly cooked after 15 minutes and you could taste all of the flavors in the pouch. I will say that some of my noodles were a bit chewy, so I would suggest breaking the noodles up slightly before putting them on the foil, and maybe adding a bit more liquid directly over the noodles. With a little tweaking, I think this could be an outstanding weeknight shrimp recipe.

Stone Fruit Pouches

Alton finished up his pouch cookery with a dessert. For each person eating, lay out a large double layer square of foil. In the center of each square, place 1/2 C crumbled gingersnaps, 1 quartered plum, 1 sliced apricot (8 pieces), 2 t sugar, 1 t lime zest, a pinch of Kosher salt, and 1 T cubed butter. I had no choice but to adapt this recipe a little bit, as it was certainly not stone fruit season when I made them. I opted to use mango and quince in my pouches.

Gingersnap cookies.

Crushed gingersnap cookies in the center of each foil square.

Mango.

Chopped mango.

Chopped mango added to gingersnaps.

Chopped quince.

Chopped quince added to foil.

Sugar, lime zest, and salt added to fruit.

Cubed butter.

Cubed butter, dabbed over fruit.

Fold up the foil, leaving an opening at the top, and pour in the juice of half a lime and a shot of brandy.

Juice from 1/2 a lime added to each packet.

A shot of brandy poured over each packet.

Lime juice and brandy added to pouches.

Seal up the packets, leaving a tiny porthole. These packets can be cooked in a 500-degree oven or on a grill. If using a grill, they should be done in 10 minutes, or after 15-20 minutes in the oven. Serve the warm fruit with vanilla ice cream.

Warm fruit served with vanilla ice cream.

The gingersnaps almost caramelize, the fruit softens, and you taste hints of lime and brandy. I bet these pouches would be good with peaches or pineapple too, and they would make for a super easy prep-ahead dessert during grilling season. Yes, this is one to keep in your back pocket.

Episode 69 – “Strawberry Sky”

Posted: October 23, 2016 in Season 6
Tags: alton brown, berries, berry, clotted cream, fruit, glaze, good eats, macerated, pudding, strawberries

Clotted Cream

Though I heard of clotted cream, I had never had it before I made it for this episode of Good Eats. And, as recipes go, it does not get easier than this one. Place a paper coffee filter in a coffee filter basket, setting it over a bowl or measuring cup. Or, you can do as I did and use a Chemex coffee maker. Pour cream into the filter, filling it almost to the top.

Cream poured into paper coffee filter, allowing whey to drain into container below.

The key here is to use cream that is not ultra-pasteurized. I actually used raw cream.

Raw cream.

Refrigerate the cream for 6-8 hours, allowing the whey to drain into the bowl, while leaving the thickened cream in the filter. Scrape the sides of the filter every two hours with a spatula until you have cream that is the consistency of softened cream cheese.

Cream after being refrigerated for several hours.

Serve the clotted cream with fresh strawberries.

Clotted cream with fresh strawberries.

I thought this was fun and easy to make, and the unsweetened cream paired well with sweet berries. I think I will make this again when the weather gets warm. Next time, I will probably opt for pasteurized cream, rather than raw, because the raw cream had a bit of an animal-like flavor. I served Alton’s clotted cream with the following recipe for macerated berries.

Macerated Strawberries

My mom used to make macerated berries quite often, but her version was quite different from Alton’s. While Alton’s version is wine-based, Mom’s version simply used balsamic vinegar and a little bit of sugar and black pepper. Mom usually made these in warmer months, serving them as a light dessert after dinner. Trust me… balsamic vinegar pairs wonderfully with strawberries. For Alton’s macerated stawberries, pour a bottle of red wine into a large bowl, adding two pints of hulled/sliced strawberries.

2 pints of fresh strawberries.

A bottle of wine for macerated berries.

Note: Alton has an excellent trick for hulling strawberries – simply use the star tip for a decorating bag, twisting it into the top of the berry and pulling the hull out. Works great!

A star tip works well for hulling berries.

To the berries, add 1/4 C orange blossom honey, 1 t lemon zest, and 1 t black pepper. If you want softer berries, also add 1 1/2 C sugar (I added the extra sugar, as Alton indicated that you want softer berries for the next recipe).

Honey added to berries and wine.

Lemon zest, pepper, and sugar added to berries.

Marinate the berries for two hours before serving.

Berries after marinating for 2 hours.

I reserved half of these berries for the next recipe, while we ate the rest of these with Alton’s clotted cream. These berries were quite tasty, though I will say the dominant flavor was that of the wine. I have to admit that I would choose Mom’s macerated berries any day over Alton’s. So, if you want good macerated berries, try Alton’s. If you want great macerated berries, try Mom’s.

Strawberry Pudding

Of the recipes in this episode, this is the one I most excited to make. It just looked like it would be fun. For this one you’ll need 1/2 a recipe of Alton’s macerated strawberries and 16 slices of potato bread, with four of the slices buttered on one side (I halved this recipe since I only needed two servings).

Potato bread.

8 slices of potato bread with 2 buttered.

Macerated strawberries.

You will also need four 13.5-ounce cans with both ends removed, along with four of their lids. Finally, you need four full soda cans and a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. To begin, use the empty cans to cut a round out of each slice of bread. Cut the buttered slices last, leaving the rounds in the bottom of the cans, butter side up.

Rounds cut out of each slice of potato bread.

One round from each slice of bread.

Buttered slices cut last, with rounds left in bottoms of cans, butter side up.

Top each buttered round with ~2 T of macerated strawberries, topping with another layer of bread. Alternate the berry and bread layers, finishing with bread.

2 T strawberries on top of bread.

Alternating bread and berries.

Place the can lids on top of the last bread layer and weigh the lids down with the full soda cans. Refrigerate the cans for eight hours.

Can lids placed on top of last layer.

Full sodas placed on top of lids. Cans placed in refrigerator for 8 hours.

Cans after being refrigerated for 8 hours.

Transfer each can to a plate, using a spatula. Carefully slide each can off, and remove the can lid. Pipe whipped cream or serve clotted cream on top of the puddings.

Strawberry pudding after removing can/lid. Topped with clotted cream.

These were fun to make, super easy, and pretty. And, honestly, you could make this with any fruit. I am not quite sure why this dessert is called a “pudding,” but we really enjoyed it. This is one I will be making again for sure. We don’t have kids, but I would imagine kids would really have fun with helping to make this too.

Glazed Strawberries

This recipe is not posted online, but Alton prepped these berries in the episode. Using an unfolded paperclip, pierce the big end of a strawberry.

Unfolded paperclip in a strawberry for dipping.

Dip each berry in 1 C of apricot preserves melted with 1 T orange liqueur.

Apricot preserves.

Orange liqueur.

Apricot preserves melted with orange liqueur.

Dipping a strawberry in apricot preserves/liqueur.

Let the berries cool slightly. Devour.

Glazed strawberries.

These were easy and really delicious. They are sweet and slightly tart, with just a hint of orange. They also look super pretty, as the glaze gives the berries a very nice sheen, enhancing their red color. These would be super pretty on a plate at a party. I highly recommend these.

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