Cocoa Chocolate Chip Scones

It's officially here: the time of year when you step on the scale less frequently because you know you probably won't like the results! My sister and I have both agreed we need to be a bit more careful about our eating. Not so much what we eat, just how much we eat. (The book French Women Don't Get Fat focuses on the concept of eating whatever you want, just pay attention to portion control!) I picked my sister up from class and dragged her to the Inkwell Home Store. It basically has my name written all over it. Cute dishes, linens, candles, kitchen gadgets, cookbooks... and that's only one half of the store! The other half is full of furniture, but I'm always so busy on the kitchen side, I forget there's anything else! Every other word out of our mouths was "OOH!", or "Look! How cute!" Yes, the Christmas decorations were out. Everywhere we turned were adorable holiday plates, linens, platters, etc. All just screaming, "You know you want to buy me!!!!" Of course yesterday also happened to be payday. Talk about self-control!


By some miracle my sister and I left the Inkwell with only four new kitchen towels and two different scone mixes. We're saving the Peppermint Chocolate Chip mix for when we're closer to Christmas. That left the Cocoa Chocolate Chip package. I don't think this recipe could be any easier: you just add water! The company is Sticky Fingers Bakeries and the mixes only cost about $6 each.


You add 3/4 cup of water to the mix and stir until combined. You can drop heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet, or do the alternate method we chose: pat the dough into a 10" diameter circle on a baking sheet. Score deeply into 8 wedges and bake for 18-20 minutes. Voila!


Paired with a tall glass of milk, these scones are the perfect snack for a cold, rainy day.

Newest Adventure: Creme Brulee

Last year I had a gift certificate to Hartwicks, one of the nicer kitchen shops in Eugene (Think a mix between Sur La Table and Kitchen Kaboodle). I found quite a few practical items that I needed (steamer baskets, piping kit for frosting, etc.). I decided that with all of these useful things, I should find at least one fun item. Then I saw it: a creme brulee set. It included the torch, four small ramekins and a little recipe book. YES. I was so excited!!

Surprisingly it took me ages to actually get around to making creme brulee! Dale's not a big dessert person (Crazy! I know), so I usually only make baked goods that I can bring into work to share (I have a wedding dress to fit into next summer, so I can't keep these at home). Then my sister mentioned that she thought it would be fun to make some creme brulee sometime when I was visiting her. She lives in Corvallis, so I like to try to stay the night so we can hang out for longer. This was the perfect opportunity to experiment with creme brulee.

For having never made creme brulee before, we did a pretty darn good job! The one frustrating thing was waiting for the cream to heat. OH and trying to get the torch to work!!! A certain someone left the instructions back in Eugene, but her brilliant sister had the idea to look them up online and sure enough, there they were. We didn't know that once you fill the torch with the butane gas, you have to let it sit for a few minutes. Ohhh. Then it was awesome! The recipe we used made more than would fit in our ramekins, so we reduced it by half, which was about right. Our ramekins were 4oz. instead of the 6oz. the recipe called for. We also used vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean because Safeway didn't carry it. The texture of our finished creme brulee was heavenly!! Crisp, crunchy and sugary on the top, and smooth, creamy, and vanilla-y on the inside. WOW. This is something I could get used to... and that's a bit dangerous.

Creme Brulee

Recipe by Tyler Florence

Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 2hr 40min.

Makes 6 servings in six 6oz. ramekins

9 egg yolks

3/4 Cup superfine white sugar, plus 6 Tbsp.

1 Quart heavy cream

1 Vanilla bean

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together egg yolks and sugar with a whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and thick.

2. Pour cream into a medium saucepan oer low heat. Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle, scrape out the seeds and add them to the saucepan. Bring cream to a brief simmer, do not boil or it will overflow. Remove from heat and temper the yolks by gradually whisking the hot vanilla cream into yolk and sugar mixture. Do not add hot cream too quickly, or the eggs will cook.

3. Divide custard into 6 (6oz.) ramekins, about 3/4 full. Place ramekins in a roasting pan and fill pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until barely set around the edges, about 40 minutes. You may want to cover loosely with foil to prevent browning. Remove from oven and cool to room temp. Transfer the ramekins to the fridge and chill for 2 hours. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of sugar on top of each chilled custard. Hold a kitchen torch 2 inches above surface to brown the sugar and form a crust. Garnish with cookies and fresh fruit. Serve at once.

Variation: Before dividing into ramekins: add 3oz. shaved dark chocolate to make chocolate creme brulee; add 4 slices crystallized ginger for ginger creme brulee; add 3 slices orange peel for orange creme brulee. Let steep 20 minutes to infuse the flavor. Strain out the ginger and orange peel before baking.

My First Experience with Deer Meat

Well it's about time I update this blog! I'm pretty sure I had the flu a little over a week ago (maybe the piggie one, not sure) and it took about a whole week to fully recover. Sadly, when I got sick our fridge was empty and there was no way I was going grocery shopping in my condition. Finally I was able to hit the stores last week and am now ready to cook!

Dale and his buddy from work went hunting in the hills outside of Eugene about a month ago. His friend got a deer on their first day! We went over to his house the next night to have some of the venison for dinner. This was actually my first experience with deer meat! Growing up in Portland, I didn't know too many (if any) people who went hunting, so game meat was never on the menu. I'm not sure why, but I was a tad nervous about trying this. I kept thinking to myself, "What would Anthony Bourdain eat?". That actually really helped. And guess what? I loved it. The meat is kind of chewy (due to it coming from a wild animal, not farm raised), but I absolutely loved the flavor! It's different from the meats I'm used to: beef, pork, etc, but in a good way.

So we went home with four packages of back strap and tenderloin cuts. The wheels in my head were turning, trying to think of ways to cook this new meat. At Dale's buddy's house we had the venison simply dipped in egg, followed by bread crumbs, and cooked in oil in a pan. It was simple, but really good because there wasn't anything covering the flavor of the meat. The next day I came across an article about a Montana family who are on a quest to "eat off the land". They included a recipe for Venison Stew. Yes! It's pretty much the same as normal stew, just with venison meat. I made this on one of my days off because it calls for you to cook the stew for 2-3 hours in the oven, then add a few ingredients and return to the oven for another hour. It was definitely worth the work! I usually feel a little sad for animals that are hunted, but I felt really good making use of the deer meat like this.

The recipe notes that beef chuck, rump roast, or sirloin tip can be used as a substitute. The couple who wrote the article call this recipe "A hunter's version of beef burgundy".




Venison Stew
Recipe from Missoula resident, Greg Patent
Serves 8

2 1/2 lbs. Venison, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
2 large yellow onions, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 (12-oz.) bottle hard apple cider or 1 1/2 cups apple cider
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Cups reduced-sodium beef or chicken broth, divided
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 medium green or yellow bell pepper, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium red bell pepper, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Pat meat chunks dry with paper towels. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag. Add meat; close the bag and toss to coat the meat with flour.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, remove about half the meat from the bag, shaking off excess flour and add to pan in a single layer without crowding. Brown on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove meat and set on paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining meat. Transfer to a large, oven-safe pot (I used a Dutch oven).

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

4. Add onions and carrots to the remaining oil in the pan and cook over med-high heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to caramelize, 6-8 minutes. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and add to meat. Add garlic, bay leaves, thyme, allspice, cider, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 Cups broth to the pot; stir. (The liquid should barely cover the meat) Bring to a simmer on top of the stove; cover the pot and place in oven. Cook 2-3 hours, until meat is barely tender

4. Bring remaining broth to a boil. Add to stew along with potatoes and bell peppers. Stir, cover pot, and return to oven to bake about 1 hour, until meat is completely tender and potatoes are cooked.