I was (and am) envious of those chefs that can quickly slice or chop nice even pieces. I can get it done, but not to the chop-chop-chop-chop speed. I was more like slice….slice….slice. I attended the class and it was a good primer on different knives, care for knives, how to properly hold the knife and the best ways to chop.

To hold the knife, I learned to pinch the top of the blade right before the hilt with my index finger and thumb, letting the rest of the fingers wrap around the handle. To chop, create a “wall” with the second part of your fingers on your other hand (curl your fingers in) and move your knife up and down against that wall.

I proceeded to go home and tell them all about what I learned. The next day, using the wall, I chopped away. On my second item my thumb forgot to curl and SLICE – right into the tip of my thumb. So much for cooking classes!

The best part of this is the carmelized onions.

Simple recipe.

I used a mandoline to cut this onion thin. And I still have the tips of all my fingers!

Cooking the beans.

Draining.

Toasting the almonds.

Carmelizing the onions.

A great side.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

Prep Time: 0 hours 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 hours 40 minutes | Makes: 6 to 8 servings | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 3 pounds green beans, trimmed of stem end
• 1/2 cup skin on sliced almonds
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large onions, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Fill a large high sided skillet with some water, adding enough to be just shy of the rim of the pan by about 1 inch. Place over high heat and bring up to boil; add a big pinch of salt and the green beans. Cook for about 5 minutes, the beans should still be crisp. Drain the beans and then run them under some cold water to stop them from cooking. Reserve the beans while you start the onions.Return the skillet you cooked the beans in to the cook top over medium heat. Add the almonds and toast stirring every now and then until golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the almonds from the skillet and reserve. Return the skillet to the heat and add the butter and olive oil and heat until the butter has melted. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook stirring frequently until the onions caramelize, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the cooked cooled green beans and almonds, and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Source: http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/recipe/33625

Nice tender beef with gravy.

Luckily I had the ingredients to make more.

Flouring the beef.

Giving everything an initial brown.

The liquids.

All together.

BEEF TIPS OVER RICE

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 2 lbs. sirloin tip roast, cut into 2-inch strips
• 4 tbsp. oil
• 2 lg. onions, sliced
• 2 beef flavored bouillon cubes
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water

Directions:

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag; shake to mix. Add meat and shake well to coat. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot; brown meat in the oil. Add onions and cook until onions are tender.Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the boiling water. Pour over beef mixture. Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice. This will serve 6-8 people and is delicious!

Source: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1642,153189-234207,00.html

When I last made potato soup I had just received my immersion blender for Christmas. As the soup was cooking I happily put the blender in the pot and with a quick flick of the switch it was on. I ran it for 10-20 seconds and when I was done, I had perfectly pureed soup. It was just so easy.

Then I went to eat it. Something was missing. In my mind when I am eating potato soup, I need chunks of potatoes. Not big chunks, but I need some never less. The taste was the same but the texture was off.

This time, with a different recipe, I kept texture in mind.

This was a nice hearty soup.

Somehow the scallions didn’t make the picture.

Skinned and diced. Ready for the microwave.

Building the soup. I put in about 2/3 of the potatoes and then used my immersion blender. This thickened the soup and spread the potato flavor. I then added the other 1/3 to have the chunky texture.

I added some bacon bits into the soup. Probably about 1/2 cup.

And added cheese, scallions and bacon bits at the end.

Loaded Potato Soup

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Makes: 12

Ingredients:

• 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 cups milk
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• Bacon bits
• Sliced scallions
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place cubed potatoes into a glass dish, and cook in the microwave oven for 7 to 10 minutes, or until soft.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour until smooth, then gradually stir in the milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

3. Stir in the potatoes and onion, and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in the sour cream and Cheddar cheese until melted and well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with cheese, scallions and bacon on top.

Nutritional Info:

NutritionAmount Per Serving (12 total) Calories 338 cal 17% Fat 16.6 g 26% Carbs 37.6 g 12% Protein 10.7 g 21% Cholesterol 47 mg 16% Sodium 202 mg 8% See More Based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Source: http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/13083/recipeloaded-potato-soup-i

I host a chili cook-off every year and my wife came up with a great idea several years ago to turn our upright freezer into a drink cooler for the party. It is in the area of the party, holds enough cans and bottles to serve the 40 or so attendees and keeps them cold. We just need to occasionally turn it on low and then turn it off after things are ice cold, so the drinks don’t become…uh…ice.

As a result of using the freezer this way, we need to move all frozen items into the freezer that is part of our refrigerator. Leading up to the party I’ll strive to use up as much as I can that is frozen, but there is always quite a bit we have to cram into the freezer compartment. Once everything is moved we defrost the freezer, dry it out and load it up with beverages.

This year I did not do a very good job of using up frozen items and when it came time to move the items, the freezer compartment was completely full. During the following couple of days whenever I would need something from the freezer, it often meant moving 4-5 items to get to what I wanted. After the third or fourth time of moving a frozen pie crust, a bag of meatballs, a box of puff pastry and a little bag of tomato paste (every recipe only needs 1 tablespoon but the smallest can is 6oz, so I’ve started freezing the remainder), I decided to make something so I wouldn’t have to touch them any more.

Meatball pie! It did not retain the pie shape when put on the plate, but tasted really good.

I added carrots, onion, green pepper, spaghetti sauce and cheese.

Dice and saute the veggies.

Meanwhile heat up the meatballs with some sauce and the paste. I thought the paste would help thicken things and hold the “pie” together a bit better than the sauce alone.

Add it all together.

Put it into the pie crust.

Cover with cheese.

Lay the puff pastry over it and trim.

After baking.

It was very good. My eldest son wants me to make it again. But that means I’d have to touch those items again!

The turkey was very moist and tender and surprisingly full of flavor.

A big turkey breast and some French Onion soup mix.

Place one on the other.

While it does not make a quick Thanksgiving substitute, it certainly makes an easy one!

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Prep Time: 10 M | Cook Time: 8 H | Makes: 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 (6 pound) bone-in turkey breast
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

Directions:

Rinse the turkey breast and pat dry. Cut off any excess skin, but leave the skin covering the breast. Rub onion soup mix all over outside of the turkey and under the skin. Place in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on High for 1 hour, then set to Low, and cook for 7 hours.

PREP 10 mins

COOK 8 hrs

READY IN 8 hrs 10 mins

Nutritional Info:

Calories 273 kcal 14%
Carbohydrates 1.5 g < 1%
Cholesterol 164 mg 55%
Fat 1.5 g 2%
Fiber 0.1 g < 1%
Protein 59.5 g 119%
Sodium 309 mg 12%

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-turkey-breast/

We started with five contestants and have two remaining (in alphabetical order): Ajax and Maggie. Ellie had the fewest amount of votes after the first round, Jenna had the fewest after the second round and Mikaela had to drop out of the competition.

Today’s contestant, AJAX is a F-16 pilot and blogger over at Like A Fighter Pilot. His posts, as demonstrated below, contain entries for mind, body and spirit. Check out his blog and his Diced! entry below…

Out of your element

Tail 90-0768 My Aircraft

Mind – The final round of Diced is here, and unfortunately for me, The Ranting Chef threw a curve ball. If you have followed LIKEAFIGHTERPILOT.com you know we really don’t do desserts.  We work on the mind, body, and spirit, and when it comes to eating, our focus is making tasty, expedient, dinners. You have to know when you are out of your element in order to be able to operate in it. But one thing about flying fighter aircraft, you can’t shy away from things that are tough, or situations that make you uncomfortable. The only way to get better at difficult tasks is to dive in and practice. I can distinctly remember learning how to fly with nigh vision goggles. Imagine greatly reducing your natural field of view and taking away all your depth-perception and then flying in close proximity to other aircraft. Then imagine flying low altitude at 510 knots (600 mph) under the same conditions…sucking up seat cushions is how some describe the experience.  Practice is important, but so is bringing in the right people on your team. For this task I brought on the team my secret dessert weapon, my wife Lisa. So fights on Maggie, I think you will all love the dessert.

———————————————————

Body – Sports Day

Wingman/Flight Leads/Instructors

30 minutes of boxing bag work

-          15 on the heavy bag

-          15 on the speed bag

Weapons Instructor Course

30 minutes of sparring

———————————————————-

Recipe of the Day

Lemon Tart with White Chocolate Mascarpone Cream and Macerated Brandied Blueberry Sauce

The Lemon Tart by Marcella Rosene

The White Chocolate Mascarpone is Lisa’s

The Blueberry Brandy sauce is by AJAX’s

Photo by AJAX

Serves – 8

Prep time – A lot, this is not a quick prep item.

Nutrition – Calories…a lot, its dessert the gym

Ingredients

For the Tart Shells

3/4 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups flour

Filling:

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon arrowroot

1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced lemon peel

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

First the Lemon Tarts

1. To prepare the tart shells: Place the powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process just long enough to remove any lumps. Add the butter in small pieces and process until the mixture is almost fluffy. Gradually add the flour and continue processing until the mixture forms a firm dough. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a large piece of plastic wrap. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap. Chill just until the dough is no longer warm from processing, no longer than 30 minutes. (The dough needs to be at room temperature to form the shells.)

2. Spray eight 3-inch tart tins with a nonstick cooking spray. Separate the dough into 8 equal pieces. Place a ball of dough in the center of each tin and press in the bottom and up the sides. The dough should be spread very thin. Refrigerate the shells at least 20 minutes before baking. (The shells can also be frozen.) Prick the bottoms before baking.

3. Place the shells on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 15 minutes. Rotate the shells and continue baking an additional 15 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes. Loosen the shells from the pans with the tip of a knife if necessary and remove. (The unfilled shells can be held at room temperature in a tin for a week.)

4. To prepare the filling: In a food processor place the whole eggs, yolks and lemon juice. Process until the eggs are well beaten. With the machine running gradually add the sugar, arrowroot and lemon peel. Add the cream cheese a chunk at a time and puree until specks of cream cheese are no longer visible.

5. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture coats a spoon but is still thin enough to pour. When the filling has begun to thicken pour into a measuring cup. If the filling has thickened so that it is no longer pourable, stir in a teaspoon or two of warm water.

6. Place the pastry shells on a cookie sheet and carefully pour the hot filling into the shells. Place the tarts in the oven and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 6 minutes or until the filling does not jiggle when the tarts are moved. Remove from the oven and let cool. Cover loosely and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Ingredients

White Chocolate Mascarpone

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

4 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

9 oz Mascarpone cheese (room temperature)

4-6 Tablespoons brandy

4 oz good quality white chocolate such as Lindt

1. In a small bowl combine the Mascarpone and the brandy.

2. Break the white chocolate into small pieces and melt in a double boiler.  Allow to cool, then stir into the Mascarpone and brandy bowl.

3. Combine sugar and water in a small non-stick pan over high heat, bring to a boil.

4. In a standing mixer with whisk attachment lightly beat egg yolks until blended, increase speed and beat until light yellow and frothy.

4. Using a candy thermometer cook sugar syrup until 240 degrees Fahrenheit/soft ball stage.

5. With mixer on high, slowly pour sugar syrup down the sides of the bowl and incorporate.

6. Whisk egg yolk on high speed until cool, up to 10 minutes, add one half teaspoon of vanilla and combine for 1 more minute.

7. Stir the egg yolk sugar mixture into the Mascarpone brandy and white chocolate bowl, combine well and refrigerate for two hours.  Set aside.

Macerated Brandied Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup brandy

1. Combine blueberries and brandy, simmer on medium heat until reduced.  While simmering crush blueberries slightly with a fork. Let cool slightly before topping tart.

Assembly

1. Cover lemon tart with large dollop of Mascarpone White Chocolate, drizzle with brandied blueberry sauce, then sprinkle lightly with crumbled white powdered donut.

Enjoy

AJAX

MackNBee taste rating 4 out of 4

AJAX ease of prep rating 1 out of 4,

——————————————————-

Spirit – Sometime you just need to rest your body and your mind.  Sit back relax, consider all your blessings and have a tasty dessert after working hard.

Cheers

AJAX

The views of LIKEAFIGHTERPILOT are those of the author alone and should not be considered any official DoD, Government, or USAF position.

Remember – check back after the last post to vote on who advances in the Diced! competition.

We started with five contestants and have two remaining (in alphabetical order): Ajax and Maggie. Ellie had the fewest amount of votes after the first round, Jenna had the fewest after the second round and Mikaela had to drop out of the competition.

Today’s contestant, Maggie is no stranger to The Rantings of an Amateur Chef. As the author of the popular Maggie Monday series, she has brought us quite a few great dishes. Now it is time for Maggie to go toe-to-toe with our other contestants.

Well, two tries are better than one, right? When I first read over the ingredients for this DICED challenge, I immediately knew I wanted to make bread pudding. I thought it would be perfect- donuts and blueberries in the bread pudding, and a white chocolate Frangelico sauce. I went straight home and got baking. Everything came together as I hoped.

It smelled amazing as it was baking. I took it out of the oven.

It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever made.

But, we had to taste it. Actually, it was pretty darn good. But it was so stinking ugly that my family wouldn’t eat the leftovers. Including #1 son who eats mustard sandwiches. Hmmmm. I’ve included photos of the hideous yet curiously tasty dish. And the recipe in case anyone might wish to improve upon it. Good luck!

I was back to the drawing board.

My next thought was to try a white chocolate cheesecake. It would be easy enough to adapt my basic cheesecake recipe-which is a classic New York style- dense, not too sweet, with a sour cream topping.  I used the mini-donuts in the crust and garnish, added melted white chocolate to the cheesecake filling, then made a fresh blueberry sauce for topping. I thought about pouring a pint of fresh blueberries over the crust before putting the filling in for baking, but chose not to this time as I wasn’t sure that the density of the crust would hold up to the berries. I may do this next time as I think it would work.

Everything came together beautifully, and this cake smelled so good in the oven. When I took it out to cool before putting the sour cream layer on it was all we could do not to dig in.

I was so pleased with how pretty this cheesecake is. The crust was delicious, and you could really take the donuts in it. I had not thought about adding white chocolate to the cheesecake filling, and it was great- still not too sweet, but did add richness. As if cheesecake needs to be more rich! I had to give a nod to the donuts with my garnish, so I made a little Donut Tower. Isn’t it cute?

So, this cake came out of the oven the day Son #3, Daughter #2 and her boyfriend came home from college. #3 was so inspired that he wants to try to bake one himself. We’ll see how that goes!

The second attempt was well worth it, and I will be making this again. With the donuts!

Donut White Chocolate Cheesecake with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

What you need:

Crust:

10 mini-powdered donuts- stale- a day or two old is best

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup melted butter

Filling:

10 oz white chocolate, melted

1 oz white chocolate, grated

4-8oz packages cream cheese, softened

½ cup plus 2 Tbs sugar

4 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbs flour

1Tbs pure vanilla extract

Sour Cream Topping:

1 cup sour cream

1/8 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Fresh Blueberry Sauce:
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 half-pints fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

What you do:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a 9”spring form pan by spraying the bottom with baking spray, lining bottom with parchment paper, and spraying again. Place mini donuts in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add almonds and graham cracker crumbs and pulse until blended. Pour crumb mixture into a mixing bowl, and add melted butter. Mix until well blended then press into bottom and about ½” up side of pan.

Melt chocolate in microwave until smooth. Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, and bet in whole eggs and egg yolks, adding one at a time. Add the flour and vanilla, mix well, then add in the melted chocolate, beating the entire time until well combined. This is easiest in a stand mixer, but can be accomplished using a hand mixer.

Pour filling over the crust and bake cheesecake for one hour or until top is firm to the touch. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

While cake is cooling, whisk together sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Once cake has cooled for about 15 minutes, pour sour cream topping over the top of the cake, smoothing out with a rubber spatula if necessary. Place cake back in the oven at 450 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a rack. Cool to room temperature.

Once cake is at room temperature, cover and refrigerate overnight to fully set.

Before serving prepare the blueberry sauce. Combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is translucent and thickened, stir in the blueberries and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, just until a few berries have burst but most are still whole. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice and cool.

Garnish cake with blueberry sauce, mini-donuts, and grated white chocolate.

Remember – check back after the last post to vote on who advances in the Diced! competition.

One look at this pork loin, you’ll bellow that too!

This just looks beautiful.

A ver few ingredients.

Such a simple recipe. Apply the seasoning to the loin and bake.

Very appetizing!

Roast Pork with Lemon-Pepper Crust

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins | Makes: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse-ground sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine first 6 ingredients. Spread mixture evenly over pork.

3. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 155°. Remove pork from oven; cover and let stand 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 160°.

carbo rating: 1

Source: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001733375

We had a few (very few) cookbooks to start out with, and like with many young couples, money was tight enough that cookbooks, for the most part, were not in the budget. I collected recipe from friends and relatives and cut an occasional one from a newspaper or magazine, but that was a slow process. I needed to find a better way.

Around that time, I happened upon an offer from Kikoman (think soy sauce), that if I sent in several UPC codes and filled out their form, they would send me the Kikoman cookbook. I sent away for it, and like Ralphie in The Christmas Story, I eagerly checked the mailbox daily to see if my “super secret decoder ring” had arrived.

When it came it was a 20 page, glossy booklet. While not a full cookbook, it instantly increased my recipes dramatically. I cooked through most of the recipes and even found a few favorites. Having had success with this, I knew there were other brands that did the same.

Over the next several years, through send-aways and purchases at the aisle at my local grocery store, I added a dozen more of these booklets. Splenda. RealLemon. National Beef Council. Had them all, and, of course, Pilsbury.

I believe I first found this recipe there.

These are great little pockets of chicken. A great hot lunch.

Very few ingredients.

Making a roux.

Adding the chicken and cheese.

Flattening out the pockets.

You end up making a little “purse” of the contents. It is important to ensure the dough is closed at the top as much as possible for the next steps.

Breaded and ready for baking.

Out of the oven.

Great little pockets. Kids love them.

Chicken To Go Biscuits

Prep Time: 20 Min | Cook Time: 40 Min | Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken*
• 1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) chopped or sliced drained mushrooms
• 1 (16.3-oz.) can Pillsbury® Grands!® Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3 cups cornflakes, crushed or 1 cup cornflake crumbs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In medium saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Add milk all at once. Cook about 1 minute until thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken, cheese and mushrooms; set aside.

2. Separate biscuit dough into 8 biscuits. Roll or pat each into 5-inch circle. Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on each biscuit circle. Wrap dough around chicken mixture, pressing edges to seal.

3. Dip rolls in egg, then coat with crushed cornflakes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F. for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Source: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/chicken-to-go-biscuits/be794f6a-7923-46e6-8bec-00d5e0d33c9d/