One of my favorite food videos. Watching frozen raspberries break in to druplets. So pretty. I have no idea how to find liquid nitrogen. Because I am not a super-villain. :-) But looks like fun.
This week has been crazy, with the tornado taking out my brother’s family home, to my friend losing her son and having to find a home for his pups (we may have a Balloon-Juice match, I’ll keep you up to date), not to mention work. I almost bagged the recipe exchange, but at the last moment decided to put together a simple one. So from the blog:
JeffreyW’s delicious blueberry bars
For tonight’s recipe exchange, I put together the recipes based on what’s been cooking in our kitchens this week.
Missing my fresh fruits, I make do with flash-frozen berries:
Love the full-on strawberry flavor in my Strawberry Bread (recipe here)
Blueberries, I could make stuff with blueberries everyday. Including JeffreyW’s Blueberry Bars (recipe and photos here) and his Lemon-Blueberry Bread (click here for photos and recipe)
My afternoon pick-me-up of late probably isn’t for everyone, but really works for me. Hit of energy and curbs my sweet cravings. I blend a pound of frozen strawberries, a pound of frozen blueberries and about a cup of frozen raspberries in my Vita-Mix, which creates a very smooth mixture (if you ignore the raspberry seeds) which unlike juicing, retains all the fiber. I add it and an equal amount of water to a big pitcher, mix well. I have a glass of this in the afternoon and a pitcher lasts a good two weeks in the refrigerator. YMMV.
My pressure cooker has been getting a real work out lately. A couple of meals to continue on the one-pot theme from last week:
In this Pressure Cooker Pot Roast (click here), I pushed the limits and began with a frozen roast, just to see what would happen. It turned out great and the booze made up for some of the flavors lost by not being able to brown the beef first.
![DSC_1850 [1024x768]](https://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/dsc_1850-1024x768.jpg?w=914&h=607)
Seriously, don’t all JeffreyW’s meals look delicious? Above is his yummy pot roast and below is his Pork Mole
Playing with his new Electric Pressure Cooker, JeffreyW tackles Pork Mole (click here) with much success.
I would have a Bixby update, but he’s been so crazy today, I haven’t had time to download the photos and video from our play date this week. Crazy-assed dog. (Update: I did find and post a forgotten 10 wk photo, was he really ever that small?)
For tonight’s featured recipe, thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day, these are a fun, elegant treat. I’m actually making them for a birthday get-together.
Pretty and tasty, they were inspired by a novel I was reading. If you want to read the full Food in Fiction post, click here.
Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcakes
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Moist Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs,
separated - 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup chopped raspberries
Dry ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup dry cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Grease and flour muffin tins. Cream together oil, butter and sugar. Mix in remaining moist ingredients, one at a time, until well mixed. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture and beat for 2 minutes at high-speed. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they bounce back when pressed lightly.
Chocolate Ganache:
- 6 oz dark chocolate
- 6 oz heavy cream
Double boiler (I use a metal bowl over a saucepan with about an 1 inch of water)
Place chocolate and cream in top of boiler, bring water in bottom half to a boil, reduce heat to med-high and let chocolate melt, stirring occasionally. When completely melted, remove from heat and stir until cream and chocolate are completely mixed. Let cool and dollop over cooled cupcakes
Raspberry Sauce:
- 2 cups raspberries
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
saucepan
Puree raspberries until smooth, add raspberries and sugar to saucepan and heat to a low boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until thickened, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Let cool and spoon over frosted cupcakes.
Note: For a layer cake, take 1/2 of the ganache, let it cool, mix with 1 cup crushed raspberries and spread between layers. Keep the other 1/2 of the ganache warm and pour over cake to make a beautiful and smooth coating. Serve with warm raspberry sauce.
That’s it for this week. Have a fun and safe weekend and say a little prayer for tornado damaged areas of Florida, as they are expecting more rain and stormy weather. If you didn’t see it, here is my brother’s house, or what’s left of it. – TaMara
dmsilev
I’m here to help… Look in your local directory under ‘Gases, Refrigerated’. Many suppliers will sell in small quantities, and all you need to transport it is a thermos bottle or similar (though, and this is very important, if you have a thermos with a tight lid, don’t screw the lid down). In small quantities, it costs under $1/liter.
Or, if you know someone in pretty much any science department in any university, give them a call and they’ll probably just give you a liter or two of the stuff.
benw
@dmsilev: the best thing I learned in cryo safety training is to NEVER get in an elevator with a large dewar of LiN.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: I was going to say “Google is Your Friend” in answer to the question.
Boudica
Why are the eggs separated in the raspberry cupcake recipe? I don’t see where you whip the whites or anything m
dmsilev
@benw: Some years ago, I was wheeling a mid-sized dewar of liquid helium (100 liters, I think) down the hall when a wheel caught in a recessed floor drain and the whole thing tipped over. You know how adrenalin supposedly makes you stronger? True. I had that sucker levered back upright in about a second and a half, and then I just stood there shaking for a minute or two.
trollhattan
@benw:
Will note with no further comment the video dude has short sleeves and bare hands.
TaMara (BHF)
@Boudica: That was a typo – they are supposed to be added separately. As in one at a time.
dmsilev
@trollhattan: and is using a metal spoon to stir and retrieve the berries. Bad idea; wood would be much better.
Mike in NC
The blueberry bars look amazing; my favorite berry. But the wife bought some speciality sausages the other day. Blueberry flavor and cinnamon raisin flavor. Both were pretty gross.
TaMara (BHF)
I just made a variation on the blueberry-lemon bread. It turned out really great, could have used a bit more lemon.
ThresherK (GPad)
No peaches but I have some leftover strawberries and also blueberries in the freezer, and now I know what to do with them!
SiubhanDuinne
“Dollop” is quite probably the greatest cooking term of all time, ever, in history.
Gravenstone
@benw: One of my chemistry professors gave an annual demo with liquid nitrogen. He’d freeze various and sundry things, smashing them and pelting the students. In an inspired bit of sadism, he secreted a chunk of hot dog in the tip of the middle finger of his leather glove. He then immersed it in the dewar of liquid N2 long enough to fully freeze it before pulling it up, condensation vapor trailing heavily from it. He plunked it down on the desktop, *thunk*. “Oh. Oh my, I think I have a problem here.” Grabs a hammer and proceeds to pound along the frozen fingertip. Pulls the glove off (keeping his finger folded down out of sight) and shakes it, pouring out small chunks of still smoking pink meat. I thought we were going to lose a few people, given the crowd reaction.
benw
@dmsilev: intense. One time I caught myself closing the “vent” valve on a large-ish dewar instead of the “LiN” valve; just by chance I was like, “something feels wrong, I’d better double check.” I was kind of freaked out the rest of the day.
@trollhattan: oh, man, if our ES&H guys saw that, there’d be reports into next week.
benw
@Gravenstone: and people say that a college education is useless!
Jay Noble
mustikkapiirakka – Variously translated from Finnish as blueberry pie or blueberry cake. The bars shown reminded me of the cakeyer version that I fell in love with as an exchange student. I gained 10 lbs. in a month when one of my host moms found out I liked it. :-)
If you want some recipes for blueberries – look to the Finns.
BD of MN
I was gifted a pressure cooker for xmas (the very same on in Jeffery’s pics), tried a couple of pot roasts to varying degrees of success… Definitely going to try the pork mole recipe as I have a boston butt in the freezer right now… Thanks and hope to see more pointers for the pressure cooker!
NotMax
Mmmm, blueberries.
No longer a big fan of most ice creams, but this stuff caught the eye at the supermarket, and is darned yummy.
Wag
I love mole. The best thanksgiving turkey I ever made was with homemade mile smeared between the flesh and skin. Mole recipe here. Stuffed with a cornbread, green chile, onion, pine nut, and chorizo stuffing. The gravy was amazing.
Betty Cracker
The reference to strawberry bread reminded me that peak strawberry season is right around the corner in my neck o’ the woods. Every year my sister and I purchase a flat and do something with them — ice cream, pies, shortcake, chocolate-dipped, tossed in vodka. I’ll have to ponder ideas for the upcoming berries….
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Easy-peasy, festive, and garners oohs and ahs when served.
Stuffed Strawberries
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup confectioner sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons orange flavored (or other preferred) liqueur, or to taste
Cut the tops off of the strawberries and stand upright on the cut side. Make a cut 3/4 of the way down from the tip of the strawberry towards the bottom.
Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and liqueur until smooth in a mixer or a food processor. Place into a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe into the cut of each strawberry and arrange on a serving platter.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: That sounds fabulous. Thanks!
Just One More Canuck
@Mike in NC: A European deli we go to makes all kinds of specialty sausages – my favourite is chicken mango
laura
Today’s our annual breakfast party. We’re lucky to have a bountiful navel orange tree -and a bumper crop this year. I scored a whole ham for just $25 in a holiday clear out sale. I coca cola’d it per Nigella and it’s awaiting the final molasses brown sugar mustard crackling glaze. The spouse is making potatoes O’Brian while I’m having a cuppa.
Scramdled eggs, with Meyer lemon hollandaise.
Guests are threatening to bring home smoked salmon cream cheese schmear, pork bao, and beverages suited to mixing with fresh oj.
The party’s from 10 til 1 and after cleaning up and sending friends home with a greasy parcel tucked under arm I’ll be ready for a massive nap.
There’s been more than a few deaths among our family of late and friends and this gathering is really a bright spot that even the stoic swede spouse us looking forward to. So cheers to all!
Snarki, child of Loki
You think that cooking with liquid nitrogen is fun, try cooking with liquid OXYGEN. That’s a whole ‘nother level of excitement.
c u n d gulag
Bingo, the house and cars and trees can be replaced!
As we all know, it’s the people and their pets that are irreplaceable.
Best wishes to your brother’s family.
Just Some Fuckhead
I’m going to marry that man some day.