Tequila! Cupcakes

The Ann's have it. Yes, for the next 3 weeks my blog will turned over to Ann(e), my two friends since high school. Back in the day, whenever we would meet new people (i.e. boys) they would say "hi, we're Ann(e)" - which I always thought was so cute and clever. Fast forward an unmentionable amount of years and they still never fail to entertain.

First up, Anne with an e from Milwaukee who is known for her fancy footwork in and out of the kitchen (see A Flan to Remember). For the past four years she has completed the New York MS Society's Climb to the Top challenge, hoofing it up 66 flights of stairs to the top of Rockefeller Center.This year, however, her dogs are tired and she has passed the torch to two of her kids. But, she put her best foot forward for a fundraiser for their effort, and thus these drunken cupcakes courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker. Known to imbibe, I am not surprised that she chose dessert with a kick. One thing, though, Anne never stumbles when it comes to decorating her baked goods, as she cut her teeth icing frozen confections at Baskin-Robbins in high school. 

 They do come with a warning : Don't eat and drive. 

The Big Shoe Dance needs no introduction....

The Recipe:

For the Cupcakes:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk

To Brush the Cupcakes:
1 to 2 tablespoons tequila

For the Tequila-Lime Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

DIRECTIONS: (take it one step at a time)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don't worry, it will all come back together, power on!)

6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge. Make one dozen boozed up cakes in a cup.

Three is a Magic Number

Celebrity deaths always come in threes, and last week was no exception with Shirley Temple, Sid Caesar and Ralph Waite. I must admit, as in the case of Sid Caesar, I I might have guessed he was already dead (that is if I was playing Dead or Canadian? which here would certainly be called Dead or Canadian Bacon?). A Pioneer of TV comedy, Americas first sweetheart (born in the same year as Mickey Mouse and more popular than in her day than Clark Gable) and my tv dad - the trifecta of celebrity deaths.

Three recipes follow: Sid Caesar salad (which goes great with Imogene Cocoa), Shirley Temple's Shirley Temple and Walton's Mountain Saw Mill Gravy. Remember, the number is three - four is right out.

Three is a magic number, and no where else was that more evident than in the 1970s classic psa series  Schoolhouse Rock. Who says you can't learn everything you need to know from television? How else would I know the function of a conjunction, or where to get my adverbs, or that a bill is just a bill? Interjection!

The Recipe:

3 ounces lemon-lime soda
3 ounces ginger ale
Dash grenadine
Marachino cherry for garnish

Pour the lemon-lime soda and ginger ale into a collins glass with ice cubes. Add a dash of grenadine.Serves 1 on the Good Ship Lollipop.

The Recipe:

1/2 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, smashed, then minced
1 baguette, preferably a day old, sliced thin
1/4 cup freshly juiced lemon juice (plus more to taste)
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon anchovy paste, or 1-2 anchovies, smashed and minced
2 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 small heads of romaine lettuce, rinsed, patted dry, wilted outer leaves discarded

1 In a very large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and garlic. Let sit for half an hour.

2 While the oil is sitting, make the croutons. Spread the baguette slices out over a baking sheet (may need to do in batches), lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Brush or spray with olive oil (or melted butter, or if you want garlicky croutons, dip pastry brush in the garlic infused oil you have sitting in step 1). Broil for a couple of minutes until the tops are lightly browned. (Note: do not walk away, these can easily go from browned to burnt.) Remove and let cool.

3 Add anchovies and eggs to the oil garlic mixture. Whisk until creamy. Add salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Whisk in half of the Parmesan cheese. Taste, add more lemon juice to taste. The lemon should give an edge to the dressing, but not overwhelm it.

4 Using your hands, tear off chunks of lettuce from the heads of lettuce (do not use a knife to cut). Add to the oil mixture and toss until coated. Add the rest of the Parmesan cheese, toss.

5 Coarsely chop the toasted bread and add (with the crumbs from the chopping) to the salad. Toss. Serve immediately. Like comedy, it's harder than it looks.

The Recipe:

1 pound bulk sausage
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Cook sausage in a cast iron skillet. When done, remove sausage from pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Whisk flour into the fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally while the gravy comes to a simmer and thickens. (Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan, that's where the flavor is.) Check seasoning, add crumbled sausage and serve over toast or biscuits. You will roux the day, roux I tell you!

Skinny and Sweet Chicken Marsala

Here was my dilemma: after perfecting a recipe for Chicken Marsala for the Julia child (see I Dream of Chicken Marsala), I realized that every time she asked me to make it that the heavy cream weighed on my heart and mind. There had to be a better, lighter method. And voila! A quick trip to foodtv.com gave me just what I needed. A recipe (courtesy of Tyler Florence) that omitted the deadly ingredient entirely. Yes, a little bit of butter was the substitute, but all in all easier on the waistline. Additionally, this one relied upon sweet Marsala wine (while the other demanded dry).  But how do I achieve a thicker consistency you ask so the sauce adheres to the chicken and the pasta? Well, I ad lib and shake in a little flour at the end, stirring constantly and bringing the sauce to a boil for a few extra minutes. From all outward appearances it even looks the same as the heavy cream version. And, it fools even the most discriminating palates every time. You can't taste the difference

Lily Tomlin, native Detroiter, comic genius.  And, to continue the great movie quotes I use at least once a day, we travel to 1980 and 9 to 5. Workplace comedy ensues when three women who are barely gettin by (Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton) are pitted against their male chauvinist pig boss who is all takin and no givin. In my favorite scene Tomlin puts rat poison instead of artificial sweetener  in the boss's coffee "accidentally" due to a shopping error by Fonda who says: "It looked just like  Skinny  and Sweet except for the skull and crossbones on the label".  Leading Tomlin to lament that this will cost her her job : "I'm no fool. I've killed the boss, you don't think they are going to fire me for a thing like that?" You would think she'd deserve a fat promotion, she wants to get ahead but the boss won't seem to let her, I swear sometimes that man is out to get her.

The Recipe:

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts 

All-purpose flour, for dredging (and shaking/thickening)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces crimini or porcini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin

1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets(like you would a mickey) into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm. Lower the heat to medium and add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with linguine.

Blogger tip: This is a great dish to make ahead and serve for large gatherings or dinner parties where you want all of your attention on your guests. Cook the chicken as described above, but layer in a baking dish. Make the sauce (I usually double the recipe) and pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve. Preheat oven at 350  and reheat for 20 minutes.

Bring Out Your Bread

Lo oh so many years ago (at least 20) we got our first bread maker. One of those trendy home appliances that newlyweds register for, use once at best, and then collects dust until the mother of all garage sales. Not us. We like to buck trends. And when I say us and we I don't mean me (as it has been firmly established who is the baker in this bunch). Anyway, ours was from a weird little electronics company called DAK - literally a guy and his garage workshop in California, just not the famous one. It looked like an R2-D2 prototype and came with a recipe book that included a dandy called simply enough - Pizza Bread. The machine long gone, replaced with a fancier Williams-Sonoma model, the recipe endures. The common ingredients for bread plus pizza sauce, cheese and cured meat(s) of choice. Throw it all in and in a few short hours you have a tasty orange loaf of goodness that pairs well with a big green salad. Always eaten warm, none ever left over or thrown away.

[Reader's Note: please employ a proper English accent while enjoying the following]
Where to begin? Oh, right, with another post about something uniquely British. 1975's Monty Python and the Holy Grail is, simply put, the holy grail of all movie quotes.  What is your quest? What is your favourite colour? Who is this who is so wise in the ways of science?  It's only a flesh wound. We are the Knights who say Ni. Where, behind that rabbit? The number is three.You and all your silly English Knnnnnniggits. Was it an African Swallow or  European Swallow? And of course, my all time favourite: Bring out your dead/but I'm not dead yet scene. The list goes on and on. I remember seeing the film in 1979 or 80 on my brother-in-law's state of the art VCR (replete with corded remote control) and being doubled over with laughter. So contagious was the dialogue, that I can ever recall riding around in some guy called Tim station wagon (that sat three "safely" in the front seat) listening to the soundtrack on 8-track, which of course is typically American. 39 years since it's release (okay, that's a hard number to swallow, African or European) it is a cornerstone of universal pop culture - and certainly not dead yet.

The Recipe:

Special Equipment: Bring out your bread (machine)

1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
3 cups Better for Bread flour
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni
1/2 cup cooked italian sausage
1/2 cup whole black olives
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 cup pizza sauce
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp whole fennel seed
1/8 tsp black knight pepper
1 tsp oregano
3 tblsp hot water

Use all ingredients at room temperature, except the hot water of course. Place everything in bread machine pan in the order listed. Select white bread and start.