A Sheet Pan With A Plan: OXO Makes Your Holiday Meals Magic.

   
   I love OXO products, and when looking for great design, ergonomic ease, and long lasting quality, that's the brand I reach for. So, when OXO offered me a chance to try out some of their roasting equipment for my holiday cooking, I jumped at the opportunity. This time of the year is when the cooking ramps up around here, and that is something coming from someone who seems to always be cooking, or baking.  December is usually the most hectic month as it includes, Christmas, Channuka, our wedding anniversary, my husbands birthday, and New Years Eve. We always have family and extra guests visiting this time of year, so by the time December is over, I'm usually ready to give the company feasting a rest til Valentines day.
  
   The good folks at OXO sent me a number of items to try, my task was to use them all to turn out something special. I received a Good Grips Flavor Injector for brines and marinades.

This is a nifty little tool, that comes with two injector heads, one for thinner brines and marinades and one for thicker marinades. Until I used this I never knew injecting marinades could be so easy. I have permanently said goodbye to soaking in brine, now it's all about the injector.

I also got a Non Stick Pro Half Sheet Jelly Roll Pan which is sturdy, scratch, stain, and abrasion resistant, with nicely rolled square edges and a micro-textured pattern.

This beauty is extremely easy to clean up (always a plus), and it's commercial grade! I really work my cooking materials hard and most of what I use is commercial grade, (especially since I've been menu consulting for CocoaPlanet) the tougher the better, and it's great to find a product for the home that measures up to what I'd find in a restaurant supply  store.

I also received a Chefs Precision Digital Instant Read Thermometer. (see above) I already had bought one of these, but I had the old model, this new thermometer has a swivel head which does not involve one jamming their head in the oven like a fugitive from Hansel and Gretel to find out how ones meat is doing, Plus the case it comes in has the proper temps listed for whatever you might be cooking. Sweet.

The items on the left are Silicone Roasting Racks. (again, above) They elevate whatever happens to be cooking, allows the air to circulate around the food  as it cooks, and did I mention they are a breeze to clean up? Well they are! Dishwasher safe baby!
   
   So with all this great equipment what to cook? I decided to test drive my new pan with an old favorite that I hadn't bothered cooking for a zillion years. Game Hens. I always found them troublesome to cook properly but with all this great stuff, they were a breeze.

Pomegranate Marinated  Game Hens

 

Here's What You Need:  

2 Game Hens

3 Tbs pomegranate molasses

1 Tbs olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup of pomegranate arils

Here's What To Do:

Mix together the pomegranate molasses, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Draw the marinade into the flavor injector using the wider head.

Make sure the birds are thoroughly defrosted and dry. Place them in a Pyrex dish and inject them under the skin, into the meat at strategic points.

Cover the dish with foil and let the birds rest in the fridge overnight.
When ready to cook, mix another batch of the marinade and set it aside.
Take the birds out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the silicone roasting racks into the sheet pan.

Sprinkle salt and pepper inside the  hens, and add some pomegranate arils inside each cavity.

Place them on the silicone roasting racks and tie the tiny drumsticks together with butchers twine.

Place them into the middle of the oven and roast them at 375 for about 1 hour.

During the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking, brush each game hen with the extra marinade you prepared.

Check the temp with the nifty digital thermometer.

I placed the birds on a bed of Basmati rice, cooked with cardamom, cloves, toasted cashews, and cinnamon.

I scattered pomegranate arils and torn mint leaves over the birds...

...and served them up.

They were flavorful thanks to the marinade injection, juicy and delicious!!!! This was the perfect meal for a busy weekday dinner even though it looks like something designed for company.

   I want to thank OXO for giving me the opportunity to use these great tools and show you what they can do. I'm now hooked on that injector and can't wait to see what it'll do to a brisket!  Coming up next, great holiday dishes, fancy or plain. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

 

The Best Of Summer. Sweet Corn and Chipotle Chili Ice Cream with Walnut Chili Brittle. Thanks OXO!

    For the last several months I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking. I've been operating out of a  borrowed kitchen while our new house is being remodeled. I've been cooking out of the boxes I've carried from our old house to our temporary rental and as a result of my careful planning, I can't find most of the stuff I brought with me. That's even if I did bring it with me because I realize some stuff may be in storage. My answer to cooking out of my many mystery boxes has led me to only make the simplest dishes. So, when an opportunity came along to try out some ice cream tools from OXO of course I said yes!  What's simpler than ice cream? Not much it turns out, provided one can find their ice cream machine. That was a little trickier in my case.
      
   After a rummage through a nest of boxes, in the temporary garage, I located the machine, but my metal ice cream storage containers were nowhere to be found. No problem as it turned out, since OXO sent along a terrific container that worked beautifully and took up very little space in the freezer. After that, my only challenge was to come up with a flavor of ice cream that made the best of a Sonoma summer.
   
   I wandered through the Farmers Market but nothing particularly caught my eye until I saw the Sweet Summer Corn. Having raised parrots, I was familiar with the charms of sweet corn and of Alex the Genius parrots' love for it.

   
 
   Sweet corn, soft corn, ice cream. It seemed like a natural connection. Yeah, right. In LA I remember the elotes vendors who'd push their carts around the neighborhood and would be parked outside of the school yards every afternoon, mobbed by kids enjoying the sweet corn on a stick loaded with contijo cheese, mayo and spices. Then there were the Tamal Dulce with sugar and raisins at Tamales Lilianas in East LA. This place is so good they have two locations!

Anyway, before I make myself any hungrier fantasizing about tamales that are 500+ miles away from me.... the logic went like this, if I can eat sweet corn tamales, why not sweet corn ice cream?

Sweet Corn and Chipotle Chili Ice Cream With Walnut Chipotle Brittle

 

Here's What You Need:
2 ears of sweet white corn
2 cups of cream
2 cups of milk
3/4 cup of sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 to 1/4 tsp of ground chipotle chili
2 cups walnut halves
1/4 cup of sugar
3 Tbs unsalted butter
chipotle chili to taste
a pinch of Kosher salt

Here's What To Do:
Shuck, wash and remove the kernels from two ears of corn.

Set them aside.
Pour 2 cups of cream into a large pot.

Add in 2 tsp of good quality vanilla. I use Gaya Mexican Vanilla but any good brand will do.

Add in 3/4 cup of sugar.

Bring the cream, sugar, and vanilla to a low simmer.
When the mixture starts to simmer, add in the kernels of corn.
Let the corn simmer for about 3 or 4 minutes until it's slightly tender.
Take the mixture off the fire and add in 2 cups of milk.

Add in the ground chipotle chili.

About The Chili:
Add it slowly and in small amounts. Let it sit for a bit to let the heat develop before you add more as you want to get the heat to a desirable level.This is a total matter of taste. 

Before putting the mixture into your ice cream machine let it chill in the fridge for several hours or even overnight as I did so the flavors can mellow. Before you put the ice cream in the machine check the flavor again for heat. If it's okay with your taste buds, you're good to go.

Pour the ice cream into your machine.

 When it's churned and read scoop it out...

...and into a freezer-safe container.

Since I usually use metal containers I was a bit suspicious as to whether or not the OXO freezer box would deliver a tight enough seal. I should have known better....

OXO, great as usual. Also, it fit perfectly into the freezer of the fridge I'm using.

Once the ice cream goes into the fridge to set up for a bit, make the Walnut Chipotle Brittle.
Patsy was an eager audience.

Add 3 Tbs of butter to a skillet.
As it melts add in add 1/4 cup of sugar.

Stir it all together.

Let it all melt together.
When the caramel has thickened add the nuts to the mixture...

...and 1/4 tsp of Kashmiri chili.

Stir it all together. If it starts to thicken up too much just put it back on the heat to soften it.
Pour it onto a heatproof plate or silicone mat,  (which is what I would have used had I been able to find mine. I substituted a paper plate.)

Sprinkle the whole with a bit of sea salt and  your are done. Let it harden a cool for a bit.
When you are ready to serve it up, chop your nut brittle.

I used the nifty chopper I got from OXO.

One little push, and bingo. It's done.

Scoop the Sweet Corn Ice Cream into a bowl and scatter some of the chopped Walnut Brittle on top.

   There it is, the best of summer's corn in a dessert bowl. Sweet Corn Ice Cream. Was it good? The cream was suffused with the taste of the corn, the crunch of the nut brittle in the mix was perfect and at the end there was a nice heat to the whole thing. It was like eating cracker jack ice cream. Enough said. Definitely a keeper.

   Thanks to OXO for giving me such perfect tools to work with. I always love their stuff and buy it for my kitchen, but right here, right now, working out of temporary quarters, I couldn't have done this without them. Plus, I always love anyone who gives me an excuse to make ice cream.
 Coming up next, a Summer drink with Indian  flavors. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Orange Cardamom Holiday Cookies for Kids Cancer

   This time of the year there's usually a whole lot of baking going on. Lots of holiday parties, family celebrations, open houses, pot lucks, and what have you. This is also the time of year when the Good Cookies at OXO  invite everyone to be Good Cookies For Kid's Cancer. This year OXO is donating up to $100,000.00 to support new and improved therapies for pediatric cancer treatment, and they're inviting you to get involved  here's how you can help. In the spirit of good cookie baking, they sent me this Good Cookie Spatula and invited me to share a favorite cookie recipe.

The recipe I'm sharing is for a cookie with holiday flavors of orange and cardamom. I've also got a gluten free and vegan version here, the only difference in the recipe is the topping added at the end.

Orange Cardamom Cookies

Here's What You Need:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter (or vegetable shortening for vegan version)
10 Tbs of powdered sugar
3/4 cup of almond flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs of all purpose flour  (substitute this with 1/2 cup of chickpea flour and 2 Tbs of sorghum flour for Gluten Free version)
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
1/8 tsp of salt
the grated zest from 2 oranges
1/2 cup of finely chopped pistachios
4 Tbs of superfine sugar
parchment paper

Here's What To Do: 

Sift together the different flours, salt, cardamom powder and the zest from 1 orange. Set aside.

Gently cream together the softened butter or shortening and sugar.

When it's all blended together add in the dry ingredients a bit at a time.

Mix everything together. This dough can get a bit sticky and loose, but work with it a bit, roll it into a ball, wrap it in some plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to rest for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place the chopped up orange zest in a bowl with 4 Tbs of superfine sugar.

Mash the zest and sugar together. You can use a mortar and pestle. I used my fingers as it was faster.

Take the cookie dough out of the fridge.
Knead it briefly, about 3 or 4 turns.
Roll it into a ball again and break off a small piece of dough.
Roll the piece into a ball.
Place it on the parchment paper
Press down on the ball of dough with a finger or thumb.

Sprinkle a bit of the orange zest and sugar mixture, and a pinch of the ground pistachios on top of each cookie.

Bake the cookies for about 25 minutes. They should be light on the top and slightly brown on the bottom.
Place them on a baking rack.
They're soft when they come out of the oven but firm up while they cool.

When they cool, serve them up. They're great with hot chai.

   I've baked these cookies both gluten free and vegan and they work either way. They're a great thing to include on a holiday party table for your gluten free/vegan friends. So thanks to the good folks at OXO for letting me add to their cookie recipe collection and help support their good work. Coming up next, more holiday feasting. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori