• July 2010: Second Slice
• February 2010: First Slice
• December 2009: Fifth Slice
• November 2009: Fourth Slice
• August 2009: Third Slice
• June 2009: Second Slice
• March 2009: First Slice
• December 2008: Fourth Slice
• September 2008: Third Slice
• May 2008: Second Slice

Print Page

Email story

A Word from the Doctor
A Word from Workman
The Dinner Doctor Hits the Road
Bits and Bytes
Q & A
Recipe Swap
Doctor the Doctor
Next Issue

I'm usually weary of the commercialism that surrounds most of our holidays and special days, and I urge my kids to make a homemade birthday card for their friends. But when it comes to Valentine's Day, that's a different story altogether. I adore the boxes of chocolates (the tackier the better), the Valentine cards (the frillier the better), even those long-stem red roses, or pink roses, or peach roses, it doesn't matter. So this year, I'd like you to join me in being a little impulsive, thinking with your heart, and picking out a truly delicious recipe such as the Chicken Piccata to serve your loved ones for supper. End the meal with a rich and creamy Valentine Chocolate Fondue.

The fondue recipe came about this past week when my 13-year-old daughter needed a fast dessert to take to a party. Fearing the table would be laden with the usual cookies, she wanted something a bit different. I suggested chocolate fondue. Then she scrunched up her nose as she often does to dismiss a lame idea, but once I mentioned all the foods you could pile around the fondue—the fat strawberries, the banana slices, the vanilla wafer cookies, the marshmallows--she bit. And as it ended up, the fondue in the little slow cooker was the smash hit—"they said I was their hero, Mom, just because I brought fondue."

I hope you are someone's hero this month, for making fondue for Valentine's or just for being you.
Enjoy!
Anne

[ Back to top ]

As a special bonus for you chocolate fans out there, and in the spirit of the season, I'm pleased to share this chocolate sauce recipe with you, from the book Bittersweet, just out from our Artisan imprint.

[ Back to top ]

(If these are your towns, I'd love to meet you)

Milwaukee: 7 p.m., Wed. Feb. 18
Book signing and recipe tasting
Harry Schwartz Bookshop
17145 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield

Kansas City: 11:45 a.m., Thurs. Feb. 19
Central Exchange Luncheon, hosted by Rainy Day Books
1020 Central Street
Kansas City, MO
All tickets to be purchased through Rainy Day Books: 913-384-3126 or the Central Exchange: 816-471-7560. Check out www.rainydaybooks.com. Tickets for non-members of the Central Exchange are $35 and include a copy of The Dinner Doctor and lunch. Anne will give a short talk and then open the floor for questions.

Coral Gables/Miami: Tues. March 2
(Time to be announced)
Books and Books
265 Aragon Ave. Coral Cables, FL

Tampa: 7 p.m., Thurs. March 4
Inkwood Books
216 South Armenia Avenue in Tampa

[ Back to top ]

Love Cake Poll

Our quick online query as to what cake is most often baked for Valentine's resulted in the Darn Good Chocolate Cake (recipe is in both Cake Mix Doctor books). Patti makes it with raspberry chips instead of chocolate chips, and Ken Thomas in Australia claims he has baked at least 100 Darn Good Chocolate Cakes. "I have a slice every night with ice cream…When, or if, I get sick of it I shall search your book for a replacement. By the way, I use Belgian chocolate chips. I love them."

Thanks, Ken, for your kind words and I will be thinking of that next cake for you to bake. I, too, look for ultra-premium chocolate chips. If you're fortunate enough to live in Houston, Plano, San Antonio, or Austin, TX, where those fabulous Central Markets are located, check out the Callebaut semisweet chocolate chips sold in the bulk containers. I brought some back from a recent trip to teach at Houston's Central Market Cooking School but so far none have made it into my cakes, only my mouth!

And if you've got time to bake (Valentine's is on Saturday this year, so you have no excuse!), these would be my top five picks:

• Chocolate Love Cake, page 248, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor


• Brownie Drops, page 516, The Dinner Doctor


• Strawberry Cake, page 64, The Cake Mix Doctor


• Triple Decker Raspberry Chocolate Cake, page 75, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor


• Chocolate Fudge Ribbon Cake, page 471, The Dinner Doctor

The fun part of writing cookbooks and this newsletter is constantly learning new things about baking. Baking truly is a science, and the more you understand it, the better baker you will be. One ingredient that has always puzzled me is evaporated milk. I didn't understand why macaroni and cheese baked up so velvety with evaporated milk but turned soupy if I substituted regular milk. Now I know.

In a new magazine called Cuisine at Home, a reader asks what is evaporated milk and can regular milk be substituted for it.

"Evaporated milk is unsweetened whole milk that has had 50 to 60 percent of the water removed through a heat and vacuum process. In effect, it has been concentrated so it has twice the fat and protein of an equal amount of whole milk... Because of the difference in water content, you should not substitute milk for evaporated. But you can reconstitute evaporated milk with an equal amount of water and use in place of milk."

I have found because of the rich concentrated nature of the evaporated milk, heavy cream makes a good substitute.

How to Make Buttercream Frosting

It seems we've mastered baking the cake. It's making the frosting that frustrates so many. Assembling the simple buttercream frosting is not just difficult, people tell me, it's a nightmare. Perhaps that's what drives folks to canned frosting!

I have thought about how to demystify frosting and I want you to remember these 5 things:

1. Soften the butter by leaving it out on the counter or by softening it in the microwave for 10 seconds.


2. Sift the confectioners' sugar to rid it of lumps. You'll be glad you did.


3. Don't add all the liquid called for at once, just as needed.


4. For buttercreams, a good ratio is 1 tablespoon liquid per cup of sugar used.


5. Once you beat the soft butter, add a cup of sugar, add a little liquid, add another cup of sugar, add a tad more liquid, more sugar, more liquid, the frosting should come to a creamy and spreadable consistency. Now, rev up the mixer to high to whip it full of air for 10 seconds, and you're ready to frost.

The decorative Bundt pans are all the rage in the stores and all the talk on our Community Board, but keep in mind before you pour your precious batter in these pans with myriad nooks and crannies that you had better prepare them well first.

I recommend brushing vegetable shortening (Crisco, plain, not butter-flavored) with a pastry brush over all the inside surfaces. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons flour. Now, working over the sink or the trash can, tilt the pan and turn it, banging it on the counter or against your palm several times, so the flour coats all the sides. Turn the pan upside-down over the disposal or the trash to shake out the excess flour. Now pour in the batter and bake. When I was in the QVC kitchen recently I saw a food stylist brushing melted Crisco inside the pan, before she floured. She says it is the only way to assure that the cakes come out perfect every time. And you thought Crisco just made great biscuits...

[ Back to top ]

Q. I bake 10 dozen treats each week for two Women's Abuse Shelters in my neighborhood. Can I use sheet cake and layer cake recipes to make cupcakes? They would go further and would be better for the shelters to freeze for incoming clients.
—Elke Cruikshanks

A. Absolutely. The usual cake recipe makes about two dozen cupcakes. They take about 20 minutes to bake at 350 degrees, and they freeze well, too.

Q. I have a brand of orange curd that I really love and I think it would work well in a cheesecake, but because I am still a novice at this. Can you suggest how much curd I might need?
—Dennis Nagy, St. Louis, MO

A. Yum. I love the flavor of citrusy curds, those thick, pudding-like mixtures of egg yolks, fruit juice and sugar. I would substitute the curd for the sour cream or some of the liquid called for in your cheesecake. Or, I would spread a cooled, baked plain cheesecake with the orange curd before slicing.

Q. Every time my mother makes a chocolate cake it seems to explode upwards so that the cake ends up looking like a volcano rather than a perfectly flat and round cake. What can she do to prevent this?
—Kimberley Dunbar, Connecticut

A. First of all, she can reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees and bake a little longer to allow for more gradual rise. If this does not help, she can wrap wet pieces of towel around in the pan before baking or use those handy baking strips that you wet and then attach on the pan. This gadget keeps the temperature of the pan's rim cooler, thus the cake layer bakes more evenly from the sides to the center.

Q. What are "chicken tenders" in your recipes in The Dinner Doctor?
—Gail Dobbs, Toronto

A. The chicken tenders I refer to are fresh chicken tenderloin strips, part of the boneless chicken breast. They are not the breaded chicken breast pieces sold frozen. These tenders or tenderloins are extremely tender, and they cook quickly. You use them in recipes such as the Chicken Piccata that I share in this newsletter.

Q. I am not sure what cinnamon chips are. Can you help me?
—Carolyn Estill

I am having a hard time finding cinnamon chips. Can I order them online?
—Donna Karas

A. Cinnamon chips are a tan baking chip, much like a chocolate chip, but they are cinnamon in flavor. They are made by Hershey's. I contacted Linda Stahl of Hershey's about their availability. She said they are still in many stores but they "don't have the greatest distribution," and you cannot order them online. She recommends you contact Hershey's customer service (1-800-468-1714 from 9-4 EST) for help in finding cinnamon chips in your area.

[ Back to top ]

Chicken Piccata
I am enjoying this recipe on The Dinner Doctor book tour, as it is a snap to prepare for live TV and people are amazed something delicious and elegant can be so easy. Try it for Valentine's Dinner. If you prefer shrimp to chicken, feel free to substitute peeled and deveined large shrimp for the chicken tenders. As I mention in the book, fresh bread crumbs you make are preferable to those that come from the can. I keep hamburger buns in the freezer. When I need 1 cup of toasted bread crumbs, I toast the frozen bun, tear it into pieces and pulse it in the food processor with the salt, pepper and clove of garlic until chopped.

Makes 4 servings
Preparation time: 8 minutes
Cooking time: 9 to 12 minutes

1 cup toasted bread crumbs
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed in a garlic press
1 pound chicken tenders (about 12), rinsed and patted dry
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon drained capers

1. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Season them with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Dredge the chicken tenders in the bread crumb mixture and set them aside.

2. Place 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add half of the chicken tenders and cook until they are well browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the cooked tenders to a platter. Add the remaining tablespoon each of oil and butter to the skillet and, when the butter has melted, add the remaining tenders and cook them until they are well browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer these tenders to the platter.

3. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice to the skillet. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and cook until the juices reduce to a glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the hot glaze over the chicken tenders and garnish with the parsley and capers. Serve at once.

Valentine Chocolate Fondue

This is really a chocolate ganache that can be served warm in a small slow cooker or chafing dish, or in a heavy saucepan over very low heat. Set out strawberries, banana slices, cubes of pound cake or angel food cake, vanilla wafers, marshmallows, star fruit slices, even fresh pineapple strips, and let people start dunking. If you have fondue forks, use them. If not, buy a package of the wooden skewers.

Makes 2 1/2 cups fondue, enough for 8 to 12 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes to prepare the fruit
Cooking time: 2 minutes

1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips (see note)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon liqueur of your choice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place the chocolate and cream in a large glass bowl, and place it in the microwave oven. Heat on High power for 2 minutes, then remove the bowl and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth, 1 minute. Stir in the liqueur or vanilla extract, if desired. Transfer to a fondue pot or small slow-cooker and keep warm.

2. To serve, arrange banana slices, pineapple, strawberries, starfruit slices, marshmallows, and cookies on a platter around the fondue pot. Have your guests dip these into the fondue using skewers or fondue forks.

Notes: Cover and refrigerate leftover fondue. Reheat it in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring until it is warm. We have made this fondue with Nestle semisweet chocolate chunks and Ghiardelli chocolate chips. You choose the chocolate, but make sure it is semisweet or bittersweet.

[ Back to top ]

It sounds like much of the Community Board is busy tweaking my Amazing German Chocolate Cake. And I'll admit, their additions sound pretty amazing. Regina of Annandale, VA, was the first to suggest coconut milk instead of water, and then Marsha added 1 cup miniature chocolate chips and a couple tablespoons cocoa to the batter as well. Amy, our computer guru and baker extraordinaire, has tried the latter and says it is out of this world!

Sharon Lisk writes that one Monday she had good intentions of making the Sunday Lunch Salmon Cakes (Dinner Doctor, page 189). But after a long day and a doctor's appointment, she wasn't feeling perky and didn't feel like standing over the stove frying up salmon patties. "So I noticed that the ingredients were similar to a basic casserole recipe, and I threw all the ingredients together in a square casserole dish (I added 2 tablespoons milk and topped it with cheese). It baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, I made a green salad out of a bag of salad, and dinner was done!"

Anne Powell of Boxford, MA, writes that she has substituted Campbell's plain Cheddar cheese soup (not Fiesta Nacho) in the Nacho Cheese Soup with great results, and she uses low-fat pesto in the Penne with Blue Cheese Pesto. Her husband "went nuts for the penne."

Lastly, I have to include this note, not exactly an example of someone doctoring my recipes, but heartfelt,
and suitable for February. From Sophie Oberstein of Redwood City, CA, working mother of two preschoolers: "I just wanted to write to thank you for your Dinner Doctor book. It has, quite honestly, saved my marriage and made what was a miserable time of night each and every night into an enjoyable one." Happy Valentine's Day!

[ Back to top ]

Easter cakes, a Mother's Day meal, more questions and answers.

[ Back to top ]