Friday, November 30, 2012

Sharing Holiday Secrets

Sheryl Kidwell, Assistant Director of Residential Dining at KU Dining Services, has shared her one of her favorite holiday dessert recipes, Pumpkin Bars. Sheryl was extremely excited when asked to share this recipe. These pumpkin bars are served at the Residence Halls on campus and are among the favorites with the students. 
     
 Below, you can find the recipe for this delectable holiday dessert:

            Ingredients:
                  1C          Sugar Granulated
                  ½ C        Oil
                  2            Egg
                  1C          Pumpkin Canned

Combine Sugar, Oil, Eggs and Pumpkin until smooth.

                  1 tsp.      Salt Iodized
                  1¼C       Flour All-Purpose
                  ¾ C        Baking Powder Dbl Action
                  ½ tsp.     Baking Soda
                  ½ tsp.     Spice Cinnamon Ground

Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Bake at 325 F for 25 minutes.

                  2 oz.       Cheese Cream Loaf
                  2 T          Margarine Whipped
                  1 ½ C     Sugar Powder 6x Cane
                  2¾ tsp.   Evaporated Milk

Combine frosting ingredients and whip until smooth. Take frosting and spread. Portions yield 3” squares.

Stay tuned for more KU Dining holiday recipes through the rest of the semester!  Try them out, snap a picture, tag KUDining Services on Facebook and let us know what you think!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Prepare for Thanksgiving Dessert: Pecan Pie with Cream Cheese Crust

      Janna Traver, Executive Chef of KU Dining Services is providing us with one of her specialty Thanksgiving desserts!  Traver's Pecan Pie recipe is modified from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum and is described as her "favorite pecan pie" (It is actually a tart so the crust to filling ratio is higher, and a bit less guilt ridden).  This pie has a pretty good story to it and we felt like there was no one that could tell it better than Traver herself.  Keep reading to find out!


     Pecan pie became my responsibility when I was an undergrad at KU. My Great Aunt had always made perfect pecan pies, but she passed away without sharing the recipe. After many years, post culinary school, I ran across Beranbaum’s book and bought it specifically for the crust listed below. I have altered the original to yield a bit more crust and to allow for a decorative crust.  I have never replicated Aunt Jeannette’s pie but this one has become a favorite at Thanksgiving.

            -Janna Traver, Executive Chef of KU Dining


Ingredients for Crust:

9Tbsp       butter, salted, chilled
1½C          all-purpose flour
¼tsp         baking powder
3oz           Philly cream cheese, chilled
3-4Tbsp    ice water
2tsp          cider vinegar

Instructions:

*Chill all ingredients and equipment for 30 minutes prior to assembly. This helps create a flaky crust as you don’t want the butter to completely blend (or cream) into the flour mixture.

In a Food processor- Place dry ingredients into food processor bowl with metal blade attachment. Dice the cream cheese into 6-7 pcs, place in bowl with dry ingredients.

Pulse mixture 3-4 times until mixture looks like coarse sand

Cube the butter into 1 tbsp chunks, add to bowl

Pulse mixture 2-3 times to break the butter into pieces the size of peas Remove lid and drizzle in cider vinegar (malt or white will also work)

For the ice water, place 4 tbsp of water in a glass with a few pieces of ice
Replace the lid and run the processor while drizzling in the ice water, be careful not to add any ice cubes. The flour will start to form a ball. Stop the processor even if you have not used all the water. (The amount of water will vary depending on humidity levels, product freshness among other factors)

Turn dough onto a lightly floured board or clean table top. Working quickly, use the palms of your hands to form the dough into a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. 

Chill dough for a minimum of 2 hours prior to working.

Ingredients for Pecan Pie filling:

1½C          Rough chopped pecans (best if chopped by hand the commercial 
                 product is diced to finely)
4 each      egg yolks
1/3C         dark corn syrup
½C           dark brown sugar
4Tbs        salted butter
1/4C         heavy cream
2tsp         vanilla extract
1Tbs        bourbon* (optional, if using bourbon cut back 1 Tbsp cream)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350

Roll out dough to ½ cm and place in 91/2 inch fluted tart pan, trim off 
excess. (Save excess dough for decorations later)

“Blind bake” crust, place foil or parchment paper over pie crust and fill with 
rice or beans, bake crust at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
While crust is baking, make filling.

In a medium sauce pan combine eggs, syrup, brown sugar, butter, and cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 7-10 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken slightly. Do not bring to a boil or your eggs will scrambled eggs in sugar, yuck! At this point you can strain your mixture, but it is not mandatory. Add in vanilla (bourbon) and the nuts. Pour mixture into cooked crust.

Roll our reserved dough and cut into leaf shapes, or any shape desired and place around outer edge of tart. Keep shapes smaller than a silver dollar or they may sink into the tart. Lightly brush the leaves with heavy cream. This will make them shinny when baked.

Bake pie on middle oven shelf for 20 minutes or until the filling puffs slightly and bubbles form around the edge. Cool pie for at least 1 hour or overnight in a cool spot, not the refrigerator or the pie will become soggy. I serve this with fresh whipped cream flavored with maple syrup and vanilla.



      Stay tuned for more KU Dining holiday recipes through the rest of the semester! Try them out, snap a picture, tag KU Dining Services on Facebook and let us know what you think!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Prepare for Thanksgiving Dinner: Peruvian Cole Slaw

      Janna Traver, Executive Chef of KU Dining Services, has provided a couple of recipes to spice up your holiday meals.  Traver said, "this Peruvian cole slaw, typically served at summer cook outs, has become a staple at Thanksgiving when it was discovered that tossed salads were becoming a thing of the past."  While growing up in Peru, her cook in Lima served this salad as an alternative to tossed garden salads.  "I have never seen this salad served outside of my family home during my travels around Peru", Traver said. "However the flavors are indicative of home style Peruvian cuisine. It also is a great topping for turkey sandwiches the next day." 

      Below, you can find the recipe for this versatile Thanksgiving salad:


            Ingredients:
            
                  1lb.         cabbage, angle shred or thinly shredded by hand

                  1C          small dice red bell peppers
                  1C          small dice yellow bell peppers
                  1C          small dice green bell peppers
                  ¼-½C     minced jalapenos
                  ¼C         chopped cilantro
                  ¼C         fresh lemon juice
                  ¼C         fresh lime juice
                  ½C         canola or other light salad oil, not olive oil
                  ¼C         sugar
                  2tsp        kosher salt

            Instructions:
     
                  Place lemon and lime juice in a medium bowl, add salt and sugar.  Whisk in oil. Add                  peppers, jalapenos and cilantro. Chill mixture for 1-4 hours. At service, toss dressing with                  cabbage.
                 
                 The cabbage will wilt if held overnight but becomes a nice relish for turkey sandwiches or          gilled bratwurst.


      Stay tuned for more KU Dining holiday recipes through the rest of the semester!  Try them out, snap a picture, tag KU Dining Services on Facebook and let us know what you think!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Celiac Disease Education Week

     

      


      This week begins Celiac Disease Education Week at The Market in the Kansas Union and at Crimson Cafe in the Burge Union.  Each station at The Market (with the exception of Pizza Hut) is offering gluten free options to guests.  Keith Lake, manager of The Market, says describes this week as, "A week informing the KU community of Celiac Awareness, what it is and how to eat gluten free." "We are bringing up what our options are and where they are at."  Take a look at the eight gluten free options available at The Market:


  • Boulevard Grill:
    • Gluten free hamburger and hot dog buns

  • Quesarito:
    • Rice bowls, loaded nachos, hard-shell tacos, white corn chips and chile con queso.  Rice tortillas available upon request.

  • Market Fresh:
    • Cookies and brownies, Larabars, Kind Bars, Mc D's soups, Annie Chun meals, Brother's all natural fruit crisps, Pop Chips and Good Food Chips.

  • Brellas:
    • Gluten Free bread and rice tortillas available upon request.

  • Garden Gourmet: 
    • Most items are gluten free and you can also ask for gluten free bread for your panini.

  • Fresco! Cuisine:
    • Ask for gluten free options on the daily menu.

  • Pulse
    • Freshens smoothies are gluten free.

  • Sushi with Gusto
    • Ask the sushi chef for a custom gluten free sushi.

  

      Crimson Cafe will be featuring a special gluten free menu on Wednesday at The Carvery and The Market will feature Gluten friendly items on their Thanksgiving meal menu this week.  So come check it out this week and if you have any questions, ask! KU Dining Staff will be more than willing to help!

The Burger Cook Off

      The Centennial Burger Cook Off began Oct. 15 at KU Dining's Crimson Cafe at the Burge Union.  At the beginning of each week, a new burger is featured at The Carvery Station. When finals week comes to an end, there will be a Burger Cook Off Winner!  Where do these recipes come from you ask? These recipes come from nine of Crimson Cafe's fulltime cooks.  So far, four burgers have been featured: The Mediterranean Burger, That's Nacho Burger, The Elvis and The Wyatt Earp.

      The Mediterranean Burger is an all beef patty blended with fresh herbs and ricotta cheese, grilled fresh and topped with provolone cheese, baby spinach, kalamata olives and a zingy citron pepper sauce served on flat-bread.



      That's Nacho Burger is an all beef patty resting on a deep fried corn tortilla and pepperjack cheese, topped with Nacho Cheese and fresh Pico di Gallo and toasted in a white flour tortilla shell.

      
The Elvis is an all beef patty topped with a generous helping of crispy bacon and served on a fresh baked French bread bun with peanut butter aoli.
 

      The Wyatt Earp is a grilled patty of ground beef and smoked sausage topped with jalapeno pepper bacon, leaf lettuce, spicy BBQ sauce and onion rings on a freshly toasted onion bun.

      There are more five more burgers to be featured so get to the Crimson Cafe and try them for yourself! Let us know what you think!


      Check out our Facebook page for more pictures of these delicious creations.