Citrus Circus

I’ve learned to love the simplicity of citrus fruits – both in baking and in cocktails (although the latter category will require a later post where I can really try some interesting concoctions).

Most recently I’ve made some Lemon Drop Meringue cookies and a batch of Anna’s Orange Marmalade. On deck first are the Lemon Drop Meringues – oh meringue-based cookies, why have I thus far forsaken you? Meringues are so delightfully easy and super elegant if you only have a piping bag handy.

Lemon Drop Meringue Cookies

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

4 tsp lemon zest*

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment (or by hand if you have the biceps of a Hungarian shot putter) whip the egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt until medium peaks form. Then, gradually add the sugar, a couple tablespoons at a time, until it’s fully incorporated and the meringue is standing at stiff, firm peaks. Fold in the lemon zest and fill a pastry bag fitted with a cute little rosette or other decorative tip.

Pipe onto parchment paper (or a silicone mat) and place baking sheets (you should probably have two full baking sheets – very little space in between them is necessary as no expanding happens during baking.

Bake at 200 degrees for 1½ hours, changing the baking sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. After the time is up, leave the oven door closed, turn the oven off, and leave the meringues alone for 1 hour. After the hour, remove the pans from the oven and let the meringues cool on their sheets before removing (or tasting as the meringues, right out of the oven, will still have a slightly sticky texture).

There – easy as cake… well, easy as meringues. Give it time, it’ll catch on as a phrase ;) Also, this recipe can be halved in a pinch. In fact, I’ve only ever halved it.

*The large amount of lemon zest is as reflective of the volume of the whipped egg whites as it is reflective of the lack of other lemon flavors available. While you could use lemon extract, I doubt other flavorful ingredients would work – lemon oil would probably prevent the egg whites from whipping, and I can’t imagine that the acid from lemon juice would be good either – but I am always interested in getting the most intense flavor possible so I will experiment with these guys more. As it stands, the zest is certainly enough for now.

Next up is Anna’s Orange Marmalade. This recipe comes from the wonderful Ina Garten and, more specifically, from one of her Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. As it stands, I don’t think any other Food Network chef can beat Alton Brown in terms of entertainment or raw, animal, sex appeal, but Ina Garten comes close (on both counts). Say what you will, I have yet to make a Barefoot Contessa recipe that hasn’t turned out both beautifully and tasty – that kind of talent deserves respect. One of her first recipes I tried that really won me over was Eli’s Asian Salmon. Go on, find it online and check it out, it’s a wonderful party recipe, and the blend of Asian ingredients has lead to so many other amazing recipes I’ve created.

Anna’s Orange Marmalade

4 navel Oranges, preferably juicy and seedless

2 lemons

8 cups sugar

Cut the oranges and lemons in half cross ways. Then slice them into incredibly thin half-moons and place, with any collected juices, into a large stainless steal pot. Add 8 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once the mixture has boiled, remove it from the heat and stir in the 8 cups of sugar until it all dissolves.

Leave the mixture in the pot over night. (Don’t you love when recipes have this kind of step? I feel like, at some point in the initial development, the original chef just forgot about it altogether… until the next morning at least.)*

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, uncovered for 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. To check the doneness, place a small amount of the marmalade on a plate and put it in the refrigerator until it’s cool but not terribly cold. It should be firm neither runny nor hard. If it’s runny, cook it down a bit more. If it’s too hard, add more water.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot mason jars and process in a water bath to preserve the marmalade. Stores for up to a year.

*I love asterisks. I should note that, at the time I publish this post, I am only at this step and have yet to finish cooking down the marmalade. It’s looking rather amazing though :)

Wow

I have to say, I started this blog as a way to catalogue my own experiments with cooking. It's provided a great repository of recipes (and trials and errors) that I've returned too frequently. Towards the end of this past quarter though, things were getting crazy with school and grad school applications and all the extra cooking I wanted to do became more like a chore than a nice relief. I definitely plan on continuing my blog and hopefullyI can keep up with the "something sweet and something savory" each week eventually. After I get into the swing of things, I'll be happy to have regular, weekly updates for a bit though.

In the meantime, it's been a really long time since I updated last. Being home comes with it's ups and downs.

Ups

• large, warm, cozy bed and I don't have to pay the gas bill to keep it warm and cozy
• I get to see all of my friends from undergrad and get to see my family for more than a couple days
• I get to enjoy Lexington, Chinese places that deliver, and good pizza-and-beer places to eat.
• I don't have to work (first break in more than two years, though I haven't calculated how long exactly).

Downs

• No decent internet connection that lets me update or correspond with any sort of regularity. (Thankfully Danville is only a 20-minute drive from home)

I don't think I'll be able to completely update until I return to school, shortly after Christmas, but I definitely have some great recipes I want to log on here: starry starry night cookies from Confections of a Closet Master Baker, lime snowball cookies, cranberry bliss bars, and lemon drop meringues for starters. My dining room table (where all of the sweets are getting ready to be gift wrapped and given to friends and family) looks a little like a winter wonderland of Christmas confections - and I couldn't be happier with them :)

I also really want to try this dessert I saw on a some show or another. Basically, the chef made a large meringue snowman, half-baked it, scooped out the uncooked insides, returned the shell to the oven to crisp up, then filled the shell with chocolate mousse. TOO CUTE and I bet delicious as all get out.

My oh my oh, when I return to Ohio, great things will come :)

Super Mega Update

Well, November is half way over and I've done a terrible job of updating lately. The past few weeks have been pretty crazy. Hopefully, this mega-update will suffice. I'm not sure how much I'll get to cook at home over the break. Scratch that - I'll get to cook a metric shit ton - but I don't know how often I'll be able to update.

Onto some of my more interesting recent endeavors. Tomato Soup with Ricotta Dumplings. Good, not great and probably not worth my time in the future. It was easy enough, but the dumplings were either too tough or too silky - they seemed to either be stones or they would simply melt into the soup.



Next up... mmm two delicious pomegranates become...



Beautiful, delicious pomegranate seeds: yay antioxidants!!! (Also, if Persephone ate only six of these to tide her over while she was in Hades, honky bitch was anorexic).



By reducing the amount of brown sugar, I actually have created some gluten-free peanut butter cookies that are both chewy and wafer thin - perfect for sandwiching with peanut butter mmmm... also, Reduced-Fat Jif = AMAZING



Finally, on this mega-update post: what won't I do for my class? Space Invader Cupcakes? Check... I'm kind of super proud of these guys. Fondant + Scissors = heaven. Period.

Cranberry Raisin Bagels

It's been about 5 days since I made these guys, so I suck at updating, but still... I so love bagels...

I used the same recipe from last week (or a few posts ago). Only I substituted half of the bread flour that I normally use for all of my baking purposes, for whole wheat flour. This provides a nuttier flavor and texture.

Then, with the flour and salt, I added 3/4 cup each raisins and cranberries. Everything else about the recipe was the same as before - knead, let the dough rise, make bagels, boil, bake. After I boiled the bagels but before they went into the oven, I sprinkled oats on top - more for affect than anything.



I have to say, these bagels well exceeded my expectations. They were so much better than last weeks. I think I may have been a little more liberal in my use of water and thus my used of flour. In the end though the dough itself seemed softer. I definitely want to recreate these results in the future.



Coming up, more bagels, this time I' making jalepeno-cheddar bagels for my friend Jess, and tomato basil soup with ricotta dumplings. If I'm feeling extra awesome this weekend, I may make some peanut butter and jelly cookies.

Beer Ice Cream

Featuring the best ice cream base I think I've ever made:

Beer Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups half and half

1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup dark stout (I used Founders Breakfast Stout)

For the base:

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and corn starch. In a medium saucepan heat the half and half until it's boiling. Temper the egg yolk mixture with the hot cream, then return the mixture to the sauce pan and stir constantly, until thick. Then strain and chill. This is the best ice cream base ever, from here you can add 1 cup of milk and vanilla and whatever flavorings you want. Once you have the custard down, everything else is just making sure the liquids measure out correctly. For this recipe I also added 1 tsp instant coffee granules to the egg sugar mixture to give it a slightly coffee flavor.

For this recipe I reduced the whole milk by 1/2 cup and replaced it with 2/3 cup beer. Originally I planned on doing a one to one replacement, but decided I wanted a slightly beer-ier flavor. More water based liquid = larger ice crystals, so be careful of doing this.

Then I let the coffee/beer ice cream mixture chill in the refrigerator until it was nice and cold and put it in my ice cream maker for about 35 minutes.



*Gorgeous*



*Delicious*

Up next... cranberry raisin wheat bagels :)

Recipe Redux

I've been terrible at posting this week. My laptop has been removed from my room to our kitchen which, one would think, would equal more posting. However, the opposite has been true.

So let's look back, shall we?

I made some banana bread using my recipe for banana muffins. However the only nut I had were some almonds. This was only moderately successful. I really do prefer muffins, but I just need to find my old banana bread recipe and make a loaf of that.

I failed miserably at a recipe of the ultimate chocolate chip cookies. This failure prompted me to purchase a hand mixer. When making those cookies by hand they only seem to work part of the time. A hand mixer is both affordable and will have multiple uses, potentially making my baking life easier.

Last night, I made a steak. I had just turned in my prospectus and had drink with the head of Rhet Comp and some other second year MA friends. I went home and fired up the range. I set a metal (not non-stick) pan on and let it get warm. Then I poured in a little oil and seared the hell out of it. Seasoning-wise I just put some salt and pepper on it. After I had seared both sides I put the steak on a pan and slid it into a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. In the mean time I poured some beef stock and red wine into the pan to make a pan jus... poured it over the steak when it came out.

I haven't eaten any kind of meat in a few weeks. Not for any reason, I just don't keep it in my diet with any kind of regularity. This steak was heaven.

Up ahead, cinnamon raisin bagels and beer ice cream.

Bagels!

My friend Rebecca definitely has domain over these, but I had to give them a try.

I mean, they're amazing and so delicious, how could I not make them on my own? Also, I've been craving carbs like woah. I try not to keep many around the house - it helps keep the weight down - but once in a while certainly can't hurt. I think, before I get crazy, I'll start with some plain bagels - no frills, no bacon maple bagels, nothing crazy at first.

Bagels, plain and tall

2 tsp active dry yeast (1 package, but the measurement is handy for future reference in case of multiplying/dividing the recipe)
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp sugar

3 1/2 cups flour (plus more for dusting)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the 1/2 cup of the water for 5 minutes. Don't stir the mixture. After the five minutes, stir the mixture. In another large bowl combine the flour and salt, and make a well in the center. Add the water/yeast mixture and half of the remaining water (3/8 of a cup for those keeping count). Mix and add more of the water until the dough comes together. It will be a little wet but still very firm.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a lightly dusted surface - a countertop works great, the back of your pet cat, not so much. After you've finished kneading, place the ball of dough (which should be smooth and elastic by now) in another bowl that's been lightly coated with oil. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm, draft-free area to rise for about one hour.

Once the hour is over, punch the dough down. Yeah, I guess that means to physically punch the dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Divide it into 8 equal pieces (or as close to equal as you can manage). Shape each dough into a ball. Coat your finger in flour and press it through, slowly stretching the hole until it's about a third of the diameter of the entire bagel. The holes will close up when boiling so yeah, aim for width. Place bagels on an oiled baking sheet and let rest for 10 minutes.



In the mean time preheat your oven to 425 degrees and set a large pot of water on to boil. Carefully place the bagels in the boiling water and let boil about 2 minutes per side for delicious, chewy bagels. Remove to a paper towel or piece of parchment paper as you boil the rest. Very carefully place the boiled bagels on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until beautiful and golden brown.



Mmmm... part of a delicious an nutritious breakfast.



Considering my fear of doughs and kneading, I definitely think these guys were a success. In the future, I'll definitely be sure to add more water into the dough and more flour in the kneading process, and probably make sure to knead even more thoroughly, heh.

Still to come: banana bread, curry, cookies YUM!

The Great Ice Cream Experiment: Part One

Sure, bacon improves most things, but ice cream?! I've been wanting to make maple bacon ice cream for some time now. Call it an obsession, but it's been in the back of my head for nearly a year. Something about the saltiness of the bacon and the sweetness of the maple syrup just creates an irresistible combination. Why wouldn't this work in ice cream form? I mean, after all what is ice cream but cream and eggs + bacon and maple syrup? It sounds like the makings of a delicious breakfast, certainly.

What seemed to work the best was pan frying the bacon until almost crisp. Then, I removed all of the fat (because something tells me that chunks of fat in ice cream would not be good eats), and chopped about 4 strips of bacon as fine as I could - basically I made bacon bits. Then, I put the bacon in a small pot to warm through and crisp up, and I poured roughly 1/3 cup maple syrup over it. This boiled almost instantly and reduced making a candy-like sticky bacon-maple syrup. I whisked this into the custard, placed it in my ice cream mixer and BAM bacon-maple ice cream.

It's definitely not traditional, but again it plays on the salty-sweet food pairing, like salted caramel.

Maple Ice Cream Base

1 cup maple syrup
6 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornstarch

Whisk this together until thick and well combined.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Bring the cream to a boil in a sauce pan. Temper the eggs mixture by slowly whisking in about 1/3 of the hot cream. Once the egg mixture is warmed, add it back to the remaining cream in the sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly until hot and thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon. The heating process took roughly 12-15 minutes. Don't let the mixture boil. Strain into a chilled bowl and stir to cool the mixture.

Whisk in the whole milk and the vanilla. Whisk in the bacon mixture mentioned above the recipe (ya know, if you want to go there). Chill thoroughly then freeze in your ice cream machine.



In the very near future: Curry. Bagels. Banana Bread. Cookies. Beer Ice Cream. It's going to be a fun weekend and start to the week.

Keeping it cheap and easy...

So I decided to mesh cheap and easy with ridculous and delicious this week. On the cheap and easy side is Lentil Soup from a previous blog post. It's affordable and good for warming the cockles of your heart. Not to mention it's high in fiber and protein - yay.

I started with the same Lentil Soup recipe that I used last winter.

I did make a few changes: I'm using these beautiful homegrown leeks in the recipe, melted, in place of onions.



I decided to use a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, as well, in lieu of diced tomatoes. Since I don't have an immersion blender, this version was not pureed smooth (a factor that made me want to use the crushed tomatoes).

Also, due to my lack of an immersion blender, this recipe is not pureed, but it is a nice, chunky vegetable soup, and it's hearty and warming to boot.



Oh yes, and the "ridiculous and delicious" portion... that is to come but, be prepared... I'm thinking it's maple and bacon ice cream time.

...like warm apple pie

Similar to my fear of scones, my fear of pies stems from the pastry. I've made quiche before with moderate success, but I can never seem to get the crust right 100% of the time. For that reason, and the fact that a pie or quiche can basically be ruined if the crust isn't good, I've stayed away from pies. But the time has come that I must confront my pastry fears head on. Enter Gesine Bullock-Prado's book Confections of a Closet Master Baker.



Not only do I have to read this book for the purpose of writing a book review in class, but I also thought it would be a good idea to try out some of the recipes. The previous scones, for example, were a take on a scone recipe from her book. So far I've had success, and I figured, if I want to make a pie from scratch, without first starting with the universe thankyouverymuchCarlSagan, I may as well start with what seemed like a full-proof recipe. And, hey, the less time I spend researching various recipes and creating a hybrid of my own, the more time I have to actually spend with the confections, right?

I should note that I quoted basically her entire recipe, interjecting pictures and captions of my own. Somewhere, right now as I post this, at least three MLA scholars are dying, but it made the most sense to me to present the information in the author's own, if not unauthorized, words, rather than my paraphrasing.

Apple Pie a la Confections of a Closet Master Baker

For quick puff pastry
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 pounds (5 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice stirred into 3/4 cup cold water

For the filling
8 Granny Smith apples
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split
1/4 cup heavy cream

1 large egg
sanding sugar

For the puff pastry
"Place the flour in a large bowl. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces. Add to the flour and incorporate with your hands, pinching and massaging the butter into the flour, making sure to leave discernible chunks of butter intact. You don't want to incorporate the butter so well that it is starts [sic] to look like cornmeal. Chunks of butter are good.

Dissolve the salt in the water. Add to the flour and butter and mix gently with your hands until dough comes together slightly.

Shape the dough into a rough square and let it rest for 10 minutes."


This is my giant mass of dough... it's just begging to get molded into a miniature sculpture of Mr. Belvedere... I don't know why...

"On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Give the dough three single turns, followed by one double turn. If the dough feels rubbery after you have completed a few turns, let it rest a few minutes before you continue. Cover and refrigerate. Your dough block should be approximately 12/6 inches.

For the filling
Peel and slice the apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine the sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a large bowl, add the apples, and toss to coat. In a sturdy pot large enough to hold the apples, melt the butter with the vanilla and cream. Add the apples and cook until the fruit is soft and the mixture thickens. Remove the vanilla bean."

The before shot...


And the after shot... so gooey and so delicious


To assemble the pie
"Once your quick puff is nice and cool, take a sharp knife and cut in half. Take a look at the dough where you've sliced through. You should see layers of dough and butter. Some larger chunks of butter will be peeking through. This is a wonderful thing. When you roll, you want to press down on these layers. You don't want to lay the cut side down; make sure the layers are parallel to the rolling table and you are pressing the layers down into each other, maintaining the layer structure and ensuring maximum puff and flakiness. Roll each piece into a 10-inch circle. Transfer the first circle to a pie plate and crimp the edges. Freeze for at least 1/2 hour. Wrap the second 10-inch round in plastic and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the pie.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take the frozen pie shell from the freezer and with a fork, stab the bottom of the shell a few times. Line the shell with foil or parchment and fill it with dry beans or rice as a weight. Bake until the edges are slightly golden and the bottom of the shell no longer looks wet and raw, about 15 minutes. This is called blind baking and ensures that the bottom pastry won't be soggy."


Clearly, this is one of my first pie crusts... and with the exception of quiche, it really is

"Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash.

Remove the foil and the rice or beans and transfer the filling to the shell. Place your second dough circle on top of the apples. Brush the top of the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar*"


*The one thing I changed in this recipe - I didn't have sanding sugar, so I used raw sugar

"Bake at 350 degrees F until the top crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes."


I have to admit, I'm incredibly happy with this, visually... it's nice and golden and perfectly imperfect.


A PIE SERVER! My kingdom for a pie server!... and a cup of hot, strong coffee with just a wee bit of sugar and milk... mmm

All in all, I would definitely consider this a successful recipe and a great pie to start with for beginners. I will say the crust takes some getting used to and is a bit challenging. I think, for my purposes, this recipe will go through some modifications for when i make it again. Not out of any particular necessity, but I'd really love to try some brown butter in the filling and try half of the crust recipe, since half seemed to make more than enough for a bottom crust and decorations or lattice work on the top...

Chili goodness

It's that time of year again - time for some delicious chili. With my new found love of tempeh, I've decided to start by marinating a pound of tempeh that I broke up in 1 1/2 chipotle chilis, 2 serrano peppers, 1 jalepeno, 2 cherry peppers and 4 cloves of garlic. I tossed in about 1 tsp of salt as well. This has basically sat for a day and, I can tell you, is spicy and delicious.



I'm a fan of heat, but not crazy, burn the hell out of my mouth heat. I like the flavor that accompanies it as well. So typically, I use a lot of chili peppers, but stay away from scotch bonnets and crazy fire like that.

Once the tempeh has sat for about a day or two, really the longer the better, it's ready to go.

2 tbsp oil
2 medium purple onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, the color is up to you, chopped
1 pablano pepper, chopped

tempeh mixture

1 dark beer (I think Rogue's Shakespeare Stout is perhaps my favorite chili beer, but since I couldn't find any, I'm using the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter made by the Great Lakes Brewing Co.)

1 can crushed tomatoes (strangely, italian style works really well as the subtle sweetness pairs well and cools down any excess heat brought on from the peppers.

2 cans of beans, mashed (I use cannelini beans as a default)

Chicken broth for extra liquid (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups worth).
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin, to taste
Salt and pepper

Start by heating some oil in a large pan. Add 2 medium or 1 1/2 large onions to the oil and saute until transluscent and beginning to brown. Next, add the bell and pablano peppers. Once those guys have started to soften, add the tempeh mixture and increase the heat to medium high in order to begin browning everything in the pot. Brown food is good food. Add salt and pepper at this stage, but don't go crazy... you can always add more later.

After about 10-15 minutes, add the beer, scraping up delicious brown bits along the way. Next add the tomatoes, broth, and finally the mashed beans. Bring this to a boil over medium high heat, then cover and reduce to low for 45 minutes to an hour.

Once the time is up, check the chili, add salt and pepper to taste. If it's a little too thin, cook uncovered for about 20 minutes longer. Cool, cover with cheese and crumbled tortilla chips and enjoy. This would also be delicious over a baked potato... omg drool...

Sconed to Death

I've had traumatic experiences with biscuits and scones.

What can I say? I'm a super efficient kneader and, before I know it, I've got hard little rocks instead of moist, delicious scones. But I decided, since it's literally been years since I last attempted either of the confections, that I need to get over my fear and try out some scones. Also, I've been missing bread and bread-y things lately - to the extent that I woofed down a whole pizza for lunch. I'll chalk that up to a "metabolism booster" and run it off later or tomorrow hehe :P

Either way you can't combine 'classy' and 'morning pastry' without getting a scone. These delicious, moist little guys were a basic cream scone recipe with slightly more sugar, zest and cranberries. Who doesn't love dried cranberries?

Cranberry Orange Scones

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream, plus additional for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

6 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Warm the water in the microwave and pour over the cranberries to rehydrate them. Let them set for 15 minutes, but the longer the better.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk the cream, egg, orange zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the cranberries and the cream mixture into the flour mixture until it forms a sticky, but hopefully manageable, dough.

Knead the dough gently for, like, 30 seconds. Don't knead to much or this shit will get tough. Pat the dough into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Cut dough with a round biscuit cutter (although you could always freehand triangles with a knife - don't go crazy and buy special stuff for this). Gather the scraps and gently, super gently reform into a round and cut out the rest of the scones. Using a 1 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter, I got about 8 out.

Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat. Brush with a little extra cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden and delicious.

These guys are awesome and not terribly sweet. :)


I feel like this recipe could easily be altered for use with blueberries or most any fruit

Mini-update

Sadly, the town of Athens, Ohio does not have anything like a CSA. I don't really even know what a CSA is - it seems to be something that you pay money into and each month you get fresh vegetables. It definitely sounds like a good investment to me.

However, what Athens does have is a colleague of mine, Kate Nuernberger and what Kate has is chickens. About 8 of them. And they lay rainbow colored eggs. And they're delicious. Two dollars a dozen. How can you beat that?!


Effing picture... I need some adobe software like woah

Also in this update - whatever happened to those Nocino walnuts? Well those little guys are good for lots of things. After the Nocino is bottled, I put some sweet marsala wine over the walnuts and made this delicious fruity, cinnamon-y, walnut-y, apperetif. It's also perfect for this weather. Let it sit for a month, and you're good to go. I'm ready to bottle this and enjoy it nearly every chance I get.



Even after this, I've heard of the walnuts being removed from their shells and used in homemade spumanti. I don't think I'll go quite that far, but the apperetif allows you to enjoy some delicious walnut-y booze right now. What's not to love?

Ensconced in scones

This weekend scones and perhaps a tentative book review... I have to write one for class, so why not. Also, it's getting to be that time of year again, so I think it's time for some chili or curry. Which shall it be??? Maybe even, if I get crazy, some banana bread...

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

2 large sweet potatoes
2 large russet baking potatoes

Pierce these guys all over with a fork and bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. When they're finished, cool them slightly, peel them, mash them, then let them cool completely.

1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
3 1/2 cups All purpose flour (I used bread flour and it worked really well)

Combine the egg and salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the mound of mashed potatoes. (You can do this directly on a counter top, btw - it's loads of fun!) Pour the egg mixture into the center of the well and knead into the potatoes. Next knead in the cheese. Finally begin by kneading in 1 1/2 cups flour. Once this flour is incorporated add more flour until the dough comes together in a smooth but slightly sticky ball (I used all but about 1/2 cup).

Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll one portion out into a rope about 1/2 inch thick and cut until 1/2 inch cubes, like so:



Roll the cubes into a ball and place on a floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.

Once all of the dough has been turned into similarly-sized balls, take each ball and roll down the back of a floured fork to make indentations. According to a recipe I found on Epicurious, if you angle the fork at 45 degrees and stable it with one hand, then apply downward pressure with your thumb it will work every time. I did this, and I have to say it made indenting the gnocchi fairly easy.


Though many of you complain that while they're small, you meet an army of gnocchi

Once you get to this stage you can freeze the gnocchi, all in a single layer, then place in plastic bags and save for another time. There's no need to unfreeze before using.

To Cook the Gnocchi
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove. Drop the gnocchi in but don't over crowd them. It shouldn't take longer than 3-5 minutes for them to float to the top indicating that they are done.

Sage Brown Butter Sauce
This sauce couldn't be easier.

For one serving of gnocchi:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
salt and pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

In a saute pan heat the butter over medium heat until it's no longer foamy. Add the sage and cook until the sage is crisp and the milk solids in the butter have begun to brown - hence brown butter. Toss in some cooked and drained gnocchi, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Let everything heat through and allow the cheese to just start melting. Serve. Enjoy. Die happy.

The Tableaux is complete...

I shall call this, "Oh my God they killed Frank!"...

I'm pretty proud of these guys. Stay tuned for the gnocchi post...

Sugar Cookies - I'm getting better at decorating

This recipe is surprisingly simple. It's just your basic vanilla sugar cookie recipe. The frosting is something I've experimented with and found to be both tasty and aesthetically pleasing. It's basically a butter cream, but instead of butter I use white chocolate as the fat. That way, if you frost a warm cookie or slightly warm the frosting itself, it spreads easily, dries smoothly, and has a slight shine to it. Ah, dumb luck, you're my favorite sous chef.

Vanilla Sugar Cookies

For the Cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar*

1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

*This was the first time in recent memory I've found myself without brown sugar. However, I remembered a helpful hint - for 1 cup of light brown sugar you can substitute 1 cup white sugar plus about 2 tbsp molasses. Now, I'm much more likely to have brown sugar around than I am molasses. Luckily, my roommate happened to have some, and the recipe was saved.

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl sift the bread flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add in 2 or 3 additions to the butter mixture until it forms a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Press the ball into a rectangle and cut into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 1 one day. At this point, you can also freeze the dough for about 3 - 5 months.



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. (I've seen many recipes that make thinner cookies, but this dough benefits from being on the thicker side. When in doubt, err on the thick side.) Cut the dough using cookie cutters into whatever shapes you like, and bake, on a parchment lined baking sheet, for about 12 minutes or until just beginning to brown around the edges. You don't want to over bake these cookies - they should be more soft than crisp.

For the Frosting:

2 oz white chocolate
2-3 tbsp cream

1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cocoa powder*

*I used Hershey's dark cocoa to make something close to black frosting - replace the cocoa with confectioner's sugar if you don't want chocolate flavored frosting and don't worry, the white chocolate taste, while noticeable, is not overpowering.

Melt the white chocolate with the cream in a bowl set over simmering water. Once melted, stir in the confectioner's sugar. The frosting should be thin, but it should thicken as it cools. If necessary add more confectioner's sugar and let it cool to see how thick it gets. For spreading purposes you can always re-warm the frosting in a bowl set over simmering water - in fact I'd recommend it as the frosting acquires a pleasant sheen as it cools.

Frost the hell out of the cookies. I actually used some fondant in order to make Space Invaders. This was only 1/4 of the dough since I was experimenting and wouldn't want to ruin the entire batch with terrible decorations. I think it turned out well over all - oh, and of course they were delicious ;)

This weekend...

When I finally get paid from my job - then, then I will really start baking. Yay for somewhat expendable income (at least enough to afford some nice chocolate and kitchen appliances).

In the meantime, the first day of fall occurred this week and I think it's time for pasta. I've decided that if I want something carbohydrate-y, I'm going to make it myself this year, and I've been craving pasta. Naturally, homemade pasta is difficult to make, but I have tried homemade gnocchi before - delicious potato pasta.

Here's I'm thinking sweet potato gnocchi, just to make it that much more healthy. Typically, it's gnocchi is served with a sage brown butter sauce. I love brown butter, in fact, I love anything sweet and caramelly - so why not go all out. I'm going to incorporate caramelized onions and garlic into a sage brown butter sauce. They will provide a more substantial sauce to hold it's own with the gnocchi.

For sweets this week, well I'm getting depressed. I've made one bad batch of cookies, one good batch, and the more I think about those brownies the less happy I realize I was with the finished product. I need to get a hand-held mixer (at least until I can get a hands-free model). Let's start with something basic, because I'd like to work on my frosting skills - Sugar cookies, simple delicious sugar cookies. Maybe with a hint of nutmeg.

Let's get it started, recipes and updates to come.

Practicing the Art of French Cooking: Ratatouille

I've looked in cookbooks and I've looked online. I've found many variations on this French "peasant dish" but there are quite a few standards to take note of: Eggplant is used as the primary vegetable, and it is accompanied by zucchini, tomatoes, onion, and garlic, most frequently. Most recipes have you cook the vegetables separately and then add them all back into a rich tomato-based sauce that is either baked (where most of the sauce evaporates) or cooked like a stew on the stove.

I'm cheating. I won't be using fresh tomatoes because, frankly, I don't have them right now, and canned tomatoes (especially home-canned tomatoes) are something I've come to appreciate both for the flavor and the ease of preparation (there will be no par-boiling baths and peeling messes here). Aside from that I think I'll keep this version on the stove-top and see what I can accomplish.

Also, the tempeh from two days ago - now enriched with the flavors of garlic and thyme - the two flavor notes I plan to accentuate in the dish itself... it should be delicious! Let's get started, shall we?

Ratatouille

2 large eggplants
2 green peppers
2 onions
4 medium zucchini
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
the tempeh from the previous recipe post

1 quart canned chopped or whole tomatoes (if whole, crush them with your hands - it feels WONDERFUL)

1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper

1) Prepare the eggplants by chopping them into bite-sized cubes. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp salt and set in a colander in the sink to drain for 10 minutes- this gets rid of the slightly bitter taste eggplants can sometimes have. Rinse and pat dry.

2) While the eggplant is draining, chop, but keep separated, the peppers, onions, zucchini, and garlic. In a large pan set over medium heat add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add the onions with salt and pepper and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 12 - 15 minutes. Remove to a large bowl.

Next add the green peppers with salt and pepper and cook until softened - about 12 minutes. Remove to the same bowl as the onions.

Add more oil to the pan if necessary. Now add the zucchini with salt and pepper and cook until softened, followed by the eggplant in the same manner. Add more oil and salt and pepper to each vegetable to taste.



3) If your pot looked anything like mine, there will likely be some delicious brown bits on the bottom. Add the tomatoes to the pot with no more than 1/2 cup chicken stock if the tomatoes lack liquid.



Once the liquid heats up, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, then add the garlic, salt and pepper, and thyme. Let this mixture come to a boil, then add all of the vegetables back into the pot. The liquid should not cover the vegetables.

4) Bring the ratatouille to a boil and cover, reducing the heat to low, for about 30 minutes. Stir the stew occasionally. If, after the thirty minutes the sauce is still thin and plentiful, increase the heat to medium - medium-high and allow it to reduce for about another 30 minutes. That's about how long it took me.



5) Every recipe I've seen also claims that this is even better the next day which is why it's perfect for dinner this week. Anything that reheats and tastes better the next day is delicious by me.

An interesting note - despite it's French country origins, the process and result are remarkably similar to a vegetable curry, like Rebecca B's off to the side... with the exception of the crazy indian spices that is... still, it's delicious!

Gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies

Baked goods are so easy to make gluten-free. Here I adapted a chewy peanut butter brownie recipe by alter the amount of fat and replacing the all-purpose flour with rice flour. I expect the brownies to still come out less chewy than they otherwise would, since gluten is what makes baked goods chewy, but I think it will definitely help.

Gluten-free Peanut Butter Brownies

1 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar

4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the butter and peanut butter until well mixed. Add the sugars and mix until creamy. Next add the eggs, 2 at a time until incorporated. Add the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the peanut butter mixture until well combined.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x13 pan with two sheets of parchment paper (one piece each placed across the width and the length of the pan with plenty of over hang - this creates an easy-to-remove brownie). Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until top is set and springs back when touched.



What an odd picture? I have no idea how to go about changing it since it's saved and rotated a different way... weird. Either way the brownies may take longer than expected based on the pan you used. I used an 8 x 11 and it took quite a while, but they turn out delicious, rich and chewy.

Tempeh Tantrum

So I've come to really like tempeh. I've read a lot about the negative effects of isoflavones (plant estrogen-like compounds found in soy products) on men and women (particularly those who are prone to estrogen imbalances). However, fermented soy products appear to still be healthy since the fermentation process alters their chemical make-up etc etc... either way tempeh is apparently great for you, in terms of plant based proteins, and it's delicious.

I want to flavor the tempeh to use in a ratatouille recipe. I know it's not traditional by any means, but I think it will be a great way to beef up peasant food without using chicken or meat. (I'm not a vegetarian, I just like exercising my options and eating healthy).

I've come to a problem - flavoring tempeh in an asian style is easy - soy sauce, fish sauce, sambal, ginger, rice vinegar, and you're set for life. But how can I go about infusing garlic and thyme (two main flavors in ratatouille) into tempeh? Then the answer came... confit - flavoring via fat. I've roasted some garlic, about 6 cloves, in a 1/4 cup of olive oil with about 1/2 tsp dried thyme for about one hour over medium low or low heat (just let it soften, don't let it brown). I poured that mixture over the tempeh and let it cool. After that I added some chicken stock, just to keep the tempeh moist and refrigerated for 24 hours - I want flavor here people, real flavor.



Needles to say, the flavoring worked really well. I used olive oil, and tried not to use too much just to stay healthy, but it was a great way to infuse the tempeh.

I'm totally using this in my ratatouille!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I love a good, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie. I want to modify my chocolate chip cookie recipe by adding cinnamon, oats and replacing the chocolate with raisins. The thing is, I think the oats may make the cookies less moist. Since I haven't tried this before I can't be certain, so I'm going to reconstitute the raisins in a little hot water before I add them to the batter. They'll likely dry out again in the oven and if not the excess moisture probably won't matter. Also, comparing different recipes I'm reducing the flour by 1/2 cup and using 2 cups of old-fashioned oats. Oh the joys of experimentation :-) (yeah those cumin raisin oatmeal cookies were an epic, throw-out-the-batter failure...)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups raisins + 1 cup hot water (let sit for 5 minutes then drain)
2 cups oats

Combine the butter and sugar thoroughly. Mix in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon separately. Add it in in 2 additions to the butter mixture. Finally, stir in the raisins and oats.



mmmm... cookie dough. Chill this mixture for 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or baking parchment. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until delicious. I highly recommend testing along the way ;-)



Now it's time for a creamy homemade latte and an oatmeal raisin cookie - the best of all possible afternoon snacks.

Coming up next, since the previous entry was from last week, I'm making a healthy chicken salad - grape tomatoes, chick peas, spinach, and a reduced fat cream cheese and garlic dressing. We'll see how it all works out.

Tomato and Black Bean soup

Okay. So I haven't updated, but I've been without internet at home, so it's been a little difficult. I did however make the tomato and black bean soup and raisin oatmeal cookies last week, though. The cookies... ah the cookies. I learned never to add cumin to cookies... yeah I thought it would taste good, but it did not. I'm never going to make that mistake again, but this weekend I will make the cookies again - just sticking to the classic cinnamon.

The Tomato and Black Bean Soup was a success from start to finish

Tomato and Black Bean Soup

1 medium onion
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle chilis)
salt and pepper to taste
2 120z cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup red wine
1 lemon

In a large pot heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and cook for about 15 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Next add the tomatoes, garlic, and adobo sauce. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the two cans of black beans. Let this heat through, cooking over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Finally, add the can of crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and wine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 1 hour. Remove from heat and add the juice of 1 lemon.



The lemon juice adds a pleasant tartness that pairs well with the slight heat from the adobo sauce. All in all this is a very refreshing, not-too-heavy summer soup! It also served as a great post-run meal with tortilla chips and cottage cheese.

New recipes weeeeee!

That is, new recipes to come. I'm back in the states and can't wait to start cooking again. I'm going to keep the same schedule as last year since it worked out so well. I'd love to add an occasional extra recipe or two a week in if I can, but right now my schedule is something sweet and something savory just about every weekend.

For starters how about some healthy bean and tomato soup and oatmeal raisin cookies?

Nothing crazy and nothing french to start with. I just moved into my apartment and need to get a feel for the kitchen and oven before I start doing anything super awesome.

I can't wait!!!

More food!

First, some fruit confiture. I was right, they did taste incredibly sweet. Still, there is something to be said for aesthetic appeal.



Second, a gift from two AWESOME campers. We got it about a week after they left. A huge wheel of cheese and some sausage from their region. Such a French gift, such awesome campers!

Lyon and more ideas...

So I think I'll need to make a blog post reviewing my past blog posts and compiling all of my ideas so that I have some direction for my cooking when I get back home.

I spent today in Lyon with some fellow counselors. We travelled around, saw the zoo park, and shopped. We also came across a wonderful little chocolaterie... naturally I had to go in and look at the local delicacies.



The little green guys are called something that translates roughly to 'cushions' and they are indeed the speciality either of Lyon or of that specific chocolaterie. Next to it was a kind of marzipan peach filled with liquor. That was a treat just for me, heh.



The cushions contained a chocolate orange ganache filling that was then wrapped in marzipan. The marzipan helped cut the ganache so it wasn't terribly rich. Basically, it lived up to its name as a light cushion of chocolate. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I'm not a fan of orange infused chcocolate. They're great as seperate, distinct flavors, but in one ganache it's just too much.

It's a bit lower on my list than, say, maple bacon ice cream, but I definitely would like to try my hand at candies and confections like this. I didn't purchase any, but the chocolatierie also had some fruit confit; whole fruits that had been cooked in a sugar syrup. The appearance is beautiful even though I imagine the taste to be just this side of diabetes-inducing. I will have to try those as well.

Something tells me these treats will be abundant as I get closer to Christmas... they will make excellent gifts wrapped in celophane and all decorated up fancy-like :P

Three days off in France

So I get to post some... which is actually quite nice. Granted I'm finished with my time off now. Work starts back promptly at 9am tomorrow and I can say with a disturbing amount of certainty that in 24 hours this beautiful, grand estate will once again be lousy with pubescent children. In the meantime, however, I just wanted to share some pictures I took and some food I've eaten. I really need to try this orange and chocolate tart that the local bakery makes.



Try to remake it at home that is. It's hard to tell if the filling is orange curd or an orange pastry cream - either way it's covered in delicious chocolate ganache. Personally, I'm not a fan of orange infused chocolate, but that's why I love this tart - there are two distinct layers that let each flavor come through.



Also there are some pretty amazing gardens around Aze which definitely make my runs and hikes much more enjoyable. I think everyone around here has a green thumb.



And this is perhaps nature's most beautiful color, in my humble opinion.



Part of me can't wait to get back... I've got so many ideas for the fall and new desserts to try out. It just occurred to me that in the sugar free category, many french pastries I've had don't really contain much sugar. In general, they aren't overly sweet, so it strikes me that using a substitute of some kind could still make for a delicious treat.