Although our apartment is located North of the Mason-Dixon Line, it's heart is decidedly Southern. So, naturally, we havethe requisite ham, greens , and black eyed peas for dinner on New Year's Day. I received the Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters, and I've decided to try "Lannie's Lord Have Mercy Sweet Potato Pie" for dessert. I'm cutting the recipe in half, since one pie is PLENTY for two people. Fingers crossed for successful pie making! At any rate, I'm also making my Aunt Chris's Spoonbread, which is SO EASY, and it's a nice step up from every day cornbread. Happy New Year!
Aunt Chris's Spoonbread
1 package Jiffy corn bread mix
1- 15 oz can cream corn
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease an 8-inch pan. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring by hand. Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes.
True story- every time I say "spoonbread", I sing it like this:
This year Brad and I were SO bummed because we thought we were going to so lonely on Christmas. However, yesterday turned out to be a great day! We Skyped with our families, so we got to see our loved ones, and the rest of the day was so relaxing! We didn't have a big hullabaloo, just the two of us enjoying our first Christmas together.I know the holidays are about being with your loved ones and celebrating and all of that, and I love all of the festivities! But I think everyone should scale it back at least once in their life. I'm not saying be alone in a dark room drinking eggnog from the carton! I'm just saying this year, my Christmas was very restorative and I had time to enjoy it.
We had actually planned on roasting a cornish hen, but apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, and the store was sold out. So we bought a New York Strip and Brad prepared our Christmas dinner from start to finish in about half an hour. It was very simple. Just meat, veg ( I use this term loosely here) and a roll, but it was enough for us after gorging on Christmas treats all day long. The way I'm writing this is the order in which he prepared the whole meal, so there will be a little jumping around.
We just used our favorite heat and serve rolls ( I recommend any of the frozen pilsbury varieties that come in a resealable bag!) and put an 8-inch (oven safe!!!) frying pan in the oven for the durration of the preheat.
Microwave Asparagus Casserole
2 cups frozen peas, thawed* **
12 ounces frozen asparagus, thawed *
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
6 slices of sharp cheddar cheese, cut in half diagonally
1/4 cup sour cream
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp white pepper***
2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Cut the asparagus into two inch strips. Put half of the asparagus and half of the peas in a layer in bottom of the casserole dish. Then put the egg slices in a layer. Next, make a layer out of half of the cheese slices. In a small bowl combine the sour cream, suop, onion powder, and pepper. Put half of this mixture on top of the cheese. Then repeat this process with the remaining ingredients, except the cheese. Combine the butter and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle that mixture on top. Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese slices and cover with foil or the lid of your casserole dish, if you have one. Let it stand for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
While the casserole was in the microwave Brad put the rolls in the oven because the timing on them was the same. He left the pan in the oven while the rolls were baking too. After he removed the rolls, he left the pan in the oven and bumped up the temperature to 500 degrees (NOT BROIL).
Pan Seared New York Strip
New York Strip (about an inch and a half thick)
Kosher or Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil
(Seriously that's it!)
Take the pan out of the oven and place on the stove over high heat. ***USE AN OVEN MITT!! THE HANDLE IS HOT!!!***
Set the steak on a plate and generously sprinkle both sides with the salt and pepper. Drizzle one side of the steak with the oil then flip the steak on the plate and slide it around a bit, so you can get an even coating. Flip the steak again so you can coat the other side.
Put the steak in the pan and sear for 30 seconds. There will be lots of smoke. Don't be afraid, it's not burning. I promise! Then flip the steak using tongs and sear for 30 seconds again. Then put the whole thing (pan and all) in your 500 degree oven for 2 minutes on each side (flipping in between) for medium rare, 3 minutes on each side for medium or 4 minutes on each side for well.
Let the steak rest on a plate lightly covered with foil for 2 minutes before thinly slicing and serving.
It's a Merry little Christmas dinner! :o)
* Defrosted in the microwave, but you can set them out on the counter early if you like. It just takes a little forethought and a few seconds.
** Brad would like for you all to know that we actually used Laseur brand canned peas, because he thinks frozen peas are too crunchy. I like frozen peas better, but this recipe was still good with the canned ones. *sigh*
*** I think you could get by with regular pepper, although the white pepper was very mild and nice!
Christina here, from Home Says Hello! My darling cousin, Nissa, let me contribute to her fun, musically delicious blog. Initially, I was going to post my pumpkin pie recipe because I've had such success with it in the past few years, but this year, I misplaced my secret recipe and all the photos I took of preparing the pie just so I could post it to Eat to the Beat got deleted.
Well, lucky for my husband and I, we were kind of pied out, so to prepare for this week's seasonal delights, we made a pumpkin cream cheese bread. I found the recipe on joy of baking. The recipe works best with fresh, pureed pumpkin which is quite easy to make.
Pumpkin Puree:
1. cut the top off a pie pumpkin
2. cut the pumpkin in half and gut the pumpkin but save the seeds! You can roast them later.
3. Cut the pumpkin into quarters
4. place your pumpkin quarters on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or just bake until soft.
5. Take the pumpkin out of the oven and you'll notice the skin of the pumpkin is rather shriveled/loose/soft. Peel the skin off (sometimes using a knife helps, but I usually just use my fingers).
6. Once you have the skin off, place the chunks of pumpkin in your food processor or blender, add a little water and blend away! Eventually, you'll start to see your pumpkin turn into a golden, smooth, pumpkin puree!
7. I store my puree in freezer ziplock bags. Anything will do though. It may be easier to go the bag way if, like me, you decide to puree three pie pumpkins and find yourself with 2 gallons of puree. Because of my inability to stop and think about numbers, we've had three pumpkin pies, 24 pumpkin cookies, two pumpkin bread loaves, and still quite a bit of pumpkin puree left.
Ok, now on to the tasty recipe!
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounce package (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pumpkin Bread:
1 cup (110 grams) pecans or walnuts
3 1/2 cups (450 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 - 15 ounce (425 grams) can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin Bread:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter and lightly flour two - 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pans.
To toast nuts: Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until brown and fragrant. Cool completely and then chop coarsely. **I did not add these. I don't like crunchy things in food that is meant to be soft :)
Cream Cheese Filling: In your food processor, process the cream cheese just until smooth. Add the sugar and process just until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing just until incorporated. Do not over process. Stir in the flour. **You can also use a stand mixer, which is what I did, but I think I over processed. Don't worry, if you over process, it just means the filling will seep into the bread, rather than create a thick streak through the center of the loaf. Still tastes good!
Pumpkin Bread:
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In another large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Whisk or stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla extract, and nuts.
Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined. (A few streaks of flour is fine.) Do not over mix as it will make the bread tough.
Divide the batter in half. Take one half and divide it evenly between the two prepared pans. Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half of filling on top the two pans of batter, smoothing the tops. Top with the remaining half of batter (use two spoons to place small dollops of batter on top of the filling). Bake the breads for about 55 - 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. ** Make sure you divide evenly enough. I got caught up in chit chatting with my husband and filled most of my loaf pan with batter, before I realized I put too much in. It still came out good though!
Place pans on a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing breads from pans. Can serve warm, cold, or at room temperature. Store leftovers in the refrigerator or else freeze for later use.
Makes 2 loaves.
Ok, get in the kitchen with my girl, Ella, singing one of my favorite Christmas songs and bake your little heart out!
I just added a new section over there on the right hand side! It's called "Yummy!" and it's a list of what I consider to be helpful links. Right now there is one for measurement conversions, and one for ingredient substitutions. I'll add to the list as I go, but I think every kitchen should have access to those first two links!
Happy holidays! :o) I just had to take a quick study break, because it's almost Christmas, and I've only baked one holiday goody! (You know those brownies on the back of the York Peppermint Patty bag? Well, you don't have to do all that. Just make your favorite brownie recipe--I won't tell if it's from a box. Put 1/2 of the batter in the pan, then put a layer of patties leaving a 1 inch border around the edge of the pan. Cover them with the rest of your batter and bake as normal! Yum!) What's the most appropriate baked good for a quick break? Quick bread of course! Don't get me wrong, I love all the peppermint/chocolate and spicy/molasses/brown sugar holiday flavors, but sometimes I need a break. This is a little bit tart, bright and fresh, but still very seasonal! (Am I the only one who finds it ironic that citrus season is in the dead of winter?)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup softened butter (one stick)
2 eggs
1 juicing orange (they don't have as many seeds)
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F). Put the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Use the butter wrapper to grease a 9-inch loaf pan. Cream your butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add your eggs, and incorporate them completely.
I use the same two-cup measuring cup for nearly all the measuring in this recipe. First I zest the orange into the cup. Then I cut the orange in half and use a fork to get all the juice and a good amount of the pulp out. You don't want pith, or chewy skins...you're going for the pulpiest orange juice you've ever seen. Then add the cranberries into the cup until it reaches the 1 1/2 cup mark. (This should take about 1 cup of cranberries. If you don't actually like fresh cranberries, try substituting them with 1/2 a cup of the the dried ones. They have sugar added, and are a little sweeter.) Dump that into the big bowl, add the buttermilk and mix it up on low with the electric mixer.
Then put 1 1/2 cups of flour in the measuring cup, add the baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix that up so the dry ingredients are evenly distributed. (I just use the measuring spoon to stir it.) Put that in the big bowl, then add the other 1/2 cup flour and mix it up with the electric mixer, on low again.
Now that the flour is out, you can dust your buttered loaf pan really quickly before putting the batter in the pan. Smooth the batter out a little, and then bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
When it's done, cool in the pan for 10 minutes before cooling it the rest of the way on the cooling rack. If you slice it too soon, it will crumble, so really be patient, okay? Give it at least 30 minutes.
This is exactly what Christmas Eve is going to be like in my apartment.
I feel like I cheated. That's not really a song, so have this too:
Of course it can never be quite the same, but I think I've come pretty close to recreating my grandmother's miso soup. I love the miso soup they serve at Japanese restaurants, but it's so...delicate. Grandma J's soup is sustaining, maybe even medicinal. I haven't had it in a decade, and I thought I would never have soup like hers again, until last night. Grandma, you trickster! It's SO EASY! It's no wonder she ate it nearly every day for brunch with a big bowl of sticky rice.
1 1/2 tbsp dashi flakes-There are photos of this and the next two ingredients at the end. 12 dried shitake mushroom 1 1/2 tbsp fueru wakame dried seaweed 1 package of firm silken tofu chopped into 1/2-inch cubes 3 tbsp red miso paste
Put about 3 cups of cold water in a big pot add the dashi, and mushrooms. Let it soak in the cold water for about 5 minutes, add the kelp and soak for 10 minutes more. Add some more water to make up for the liquid absorbed and for the added bulk of the tofu. Put on medium heat. 10 minutes in, add tofu. Take 3 ladles worth of broth out of the pot and into a bowl, whisk the miso paste into the separate bowl until it's smooth and uniform. (No lumps of miso.) Add the mixture to the pot. Cook for 10 more minutes. Taste it and add more miso, dashi, or water as you see fit, and heat for a little while longer. You don't want it to boil, you want to warm this gently.
This is a brief description of the song by the composer: "Based on the hauntingly beautiful Sunayama, this composition tells a story of the inner conflict of a Japanese girl who falls in love with an American. She is torn between a life with him in America and her longing for the culture of her childhood. From time to time she plays a music box given to her by her parents (Sunayama theme), bringing a flood of homeland memories." via
Brad and I spent Thanksgiving together for the first time. We were pretty sad to be away from our families, but I made a meal that did a good job cheering us up and it wasn't too hard to pull off! I started prepping the turkey at 11 and we were eating at 3:00. I think 4 people could have eaten comfortably off the food, with some modest leftovers. We really like Thanksgiving leftovers, so this is what I made for just the two of us to eat until Monday. :o) I recommend you make these in the order I wrote them, with the turkey going in first, and then working on the sides while the turkey is cooking. ( I did make a pumpkin pie REALLY early in the morning...but I'm not going to include it. Don't worry, there will be another post to make up for it!)You'll also notice that we didn't have any gravy. That's because I was tire, and I thought the turkey was moist enough on its own, and I didn't want to cover up the the nice tang of the potatoes. In my family, gravy is just for making pulled turkey sandwiches out of leftovers. Oh, and a quick word about celery before we start. I have a problem with buying that big stalk of celery, only to use two sticks of it. So I just skip it.
We had this for Thanksgiving, but I think it would be pretty good for any holiday meal. I hope you enjoy this post, and THANK YOU for reading!
Turkey Breast only, bone in. Olive oil rosemary thyme Salt Pepper 1/2 orange cut into 6 chunks 1/2 large onion cut into 4 chunks 3 slightly smashed garlic cloves
Make sure it's all thawed, and any extras (like giblets) are removed. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. (That is not a typo.) Pat the whole thing dry with paper towels (even the inside cavity), and then massage the bird with olive oil. Sprinkle the skin, and under the skin, liberally with the rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Make sure to season the inside of the cavity too. Then Fill the cavity with 1/2 an orange cut up into 6 chunks (skin on), 1/2 a large onion, cut up into 4 chunks, 3 smashed garlic cloves. You'll want 20 minutes of cooking for each lb of turkey. The first 30 minutes will be at 500 degrees, after that, lower your oven to 350 degrees and cook for the remaining time at that temperature. Use an internal temperature thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the breast (but not too close to the bone!) is 165 degrees in the center. If it's done, don't take the thermometer out of the bird until it has cooled and rested for 15 minutes. You don't want to let all that good juice out! Discard the things in the cavity. Golden, juicy, crispy and delicious!
Mashed Potatoes 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into pretty small chunks* 2tbsp butter, softened 1/2 c butter milk, warmed for about 30 seconds in the microwave salt and pepper
Place potatoes in a medium pot. Fill with cold water to just cover the potatoes, and salt generously. Bring to a gentle boil, and let them go that way for about 20 minutes (or until a knife goes through them easily, when you pull out a chunk with a spoon). Strain and smash/stir with a fork. Add butter, about half of the buttermilk, salt and pepper. Check the texture. Keep adding buttermilk until you reach the desired consistency.
*I cut the potatoes into long quarters then slice the quarters into 1/2 inch pieces.
Sweet Potato Casserole 4 sweet potatoes- cooked any way you like, there are some suggestions in the sweet potato pancakes post Juice and a small bit of zest from the other half of the orange in the turkey 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon Topping 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts 1/3 cup flour 4 tbsp butter softened 1/2 cup brown sugar
Mash the sweet potatoes with the juice, zest, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Put this in a small casserole dish. In a small bowl mix nuts, flour, butter, and brown sugar. Sprinkle this mixture on top of sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes ( I would put this part in while the turkey is resting and the oven is still hot.)
Brussel Sprouts 1 lb brussel sprouts 4 strips of bacon cut into 1/2 inch squares 1 garlic clove cut into fourths
Don't give me that look! These are delicious! Cut off the little nub and then slice sprouts in half longitudinally. Put them in a large frying pan, add 1/4 cup water and salt. Cover to steam on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Drain sprouts and set aside. Fry the bacon on medium heat until it just starts to color. Add in the brussel sprouts and the garlic. Fry for a few more minutes (stir it to make sure there is even distribution, but not too much. Some still contact with the pan will get you some lovely browning on the sprouts. ) You'll have to pick through and throw out the garlic.
Dressing with Sausage Your favorite dressing with 1/2 a 12 oz tube of breakfast sausage fried up and stirred in. Yeah, that was a little anti - climatic. Hey, this was the end of the work!
**I wrote this a long time ago, but was too busy with school to post it! I hope its useful to you! **
Brad and I are planning on having brussel sprouts as a side dish on Thanksgiving, and since Trader Joe's sells them on the stalk, I can just put them in a vase of water, and keep them for the week. Unfortunately, the sprouts make the stalk too wide to fit into my widest vase, so I cut some of them off the bottom to cook tonight. I've never cooked, or eaten brussel sprouts before. It's an adventure!
1 lb brussel sprouts 1tsp soy sauce+ more soy sauce to taste 1/2 cup water 1 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 onion, julienned*
This is a two step cooking process. First you want to steam the sprouts then you are going to stir-fry them. To prepare the sprouts just cut the stems off and cut them in half so the slice goes from the stem to the top of the sprout. In a large pan with a lid (one that holds 3-4 quarts should be large enough), throw in the sprouts 1tsp soy sauce, water. Put the lid on and steam for 5 minutes on high, shaking the pan a little half way through so you can evenly distribute the water and steam. Be careful when you lift the lid when they're done, there's going to be a lot of steam. Strain your sprouts and return your pan to the stove, and lower your heat to medium. Saute your onions in the sesame oil for a few minutes, until they're soft, then add your sprouts back in, and add your additional soy sauce and the pepper. I usually just pour the soy sauce for a turn around the edge of the pan. Stir fry for 4-5 more minutes so you get some good browning on the onions and the sprouts. Serve right away with rice.
Once upon a time, a man named Rufus dedicated this song to his lady, Kyoko. She showed her love through food, he showed his through music. I guess that's why their granddaughter turned out the way she did...
* Julienne is a style of slicing vegetables. To julienne an onion, just peel it, cut off the tip at the top, and the roots at the bottom. Slice the onion in half from top to bottom and slice each half thinly making little rainbow shaped slices until you get to the highest point of the onion, when that happens just turn the freshly cut side onto the board so you have another round end to cut into and finish slicing the onion.
For whatever reason a bunch of my friends, and I, had our birthdays this week, so I'm inviting them over for cake and wine. Really, I'm just glad to have an excuse to make this cake. For those of you who are new to my kitchen story, cake was my gateway baked good. I haven't really baked a cake in a while, so I'm really excited about this one! I will admit, this comes in at about an 8 out of 10 on the ol' difficulty scale, but if you have time, anyone can bake this rich chocolate cake that is balanced by the super fluffy and super sweet icing.
Chocolate Cake Filled with Whipped Ganache and Topped with Salted Caramel 7-Minute Frosting
Cake: 2cups all-purpose flour 1cup unsweetened cocoa 1 1/2teaspoons baking soda Salt 1 1/2cups buttermilk 2teaspoons vanilla extract 1 3/4cups granulated sugar 3/4cup butter 3large eggs Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper, grease and dust the sides with cocoa powder. This cake REALLY likes to stick to the pan, and it's really tender. Sometimes if I don't have any parchment paper I butter the hell out of a non-stick pan and then dust it heavily with cocoa powder. I'm just telling you now, a non-stick pan lubed with Pam for bakers is not gonna cut it here, kids. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. By this I mean get it going with your mixer on low, and then beat for 3 more minutes on high. Then reduce your speed back to low so you can add your eggs, 1 at a time, and just like with the cookies, wait for them the mixture to be fluffy again before you add the next egg. This part is a bit tricky so pay attention: Beat in half of the flour mixture. Next add all of the buttermilk mixture just until blended, finally add the rest of the flour mixture, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks to cool completely. Carefully remove and discard parchment paper.<--Seriously guys, the parchment paper will set you, and your cake free. Filling
3/4 c heavy whipping cream 1 3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Place the cream in a small but heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, stirring. Meanwhile, place the chocolate chips in a large staineless steel mixing bowl. Remove the cream from teh heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir with with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has melted. Cover with plastic wrap, touching the top of the ganache, and refigerate for 45 minutes. Whip it until it reaches the consistancy of whipped cream. Put this between the layers of your cake, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges so it doesn't spill out of the sides when you assemble your cake. Keep your cake in a cake saver in the fridge until you are ready to frost it and have it on display.
Frosting: 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 1/8 tsp salt 1/3 c water 2 egg whites
Place sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water, and egg whites in that stainless steel bowl you used for the ganache. Be VERY sure that it is absolutely free of any remaining fat from the cream and chocolate. Even one drop of fat in in this frosting will prevent it from getting nice and fluffy. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place your bowl over a really pan that is small enough to be a platform for the bowl, filled with about an inch of boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy). Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Frost your cake right away, because it'll set up pretty quickly and then you can't do anything with it after that. (For this reason, also rinse your bowl and spoons and stuff RIGHT AWAY.) Also, if it's raining...just don't. The humidity will dissolve your icing and you will have bald patches on your cake. Also, once this cake is frosted don't refrigerate it. That will result in bald patches too. This is one of those cakes for a party. You gotta eat it all, that day, because the ganache just won't hold up outside the fridge for more than a night.
Finish with a VERY light sprinkling of finishing salt (like coarse sea salt, kosher salt, Fleur de Sel, or pink Himalayan salt.<--Trader Joe's sells this for $1.99!!) I like to put it just around the edge of the top, but since some of my guests aren't to sure of the sweet/salty thing, I'm going to set out a dish so people can salt their own cake. If you think all of your guests will go for the salt thing, and you really want to decorate your cake with it, I suggest mixing one part salt to 3 parts raw sugar or some other coarse sugar so you get the crunch and sparkle without an overwhelming salt flavor. No, seriously. It's my birthday too!
Believe it friends! Actually, believe it and then send excessive gratitude toward Alton Brown for this little bit of genius. I am trying to post only my own recipes, but this one is too good not to share, so I've adjustedMr. Brown's recipe a little bit. I only specify cranberry juice here because, that's my spin on the recipe. You could always do what I did, and just adjust the recipe to the things you have on hand, and to your own taste! That's the beauty of this recipe, it's SO flexible!
6 apples* 2 tbsp butter 1 cup Trader Joe's Cranberry Cider** 3 tbsp brown sugar optional: Brad likes to add cinnamon to his taste. I think it stands okay on it's own two feet...you can decide for yourself.
Peel, cut in half, and use some sort of sturdy scoop (like a melon baller) to take out the core of your apples. Put them in a large microwaveable container with a cover. Add the butter, cider, and brown sugar. Cover, and if your lid makes a tight seal, lift a corner to vent. Microwave for 10 minutes. (Depending on the apples, sometimes it takes me 15 minutes to get them all the way soft, but 10 usually does the trick.) When they're good and soft, you can use a potato masher, a hand mixer ( I suggest you break the apples up a bit by hand first, so the hot juice doesn't go flying...), or a stick blender if you really like it smooth. This tastes great warm or cold! If you leave it on the chunkier side, it's a great accompaniment to pork chops.
Don't be afraid to make this recipe your own! "Turn and face the strange...ch-ch-changes"!
*Alton uses a blend of Golden Delicious and Fuji, I used Cortlands. I think almost any apple will work, but one time I did try to use this recipe to fix up some "Fuji" apples that Brad described as having the texture of particle board, but they NEVER got soft...so I threw them away. :o( So please remember that it is produce and there is bound to be some variability here.
**If you don't have a Trader Joe's near by (I'm sorry!) you can substitute 1 cup cranberry juice, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves,1/8 tsp allspice, and a large piece of orange zest ( about one inch wide and runs from the top of the orange to the bottom) that you can peel off with a vegetable peeler.( Please be careful to avoid the white pith.) Just heat this up a bit on the stove top or in the microwave for about 2 minutes, then fish the orange peel out before adding the juice to the apples. Or, if you can find some other brand of cranberry cider that would be good too.
Also, here's a bonus song that I like to listen to while I'm in the kitchen. I particularly like it during this time of year, when the gentle crispness of fall is fading, and the brisk, cold winds are picking up.
Brad's mom sent us some goodies from King Arthur Flour, including a box of Whole Grain Harvest Pumpkin Scone Mix! I want to share this with you, because even though it's not my own recipe, it's something I would highly recommend having in your oven! The spicy smell in our oven this morning, has me in the mood for a spooktacular day!
First, the nuts and bolts: This mix is pretty healthy, it makes 16 mini scones and a serving is about two of those. If you just eat that much you are getting 5 grams of dietary fiber (20 % of your recommended daily amount). No crazy ingredients...just "pumpkin flakes" which I imagine just means dehydrated pumpkin. It is a bit high on the sugar- 22 g for just two mini scones, but it's Halloween, so I'm not really concerned about my sugar intake for today! :o) Not too bad on the fat, 20% of your daily amount, mostly due to the butter that the recipe calls for. I think you could get away with adding half as much butter and substituting apple sauce or sour cream/buttermilk/yogurt if you are really concerned about that. They're REALLY filling, probably because they are so high in fiber, so don't worry about eating too many. You can't.
Now on to the method. The instructions were very easy to follow, simple and clear. The dough came together quickly and baked up in less than 15 minutes. There are also instructions for variations, including stirring crystallized ginger into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients. (Doesn't that sound gorgeous?!)
The dough doesn't really expand very much, (although it might if you add the extra acid in those butter substitutes I listed...) but the scones are still fluffy and moist! They had a delicious flavor, a little sweet for a scone, but I'm not complaining!
My scones weren't as pretty as the ones in the photo on the box (Next time I'll be more careful about smoothing out the dough after I put it in the pan.) but I'm still really happy with this mix and would be proud to serve these scones to my friends and family!
Here are King Arthur's Scones...
...And my scones
A BIG THANK YOU TO BRAD'S MOM, FOR SENDING US THIS LOVELY MIX!
** Oh, in case you are wondering how I got my scones to be so perfectly triangular, Brad's mom also sent us a mini scone pan...it rocks!
I've been really lazy about photographing my food. I'm sorry for that. On to the post...
I have to be honest, I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate chips. I think they get in the way of the buttery brown sugar goodness of the cookie part of the cookie. But these still have a place in my heart, and Brad likes them, so that was the treat of the weekend.
Just a few notes before we start: You know how the cookies from refrigerated cookie dough are always so beautifully golden, and they have this really great complex toffee flavor that you can never get when you make the cookies yourself? It's because the dough has had time to rest. They leave this out of the recipe on the Nestle Toll House bag, but you are supposed to refrigerate your cookie dough for 3 days for optimal results. I usually don't plan that far ahead, so between advice from my friends--Hey, Tracie!-- and personal experimentation I have learned to compensate for the wait time...and if you do have the time, this recipe is that much better when you refrigerate it!
1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour* 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 3/4 cup white chocolate chips 3/4 cup semi-sweet or, if you don't like things too sweet, dark chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F). In a small bowl combine your flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until they reach the consistency of fluffy icing. Then add your eggs one at a time, beating the first one in before adding the second. Keep beating the mixture until it returns to it's fluffy icing consistency after adding each egg. Then add in half of your flour mixture. Incorporate that addition completely before you add in the rest of the flour mixture. Then add in your chips, and stir these in by hand. When you put the cookies on the pan, use a 1 tbsp measuring spoon as your scoop and put rounded scoops on the pan. I put them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake them for 9-11 minutes, or until they're golden. When you take them out they'll still be puffy and not quite done looking, but if they're golden they're done. If they're still beige, they're not done! Let them rest on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. If the cookies are falling apart after the 2 minute cooling time, just pop them back in the oven for 2-3 minutes and let them cool again before putting them on the cooling rack.
This makes about 2-1/2 dozen cookies. (The Nestle Toll House says that this much dough makes 5 dozen cookies...how tiny are those cookies??!)
This post is dedicated to the real star of these cookies...don't worry, there's honorable mention of her spotlight stealing big sister. ;o)
* The whole wheat flour adds to the golden color, along with the dark brown sugar (which is also there to add to that complex toffee flavor we talked about earlier). If you are using white whole wheat flour, then just use 2 -1/4 cups of that rather than the combination of AP and WW flour.
This recipe isn't exactly original, it's an Italian classic.This is a recipe that people are kind of afraid of because chefs are always saying "There's an art to it. It is simple in theory, but very easy to mess up!" I think they say that because they want to continue charging an arm and a leg for glorified cheesy rice. (Granted, it is the most creamy, vibrant, delicious cheesy rice you've ever had.) I used to be afraid of it but one of my co-workers at my last job--Yes, Ashley! I'm looking at you!-- loved to make it and she finally convinced me to give it a try earlier this year. The secret, I've found, is to have all of your ingredients prepared and measured so all you have to do is dump them in the pan when the time comes for them to be added. I started out with a spring greens risotto by Sarah Raven. You can find it in her book, In Season. Now I've sort of amalgamated her recipes into one basic risotto bianco so "when you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to to a bit of what is all around you!"
6 cups chicken stock or broth*
4 tbsp butter
1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2-1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 to 1-1/2 cups white wine**
4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese***
Start out by putting your stock (or broth) into a large pan. It'll come to a boil while you are doing the next few things. In another large heavy bottomed and sort of shallow pan, saute half of your butter, the olive oil and the onions for about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon for all your stirring. Add the garlic and saute for a minute longer. Add the Rice and stir to coat it with the fat in the pan. Add the wine, letting it bubble up and evaporate. Then you'll begin adding your hot stock, one ladle full at a time. When you do this you want to be constantly stirring the rice. Make sure the previous ladle full of liquid is absorbed by the rice before you add the next. If you want to time it out, it should take about 20-25 minutes for you to integrate all of the liquid, so you'll be stirring for about 3 or 4 minutes for each addition of the liquid. Once you've added all the stock, turn off the heat and quickly stir in the remaining butter and the cheese. The consistancy should be like hot fresh rice pudding, so it'll coat a spoon, but it won't stick to it. When you bite into the rice, it shouldn't be mushy, but it shouldn't be chalky either. Just a nice al dente.
P.S. I didn't put this in the list of ingredients, but I've had this benefit very nicely from a light dusting of lemon zest being stirred in with the cheese and butter.
I'm convinced that Martha My Dear is an encrypted recipe for risotto. Just think of Martha as metaphor for your wooden spoon. Haha! Hey, people have heard crazier things in a Beatles song!
*I don't think it matters so much which you use, but you do need to use one or the other. If you're a little short on whichever of the two you decide to use, I've cut it with water before, and it turned out fine.
** If you don't want to go out of your way to buy wine for this, or you just don't like cooking with wine, I've substituted with water plenty of times with great success!
***Any hard cheese will do. It's a great way to use leftover bits!
This cobbler is one I made up after going on a walk around our New England neighborhood, just as the leaves were changing. It's got the colors of the leaves, some seasonal fruit, and some cozy warmth from the spices...and from the fact that it's cobbler! I am baking for just two people so this recipe only makes enough cobbler for 4 servings, but it's easy enough to double...or triple, if you like.
For the Crust and Dumplings 1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter ,chilled and cubed
1 tbsp shortening ,chilled and cubed*
1.5 tbsp cold water
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees(F) and grease a 6x6 glass baking pan...or some equally small vessel suitable for baking. Then in a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Grab your butter and shortening from the freezer and pinch them in until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the water. It should just be damp enough to hold together when you close it in your fist. Mash the dough into one lump, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge while you prepare your luscious fruit filling.
Luscious Fruit Filling 1 tbsp corn starch**
1/2 c sugar
1/16 tsp cloves***
1/8 tsp cinnamon***
1 small apple
1 medium nectarine or peach
2 small plums (all of the fruit should add up to one pound total...so should you find yourself substituting, keep that amount in mind.)
Combine the sugar, corn starch, cloves and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Peel, core, and slice your apple into 1/2 to 1 inch slices, pit and slice your stone fruit to the same size. (To pit the nectarines and plums I usually just cut them in half starting at the stem and going around, twist one side off then pick the pit out with the tip of the knife.) Mix the fruit with the sugar and set aside while you get back to your dough.
Take about 1/3 of the dough and break them into little marbles (1/2 inch diameter?) and put them in the bottom of your baking vessel. Then put the fruit slurry (it should already be throwing juice) in the pan. Finally, roll out the remainder of your dough until it's big enough to cover the fruit (you don't have to make a seal like a pie, but you know, try to cover as much of the fruit as you can). I don't actually own a rolling pin, so I use one of those aluminum water canteens to roll out my dough. I used to have a really lovely Bordeaux bottle, but it got knocked off it's home on top of the fridge...
Bake for 1 hour, then broil for 3 minutes. Cool for 15-30 minutes before wrapping yourself and your cobbler buddy (mine is my lover) into a cozy blanket with steaming bowls of autumn-y goodness!
*I just throw it in a small bowl with the butter and put the bowl in the freezer while I do all of the rest of my prep.
**Okay, so this isn't really something that people usually keep on hand, but it's cheap, and it goes a really long way. It is what makes your cobbler so luscious!
*** I know these are infinitesimal measurements. The thing is, I want a little interest, but I don't want to loose the flavors of the fruit either. I usually just do one tiny pinch of the cloves and two tiny pinches of cinnamon. ****Nectarines and peaches are actually not in season, but I had some squirreled away in the freezer from the summer time. You can buy them frozen and sliced too, if you want.
My fiance and I collaborated on this one last weekend, kind of out of necessity since we wanted pancakes but only had 1 egg, and it turned out great! We will be having sweet potato pancakes for breakfast again this weekend.
1 cup of cooked cooled mashed sweet potato* 1 egg 1-1/4 to 1 -1/2 milk (This depends on how moist your sweet potato is.) 1 tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice** 2 cups Bisquick
Put your pan or griddle on the heat (or if you are a more serious pancake artist, heat your electric griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit). We'll talk more about judging how hot it should be by the time you put on your cakes later.
In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine your sweet potato, egg, milk, and brown sugar. In a smaller bowl (or in the measuring cup if you have one that holds more than two cups at a time) combine the Bisquick and pumpkin pie spice. Add your dry mixture to the wet one. Stir this together by hand, and really only do it JUST until it's combined. It's okay if there are a few lumps. (Brad usually gets a little crazy with the stirring, and I still think his pancakes are tasty...so don't freak out if you realize there aren't any more lumps in your batter. It'll be fine. Pinky swear!)
Time to check your cooking surface. You'll know your surface is hot enough when you put a couple of drops of water on it, and they dance. They shouldn't evaporate immediately, you should get about 15 seconds of entertainment out of them. Make adjustments as necessary. Then pour your batter for however big you want your pancakes to be. We like our flapjacks to be as big as the plate, so this recipe usually yields 10- 8 inch pancakes for us. You'll know they're ready to flip when the edges get dry and the bubbles close a little more slowly, after they pop. Check golden deliciousness if you must (I usually must.), but try not to disturb the cakes too much and only flip them once. Also, flip them gently and as close to the surface as possible. They're flapjacks, not slapjacks. --comedic flam tap--
That's it! Easy right? They're not very much sweeter than normal pancakes on their own, so if you are like Brad and Me go ahead and drown those babies in syrup! I've also had sweet potato pancakes at a restaurant specializing in southern cuisine that put a big ole' scoop of whipped cinnamon-sugar butter on top, in place of the syrup. I'm not saying I'm proud, but I sure don't regret eating that! I should also note, that like a good chili, these are infinitely better the next day. We just put them in an airtight storage container and popped them in the fridge. I'm sure you'll find all sorts of creative ways to reheat them, but the microwave suits me just fine. Also, we're not able to leave well enough alone, so we are probably going to experiment with orange zest and buttermilk in this recipe tomorrow...
*You can really use ANY method to get the potatoes cooked and mashed. I just wash mine, stab it with a fork a few times, and put it in a microwave safe container with a lid for two 4 minute rounds in the microwave, and I flip it over in between. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS! THE CONTAINER AND THE POTATO GET VERY HOT!! I then scoop the flesh out with that fork I used to stab it, and it's pretty mushy on it's own that way. I usually give it a stir in the measuring cup to break it up a little more and to help it cool down faster. I don't think it matters if you used pureed, boiled or baked sweet potatoes either, I just think that's more work and time than is necessary. Although I've never used canned sweet potatoes, I don't see why they wouldn't work. If you do used canned ones that come in syrup, I would recommend skipping the brown sugar.
**if you have 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon you can use that too.
***If you make your pancakes from scratch I don't see a problem with using the dry ingredients from that recipe...as a matter of fact I think with a smidge of extra moisture (maybe with an extra egg, or 1/4 cup of milk or sweet potato) this recipe could stand up to a whole wheat flour very nicely!
I'm making this blog instead of studying for my Health Law mid-term exam. How responsible, right? Anyway, if you happen to stumble upon this blog in the next 48 hours, I'm sorry there's nothing to see yet, but please be sure to come back! I'll have recipes and music to go with them!
