Best Potato Salad (Ever!)

It's high time I posted about this because I seriously cannot stop eating it! Some of you may chock it up to the whole pregnancy thing, which I grant you, may play a minor role in my fanaticism. BUT, almost everyone I've served this to has commented on how great and unusual it is! The best thing about it? (besides being insanely delicious)...it's super easy to make!

Here's what I use (adapted from the recipe out of Falling Cloudberries by Tess Kiros):

6 medium potatoes (I usually use russet because they're always the cheapest)
3 small red onions
1 can small olives roughly chopped
1/3 cup capers (try getting some at Costco--the first time I made this, I used an entire jar of what they had at Target, and that adds up!)
1/2 cup (approximately) chopped fresh parsley

1) slice the red onions in half and then along the cross section, to make very thin slices. Set them in a bowl, sprinkle them generously with salt, and cover with water. Let them soak for at least half an hour to soften and draw out some of the bite.

2) chop the potatoes into the size you want for the salad and boil in a pot--but watch them carefully to take off the burner as soon as they are cooked through. If you boil them longer than necessary, they'll fall apart more easily in the salad, which doesn't matter from a flavor standpoint--but some would take aesthetic issue with that. Take the potatoes off and let them cool completely.

3. Drain the onions (don't bother rinsing them) and add them to the cooled potatoes. Then add everything else!

4. Top with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2-ish tablespoons of lemon juice. (but really, you just need enough to coat it and then make it to your taste. Depending on how salty your onions and capers are, you may want to add some salt too.)

That's it! And then you have an amazingly wonderful, tasty, beautiful, unusual potato salad to make your life and the entire world that much better off!

Chocolate and Orange Filo

 Since the filo dough that I bought came in a 1 lb package... and since I just happened to have some chocolate glaze icing leftover from a cake that I had made... and since I had an orange that was drying out but I didn't want to throw away, I decided to combine them all. *grin*

*I probably used less than half a roll of filo dough to make this. So being generous, it was probably about 1/4 lb.

I started by layering the filo dough in the bottom with melted butter brushed between the sheets. I used 6-8 sheets.
Then I spread about half of chocolate around the middle of the filo dough. Then I cut up 1 orange and sprinkled it around amidst the chocolate. (And, I didn't do this at the time, but as I was eating it I realized it desperately needed some spice to it. When I do this again, I'll probably sprinkle some cinnamon, a little brown sugar, and maybe even a little ground cloves in with the orange and chocolate.)

5-6 more sheets of filo dough, with butter in between of course. Then more chocolate...


And THEN, you roll the whole thing up and turn it sideways!

Brush the top with butter....


About 25 minutes in 375 degrees...


And Viola!  (we have a very messy but delicious dessert.)

One way to make this prettier and less messy is to make several individually sized rolls. (next time...)

Filo Dough with Meat Filling

Here is another one of my creations. I started making this sort of thing when I was in college, only with regular tortillas dipped in butter instead of the filo dough. Only a few months ago did it graduate to this form...which is probably where it will stay for a while, since it is truly fabulous just like this. Once again, I'll remind everyone that I never measure anything, so all the measurements are approximations... and especially with my main dishes, it's easy to play with the proportions and still get it roughly the same. 

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 lb filo dough

1.5 lb ground beef

2 large onions, diced (white, yellow, or sweet -- I've used all of them before)

1/2 lb of mushrooms, chopped

garlic

cinnamon

salt

oregano (I have some wonderful Turkish oregano from Penzey's Spices--but sometimes I use regular Italian seasoning too...and sometimes I use both!) 

1. Saute the ground beef with the onion and mushroom in a large skillet. When it starts losing its juices and becomes brown around the outside, add about 2 tsp of minced garlic and 2 tsp of cinnamon (I know it's a lot, but that's part of what makes it so good!). Sprinkle salt generously over the whole skillet and follow it with a healthy dusting of oregano (or Italian seasoning.) Once the meat is cooked through, test the mixture to see if you like the flavor. I usually end up adding more salt and cinnamon.

2. As the meat mixture simmers, prepare the filo dough by laying sheet by sheet in a casserole dish and brushing lightly with melted butter between each layer. Use about half for the bottom. 

3. Spread the meat mixture in the middle of the filo dough.

4. Layer the second half of the filo dough on top of the meat, pressing down around the edges. Fold the sides of the bottom layer of filo over the top layer. Brush the very top with whatever butter is left, and sprinkle a couple caps of lemon juice over the top. Bake at 350 till the top is puffed up a little bit and it's crispy and golden. Serve by cutting into squares. 

Chocolate and Cherry Puffs

Bachelors, this ones for you. The skill level and time commitment is low and the result is very impressive. This recipe is once again from Kathryn Hawkins amazing Chocolate! cookbook.

1 lb ready-made puff pastry
6 oz semisweet chocolate
cherry pie filling
1 egg, beaten

When a recipe only has 4 ingredients, you know it can't be too bad. Here are the instructions.

1. Preheat the overn to 400 degrees. On a lightly flours surface, roll out the pastry to approximately 16 in square. Cut out sixteen 4 in diameter circles. (I think mine were more like 3 inches--I used the largest rimmed glass I could find.)

2) Arrange eight circles on a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Divide the chocolate into 8 pieces (I used chocolate chips, so I just sprinkled some in the middle and didn't bother with the dividing or measuring.) and place in the center of each circle. Top each piece of pastry with 1 tbs of cherry pie filling. Brush the edges with beaten egg and cover with the remaining pastry circles. Seal the edges well.

3. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden. Best served warm.


Paul and I rated this one a 6/10. But here's what I wrote down the day that I made them: Don't let the 6/10 rating fool you! These taste fantastic and are SO easy to make. (Paul gave it an 8). The reason I gave it a 6 was because of the cherry pie filling--to me it tasted hackneyed. I'd rate it much higher if there were a more exotic filling. I like the fruity flavor, but would prefer a different texture than pie filling, and probably something a little spicier (like with cinnamon.) With 1 lb. of puff pastry, I think we could make 12 pastries." 

and a couple days later... "Took these to the CHBC marriage workshop and a lady said that they were like poptarts! Which I guess they are..." 


So there you go. Basically homemade pop tarts. Easy, delicious, comfort food desserts. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Soup with Celery and Mushrooms

I just threw this together for dinner tonight, literally having no plan for what I was doing as I was cutting up the chicken... but marvelous creativity pulled through once again, and I'm writing this blog post not just to share it with everyone (who should all try it...) but so that I myself will actually be able to make it again! 

2 large chicken breasts

bacon grease

white pepper

salt

italian seasoning

2 cups celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cups mushrooms, chopped large

1 tbs minced garlic

4-6 tbs lemon juice

salt

1 can cream of mushroom soup

milk

1) Slice the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and saute in the bacon grease over medium heat. When the meat starts to whiten, sprinkle white pepper across the top, a little salt, and a generous amount of italian seasoning. Leave uncovered until it cooks through, then take off the heat. 

2) Put a couple tbs of vegetable oil in the bottom of your soup pot and let it heat up. Add the celery and let it cook while you chop the onion. (roughly a minute or two) Add the onion, and let it cook while you wash and chop the mushrooms. (3-4 min) Add the mushrooms, garlic, and lemon juice. Let everything cook and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the mushrooms start loosing their water, sprinkle salt all over the top of everything in the pot, and add the cream of mushroom soup. Refill the soup can twice with water and once with whole milk. Bring to a rolling boil. 

3. After the soup has boiled for about 5 minutes, add the chicken, and turn the heat down. Let the soup simmer for 30 min for the flavors to mix. 

Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Lime Frosting

Here is yet another recipe that I tried out of the fabulous Chocolate! Cookbook by Kathryn Hawkins. The Man and I rated this cake just as highly as the previous Chocolate Truffle Cake but it probably took me 1/4 of the time to make it! This pretty much automatically makes it better, because I am less exhausted at the end, and more ready to eat cake!

The trick with this cake is that it uses the shortcut of mayo instead of mixing in the fat and eggs separately. Since mayo is kind of tangy by itself, it probably wouldn't work in every cake. But since this cake has a very lime-y flavor simply from the icing, I think it works very well, beside making it easier to make, and incredibly moist!

2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar (I used dark brown)
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1 cup cold water
scant 1 cup plain good-quality mayonnaise


Icing:
3.5 oz white chocolate
1/4 stick unsalted butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
finely grated rind and juice 1 lime

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 in cake pan. (She says it should be 2 in. high, but I used my 1.5 in pan and it did ok.)

2) Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking powder together into a mixing bowl and stir in the brown sugar. Make a well in the middle and add the vanilla, water and mayo. Whisk all the ingredients together until they form a thick, smooth batter.

3) Transfer to the prepared cake pan and bake in the oven for 40 min (or until the cake feels firm to the touch.) Allow to cool in the pan for 30 min.

*note: I saw Julia Child do a cake show once, and once she poured the batter in the pan, she tilted it around so that the batter oozed up to touch the very edge at the top of the pan. This is a precaution for if the cake rises, then tilting the batter around the edges of the pan will help the cake not to sink in the middle when you take it out. I did this with this cake, and it worked wonderfully!

Icing:

While the cake is baking, break the chocolate and butter into a small heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Remove from the water and sift in the confectioners sugar. Add the lime rind and mix together. (At this point it should be on the dry side and extremely stiff.) Add sufficient lime juice to form a thick, smooth frosting. Spread over the cooled cake, and decorate with lime rind or slices.

Spiced Molten Puddings

This is another recipe out of the chocolate cookbook that I mentioned in an earlier post. I don't think it turned out as well as the Chocolate Truffle Cake, but I don't think that was the fault of the recipe. I happened to be in Colorado Springs while making it, and (not being used to cooking in altitude) didn't realize what a difference location could make while baking. This recipe makes four puddings, and all but one seemed a bit underdone. I suppose we could have put them back in the oven, but by the time you dump them out on the plate, it seems a bit too late. One of them turned out very much like the picture in the book (though oddly, much darker), but even that probably could have been cooked longer--perhaps it would have lightened some like the one in the book picture. The fortunate thing is that it's an extremely easy recipe, so I hope to try it again sometime soon in my own kitchen and see if that does any better.

My husband and I both rated this a 6.5 out of 10, but that was only because of the consistency of the dessert. We probably would give it at least an 8 for flavor if the outside part of the puddings had been more done. So the take away is: Try it! And make sure they're done before you dump them out!







40z unsweetened or 85%  cocoa bitter chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter (in small pieces)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp superfine sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp all purpose flour
4 small pieces white chocolate

2 tsp confectioner's sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder
light cream, to serve

1) Grease and lightly flour 2/3 cup custard cups or ramekins. Break the chocolate into pieces and place them in a bowl with the chunks of butter. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt, then remove from the water and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until thick and creamy. Whisk in the warm melted chocolate, and stir in the cinnamon and flour to make a thick batter.

3) Divide the mixture among the cups. Push a piece of white chocolate into the center of each pudding. Place the cups on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 6-8 minutes at 450F, until the sides are set but the middle is still *wobbly--insert a toothpick carefully into the center to check that the white chocolate has melted.

4) Immediately invert the puddings onto warmed serving plates and let stand, still in the cups, for 30 seconds before removing. Serve immediately dusted with confectioner's sugar and then cocoa, accompanied with light cream.

(If you want to make the puddings ahead of time, cover them and refrigerate for up to 24 hrs. When you are read to cook the puddings, let them warm to room temperature.)

* A note about the "wobbly" center. I found that it was nearly impossible to tell if the center was wobbly or not. When something as small as a custard cup is as hot as 450 degrees, it's hard to get a good hold on it to give it a jiggle. When I do this again, what I'll do is check that the outside is done--and as soon as that seems true, I'll take them out and hope that the inside is still "molten".

Chocolate Truffle Cake

A couple Sundays ago, my husband and I went to explore the American History museum. I had wanted to go because there were a lot of exhibits that had switched over since the last time I was there, and I wanted to see the new exhibit on the Presidency. (And very interesting it is too!) But toward the end, we went downstairs to the basement where Julia Child's kitchen is, and we looked around and watched some of her shows that they have running all the time. It was inspiring for both of us to cook more and to try more exotic recipes. So, through the next few days, I looked through a bunch of my recipe books and when I came to this one, I discovered that I really and truly wanted to cook every single recipe! Well then, I thought, I'll just start at the beginning! And so I did. This Chocolate Truffle Cake was the first recipe.
It called to make it all in one cake, but I didn't have a cake pan big enough, so I made two smaller ones and put them together. It was easy and amounted to the same thing. It says at the top that it serves 12, but I cut mine into twelve pieces and decided that it could easily be 20. The cake is so rich, you can be quite happy with a very small piece.

15 oz 70% chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter
6 large eggs seperated
scant 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
6 tbs dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup ground almonds
1 quantity glossy chocolate cream
few raspberries to decorate
light cream to serve (optional)

1) Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the chocolate. Allow to mt, then remove the bowl from over the water and set aside to cool for 15 min.

2) Meanwhile, in a clean bowl,  whisk the  egg yolks and sugar together until thick, pale and creamy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry.

3) Stir the melted chocolate mixture into the whisked egg yolks and sugar. Add the rum and vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and add the ground almonds and whisked egg whites. Carefully fold the ingredients together until well mixed, taking care not to beat too much air out of the mixture. I put mine in two 9 in cakepans, and baked them together for about 15 minutes. (She calls for one cakepan, and baking it for about 50 min.) Allow to cool completely before spreading with the icing. (the glossy cream is just melted chocolate and whipped cream...delicious, but another chocolate icing would be lovely too.) 

 You can see that my icing is not as stiff as hers. I'm not sure why. I followed the glossy cream recipe, and it said that it should get hard, but mine never got more than "pretty stiff." So the stars were to be like the hearts in the picture, but they were never hard enough to just peel off, so we just ate them.

All in all, we give it an 8 out of 10! Very decadent and full of chocolate yumminess. (By the way, don't try to eat this when you're full. Have a small dinner, then wait a while and have it... or better yet, have it before dinner!)

Corn salad/dip

This dish is hard to characterize--it's not hot enough to be salsa, not quite mushy enough to be a dip, and a little runny to be a salad. But however you eat it (my favorite way is with a spoon), it tastes amazing!

It's quite simple really, just get a big bowl, a good chopping knife, and mix all the stuff together!

1 lb frozen corn (thawed)
1 large tomato (or a couple smaller ones)
1 green pepper (or you could do 1/2 green and 1/2 red...I would have except I didn't have any red.)
1 medium/large onion
2 jalapeno peppers (diced very small)--or, if you want to make it hotter, use 1 serrano pepper.
2 tbs. vegetable oil
juice from 2 limes
4-5 tbs of lemon juice
3-4 tbs. of juice from a jar of banana peppers (don't go buy a jar of banana peppers to use for this, but it if you already have some, this juice adds a great kick!)

*Perfect* Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Now, I know I made a post a little while back about chocolate cheesecake, and it was truly fantastic. But this time we outdid ourselves by making it with peanut butter(!!) and since I was teaching Paul how to make it, I tried extra hard to do everything that I was actually supposed to do--so this time, it didn't crack or puff up too much...and the consistency was spot on! I can't say how amazing this is.

Here are the ingredients:

3 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temp.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 sucralose (sugar substitute)
1.5 tsp vanilla

(Mix all these with a hand mixer until they are smooth.)

Then add:
1/4 cup of milk. (Mix that in until it's smooth.)

Then mix in (yes, until smooth...)
1/3 cup of peanut butter.

Lightly beat 3 eggs in a bowl, and stir them into the mixture with a spoon (not the mixer)

That's it!!!

For the crust, crush 9 cinnamon graham crackers and mix with 1 stick of melted butter. Pack it in the bottom of a spring-form pan, and pour the filling on top. Place the pan on top of a cookie sheet (to catch any drippings) and bake it at 375 for 30-45 minutes. After it cools, chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat. (make sure it's thoroughly chilled!)

If any of you have had frozen peanut butter pie, this actually tastes very similar... just made with cream cheese instead of whipped cream, so the cake is the consistency of cheesecake instead of fluffy pie.

Salad for Supper

This was my dinner table tonight. It actually doesn't usually look so nice. The bush outside by our front door is covered with pink blossoms, so I picked a few to bring inside. Aren't they lovely?

And since The Man is gone for a few days, I had to console myself with an amazing salad, a good book, some peach tea, and...later...the last piece of my chocolate cheesecake (see a previous post.)



I'm sure some people (like The Man) would think, "Really? Console yourself with...SALAD?!" But just take a look at this------------------->

Who wouldn't want to eat their greens topped with half a succulent red pepper along with bacon fried chicken and mushrooms with salt and chili powder.... oh, that's not all...topped with amazing Tuscan Parmesan salad dressing!

Mmmmmm....if you ever need a fast and easy meal for one, this is it!

Easy Chocolate Cheesecake

I've been making a simple cheesecake recipe on and off for the past few months, and last week I decided to try a new twist on it. It turned out amazing! Though my husband loves the plain-old cheesecake recipe, I could probably take it or leave it, but I absolutely loved this!

Here's roughly what I did:
Ingredients:
3-8oz packages of cream cheese
1/2-1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
3/4-1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs (beaten)
dark chocolate cocoa powder

cinnamon graham crackers
1 stick of butter (melted)

For the crust, crush 6-8 graham crackers (depending on how thick you want your crust) and mix it with the butter. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form cake pan and set it aside.

For the filling, blend the cream cheese, sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add 4 (more or less) heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder and mix in. Then gently mix in the eggs, trying not to beat them too vigorously or too long.

Pour the filling into the pan, then place the cheesecake on top of a cookie sheet (preferably with sides, to catch drippings) and bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. When it's done it will stop jiggling in the middle and you can insert a knife halfway between the middle and outside and have it come out clean.When it's finished baking, let it cool on the stovetop for a while, and then chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or two until it's nice and cold and solidified. And really--I know you're anxious to try it, but be sure to be patient until it's chilled. Lukewarm cheesecake is disappointing experience...trust me.

Butternut Custard

This is turning into one of my favorite desserts (or snacks). Since Paul and I are starting to try a new low-carb type diet, I needed some kind of dessert we could have that didn't have a lot of sugar or carbs. I managed to come up with this delightful concoction that has a mere 7 carbs per serving!

Butternut Custard

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2 cups butternut squash (blended or mixed well)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmet
1/4 tsp cloves
6 packets sucralose (equal to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar)
4 eggs


Mix everything together with a hand mixer until it is well blended and pour equal portions into 6 buttered ramekins. Place them in a baking dish (I use my lasagna pan) and fill the bottom of the pan with 1 inch of boiling water. (a water bath) Put the whole thing in the oven, being very careful not to touch the oven OR slosh boiling water either onto your hands or inside the ramekins, and let it bake for about 35-40 minutes. You can check to see if it's done by inserting a knife or toothpick halfway between the center and the outer edge--it's done if it comes out clean (as usual.)

It's delicious both warm and cold...and either way, you'll be missing out if you don't serve it with a huge dollup of whipped cream on top!

Whiskey Caramel

This was a whiskey fudge experiment that turned into fantastic caramel, and it's fairly simple to make! (I'll see if I can add a picture later.)

Ingredients:
1 can condensed milk
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup whiskey (I used Makers brand bourbon, an excellent kind of smokey whiskey)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the condensed milk, salt, and the sugar in a saucepan on med/high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add the butter, vanilla, and whiskey.

Keep stirring over medium heat until the mixture looks thick--there will be a stage when it is puffed up and foamy, and then it will sink back down and thicken. When the mixture has reached the soft ball stage (it forms a soft ball when a small amount is dropped into cold water), take it off the heat.

You can serve it hot over ice cream, wrap it up in wax paper for individual caramels, or (like I did) pour it into a buttered 9x13 pan and scoop it out with a spoon whenever you get the urge! I imagine you could can it as well, and store it in your pantry for a special meal or a tasty holiday treat!

Seasoned Chicken With Mushrooms

After reading a cookbook from a Cajun restaurant in Alaska, I was inspired to to more mixing of spices. This mix turned out absolutely fantastic, and though I didn't measure my proportions, I'll try to estimate them. I made it again a couple days later for another dish and that was good too--so I think it's fine if your measurements aren't exact:


Seasoning: (mix together in a separate bowl before sprinkling on the chicken.

1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt (or maybe 1/2)


Clearly from the picture, I made a very small amount, just three chicken thighs. So if you're making a lot, mix up plenty of extra seasoning and just keep it in a container until you need it again.

For the chicken:

1. Pour 4-5 tablespoons of veg oil in the skillet and let it heat till it has little bubbles beginning to form.
2. Sprinkle the seasoning on the chicken, and lay them in the skillet seasoned side down. Be careful, it will start sizzling and popping as soon as you put the chicken in the oil! Season the top side of the chicken.
3. Cover, and let the chicken cook for 2-3 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and add some sliced mushrooms. If the pan is starting to look kind of dry and you're worried about burning, add a half cup of water.

You want to keep a little bit of moisture in the bottom of that pan so it doesn't burn, but don't flood the chicken and mushrooms. If you do it just right, the chicken will get a nice little crispy layer on the outside, and the mushrooms will soak up the intense flavor of the seasoning and get a little  crispy as well. So if you do add water, leave the lid off for a little bit until some of it boils off. Keep testing the chicken with your fork and turning every so often until the middle feels no longer feels squishy, but nice and firm.


I like to serve this kind of thing with lentils or rice and a nice salad. I'll definitely be doing this one again!

Whole Wheat Rolls with Orange and Honey

 

I've been reading this amazing book (which I'll probably post on in a few days) that is inspiring me to be more creative in my cooking ventures. One of the main characters in the book has rising magical ability and she loves cooking, and (as all mages perceive magic slightly differently) she tastes magic! It's so fun, hearing different powers, dangers, or abilities described as hot, cold, refreshing, etc, through culinary terms and flavors! 

So here, I decided to try creating some fluffy rolls with a hint of orange....and though I know I don't have the same kind of magical flare for flavors, I must say, I nailed this one on the head. My hubby and I ate four straight out of the oven--definitely a record. Here's my recipe:

2 cups whole wheat flour (plus and extra 1/2 cup) 

1/2 tsp salt

2 large tsp of dry yeast

1/2 - 2/3 cup of half and half

1 egg (beaten)

1/4 cup honey

3 tbs freshly grated orange peel 

1. Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl.

2. Heat the half and half on the stove or in the microwave until it is pleasantly warm to touch. Then combine it with the beaten egg and the honey. 

3. With the dough hooks, beat the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, until thoroughly combined, adding in the orange peel as you mix. If needed, add an extra 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. Make sure the dough is the right consistency--a little sticky, and just dry enough to form into rolls and not leave your hands covered in dough.

4. Leave the dough in the bowl and let it rise for about an hour and a half. 

5. Roll into balls (I think I made about a dozen with this batch). And place evenly on a lightly greased pan. Let them rise again until they are about twice the size (maybe another 45 min to an hour.) 

6. Bake for about 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F. Take them out when the tops are starting to look a little bit darker gold color. (check the picture if you don't know what that means...)

Peach Scones

 

These scones are incredibly easy and quick to make, and when you add fresh peaches, you'll just want to keep making them as long as your peaches last! This is a pretty small recipe (makes about 12 large scones), which is good because you'll want to make sure to eat them all up within about three days of making them. 

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg

1/2 cup of half and half (start with 1/3 and add a little if you need it) 

1 or 2 peaches

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture is mostly small crumbles of flour and butter. 

Chop up the peach(es) and toss them in the bowl.

Lightly whisk the egg and half-n-half together, and then pour in with the dry ingredients. Mix them with a fork or spoon (not an electric mixer) until just combined. Be sure not to overmix, or the scones will be dense and heavy. Once everything is combined, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead two or three times by flattening a little and then folding in half. The dough should be stiff and sticky. 

Gently flatten till the dough is about 1 inch tall, and cut into triangles. Place on a greased pan and bake for about 15 minutes at 350F. 

These are just amazing fresh out of the oven with a little butter or cream!

Peaches are in season -- make peach jam!

 

Peaches are in season once again, and I am thrilled because they are one of my very favorite things. You don't even have to go to a self-pick farm to get a good deal. Watch the sales at the store - I got almost 10 pounds of peaches for a little over $6. It's a great deal considering all the things that you can do with peaches. 

If you have some glass canning jars, definitely consider making peach jam. With 8 peaches this size, I made 7 cups of peach jam--nearly two quarts. In the store, you might be able to buy a pint of peach jam for 3 or 4 dollars. But when peaches are on sale, you can get 8-10 peaches for less than $2, and the box of pectin for the jam is $3-$4. The 5 cups of sugar required are certainly less than 50 cents. All in all, a stunning deal. The box of "Sure-Jell" pectin (which you can buy at your local grocery store in the baking section) comes with a pages of instructions describing the proportions you need for many different kinds of fruit jams and jellies, including peach. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, but you might get the impression that you need a canner or some special machine. That is not so! All you need to do is run your glass jars through the dishwasher so they'll still be hot when you pour in the jam. And then, in a saucepan, boil the caps and rings while you're making the jam. When you've poured the jam up to the top of the jars, fish the lids and rings out of the boiling water with a fork and screw them on--being careful not to burn yourself, of course. And presto! Peach jam for toast, muffins, and scones for the rest of the year! (And it makes a lovely present too.)

When I made the jam this morning, I used my wonderful immersion blender to puree the peaches instead of simply chopping them up. This gives the jam an incredibly smooth texture, which is (I think) easier to spread.

If you don't know what an immersion blender is, I describe mine and what I use it for here.

Sweet Bread: How to Make Babka

 

This is an incredible treat in an impressive presentation, but it can be a lot of work and mess to put together, so it is definitely for special occasions--like Christmas, thanksgiving, birthdays, and other holidays. This isn't the sort of thing the family should expect as a general rule!

But my goodness, it is delicious! (It's basically one enormous cinnamon roll...)

And the great thing about it is that you can use the dough recipe to make delicious sweet rolls. Though I've only made the babka twice, I've use the dough recipe and made sweet rolls to go with dinner many times. They're simple and when they come out warm and we put butter on them, it's almost impossible not to immediately grab a second...and often a third! 

I got this recipe out of one of my favorite cookbooks, Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. She presents recipes from a series of (I think) 5 different countries, intermingled with family history and stories. It's delightful to read, and her recipes are detailed and easy to follow because she gives more detailed descriptions than your average "golden brown" or "bake to perfection." What does that even mean? Well... Tessa Kiros pretty much tells you. Her recipes can be long though, and in the interest of respecting copyright laws, I will summarize this recipe for you here:

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs yeast

1 cup lukewarm milk

1/4 cup veg oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

cinnamon filling:

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

4 tbs butter, softened

(feel free to be generous with these ingredients, it doesn't hurt to have extra!)

1) Mix the flour, salt, and sugar together. 

2) In another bowl, mix well the yeast, milk and oil. Let it sit until the yeast begins activating. Then pour the liquids into the solids and use a mixer (with a dough hook!) to mix well until combined. (Of course if you don't have a dough hook, you can knead it with well floured hands.)

3) Add the eggs and mix a little longer to combine them. The dough should be thick and sticky. Turn it out onto a floured surface and work in with flour until it is still sticky but not sticking to your hands. Knead it for about 10 min. Let it rise, covered, in a warm place for about an hour and a half. 

4) Divide the dough in half and roll it out to make a rectangle about the size of a large cookie sheet (10x18) or so. Be sure to have a well floured surface beneath the dough. 

5) Brush about half the butter over the surface of the dough and evenly sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over it. Putting your hands along the longest edge, roll the dough up into a long sausage-like roll. Set aside and repeat with the other half of the dough. Braid the ropes together, pressing hard on the ends to keep them together. Twist the dough braid to tighten the loaf (as you see in the picture at the top.) 

6) Put the dough braid onto a large greased pan and let it rise again. Now, Tessa says to mix one egg yolk with a couple tsp of milk and brush it over the top and then sprinkle some more brown sugar on top. While this is lovely and puts a wonderful crust on the top of the babka, I find that by this point I'm just ready to be done. So I do away with the egg yolk, and just brush some milk or sometimes butter on top and sprinkle some "extra" cinnamon sugar on top. 

7) Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. If the ends are done but the middle is not, cover the ends with tin foil to keep them from burning. Let cool a few minutes before taking it out of the pan. 

It's amazing served warm plain, or with butter. It won't last long, so eat it within a couple days. (Another good reason to just have it on special occasions, when there's usually extra family around!)

Bread Crumbs are not just for ducks!

I love using bread crumbs because they are so versatile. Dry bread works extra well, so now you don't have to throw away that 2 or 3 day old French bread that seems nearly hard as a rock.... and don't throw away that overcooked loaf that you forgot about in the oven. Freeze them, and then pull them out when you want to make something fun involving bread crumbs!

Here are just a few of dozens of possibilities
     Make stuffed mushrooms--like what I posted on a few days ago.
     Add spices to the crumbs and make breaded chicken
     Add them to quiche to make it a little thicker.
     Mix them in with egg frittata so you won't have to use as many eggs and it will still be filling.
     Make Bread Pudding! (This is one of my favorites, if you couldn't tell.)

So, since I had a handy loaf of dry bread in the freezer, I cut up some of it and made some bread pudding. Here is the approximate recipe:

4 cups dry bread crumbs
2 1/4 cups milk
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg
spiced rum (with these other ingredients, I had eggnog on my mind.)


In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and then add everything else except the bread crumbs. For the cinnamon and nutmeg, I probably used about 2 tsp of cinnamon and maybe 1/2 tsp of nutmeg. For the spiced rum, I may have used 1/4-1/3 of a cup. It gave the pudding just the tiniest hint of rum. I liked it a lot.

Put the bread crumbs in a greased pan, and then pour the liquid mixture over top, patting down to make sure all the bread is wet.

Bake in the oven at 350F for about 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

After making this yesterday, I decided that I may want to use a little more liquid in the future--so next time, I'd increase the amount of milk to 2 1/2 cups or even 2 3/4. How much liquid you need probably depends on how dry your crumbs are--and mine were very dry.... just something to keep in mind. 

This is a great snack, not terribly sugary or fatty. Try it with some milk poured over the top!