Eat Simple, Bake Passionately

The Daring Baker's Challenge: French Macaroons

2009-10-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

The 2009 October Daring Bakers' challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I have heard of macaroons, a delightfully sinful concoction usually composed of coconut and pecans. I love the ones from Fudrucker's. Unfortunately, I haven't indulged in these in quite a while as the closest Fudrucker's is in New Orleans.

However, the macaroon the Daring Bakers were challenged to make macaroons in a European style. These macaroons made from three simple ingredients -- almond flour, confectioners sugar and egg whites.

A recipe for me to love -- it's simple and the results are delicious! I believe these are even better than the coconut/pecan combination ones!

Making these is a snap! These genoise type of batters -- like the ones used in the dobos cake challenge a few months ago -- make me nervous. Just when I think I have combined the flour combination and whipped egg whites just enough, I still find dry ingredients in the middle. This time around, I think I was successful in getting everything moist and mixed.

I didn't have a piping bag, so I opted to use a Ziploc bag filled with the batter. I think I may have made them larger than one inch since most of the macaroons weren't quite done when the baking was done.

Along with using Claudia Fleming's recipe, the second half of our challenge was to fill the macaroons. I filled the macaroons -- a few of them -- with Jacques Pepin's vanilla pastry cream. This pastry cream was outstanding! I could have eaten it plain. The macaroons were delicious, and the pastry cream made them taste even better!

I then dipped half of the macaroon in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Everyone loved it. But, the macaroons didn't keep well with this combination and got soggy the next day.

This is such an easy, quick recipe! I hope to make more and try a different filling and save some for dipping in the pastry cream!

For the macaroon recipe, see http://katskitchen.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/macarons-octobers-daring-bakers-challenge/.

For the vanilla pastry cream recipe, see http://www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/episode203.html.

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Vols-au-Vent

2009-09-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Unfortunatley, this was a late month for me. I don't know why I always wait until the last minute, but here I am again.

What makes this more challenge is that I'm attempting this on a week night, which means limited time for me already with having to get supper, kids bathed and kids to bed.

So, lucky reader, I present you with a blow-by-blow account of my vols-au-vent adventure!

9 p.m.
My favorite cookbook ever is Baking with Julia. I fell in love it with it several years ago after finding it on the library shelf and checking it out multiple times. I finally got my own copy. I love the pie crust recipe, the chocolate chiffon bundt cake and the gallette. But, this is the first time I have ever attempted the puff pastry from the book.

Along with the recipe being from my most favorite cookbook, this recipe also gave me a reason to purchase a French rolling pin -- and a reason to use it! W00t! New kitchen toys!

I set out and bought the best butter in the store a couple of weeks ago and put in the refrigerator. I didn't take it out early enough, so my first attempt at banging the butter was kind of comical, as the butter did not budget much.

I then took out some cheap butter I got this weekend and stuck in the refrigerator. I am not optimistic that the puff pastry will turn out. Along with being cheap, this butter got waterlogged on the way home after sitting too long in the ice chest in melted ice.

Coupled with my waterlogged butter, I live in south Louisiana and it normally does not get cold here... ever. Most of September was filled with 90 degree F days and not so much cooler nights. We actually had a cool snap -- in the upper 70s/lower 80s -- today, but I still turned down the air conditioning to make for even cooler temps conducive to good puff pastry baking.

The beginnings of the dough frightened me a little. It was clinging too well, but I felt better about it after it spent a few minutes in the refrigerator. It took some muscle, but I was able to get it rolled out into a 10-inch square with floppy ears on the four corners.

The butter fit nicely in the center of the square and the package folded up neatly. I started rolling. No problems -- at first. I then noticed that the butter was poking out one end. I should have stopped then and chilled it, but I'm stubborn: I kept rolling.

I made the first turn and started rolling again. More trouble.... butter was now peeking through the dough and the dough started coming off the butter. YIKES! I quickly finished that turn, marked it as two and threw it in the refrigerator. I will let it cool an hour before attempting the next two turns.

Stay tuned...

10pm
Turns 3 and 4 took a lit bit more muscle. The butter was still peeking through the dough. This time, it stuck to the pastry board.

I don't have a good feeling about this.

More to come...

09-30-2009

Have I metioned before how Baking with Julia is my favorite cookbook?

I came home from work and took the dough out for its final two turns. Again, I was concerned and not very optimistic that my pastry would puff. The dough was difficult to work and getting taller. I couldn't envision how I would get a flat sheet of puff from it.

If you ever need to give your arms a workout, I would suggest making puff pastry from scratch using a French rolling pin. Man, I could feel it in my arms today when rolling out those final turns!

It rested for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. I used one-third of the dough to create six vol-au-vents.

I didn't have any round cookie cutters to make the lovely round ones so many of my fellow Daring Bakers successfully created. I had some flowered shape ones, but the smaller one wasn't small enough to leave enough dough for the top of the vol-au-vent. So, I went with square/rectangle shapes.

I placed the Slipat on top of them for the first 15 minutes of baking. When I removed the Slipat, it took part of one of the vols-au-vent with it. This was one that had too much egg wash on the top. It also failed to puff correctly, which I was expecting.

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the oven. The vol-au-vent shells were puffed perfectly. Plus, you could see the layers!

I had grand plans to fill the shells with lemon curd and some with creme brulee custard. Alas, I couldn't wait to taste the puffy creation. So, I went simple -- turkey breast and cheese.

Perfect! I am pleasantly surprised that my cheap, waterlogged butter performed so well! ;)

I have enough dough to make these again! I can't wait to fill them with the custards!

Doberge Cake, Take 1

2009-08-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Although the Dobos torte made for the Daring Bakers Challenge did not satisfy my taste buds, I learned much through the history of the torte.

Putting the torte together reminded me of our local confection known as the doberge cake. Little did I know, but the doberge cake is modeled after the Dobos torte, adjusted just so it will survive the heat and humidity here in south Louisiana.

Having moderate success with the Dobos torte, I decided to take a crack at the doberge cake.

I found about three different doberge recipes online. I decided to go with the one from nola.com -- the website of the daily rag The Times Picayune -- as it proclaimed that it had the one created and used by Beulah Ledner.

A few other blogs contained doberge recipes different from the one on nola.com. A couple of them even claimed to be Ledner's recipe. However, the ingredient list was different enough to have me wonder which was the true recipe. I had originally thought I would try one of these alternate recipes, but I think I'm going to wait until I have Ledner's cookbook in my hand.

The doberge cake base is a butter-filled cake batter. As with the Dobos torte, the egg whites and yolks were separated and beat in various stages then folded together.

I had a different helper this time. Anna added ingredients as needed and didn't mind "cleaning up" the poured fondant.

The recipe called for cooking the thin cake layers in greased 9-inch cake pans. Because it has yet to failed me, I lined my pans with parchment paper instead and the layers popped out with ease.

I also decided to try the method used in the Dobos torte making -- a parchment paper template. I think I liked the result better from the cake pans, as it formed a better round.

The chocolate custard was unbelievable by itself. Yum! What I dislike the most about making custard on the stove top is the stirring so the milk doesn't scald. I think I put the fire on too early as I had to fish chunks of egg white out of the custard.

This custard recipe called for bitter chocolate. I had to look up "bitter" chocolate and learned it was also known as unsweetened chocolate. Luckily, this is easily found in grocery stores. I got the Ghirardelli brand -- my favorite.

After the custard was done and cooled, I went to building the cake and got worried. My layers were not at all fitting together. It looked more like a stack of pancakes than a doberge cake. A leaning stack, for that matter. I started trimming the layers to make them fit the best I could and then filled in some of the wholes with chocolate butter cream icing. Next time, I'll find a way to make these layers uniformly round.

The chocolate butter cream icing was a simple recipe and required no yolks as the recipe for the Dobos torte did. It covered the cake well and filled in the holes between the layers.

Once the cake was assembled and the butter cream icing applied, I was out of pep to continue with the chocolate poured fondant. The cake had to sit assembled in the refrigerator before the chocolate poured fondant is poured. I decided to tackle this another day.

The nola.com recipe called for an icing called Always Delicious Chocolate Icing as the final coating on the cake. Since local doberge makers Gambino's finishes theirs with a poured fondant, I decided to go that route instead.

Making the chocolate poured fondant was a cinch. The sweet sauce is a combination of confectioners sugar, water, corn syrup and flavorings. Stirring it over a low flame until it reaches temperatures between 92 and 100 degrees F made it fluid enough to cascade over the butter cream cake.

My biggest challenge here was to get the cake off the cake plate, onto the cake rack over a cookie sheet and then back onto the cake plate after the fondant pour. With help from Jonas, we took two turning spatulas, put them under the cake and moved it to the fondant area.

I could have made a second batch of fondant for a thicker coating, which I'll keep in mind for my next venture. For now, I called the cake done and let it get another chill for two hours.

After the two-hour chill, I pulled out the cake for a piece. It looked great. Though my butter cream could be smoother and Anna poked a couple of holes in the poured fondant, it was beautiful!

Then, the reveal... I cut the first slice and had eight perfect layers! And the taste... good grief, it was doberge heaven!

This is definitely a recipe I will make again! It's not perfect, but it came out much better than I expected! It was a lot of work, yet so simple and worth the effort.

Thank you Beulah Ledner!

History

The story behind the doberge cake: http://blog.nola.com/anguslind/2008/11/architect_albert_ledners_story.html

http://www.neworleans.com/ren/NOM6.html

Recipes

Chocolate Doberge Cake and Butter cream Icing

http://blog.nola.com/recipes/2009/02/doberge_cake.html

Chocolate Poured Fondant

http://www.wrenscottage.com/kitchen/recipes/icing/chocopoured_fondant.php

The Daring Bakers Challenge: Dobos Torte

2009-08-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Hungarian Josef Dobos developed the Dobos Torte – with its layers of sponge cake interspersed with butter cream frosting –in an effort to develop a pastry that would last without the benefit of ready refrigeration.

In the late 1800s, bakers everywhere attempted to decipher the secret of Dobos torte, a cake everyone desired. As a parting gesture, Hungarian Jozsef Dobos revealed the elusive recipe to his cohorts with the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry when he retired in 1906.

This month, the Daring Bakers bring that recipe to you!

After reading through the ingredients and methods, I decided to split the preparation up over a few days.

I enlisted the help of Jonas, who wants to be a chef when he grows up. Jonas was in charge of the whisking for the icing and assisting with the cake batter.

I used Ghirardelli 58 percent baking chocolate I found on sale (half off!) at Targ.et! Jonas whisked the eggs, whisked the eggs over the double boiler and then whisked in the chocolate.

I was somewhat concerned over the consistency of the butter cream icing. It was in more of a liquid form. Butter cream I have made in the past has been of a stiffer consistency. I then added the butter by hand, which took a while to incorporate into the chocolate base.

Once we finished making the icing, I put it in the refrigerator, waiting for its debut on the cake.

We then focused our efforts on the sponge cake. I’ve made sponge cake before and was excited to make it again! I loved the fact that we were to draw a template and fit the batter to that template! Five of them came out perfect, but I left one in a little longer than I should have. It wasn’t ruined, but was a little bit more well done than I would have liked.

With the sponge cake finished, we wrapped it and it joined the icing in the refrigerator to wait for its debut.

The caramel topping did not come out quite right for me. It was easy to make, but I think I let it cook a little too long. I poured the caramel on the sponge cake, and it looked more like a pancake soaked in Steens cane syrup. Although I had cut and scored the sponge cake, it broke into pieces when I attempted to separate them.

As the caramel topping cooled, I assembled the layers of the cake. The icing was stiffer after its stay in the refrigerator, but the longer it was out the more it wanted to return to its liquid form.

I started breaking the caramel topping apart and it decided to break into pieces. Since I ended up with haphazard pieces, I piled the pieces on top of the cake, making it look like a campfire.

Hazelnuts were added and the assembled dobos torte spent the night in my refrigerator.

As I was assembling the dobos torte, I felt like I was experiencing déjà vu. The layers of sponge cake interspersed with butter cream reminded me of a similar local layered confection called doberge cake.

A quick Internet search on doberge confirmed my suspicions. Beulah Ledner, a native of St. Rose, La., adapted the dobos torte in the 1930s to fit the hot and humid New Orleans climate and called it doberge. Doberge is different from dobos torte as the dessert is composed of layers of butter cake separated by layers of custard.

Food evolution in action!

I served the confection as an after supper dessert the next day. I wasn’t too sure how it would come out but was pleasantly surprised when I cut into the torte – the layers of sponge cake and butter cream melded perfectly.

I pulled the caramel pieces off of the cake so I could better cut it. The caramel topping was the least favorite part of this cake for me. The caramel seemed to weep after spending the night in the refrigerator, leaving some damp spots on top of the cake.

My husband and older son loved this cake. Both had a few pieces for dessert. For me, this confection was a tad bit sweet and I didn’t like the texture of the sponge cake and butter cream layers.

I may attempt this recipe again but brush an orange liquor onto the sponge cake layers to give the cake a bit more flavor. This recipe, though, has inspired me to create the native doberge cake from scratch!

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Strudel

2009-05-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I did get the May Daring Baker's Challenge under my belt just a day after returning home from a lovely vacation in sunny St. Augustine!

Strudel is something I never attempted to make. Most strudel recipes you come across online talk about using puffed pastry. This recipe was to make the strudel dough from scratch.

The recipe was simple and easy enough to pull off. I don't know if I got the dough think enough, but I tried my best and think it came out just fine. I used a tablecloth covered with flour, but I think next time I'll just use a rather large kitchen towel just as one chef did in a strudel-making videos a fellow Daring Baker shared.

Although the original recipe called for apples as the filling, I didn't have any around. Instead, my strudel sported a lemon cream cheese filling. My crew devoured it in one day!

While in St. Augustine, we frequented a bakery near our hotel twice during our stay. One day I ordered the strudel, but it was nothing like this homemade strudel. Strudel made with this dough tops strudel made with puffed pastry any day!

I can't wait to make this again with a strawberry or raspberry filling!

Strudel Dough Recipe

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1/2 cup powdered sugar
grated lemon peel from one lemon
lemon juice from one lemon

Blend all ingredients in the mixer. Spread the filling on previously prepared strudel doll and roll.

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Cheesecake

2009-04-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Cheesecake is a regular staple in my kitchen. The husband loves cheesecake. The kids love cheesecake.

And once you find the perfect recipe, it’s hard to stray from what you know so well.

Once, I made my cheesecake recipe for a pot luck at work. I knew I was on to something when my cheesecake was gone and the poor S.ara Le.e cheesecake had barely been touched.

I used to be a fan of S.ara Le.e cheesecake. Once I had the real thing there was no going back.

We’ve tried different cheesecake recipes before – chocolate ones and banana split ones are some I remember. I’ve checked out a cheesecake tome from the library and tried a few of those recipes. But, we keep returning to the plain cheesecake recipe we love.

I was glad to see the Daring Bakers elected to take on cheesecake for April. I am confident enough in my cheesecake skills that I decided to be a little more daring this month and create a savory concoction and a sweet dessert. Recipes will follow below.

Crawfish Cheesecake

Since we are in the midst of crawfish season, I decided to figure a way to use some of that local bounty.

It looks like crawfish cheesecakes have become a big thing in restaurants down here. Some serve it as an appetizer with an andouille sauce.

After finding a recipe for crawfish cheesecake from Chef John Folse, I took different aspects of it and adapted it Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake.

The crawfish I used were actually born, bred, caught and packaged in my hometown. I can tell a difference between the ones stateside and the ones from China. The Chinese crawfish seem to be bigger and rubbery. Louisiana crawfish are the best to use.

I elected not to use my springform pan, as I reserved that to make my sweet cheesecake. I also didn’t have a pan large enough to provide for the hot water bath.

The recipe I used also called for lemon juice, but I was fresh out of lemons. The lime juice came off the bench. You could not really tell any difference.

Instead of graham cracker crumbs, the crust was made up of Ritz crackers and butter. The various Cajun seasonings and the Cajun trinity – with the celery replaced by garlic – rounded out the ingredients.

When it came to the base recipe, I was a little hesitant to a cheesecake recipe. I had no idea if it would come out marvelous or wind up a complete dud.

I can say I was very pleased with the cheesecake itself, but am just not a fan of savory cheesecakes. I ate it more like a dip with crackers, as I found that the whole concept it left a weight on my stomach. I brought half of it to work to share and the people I work with enjoyed it, with one coworker asking for the recipe.

If I’m going to have crawfish and cream cheese, I’d rather have it in dip style ;).

Key Lime Cheesecake
O.K…. whoever came up with the concept of key limes, I’d like to strangle them.

Notice the difference between the regular lime and the key lime. Now, what kind of juicer do I have? One more suited to the regular lime.

The husband loves key lime pie. I have only made one key lime pie in our 12 years of marriage. The recipe was from the Betty Crocker Cookbook and was more of a “faux” key lime pie (meaning that I used regular limes). I was not impressed.

When I saw the suggestion to make a key lime cheesecake, I decided to take that particular concept a little bit further. And, since the husband loves cheesecake and loves key lime pie, what better opportunity than to marry his two favorite pies together.

I found a key lime cheesecake recipe from Epicurious.com and decided to again adapt the Daring Baker’s cheesecake recipe to fit my needs.

It was my full intention to totally use key limes for the whole cheesecake. But, after juicing about nine of them to get almost two tablespoons of key lime juice – when I needed 10 total for the recipe – the regular limes (which were labeled Persian limes) came off the bench again.

I definitely used my springform pan for this one. Years ago, I grew tired of the cheap springform pans that I had picked up at my local supermega discount store. The band part would always become warped and rusted. So, the husband encouraged me to pick up a rather hefty but expensive Kaiser pan at Williams-Sonoma. It is now the only pan I use to cook my cheesecakes and has served me well!

I also decided to use a sour cream topping for this cheesecake. Our favorite, plain old faithful recipe has a great sour cream topping and makes the cheesecake even more yummy (not to mention it hides any cracks!). The sour cream topping on this cheesecake made a thick upper crust. I think I may have used too much sour cream.

I used a box of vanilla wafers for the crust – which made a thick crust -- and made a key lime/lime curd to layer on top of the crust.

The batter consisted of sugar rubbed with lime zest and key lime and lime juices. This batter then sat on top of the lime curd.

After about an hour of cooking time, the cheesecake was still jiggly – which frightened me. But after again consulting with the recipe, I was relieved to find a little jiggle was good! ;)

I chose again to forgo the water bath, but it looks like my cheesecake came out with few cracks if any.

From the looks, it looks like a success. Since I just finished it a few minutes ago, the key lime cheesecake nees to cool down and have a night in the fridge before my taster gives his critique.

After the cheesecake overnighted in the fridge, I pulled it out and cut a piece for the husband before he left for work this morning.

Again, the consistence of this cake came out spot on. Husband said he liked it but thinks it would be even better if I adapted our tried and true cheesecake recipe in a key lime manner.

I tried a bit of it. There is the most subtle hint of lime in the cheesecake batter, with the key lime curd taking you home with a burst of limeness at the end. This is definitely a keeper!

The Recipes

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake

Crawfish Cheesecake Recipe
Adapted from Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake and Chef John Folse

Crust:
6 TBS melted butter
1 egg white
2 cups crushed butter crackers (like Ritz)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, egg white and crackers. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes to crisp. Remove from oven and cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.

Filling:
2 TBS butter
1 pound fresh Louisiana crawfish tails, chopped
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
3 large eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp each of salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder
2 TBS minced onions
2 TBS minced bell pepper
2 TBS minced garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Saute crawfish in butter until well cooked, about 15 to 30 minutes.
Chop crawfish. Set aside.
Combine cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, minced vegetables and seasonings in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula.
Blend until smooth and creamy.
Fold in the chopped crawfish.
Pour batter into prepared crust.
Bake 45 minutes to an hour, until almost done. This can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Key Lime Cheesecake
adapted from Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake and this one found on Epicurious.com

Lime custard
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice or regular lime juice
1 teaspoon grated Key lime peel or regular lime peel

For lime custard:
Whisk all ingredients in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until custard thickens and boils for 30 seconds, about 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (mixture will thicken).

crust:
1 box vanilla wafers, processed to almost fine
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
3 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice or regular lime juice
1 tablespoon grated Key lime peel or regular lime peel, rubbed in the 1 cup of sugar

Sour Cream topping:
1 16-ounce container sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F .
Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
Combine the sugar and lime zest together.
Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and lime juice and blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven.
Stir sour cream, sugar and vanilla together with a whisk. Once combined, carefully pour on top of the cheesecake. Turn the oven back on at 350 degrees F and put the topped cheesecake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven..
Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Chicken and Dumplings

2009-03-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Many many years ago, I remember eating my first dish of chicken and dumplings at my Aunt Pat's house.

We had gone to Gulfshores with her daughter and her family. Aunt Pat's house was our first stop on the way home. She made us a welcoming meal I'll never forget.

My dad's Aunt Pat is one of the best cooks I have ever known, along with my dad's parents and my mom. Her pralines and pecan icing are to die for!

The chicken and dumplings she made for use melted in my mouth. That is the only time I have ever had homemade chicken and dumplings -- until now.

Several years ago, I attempted to make chicken and dumplings from scratch. It was a disastrous failure. The dumplings made the gravy floury rather than forming into dumplings. I never tried it again.

This recipe recently in the Food section of The Advocate piqued my chicken and dumpling interest again. It seemed simple enough.

I remembered that Chef John Folse in his tome The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine also had a chicken and dumpling recipe. However, his recipe runs a full page with a plethora of ingredients. His recipes tend to be more on the complex side, where a lot of what he cooks can be done in a more simple manner.

I compared The Advocate's recipe to Folse's recipe and decided to go out a little bit on my own.

I used the Cajun trinity -- onion, bell pepper and celery -- rather than carrots for the vegetable base to the stew. I also chose to roast a whole chicken rather than boil the chicken in the broth. In past experience, we find that meat from a roasted whole chicken imparts flavor that you can't get when you boil it.

The resulting dish was tops to my tasters! Jonas ate about six dumplings and Jeff had two bowls. Anna -- who helped chopped the vegetables -- wanted "soup" when she woke up from her early "nap."

The recipe:
Chicken and Dumplings, Nat's Style
Original Recipe from “Discover Dinnertime” by Susan Dosier and Julia Dowling Rutland, as published in The Advocate

Time to prepare:
2 hours to roast the chicken
30 minutes (or so) to prepare the vegetables
45 minutes to simmer
15 minutes to cook the dumplings

Original recipe serves 6

1 whole chicken, roasted and deboned
3 tbls. olive oil
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1-1/2 tsps. salt, divided
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper
2 (16-oz.) cans chicken broth

For dumplings:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. baking powder
1 tbl. chopped fresh parsley
3 tbls. butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Roast whole chicken in the oven for two hours (season inside and out with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne; stuff cavity with whole garlic bulbs).

2. While chicken is roasting, chop your vegetables.

3. With about 30 minutes left to roasting time, saute your onion, bell pepper, celery and seasonings (1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne) in the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.

4. Add the broth and stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Add roasted chicken meat and simmer for 45 minutes.Stir in broth. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until chicken is tender.

5. To make the dumplings, combine flour, baking powder, remaining salt and parsley. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork. Stir in milk and sour cream.
6. Drop tablespoons of dumpling batter into hot broth (I actually made round dumplings; about 16 of them). Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Gently spoon dumplings, chicken and broth into a soup bowl to serve.

Some things that I plan to do next time:

Double the amount of broth.
Add minced garlic to the Cajun trinity.
Maybe leave out the celery.
Add a little bit more milk to the dumpling mixture. I was left with a few dry crumbs and added a little bit more milk to get two more dumplings out of the mix.
Make smaller dumplings.

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Chocolate Valentino and Ice Cream

2009-03-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

On a day when my fellow Louisianans were chasing chickens or chasing beads, I spent my rare day off with my kids in the kitchen making Chocolate Valentino, February's Daring Baker's Challenge.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This challenge was simple and satisfying, with so few ingredients churning out delicious treats.

The Daring Bakers were tasked with making a flourless chocolate cake accompanied with homemade ice cream. I have never made ice cream from scratch before, so this was going to be fun.

I settled on using Dharm's ice cream recipe. Since the ice cream would take the most time to make, we started the custard base early in the morning. I enlisted my eight-year-old to stir the pot until the mixture came to a boil. He's a good helper, but I was afraid him stealing tastes every now and then would leave us with little custard for the ice cream.

I don't know of any local source for the double cream called for in the recipe and am not sure if it is called by any other name here. I went for the trick of increasing the fat in the cream with the extra 3 tablespoons of butter. As I was whipping the cream to achieve a cream-like consistency, I became concerned as the cream remained in a thickened liquid state. I switched between my hand mixer and my standing mixer and achieved the same results. I finally decided to just use it as it was and see how things would turn out.

I had my concerns over the flourless chocolate cake, too. I had attempted one of these about 10 years ago with disastrous results. That try came out like a chocolate brick and was destined for the trash. I am glad to say that this try was a great success!

The recipe reminded me of the chocolate bundt cake in the Baking with Julia recipe Chocolate Bundt Cake with Creme Brulee. Just like Julia's chocolate bundt cake, the chocolate valentino cake calls for separating the yolks and the whites and beating each in its own bowl -- the yolks until combined; the whites until fluffy. It's the fluffy whites that help make the cake extra fluffy.

I used a combination of Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate and Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate for the chocolate base.

I decided to cook the cakes in individual ramekins, which made some splendid little cakes.

The whole dish was a success. The cakes came out nice and fluffy and the ice cream was delicious. I completed the look with some strawberry sauce and fresh sliced strawberries.

I love making the ice cream and have plans to make another batch. With the chocolate cakes, I'd make them with some sweeter chocolate and maybe in smaller ramekins.

The recipes for these dishes can be found at the hosts' blogs.

Brioche, Two Ways

2009-02-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year, my loving husband gifted me with the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The authors loved homemade bread, but not the hours and hours it takes to prepare. So, they came up with a way to have artisan bread in five minutes.

There are several recipes for different breads and what to do with them. The husband was all gung ho about me making some, so I decided to start with brioche. I was enamoured with the Brioche filled with Chocolate Ganache, which purports to make your kitchen smell like a Parisian bakery. I decided to take it a step further and make Brioche stuffed with Crawfish.

I started to follow the recipe for brioche from Artisan Bread. I have made brioche once before many moons ago with a recipe from Baking with Julia, which is -- hands down -- my most favorite cookbook. I was somewhat concerned when my brioche dough from Artisan Bread looked nothing like the brioche dough I made with Julia.

Another flag was raised when Artisan Bread insinuated that brioche is only good for pastries and sweet breads. I started having second thoughts about my Brioche stuffed with Crawfish, so I consulted Julia and was relived to find Savory Brioche Pockets in her tome.

After making my dough and feeling that it would come out ok, I rolled the dough into a rectangle and spread the inside with crawfish etouffee. I then rolled the combination cinnamon roll style, folded the ends down and shaped it into a loaf. After some rising time, I placed it in the oven. In the future, I will have to adjust the baking time, as the middle came out doughy after the allotted cooking time.

The verdict was two thumbs up from everyone in the house. We devoured it in a day.

Being that we were deep in the middle of Carnival season, I decided to use some of the brioche dough to make a king cake. King cakes can be found in every store in south Louisiana and it's not uncommon for us to partake in the tradition almost every day. Types of king cakes vary, with some made in the cinnamon roll fashion and others made in the donut dough fashion. The best king cakes I have ever had are from Gambino's and Cannata's.

I rolled the dough out again as a rectangle. This time, instead of crawfish, I filled the middle with cream cheese and cinnamon. Then, yet again, the dough was rolled as you would when making cinnamon rolls but was shaped into a ring rather than a loaf.

As the king cake was baking, I made some colored sugar for the top of the cake. I was really surprised at how relatively easy it was to make green, gold and purple sugar to represent the traditional Mardi Gras colors.

When the king cake was done, I made a lemon juice/confectionery sugar glaze for the cake and then topped it with sugar. Though the filling didn't look like the filling that you would find in the mass produced cakes, the whole combination was delicious. This cake didn't sit long either.

Brioche is very versatile and can be used for your sweet treats or savory meals. I'm hoping to get to the Brioche filled with Chocolate Ganache, but it will be hard to beat the crawfish bread and king cake.

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Tuiles

2009-01-29T20:59:00.001-08:00

January brought tuiles to the Daring Bakers, a thin, crisp almond cookie that crosses cultures.

The tuiles’ shape resembles French roofing tiles, but the Dutch use the batter to bake cigar-shaped cookies to celebrate the New Year.

The Daring Bakers were also called to pair these light little cookies with a light accompaniment – fruit, sorbet or mousse, for example.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

My cookies look nothing like roof tiles and failed to be molded. I attempted to use a rolling pin and some Dora the Explorer sippy cups, but the curve would not go.

This dessert is a simple one to make. A few ingredients in the mixing bowl and you’re on your way! The batter tasted wonderful and reminded me of a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookie.

I failed to make the cookies thin enough to shape. Since I had no stencil and wasn’t creative enough to come up with one, I used my Wilton icing bag (it’s pink thanks to the black icing sometimes called for in decorating character cakes; I usually use parchment sheets – no mess to clean up!) with the fancy tip. If I would have used the smaller tip (like was suggested in the recipe – d’oh!), I think I could have achieved a thinner cookie.

Seeing a disaster on the horizon, I decided to take my spatula and think the cookies out some. I was afraid they would meld together since I failed to put enough space between them.

Because they were thicker than what they should have been, it took about 20 minutes – 10 minutes more than called for – to cook.

For a fun touch, I coated the edges of the tuiles with melted Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chocolate. While waiting for the cookies to cook, I was salivating over the recipes on the wrapper – truffles, marbled cheesecake bars… mmmmm….

Since we didn’t make a regular grocery run last weekend, my fruit supply was on the low end. Luckily, I had enough strawberries that weren’t beyond their prime that I was able to make a delicious crushed strawberry “chutney.”

This was a perfect treat! Although my creation wasn’t pretty, the combination of cookie, chocolate and strawberry had just the right amount of sweetness to top a meal.

The Daring Baker's Challenge: French Yule Log

2008-12-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone! December's Daring Bakers Challenge was to bake a turkey...

Wait... wait... I got confused there for a minute... It was something from France....

Ah, yes... to read and report on Jacque Pepin's The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen (which actually is an excellent read!).

Well, reading a book about a chef baking is not the same as actually doing the baking, so on with the festivities. ;)

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

According to our gracious hosts, the French can choose from two types of yule log for their celebratory ritual -- either a traditional butter cream variety or a frozen variety similar to an ice cream cake but made of a frozen mousse instead.

The New York Times had a story about the traditional butter cream yule log, some featuring LED lights and dustings of 22-karat gold and running hundreds of dollars.

Gentle readers, rest assured, my yule log of the entremets variety will not light up -- unless you count the fire that I started on the stove while melting the chocolate -- and doesn't sparkle. In fact, I don't think it will even stand straight.

I started this definitely challenging challenge two days ago, with the intentions to have it complete and ready Monday. Unfortunately, time caught up with me and my entremet sits in the freezer in its first phase.

Sunday

The only thing that went right for me with this recipe was the procuring of ingredients. I was able to find medium egss and almond meal locally! I even found overhead transparencies to line my mold!

My plan was to have the following layers:

1) Dacquoise Biscuit made with Almond Meal
2) Dark Chocolate Mousse
3) Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert
5) Vanilla Creme Brulee Insert
6) Dark Chocolate Icing

I started off making the dacquoise biscuit. It was really straightforward and simple. My plans were to use a loaf pan to build my yule log.

Then, I started making the dark chocolate mousse. I got concerned about the gelatin. I was afraid that making the chocolate mousse with the gelatin without having the components ready would result in disaster, as there were warnings in the other compononts containing gelatin to not prepare it too soon or else it would harden and not be usable.

I stopped making the dark chocolate mousse after making the pate a bombe, whip cream and melting the chocolate.

I then realized that the creme brulee would be the component needing the most preparation and cooking time. I knew then that I would not be able to complete the yule log Sunday.

I made the creme brulee according to the recipe provided. Usually when I make creme brulee, it involves no stovetop cooking, no vanilla bean and lots of yolks. Because of this, I didn't think the creme brulee was thick enough or cooked enough after the first hour of cooking and cooked it an additional hour. After the two hours, I put it in the freezer. I didn't realize the surface I placed it on was not flat, so I now have crooked creme brulee. My yule log will be crooked. YIKES!

While the cream was infusing, I started making the praline feuillete . I made the lace crepes and had to cook them longer than what was indicated. I don't think I spread my batter out thin enough, but then the batter was very hard to spread. I had no lumps in it, but it was stiff. I had to roast my hazlenuts, which was as far as I got with the praline recipe.

Tuesday

After a day of not feeling well and 12 hours of sleep, I knew I had to make more progress tonight.

I started on the praline again, making the sugar syrup and coating the nuts. Upon returning from a lovely sushi dinner with my husband, I finished the praline feuillete. When melting the chocolate, my burner caught fire, so I had to stop the process and smother the flames. With everything extinguished, I mixed the praline and lace crepe with the chocolate, spread it and popped it in the refridgerator.

I then re-melted the chocolate that I started Sunday night and finished the chocolate mousse. I started to pipe it in the mold, but that didn't work out too well, so I resorted to plopping and spreading.

My crooked creme brulee ensconced in the chocolate mousse.

I then cut the praline feuillete a little smaller than my mold. When I cut it, it fell apart. I placed the pieces on top of the chocolate mousse.

The confection is now in the freezer. I'm calling it a night. I will make the ganache in the morning and place that insert and the dacquoise biscuit on top and back in the freezer and will ice it Thursday.

Thanks, Hilda and Marion, for this truly challenging challenge! I do plan on making this again when I have a few days to devote to it! I think it would be great in a lemon flavor!

Stay tuned... an update and pictures of the crooked yule log in the next couple of days!

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

2008-11-29T15:03:00.001-08:00

The Daring Bakers are gearing up for the upcoming holiday sweet season, with caramel, caramel and more caramel.

Shauna Fish Lydon first posted her Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting recipe to the Bay Area Bites on Christmas Eve 2006. A fitting time to post such an understated dessert that really outshines the rest!

The Syrup

The heart of this recipe is the caramel syrup, as it is used both in the batter and in the icing.

This is the first time I whipped up the caramel syrup in the kitchen. It was fairly easy and quick. After boiling the sugar for about 10 minutes, it started to turn auburn. I started to become worried, because the mixture kept getting darker and darker after I stopped the caramelization process.

The Batter
My worries were unfounded, though, after I added the caramel syrup to the butter/sugar mixture. After a taste, I realized my caramel syrup was just right. I noticed after all the ingredients were added and blended, you could not even taste the caramel. I was skeptical at this point.

I failed to cream the butter before adding the sugar. My two-year-old keeps me on my toes and she was having her own adventure with the butter. Sometimes, I wonder just how I get things in the oven and on the stove.

But, adding them both at the same didn't didn't seem to ruin the cake. I also failed to sift the flour and baking soda together -- I don't have the patience and was trying to keep the butter away from the two-year-old. I did mix them together fairly well with a fork, and that didn't seem to doom the cake.

My kitchen is not the best equipped and I usually "make-do" a lot. One piece of equipment I didn't have -- the 2-inch high, 9-inch round cake pan. My 9-inch round cake pan is but 1 to 1.5 inches, but I did have two of them. I split the batter as evenly as I could between the two.

The Icing

My husband just wanted to pour the caramel syrup on the cake itself, but I wanted to see how it would play out with the browned butter and confectioner's sugar.

My kitchen also lacks a fine mesh sieve. As I was browning the butter, I attempted to skim off the foam and the brown butter bits. I thought about using cheesecloth, but it didn't seem like a good idea. I was able to get most of the brown butter bits out of the browned butter and no brown bits showed up in the final product.

Unfortunately, I put off making this cake until the last minute and made it to take to the Thanksgiving potluck at work. I started late on a work night and didn't have the time or the patience to let most things come to room temperature. I stuck the hot caramel syrup in the freezer for a few minutes and placed the browned butter in a bowl of ice cold water. I left it a little too long, which caused part of it to solidify again, but a few seconds in the microwave helped that.

Result

Halfway through the baking, I checked on the cakes and realized one of the cakes was cooking crooked, as the pan was on the baking sheet crooked. D'oh!

Once the cake was finished and iced, I had the first taste. Such a simple cake had a whole lot of caramel kick! I was really surprised!

I really liked the crumb of this cake, too! It wasn't heavy, like most homemade cakes can be.

No one touched the cake at the Thanksgiving potluck, as they were too stuffed from "regular" food. I left it at the snack table for the rest of the day, and the next day there was only one fourth of the double layer half cake left.

Future

I still have caramel syrup and frosting left over from this adventure! I plan to bake another during the holiday season!

A Little Lagniappe

As an added optional bonus this month, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Alice Medrich’s Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from her book Pure Dessert.

The recipe called for golden syrup. I searched high and low and far and wide and could not find golden syrup anywhere in my area. Seeing that it is a cousin to cane syrup, I thought I would just use Steen's Cane Syrup since that is a staple on breakfast tables here.

I followed the recipe and let the caramel cook to the hard but soft stage. My husband -- as usual -- wanted to eat it right after it was out of the pot, but I insisted on waiting until the 4- to 5-hour or overnight wait time.

Well, a couple of hours later, the "caramel" was rock hard. When I flipped it out, it landed with a thud on the counter and broke in two. I tasted it and it a tastes just like toffee, almost like the inside of a Riesen.

It is oh-so-good, though. And if I zap it in the microwave for about 20 seconds, it gets pliable.

I need to do a little bit more research to figure why the cane syrup resulted in toffee rather than caramel, or if it is just due to the "hard but soft" stage.

All in all, it was a fun treat to make.

Thanks to Dolores from Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie and Jenny from Foray into Food (and alternative baking assistant Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go)for hosting this month's challenge!

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Pizza

2008-10-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Daring Bakers are at it again, this month attempting to be pizzaiolos!

The recipe Pizza Napoletana from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice served as the inspiration for the dough while the toppings were left up to our imaginations.

The Dough

I passed on chilling the flour -- as called for in the recipe -- and went straight to work. I used unbleached all purpose flour and Lucini olive oil for the dough. After blending all the ingreidents, I kneaded the dough by hand and then separated it into six balls.

After letting the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight, I set to getting the pizza made the next day. I attempted to toss it in the air, but failed miserably. Thank God for the extra dough!

The Toppings

Making homemade pizza is not new to us. Our standby toppings -- mozerella cheese, bell pepper, onion, red onion, pepperoni, ham, spaghetti sauce, jalapenos, garlic -- were on hand for everyone to top their individual pizzas.

Joshua made a cheese, jalabeno, ham and pepperoni pizza.

Anna decided to have cheese... and then she decided to put her cheese on her pizza... and then she decided to start eating her cheese pizza before it ever made it to the oven. Ew!

Our other pizzas were mozerella and pepperoni; mozerella, pepperoni and onion; mozerella, ham, garlic, bell pepper, onions and red onion.

Baking the Pizza

The recipe called for putting the oven on as high as it goes, which is 550F on my oven. I opted to bake the pizza on parchment paper on top of the pizza baking stone. After putting the first pizza in the oven, the oven started smoking. The parchment paper was burning. I later read that parchment paper is "rated" for a maximum temparture of 420F. That's what I get for not reading the box before hand. ;)

I wanted to cook the next pizza on the pizza stone itself, but we were pressed for time and I didn't have the patience to wrestle the unbaked pizza onto the stone. That would be a challenge for a later time.

I lowered the tempertaure to 450F and increased the time by about ten minutes for the subsequent pizzas that made it to the oven.

Result

I have made pizza from scratch for many years and from several different recipes, but this dough was the best dough that we had ever tasted! It kneaded great, it rose great, it held the toppings like a pro and was a thin, crusty crust.

The recommendation of letting it sit for five minutes after it was finished baking was a great idea, as it gave the cheese and the toppings time to meld together.

We enjoyed this pizza!

Future

I hope to make several batches of this dough and prestage it to have a pizza night every once and a while. Pizza is something we can all agree upon for a meal!

Although I wasn't too daring with my toppings, I hope to gather inspiration from my fellow talented Daring Bakers and try different combinations soon!

Thanks to Rosa from Rosa's Yummy Yums for hosting this fun challenge!

GORP

2008-09-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for a good trail mix recipe. I came across one for a mix called GORP: good old raisins and peanuts, that became the inspiration for my recipe.

M&Ms
Reeses Pieces
Sunflower kernels (from sunflower seeds)
Cashews
Honey roasted peanuts
Raisins
Rice Chex
Honey Nut Cheerios

Mix these together on a one-to-one ratio (1/3 cup of each ingredient, for example).

Eat.

Yummy!

The Daring Baker's Challenge: Lavash Crackers and Toppings

2008-09-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

As if I don't have enough on my plate, I decided to hook up with some daring bakers.

The Daring Bakers are a group of bloggers and nonbloggers who like to cook. Every month there is a different recipe that each baker is challenged to make.

Lavash crackers and vegan/glutten free topping was the challenge for September. The recipe for the crackers is from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. My vegan/glutten free topping was hummus from The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Everyday.

I was so excited to get the first challenge. I have never kneaded bread dough, leaving most of the kneading to either my bread machine on the dough cycle or my stand mixer in past bread-like recipes.

But, the 1-2 punch of Gustav and Ike and a severe bout of hurricane fatigue had me second guessing my participation in the challenge. I didn't know if I would have the time or the energy to pursue the project. However, making the crackers turned out being easier than I could have imagined.

The Lavash Crackers

I had little luck finding unbleached bread flour in grocery stores near me. I thought I had picked up unbleached bread flour from WalMart, but it wasn't. My old eyes thought the brown label and the small type under "bread flour" read "unbleached." But, no, it was "enriched." Oh well... One out of two ain't bad, right? ;)

It took all 1/2 cups and 2 tablespoons of water to get the dough to form a ball. The 10 minutes of kneading were all I needed to get the satiny dough. I didn't test for temperature, window panes or medium-firmness as the recipe called for: I didn't have the time for such foolishness. With three kids under foot, the time in my kitchen is finite, unfortunately.

After a 180 minute rise (again, kids in the way), I rolled the dough thin on a piece of parchment paper sprayed with oil on top of my pastry board. I was amazed with how easy it was to work the dough.

I couldn't find my mist bottle -- which I found after the crackers were in the oven (of course) -- so I sprinkled water on the dough before adding the seasonings. I sprinnkled kosher salt, paprika, sesame seeds and poppy seeds on top in no particular pattern. I also decided to use a pizza cutter to slice the crackers into rough diamonds and rectangles.

Rolling the dough on the parchment paper also made an easy transfer from the pastry board to the baking sheet. I had to trim off the excess from the sides.

The Hummus

I was at a loss as to what to make for the dip that was both vegan and glutten free. I wasn't sure of the glutten content of cheeses, so I decided to play it safe and make a vegetable-based dip.

I consulted my Martha cookbook and found the hummus recipe. It was easy and simple enough -- just put all the ingredients into the food processor and go.

Result

The crackers were a hit with my husband, my 9 year old, my 7 year old and my 2 year old. We wiped them out in one sitting.

The hummus, not so much so. My husband ate some of it, but said it could use some more lemon juice. He's the only one eating it. If I would have had more time and inclination, I would have put a little bit more efffort into looking for a better dip. But, the lavash recipe intimidated me and I wanted to spend more of my effort tacking the lavash rather than the dip.

The crackers did taste wonderful with The Laughing Cow French onion cheese wedge.

Future

I'd like to try making the dough in my bread machine on the dough cycle next time around. Kneading is not that hard, but if I can get the bread machine to do it, the better! I have used my stand mixer once before to knead dough, but it ended up burning out the motor. Luckily, it was still under warranty and KitchenAid was wonderful in helping me out!

I was so impressed with this recipe that I'm now inspired to check out Reinhart's book and try some more!

I was inspired by the cracker creations and dips of other Daring Bakers. I can't wait to try making a cinnamon and sugar version, pita bread, savory crackers with different spices and a guacamole dip.

Thanks to Alternative Daring Bakers Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl for hosting this month's challenge.

Teriyaki Spam and Fried Rice

2008-09-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am forever looking for new things to put in the lunch box. Dreading the possibilitiy of having to give the kids Lunchables (ugh!) for lunch during summer camp this past summer, I started to explore the concept of the bento lunch.

Bentos are takeout or home-packed meals common in Japan. The traditional bento contains rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. It's also traditional to form the components into elaborate pieces of food art.

In my travels, I came across an excellent website about the compact lunches. Everything you need to know -- from bento box sizes to recipes -- is there.

One interesting recipe on the site is for Spam sushi, called Spam musubi. Since Jeff is such a large fan of Spam, I decided to try it.

I found sushi rice at the Whole Foods market, along with the best-ever teriyaki sauce -- Soy Vay!

That evening, I fried the Spam, simmered it in the Soy Vay sauce, cooked the rice and then proceeded to put together the musubi. I hadn't even had one musubi made and about 12 pieces of my 20 pieces of teriyaki Spam disappeared.

The musubi didn't go over well, but everyone liked the teriyaki Spam. So, Jeff ran out and got more Spam and some inferior teriyaki sauce and I made more.

Since I wasn't going to make musubi anymore, I used the remaining sushi rice to make fried rice. We had scrambled eggs, green onion, peas, rice and soy sauce in our dish.

Yum! Recipe for the teriyaki spam can be found at the Spam musubi link.

And, since we're on the topic of spam....

Beans in the Pot

2008-09-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

With little time on my hands, I put the crockpot to good use last week making that Cajun staple, red beans and rice.

It came out pretty good!

RECIPE
Crock Pot Red Beans

1 lb red beans (I used small red beans)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
A clove (or so) of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 lb sausage (I used andouille sausage), sliced
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne -- to taste
Water

Cover the beans with water (about 2-3 inches) and soak for a day.

Rinse the beans and place in the crockpot. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and bay leaf.

Cover the beans with about 2 - 3 inches of water. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne to taste.

Cover crockpot and cook on low for 10 hours. If there is still liquid remaining on top of the beans, take out some of the beans and smash them and add them back to the pot.

Add sausage to the pot and kick the crockpot temperature up to high. Cook for another 2 hours or so. (I think I cooked it for 2 to 4 hours.)

Serve over rice.

Another Day at the Market

2008-03-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

Almost four months into 2008 and we've only visited the Red Stick Farmer's Market twice this year.

The Advocate usually runs a list in its Thursday Food section of what will be availalbe at the market. I was looking forward to asparagus and eggs.

When we got to the market today, no asparagus and no eggs...

I don't know if The Advocate got its list wrong or arriving to the market -- which opens at 8 a.m. -- at 10:30 a.m. means for slim pickings.

We were able to snag our Smith Milk, Smith creole cream cheese, mixed lettuce, mixed sprouts, red and yellow grape tomatos, red and yellow and purple bell peppers, green onions, stuffed grape leaves and hummus.

We think Jonas may have bothered the man with the Mediterranean food -- "I want a hamas package," my mischievous son said loudly... Thanks to this short:

We also made it to Vinh Phat and Tienda Gloria. Vinha Phat has a hodge podge of oriental products and produce and smells while Tienda Gloria reminded us more of a conveinece store. It was fun!

BP: Caramel Swirl Hunks

2008-02-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

Much adventure was had on cooking this recipe.

I knocked a glass measuring cup out of my cabinet, which shattered into a million pieces. I even had shards in my knee leg.

Luckily, this is before any cooking got done! ;)

The batter, was again, delicious! I used the last of the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips bit the first of the Mexican vanilla we picked up in Cozumel on our cruise last September.

For this recipe, the author said to cook this brownie until it was set and not "wobbly and jiggly." I say... define "wobbly and jiggly." I ended up overcooking these a little, I think, as the batter still looked "wobbly and jiggly" to me.

Half of the homemade dulce de leche went into this recipe.

The finished product looked nothing like the picture in the book.

Jeff and the kids loved these blonde brownies, but they were just too sweet for me.

BP: Homemade Dulce de Leche

2008-02-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

I have never had dulce de leche before.

When I was growing up, Mom would make milk candy. She would stir milk and sugar for what seemed like forever in a hot pot on the stove. It would get amber and delicious. She would then add pecans to it.

I loved the plain milk candy without the nuts.

This recipe tasted like Mom's milk candy.

It was so easy... and required no constant stirring. Just two cans of condensed milk in the top of a double boiler (or, in my case, a stainless steel bowl over a pot) over simmering water.

Stir every now and then, but not to often.

The dulce de leche is done when its a nice amber color.

My family and I fought over this. It was just too good!

BP: Chunky Cheese Bread

2008-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

This bread is chunk full of cheese!

After the first rising of the dough, you flatten it out and roll in a cup of cheddar chesse. Then, you roll this in jelly roll fashion and cut it into slices and then those slices in half. Then, you stick those half slices in your pan and cover it with one cup of cubes of cheddar cheese.

Sprinkle on the garlic powder.

Let it rise again.

Bake.

Oh... my... goodness! YUM!!! It is cheesy to the max! Not only that, it transforms a lowly ham sandwich into ham and cheese!

This easy recipe makes two loaves. Make sure to grease your loaf pans well, as the cheese sticks the bread to the pan.

By the Seat of my Pants

2008-02-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

One week, we were running low on meals.

Everything was frozen and I was not relishing coming home on a Friday after a long work week to spend my evening in the kitchen.

Then, I was enlightened. The crockpot would be my savior!

I started scrounging for things to put in the crockpot. I had a chuck tender roast -- it was so pretty -- in the freezer, some veggies and some cans of soup.

I was ready to go to town.

The next morning, quartered new potatoes started the base of my eating adventure. On top of those, I added baby carrots, a sliced onion, the roast, and a mixture of one can each of cream of mushroom soup, French onion soup and half a soup can of water. On top of that went two 4-ounce cans of mushrooms.

I kicked off things at 5:40am. When we got home at 6:20pm, I turned off the pot. In no time, Jeff had pulled the meat apart and the rice was done.

YUM! It was soooo good!

BP: Brownie Fantasy Bars

2008-02-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

These brownies are chock-full of stuff. They're loaded!

But, they don't outshine the Vanilla Cheesecake Stuffed Brownies.

My helper, Anna Banana, provided commentary on the batter. "Mmmm, Good!" she said!

This recipe calls for two different batters -- a rich chocolate batter and a blonde bar batter. The chocolate batter was simiar to the base batter for the vanilla cheesecake stuffed brownies while the blonde bar batter tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough batter, sans chocolate chips.

To the browine batter, you add seven more ingredients: dates, raisins, rice crispy cereal, mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, milk chocolate bar and pecans. This makes hand-stirring the brownie batter difficult.

I used wet hands to blend the two different batters together in the baking pan.

These browines required refrigeration.

The result: a dense, rich brownie.

BP: Cinnamin Toast Bread

2008-02-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

This recipe makes two loaves of bread that can be used for toast in the morning -- or anytime.

The cinnamin-sugar topping was delicious.

The bread rose fine and doubled as it should.

The recipe calls for raisins, but I'm not a big fan of raisins.

Next time I make this, I may make a loaf without raisins and use the bread for French toast.

BP: Homemade Franchise Style Donuts

2008-02-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

These franchise-style donuts start from a yeast-shortening-egg based dough and require lots of rise time.

These requriements don't make for quick, fresh donuts in the morning.

Although the author called for the entire electric mixer -- stand and all -- to be covered in a plastic bag, I just covered the bowl with a warm wet towel.

During the rising time, the dough didn't seem to double.

Because I don't own a donut-cutter, I used a biscuit cutter and a shot glass for to make the holes. If I were making beignets, this wouldn't be a issue as you just cut the beignets in wedges.

It was hard to heat and maintain the necessary 350 degree frying temperature in order to cook the donuts. I was successful with only one batch coming out "normal." Plus, the donuts would lose their round shape as I attempted to place them in the hot oil.

This made 22 donuts and 22 holes. The glaze was delicious, but not enough for the donuts and holes. I ended up covering those with powdered sugar.

These were yummy and edible, despite the hurdles.

But, if I ever want fresh donuts again, I'll either run to Mary Lee up the road or just make beingets! I think that would be easier and quicker!

BP: Vanilla Cheesecake Stuffed Brownies

2008-02-16T14:00:00.001-08:00

These brownies -- full of chocolate goodness with a generous cream cheese topping -- were fairly easy to make and were wiped out in two days.

Although the recipe called for baking the brownies on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, I opted to use my Silpat instead. Using the Silpat was no different than using the parchment paper.

This recipe also presented another opportunity to use my unique dash, pinch and smidgen measuring spoons.

Although it called for semisweet chocolate, I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips. The result was just unbelievable!

These browines were just a blast to bake. Anna sat on the counter and helped to add ingredients, stirring and tasting. She is starting to assert her independence, wanting no help from Mom when it comes to pouring in the ingredients.

By far, these are the best homemade-from-scratch brownies made from the A Passion for Baking cookbook.

This one's a keeper!

BP: Pecan Pie Bars

2008-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

I am probably the biggest fan of pecan pie.

And the best pecan pie can be found at Lea's in Lecompte.

When I was pregnant with Anna, we had Jonas' 5-year-old birthday party. Mom brought a pecan pie from Lea's.

I ended up eating the whole pie (it helps when you are the solo pecan pie fan in the house).

I found that you can order them for $20 from the Lea's site, which I did the following year.

This is a bar version of pecan pies. Though not quite like Lea's, it's close!

This was a two-bowler: the food processor to process the shortbread and the mixer bowl for the pecan filling.

Unfortunately, my nut chopper stopped working during this recipe.

These are delicious!

To Market To Market

2008-01-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

We made our first farmer market trip of the year to the Red Stick Farmer's Market this weekend.

It was a cloudy and cold day. It had rained all night and early that morning, so the market was moved to the parking garage. But, it still didn't help the 39F temperature, which felt like 29F. Brrrr....

We got there at 11am, with the market set to close at noon.

They had several booths still open with produce. We bought our Mt. Hermon milk, strawberries, green onions, satsumas, grapefruit, grits, soup and tomatoes -- all from within a 100-mile radius!

One of the fish booths had flounder, and I was looking forward to baked fish this week. However, the fisherman told me I would have to clean it -- ew! So, we passed on the flounder.

Although it was cold, we had a great time at the market!

BP: Celtic Oatmeal Coconut Crunch Tea Cake

2008-01-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

After my last disaster with the cinnamon, I was leary to try the Celtic Oatmeal Coconut Crunch Tea Cake as it called for both cinnamon and nutmeg.

But, I have three jars of nutmeg and two jars of cinnamon, so it's time to get cooking!

I had better feelings about this recipe from the start. The batter -- filled with uncooked oatmeal -- actually tasted good and Anna couldn't keep her fingers out of the bowl.

It was another opportunity to use measuring spoons that normally never see the light of day -- dash, pinch and smidgen. Yes, I actually have mearsuing spoons with these measurements!

I was somewhat confused, though. After cooking the cake, you have to create a oatmeal-coconut topping, put it on top of the cake and then stick it under the broiler. However, the recipe didn't say if you release the cake from the pan first or leave the cake in the pan.

(Effectively, you leave the cake in the pan and the "top" becomes the "bottom" once you turn the cake out -- meaning the "topping" is actually a "bottoming.")

I left the cake in the pan, topped it and put it under the broiler for about a minute (instead of the recipe-directed two to three) since it took it only a few seconds to start bubbling.

This tea cake came out SOOO much better than the coffee cake and gave me confidence in my cookbook again.

BP: Raspberry Ripple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2008-01-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

There are few recipes that I won't try a second time.

But this is one of them.

I think only one person in my family actually liked this recipe. But, when all was said and done, I threw out half of the cake yesterday.

I think the issue was the cinnamon -- that's not a spice we use often.

I had to dirty more bowls than I liked. First you mix the cream cheese filling in the food processor, and then the flour mix. However, the flour mix left remnants on the bottom of the bowl, requiring a scraping to get them out.

While attempting to grate orange rind for zest, I Microplaned my thumbnail... OUCH!

The resulting dough was sticky sticky sticky. The recipe said to flour your fingers before pressing the dough into the pan. Did that, dough still sticky. Floured the spatula, and the dough still wouldn't cooperate.

Finally, I just put a light layer of flour on top of the sticky dough and proceeded to press it into the pan. That did the trick!

I ended up having to cook the coffee cake for an extra 15 mintues before it was really done.

This coffee cake didn't have me from hello -- or blah! The husband didn't like it, either.

One silver lining -- I got a chance to use a measuring spoon that's rarely called into service: the 1/8 teaspoon.

This recipe, NOT recommended.

100-Miles

2008-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

At 100-mile diet site, I entered my zip code to see the radius of food that I should be eating in.

Lucky for me, I live to where I can have seafood with no problem!

I have yet to visit the farmer's market this year, but I hope to go soon!

Meanwhile, I've taken a look at some of the things that we have eaten that have come from 100-miles.

Rice from Crowley, La.
Milk from Mt. Hermon, La.
Eggs from Jackson, Miss. (ok, so this is about 50 miles off)
Sugar from Louisiana sugar cane mills
Crawfish from Henderson, La.
Crab from Slidell, La.
Butter from Mt. Hermon, La.

Food in the Movies: Ratatouille

2008-01-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

I didn't know what to expect when I first saw Ratatouille with my kids last summer.

Being a Disney/Pixar flick directed by Brad Bird, I thought I'd love it. But, I was a little disappointed.

We watched it again a couple of weeks ago. Upon a second helping, I actually loved it!

The movie gets back to the basics where food is concerned. Remi the rat loves the essence of food, with music and colors comingling as the true tastes of food dance on his tongue.

This message is brought home in the climax of the film, when evil food critic Anton Ego -- voiced marvelously by Peter O'Toole -- takes a bite of ratatouille made by Remi and is transported back to his childhood.

Today, so much of our food isn't "food" by the time the processors are done with it. McDonald's french fries have their flavor chemically added. Fresh poultry is injected with waters and presevatives to keep it.

Eating actually fresh food will awaken your senses to what you've been missing and can even transport you back in time. Have you ever had a fresh yard bird? I promise you, you won't go back!

Before seeing the movie, I made the family the ratatouille dish. It was good, but took some time to prepare in the kitchen. But, it didn't linger for long.

That ratatouille I made was much different from the one portrayed in the movie. The producers in the movie had their food expert create a ratatouille recipe specific for the movie. Come spring and summer when ratatoullie ingredients will be plentiful at the farmer's market, I plan on tackling Remi's recpie.

BP: Pralines and Cream Pecan Caramel Muffins

2008-01-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

These muffins were a knock-out!

Although the we opted not to use the sundae topping in the middle and the muffins didn't come out looking like the picture in the book, they were delicious!

This muffin has a cream cheese center and a pecan streusel top.

It's actually a fairly easy recpie to make. Although I made the batter in the mixing bowl of my electric mixer, the whole thing could have been made in the food processor. (I found this out after typing the recipe out for my boss.)

No separate treatment for wet and dry ingredients -- everyhing is lumped into one bowl and mixed.

The most work was shifting among the three bowls -- batter, cream cheese middle, streusel topping -- to construct this luscious treat.

The recipe called for 12 large muffins. Since I don't own a large muffin pan, we ended up with 28 muffins.

I would make -- and eat -- these muffins again!

BP: Deep Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2008-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

These muffins actually came out looking like the picture in the book!

Starting out, the recipe called for the wet ingredients and dry ingredients to be mixed separately. I'm sure there's some type of food chemistry explanation for this, but I tend to forgo the double duty and just mix everything together in the same bowl.

The batter was actually DIVINE! It was mousee-like! We just about ate the batter without putting it in the oven. Anna definitely enjoyed it!

The recipe calls for the batter to be placed into the muffin cups using a ice cream scoop, and for good reason! The batter was so thick and airy, that nothing less than the ice cream scoop would do.

Baked this for 32 minutes and ended up with 16 muffins, though the recipe called for 12.

These muffins tasted OK. The batter would make you think this was heaven on earth, but the cooked muffins didn't lift you to another plain.

BP: Candy Bar Shortbread

2007-12-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

I made my first recipe from A Passion for Baking yesterday.

Called Candy Bar Shortbread, it's described as a buttery shortbread with Toblerone melted on top.

The recipe is relatively simple. Just your cup of butter, some sugar and flour all mixed together and pat down in a parchment lined pan.

Note: Parchment paper makes baking really easy!

The hardest part of the recipe was chopping the Toblerone and getting the actual stuff out of the pan.

The stuff was still hot when I was attempted to remove it and transfer it to the fridge and freezer for the chocolate to set, so the shortbread was delicate. The bars were falling apart as I tried to take them out. I ended up pulling the whole thing out with the parchment paper and setting it on a flat surface. Once I did that, life was easier -- cutting was a breeze and the shortbread wasn't breaking anymore.

The kids weren't too sure of this concoction, but the husband said it was yummy good.