Glass Bread for March

Each month the Bread Baking Babes are challenged by our Kitchen of the Month to bake a new bread. This month Kelly gave us a true challenge...to bake Glass Bread. Why is it such a challenge...because it is a very slack dough, meaning that it is closer to soup than bread dough when you start out...and it doesn't get too much more dough like, even with stretching sessions every 20 minutes (I used the Sourdough measurements, but the regular directions). So why do this? Well, because it's fun to meet a challenge, but also because you finish with a delicious bread that has a truly artisan look to it.

I'm a pretty low maintenance person and I tend to avoid high maintenance people and situations if I can, so I probably won't make this again. It is very high maintenance in the world of breads, and also the messiest bread I've ever made. My work area in the bake center ended up with flour on the floor, flour all over the counter, wet flour in the sink from rinsing my hands after doing the multiple stretches and folds, and once the breads began to be baked, flour in the main kitchen from those. I also rolled up my sleeves, but still got dough on one of them, wet dough on the apron, wet dough on the shirt I was wearing before I realized that an apron was essential equipment...you get the idea.

I did enjoy learning how to do coil folding and it was fascinating to watch the dough try to join together again when I cut it into pieces with the bench scraper towards the end. I thwarted that by a liberal sprinkle of flour in the area of the cut, between the two 'pieces'.

I think that I also put too much flour under the dough when I turned it out to cut it up, so that resulted in excess flour being incorporated in the bottom part of the bread in sort of chunks of raw flour that baked up into white masses of cooked flour. If you make it, I think a light coating of flour would work, or even a light coating of flour on parchment, pour the dough onto that and then cut it up, then cut up the parchment instead of cutting and then moving to the parchment.

See...high maintenance, with all the stretching, folding, flouring, cutting parchment, etc. I had to bake them individually, too because I was using a smaller oven, which took a while.

It was full of larger holes at the top and smaller ones below and was like an airy ciabatta bread. Still glad I met the challenge...because it's delicious! I used my sourdough starter, which might have added flavor. Thank you Kelly for setting this bread for the March challenge. I may have sworn at the oobleck like dough, but never at you.

If you would like to be a Buddy (and I do hope I haven't scared you off!), bake and email Kelly by March 29th with a photo and short description of your bake and your URL. She'll send you a Buddy Badge created by our talented Elizabeth and she'll include you in the round-up.

Also, be sure to visit the other Bread Baking Babes to see how their experience was baking this Glass Bread...I suspect that they were less messy than I was.

Glass Bread or Pan de Cristal

From King Arthur Baking website

Ingredients

    500g water
    500g King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
    2.5g (3/4 teaspoon) instant yeast
    10g salt
    15g olive oil, for the pan

THIS IS DIRECTLY FROM THE WEBSITE

    To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. (To measure by volume, see "tips," below.)

    In a medium bowl, mix the water, flour, yeast, and salt until thoroughly combined and homogenous. Note: The dough starts off very slack and wet. That’s OK; it will transform itself through time and folds.

    Oil a two-quart rectangular baking dish (10” x 7”) with the olive oil. If you don’t have a 2-quart dish, an 8” or 9” square pan will work. Don’t worry about any pan you use being oven-safe; you won’t be baking the bread in it.

    Pour the dough into the pan. Check the dough’s temperature by inserting a digital thermometer into the center. If it's less than 72°F, move the pan to a warmer spot, e.g., your oven with the light turned on.

    Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Start with a bowl fold: Use your wet hands to grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, then press it down into the middle. Repeat this eight to 12 times.

    Cover the dish and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Then do a coil fold: With wet hands, reach under the dough and stretch the middle upward until the dough releases from the dish. Roll it forward off your hands, allowing it to fold over (or “coil”) on itself. This is called a coil fold. Rotate the dish 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat. Continue performing this folding action until the dough feels like it won’t stretch and elongate easily, usually four to five times initially. Note: You’ll be doing this three more times, each time building strength and developing the dough. See "tips," below, for more details,

    Cover the pan and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Repeat the coil fold. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    At this point, the dough should be easier to handle and feel tighter. Repeat the coil fold using only two or three folds this time. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

    Repeat the coil fold one last time, using only one or two folds if the dough is relatively strong. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for about 80 minutes.

    To divide the dough: As gently as possible, turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, maintaining the rectangle or square shape – be careful not to deflate the delicate dough. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the dough, leaving no exposed sticky spots. Then, working as gently as possible, use a bench knife or other sharp knife to divide it into four pieces. Gently place two pieces on a piece of parchment, leaving space between them. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough, placing them on another piece of parchment.

    Allow the loaves to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, uncovered. While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F with a baking stone or steel on a lower rack. (If you don't have a stone or steel, see "tips," below.) Allow the oven to preheat for 1 hour to ensure it’s thoroughly heated. The loaves are ready for the oven when there are a few large bubbles on the surface of each loaf and they feel light and airy.

    To bake the bread: Carefully slide the two loaves (still resting on the parchment) into the oven onto the preheated stone or steel. If space is tight and the full sheet of parchment won’t fit on the stone or steel, cut the parchment between the two loaves and arrange them as best you can. Allow the other two loaves to continue to rest.

    Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then transfer them, from the stone or steel, directly onto a rack in the upper third of the oven for an additional 13 to 15 minutes. (Leave the stone in place.) Moving them to the rack allows the baking stone or steel to become hot again in preparation for the next two loaves. After a total of 27 to 30 minutes of baking, remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool on a rack.

    Repeat the process with the two remaining loaves. Cool the bread fully before slicing.

    Storage information: Wrap the bread loosely and store it at room temperature for up to several days; freeze for longer storage.

SOURDOUGH VERSION

Formula for four:
400g strong flour
420g water (350+70)*
10g olive oil
11g salt
100g starter (100% hydration)

Total hydration: 106%

Method:
Mix 400g flour & 350 water.
Autolyse 45min Add 100g starter, fold/work,
60 min rest
Combine 70g reserve COLD water & 11g salt,
add half and fold/mix.
10min rest
Add remaining water/salt & mix,
add EVO & mix,
15 min rest
Folds: Oil glass pan,
add dough and do a few large (coil) folds.
45 min rest
Folds: Large (coil) folds in thirds, then rotate 90 and fold in thirds,
rest 45 min
Folds: Repeat folds,
rest 45 min Folds:
Repeat folds,
rest 45 min Folds:
Repeat folds,
Overnight in fridge for cold bulk
Room temp rest 60 min
Heavily flour table and pour the dough out,
divide into 4 & place on parchment.
60 min rest
Bake on steel at 500ºF for 8min with steam,
drop to 410 and bake for 20 min

*Note that the 70g is mixed with the salt and kept aside to incorporate after initial autolyse.

Glass Bread Coming

Have baked the delicious bread for March for the Bread Baking Babes, but it won't get posted until later tonight or tomorrow. Check out the other Babes sites for their takes on this very slack dough bread! 

Blueberry Waffles

We have been having chilly mornings with frost on the grass some days, so I decided to make waffles. I've been feeding the sourdough starter that my daughter gave me and decided to feed some of the toss off as a base for them. That was probably the reason they were so crisp on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside...good starter.

As far as the blueberries go, I made the mistake of not coating them with batter as I usually do. The result was that they stuck to the waffle iron upper plate...not fun to clean up after the iron cooled and some of them scorched a bit...see the really dark spots in the photo. Thank you Sweetie for doing that. So if you decide to go with any berry cooked inside the waffle, mix them into the batter first. You'll be glad you did because they really add to the flavor of the waffle, but you really don't need that clean up issue.

This recipe is for the Amazing Overnight Waffles that work so well with either sourdough starter or active dry yeast. I made a half batch and replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with Irish Whole Meal Flour from King Arthur Baking Company which adds a nice, nutty flavor and some flecks of whole wheat and bran, too. Delicious!

My waffle iron is one that I bought at a yard sale in Berkeley over 40 years ago. It takes a little longer to heat up than it did all those years ago, but I like my waffles crispy on the outside and it does that. Use what ever waffle iron you have and be sure to let it cook until the steaming stops...you'll probably have nice crispy waffles, too.

If you keep up with what's going on here in Northern CA, we now have three lambs. Two were born a couple of weeks ago and the last lamb was born over the weekend. It's big for a newborn lamb, all black except for a cute white tail that waves madly when it nurses.

Amazing Overnight Blueberry Waffles

Sponge:
1 cup sourdough starter
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup water
Whisk together and let sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 2 hours

Batter:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Irish wholemeal wheat flour
all of the sponge
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and drained

Nonstick spray
Butter (and bread) for the waffle iron
Whipped cream if you are feeling decadent or maple syrup if you prefer


Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the sponge that has sat for 2 hours waiting for this moment, and whisk to combine. Add the milk and whisk until blended. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature (or put in the fridge if room temp. is over 70 degrees F.)

The next morning, preheat the waffle iron. Melt the 6 tablespoons butter and let cool a bit. Beat the egg is a small bowl (unnecessary if using egg substitute) then beat it into the batter along with the melted butter. 

Lightly spray the hot waffle iron with non stick spray, top and bottom plates, and then butter a piece of bread and use that to rub some butter on top and bottom plates.

Add the blueberries to the batter and stir gently just to coat the blueberries with the batter. Add just enough batter to cover the cooking surface…this varies by waffle iron…about 2/3 cup. Lower the top and cook until golden brown…it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes and it's usually when the steam is almost gone. You want it golden brown.

Serve hot, right away, with whipped cream or maple syrup, or toppings of your choice.

Note; If you have too many waffles for the number of people you are feeding, bake the leftover batter a little less than the ones you are eating, let cool on a baking rack, then freeze and store in the freezer tightly wrapped. Re-heat in the toaster.

Scones with Currants

Dried currants are a favorite of mine. Each tiny one of them holds a big burst of flavor, so when you have lots of them baked into your favorite scone, you have a delicious treat.

Scones are a really simple quick bread...no yeast involved. The key to the best scones is to handle the ingredients gently and to just barely mix the liquids into the dry ingredients...a few dry crumbs that can be swept up into the dough mass as you form a ball is just right.

This scone has soy milk soured with lemon juice, some lemon zest, and lots of currants. I made these with all-purpose flour, but they are delicious with a mixture of all-purpose and most whole grain flours, like whole wheat, spelt, etc. I like to use King Arthur Baking's Irish Wholemeal flour for about 1/4 of the flour. It adds nutty flavor and a bit of chew. 

Once they are baked, do try to eat your first one while it is still warm from the oven to get the best experience. Those Sweetie and I didn't eat at once were allowed to cool to room temperature, then I put them into a gallon ziploc bag and then into the refrigerator. They kept well for a couple of days and were still delicious when re-heated on low power in the microwave.

Try them with butter or a smear of lemon curd and you will never want to be without a currant scone handy in the freezer. They do freeze beautifully. 

Dried Currant and Citrus Scones
Adapted from a Ladies Home Journal recipe March ‘97

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet.

3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used non-dairy margarine)
¾ cup currants
1 cup buttermilk (I used soy creamer soured with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Glaze:(optional) 2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar or sanding sugar

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. With pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add diced dried fruit and pecans. Combine buttermilk and orange peel in a bowl or measuring cup. Pour over crumb mixture. Stir together with fork just until mixture comes together. Gather dough gently into a ball; knead 4 or 5 times.

Cut dough in half and transfer pieces to prepared cookie sheets. Shape each piece into a 6 inch x 1/4 inch thick circles, 2 inches apart. Using floured knife, cut each circle into 8 wedges. You will have two circles, cut into 16 scones.

For glaze, if using, brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 16 scones.

Golden Beet Salad

As we come to March we enter the time between seasons, still enjoying winter's sturdy and hearty foods while beginning to want the lighter food of spring, along with their zing. This salad fits that transition with the delicious golden beets of winter and the mixed greens and citrus dressing for the whispy part. Walnuts add crunch and remind me of fall while the orange segments lean towards spring. Most of all it's delicious!

We start by roasting the beets, then letting them cool before peeling them and cutting them into wedges. While the oven is hot, it's easy to toast the walnuts which brings out their flavor. Next comes the citrus and walnut oil dressing. Some mustard and finely chopped Italian parsley add savory elements that provide counterpoint to the sweetness of the roasted beets and the oranges. 

If you like, this salad would also be good with the addition of some salty feta cheese or some pungent blue cheese.

Once you dress the greens, I doubt that this salad would keep well, but we didn't find out...Sweetie had a second helping and finished it off!

This is my own recipe, but you can probably find similar ones on the internet. For the dressing I used Penzey's Spices dried orange and lemon peel, but it would probably be even better with fresh zest of oranges and lemons. Do use fresh lemon juice for the dressing. I have some Meyer lemons from my lemon bush and they were great, but lemons from the market work well, too. If you don't have walnut oil, a good olive oil will work well, too. Fresh orange segments instead of canned would be even better, but canned was what I had on hand and they were fine.

Golden Beet Salad with Toasted Walnuts

3-4 golden beets (1 bunch), tops removed for another use
spray olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts...pieces are OK
1 small shallot, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon each lemon and orange zest (I used equivalent dried peel)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt or garlic salt and pepper to taste...I used about 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped leaves of Italian parsley; discard stems
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, seeds removed
1/3 cup walnut oil
1/2 cup mandarin orange segments, fresh or canned/drained
6-8 cups fresh, washed and dried, spring mix lettuce or arugula

Wash the beets to remove any soil, then cut in half (or quarters if large) and place on foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil. Roast in preheated 425 degree F oven for 25-45 minutes, until a skewer easily goes into center of pieces. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove skin and discard. Slice the beets into wedges. Set aside.

While the oven is still hot, toast the walnuts for 5-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until toasted. You will smell walnuts when toasted. Remove from oven, cool, chop roughly and set aside.

While beets are cooling, make the dressing. Combine the shallot, citrus zests, mustard, salt or garlic salt and pepper, Italian parsley, lemon juice, and walnut oil in a jar. Close lid tightly and shake until all ingredients are well blended and dressing thickens slightly. Set aside to allow flavors to meld. Right before dressing the greens, shake again and taste. Adjust by adding zest, salt, pepper and/or lemon juice as needed. It should be tangy.

When ready to serve the salad, place the spring mix in a large bowl. Add about 2/3 of the dressing; reserve any left for another salad or another use. Toss with salad fork and spoon or tongs to completely but lightly coat the leaves of the greens. If needed add more dressing, but less is best. Pile the dressed greens on a serving platter.

Add the beet wedges to the bowl that held the greens. Toss to coat with the dressing in the bowl. This is just to add a bit of shine to the beets...they don't need to be coated with dressing. Scatter the beets over the greens, then scatter over the mandarin orange segments. Top everything with the toasted chopped walnuts and serve at once.

Abbey the Pup's Second Birthday

My good friend Paula has an adorable puppy, Abbey. She just had her second birthday, so we made her a cake! Of course she didn't get to eat any of it, but I did since we made it with non-dairy ingredients, from scratch.

It was a delicious vanilla white cake with confectioners sugar icing and coconut. I made a bone shape from edible paper and decorated it with Abbey's name in pink royal icing, dolled up with some gold dragees around the edges, anchored with more pink royal icing. We had so much fun baking together and the cake was very moist and good. Abbey did get some vanilla ice cream, but I passed on that!

I'll have to get the recipe from Paula for the cake and icing. Both use coconut milk or coconut cream which helps keep it moist. Isn't it pretty?

About Feeding My Enthusiasms Index

Two years ago I posted a note about how to use the dates in the Index to go to the desired recipe.

I've been trying hard to make sure that each new post get put into the Index...but may have slipped up a couple of times.

To get to the Index, use Web Version and on the right hand column, near but not at the top, there is a photo of a table set on a rust colored cloth (like the photo above). If you click on that photo, it takes you to the Index.

The Index is broken up by alphabet. There are also focused collections for bread, cake and cookies.

INDEX LINK HERE

When you click on the date (in the indexes), it will take you to the post that contains that recipe. Don't be fooled by the photo...sometimes the photo and the food don't go together, but scroll down and you will, indeed, find the recipe for the linked item. 

Babes Do An Italian Bake

This has been a very social week, probably because of my birthday...was treated to breakfast, lunch, and dinner by different neighbors on the actual birthday, plus have been taken out to lunch a few days before. Partly because of that, I'm posting last minute...but it's worth the wait.

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen is our fabulous Kitchen of the Month and she chose a layered bread from Italy, Sfincione Bagharese, for February. I made half the recipe given because we've already indulged quite a bit, so didn't need to be tempted by too much delicious freshly baked bread. I also left out all the cheese and added in some chopped walnuts to the bread crumb topping, plus used almond milk ricotta instead of the regular dairy based ricotta cheese. Having an extreme allergy to dairy can be a trial with this kind of recipe which uses a number of different cheeses. My bread probably tastes nothing like the real thing, but it's still a great bread. Sweetie had two pieces, I had one, and the rest went to a neighbor because, hello, we have had an indulgent weekend.

I made my dough fairly hydrated since it was going to go into a flat pan and didn't need to hold it's shape on its own. Even so, the crumb had small holes not large ones like you sometimes get with wet dough, but it is moist. I used all-purpose flour and bread flour and topped it with the onions, the ricotta and a bread crumb mixture that included Greek herb mix instead of oregano, plus chopped walnuts and a touch of olive oil since there is no cheese... the oil will helped the crumbs hold together and would have browned nicely if I had been watching. Instead, the top burned a bit, but still tasted great. It was a fragrant as well as delicious bread so I encourage you to make it. 

Do consider becoming a Buddy. Bake your version of this bread, then send Aparna the URL of your post, a brief description of the bake and a photo. She'll send you a badge and will post your bread in the round-up. Deadline to email Aparna is Feb. 28th.

Be sure to check out the breads baked by the other Bread Baking Babes, too. There are always inventive takes on our monthly bread challenge.

SFINCIONE BAGHARESE

(Partly adapted from here and other sources on the net)

INGREDIENTS :

For the Poolish :

150 g plain flour

150 ml water

1 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

For the Dough :

All the Poolish from above

150 gm all-purpose flour

250 gm semolina flour (I used bread flour)

300 ml water (more or less)

30 ml olive oil

15 gm salt

For the Onion Layer :

4 to 5 medium sized onions

20 to 30 ml olive oil

Salt to taste

For the Cheese Layer : I skipped most of this layer due to dairy allergies

10 to 12 anchovies in oil

300 gm Tuma or Primo Sale cheese, sliced

400 gm Ricotta, sliced

For the Breadcrumbs Layer :

Some chopped scallions (if you can find them)

4 to 6 slices of fresh bread

100 gm grated Caciocavallo cheese (left out)

Salt to taste

Red chilli flakes or crushed pepper to taste

1 tsp dried oregano

 

Also two very well oiled round 23cm trays

 

HOW TO MAKE IT :

Make the Poolish by mixing together in a medium sized bowl the flour, dry yeast, sugar, and water until a sticky dough is obtained. Add more water if necessary to achieve this. Cover loosely with a plastic film and leave to rise for about 2 hours. The polish should be somewhat bubbly and have doubled in size.

 

Make the dough by hand or use a kneading machine. Mix together the flours, water (more or less as required), oil and the poolish. The dough will be sticky. Add the salt and knead till it is soft, very pliable and smooth. Shape it into a round and place it in a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it to rise till double in volume. Mine took about 2 hours.

Cook the onions. While the dough is rising, get the toppings ready. Heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Sprinkle a little salt and cook the onions on low to medium heat until they turn translucent and soft. Do not brown or caramelize them. If they turn too dry, sprinkle a little water while cooking them. Take the pan off heat and let them cool to room temperature.

Prepare the breadcrumb mixture. Run the bread slices (with or without crusts) in a food processor to make the crumbs. Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Mix together with the oil, salt, red chilli flakes (or crushed pepper) chopped scallions/ spring onions, oregano and grated cheese. The texture should be of loose but moist crumbs.

 Once the dough has risen, gently knead to deflate it. Divide it into two equal portions. Press out each portion into a roughly 9-inch circle (or oval) using your fingers. If the dough feels sticky, oil your fingers lightly. Place in the oiled trays. I used a pie dish. Let the dough rise again, for about an hour till almost double in thickness and quite puffy.

Top with anchovy, then the cooked onions. Next comes the Ricotta and Tuma/ Primo Sale cheeses. Make sure to cover the surface of the dough evenly. Finish layering by spreading the breadcrumb mixture on the top.

 Bake the Sfincione at 250C (480F) on the bottom shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. The underneath of the bread should become golden and crisp. Then move the pan to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until it is crisp and golden brown on the top as well. Remove from the oven and let it cool.

Cut and serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Birthday Memories

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a nut about birthdays. I love to celebrate birthdays, especially other people's. I love to make birthday cakes, too. When I was a child, as soon as I was old enough to make a layer cake, I became the family birthday cake maker most of the time, which was great. Who can hate birthday cake? This past weekend was full of great birthday memories.

This is the cake I was trying for...I even wrote in what icing tips to use!

Day before yesterday my awesome daughter and I made great memories as we each decorated a chocolate cake we had baked earlier. We both have an Alexa device with screen, so she could see and hear me and I could see and hear her. There was a lot of laughter! When close ups were needed, we FaceTimed. So why did we decide to spend a Saturday morning making buttercream and decorating cakes? Well, King Arthur Baking sent out a catalog with a heart shaped cake on the cover and it was stunning. The bakers had used a variety of decorating tips and colors to cover the cake all over the top with buttercream rosettes. I immediately wanted to try my hand at that, despite the fact that my skills in that department are pretty rusty. For Kate it was a completely new experience. She even bought a thirty tip cake decorating kit so she had a wide variety of possible shapes. She got an awesome buttercream recipe from a neighbor who makes cakes all the time. I should have used that recipe.

My cake turned out to be a "Nailed It" kind of cake. You'll understand what that means if you have ever watched the Netflix show Nailed It. Bakers who are not skilled in the kitchen compete for prizes by making very complicated sweet baked creations that I think were mostly inspired by professional baked goods found on Pinterest. To make it even harder, the time allowed is much too short. The results are hilarious and each contestant says, enthusiastically, "Nailed It!" when they present their fairly strange looking approximation of the one shown at the beginning.

Not a terrible cake, but nothing like the King Arthur one or the even more beautiful one Kate made.

Why, you ask, did I have trouble? Well, this was the first time I was trying to make my favorite buttercream not using actual butter. I guess the margarine and plant based 'butter' just had too much water or something, because the buttercream broke and all the usual ways to fix it didn't work. The uncolored buttercream was OK but too soft, but once I started adding color, it was a disaster. The color only mixed partially with the icing. I did end up with something that wasn't too bad, but it was nothing like what I was going for, and nothing like the gorgeous creation my daughter made. Check it out! This is her's:

Isn't it awesome !!?

Even with my disaster with buttercream, it was a wonderful morning. I still had a cake for later, Kate created a beautiful cake and expanded her cake decorating skills,  we had the best time together, and that best time together was my birthday present...one of the awesome kind, where memories are made.

On Sunday Sweetie and I took my cake to a birthday lunch and shared it and even though it was fairly plain looking, it was really, really delicious. Looks aren't everything, which is probably a good mantra for being a year older, too.

Happy Birthday to me!

She Said...

When you are little it often seems like life will be a series of shoulds...you should go to school, make friends, learn how to drive, graduate, get a job/career and/or get married, have kids...and maybe a dog or cat or both, buy a car, buy a house, have a hobby or volunteer or read a lot of books or watch a lot of TV/movies are all of those, in any combination, plus a few vacations.

In reality very few of us get that standard issue life. We find it hard to make friends, or we don't have a stable home life, so the rest gets off to a poor start, or we find out that we have a vision issue and can't drive, or we flunk out, or there is a recession and finding a job is hard, and so on.

Perhaps the relationship thing is the one that is most expected...but then you find that you are gay or trans or non-binary and it gets complicated. Perhaps you fall in love but it isn't returned, or the person you love dies young, or any number of other scenarios that fill books and movies and TV, or...most common I think...you never meet the right person, the perfect fit. 

Still, sometimes it's just easier to do it the hard way, as my son would say, and so you keep on keeping on and you figure out who you are and hopefully get to like yourself, at least a little, and you get lucky. I still think that luck plays a big part in chunks of our lives.

I was lucky to meet my Sweetie. Our neighbors had a hand in it, throwing us together when they could, until we realized that we wanted to get to know each other better.

Our awesome, talented, gifted, and wonderful daughter had a winding road in the earlier part of her life, but she got lucky, too. She found her person and he found his in her. Sweetie and I like him a lot, but that's icing on the cake...what's important is that she likes him a lot, and loves him, too. And the love is returned.

At Christmas he found a few moments when he knew she wouldn't be around and when Sweetie and I were together and alone...and he asked us if we would support his asking our daughter to marry him. We were thrilled and agreed, but then had to wait and keep it a secret until he asked her. Wasn't easy.

And she said 'Yes!' this past weekend. He is her person and she is his person and at least one of those dreams from when she was little has come true. I couldn't be happier.

Garlic, Garlic, Garlic

Lots of Garlic!

If you like garlic and chicken and lemon and yogurt and Mediterranean seasonings, this dish is for you!

They say that the second time's the charm...hope so since this is the second time I'm writing this up to post. I had it all ready, photos and all, and while I was looking to see what month and year the magazine Bon Appetit had printed this recipe, I knocked the magazine against the mouse and somehow erased the whole post! Let's try again.

Sometimes I have trouble getting to sleep. If I've just finished a book, as happened a few nights ago, I often will look at an old issue of a magazine. Bon Appetit are my favorites ones. Going to sleep with visions of a good meal in my head is a great way to do it. That's exactly what happened because I found this recipe, Za'atar Chicken with Garlicky Yogurt. I picked up a few things at the grocery store the next day, but not everything I needed because that would require organization, something that seems to have gone out the window with the pandemic. So, the next day when I made it, I substituted a yellow onion for the red onion, some minced cilantro for the coriander, and low fat Greek yogurt instead of whole milk yogurt.

I do recommend getting chicken with skin on it because the roasting produced lovely, crackly skin. Za'atar is a blend of sumac, dried herbs, and sesame seeds. It can usually be found at Middle Eastern markets, specialty foods stores and online. I buy mine at Penzey's Spices and theirs is delicious.

I served mine with some pine nut couscous from a package, reconstituted with boiled chicken broth. I also served a couple of grilled zucchini. Each cut side was sprinkled with, what else?, garlic salt. It was a great combination and the couscous soaked up the garlicky yogurt sauce, roasted garlic cloves, and oily za'atar drizzle and chicken juices beautifully.

Za'atar Chicken with Garlicky Yogurt

form Bon Appetit magazine, April 2019 issue

4 chicken legs (although I only used thigh pieces with skin on), about 2 1/2 pounds total

2 medium red onions, cut into 1"-thick wedges (although I used yellow onions)

2 heads garlic, halved crosswise, plus 2 cloves garlic
1 lemon, quartered, seeds removed
Kosher salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (although I used low-fat)
3 tablespoons za'atar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (and I added the juice of the lime to the za'atar drizzle, too)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Arrange chicken, onions, halved garlic heads, and lemon in a 13"x9" baking dish; season liberally with salt (including on both sides of chicken pieces). Pour in oil and toss everything to coat. Turn garlic cut side down and nestle it in so it is in contact with the the baking dish. Roast, rotating pan halfway through, until meat is almost falling off the bone, 50-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely grate 1 clove garlic into a small bowl. Add yogurt, a big pinch salt, and 1 tablespoon water and mix well. Set aside to come to room temperature.

Remove baking dish from oven and transfer onions, garlic, and lemon to a plate. Cover with foil to keep warm. 

Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. and continue to roast chicken until skin is golden brown, 10-15 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, cover with foil to keep warm, and let rest 10 minutes. Set aside pan juices.

Finely grate the remaining garlic clove into another small bowl. Add za'atar, coriander, lemon zest, lime zest and lime juice. Mix to combine. Pour about 1/3 cup reserved pan juices into za'atar mixture until you've reached an oily, drizzle, consistency. Mix in a pinch of salt.

Spread reserved yogurt mixture over a platter and arrange chicken over top. Scatter onion, garlic, and lemon around; drizzle it all with the za'atar oil mixture. Serve at once.

Butternut Squash in a Quiche

I'm a firm believer that you can put almost anything savory in a quiche. If you look at the index of recipes, you'll see that I've made quite a few variations. The first quiche I ever made was quiche lorraine, a classic for a reason. Now that I only have one kind of cheese that I cook or bake with (almond milk ricotta), the frequency of making quiche has gone down. Still, every once in a while I feel the need, and this time it was joined by the need to use up some recently roasted butternut squash.

In case you don't have any roasted butternut squash in your fridge, let me remind you how easy it is to make. You take a butternut squash, any size really, and carefully cut it in half from stem to blossom end. You scoop out the seeds and stringy bits in the seed cavity, line a baking sheet with foil, spray the foil with cooking spray, then put both squash halves on the foil, cut side down. Roast at 450 degrees F until the squash is tender. I check by poking a sharp knife into the squash...it should slide in easily. Let the squash cool, peel it, and you are ready to use it. 

This quiche is a nice combination of slices of the butternut squash, slices of cooked Italian sausage, some lightly steamed miners lettuce (or spinach), chopped, and a custard flavored with Italian seasoning and thyme, salt and pepper. You layer the ingredients into a blind-baked pie crust, then pour in the custard and bake. Pretty easy and quite good. You could even use a frozen pie crust. I actually use the pre-made pie dough circles found in the market (Pillsbury ReadyCrusts in my case). Using pre-made pie dough makes this go together very quickly and this kind of quiche is always a hit.

So this is the first time that I've picked and used miners lettuce. It grows wild on our property and this is the perfect time of year to use it, before it flowers. I have a planter that's high enough so the lettuce is pristine and it's also easier to pick being a little higher. My knees have been bothering me lately, so kneeling down to pick greens isn't happening! Still, it's nice to be able to use farm fresh greens in the quiche. Miner's lettuce is pretty mild in flavor, but you can tell it's there. I mixed it into the custard, so a lot of it floated to the top. As you can see from the bottom photo, it cooks down quite a bit...I may have less than 1/2 cup here, but close to that amount.

Tip: If you use a pound of dried beans as pie weights as I do, save them once they have cooled off and you can use them again and again as pie weights...just don't plan on cooking them to eat. At about a dollar and a half for a bag of dried beans, it sure beats the almost $9 you would pay for Pie Weights from King Arthur or a similar amount at Sur la Table.

Quiche with Miner's Lettuce, Butternut Squash and Bacon

1 9inch pie shell, blind baked at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes (recipe follows)

½ cup cooked, chopped and drained miner's lettuce or baby spinach, leaves only

½ cup ricotta cheese, crumbled
½ small butternut squash, roasted, skinned, and sliced thinly
1 cooked Italian sausage, sliced
3 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 ½ cups evaporated milk, or light cream, or soy creamer
¼ teaspoon salt
dash pepper
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie shell with the ricotta cheese, distributing evenly. Place the butternut quash slices evenly over the other ingredients. Distribute the sliced sausage evenly over the ingredients in the pie shell.  Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk and beat with a fork to combine, add the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, thyme, and steamed and chopped miner's lettuce, and beat with a fork to combine.

Pour the egg/milk mixture over the ingredients in the pie shell. Place in the preheated oven and bake 30-45 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.
Serves 6-8

Pastry Pie Shell

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chilled butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or two knives, until particles the size of dried peas are formed.

In a small bowl mix together the egg, ice water and lemon juice (if using). Sprinkle over the flour mixture and toss with a fork lightly. Do not over mix. Gather the particles together in a ball. Wrap airtight and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface until large enough to fill a 9 inch pie pan with some overlap.

Fit into a 9 inch pie pan, smooth to fit, trip excess , tuck edges under and crimp as for any pie crust. Prick lightly all over the surface with a fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and cover with a circle of parchment paper. Fill the paper with beans or pie weights (blind baking the crust).

Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 – 12 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove and save the beans or pie weights. Fill with filling as called for in recipes needing a pie shell.