Baking in Redmond

 

Had a lovely time in Redmond with the family last weekend. One of the fun things that I try to do each time with my high-school aged grandson is to bake something. This time it was a pie baked in a cast iron skillet, in this case Apple Caramel pie. He peeled the apples and made the caramel. I cored and cut the apples into slices, mixed them with corn starch and microwaved them, lined the skillet with a ready made pie dough round, mixed in some caramel and loaded up the pie filling, then topped it with another pie dough round, sealed it, cut slits, did a cream wash and sanding sugar on top and baked it. It was delicious! A small scoop of ice cream and additional caramel drizzled on top made each piece irresistible. 

Another baking project, this time done with my daughter, was a multi-layered key lime pie cake. I'm including photos as we went along, but not a recipe because we found the recipe to be far from helpful for a few of the components. The key lime curd was wonderful and so were the cake and the graham crumbles, but two other parts were way too liquid. One was repurposed into cake batter and the other took a lot of additional ingredients to become thick enough to use. We were able to use that thickened ingredient plus some of the graham fine crumbs to make an icing for the top that worked well for flavor and texture, but it was quite a journey to get it all to work together. The cake itself was delicious and impressive and quite like a mash-up of key lime pie and cake. I'm not even going to mention the cookbook because I think that there were mis-steps made in stepping down the amounts of ingredients between the industrial version of the cake and the recipe in the cookbook. Not throwing any stones...it's pretty difficult to scale some recipes.

Piping filling over first layer of cake that has been brushed with lime juice. This filling ended up leaking...too runny!

The graham cracker crumbles...made in advance...get added next.

The lime curd, also made in advance, is put into the piping bag, then piped over the crumbles. This element was super delicious!

Isn't that curd yummy looking?

More cake, more Key lime juice, more runny filling, more graham crumbles.

Cake ...three layers... ready for the freezer.

Finished cake, ready to serve. An additional layer of graham buttercream and more crumbles were added and then more freezer time before serving.

Now we're looking forward to creating a multi-layered cake for Sweetie's birthday in mid-March, plus a few other treats, so there should be some recipes then to share...and photos!

Berries in a Dutch Baby

A recent breakfast that Sweetie and I shared. 

What's Up?

 Sometimes I don't have a recipe for you, just some info on what's current in my world. This post is one of them, so snow day for you if that is of no interest to you.

Sweetie and I just finished a project and it turned out really well. He and I sometimes have differing visions when we do these projects, but this time he had me pick the vanity for the downstairs bath and pick the top and basin and the spout, handles and drain. He got to pick the kind of plumbing stuff he wanted to use, what he wanted to do with the old vanity, how he wanted to get the heavy (about 250 pounds!) new vanity inside and how he wanted to trim out the gap between the vanity sides and the wall. Seems like a good division to me.

The photo at the top is of the new vanity, installed. You can't see it, but many of those marvelous new soft-close drawers are filled, outfitted with bamboo dividers in some cases. The old vanity had one large drawer, so everything was easily jumbled. This is so much better! The quartz countertop is also easily cleaned. The sink is oval and porcelain so it's easy to clean, too. One of the best things is that there is no longer tile, so no grout! My sister likes that it is also taller. I think the counter top is about three inches higher than the old one. Since most of the folks in my family are tall, this is a good thing.

Thanks go to Straight Shooter for helping to get the new vanity up some stairs and into the house, and to our great neighbor G who helped move the new vanity into the space created for it when it was time, and for later helping to bring in the new countertop and basin. His most crucial help was in loosening a piece of plumbing. None of the rest would have happened without his help!

G's wife invited us to dinner during the project and she served a family appetizer, which she described as chunks of bread dipped in a cheese batter, pan fried, then sprinkled with paprika. It was delicious and I'm hoping to get the recipe to share with you. The photo is below.

Squash and Peanut Stew For A Chilly Night

I don't know about you, but I love to find new recipes that I can almost taste just reading them. That happened when I saw this one for a lovely began stew that's based on winter squash, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and peanut butter. Although I'm not a big fan of cumin (so I used far less than the recipe calls for) I knew that it was a necessary component of the big flavors that this dish brings to the bowl.

This Washington Post recipe by food writer Joy Manning as given to us by Washington Post writer G Daniela Galarza is a tribute to President Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who was our President when times were a bit simpler. Daniela calls it "a squash and peanut stew: packed with vegetables, seasoned with warm spices and easy to adapt." I know the adapt part is correct because I swapped out the kabocha squash for butternut squash and I changed the spices a bit, too.  I love the ginger especially...it adds a lot of oomph. Sweetie loved this (which is huge for a guy who wants meat in every meal) and said it was surprisingly filling...and to keep the recipe on rotation!

Kabocha Squash and Peanut Stew

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat gently over low heat and do not let the stew come to a boil, as it may separate.

Servings: 6 to 8
Total time: 50 mins

Ingredients

·        1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

·        1 large yellow onion (12 ounces), chopped

·        1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into small dice (1 cup)

·        1 medium green bell pepper (I used orange bell pepper), cored, seeded and cut into small dice (1 cup)

·        1 tablespoon tomato paste

·        One (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

·        3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated

·        1 teaspoon cumin seeds

·        1 teaspoon ground coriander

·        1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

·        2 cups (10 ounces) peeled, cubed kabocha squash (from one 14- to 16-ounce squash)(I used butternut squash)

·        4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably no-salt-added

·        One (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with their juices

·        1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

·        1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, plus more for serving

·        2 jalapeños (seeded or not), ground to a paste with the flat side of a knife or mortar and pestle, for serving

·        1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, for serving

Steps

1. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and bell peppers, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes.

2. Add the tomato paste, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and salt, and cook until the mixture is aromatic and the tomato paste darkens slightly, about 1 minute. Add the squash and stir to coat.

3. Add the broth and crushed tomatoes, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low — enough heat to maintain a simmer — and cook, uncovered, until the squash is so tender it breaks apart easily, about 20 minutes,

4. In a medium bowl, thin the peanut butter with a ladleful of the stew, stirring until smooth and pourable. Scrape the peanut butter mixture into the pot, and stir to combine. Add the cilantro leaves.

5. Use a potato masher to break up the squash, leaving some pieces intact for a chunky texture.

6. Serve with the jalapeño paste, chopped peanuts and more cilantro leaves.