Another Kringle

One of our favorite Christmas day treats is a Raspberry Almond Kringle pastry. I usually make the pastry part the night before and then add the jam and almonds and drizzle on Christmas morning.

This past week I had a work day in town with fellow P.E.O. scholarship nonprofit members as we prepared for an upcoming state convention. Our Sebastopol chapter is a hostess chapter this year.

It was also the birthday of our chapter AJ delegate to convention, so we had a surprise birthday party for her. Since it was a morning gathering, with coffee, I decided to bake and bring the Christmas morning pastry, but without the almond paste. Now that I've had it both ways, I do like it better with the almond paste, but it's still very tasty...and easier, plus less expensive...without the almond paste.

You can easily tailor this to your own taste buds by using a different flavor of jam, adding another kind  of nut or even a different nut paste instead of almond paste...a pistachio paste and strawberry jam sounds yum!...or adding a citrus zest to the dough or the drizzle...you get the idea.

If you need to have it ready early as I did, bake the bottom pastry, top it with the cream puff pastry and bake it, then wrap well and leave it on the counter overnight. In the morning unwrap, add jam, nuts and the confectioners sugar drizzle and you're ready to serve. If you cut small pieces this can serve quite a few people, but it's hard to eat a small piece and to not want another one! Plan accordingly, right? 

Almond Raspberry Kringle
Based on a recipe from King Arthur Flour

BASE

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, cut into pats
• 1 cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cold water

PASTRY TOPPING

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
•  3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

FILLING

• about 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds

GLAZE

• 1 cup confectioners'  sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk, enough to make a thick but pourable glaze
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1.    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) a baking sheet that's at least 18" x 13"; or a 14" round pizza pan.
 

2.    To make the base: Combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt, mixing until crumbly. I used a pastry blender to cut the fat into the flour mixture. Add the water, and stir to make a soft, sticky dough. I used a fork and added the water slowly as I do for pie crust.

3.    Wet your hands, pick up the dough, and shape it into a 12" x 8" oval ring on the sheet pan; or a 10" ring in the pizza pan. This will be messy going, but just keep wetting your fingers and pushing it into a ring. An easy way to approach this is to first divide the dough into four pieces; roll each piece into a 9" rope, then connect the ropes and shape them into a ring.

4.    Once you've made the ring, flatten the dough so it's about 1 1/2" wide; basically, it'll look like a train or NASCAR track. 

5.    To make the pastry topping: Place the water, butter, and salt in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the margarine is melted and the mixture is boiling.

6.    Immediately add the flour, stirring with a spatula until the mixture is cohesive and starts to form a ball.

7.    Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add the almond extract at the end.

8.    Spread the pastry along the ring, covering it completely; you'll now have a much wider ring, though it won't be completely closed in the center; it should still look like a ring.

9.    Bake the kringle for 50 to 60 minutes, until it's a deep golden brown. When the kringle is done, remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool completely on the pan.

10. To add the filling: First, have the sliced almonds all ready beside the pan of kringle; you'll be sprinkling them atop the jam as soon as you put it on.

11.    Stir the jam with a fork to break it up and then spread it over the kringle in a thin, even layer, mostly in the middle. Sprinkle sliced almonds atop the raspberry jam, pressing them in gently. Allow the kringle to cool completely.

12.    To make the glaze: Stir together the confectioners' sugar, salt, almond extract and enough milk to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle it over the kringle.

13.    To serve, cut the kringle in 2" slices.

If you prefer, you can bake the base, and cooked dough topping the day before serving, then wrap well and let sit on the counter overnight. In the morning add the jam, almonds and glaze. 

As long as I'm posting, I want to show you Sweetie's fishermen's hat I repaired yesterday. He has had this hat for a long time and it's his favorite. It also look really good on him, so it was worth repairing when the liner shredded from too many years of wear...and then the crown started to have a slit.

First I used an iron-on mending patch to fix the crown. This is a wool cap, but I used a sturdy twill patch in the same color. Well. similar color. The hat is showing a lot of fading in various places, so it's more charcoal than black. Then I cut out a tissue pattern for the liner and used some heavy weight black silk charmeuse that I had from a previous project to cut an oval to replace the old liner. A couple sessions of hand sewing and he had his cap back. It still looks kinda beat up, but he likes it that way. The hat will probably fall apart before that new liner shreds, so it's good to go for another 10 years or so.

Another piece of my week is the garden. Despite it being only mid-April, many of the iris are finished blooming and we even have a daylily in bloom. They usually bloom in July! Everything seems fast-forwarded this year, but we are still getting rain this coming week and nights have returned to being chilly. The Black Krim tomato starts that I bought today at the hardware store will have to stay in the sunspace for a week or so until the nights warm up a bit. I might plant one to see if the fast-forward effect works on container plants, too. Anyway, I'll finsih off with a photo of a daisy in the garden. It's almost as big as my hand!

Ways With Chicken To A Pot Pie

 I don't know about you, but my family eats a lot of chicken. Sweetie likes boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I'm a fan of a whole roast chicken. It's been years since I've had them, but I enjoy fried chicken breasts and drumsticks. And then there are all the things you can make with already cooked chicken. Chicken Pot Pie is one of my favorites and what we had for dinner.

A few days ago our market had a special on whole chickens...$2.99 a pound. These were plump organic chickens and looked so good that I bought one...for just under $10. Once home I roasted it with some onions and Yukon potatoes and some lemons and one mandarin orange, plus herbs. Delicious! Yesterday I took the rest of the cooked chicken off the bones and then added water to the pot...and simmered it all, including the bones, into a rich broth.

Today I made pot pie, using the leftover chicken, the broth, some sautéed onions, garlic, carrot and mushrooms, more herbs, some boiled potatoes, some microwaved frozen mixed veggies and a bit of this and that. Heated together, topped with a pie dough round and baked in a hot oven just until the pie dough was golden, it made a wonderful Chicken Pot Pie for a rainy evening.

We shared it with Rainbow Girl, my great friend from Oregon, who visited for a couple of days. Good times!

Chicken Pot Pie with Pastry Topper

3-4 yellow Finn potatoes (or Yukon gold), washed and cubed

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2-3 carrots, sliced into half-coins

5-6 large mushrooms, halved, then sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

2  - 2 1/2 cups cooked, cubed chicken (I used chicken from a roasted full chicken)

1 - 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 round (half package) pre-rolled pie dough, like ReadyCrust

 In a large pot with a lid, add the cubed potatoes to enough water to cover. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife.

When potatoes are cooked, drain them, but keep them warm.

 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

 Meanwhile, prepare the onion, carrots, mushrooms and garlic:

 Melt the butter in the pot the potatoes were cooked in. Add the onion and carrots. Over medium heat, cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until onion is beginning to be translucent. Add mushrooms and cover. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, for another 3-5 minutes, until mushrooms have released their liquid and liquid has cooked off. Add garlic and stir. Cook another 30 second.

 Add the flour, poultry seasoning, dried thyme and salt and pepper to taste to the cooked veggies. Stir for 1 minutes to allow the flour to cook a bit.

 In a large measuring cup, measure the chicken broth. Add the milk. Stir this mixture, all at once, into the veggie/flour mixture and continue stirring over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly. It's OK if mixture bubbles a bit once it has thickened.

 Add the cubed chicken and stir to combine.

In a microwave safe container, cook the frozen mixed vegetables for 1-2 minutes to warm. Add warmed mixed vegetables to the pot with the chicken and sautéed veggies. Add the warm, cooked and drained, potatoes. Stir to combine everything, then spoon mixture into a greased round casserole. Top with pie crust and cut vents. Bake in preheated oven, in center, until the crust is golden brown and pot pie mixture is bubbling. Remove from oven.  Serve at once, including some of the crust in each serving.

 Makes 6-8 servings.

Oldie and Goodie with Fresh Spinach

One of the posts that are most often accessed on this blog is the one for Spinach Rice Casserole, a wonderful recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook...a throwback to 1977!

In the past I've always made it with thawed frozen spinach, because it's easy and works well. Yesterday I made it with fresh baby spinach because Sweetie brought home fresh spinach instead of fresh mixed greens. It's an easy mistake because the local greens...both kinds... are packaged in plastic bags with no labels. Unless you look closely, they all look the same.

So why do I need greens instead of baby spinach? You can make a great salad with baby spinach. The reason is that the oxalic acid in spinach doesn't get along with my kidneys and causes stones. So, I don't usually eat much spinach, even though I love it. 

Since I had the fresh spinach I knew that this casserole was a great place to use some of it up. There isn't enough in the casserole to cause a problem unless I eat a huge amount of it, which I won't. I cut the recipe in half and baked it in an 8-inch by 8-inch glass baking dish.

So you get to see this great recipe again, AND learn how to make it with fresh spinach! I did make two changes... I used soy sauce instead of tamari and I increased the sunflower seeds so that they pretty much covered the top of the casserole. You will still have a great dish is you just use the amount given in the recipe.

Spinach-Rice Casserole
based on a recipe from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, 1977

2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (More, to taste)
3 tablespoons butter (I used 2 tablespoons olive oil)
2 lbs. raw, chopped spinach
4 cups cooked brown rice
4 beaten eggs (I used the equivalent amount of egg substitute)
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons tamari (optional)
a few dashes each - nutmeg, cayenne
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
paprika

Saute' onions and garlic with the salt in butter (or oil). When onions are soft, add spinach (I sort of stacked the spinach and cut in one direction about 1/2 inch apart, then turned the cutting board and cut crosswise. It took some time to cut all that spinach!). Cook 2 minutes. (Alternately, thaw and drain a 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach. Add to onion mixture, but don't cook any further.)
Combine the onion mixture with the brown rice, eggs, milk, cheese, parsley, tamari, nutmeg, cayenne. Spread into buttered casserole and sprinkle sunflower seeds, paprika on top.
Bake, covered, 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Serves 4 - 6

Happy Easter - Happy Spring!

 Doing egg dying the old fashioned way with boiling water, vinegar and food coloring, I made these yesterday. A few went to a friend, Paula, in a sort of Easter basket, and the rest will decorate the table today for lunch with old and cherished friends from Healdsburg. Thought of Dad and how he would decorate eggs long after the 'kids' had left home. Those coming for Easter would often find an egg with their name on it...a resist process using either crayons or wax.

Have a Happy Day!