A Day Off

Life sometimes hands you an unexpected day. Mine was today. I thought that I had a day off...nothing scheduled on the calendar. That happens less frequently than you might think. Then I read my e-mail and made a phone call to an old and very dear girlfriend who was not feeling well on Monday (I took her to her doctor's office at her request) but was feeling even worse today.

Sweetie waved me off with a smile as I went to pick my friend up to take her to the hospital emergency room. He was happy that I was able to help her out since it was a day off. He also was planning on crawling around below the house seeing what he could do for something with straps and knew that he would have lots of time to do so without interruption.

My friend and I headed to the new Sutter hospital in Santa Rosa. She wasn't ill enough to need an ambulance, thank heavens. Neither of us had been to this facility but it is right next door to a place where my daughter used to work, so I knew the way.

Everyone was outstanding in the ER, and the equipment is brand new and does everything but stand on it's head and clap. My friend is doing better and they figured out what was wrong, but we were there from 9:20 am and I left at about 4:15 pm. A long day off, but a satisfying one. I was able to help explain her symptoms, to help with the hospital gown, to keep her company, tuck in the blanket when her feet got cold, keep her from getting bored by telling her Pohnpei stories that Sweetie told me, and get her to laugh later in the day. We have over ten years of friendship so we know each other pretty well.

All in all, it was an interesting day off. I know she would do the same for me, anytime. A good day.

No food today...too tired to cook.

Fresh Red Peppers Stuffed with Barley and Mushrooms

Things have been busy in my neck of the woods. On Sunday Sweetie and I decided to take some cars for test drives. We have been looking at cars in parking lots and as we drive around for about a year, knowing that our beloved Toyota 4Runner is getter older and might need to be replaced. Sweetie has also done lots and lots of research on recent car statistics and I even spent time reading about different ones in a magazine and Consumer Reports and online at Edwards (or is it Edmunds?) so that I had a small amount of knowledge for the search. The last time we actually did the test driving dance was about 22 years ago when we bought the Astro van that was put to good use for many years carrying kids to volleyball and soccer games, plus taking us all on trips and some of us on camping trips. That time I was suffering through a head cold and just wanted to buy something and go home.

This time I was excited about trying different cars, but we promised each other that we wouldn't buy anything on Sunday. Silly us, we always buy the same day. Turns out we did this time, too, and are now the happy owners of a Honda Ridgeline, which is a combination of a car and a truck. Sorry no photo yet, but I'll post one tomorrow. It has a car like ride but a truck back window and truck bed for hauling stuff. Will be selling the 4Runner soon, although it seems to be running just fine. I think the idea was to choose a car while we didn't have too so that we could choose what we wanted.

Yesterday was full of doctor's visits, all benign checkups really, and a nice lunch with a friend.

So, finally, today I can tell you about the great stuffed peppers we had for dinner last night. I had the leftover half for lunch today and it may have been even better. The following will serve as a recipe since the amounts can be varied to suit your own taste. The photo up top show the baked pepper and the photo below shows them stuffed, right before I added the cheddar cheese.

Our local farm stand had these lovely peppers for sale this week, plus some small zucchini squash. I cooked barley in veggie broth, adding diced celery, carrot and green onion. While it was cooking I sauteed chopped zucchini and mushrooms in a little olive oil, then added salt, pepper and dried thyme. The cooked barley was mixed with the cooked zucchini mixture, then it was all stuffed in the halved and de-seeded peppers. A sprinkle of chopped parsley and shredded cheddar cheese finished them off. I put them into a baking dish and a small baking dish and added more veggie broth to the bottom. After covering the dishes with heavy duty foil, I put them into a preheated 425 degree F oven and baked them for 20 minutes.

They were outstanding. The pepper was softened, but still kept its shape. The barley mixture was delicious and chewy in a good way. They were amazingly filling and the perfect dinner for a chilly evening.

There Will Be Barley

It's gotten late and I was hoping to post tonight's veggie extravaganza, stuffed red peppers. Looks like it will be tomorrow after all. One thing I can promise you, there will be barley in the recipe...and it was delicious.

Cafe of Change

A number of years ago I wrote about a favorite cafe of mine. It's still a favorite, but during the last couple of years the owners have made substantial changes, so it's almost like a different place. We went there this morning for breakfast and the line to order (because it is a place where you place your order, get your drinks, sit down, and then the meal is brought to you) was down the cold cases, past the coffee station (where you can serve yourself free refills!) and almost to the fireplace. That used to happen mostly on Mother's Day, so more people are coming and enjoying the great food.

One of the changes is that they have focused on being an evening entertainment venue and a center of community activities. One of the big changes has taken place outside. There is a ramp toward the back of the building that used to lead to a paved parking area. Now it is a Beer Garden, with bamboo in galvanized troughs, an overhead shade sail and strings of lights, a new counter for beer service, new fencing, a stage for live music performances, crushed gravel underfoot and lots of picnic tables. An upper level is shaded by lively red umbrellas. Some of the walls have recycled wood cladding for an urban chic look. Last, but not least, there is a serving area for bar snacks to go with the beer.

Out of time. Will have to tell you about the inside improvements another day.

XO, Elle

Redwood Cafe and Beer Garden
8240 Old Redwood Highway
Cotati, CA  94931

707- 795-7868

website

Amazing Overnight Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I was overjoyed when I discovered this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website. It is really great to be able to wake up in the morning knowing that the breakfast treat you want to serve your family and friends is mostly made, with little or no more work required other than baking. I've come to depend on the Amazing Overnight Waffle for those times when I know we will want waffles in the morning, so now I have a great coffee cake that requires nothing more in the a.m. than preheating the oven, taking the pan out of the fridge and sliding it into the preheated oven. Piece of cake, literally.

This make a lot of coffee cake. I took mine to a meeting this morning, so that helped, about three quarters was gone by the time the meeting was finished. Of course if you cut it into bigger pieces it might not take much time at all to polish it off. It has a tender crumb, lightly flavored with vanilla, a ribbon of cinnamon sugar and cocoa running through the middle and a topping of crumbly streusel. Delicious!

My only complaint was that it took a lot of bowls to make since you have one for melting the butter, one for the topping, one for the filling, and at least one more for the batter. I'm going to think about the instructions and see how I could reduce that pile of dirty bowls a bit. I know there has to be a way.

Don't let the dirty bowls deter you from making this. There are also lots of ways to doll it up...nuts and/or dried fruit mixed in the batter or piled on top of the filling, grated apple to put on top of the filling...you get the idea. Nuts could also be added to the streusel. I used the version where you can weight the ingredients on a scale, using the pound version. There is also one for grams and one by volume on the King Arthur site, plus great photos.

Cinnamon-streusel Coffeecake

Streusel Topping

8 3/4 ounces granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
6 1/4 oz. all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 oz. butter, melted

Filling

7 1/2 ounces brown sugar, light or dark

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Cake

6 oz. butter

1 teaspoon salt (1 1/4 teaspoons if using unsalted butter)
10 1/2 oz. granulated sugar
2 1/2 oz. brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
6 oz plain yogurt (or sour cream) 
10 oz. milk (anything from skim to whole...or even milk mixed with buttermilk, which is what I used)
16 oz. all-purpose flour

·        

·     1)    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round cake pans. (If you are going to  bake the next day, skip the preheating of the oven until before you bake, but allow enough time for      the oven to heat up to 350 degrees F.)

2) Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

3) Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.

4) To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

5) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6) In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.

7) Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

8) Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan.

 9) Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.

 10) Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter.

 11) Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

12) Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back. (I started checking 10 minutes before time and was glad I did.)

13) Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

Want to prepare this coffeecake the night before, then bake in the morning? It's easy; simply cover the unbaked cake with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator overnight. Next morning, bake the cake as directed. Start testing for doneness before the end of the suggested baking time, but you'll probably have to add 5 minutes or so to the total time, to account for the batter being chilled.

Orange and Crispy

November 7th used to be the date we celebrated my sister's birthday. She was actually born on Pearl Harbor Day, but the horrors of the Second World War were still too fresh for that day to be celebratory, so my parents moved it up a month. So Happy Birthday Sis, if you read this. Now the you celebrate in December I never know which date to use, so I tend to use them both. Must be because I like birthdays, right?

This past Wednesday I was lucky because our P.E.O. scholarship group met and one of the members sent a big basket of persimmons along for us to share. I was lucky because I was able to bring home any of them that were left after circulating around and passing them out. Sweetie isn't a big fan of the Hachiya variety, which is ready to eat only after it has turned soft. He likes his fruit crisp. He loves these Fuyu persimmons because they are as crisp as an apple when ripe and you can eat them with the skin still on, so they are easy to prepare. They are a reasonable source of vitamin A and of fiber, but not of the vitamin C that make the hachiya persimmons such a nice addition to early winter recipes.

The persimmon fruit originated in China where endless varieties are available, and was brought to California in the late 1800‘s where two main varieties - the Fuyu and the Hachiya - survived and have
proliferated. Today, California is the largest producer of persimmons in the United States, harvesting over 2,800 acres and producing over 17,000 tons of fruit each year.

Do you have a preference for one or the other? A favorite recipe?

Mini Cranberry Walnut Soda Bread Loaf

There they sat on the counter, reminding me that I had left them out of the scones; a half recipe of bourbon soaked cranberries and a similar amount of chopped walnuts. What to do with them? I'm out of pumpkin at the moment, although I do have some sugar pumpkins ready to be cooked with, just no pumpkin puree, so no pumpkin recipe this time.

A check of the fridge showed that I have buttermilk and butter, so an obvious and delicious choice was Irish soda bread enhanced with cranberries and walnuts instead of currants and caraway. The lovely thing about soda bread is how quickly it goes together. I grated a little clementine zest into the sugar and rubbed it in a la Dorie Greenspan, then added that to the mixture of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour, plus baking soda, baking powder and salt. The butter was sliced and worked into the dry mixture, the buttermilk added and mixed in about half way, then I dumped in the cranberries and walnuts and mixed the rest of the way, with just a bit of the dry mixture staying dry...don't want to overwork the gluten on this quick bread. Onto the silpat lined baking sheet with the dough, a quick shape with floured hands, then I cut a cross into the center with a bench scraper. A sprinkle of sanding sugar and into the oven it went.

This is a delightful version of my Aunt May's soda bread. I only made half the recipe because that was the right proportion for the cranberries, but just double it to make a big loaf. The cranberries, walnuts and clementines are all fall flavors and great with the tang the buttermilk gives. This makes a lovely afternoon snack with a cup of tea. Sweetie enjoyed a slice with some fresh persimmons and he said that the bread went perfectly with that autumn fruit. I just love autumn afternoons!

Mini Cranberry Walnut Soda Bread Loaf
Makes on mini loaf

1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 cup tablespoons sugar
zest from half an orange or a whole clementine or tangerine
4 oz. (½ stick) cold butter, in thin slices
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup dried cranberries, plumped with hot water or bourbon, then drained
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the dry ingredients, except sugar, in a bowl. Put the sugar into a small bowl and rub the citrus zest into it with your clean fingers. Mix sugar into the dry ingredients. Add the butter slices  and cut in well with a fork or pastry blender. Add the buttermilk and mix just until partly moist - don’t over-
handle. Add the cranberries and walnuts; mix well. Some dry stuff is OK but the dough should be sticky. Pat into a round on a parchment-lined or silpat lined cookie sheet. Cut a cross on top. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degree F. Tap bottom to make sure bread is cooked through. It will sound hollow. Cool a bit before slicing.

Scones Shine With Pumpkin

It really is pumpkin season. It's also the time of year when we 'fall back' in the U.S. and go back to standard time instead of daylight savings time. I've been doing without a watch for the past few months, so I have had a general sense of time. Now I find that my sense of time is off. I think it is actually harder for Pi, our wonderful black lab. He has gotten used to dinner being at 5 pm. Just because we decided over the weekend that 5 pm should become 4 pm doesn't change the fact that he expects to eat at that time. He really doesn't care what time we call it. So today he was fed dinner at 4:10. Tomorrow it might be 4:15 and so in about 10 days he will be eating at 5 pm again.

Because we are used to eating earlier, I decided yesterday that we should have tea around 4 pm (after I fed the dog) and to go with the tea I made pumpkin scones. I found a recipe at King Arthur Flour, but changed it around so that the scones had both all-purpose and white whole wheat flour, it contained some buttermilk  and brown sugar instead of white, and I also added some bourbon soaked dried cranberries and chopped toasted walnuts. Actually only half the scones were treated to the cranberries and walnuts. The other half of the dough was just plain pumpkin. I actually like both version about equally. The one with the cranberries smells a lot like Christmas fruitcake, so I think I'll make them for Christmas morning this year. The plain ones allow the pumpkin to shine more, which is a wonderful thing if you like pumpkin as much as I do. The next time I make them in either version, I plan to increase the spices a bit. It could use a bit more cinnamon for sure. Still, both Sweetie and I managed to eat one of each kind.

This recipe makes tender but slightly dense scones. If you use the sparkling sugar you get a nice crunch, too. I like the slight tang that the buttermilk imparts, but I think I'll use a full teaspoon of salt next time.

Don't like cranberries or walnuts but want to have add-ins? Try mini chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or similar things.

Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Scones
based on a recipe found at the King Arthur Flour website

1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon half and half
coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping

In a small bowl soak the dried cranberries in the bourbon for at least an hour, overnight is even better. Drain and reserve the bourbon for another use. Set cranberries aside.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.

Work the butter into the dry ingredients just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly (best done using a pastry cutter or two knives); it's OK fore some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

In another bowl whisk together the pumpkin, eggs and buttermilk until smooth.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredient mixture and stir gently until all is moistened and holds together.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or grease the sheet. Scrape the dough onto a lightly flour surface. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough into two. Gently knead the cranberries and walnuts into one half.

Take one of the chunks of dough and gently round into a 5-6 inch circle. Gently flatten circle to about 3/4-inch thick. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the circle into 6-8 wedges. Place those wedges on the prepared baking sheet.

Take the second chunk of dough and repeat. Place those wedges on the baking sheet, too. Place the baking sheet into the freezer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (I left mine in overnight and baked them the next day and they were fine.)

While scones are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bake the scones in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes, or until they're golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, with no wet crumbs.

Remove the scones from the oven and serve right away while warm. Wrap any leftovers airtight and store at room temperature. Reheat very briefly in the microwave if desired. If you prefer, you may leave the scones in the freezer until ready to bake, baking only as many as you wish to eat. They should be well wrapped in the freezer if you plan to bake them any longer than about 4 hours after putting them in the freezer.

The Sweeter Side of Squash

It's entirely possible that I have one or more pumpkin pie recipes on this blog, but I have to post about the pie I made last Monday. Sweetie loves pies much more than cake. When he mentioned that on Sunday, I asked what kind was his favorite. He said that any pie was good pie, so I made a traditional pumpkin pie. The only thing unusual was that I used a 10-inch pie pan for it and I used a butter based crust instead of refrigerated crust or a shortening-based one. He claims it was the best pumpkin pie ever made. He might be biased. You can find the crust recipe HERE or on yesterday's post.

Not sure about it being the best, but it was an excellent example of its kind. The crust was flaky and crisp and not only tasted grand, but smelled wonderful. The filling was silky, creamy, not too sweet, and not too rich, but fully pumpkin flavored. I used the ingredients on the back of the Libby solid pack pumpkin for the ingredients, but I changed it a bit. I used brown sugar for the sugar, added nutmeg to the spice mix and cooked it slightly less than the recommended time. My recipe below has the changes. If at all possible, use evaporated milk. It provides a really creamy texture. There seems to be less water in it than in regular milk, so that might be the reason.

This is another one you may want to bookmark for the upcoming holidays. I know I will.

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground

2 large eggs
15 oz pureed pumpkin
12 oz. evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F with the rack in the center of the oven.

In a small bowl mix together the sugar, salt and spices.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs and then whisk in the pumpkin and sugar spice mixture. Gradually add the evaporated milk.

Pour pumpkin mixture into the unbaked pie shell.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes in the preheated 425 degree F oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake another 35 - 50 minutes. Center should be barely set. Knife inserted in the center will come out almost clean or clean. Don't over bake.

Cool Pie on a cooling rack for 2 hours. Refrigerate then, or serve.

Pie Crust

There are many ways to handle the need for a pie crust. Pillsbury makes rolled out pie dough circles that are pretty good in a pinch. The really old way is to use lard, but most lard available is hydrogenated and I suspect that hydrogenated lard is no better for us than hydrogenated vegetable oil (like Crisco) due to probably trans fats. Julia Child would recommend butter and that is the way I usually go if I'm making pie dough from scratch.

When I was about 9 or 10 years old I wanted to make pies. Pie was my Dad's favorite dessert after all. Before I even set foot into the kitchen, my Mom had me read the four or five pages, with photo illustrations, on how to make a good pie crust. I think the book was the Fannie Farmer one.

I remember that attention was paid to using ice water, being gentle in handling the ingredients, cutting the shortening into the flour mixture until it looked the size of dried peas and sprinkling on the ice water a tablespoon at a time while gathering the moistened flour bits with a fork. It does make a nice flaky crust.

Recently, within the last few years, I've been using a Martha Stewart recipe that uses very cold butter, cut into very small dice, with part frozen and part not, and it uses a food processor. It makes a delicious and flaky crust that browns nicely. Some of the butter bits end up being tiny and some are larger than those dried peas of old, but it ends up producing a crust that gets raves.

Since this is the holiday season, you may want to bookmark this for those holiday pies.

Food Processor Pie Crust from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen

makes 2 disks

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Freeze 3/4 of the butter pieces in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate the other 1/4 of the pieces. The frozen pieces stay chunky after being pulsed, creating steam pockets when baked (the key to flakiness) and the refrigerated bits get worked into the pastry, giving it a tender texture.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl. Add refrigerated butter (the smaller amount of the butter bits). Pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-sized clumps.

With the processor off, add the ice water. Immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few times more if needed. When you squeeze the dough it should remain crumbly, but come together. Don't pulse it so long that it forms a ball. Adding water while the processor is running  and over-pulsing are bad ideas... could lead to tough dough.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough and form a round mass. Press the dough this way to form a rough round mass, and press on top of the wrap to form a disk. The processed dough should resemble uneven crumbs. When you empty the mixture from the processor bowl out onto the plastic wrap, some pieces will be tiny, others will be in clumps. That is perfect! The gathered plastic wrap method of forming the disk simultaneously has you gathering the crumbs into a cohesive dough and shaping it.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds, about 8 inches in diameter. Rounds this size will chill more quickly that hockey-puck sized ones and will soften more uniformly when removed from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month. (Note: I froze half of the dough for a week and a half. By the time it had thawed, it was a bit gray, but it baked up golden, flaky and gorgeous.)

Just Like Home

It has been noted in literature that certain smells can instantly bring recall of past events, often in great detail. With the autumn chill finally here, I decided to make beef stew and used my Mom's recipe, with a few small changes. By the time the stew was simmering on the stove, my house smelled just like home when I was young. This made me happy and inspired a phone call to my Mom to tell her about it. That completed the circle I think, although maybe that happened when the finished stew was shared in the evening with friends. New memories rich with fragrance were created, keeping the feelings of warmth and comfort going.

Beef stew is a great dish to make a double recipe of, which I did. You end up with wonderful leftovers which often taste better a day or two later than the original stew did freshly made. This one is full of onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes and three kids of frozen veggies. You could do fresh veggies, but I like frozen and that's what I grew up with.

Mom would serve this stew with biscuits, but we had slices of baguette and some nice red wine. The perfect end of the week meal on a chilly evening.

Family Beef Stew

2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into 1½ inch cubes
2 tablespoons fat (I used olive oil)
1 cup boiling water
3 cups beef broth
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
a dash allspice or cloves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, sliced
2 stalks celery, washed and diced
6-8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1-2 bay leaves
6 each carrots and potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
leftover or mixed vegetables (I used frozen peas, mixed vegetables and corn)
flour and water (about 3 tablespoons flour whisked with 1/2 cup water)

Brown meat in fat. Remove browned beef to a bowl. Add more fat if necessary. Over medium heat, cook onion, celery, mushrooms until tender. Add boiling water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, allspice, thyme, and bay leaves. Add the beef back into the pot. Stir to combine ingredients. Cover. Simmer 2 hours.

Remove bay leaves. Add carrots and potatoes which have been cut into bite sized pieces. Cook, covered, until vegetables are tender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add frozen or leftover vegetables if desired. Cover and heat through. Make a paste with flour and water to thicken the gravy. Add to stew and

simmer until thickened. Serves 6 - 8.

Apple Cake Chez Moi

When Dorie Greenspan's wonderful cookbook Baking; from my home to yours came on the scene it soon generated rave reviews and its own blog event, Tuesdays with Dorie. I've baked quite a few of the recipes and bookmarked a bunch more. Every one I made was well received and the recipes are beautifully written, often with ideas for changing things to make interesting variations.

Yesterday Sweetie and I were at a Petaluma bookstore and I saw a new Dorie Greenspan baking book called Baking Chez Moi. I was going to ask for it for Christmas, but I started browsing and was less than 50 pages into the recipes and had found four I wanted to bake as soon as possible. It's that kind of book for people who love to bake. Knowing that I needed a dessert for dinner that evening, I bought myself and early present and in the late afternoon baked the Custardy Apple Squares. They were a hit served at room temperature with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and the leftovers were excellent this morning served cold with a hot cup of coffee.

As usual I did make a few alterations, adding Meyer lemon zest and freshly grated nutmeg to the flour mixture. I know that Dorie recommends adding zest to the sugar and rubbing it in, but it was late afternoon and I had just finished making a big pot of beef stew and then talking to my Mom since the stew is her recipe and my kitchen smelled like home, so I wanted to share that with her, along with the fond laughter we always share.

In truth, I messed up a little with a number of pieces of the recipe. I forgot to melt the butter until it was needed, I didn't take the eggs out early enough to warm up, so had to place them in tepid water to warm faster to room temperature, I forgot to bring the milk out of the fridge, too, so warmed that up in the microwave to room temperature. Then I forgot to add the flour mixture to the egg mixture until after I had dumped in all the apple slices. Using my clean hands I removed the soaked apples, letting the batter run off, put them into another bowl, then whisked in the flour in the batter bowl. Back in went the apples, then I turned them enough to fully coat with the better batter. Now we were back on track! Usually I'm much more focused when baking. Guess I need to bake more!

The new Dorie Greenspan book will help there. The recipe below is very close to the one in the book, but I give my changes and the directions are my own. I'll leave out my mistakes, OK? Do consider buying Baking Chez Moi. I think it is another classic that I'll use for a long, long time. Not only are the recipes great, but there are plenty of tips and tricks. Want to learn how to form a dough log that is tight so there are no little holes in the middle of your slice and bake cookies. Dorie has photos showing just what to do by using a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Ever wonder what the difference is between Patisserie, Confiserie, Boulangerie and Viennoiserie or what those words mean? Check out page 209. Want the skinny on toasting, roasting and browning nuts? See page 320. If you read carefully you'll also find out what she means by 'French baked' and so much more.

This lovely bake with custard and thinly sliced apples goes together quickly (if you have your ingredients at room temperature of course) with the peeling and slicing the the apples the most time consuming part except for the baking. I used my food processor with the 4mm disc and that worked beautifully. The dessert is not too sweet and the lavish use of vanilla brings both fragrance and flavor to this simple dessert. The lemon zest and nutmeg are just hints of flavor and they enhance the apple flavor so nicely. Use apples that hold their shape while baking. I used Galas and they worked well. For a less mellow apple flavor consider Granny Smiths or Pippins. It's apple season here in the Northern Hemisphere, so use your favorites and make the Custardy Apple Squares your own. You can cut rectangles, too, as I did. Such a rebel.

Custardy Apple Squares
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi

3 medium, juicy sweet apples like Gala, peeled
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
grated zest from 1/2 a Myer lemon or regular lemon
pinch sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more butter for the baking pan

confectioners sugar or whipped cream for topping (optional)

If you have forgotten like I did, bring the eggs, and mild to room temperature, melt the butter and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Set aside.

Slice the peeled apples in uniform thin slices. I halved the apples, used a melon ball tool to remove the core, then used a paring knife to remove the stem and blossom ends. Once all the apples were prepared, I used a food processor with a 4 mm disc to slice them, filling the large feed tube tightly with the apples (two halves plus a about a third of another half). Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, sea salt and nutmeg together in a small bowl or on a sheet of waxed paper.

Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers. I use a cup measure to hold the sugar, which gives enough room to rub in the zest.

Using the stand mixer and beater attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar for two minutes. The sugar will dissolve and the eggs will be pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then the milk and then the melted butter. Finally, beat in the flour mixture. Add the apple slices. With a flexible spatula or your clean hand, turn the apple slices gently so each is coated with the batter. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and use the spatula to even the top as much as possible. The top will still be bumpy, but that is O.K.

Bake for 40-50 minutes (although I suggest checking sooner...this is one batter you don't want to overcook), or until golden brown and puffed. To check for doneness, you can insert a knife in the center...it will come out clean. Cool for at least 15 minutes on a cooling rack, then run a sharp knife around the sides. Cut squares or rectangles and serve with a cake server or pancake turner. Dust with confectioners sugar or give served slices a dollop of whipped cream. Serve and enjoy.

Second Mural

Went through some of my recent posts and saw that I had a whole post about the mural in the baking center and nothing about the mural in the main kitchen. An oversight, I assure you.

The mural in the main kitchen takes me to the beach, one of my favorite places to visit and spend some time. On the far left, near the fridge, we climb the dunes. There is a sliver of ocean visible to make the climb more enticing. To the right is a swath of dune grasses, with another path up through them. At the bottom of the path, just waiting to head up to the top, is a black Lab. We have had a few black Lab dogs over the years, so it could be any one of them. Further to the right we look out to the beach and far to the right you can just see some headlands poking out into the bay. I discovered that painting water, especially as it washes up on shore, is very difficult. It took some experimentation to get it right. I also decided that painting over the switches for the lights and the outlet covers was better than leaving them white, even though that was also not the easiest thing to do.

What I find interesting is that originally the mural was planned with the dune climb on the left and the beach on the right only. In between, on the wall behind the stove and below the stove hood, there was going to be a sheet of stainless steel. It would have looked great, but Sweetie convinced me that the mural needed to go all the way across. What was I supposed to put in that huge space? At first I was just going to add some more dune grass and dune, but that seemed boring. Then I had the idea to add the dog and suddenly it all seemed like a good idea.

The challenge was to paint that middle section so that it looked like it belonged with the other two sections which were already painted. I no longer had the paint color I had mixed for the ocean, so this dune had to be higher, with no ocean showing at the top. Mixing the colors for the dune grasses was a bit of a challenge, but I managed. Painting the dog was harder than I had thought it would be. I ended up painting the legs at least twice. Still, it was worth it and so now I can go to the beach any time I'm facing that wall as I cook. It adds character to the kitchen that is unique and delightful.

Here is the progression:

Background painted in, left and right:

The first layer over that sketches in the design in broad areas of color:

 The area in between will be behind the stove. I painted well past the area that will be seen once the cabinets are in because I think it will strengthen the design in the end.

The next layer builds up the details in sky, water and land. I used the paint samples that I had thought might work for the walls, so it was wall paint. Acrylic paints were added as needed.

The next layer really adds detail. There are shadows, you can really see the surf washing up on the beach and the colors have been deepened so it resembles Sonoma County beaches instead of the white sands of the Caribbean. At this point I'm thinking of keeping the switch plate and outlet covers white.

At this point the cabinet installer came and began their work, so I took a break. Sweetie convinced me to consider painting the middle section behind the stove. I had planned to have the stove back splash be stainless steel, running up the wall to the stove hood. The dilemma was how to fill in the middle. I was afraid that lots more dune grass would be boring. Once Sweetie suggested painting in a dog I was able to see how I might tie the right and left sides together.

First we had to finish up the wall behind the stove area and paint it with drywall paint and then the gold color. Then I started as usual with the base color.We took care not to get paint on our nice, new cabinets. If you look closely, you'll see that I decided to paint over the switch and outlet covers and blend them into the painting. It was a good decision.

Then I followed pretty much the same layers as with the right and left sides. I made sure that the sky was the same, but made sure that there was no ocean for the middle because I had thrown out the old ocean paint from the two side areas and wasn't convinced that I could match them. Lots of dune and grass instead.

Some of the colors from painting the right and left side dunes were still available and some had to be mixed again, but since the dune grass has lots of colors in it, I wasn't worried that it would look OK.

Finally the dog was added and all the details were right. Everything was given a couple coats of clear urethane to protect the painting and allow for scrubbing. After all, a kitchen is for cooking, so that means splatters sometimes!

So here is a photo of the kitchen with the mural all finished. I enjoy it every day and hope that you enjoyed this post about how it all came together.

Winter Squash Season Side Dish

Time just seems to be flying these days! Found something I think that you will want to try yourself. About a month ago Sweetie and I were at Costco and they had tastings of some new products, all Afghan recipes. I sometimes think that a raft of people only go to Costco on the weekends for the samples, not to actually buy anything. Is that possible?

Anyhoo, we fell in love with a butternut squash side dish that was savory, with a hint of sweetness and a touch of heat. Sweetie decided that we should try making it ourselves, so I researched online and found about six different ways to make it. One of the constants was onion puree. I usually chop or mince my onions for most dishes, but for this one I put the peeled and quartered yellow onion into the food processor and let it run until it was a puree. I found that the cooked puree not only flavored the squash, but it seemed to thicken the sauce a bit, or at least provide body to the sauce.

I ended up combining a few of the recipes. Most had a goodly amount of peppers for heat, but since I was going for the very mild heat that I prefer, I used a small amount of cayenne pepper. If you like your food hotter, you can add jalapenos or increase the cayenne. They often had more turmeric, too. I know that turmeric is good for you , but it is not my favorite flavor, so I used only a teaspoon, while some recipes used as much as a tablespoon. Try it with a smaller amount unless you know that you love turmeric. You can always add more.

One of the most time consuming parts of this kind of recipe is preparing the butternut squash. Sweetie got past that by buying already peeled and cubes fresh squash. Beyond that the part that requires some time is that during the cooking you need to turn the squash over in the sauce every 10 minutes and to keep an eye on it so that the sauce cooks down, but doesn't burn.

This makes a lovely side dish. Traditionally it is served with naan flatbread and yogurt, usually garlic yogurt, but I served it with grilled chicken and the yogurt topping was plain yogurt. The chunks of butternut squash were tender, but not falling apart. They had an aroma of turmeric and onion and tomato. Now that it is winter squash season, give this a try, either as part of a traditional meal, with some eggplant, too, or as a side dish. It would go well with pork or heaped over a serving of couscous with pine nuts. You can substitute another kind of squash, like kabocha, or pumpkin, too.

Afghan Squash

1 large yellow onion
1/4 olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth
4 cups peeled, de-seeded, and cubed butternut squash or pumpkin

Peel the onion and remove the stem end and the tip. Cut onion into four pieces. Place in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until pureed, scraping down the sides as needed so that all the onion is a puree. In a large skillet cook the onion puree in the olive oil for 10 minutes, stirring often. All of the squash will need to go into the skillet, preferably in a single layer, so make sure the skillet is large enough.

To the cooked onion add the garlic, tomato paste, turmeric (you can add more if you like...I've seen as much as a tablespoon used), minced fresh ginger, sugar and salt. Stir to combine, then add the chicken broth and stir to completely combine all the ingredients in the mixture. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat so mixture simmers. Add the prepared squash and stir to coat the squash with the mixture. As mush as possible, keep the squash in a single layer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Turn squash over so that top surface goes toward the bottom and is immersed in the sauce. Simmer another 10 minutes. Check squash for tenderness. You want the squash completely tender, but still holding together. Simmer another 5 or 10 minutes (or longer) if needed until squash is tender. Sauce will have thickens a bit. If squash is very tender, but sauce is too thin, remove squash with a slotted spoon, cover to keep warm, then simmer sauce some more until it is desired thickness. Put squash back into sauce and stir to coat with sauce. Serve at once, garnished with yogurt, or cover and refrigerate, then reheat the next day.

Speaking of time passing, we are just about a month away from Thanksgiving. Our neighbors have invited us for dinner and I think this year we will be enjoying a heritage turkey. It might be one of these blue faced toms. I snapped these shots as they tried to intimidate the dog. She is a sheep dog, but was having fun herding the chickens and turkeys, too.

Bread Baking Babes Get Stuffed for October

It's the 16th again...time for the Bread Baking Babes to reveal the October bread. This month we were treated by Katie of Thyme for Cooking, our Kitchen of the Month, to a savory stuffed bread.This was a sticky dough at first, but fine by the time I was rolling it out.Of course that may have been because I stored it overnight after the dough had it's first rise. I let it come to room temperature and rise a little more, then turned it out on a floured board and shaped it. It smells heavenly with the herbs, but the herbs were barely tasted in the final bread. 

I admit that part of the situation may be because I used a different onion filling. Thinly sliced onions are mixed with honey, white wine, and bacon drippings, then caramelized. When you make the bread, you put ricotta cheese in the center third, then the onions, then crumbled bacon. It is a wonderful filling, but it may have overpowered the other flavors in the bread. I still want to thank Katie for choosing this savory stuffed bread. It sure did get eaten fast and it made a very pretty braid. It was also filling, so cut small pieces. The original recipe can be found on Katie's site. The filling recipe I used is here.

If you'd like to bake this bread and be a Buddy, bake it by the 29th and let Katie know by e-mail about your experience with this bread and be sure to send a photo for the roundup. Further instructions should be on her blog.

Be sure to visit the other Babes because you can be sure that many of them will make a wonderful savory braid and there may be a few surprises along the way.

Bake My Day - Karen, Blog From OUR Kitchen - Elizabeth, Bread Experience - Cathy, Girlichef - Heather, Life's a Feast - Jaime, Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya, Lucullian Delights - Ilva, My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna, My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna, Notitie van Lien - Lien