Making A Baby for Breakfast

It's probably not what you think. This baby is an apple rich eggy pancake, baked in the oven, where it puffs up dramatically, and then deflates once removed from the oven. My River City sis has been talking about these babies for years, so it was nice to finally enjoy some for breakfast.

As your oven preheats you caramelize peeled and sliced apples in butter and sugar. You also mix up a batter similar to a crepe batter. They used to use a blender but now mix the batter in a high sided bowl with a stick blender. It all goes together pretty quickly.

The fun begins when the batter hits the hot oven. Poof...the batter puffs up and almost overflows the pan. The bottom and sides brown up while the middle, full of apple slices, stays pale.

Serve the deflated baby in wedges, with powdered sugar like snow over the top. It is a sublime dish, buttery and not too sweet, with the mellow taste of cooked apples, too.

Apple Pancakes
from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham
makes one puffy 10-inch pancake

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (McIntoshes are good)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

About 5 tablespoons confectioners sugar (depending on the sweetness of the apples)

Preheat the oven to 435 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet or shallow pan and take off heat. If the handle of the skillet is not ovenproof, wrap it with several layers of foil. Remove 2 tablespoons melted butter and set aside in a small bowl.

Put the prepared apple slices in a large bowl with the lemon juice. Stir the cinnamon into the sugar and sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apples slices. Toss to mix. Put the skillet back on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Add the apples and cook, stirring often, for about 3 - 4 minutes, or until the apples are tender but still hold their shape.

In a separate bowl (or blender, or food processor) combine the eggs, salt, mil, and the reserved two tablespoons melted butter. Blend thoroughly. We find that a stick blender used in a bowl with high sides works really well. Once the mixture is blended, add the flour and blend/beat until smooth.

Spread the apples evenly over the bottom of the skillet and pour the batter on top. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and puffy.

Turn immediately onto a warm platter so the apples are on top. Dust with a little confectioners sugar and serve at once.

Sticky Buns - Now In Lemon

Well, the roller coaster ride is almost over. It's been fun and thrilling, but it's impossible to blog when you are up in the air and down. Besides, when you are thrilled but also a bit scared and waving your hands at the top, but gripping hard to the grab bar on the way down and in the curves, a girl gets preoccupied.

Over a week ago I ended a post with a photo of the lemon sticky buns I made. At last I'm going to be able to share the recipe with you. Why lemon? Well, spring always makes me want to cook and bake with lemon for some reason. Probably it the zing of lemon. Spring is a kind of zingy season. Another reason is my usual thinking...if cinnamon and brown sugar and cream make awesome sticky buns, what else could you substitute for at least some of those ingredients that would also make awesome, but really different, buns? So my lemon sticky buns are about as far away from cinnamon ones as you can get.

I started with my favorite sticky bun dough, which is the one I use for the awesome sticky buns. When I rolled out half the dough I spread on some softened cream cheese because lemon and dairy are a great combo. Then I spread on some lemon curd. I like buns with lots of filling. Then I sprinkled on some coconut. It's another end of winter/early spring flavor to my mind and goes great with lemon. The dough was then rolled up in the usual fashion and cut into buns, which I froze on a parchment lined baking sheet.

The recipe for the sticky part was trickier. I started with some melted butter, just like the awesome cinnamon recipe, then added both lemon juice and lemon zest. Regular sugar instead of brown seemed right, but I kept it to a smaller amount so that the sauce would be tart. Finally, after I put the buns on top of the sauce, I poured on some heavy cream and then let it all sit overnight in the fridge, so all the ingredients could get to know each other and the dough.

These were not quite as awesome as the cinnamon ones...it's pretty hard to beat good cinnamon sticky buns...but they were delicious and the sauce was really, really good. Sweetie licked his fingers to get every bit of it.

This would make a welcome addition to your Easter breakfast or Spring morning feast.The recipe makes a pan of 10-12 buns, plus 10-12 more buns for the freezer. When you are ready to bake them, just make up another batch of the sauce and be sure to let the pan sit until the buns both thaw and puff up a bit. When you bake them it will be hard to tell that you were using frozen buns. Need Lemon Sticky Buns for a crowd? Make up another batch of the sauce and bake two pans with 10-12 buns in each. You will be the hit of the party!

Lemon Sticky Buns
makes 20-24 rolls

1 package yeast (1/4 oz / 7 grams)
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 108-110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon sugar
Place yeast, water and sugar in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes to proof the yeast.

1 cup all-purpose flour, whisked with 1 cup water until smooth
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled (1 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
Add the yeast mixture to the flour/water mixture. Mix in the melted butter, sugar, eggs and salt.

6-8 cups all-purpose flour
Add enough flour to make a soft dough (6 - 8 cups). Oil a large bowl or rising container. Add the dough and turn to coat, cover and let rise until doubled.

Divide the dough in half. Work with each piece separately.

Roll the first piece of dough to a 12" x 10" rectangle.

4 oz. softened cream cheese
Spread dough with 4 oz. softened cream cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the edges plain.

1/2 cup prepared lemon curd (recipe can be found here or purchase good quality lemon curd)
Spread the lemon curd evenly over the cream cheese on the dough rectangle.

1/4 cup shredded coconut (or to taste)
Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the lemon curd.

Roll up from the long side and cut into 1" to 1 1/2" slices (cut 10-12). I used dental floss to cut them, which works well. Just slip a length of clean dental floss under the roll, cross the ends and pull quickly. One bun cut and ready to be laid on the parchment paper (for freezing) or the pan.

Repeat  with the second piece of dough, with the rolling out, spreading with cream cheese, lemon curd, coconut, rolling and cutting into buns.

If making buns right away, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2 sticks melted butter
8 lemons
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups heavy cream

In a 9" x 13" pan, place 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter.
In a small bowl combine 1 cup granulated sugar, the zest from one lemon and the juice from four lemons. Whisk to combine, then pour over the melted butter in the pan, pouring in a thin stream all over the pan.
Place 10-12 of the buns, cut side down, over the lemon butter mixture, leaving space between the buns. Pour 2/3 cup heavy cream over and around the buns. Repeat with the second set of buns, using another stick of butter, more lemon zest and juice and sugar and heavy cream. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft free place for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the buns fill the pan and puff up a bit. 

Bake in preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes. Tops will be golden brown and the sauce will be bubbly. Let pan rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then loosen the sides by running a knife around the sides. Taking extreme care not to touch the hot buns or sauce (which can burn you), turn the pan over a sheet pan with sides, so the bottom is on top. Scrape off any of the sauce that sticks to the baking pan. Let cool until just warm before serving. Serve with the sticky side up, with a bit of sauce.

Want to do the frozen buns? Place freshly cut buns, cut side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm, then put frozen buns in a zip closing sealed freezer bag. I usually make up the frozen buns by starting the night before so that they can thaw in the fridge overnight. Put the melted butter into the baking pan, mix up and pour on the lemon mixture, put in the frozen buns, being sure to leave lots of room around them in the pan, pour on the heavy cream, then put plastic wrap over the pan and put in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning take the baking pan out of the fridge and let it sit to warm up while you preheat the oven. Bake in the usual way. You may need to allow another five minutes for the buns that were frozen, but they should be ready for breakfast and you will be the clever one who didn't have to get up at 4 in the morning to start them!

Waterproofed and Delicious

I've always been a water baby. I love baths, swimming, walking in the rain. I'm also an Aquarian for my horoscope...a water sign. Perhaps that's why this month's recipe caught my interest. I was reading bread recipes in Beard on Bread. James Beard was the American chef who was most instrumental in having Americans take pride in American food in the 50's, 60's and 70's when gourmet food was always food from another, country, especially France. It's a great book. 

The Water-Proofed Bread uses a rising process I'd never heard of. 
Here is what he writes about his Water-Proofed Bread: "Although the dough in this recipe is fairly difficult to handle, it makes a very delicate, brioche-like bread with a rich, buttery, eggy taste. It is extraordinarily good, ideal for tea or for eating with butter, jam and marmalade, and toasts extremely well. It can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for 3-4 weeks. The bread is called "water-proofed" because the dough is submerged in a bath of water for the first rising." 

In searching the internet I only found one place where someone had tried this and they liked it but moaned about a ruined tea towel, then went on the make the next water-proofed dough in the book without water-proofing it. I guess I want to see if it is worth a soiled tea towel. I've never seen this method anywhere else and am a sucker for different methods, so I chose it for this month for the Bread Baking Babes since I'm Kitchen of the Month.

See, it floats!

The theory is that the dough, being delicate, will benefit from rising in water where the water barrier will keep the yeast produced gases inside the dough, for a better first rise. Having it wrapped in a tea towel is probably necessary since Beard says this is a sticky dough, even when the first kneading is done.

 I also like the description of the finished bread. Since I'm restricted in how much bread I can eat, it is nice to choose one that I can enjoy with tea and enjoy toasted! Hope you enjoy it, too. Knowing the creativity and boldness of the Babes, we might end up with some whole grain flours or herbs or cardamom...who knows? Let's get watery! 

PLEASE VISIT the OTHER BREAD BAKING BABES sites, too. Links are at the bottom of this post.

I particularly want to introduce our two newest Babes, Aparna and Cathy. They are both awesome bread bakers and delightful bloggers.

Water-Proofed Bread

from Beard on Bread, 1973
makes two loaves

2 packages active dry yeast 

1/2 cup warm water (100 - 115 degrees F, approximately) 

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 

1/2 cup warm milk 

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter 

2 teaspoons salt 

3 eggs 

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour More flour for the tea towel 

Rinse a 4-quart mixing bowl with warm water. Dry thoroughly. Put in the yeast, the 1/2 cup warm water, and the teaspoon of sugar, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Allow to proof for 5 minutes. 

Heat the milk with the butter and 1/4 cup sugar until lukewarm, then add to the yeast mixture. Add the salt and stir to blend well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and again blend thoroughly.(Note from Elle: I actually added 1 cup of flour after the salt and before the eggs, just to give the mixture a little body. That seemed to work well. I added the rest of the flour after the eggs had been stirred in one at a time until well blended.) 

Then stir in 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, to make what will probably be a very wet and sticky dough. Stir quite vigorously. 

Spread out the dough on a working surface - a table, a piece of marble, or a board - sprinkled with the additional 1/2 cup flour. Use a baker's scraper or large spatula to work in this last portion of flour and make the dough firmer. Scrape under the flour and the dough, lifting and folding inward. Repeat until the flour is well incorporated. When the dough is easy to handle, begin kneading by hand. (Note from Elle: I worked in another 1/2 cup flour here.) 

Continue until the dough can be shaped. (The process of kneading first with the scraper and then by hand if very effective for delicate dough. In this case the dough will remain rather sticky, but don't worry about it.)

 Lift the dough, pat with flour, and place on a clean kitchen towel also sprinkled with flour. Wrap it and tie it in the towel, just as you would a package, but very loosely. Submerge this packet in a large bowl filled with warm water (about 100 - 115 degrees F, approximately). It will sink. Let sit for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until it rises sufficiently to float on top of the water. (Note from Elle: Took mine closer to an hour). Lift the dough from the water and let the excess water drip off.

Un-wrap and turn out on a lightly floured surface. Again it will be quite sticky, so scrape off any dough that adheres to the towel. Knead and shape into two loaves, using both dough scraper and your hands. Thoroughly butter two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and place one loaf in each pan. Cover, put in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise slightly above the tops of the pans, or until almost doubled in bulk. 

 Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the dough with cold water, and, if you like, make a slash in each loaf with a sharp knife. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when rapped with the knuckles, top and bottom. When done, place the loaves directly on the oven rack, without their pans, to brown the bottom a little more and crisp the crusts. Cool on racks. 

 Well, that was fun! The water proofed dough is in the pans doing the final rise, and it worked...the dough packet floated to the top. I did find that the dough around the towel was a bit wetter than the dough further into the dough ball, so I made sure to really do a thorough knead with the bench scraper once I turned it all out onto the floured board. That also worked in the wetter bits I scraped off the tea towel.The tea towel rinsed out pretty well with cold water, and I ran it through the washer to finish the job.

 Since I did all that kneading, the dough was really knocked down. It took a while for it to rise in the pan, but after it baked it was be a lovely, light, luscious bread! I was delicate, rich and had a nice moist crumb. Very tasty! Makes excellent toast, too.

 Here are the links for the wonderful, talented, and inventive Bread Baking Babes (I know, no 'B' adjectives, but I had too much Scotch last night when we celebrated Sweetie's birthday, so lets roll with what words I can dredge up, OK?). Do visit their sites and see how this turned out for them.

Katie of Thyme for Cooking, our Fabulous Round-Up Babe

Bake My Day - Karen

Blog from Our Kitchen - Elizabeth

Bread Experience - Cathy

Girlichef - Heather

Life's a Feast - Jamie

Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya

Lucullian Delights - Ilva

My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna

My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna

Notitie van Lien - Lien

Not Waterproof...Water Proofed

Very sorry that the post will be delayed, but do check out the posts by the Bread Baking Babes today. We are baking a very unusual bread, proofed in water.  Post coming soon!  XO, Elle

An Irish/British Dessert You May Not Know

Please welcome NoHandle again, with a wonderful, seasonal guest post:

About 25 years ago, in March, I had occasion to travel to Britain and Norway, and back to Britain before heading home. It was not a holiday, but the launch of my company's new computer product, and the Norwegians were one of our "beta" customers. I was taken care of in Britain by a local employee of the company Stuart P. (and a long overdue Thank-You to Stuart and family) and in the first few hours I learned that there were things in Britain that were unknown in the U.S. Among these were "work to rule" which delayed my departure from the airport by a few hours, halogen stovetops, Comic Relief red noses on cars, which was in only it's second year, the driver's seat being on the other side of the car, and a desert called Banofee Pie. The name is a portmanteau of Banana and Toffee. Now this is not the crunchy candy you may know as Almond Toffee, but something closer to soft caramel. While I did not sample this desert at the time, I was introduced to it by Stuart's charming son and daughter, who were quite enthusiastic about it. I reciprocated by describing Pecan Pie, which you can find in the cookbook Elle, the keeper of this blog, has published. (It's still in print.) The desert has been wildly popular in both Britain and Ireland since its creation in about 1970. Being close to St. Patrick's Day lets me talk about it as an Irish dessert. As I said it is wildly popular there too.

There is an element of danger in preparing this desert. Most recipes call for boiling a sealed can of condensed (not evaporated) milk for a few hours.

If you don't keep it completely covered in water it may redecorate your kitchen! What can be more fun than the chance, even a slight chance, of things exploding? There is also the danger that you will find it as popular as the English and Irish do, which could become a danger to your waistline. Aside from this element, the recipe is simple and quick. One of the online sources suggests boiling in the evening and letting it cool overnight. The milk can be prepared months in advance with no ill effect. If you are lazy, and your supply chain supports it, you can get pre-boiled caramelized condensed milk directly from Carnation under a couple of different names; Dulce de Leche is one. Another uniquely British ingredient is Digestive Biscuits, but you can substitute Graham Crackers with no harm to the taste. Over there biscuit can mean either cracker or cookie. There are one or two recipes that use chocolate biscuits (but not chocolate coated biscuits), but that seems to me to be gilding the lily.

The night (or several nights) before let one or more 14 oz. cans of condensed milk boil for three hours or so, and allow it to cool overnight. Removing the label first is a good idea.

In the morning, pulverize the biscuits or Graham crackers, melt butter, and combine to create the crust mixture. I used a rolling pin to get it started, and finished in the blender. Cover the bottom and sides (about 2 inches up the sides) of a Springform pan, or similar, to form the crust. As you may be able to tell from the pictures, I used an ordinary pie pan, which results in having more ingredient than place to put them. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. While the crust is cooling, open one can of the cooled caramelized condensed milk

and warm it some, cut the bananas into thin slices enough to build a dense layer in the pan, and whip the cream. An egg slicer makes a great banana slicer.

You may want to combine instant coffee crystals into the cream, or you may not. Other options are shaved chocolate or candied pecans as toppings. There seems to be no agreement on which is more authentic, but most do not talk about the nuts.

When the crust is ready, fill the bottom with the toffee (caramelized milk), smooth out the layer, add a layer of sliced bananas

 (actually about three layers), and then top with a layer of whipped cream. Add any garnish that suits your fancy (I shaved dark chocolate with a microplane, and garnished with a few stray banana slices), release from the pan, slice and serve. The pie can be kept in the refrigerator for several hours before serving, and any leftovers for a couple of days after. It may not last that long, as it is said to make a great guilty late-night snack.

Banofee Pie

Serves 8, generously

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PIE CRUST:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 10-oz. package of digestive biscuits, such as McVities brand [or a similar quantity (two of the three internal packages) of Graham crackers, any brand]

FOR THE FILLING:

1 stick of unsalted butter (optional; I don't think you would notice if it were salted)

½ cup (4 oz) packed dark brown sugar (optional)

1 14-oz. can condensed milk, such as Carnation brand, boiled

4 bananas, sliced into discs 

1 pint heavy whipping cream (double cream in the UK) [three quarters of a pint was enough]

1 tsp. instant coffee crystals (optional)

Grated chocolate, any style

If you include butter and brown sugar, melt the butter, add the sugar, then add the milk, and heat before pouring into the crust, then refrigerate to cool before adding the other layers. I didn't use sugar or butter, and find that the dessert is plenty sweet, and with all the other milk and butter fat present, don't miss the milk or butter either.

Enjoy, NoHandle.

Honestly These Are The BEST Sticky Buns

Recently some friends and I had another fun Baking Day. We made scones from scratch...no mixes allowed... then made a nice no knead bread, but the best bread of the day was the sticky buns. Sticky Buns were the most requested recipe the last time we baked together and I happen to have an awesome one. It started life as a Sourdough Sticky Bun recipe. In truth the sourdough tang cuts the sweetness in a very nice way, but since my sourdough starter has been gone for a year, pretty much, I altered the master recipe to use sweet dough.

This is about as far from diet food as you can get. The recipe also makes a lot of buns, so I also figured out how to make them so that you could finish off the buns using frozen dough rolls. That means you can bake just a few or the whole shebang. Just don't crowd them when you put them in the pan. It also means that you don't have to get up at 4 am to start the rolls in order to have baked buns by breakfast. That's got my vote!

Now, let me tell you about these. They are very buttery, soft in the middle and coated with a sticky sauce that is really a brown sugar caramel. When eaten just a little warm they are one of the best breakfast treats you can imagine. Leftovers (if there are any), warmed a little, make a great midnight snack or tea time treat. Basically, they are excellent and decadent and soooo delicious whenever you have them.

Think of the recipe as a multi-part exercise in kitchen fun. As with most yeast doughs, you start out proofing the yeast, letting it re-hydrate and bloom in barely warm water. Then you make a rich dough and let it rise. Now for the fun part; rolling out the dough, spreading it with lots and lots of melted butter, then sprinkling on a generous amount of cinnamon, then even more brown sugar and rolling the whole thing up into a log.

You can cut the log into rolls with a sharp knife, but do try the cool trick of sliding a length of dental floss (any kind will do) under the roll, bringing an end up on either side of the roll, crossing the ends and pulling quickly. Presto!

The floss cuts the roll without squashing it and the roll is ready to be laid, cut side down, on parchment paper. Once all the rolls have made it to the parchment paper, they go into the freezer, right on a baking sheet. When frozen solid, you can put them into a seal-able freezer bag to wait until you are ready to bake.

If I know I'll be baking the buns in the morning, I will prepare the pans with melted butter and brown sugar the night before, take the buns out of the freezer bag and put them over the butter mixture, still frozen, then pour on the heavy cream. (I told you this isn't diet food, didn't I?) The pan goes into the fridge overnight. That lets the buns thaw so that in the morning they rise more quickly.

In the morning take the pan out of the fridge, let the buns rise while you preheat the oven, then put the pan in the oven to bake. Even if the rolls still look unrisen and frozen, they still bake up to be lovely, golden brown buns, filling the pan and surrounded with bubbling caramel topping. Well, it becomes topping when you take the pan out of the oven, let it cool slightly, then flip the pan over, with the rolls then coated with the gooey, decadent caramel topping. (See photo at top of post.) Serve and enjoy while they are still warm, but give 'em a few minutes because very hot sugar can burn. While they cool that little bit, just take in that amazing cinnamon-sugar-yeast bread aroma like in the mall, only better. If you make these, let me know how you like them. And give thanks that DeeDee let me have this recipe for the best sticky buns ever, so I can share it with you. Aren't you glad I did?

Unforgettable Cinnamon Sticky Buns from DeeDee 
Frozen slices version
Makes 20 - 24 rolls

1) 1 Pkg yeast
    1 1/2 cups warm water (about 108-110 degrees F)
    1 teaspoon sugar
Place yeast, water and sugar in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes to proof the yeast.


2) 1 cup all-purpose flour, whisked with 1 cup water until smooth
    1/2 cup melted butter, cooled (1 stick)
    1/2 cup sugar
    2 eggs, beaten
    2 teaspoons salt
Add the yeast mixture to the the flour/water mixture. Mix in the melted butter, sugar, eggs and salt.

3) 6-8 cups all-purpose flour
Add enough flour to make a soft dough (6 - 8 cups). Oil a large bowl or rising container, Add the dough, turn to coat, cover and let rise until doubled.

4) Divide dough in half. Work with each piece separately.

Roll the first piece of dough to a 12" x 10" rectangle.

5) 1/2  stick butter (1/4 cup), melted
Spread dough liberally with melted butter, leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the edges unbuttered

6) 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon

7) 1/3 pound brown sugar
Cover with the brown sugar, leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the edges without brown sugar
(Optional - sprinkle with 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans for Pecan Sticky Buns)

8) Roll up from the long side and cut into 1 - 1 1/2 inch slices (cut 10-12). I used dental floss to cut them and they turned out great that way. Here the first batch is laid out for the freezer, but to bake right away, go to step 11.

9) Repeat from step #4 with the other half of dough. You will have a total of 20-24 slices.

10) (OPTIONAL): Place slices, cut side down, on a parchment or silicon mat lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm. Remove from sheet and seal airtight in a zip closed gallon bag. (I put a small piece of waxed paper between the slices to make them easy to remove when I was ready for them.) Return to freezer until ready to bake.

11) When ready to bake, remove frozen slices from freezer (if you froze them). Cover bottom of two 9 x 13 inch pans well with 1/2 cup melted butter each (which means you will use 4 sticks or 2 cups butter for the recipe). 

12) Sprinkle with about 1/3 pound brown sugar in each pan (which means you will use a full pound plus 1/3 of a pound of brown sugar for the whole recipe). 

13) Add the freshly cut or frozen rolls, cut side down. Pour about 2/3 cup heavy cream around the rolls in one pan and 2/3 cup heavy cream around the rolls in the other pan (for a total of 1 1/3 cups heavy cream). Let rise until doubled.

14) Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes until brown.
Let rolls cool slightly before serving so no one gets burnt with the hot sugar. Serve with the bottom, sticky, side up. Suggest that ones taken home be reheated in microwave at half power for 1 minute.

I also figured out a lemon version, but that will be in another post.

Hutch

This post isn't really about cooking or baking, but it is about a new piece of the coming kitchen remodel. I've been looking for a hutch or cabinet with some history and character to hold my dishes and silverware. Yesterday I found the perfect piece on Craigslist and today we went and picked it up. Right not it is living in my future baking center, but eventually will be in the main part of the new kitchen, right near the dining area.

Isn't it pretty? I was made 65 years ago in Louisville, Kentucky of Lancaster maple. The fellow I bought it from grew up with it, but it is in such great condition that it looks almost brand new. The logo on the back says "Willett Lancaster maple". I think it is solid wood (weighs enough!) and it is really beautiful.

Science!

Growing up we were actively discourage from playing with our food. Eating was a serious business. Conversation was encouraged. Spilling milk, which seemed a daily occurrence when there were a lot of little kids, was discouraged. Cleaning your plate was encouraged. You get the idea.

Now that I'm not only a grown up but an elder it seems, playing with food is a blast. This past weekend it was fascinating, too. Warrior woman and I used a kit she found online to have some fun with food science. We made molecular mixology cocktails. Whah? What's that? Well, in this case we used some cool chemicals to create two liquids. When you dropped drops of one of the liquids into the other, it created little liquid filled balls, sort of like caviar. These went into Cosmopolitan cocktails. Frosty! 

Here is the kit from R-EVOLUTION. It's for Cosmopolitans, but they also have other kits for Mojitos and more.

The contents:

You even get pipettes. And recipes. 

You start with cranberry juice, add sugar, then put together a mixture with citrus liquor and lime juice, and some red food coloring, too. This will be the liquid that turns into little globes with a thin skin, the 'caviar'. 

One of the cool chemicals is sodium alginate. It gets added to the cranberry mixture. 

It gets thoroughly mixed in with a stick blender, then sits to let the air bubbles pop. We had to scoop off some of the remaining bubbles, too.

Next you make a bath with water and another of the chemicals, calcium lactate. Science! 

When the cranberry liquid, with it's sodium alginate mixed in, meets this chemical bath, a thin skin forms around the liquid through a chemical reaction. Over time the reaction continues, which leaves you with no liquid inside but a ball more like the tapioca balls in Vietnamese coffee. Either way, the different mouth feel of the spheres swimming in the cocktail is excellent and fun. 

This cute pipette lets you drip the mixture in little drops to create the 'caviar' effect. 

Once you have made enough 'caviar', 

you scoop it out and drain it, then rinse with water. After trying different tools, we found that clean hands were the best thing for scooping the spheres into the sieve. 

They felt weird, too. Weird science!

The Cosmopolitan mixture is pretty normal, vodka, lime juice, triple sec, plus we think you need to add some white cranberry juice. Without it the mixture is pretty strong. We had to use red since we didn't have any white...it makes it harder to photograph, but the last photo shows the drink that way.

Then comes the fun part, adding the 'caviar' to the drink. We didn't have a regular blender, so couldn't blend in ice, which was recommended. Without that blended ice the juice balls sank to the bottom. 

Next time we'll get a blender and blend the drink with ice to allow those cool little spheres to be throughout the drink. Even so, it was excellent to take a gulp of the drink and have tiny little juice spheres floating around in your mouth.

So this was a fun evening and I would recommend the kit, but be sure to get both red and white cranberry juice and make sure you have a blender, too. For more impact, add at least 6 drops red food coloring, but then be sure to work on a non-staining surface, because, like cooking, this can get messy. 

The bottom line is that in the end you have a delicious cocktail unlike any you've likely had outside of a trendy bar. Yay for science!

Lamb

We are fortunate to have new grass after last week's wonderful, long awaited rain. We also have been lending part of our property to neighbors as pasture. This past Thursday we welcomed two new lambs! One is a boy and one a girl. They are so cute, but, as newborns, sleep a lot. These are photos from this morning.

The neighbors also bring in hay and the lamb with the black head was asleep on top of some of the hay when the mom sheep (a hair sheep, hence the weird looking coat...not fleece, but matted hair) decided that she wanted to eat that particular bit of hay, so she sort of ate under it and the little sleeping lamb slid off onto the ground and woke up. Guess all that nursing makes the ewe hungry! Top photo was taken after the lamb work up and she seems fine.

Happy Sunday!

Bad Babe

Today is the 6th anniversary posting date for the Bread Baking Babes and I've been a bad babe...no post...no bread...no time. On the positive side I have been celebrating family, friendship, good food and drink, bread baking with friends (although not the BBB bread for February sadly), and becoming a senior citizen in good standing. With luck I'll post in a day or two.

In the meantime, check out the posts of the excellent Babes who have made and posted the Rgaif bread!

Kathy at Bread Experience, Jamie at Life's a Feast, Ilva of Lucullian Delights, Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups, Lien of Notitie van Lien, our Kitchen of the Month.

Rain and Gooey Cookies

We have been having a severe drought. Really bad. Winter is the time when Mother Nature usually gives our area of the country lots of water since once spring comes we usually don't see rain again until October.This year there has been virtually no rain, until this past weekend. Oh, there may have been a drizzle here and a brief shower there, but no rain to soak into the ground and replenish the water table and give the plants and trees and shrubs a drink. Then we had about 9 inches from Friday through Sunday. Yay!

Sweetie and I went for a walk yesterday to see the changes. At the Laguna the frogs were singing loudly, the red wing blackbirds were calling to each other, and the lumpy birds that we think are a kind of heron were back in the trees. They are usually here all December and January, but this is the first we have seen them. The Laguna itself was well past its banks, flooding the path we usually take

 and the nearby fields, too.

 Yay!

Today I made an early Valentine's gift for some friends. I used to call these seven-layer bars, but an even older name is Hello Dolly or Hey There Doll Face bars, an easy and quick layering of buttery graham cracker crumb crust, sweetened condensed milk, nuts, chocolate chips and coconut. I think that for seven layers there were also white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, but I like this version better. It is still pretty ooey gooey and sweet, so your really only need small portions.

I got this version from a cookbook that Sweetie gave me for Christmas, Butter Baked Goods, by Rosie Daykin. She owns and operates a bake shop. By the looks of her recipes, I wish she had one near by. Recipes for lovely cakes, cookies, treats and breakfast goodies can be found in the book. Yay!

"Hey There, Doll Face" Bars

from Butter Baked Goods by Rosie Daykin

These quick to put together bar cookies are ooey, gooey, and a classic, combining graham crackers, pecans, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk.

3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup condensed milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup sweetened fancy long shred coconut

Makes 16 bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 9-inch baking pan by buttering it and lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Stir the nuts after about 5 minutes to ensure even toasting. Remove from the oven and cool. Chop lightly and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and pour the melted butter over the crumbs. Mix well to combine. Press the crumb mixture in the prepared 9 x 9-inch pan and press down firmly and evenly to make a crust. Spread the condensed milk over the crumb crust with the back of a spoon.

In another bowl, mix together the toasted pecans, chocolate chips and coconut. Sprinkle the mixture over the condensed milk in the pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 17 minutes, or until the coconut is just lightly browned.

Removed from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan.

Run a small knife along the edges of the pan. Carefully remove the slab from the pan and cut into approximately 2 x 2-inch bars. Make sure to use at least a 10-inch knife to avoid cutting and dragging the knife across the bars (instead press the sharp, long knife down through the bars to cut them).

Bars will keep in an airtight container for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Crisp and Chocolate and Cinnamon

One of the joys of being a long time baker is playing with a recipe. This past weekend we helped with a move and our neighbors across the street helped, too. While we were between loads, G mentioned that he liked Mexican chocolate. Since his birthday was coming up, this was music to my ears. I knew I could bake something with those flavors to surprise him. He really appreciates baked goods. His wife baked him the most awesome orange tart I've ever had for his birthday meal, so he knows good baking.

One of the things I've been doing this winter is going through old magazines and throwing lots of them out. Every now and then I do spot a recipe that needs to be saved. One of them recently was a recipe for Peppermint White Chocolate Cookie Brittle. Still haven't made that version of it, but I knew I could change a few things and make a delicious Mexican Chocolate Cookie Brittle for G's birthday.

A little dark cocoa was an easy addition. Subbing chocolate chips for the white chocolate was also easy, although I did include some hand-chunked ScharffenBerger bittersweet chocolate to replace the peppermint chunks on top. I added cinnamon and just a touch of cayenne pepper for the Mexican chocolate flavors. A sprinkle of red and yellow sanding sugars added a bit of crunch and sparkle, plus color on the top.

If I make this again I'll make sure to roll the cookie dough out a bit thinner, but otherwise I'm happy with the way it turned out. Chocolate is the first flavor you notice, but then you taste the cinnamon and a hit of pepper. So good with a cup of coffee, but I bet some hot chocolate would be great, too. I only had a taste since chocolate is not a recommended food for me, but Sweetie had a hard time stopping his tastes. Since he continues to lose weight, we gave all the rest to G and his Sweetie to enjoy.

Mexican Chocolate Cookie Brittle
adapted from a recipe in the Dec. 2004 Bon Appétit magazine

A giant cookie is topped with chunked dark chocolate and melted chocolate chips and sparkling sugars, then broken into irregular pieces.

Makes about 24 pieces

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper (or use more if you like more of a kick)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup chunks dark chocolate (I used ScharffenBerger bittersweet chocolate)
red and yellow sanding sugar, or colors of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, cinnamon and cayenne in a medium bowl.

Whisk melted butter, both sugars, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until just blended. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips until well distributed in dough.

Transfer dough to prepared sheet. Press dough into 14 x 8-inch rectangle, about 3/8 inch thick. Bake cookie until top is firm and darkening at edges, about 30 minutes. Check at 25 minutes since chocolate tends to scorch.

Cool on sheet 10 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Stir remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips and shortening in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Using small spoon, drizzle about half of melted chocolate in think lines over cooled cookie.  Sprinkle chocolate chunks and sugars over melted chocolate. Drizzle remaining melted chocolate over top, especially over the chocolate chunks (to help adhere them). Let stand until melted chocolate sets, about 1 hour. 

Break cookie into irregular 2 - to  3 inch pieces. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

Of Pesto and Chicken

Pesto is one of my favorite flavors. There is something wonderful about the combination of basil, pine nuts, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. It can liven up rice, pasta, a baked potato and all manner of entrees. And that basil smells fantastic, too.

It was cold and rainy today, so I stayed inside most of the day. I am so thankful that it rained...we have been having a terrible drought this winter and usually winter is when we get most of the water for the year. It also made it nice to fool around in the kitchen trying out a new recipe, with the rain pattering against the kitchen windows.

This recipe started off life as a sweet crostata with fresh grapes and golden raisins and a nut crust. The rustic look which is achieved by folding the outer couple of inches the crust over the filling is a favorite of mine, but I'd never tried it with a nut crust before. The filling is interesting, too, because it is based on whipped egg whites.

I decided that I wanted to change the recipe around to a savory crostata, filled with a pesto infused whipped egg white filling and then covered with sauteed onions, golden raisins and Parmesan coated chicken pieces. Since I was going with sunny flavors of the Med, I changed the dough to use pine nuts instead of walnuts or pecans of almonds.

The crust didn't turn out quite like I had hoped...it tended to fall apart while I was working on it...but it tasted wonderful once baked and the filling was excellent. We had a slice for dinner with some steamed mixed vegetables and Sweetie was very happy, especially since he was able to watch the Super Bowl while I played in the kitchen. We did take a nice walk with Pi during half time when there was a break in the rain, so it was a pretty nice day all around. Guess I pretty easy to please.

Nut Pastry Dough

     

1/3 cup walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts or pecans
1 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2  teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4  teaspoon salt
1 1/2  tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2  tablespoons walnut oil
5-6  tablespoons cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

.
Spread nuts in a pie pan and bake for 5 - 7 minutes, or until fragrant. Let cool

In a food processor, combine nuts, flour, sugar, and salt; process until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter and process until incorporated. Transfer to a large bowl.

Drizzle oil over flour mixture. Use your fingertips to rub oil into the mixture. On tablespoon at a time, add water and mix with a fork until dough is crumbly and holds together when pressed.

If making a single crust, gently form dough into a flattened disk. If making a double crust, divide dough into two pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other, and form each into a disk. (The dough will keep, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Return dough to room temperature before rolling.)

Chicken Pesto Crostata

1/4 cup pine nuts
1 recipe  pine nut Pastry Dough (see above)
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/3 cup prepared pesto
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small bite sized pieces
pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon milk
Grated Parmesan cheese for dusting crust

Spread pine nuts in a oiled pan and bake in preheated 350 degree F. oven for about 5 minutes or until fragrant (can do this at same time nuts are being baked for pie dough if making same day). Alternatively, pine nuts can be toasted in a large cast iron skilled, shaking pan often. Let cool. Finely chop and set aside.

Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Place two overlapping sheets of plastic wrap or a wide sheet of parchment paper on a work surface. Set dough in center and cover with two more overlapping sheets of plastic wrap or another wide sheet of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Remove top sheets of plastic (or top parchment) and invert dough on to a large baking sheet with sides that has been lightly oiled or coated with nonstick spray. (I put mine on a large piece of parchment paper.) Pull off rest of plastic or the other sheet parchment. Sprinkle semolina (or cornmeal) over the crust, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Set aside.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil, stirring frequently, until onion is light golden brown, about 7 - 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/3 cup grated Parmesan and beat until shiny. With a rubber spatula, fold pine nut mixture and pesto into meringue until thoroughly combined.

Drop spoonfuls of meringue onto crust and gently spread over semolina. Sprinkle raisins over meringue.

Distribute caramelized onions evenly over meringue.

In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the remaining 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese and pepper, to taste. Arrange chicken over raisins, onions and meringue, distributing evenly. Fold border of crust over filling.

Brush crust with 1 tablespoon milk and dust with some grated Parmesan.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and grapes are puffed. With 2 large spatulas, transfer crostata to a large platter. Let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Makes 8 servings.