Leaping Ahead

Somehow my mind keeps combining leap year and the soon to arrive day when we spring ahead an hour to meet daylight savings time. It might be because I've been re-experiencing the colitis that troubled me for much of last year. That always wears me out, leaving me feeling a bit like a wet rag.

It might also be due to the unseasonable weather. We have been having spring or even summer weather lately and the iris in the photo above gives you an example of the outcome. Iris usually bloom here in another month or so. This one was found today, Leap Day, at the Luther Burbank Gardens.

There are also plenty of plum trees blooming, calla lilies, rosemary flowers and daffodils blooming. Love the flowers, but I'm troubled by the changes in weather.

Hope to have something baked to post soon.   XO, Elle

Marvelous Marmalade Cake

Right at the start I have to say that my photos for this post are not the best. They were taken after dark and I hadn't thought to take any, so not much thought went into them. That said, I hope they convey the convivial nature of the evening and a little bit of how wonderful this marmalade cake was. If the cake weren't so delicious, with the perfect moist crumb and just the right tang of orange, you never would have been subjected to my poor photos.

The star of all this is the baker, a warm and delightful, multi-talented woman who makes amazing food but understands that the food comes in second to the fun. She is a beautiful flower in the garden of eastern LA. I was lucky to not only be included for this birthday party of Mr. Let's Get This Justice Thing Right, but the nephews drove me to and fro on the LA freeways to make it happen. I am most grateful! The drives also gave me a chance to catch up with them.

Included in the fun was Ms. Designer, currently designing the most beautiful baby girl no doubt. Always a delight to visit with her. The youngster in the photo had a sunny smile the whole afternoon and evening. Heard about art from his brother and about favorite books from his cousins; always a great topic. All in all I'm so lucky to have shared the afternoon and evening with them all!

This cake is a plain one but one that goes perfectly with a dollop of whipped cream ... and champagne if you are lucky! It has a moist, crumbly texture, a delightful orange flavor with hints of almond and comes from Orangette's blog, one that I've been reading a long time. There were birthday candles, but I missed taking that photo.

Marmalade Cake just sounds good and she made it in February, 2010, so you know it's seasonal. It has marmalade, almonds and olive oil and is perfect for someone like me who is dairy intolerant. Here is what Orangette said about it, "As birthday cakes go, it was unassuming, even rustic: a single layer, pale gold and coarse-crumbed... But its flavor was something else: big, gutsy, rich with toasted nuts, and saturated, absolutely saturated, with the perfume of citrus." Check out the recipe by clicking on the link and let me know if you make it. I'm sure going to bake it now that I'm home and see if mine is anywhere near as good as the birthday cake from last weekend. Thank you Mimi!

Sorta Tropical

Even though we've not been having the winter we wanted...chilly and rainy every other day for months, there was enough chill and rain in January that a few sunny days are a treat. Recently it's been almost warm enough to put on a swimsuit and pretend you are in the islands. Maybe that's why the February Cake Slice Bakers recipe I chose was the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It's sorta tropical, right?

A tender yellow cake layer with no oil or butter is served with what had been at the bottom of the pan now serving as the topping. In this case some pineapple juice was worked into the cake and that topping was sweetened by brown sugar, pecans and fresh raspberries as well as that delicious pineapple.

February is a busy month for me, especially the first few weeks of it, so I managed to rush my grocery shopping and purchase pineapple chunks instead of pineapple slices. No prob, I just make a design with the chunks and filled in the gaps with the pecans and raspberries. It looked like a jeweled mosaic and tasted great.

For such a pretty cake, this is also an easy and fairly quick one. Do allow a little time after you bake it for the topping to cool. Too hot brown sugar can really burn your tongue You can dress it up with different nuts and candied cherries are more typical in this recipe than raspberries, but imagine it with blueberries...that could be pretty delicious, too.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
(adapted from Maida Heatter's Cakes)

You will need a large cake pan approx 10" (not loose bottomed), 12-inch pie plate
or a 10" in diameter cast iron skillet, which is what I used

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 oz (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
• One 20-oz. can of pineapple in natural juice - slices or chunks
• 6-8 glace cherries or 10-12 fresh raspberries
• 1 cup sifted plain flour
• 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons of pineapple juice from the canned pineapple

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small pan and pour into the base of your pan, plate or cast iron skillet. I used margarine and it worked very well.
• Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter or margarine.
• Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice.
• Arrange the pineapple rings (or chunks in my case) in the pan on top of the brown sugar making a pretty design. You may not need all the slices. Fill in the gaps with nuts and cherries (or raspberries, blueberries, etc.).
• Now prepare the cake batter by sifting together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric beater whisk the eggs together in a clean bowl until thick and creamy and then gradually add the sugar, still whisking until the mixture becomes thick and pale.
• Add the vanilla and pineapple juice and whisk until just smooth.
• On a low speed whisk in the sifted dry ingredients until just combined.
• Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 
• Remove from the oven and immediately invert the pan, plate or skillet onto a clean plate. Wait for a minute or two to allow the topping to settle and then remove the pan. If you wish you can brush with melted apricot gaze but this didn't seem necessary. (Melt 3-4 tablespoons of smooth apricot jam to make the glaze.)
• Serve warm or at room temperature, plain as I did, or with whipped cream!

The other recipes this month to choose from included a poppy seed cake, a decadent chocolate cake and a coffee and cream sponge cake. 

An InLinkz Link-up

A Break

Taking a short break from blogging...just for a week, or maybe a little less. Sweetie and Pi will keep the home fires burning while I wend my way to the LA area for a little sisterhood and scholar selection. The scholarships support women, especially those doing graduate work, so that's worth spending some time on.

Well Done

This month the Bread Baking Babes celebrate another anniversary...the 8th. Our Kitchen of the Month, Tanna of My Kitchen in HalfCups, challenged us with a bread that requires some time, some buckwheat flour, and some delicious caramelized onions!

 It comes from the book Bien Cuit, which is French for well done. They are referring to the nice dark brown baked edges of the slashes made into the bread, but I also think that Tanna deserves a resounding "Well done!" for not only choosing a wonderful recipe, but for shepherding our group through ups and downs in membership these past 8 years. She makes us feel welcome when we are new, keeps the creativity and curiosity going by her example, and makes sure that the back bench is there when needed, well stocked. Although we are pretty much a group without rules, Tanna provides the gentle nudge this way or that, but only when needed. She also shows us that you can spend a lot of time visiting around the country and world and still find time to bake bread! Although I didn't start out with the original Babes, I think I've baked over 60 breads with the Babes, learning a lot about breads and shaping breads and what not to do while making breads along the way. Tanna has been there all along the way with encouragement, information and friendship!

At first I thought that I would be able to follow this recipe to the letter, and had every intention of doing so, but tripped up right at the start when I discovered that I didn't have white rye flour for the starter. Not to be discouraged from starting, I used plain unbleached bread flour, which worked fine.

After reading through the recipe I also decided to mix the starter in a large bowl then continue on with the recipe in that same bowl. I mixed up the flour and buckwheat flour, then removed about a sixth to a small bowl, then added in the yeast and salt to the larger amount of flour. This larger amount was stirred in, a half cup at a time (in honor of Tanna's blog's name, but also because it's a good amount to stir in at one time) after I had stirred the water into the starter in the bowl. No honey was used - I forgot to add it.

I ended up doing a sort of roll and tuck with a plastic scraper that had a long handle. My dough was still pretty wet, so this was better than using my hands. While I was doing this I added much of the reserved flour mixture, but not all of it. This is the reason that I put the yeast and salt into the flour that I knew would be added. I no longer had to worry that part of the yeast or salt would stay in the reserved bowl. Have been there and done that and had to add a bit more salt later in the process, which never works out as well.

I put a shower cap over the bowl and did the first 45 minute wait. For the stretch and folding I kept the dough in the bowl and used that spatula again. It still allowed me to stretch the dough and I did so going all around the bowl. Back on with the shower cap and another 45 minute wait.

I repeated this twice more before finally using the remaining flour mix in the small bowl to dust my kneading board. Guess I used it all anyway.

I degassed the dough, pushed it into a rectangle of sorts, then spread half the onions in a thin layer over it, then rolled it up and folded in the ends. Turned the dough over, pushed it into a rectangle of sorts, spread the other half of the onions (and I used twice as much as called for) over the dough and rolled it up again, folding in the ends. Then I kneaded the dough for about 10 turns to work the onions in more evenly.

At this point I formed the dough into a ball, pulling the dough to the back again and again to form a sort of skin. I laid it on the lightly floured board, skin side up, and put an overturned large bowl over it, then let it sit for 20 minutes.

This was when I decided I wanted to bake the bread and not wait until the next day. I placed the ball of dough on a piece of parchment only slightly wider in diameter than the ball. Although the original recipe called for two loaves, I decided to make one large one. I preheated the oven to 500 degrees F and put in a covered enameled cast iron casserole large enough to hold the dough, with room to expand. When the oven was hot enough, I put the parchment/dough ball on a bread peel, dusted it liberally with flour, scored the loaf deeply with a small chef's knife, removed the casserole carefully from the oven, removed the lid, slid the parchment and dough into the casserole and put the lid on again. The casserole went into the hot oven. I baked it for 25 minutes, then removed the lid. I slid the loaf out of the casserole and checked for doneness by tapping the bottom. It sounded hollow and the edges of the scores were a nice dark brown! I let it cool, but Sweetie wasn't about to wait 8 hours, so it was cut while still warm. He liked it that way. I enjoyed it more the next morning when it had cooled.

This bread is wonderful! The onions do make it world class, so try to make it with the onions. If you have more patience than I do you can follow the recipe as written on Tanna's page and you might get a better bread and you are sure to get the bakers cred for doing the full on recipe. We are going easy on bread eating around here, so I gave 1/4 of the loaf to Grandma L and another quarter to some neighbors and cut up a quarter to freeze. Since I only made one loaf, it was a big boule, so sharing was easy.

Don't forget to visit the other Babe's sites to see their versions. In web view of this blog there is a sidebar with links to their blogs. Consider making it yourself by Feb. 28th to become a Buddy. Just send Tanna a photo and description of your baking experience and she'll send you a Buddy Badge. Be sure to thank Tanna for choosing this marvelous artisan bread!

CARAMELIZED ONION BREAD

Recipe a variation of one by: Bien Cuit
Yield: 1 large boule

Ingredients:

STARTER
125 grams (3/4 c + 21/2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
0.3 gram (generous pinch) instant yeast
125 grams (1/2 c + 1 tsp) water at about 60°F (15°C)
DOUGH
425 grams (3 c + 21/2 tsp) white flour, plus additional as needed for working with the dough
75 grams (1/2 c + 11/2 tsp) buckwheat flour
15 grams (21/2 tsp) fine sea salt
1 gram (generous 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
350 grams (11/4 c + 31/2 tbsp) water at about 60°F (15°C)

50 grams (1/4 c) Caramelized Onions (1 medium onion, chopped, cooked slowly with 2 tablespoons olive oil until caramelized)


Directions:
1. Put the flour in a extra-large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast into the water, stir to mix, and pour over the flour. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Cover the bowl (I used a shower cap) and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 14 hours. The starter will be at its peak at around 12 hours.

2. FOR THE DOUGH
Stir together the white and buckwheat flours in a medium bowl. Remove 1/6th of it to a small bowl. Add  salt, and yeast to the medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set both aside.

Pour about one-third of the water around the edges of the starter in the extra-large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to break up the starter. Add the remaining water and stir. 
Add the flour mixture from the medium bowl, one half cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Continue to mix with the spoon until most of the dry ingredients have been combined with the starter mixture. Switch to a plastic bowl scraper and continue to mix some of the flour from the small bowl until incorporated. At this point the dough will be sticky to the touch.

Push the dough to one side of the bowl. Use a stiff spatula or a wooden spoon and lift and fold the dough, lifting and folding all around the diameter of the bowl, adding the reserved flour mixture and a small amount of additional flour to the bowl and your hands as needed. Continue lifting and folding until the dough feels stronger and begins to resist any further lifting. Then, with cupped hands, tuck the sides under toward the center. If dough is still somewhat wet it will not be a clean ball. Cover the bowl with a shower cap or tea towel and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.

3.Repeat the lift and fold in the bowl twice more. Cover bowl and let rest 45 minutes after each session.

4. Now lightly dust a clean work surface or board with flour and take the dough out of the bowl and put it on the board. Degas by pushing down all over the ball. Then push the dough into a rectangular shape and spread half the caramelized onions in a thin layer over the dough. Roll up like a jelly roll, then bring up the ends. Turn the dough over and push it out into a rectangle again. You may have to let it sit for 10 minutes if it resists being pushed out. Spread the remaining onions thinly over the dough, roll up like a jelly roll, then bring up the ends. Turn dough over and knead about 10 times to distribute the onion throughout the dough.

5. Shape the dough into a large ball, pulling the dough to the back of the ball over and over until a thin skin forms. Place the dough, skin side up, on a floured board and cover with an overturned large bowl. Let sit 20 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and place a large, enameled cast iron casserole or Dutch oven into the oven, including the cover. Make sure that the cover has a handle that can go into the oven.

7. When the oven is hot enough, cut a piece of parchment into a circle the size of the bottom of the casserole. Place it on a baking peel and place the dough ball onto the parchment. Dust heavily with flour and score deeply the loaf with a lame or small chef's knife.

8. Working quickly but carefully, take the casserole from the oven, remove the lid, slide the loaf into the hot casserole, return the lid to the pot, put the casserole back in the oven and bake abput 25 minutes. When done the loaf will sound hollow when the back is tapped and the edges of the scores will be dark brown (bien cuit).

9. To test, remove the casserole from the oven, remove the lid and tip the baked loaf out onto a cooling rack. Turn over and tap.  If bread doesn't sound hollow, return to the stone and bake for 5 minutes longer.

Let the bread cool completely before slicing and eating, at least 4 hours but preferably 8 to 24 hours.

Another Birthday Cake

One of the cool things about being a baker is that you can make just what you want for your own birthday. I did just that and was able to really enjoy a moist, fragrant chocolate Bundt cake that had a hint of bourbon. I made it with a combination of margarine and shortening so that the 'no dairy' fairy wouldn't rain on my parade, but otherwise mostly made it as described in this post.

For decoration I sifted some powdered sugar over the high points of the Bundt design and then my darling daughter added some bronze highlights to the sides using a food safe bronzing powder she brought from London. She sent me those roses, too. I'm a lucky woman.

Pretty and delicious and I used some duck eggs from our neighbors, so a little different that way, too. Didn't get a photo of it decorated with candles, but it was even prettier.

Trust me, if you ever need a cake for a chocolate lover, make this one!!

It really was the perfect ending to a great day...a private winery tour of White Rock Winery in Napa, the beautiful drive through green hills dotted with yellow mustard flowers to and from the winery, a down home supper  of Smokehouse BBQ, my slaw, and the cake for dessert. All four of us fit in Straight Shooter's vehicle so he took care of the driving and we were able to enjoy the ride!

Mixed Muffins

It's been a long time since I made muffins. Hard to believe that I used to make muffins as a business when I was young and foolish. Of course those muffins were rich with butter and milk and no one even knew about gluten intolerance then, except for a few doctors. The muffins a made yesterday were made with my current restrictions in mind, but they were decadent anyway. Instead of all one kind, I decided to make two kinds...but then found that I didn't have very many raspberries left. Still, I was able to make a couple of raspberry ones since I had gotten the yen for those. The rest were apple date pecan muffins. A nice mix of flavors all around.

These were delicious when warm, but also good once they cooled off. The crumb was open but delicate and moist. I really enjoyed the dates when they were warm and I could taste the apple more when they had cooled. The raspberry muffin was eaten while still a little warm and it was outstanding! The muffin itself doesn't have much sugar, so the berry flavor really dominated.

I used yogurt instead of sour cream. Yogurt seems to be the only dairy my bod likes. For additional liquid I used almond milk and a little olive oil. Although I'll bet these could have been made just with gluten free flour mix, I decided to use half GF (Bob's Red Mill) and half all-purpose. The best part was creating the mix-ins. I used diced apple, chopped dates, and chopped pecans for 10 muffins and some fresh raspberries for two. Sounds difficult? Not if you put the raspberries in the bottom of the greased muffin tins, then add the batter 3/4 of the way up the pan. The apple/date/nut mixture was then quickly blended into the batter and the rest of the tin filled up with that.

If you need to make these gluten free, just use your favorite gluten free flour mixture for all the flour and add a teaspoon of xanthan gum for stability. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea, and you have a great mid-morning or afternoon snack.

Mixed Muffins

a variation on Sour Cream Muffins in Joy of Cooking

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup GF flour mix - Bob's Red Mill & 3/4 cup all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup almond milk (add a little more if yogurt isn't wet enough)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 medium to large apple, chopped
1/4 cup dates, chopped
1/4 cup pecans, chopped or broken up

optional- fresh raspberries for some of the muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In a medium bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, almond milk and vanilla. Gently and quickly, with as few strokes as possible, mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture. At this point, if you are doing both apple and raspberry muffins, place about 5 raspberries in the bottom of a couple of muffin cups, then add batter to fill cup 3/4 of the way to the top.

With remaining batter, fold in gently and quickly, with as few strokes as possible the apple, dates and pecans. Put batter in prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 of the way to the top.

Immediately put the muffin pan into the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes and turn pan around 180 degrees if needed for even baking. Muffin is done when a light poke in the middle springs back.

Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on a rack. Remove from the muffin cups and serve or serve at room temperature.

Makes 1 dozen large muffins.

Fun Fingerlings

I know that a lot of posts lately have been savory and with no sign of dessert or bread baking, but that is kind of how life is going, too. Sweetie is shedding pounds and asks that I avoid too much baking, but I think he didn't mind for today's dish.

Our generous and delightful neighbors across the road gave us a bag of mixed fingerling potatoes from their garden. They are wonderful to look at with the soil still coating them and little knobs sticking out here and there. This is actually something I made last Sunday, but life has been super busy, so baked crispy fingerlings is finally showing up here. We also were given some non-fingerlings, so I chunked them up and boiled them, too.

To make this, clean your potatoes, but don't remove the skin. Cut into chunks, about 1.5 - 2 inches wide. Cook the potato chunks in boiling water in a good sized pot until tender, then drain.Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F while the potatoes cook.

Now comes the fun part. Spread the cooked potato chunks on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Make sure there is a little room between the chunks. Then use a large fork (I use one from our carving set that has three tines) or a potato masher to mash each chunk. You want the chunk to hold together but have some bits sticking up. Those will get crispy in the oven.

Drizzle some olive oil over the chunks and sprinkle with salt and/or pepper and any herbs you like with potatoes. Minced fresh rosemary goes well in this recipe.

Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Check how brown the potatoes are and turn pan around front to back and keep baking until chunks have golden to dark brown places. Since the potatoes are already cooked, how dark they are is personal preference.

Serve at once. Be sure to scoop up those delicious browned bits while serving. These make a great side dish for almost any fish, meat, our poultry entree you can think of. They're also gluten and dairy free.

For a vegetarian feast, top the potatoes with freshly made aoili and fill your plate up with steamed fresh veggies of all kinds. I like green beans, peas, broccoli, carrots, spinach or kale, parsnips, and beets, but use what ever is seasonal and fresh. Vegenaise can be used instead of aoili for a vegan version, but you might need to thin it with a bit of soy milk.

Oh Baby!

Last time I was at the library they had three new cookbooks displayed that looked good to me. To start with I chose two recipes from Eating Up the West Coast, by Sunset magazine folks and combined them. The first was from the far northern California section, and it was for pancakes made with almond milk and almond flour and just a little all-purpose flour. There was no oil and they looked delicious. The second recipe was from the Washington state section, Port Townsend, Owl Spirit Cafe and it was for a blueberry Dutch baby topped with lemon curd.

Since Sweetie has been very successful with his recent diet, I decided that tempting him with lemon curd would be cruel, but that a low-cal Dutch baby with fresh raspberries would be just fine.

I decreased the almond flour from the pancake recipe because I wanted to make sure that the baby rose in the pan and I used the three eggs from the baby recipe, plus the tablespoon of sugar. I added a grating of lemon zest because I think that citrus zing brings out the best in raspberries (and no lemon curd :( ). The pancake rose up beautifully and the berries cooked and released a little juice. The texture was puffy and the flavor was extraordinary!

 It takes a bit of pre-planning to make this Dutch Baby because you need to make the batter ahead and let it sit an hour, plus the oven needs to be preheated to 450 degrees, which can take a bit of time in a cool kitchen like mine is in the morning.

To serve I went with a locally produced raspberry syrup...just a small puddle...and we didn't really need anything else.

Raspberry Baby

3 eggs
3/4 cup almond milk (I used vanilla flavored, but plain would work)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon neutral flavored oil or melted butter
1 cup raspberries, rinsed and drained on paper towel


Whisk together the eggs, almond milk, vanilla and sugar.

In a large bowl or pitcher sift together the flour, almond flour and salt. Add the zest and whisk briefly to mix. Whisk the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

About 20 minutes before the end of the batter resting hour, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Once the oven has reached 450, put a 9" or 10"cast iron skillet into the oven to heat for 10 minutes.

At the end of the 10 minutes, carefully, with oven mitts on, remove the skillet from the oven. Add the oil to the skillet and swirl to coat the bottom and up the sides a bit. Then pour in the batter and scatter the raspberries over the batter. Carefully return the hot skillet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Batter will puff up and the top at the edges will be golden brown when done.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven and cut into servings. Serve at once with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar, your favorite syrup, or (decadent!) lemon curd.

Deeply Darkly Chocolate

It's always fun to make a treat for a friend for their birthday. Since I'm no longer doing dairy, it's extra nice to be able to bake with butter since the resulting sweet will be given away and not tempt me.

Yesterday I made these dark chocolate, intensely chocolate brownies to give away, but saved a few for Straight Shooter, who told me that they were delicious and very chocolaty. They were moist and fairly dense, but still had crumbs and the stout just intensified the chocolate sensation. You wouldn't know there was stout in them if no one told you. They were fine as is, but I suspect that a nice ganache topping wouldn't go amiss, either, should you choose to make them very decadent.

Except for chopping the chocolate these are really easy to make. I didn't even use a mixer. I just stirred everything together. If you cut these out with a heart cutter after they baked it would make an awesome Valentine's gift...and you could eat the scraps.

Stout Brownies
From Cooking Light Magazine

1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
4.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, divided
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup stout

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8"x8" baking pan with aluminum foil, then spray pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl or onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set aside.

Divide the chocolate into a 3 oz. portion and a 1.5 oz. portion. Finely chop the 1/5 oz portion.

In a large bowl, melt the butter and chunked up 3 oz. of the chocolate. I used a microwave on 1/2 power, 1 minute at a time, stirring well after each minute. Add the oil and stir to combine. Cool slightly.

Add the sugars and mix well. Add the vanilla, egg and egg yolk and mix well. Add the stout and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix just to combine. Fold in the remaining 1.5 oz. chocolate, chopped fine.

Put the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should have a few moist crumbs clinging to it when brownies are done.

Remove from oven and cool on a rack 10 minutes. Use foil to remove brownies from pan. Cut into squares and serve.

Note: The ingredients are as listed in the magazine, but the instructions are just a bit different.

Mustard With Your Meat

When I was a kid one of the cool things was when my Dad would come home from packaging shows with new products like shrink wrapped items and Velcro fasteners and lunch boxes that folded flat. He also brought home silly things like a records. One of the most memorable was a Christmas record from a company called Line Materials. One of the songs on that record, which became a family favorite in my silly family, was called "People Should Listen To Me" or something similar to that. It was a song sung by a baritone guy who said he knew what the right way of doing things was...for everything! One of the lines called for 'mustard with your meat, galoshes on your feet' to give us two examples of what was right.

A few days ago I decided to see if that mustard with meat part was correct. I know I like mustard on hamburgers, but I had never used it for meat loaf and I was making a meat loaf using ground beef, which is rare for me...usually I use ground turkey. HERE is one I made using turkey and pork.

The other change was that I added cooked mushrooms seasoned with dried thyme. I wanted to add mushrooms but was worried that the moisture they give off when cooked would mess up the firmness of the meat loaf, so I cooked them first. Since I love the combination of mushrooms and thyme, that's what I used.

For the recipe I started with my Mom's Oatmeal Meat Loaf from the Classic Comfort Food cookbook (see link at top right corner of this blog, in web view). By cooking the mushrooms first and adding the mustard to the tomato juice, it didn't change the recipe too much and the results were not only delicious, but, according to Sweetie, the best meat loaf I ever made. I guess that officious guy on the record was right about mustard anyway.

Oatmeal Meat Loaf With Mushrooms and Mustard

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

4 oz. fresh mushrooms, finely chopped

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey, or a combination

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup tomato juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 onion, peeled & chopped
1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup rolled oats, uncooked

Spray a large skillet lightly with cooking spray (I used olive oil spray) and heat over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and the thyme and cook, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes, until mushrooms are browned and have given off most of their juice. The juices should evaporate as you brown the mushrooms. The idea is to have cooked mushrooms that will add little moisture to the meat loaf.

In a large bowl mix the ground meat or poultry, cooked mushrooms, salt and pepper.

Mix the mustard with the tomato juice and add to the mixture. Add the onions and egg and mix again. Add the oatmeal and mix thoroughly until everything is incorporated. Pack firmly into an ungreased loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Serves 8.

Duck!

Recently there was a great buy on duck legs at the market. I rarely cook duck, so I took the opportunity to do some online searching for a good recipe. I ended up using a recipe from the New York Times, but also changed it a bit to include red wine because I think duck and red wine go so well together.

The results were awesome, like dining at a fancy restaurant, probably a French one. The dish was rich in flavor, full of roasted veggies, had a wonderful sauce in the bottom of the pot and went really well with some boiled red potatoes. It took a little more time than usual, but was well worth it.

Braised Duck Legs with Veggies

based on recipe at Diners Journal/NY Times

Ingredients

• 2 duck legs, trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup red wine (I used a nice Pinot)
• 2 large onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 pound carrots
• 6 celery stalks
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 oz. sliced, cleaned mushrooms
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade.

Method

• 1. Put duck legs, skin side down, in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably; turn heat to medium. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown duck legs carefully and evenly, sprinkling them with salt and pepper as they cook. Meanwhile, peel and dice vegetables.
  
• 2. When legs are nicely browned, turn them over and sear for just a minute or two. Remove to a plate; remove fat to a small bowl. Add red wine to deglaze the pan, then simmer wine for 1o minutes to reduce. Pour red wine over chicken and wipe out skillet. Add just enough of the reserved fat to cook the vegetables. Discard rest of fat or use for another purpose.  Add vegetables and thyme to skillet along with some salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Return duck legs to pan, skin side up and juices/wine, and add stock; it should come about halfway up duck legs but should not cover them. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, and transfer to oven.
  
• 3. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees. Continue to cook, uncovered & undisturbed, until duck is tender and liquid reduced, at least another half hour. The duck is done when a thin-bladed knife pierces the meat with little resistance. When done, duck will hold nicely in a warm oven for another hour. Serve hot.

Citrus For Cake Slice Bakers January Cake

It's always gratifying when you make a cake for someone for their birthday and they love it. I did that for the January Cake Slice Bakers challenge by making The Best Damn Lemon Cake in a small Bundt pan for a good friend who is 90+ this year...I won't tell you how many years plus, because a lady doesn't talk about that, right?

Here is what my friend wrote after she and her family had enjoyed the cake, "The lemon bundt cake was without a doubt the best dessert I've ever eaten. It really hit the spot. I think I liked it better than my favorite brownie. I did share it and they all agreed. So much so  - we need the recipe. I can see this as being a household must for all the time."

So there you have it...a cake good enough for a party, but a must for all the time...and it is pretty easy to make, too. The only wild card is that you must have a full ounce of lemon extract on hand...and lemons, of course.

Be sure to visit the other Cake Slice Bakers to see what great cakes they made this month. There were so many good choices that I made another one...which will get posted in a day or so.

An update on Sweetie...he went to the doc this morning and was told that he was healing well and was lucky to have escaped with nothing broken and no impacted disc on his back either. He is feeling much better and back to modeling. Right now he is working on the masts for a wooden ship...really awesome.

The Best Damn Lemon Cake

from Maida Heatter's Cakes

Cake

1/2 cup blanched almonds  (I used 1/2 cup almond flour from King Arthur Flour)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter (I used non-dairy margarine)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)

one 1-ounce bottle lemon extract

finely grated rind of 2 extra-large or 3 medium-sized lemons
(most of the juice will be used for the Glaze)

Glaze

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Note: The recipe calls for a 6-cup loaf pan to be used, but I used two small Bundt pans and the batter was about 1/2 cup short in each pan, so they were smaller cakes but still delightful.

Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan with a 6-cup capacity. Dust it all with fine, dry bread crumbs (I used almond flour put through a very fine strainer), invert over a piece of paper, and tap firmly to shake out excess. Set the pan aside.

The almonds must be ground very fine. It can be done in a food processor or a nut grinder, or use almond flour made from blanched almonds. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, almonds (Maida does not include the almonds here, but folds them in at the end. I also mixed the grated lemon peel into the dry mixture rather than fold it in at the end). Set aside.

In a small, heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. (Can be done in the microwave, too.)

Transfer the melted butter to the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat a bit to mix. On low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating only to mix well. (At this point I added the lemon extract and beat it in just to mix.) Then, still on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients in three addition alternating with the milk in two additions, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating until mixed after each addition. Mix in the lemon extract (if not already added).

Remove from the mixer. Stir in the grated rind and then the ground almonds (if not already added).

The mixture will be a rather thin mixture. Turn it into the prepared pan(s).

Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester carefully inserted into the center of the cake, all the way to the bottom, comes out just barely clean and dry. If using a pan that is long and narrow, the cake will bake in less time than if it is short and wide. If using two small pans as I did, check after 30 minutes and every two to three minutes after that until cake tester test works. During baking, the cake will form a large crack or two on the top; this is fine and crack(s) will remain light in color.

Two or 3 minutes before the cake is done, prepare the glaze.

Stir the sugar and juice in a small, heavy saucepan over moderate heat only until the sugar is dissolved; do not boil the mixture.

When the cake is removed from the oven, let it stand for 2 - 3 minutes. Then, with a brush, brush the hot glaze very gradually over the hot cake(s). The glaze should not be applied quickly - it should take about 5 minutes to apply it all. (If putting on two small cakes, try to divide it evenly.)

Let stand until tepid, not quite completely cool. Then, gently invert the cake onto a rack. (If the cake sticks in the pan, cover it loosely with foil or wax paper, turn it upside down onto your right hand, tap the bottom of the pan with your left hand, and the cake will slide out.)Turn the cake right side up for loaf pan. Leave with fancy part up for small bundt cakes.

When the cake is completely cool, wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and let stand for 12 to 24 hours before serving. Or place it in the freezer for about 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for about 4 hours, before serving. This is wonderful with fresh raspberries served on the side.

This cake could probably be easily made into a gluten free cake, but I was making it for gifts, so used regular flour. If making with gluten free flour mix, use a long, narrow pan to bake it in and reduce the baking time a bit.

Bun

Although we have been grateful for weeks of almost-every-other-day rain, the constant moisture created a hazard that we didn't think about. I guess four years of drought gets one out of the habits needed to weather rainy years well. A few days ago Sweetie was going down the back steps towards the room he uses for making train and ship models and he slipped on the wet, slightly slimy steps. His feet flew out from under him and he landed on the edge of the bottom step and then finished up on the landing. In the process he got some world class bruises, especially on his bum, but, fortunately, nothing more serious as far as injuries. His back has been pretty sore but he has been careful to ice his injuries and to rest, so he is doing much better. I am so thankful that he didn't break anything!

Usually we take turns making dinner, but I've been doing it since the fall, so last night I decided to make something that I enjoy ordering when we eat out. The dish is Vietnamese Bun salad, with shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bowl, cooked rice noodles on top of that, a scattering of matchstick carrots, cucumber chunks, minced cilantro and minced mint, and warm cooked chicken pieces. The dressing was fun to make. It has lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, water and ginger. Once the salad is dribbled with the dressing, chopped peanuts are scatter on top and it's ready to serve.

I used instructions and recipes from a number of places and put bits of them together, so I don't have a place to send you to. I read of various ways to prepare the rice noodles and finally ended up doing a blend of two of them. The dressing was based on one found on David Liebowitz's blog, but I added garlic and fresh ginger and used more lime juice and less water, so I guess it's my own dressing.

This is a light, refreshing meal with plenty of crunch from the lettuce and peanuts and cucumber and carrots. David uses fried shallots and red onion and I've seen the salad with bean sprouts, too, so feel free to adjust the salad fixin's, too.

I'm still going to order Bun when I eat at Vietnamese restaurants, but it's nice to know that I can make it at home, too.

Vietnamese Bun Rice Noodle Salad

The dressing

• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• a few drops hot sauce, or Sriracha sauce to taste
• 1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

The salad 

• 8 oz. dried thin rice noodles
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into bite sized matchstick pieces
• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized chunks
• 1 large chicken thigh, cooked, skin removed, and cut or torn into bite sized pieces
  (you can also use other protein like barbecued pork, barbecued shrimp, or small, cooked spring rolls, or tofu)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3-4 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts (I like unsalted)

For the dressing 

In a small jar combine the lime juice, fish sauce (more if you really like fish sauce), brown sugar, water, hot sauce, garlic and ginger. Shake to combine well and set aside.

 

For the salad  

Heat water in a large pot big enough to hold the rice noodles. There should be enough water to cover the noodles. Bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and add the noodles, breaking the mass if necessary to fit it into the pot. Stir gently. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Return pot to stove.

In two or three or four large bowls place the iceburg lettuce. Gather all of the rest of the ingredients and heat the protein part. Turn on the heat under the noodles and bring back to a boil. As soon as the water boils, drain the noodles in a colander, rinse thoroughly with cold water, then spread noodles on a clean kitchen towel to drain.

Place some noodles over the iceberg lettuce. Scatter carrot, cucumber and warm protein (chicken in my case) evenly over the portions of noodles. Scatter the mint and cilantro evenly over the portions.

Drizzle some of the dressing over each salad and top with peanuts. Serve additional dressing at the table for those who want more dressing. Serve at once. Makes 2-4 servings, with some noodles and dressing left over for another time.

Bread Baking Babes Boat Bread

Georgia, Georgia... That's the place in Russia where this month's recipe comes from. Thanks to our Kitchen of the Month, Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, we were treated to an easy to make, delicious boat-shaped bread, Acharuli Khachapuri, that is usually filled with cheese, topped with a soft-cooked egg and butter and eaten hot.

I made the dough in my stand mixer and used the optional egg, which meant I needed more flour. It made a very nice, supple dough which was easy to handle and shape like a boat. I made the dough without dairy since I wanted to be able to taste it and to use one of the two boat shaped breads for a filling I could eat.

I made the first one with the filling given, just making up half the amount. I skipped the egg topping and the butter at the end, but Sweetie still really enjoyed it and even asked for more for breakfast this morning. The second boat was filled with a thin layer of plain yogurt, sprinkled with a bit of sugar, then topped with small blobs of cherry jam. I enjoyed that, even though the dough is a bit salty. If I were to make it in a sweet version again, I would reduce the amount of salt in the dough by at least 1/2 teaspoon.

This is a fun bread to make and fairly quick since it doesn't require a second rise. I'll bet you could come up with quite a few topping ideas yourself! To become a Buddy, be sure to e-mail Aparna with a photo and brief description of your baking experience. Here is a link to her site.

Be sure to check out the breads made by the other Babes. Links will eventually be at the bottom of the post.

Acharuli/ Adjaruli Khachapuri (A Boat Shaped Georgian Egg & Cheese Bread)

Adapted from Saveur - http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Acharuli-Khachapuri-Cheese-and-Egg-Bread

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

1 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

2/3 cup milk (I used soy milk)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 egg (optional)*

1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting

1 tsp salt

For the Filling:

1 1/2 cups grated/ shredded Mozzarella

1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese

2 eggs (or any other topping of choice  - I used  sliced tomatoes, pickled jalapenos and herbs)
Skipped the eggs or any topping except the cheese for one, used plain yogurt and cherry jam instead of any cheese or other topping for the second Acharuli.

For topping after baking:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed

Method:

I usually make my bread dough using the processor but this is easily done by hand.  Put all the ingredients for the dough into the processor bowl and knead together until everything comes together into a smooth and somewhat loose elastic dough that’s just short of sticky. (I used my stand mixer and some additional flour since I used the egg in the dough.)

Transfer the ball of dough to a well-oiled bowl, turning it so it is coated all over. Loosely cover and let it rise till double in volume – about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Place a pizza stone, or a baking sheet on a rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 250C (500F).

Combine the cheeses in a bowl and  set aside. Deflate the dough and divide it into two halves. Working with one piece at a time,  roll it out to a rectangle about 10” thick and 1/8” thick on a piece of lightly floured parchment.  This makes it easier to transfer the dough to your baking sheet.

Roll the long sides in a bit curving them inwards at the ends and seal well (with a little water) or the edges will open up during baking. Then bring the edges close and pinch together on both ends to form a “boat” like shape. Again, make sure the ends are sealed well. Transfer the “boats” to the baking sheet, but if you’re going to bake them directly on the pizza stone just omit this step.

Dock the centre “well” area and fill with half of the cheese mixture so it is a little higher than the edges of the dough “boat”. Repeat with the other half of dough and  bake them for about 12 to 15 minutes until the Khachapuri are golden brown.

Take the breads out of the oven and gently crack an egg on each bread without breaking the yolk (or add the sliced tomatoes, pickled jalapeños and herbs like I did) and return them to the oven. Bake for another 3 to 4 minutes till the egg is set. Take the Adjaruli Khachapuri out, and place a couple of cubes (2 tbsp) butter on each. (Skipped the eggs and the butter both.) Serve them hot. It helps to wait for about 10 minutes before eating them so you don’t burn your mouth! This recipe should serve 4 to 6 people.

Mushrooms and Rice and Bacon, Oh My

Not sure why, but yesterday I wanted mushrooms with my dinner. We had about 6 oz. of whole crimini mushrooms in the fridge so I just needed to decide what to make. Sweetie didn't have any preferences when I asked him, so I went with a rice dish. There wasn't a recipe for this and I didn't measure some of the ingredients, so I'll write up a recipe as best I can to keep it for the next time and to share it with you.This is a wonderful side dish with nutty flavors and delightful savory notes. If you like mushrooms, you'll love this dish!

The first thing I did was to chop some yellow onion and saute it in olive oil. Then I added the sliced mushrooms and cooked those together with some dried thyme and a little water. It smelled wonderful!

After that I decided that I wanted both bacon and pecans with the rice mixture, but first I started some brown rice mixed with chicken broth in the rice cooker and some wild rice and water in a pot on the stove.

While the rice cooked, I rendered the bacon enough so that it would crumble when it was cooled, poured off almost all of the bacon grease, then toasted the pecans in the pan I cooked the bacon in.

For timing, the wild rice was the key since it takes a little longer to cook than the brown rice. Once the wild rice was done I drained it and added it and the cooked brown rice to the mushroom mixture, along with the crumbled bacon and toasted, chopped pecans. After a quick stir and a minute on low heat to make sure everything was warm, I served it up. It was really delicious. The rice had a little chew, the nuts added crunch, the bacon and caramelized onions perked up the flavor and it all went really, really well with the mushrooms. This is a dish worth making again, and soon.

Mushroom Rice with Bacon and Pecans
Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 oz. small crimini mushrooms, cleaned, dried and sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup brown rice, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup wild rice, rinsed
2 cups water
1-2 strips bacon
1/2 cup pecans

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-hot heat. Saute' the onions in the hot oil for 1/2 minute, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often, until onions become dark golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the thyme and the water, stir, cover and let cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When time is up, turn off the heat and set aside.

While mushrooms are cooking, put the brown rice into a medium heavy bottomed pot or rice cooker and add the broth. Cover and cook over medium to low heat (mixture should simmer) until rice is cooked and tender. Set aside.

While mushrooms and brown rice are cooking, put the wild rice into a medium heavy bottomed pot or rice cooker and add the water. Cover and cook over medium to low heat (mixture should simmer) until rice is cooked and tender. Drain. Set aside.

The brown rice will take 20 - 30 minutes and the wild rice closer to 45 minutes.

While rice is cooking, in a small frying pan, cook the bacon until it is crisp enough to crumble when cool. Let cool on a paper towel, then crumble. Discard the extra bacon grease in the pan, but don't wipe it. OK to have a little bit of grease left in the pan.

In the pan the bacon was cooked in toast the pecans for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring and turning them over as needed to keep them from burning. Set aside to cool, then chop the nuts.

Once all the rice is cooked, reheat the mushroom mixture over medium heat for about a minute, then add the two kinds of rice, the crumbled bacon and the chopped pecans. Stir well to combine, heat another minute over medium-low heat, covered, then serve while hot.

Buddies Bake Anadama Bread

Not sure what happened, but I completely forgot to do a round-up post for the Anadama Bread. So sorry dear Buddies! Perhaps this being my first post for 2016 will make it more acceptable.

We had at least two lovely breads baked by our Buddies Kelly of A Messy Kitchen and Carola of Sweet and That's It.   I thought there was a third one, but can't find any e-mails. Many thanks to each of your for baking with the Bread Baking Babes!

Kelly of A Messy Kitchen  found this month's bread a stroll down memory lane since she had made the bread in high school. She says, "For my loaf, I used a blend of flours, all purpose, spelt, and einkorn.  Because spelt and einkorn don't absorb liquid like regular flour, I ended up having to add a lot more, between ¾ and 1 cup of regular flour (to boost the gluten).  I still left the dough on the sticky side though because too much einkorn can give you a dry or dense loaf.  I must have hit it right because I got neither of those.  The loaf was hearty, for certain, but not heavy and still nicely moist.  I only figured out today that I used double the sugar as the original post, because I looked at another babe's post first which did the same.  Maybe that was why my loaf took so long to rise, the sugar inhibits the yeast.  I might use less next time but it was really good as it turned out!  And I still got fantastic oven spring."

Carola of Sweet and That's It posted on our Facebook page and not on her blog, but her Anadama bread was gorgeous, with a lovely pattern made using the seeds on top. She found that not all cornmeal is created equal but I hope she will try again to make this bread, even using the fascinating pan she tried.

I think a lot of the Babes had a good time with the Anadama bread and the variety of seeds was stunning. The Bread Baking Babes will be posting the January recipe on Jan. 16th. It's a different one, so do check back then.