Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Orange Complements Chocolate In These Cookies


One of the pleasures of being a baker is spending time paging through cookbooks and surfing online on cooking sites to find ideas and recipes. Many experienced cooks then make little changes to the recipes they find to make the recipe their own. The important thing with baking recipes is to keep the proportions very close to or exactly like those in the recipe since baking is really chemistry and the right proportion of leaveners and salt and liquids to starches is important to avoid baked bricks or items that run all over the pan. An easy change is to swap out flavorings. Often you can jazz up a recipe by just exchanging almond extract for vanilla or coconut extract instead of lemon extract. Citrus zest...the colored part of the skin that has lots of essential oils...is another way of perking up a baked good.

These cookies are ones I found online at bettycrocker.com. They were called the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie and I was drawn to them because they make a soft cookie and that's the kind that Sweetie likes. I wasn't feeling like having nuts in them and I had a beautiful orange sitting on the window sill almost begging to be used, so I took out the nuts and added orange zest since I think that orange and chocolate is a great pairing. You may get a few less cookies without the nuts, or you can add in 1 cup chopped nuts of your choice as well as the orange zest, but these were really nice just the way I made them...soft, a little cakey in the center, crisp at the outer edges and truly delicious.

Because the garden continues to demand attention, today I planted some sprouted seeds of blue morning glories into pots. I had saved the seeds last fall from the plants that grew and twined around the tomatoes and the beans on the netting. They seem pretty vigorous so I hope to get enough plants to set out around this year's veggie seedlings in the next week or so. Hope you are thinking of growing something too. It's a great way to honor the coming of spring and having the mindfulness to keep plants going is a handy skill to develop. If you plant flowers you'll get something beautiful to make you smile and if you plant veggies, herbs or fruits you get the added bonus of something to eat.

Betty's Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
a variation of a recipe found at bettycrocker.com

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Make sure you have a couple of baking sheets/cookie sheets
.
In a large bowl, cream the sugars and the butter. Add the vanilla and egg. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and orange zest. Stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by generous 1 tablespoon dollops onto an ungreased baking sheet/cookie sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes until light brown. The center will be soft. Cool slightly on the pan, then transfer with a spatula to a cooling rack and finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.


Makes about 48 cookies.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Almost Like A Banana Split


It's almost spring! Yesterday I planted the first seedlings...snap peas...out in the garden and the rest of the seedlings are getting so big that I may just cross my fingers and hope there isn't a late frost and put them into the garden soon.

Another fun thing I did yesterday was to bake a cake for the month with the Cake Slice Bakers. My first plan was to make the Cinderella Cheesecake for Sweetie's birthday because he loves cheesecake and who can hate chocolate and peanut butter together? Unfortunately first I got sick and then he got sick and no cakes were made. The one that I made today, Banana Split Cake, had a lot of ingredients but it was much easier to put together than the cheesecake, plus I had all the ingredients.

This sweet little cake has all the flavors of a banana split...coconut and pineapple and nuts and the dairy flavor from cream cheese in the frosting, plus, of course, banana. I used dried cherries instead of the neon red ones in the jar because I'm not happy with eating all those chemicals, but otherwise kept to the recipe. I baked half the recipe in a small Bundt pan and gave half to the firemen next door who had been training so hard today, kept a piece for myself and gave the rest to neighbors. Sweetie is still feeling poorly so he didn't want any.


This is a moist cake with a loose crumb and it's very flavorful with all those yummy add-ins. You don't even need a mixer because the cake batter gets stirred together by hand. The frosting called for using a mixer but I went with a small whisk instead and it worked fine. That cream cheese frosting with the flavor of pineapple really goes well with the cake and looks pretty, too. I decided to top the cake simply with just chopped pecans, but you could go wild and use coconut, chocolate syrup or hot fudge, those neon cherries or anything else you like.

Do check out the other Cake Slice Bakers to see which of the recipes they chose to bake. There is a really nice assortment this month!



Small Banana Split Cake
based on recipe in The Southern Cake Book by Southern Living magazine
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries (the original recipe calls for an 8 oz jar maraschino cherries, drained)
10 oz crushed pineapple in juice (7 oz when drained)
4 oz. packaged cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Garnishes: grated milk chocolate, chopped pecans, hot fudge sauce, maraschino cherries with stems, toasted sweetened flaked coconut

Note: I used dried cherries instead of the maraschino and added them with the pecans and coconut instead of with the pineapple. I added the vanilla to the egg mixture instead of after the bananas.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 6-cup Bundt pan. (If using a full size Bundt pan, double the ingredients.)
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl combine eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir well with a fork to combine. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in mashed bananas, pecans, coconut and dried cherries.
Drain pineapple, reserving the juice. Gently press the pineapple between layers of paper towels. Stir pineapple into banana mixture. Spoon into prepared Bundt pan. Even the top and rap pan on counter or table twice to settle ingredients into Bundt grooves.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack until completely cool, about 1 hour.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sifted powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in  1 tablespoon of the reserved pineapple juice (and use rest of juice for another purpose). Pour frosting over cake and garnish as desired. 

Monday, March 16, 2015

Playing in Tanna's Sandbox


If you have been following the Bread Baking Babes journey of bread making and fun, you know that Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups is our ringleader, calling us to play with bread and experiment with flours and seeds and techniques and then maybe even find a nice bottle of wine to go with that bread. This month Tanna invoked spring by inviting us to play in her sandbox and make a delightful loaf, Granary Bread. This is actually a sort of trademarked bread since there is a company in England that sells Granary Bread flour. The recipe calls for malted wheat flakes, too. Who knew that those flakes would be difficult to find?

A little sidebar on my month might be helpful here. Sweetie has been ferrying me around since late February because I finally had cataract surgery and the new glasses I will need in order to be safe to drive won't get to me for a while yet. I've also had a series of minor illnesses, so he was a trooper and actually hunted for the malted flakes for me...from store to store, with help from their workers. I really appreciate his help and am grateful that he did find some lovely crimped barley flakes, which made a lovely loaf. Barley malt syrup added the malt note and I had a bag of King Arthur Irish whole meal flour which I used, too. 

It may not have been the same as what I would get with the Granary flour, but it made a delicious loaf. Slices were awesome toasted and made great sandwiches, too.

Thank you Tanna for a wonderful recipe! All you potential Buddies, this is a great bread to have in your playground, too. Bake it up, take a photo or two and send an e-mail to Tanna before the 29th to be included in the round-up.



Be sure to check out the beautiful bread made by my fellow Babes:
Bake My Day  -  Karen
Blog from OUR Kitchen  -  Elizabeth
Bread Experience  -  Cathy
Girlichef  -  Heather
Life's a Feast  -  Jaime
Lucullian Delights  -  Ilva
My Diverse Kitchen  - Aparna
My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie van Lien - Lien

I enjoyed making the Granary Bread but goofed when it came time to put it in the oven. It had a really nice dome over the top of the pan, but when I scored the top with the lame, the top deflated and didn't re-inflate in the oven, so the top was lop sided. Otherwise it was great - nice crust and moist close crumb inside, with lots of grain flavor.

Granary-Style Loaf

Recipe By: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/granary-style-loaf-recipe#reviews
Yield: 2 loaves

Summary:

This is a bread beloved by the British. We call it "granary-style" loaf because Granary Flour is a proprietary brand sold by a specific company in England. But it's reasonably easy to replicate by the savvy bread baker. Here's our version, close to the English, a full-flavored bread with a hint of sweetness and a bit of crunch.

Ingredients (this is the list that I used, not the original...go to Tanna'ssite or King Arthur for the original):

2 cups lukewarm water
1 to 2 tablespoons barley malt syrup
1 cup barley flakes
1 cup King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup KA Irish whole meal flour
1 scant tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 to 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose
1 cup KA 9-grain bread

Directions:

1. Pour the 2 cups of water into a mixing bowl. Stir in the barley malt syrup, barley flakes and white wheat flour plus whole meal flour. Mix in the yeast, and allow this sponge to work for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the butter or oil, salt, 1 cup 9-grain flour and about 1 1/2 cups of the all-purpose or bread flour. Add flour slowly until you have a shaggy mass that begins to hold together and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured or lightly greased work surface, and knead until it's cohesive. Give it a rest while you clean out and lightly oil your bowl. Continue kneading for several minutes, adding only enough flour (or oil) to keep the dough from sticking to you or the work surface.

4. Return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat all sides, cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough rise until it's doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Gently deflate the dough, cut it in half, and shape each half into a log. Place the logs in two lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pans. Allow the loaves to rise, covered, until they're about three-quarters of the way to doubled.

5. Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 190°F. Remove the bread from the oven, remove it from the pans, and transfer it to a wire rack to cool. (I took the bread out of the pan and placed it in the oven for another 5 minutes to get a good crust on the lower part before putting it on a rack to cool.)

Friday, March 13, 2015

No More Bisquick


I'm really not sure when it happened. For many years I know I made pancakes from scratch. After all, I have my Mom's recipe and if I get bored with that (although that is hard to imagine) I have Fanny Farmer and Joy of Cooking and Marion Cunningham to name a few places where I am sure to find a killer pancake recipe. Still, at some point I turned to the ease of Bisquick and sort of lost track of making plain pancakes from scratch. It may have been because Max loved pancakes and he could make them himself if there was Bisquick on hand. The mix makes OK pancakes, but they tend to be light on flavor and heavy in texture.

Recently I discovered that whenever we last used the packaged pancake mix Bisquick (and it must have been a while ago because I don't remember using it up) the box was emptied and none was bought to replace it. So I pulled down my copy of Classic Comfort Foods and whipped up a batch using Mom's tried and true recipe. What a difference. These were so flavorful and had a great texture...tender and a bit eggy and not to dry and cakey. I made the batter and Sweetie cooked them in the cast iron skillet and we served them with apple that I had cooked in water with a bit of cinnamon...plus a splash of real maple syrup. Just wonderful!


Pancakes

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 or 2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup milk

Sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl  combine the egg(s), melted butter and milk.

Quickly, with a few strokes, stir the wet ingredient mixture into the dry mixture. If too thick, add up to ¼ cup additional milk. Lumps are OK.

Ladle batter on a hot, greased griddle. Turn when small bubbles appear around the edges. Cook until second side has browned. Repeat until batter is used up.

Serves 4 - 6.

Monday, March 09, 2015

Upscale Your Tuna Casserole


If you grew up in the U.S. during the 1950s or 60s there is a good probability that you have had a classic casserole of the time, Tuna Noodle Casserole (also called Toodleooo in our home). It is a combination of noodles, condensed cream soup...mushroom or celery usually...frozen peas and canned tuna. Sometimes a bread crumb or crushed potato chip topping would be added if it was baked. 

It was easy to make from pantry items, quick to go together and mild enough in flavor that most kids would eat it without too much complaint. It had just enough veggies that nothing else needed to be served with it and there wasn't too much clean up either. If you were really in a hurry, you could mix it all up in the pot the pasta was cooked in and serve it right from there, for a very easy and quick meal, but one with lots of carbs, fat, salt and maybe even mercury from the tuna.

Today I made a somewhat upscale version. Mine had whole wheat noodles, a homemade Parmesan cheese béchamel sauce, sauteed fresh mushrooms and onions, leftover grilled ahi tuna and a topping of grated aged focaccia bread. Leftover ahi tuna? Really? Well, the only reason there was some was because I had the flu that night and really didn't eat anything. Sweetie had cooked for both of us thinking I was O.K., so there was a full portion left over. 

The only holdover from the old days were the frozen peas and carrots. The new and improved casserole had a flavor profile very similar to the old casserole, but it was like a comparison between the grated Parmesan in the green cardboard container and real Parmesan Reggiano.

The upscale version was head and shoulders above the old stuff. The noodles had some chew to them, the tuna was tender and flavorful and didn't smell or taste 'fishy', more like sea fragranced. The mushrooms and onions were caramelized and their intense flavor really added to the dish. I had seasoned them with a touch of thyme, too. The sauce was delightful and rich and you could really taste the true Parmesan. The crumbs on top had crisped up nicely in the oven during the short bake, which added a much needed textural contrast. All in all it was worth the extra effort. Comfort food can still be super delicious and this way I could leave out almost all the salt, something much more difficult with canned products. What a way to use leftover tuna!

Upscale Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 package whole wheat noodles
7 oz. grilled ahi tuna, no more cooked than medium rare
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese - use the real stuff
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
3 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
olive oil

Cook whole wheat noodles as directed on the package until just al dente; drain.
 
While noodles are cooking, make sauce; in a medium saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter. Stir in the flour and let cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk all at once, stirring, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese melts. Place a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap directly on the top of the hot sauce to keep it from making a skin on top. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Sautee the mushrooms and onions until onions are deep golden brown and mushrooms have given up much of their moisture. Add a sprinkle of dried thyme if desired. Cover and set aside.


Separate tuna into flakes, mix with cream sauce, onion mixture, and noodles. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Add the peas and carrots to the tuna mixture and turn mixture into an oiled baking dish. Sprinkle top with crumbs. If not using focaccia crumbs, drizzle top with a little olive oil.
 
Bake in preheated 3750 oven for 15 minutes to heat through and crisp the topping.  Serves 3-4.

Friday, March 06, 2015

Italian With A Touch of Lemon


I've made focaccia bread before and shared it with you, too. I love that it is the kind of bread that is easy, delicious, and can be made ahead. This time I kept the beloved Italian features of olive oil and Parmesan cheese, but instead of herbs or grapes or other adornments, I celebrated citrus season with fresh Meyer lemon zest on top.

Because I needed to keep this bread for a number of days before I would be serving it, I froze it and then defrosted the loaf in the microwave on low power, then heated it at 225 degrees F. right before serving.  It makes a deeply flavored, moist bread and doesn't need any additional oil or butter. The recipe actually makes two loaves, so you can keep one in your freezer for when you need a bit of Italian delight.

Fast Focaccia with Lemon Zest

1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Toppings: olive oil, zest of 1-2 Meyer (or other) lemons, colored part only; Parmesan cheese, grated; sea salt (optional)

Directions:
Mix the yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl. Let proof for 10 minutes (until bubbles begin to form).

In large bowl, stir together flour and salt.

Add the yeast mix and olive oil to the dry ingredients and combine.

When dough has pulled together, turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Gather into a ball. With hands coated with olive oil, oil the surface of the dough ball. Turn the bowl over the dough ball. Let dough rise in a warm place for 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil into bottom of 9 or 10 inch diameter cake pan. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with the oil. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons olive oil in another pan.

Punch dough down. Divide dough in half.  Place one piece of dough in each in oiled cake pan. Spread dough toward sides with your fingers, pushing fingers down into dough to create dimples or pockets.
Drizzle top of each pan with 1 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle with lemon zest and some Parmesan cheese or sea salt, if desired.


Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown.