I've decided to ring in the new year of blogging with another quiche recipe, although this one is a bit lighter (I feel) than the previous one that I did back in - EEK!- August of 2018. Ahh, how time flies when you are busy procrastinating and taking care of 22 animals of assorted varieties. At any rate, this recipe was tested out on Christmas morning when I was forbidden from doing our usual breakfast of sticky buns, welsh pancakes with orange sauce, and baked eggs because we were planning on doing that the day after Christmas so that my sister and her fiance could partake and my mom said "absolutely not" to doing it two days in a row. She's in weight watchers and is, in general, a killjoy when it comes to the creation and consumption of tasty treats. I did modify this recipe a bit as it originally called for mushrooms and I tend to think of them as being very slug-like once cooked and, therefore, inedible. The general consensus was that it was a very good quiche so I am passing along the recipe to you, gentle reader.
Three cheese vegetable quiche
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cup milk (I used both whole milk and 2% and both quiches came out fine)
2 large handfuls (approximately 3-4 cups) fresh spinach, diced
1 teaspoon dried minced shallots (or onion)
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup Gouda cheese, shredded
1/2 cup smoked Gouda cheese, shredded
3/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the pie crust out into a 9-inch glass pie pan and crimp the edges as needed. Prick the crust all over with a fork and bake for 10-12 minutes. Take out and set aside.
While the pie shell is baking you can work on the filling. In a skillet, heat the vegetable oil and add the red onion and cook over medium high heat until tender, about 4 or 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine the milk, spinach, minced shallots or onion, egg whites, eggs, salt, and pepper and stir until all the ingredients are well mixed. Stir in the cooled onions, as well as the Gouda and Cheddar cheeses. Pour the whole mixture into the pre-baked pie shell and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the center is puffed up and light golden brown. Let cool and set up for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Monday, January 7, 2019
Sunday, June 15, 2014
MORE ice cream sandwiches: lemon cookies with vanilla ice cream
I already posted a recipe for gingersnap ice cream sandwiches, but I have to admit that gingersnaps are not my favorite cookie and after making a batch of sandwiches for my dad, I felt the need to make a batch that my mom and I could enjoy. Enter: lemon cookies! The only problem was that I didn't have a good lemon cookie recipe so off to the internet I went and I managed to discover this treat on this blog: http://www.laurenslatest.com/.
Lemon crinkles
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
powdered sugar for rolling
Note: If you are planning on chilling the dough you won't need to preheat the oven yet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Scrape the sides if needed. Stir in all the dry ingredients until combined. If desired, chill the dough for easier handling. Roll into balls about 1 1/2 to 2 inches across and then roll in the powdered sugar. Place the balls onto greased, dark baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the bottoms just start to turn golden and the cookies start to crack. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes or until well set, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
More notes: the original recipe says to mix the dry ingredients until just combined but I mixed them well and they seemed to turn out fine. The original recipe also says to use light baking sheets but I did my batch half and half, on both light and dark sheets and the batch on the dark sheets spread out less and kept a slightly thicker, rounder shape that worked better for me.
You can find the original recipe here: http://www.laurenslatest.com/lemon-crinkle-cookies/.
Time to make the sandwiches! Let some vanilla ice cream thaw out a bit until it is slightly softened.
Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of the slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy. If you, like me, have trouble waiting for a couple hours for anything containing sugar, then you can also set aside one to have right away. These are delicious and well worth the little bit of work it takes to make them.
 |
| These lemon cookie sandwiches with vanilla ice cream are delicious! |
Lemon crinkles
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
powdered sugar for rolling
Note: If you are planning on chilling the dough you won't need to preheat the oven yet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Scrape the sides if needed. Stir in all the dry ingredients until combined. If desired, chill the dough for easier handling. Roll into balls about 1 1/2 to 2 inches across and then roll in the powdered sugar. Place the balls onto greased, dark baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the bottoms just start to turn golden and the cookies start to crack. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes or until well set, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
More notes: the original recipe says to mix the dry ingredients until just combined but I mixed them well and they seemed to turn out fine. The original recipe also says to use light baking sheets but I did my batch half and half, on both light and dark sheets and the batch on the dark sheets spread out less and kept a slightly thicker, rounder shape that worked better for me.
You can find the original recipe here: http://www.laurenslatest.com/lemon-crinkle-cookies/.
Time to make the sandwiches! Let some vanilla ice cream thaw out a bit until it is slightly softened.
Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of the slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy. If you, like me, have trouble waiting for a couple hours for anything containing sugar, then you can also set aside one to have right away. These are delicious and well worth the little bit of work it takes to make them.
Ice cream sandwiches: gingerbread cookie with vanilla ice cream
In honor of father's day I decided to make these ice cream sandwiches because of the many things my father likes (cheese, broccoli, beets, chocolate, taffy, etc), gingersnaps and ice cream are also high on the list. So for a father's day treat I decided to combine these two loves into one delicious treat. I briefly contemplated making beet cookies with cheddar ice cream but decided I wasn't ready to be quite so adventurous. I don't think my dad was too crushed with my choice.
Gingersnap cookies
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (totally optional)
Sugar for rolling dough in
Note: if you are chilling the dough, you don't need to preheat the oven yet.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until well mixed, scraping the sides if needed. At this point you may want to refrigerate the dough to make it easier to handle. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 or 2 inches across. Try to keep them equal in size. Roll the balls in sugar to coat them, then place them 3 inches apart on greased dark baking sheets. Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops have started cracking. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes. When they are well set, move them to racks to cool completely.
When they are totally cool you are ready to make your sandwiches.
Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy.
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| Yumm... It may not look perfect but I find that taste buds care about personality more than looks. |
Gingersnap cookies
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (totally optional)
Sugar for rolling dough in
Note: if you are chilling the dough, you don't need to preheat the oven yet.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until well mixed, scraping the sides if needed. At this point you may want to refrigerate the dough to make it easier to handle. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 or 2 inches across. Try to keep them equal in size. Roll the balls in sugar to coat them, then place them 3 inches apart on greased dark baking sheets. Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops have started cracking. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes. When they are well set, move them to racks to cool completely.
When they are totally cool you are ready to make your sandwiches.
Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Recipe: elephant ears
I don't know about you, but I have a serious sweet tooth which makes fried bread covered in sugar almost irresistible. Unfortunately, these sugary treats are sometimes hard to come by, unless you happen to live next to a year round fairgrounds - which I don't. Fortunately, I found a recipe. My sweet tooth is happy with this discovery, my waistline is less so. Make these at your own risk.
Elephant ears
1 1/2 cups milk (3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon)
3/8 cups (6 tablespoons) coconut oil (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons sugar (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons yeast (1 tablespoon)
4 cups flour (2 cups)
1 quart of oil for frying
Topping:
Melted butter/margarine (at least 1/4 cup)
Cinnamon sugar: mix sugar and cinnamon to achieve the desired (this amount will depend on the amount of topping you want - probably 1 cup at least for a good layer of sugar)
Put the milk, salt, sugar, and coconut oil in a small saucepan and combine over medium heat. Heat until the coconut oil melts and the sugar is dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool until it is about 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for a couple minutes before stirring in the yeast. Wait for the mixture to proof, becoming foamy. Pour the mixture into a larger bowl and stir in the flour until a dough forms. Flour a surface and knead until smooth. Cover it and let it sit for at least 30 minutes while it rises.
In a large saucepan or heavy skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Keep an eye on the oil - you don't want to overheat it. Meanwhile, roll out small balls of dough into thin sheets. The size of the sheets will depend on the size of the pan the oil is in: the sheets need to be smaller than the pan, with room to flip them. Place the sheets, one at a time, into the oil and let cook until the underside is a light golden brown (this will not take long.) Use tongs to flip the sheet and let the other side cook. Once the sheet is cooked, put it on a plate and brush it with the melted butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. Do the same for the other side. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Best served right away.
Some notes: The amounts in parentheses are the amounts you would use for a half batch, which is what I suggest making unless you have a large number of people that are going to help you eat the results. Even with the half batch you should have help: it makes approximately 10 ears 6 to 8 inches in diameter. You can wrap extra dough and store it in the fridge for a day or two if needed. Let it warm up again when you are ready to use it. If I don't feel like melting butter I will sometimes use that spray margarine stuff, it seems to work just as well.
Elephant ears
1 1/2 cups milk (3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon)
3/8 cups (6 tablespoons) coconut oil (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons sugar (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons yeast (1 tablespoon)
4 cups flour (2 cups)
1 quart of oil for frying
Topping:
Melted butter/margarine (at least 1/4 cup)
Cinnamon sugar: mix sugar and cinnamon to achieve the desired (this amount will depend on the amount of topping you want - probably 1 cup at least for a good layer of sugar)
Put the milk, salt, sugar, and coconut oil in a small saucepan and combine over medium heat. Heat until the coconut oil melts and the sugar is dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool until it is about 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for a couple minutes before stirring in the yeast. Wait for the mixture to proof, becoming foamy. Pour the mixture into a larger bowl and stir in the flour until a dough forms. Flour a surface and knead until smooth. Cover it and let it sit for at least 30 minutes while it rises.
In a large saucepan or heavy skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Keep an eye on the oil - you don't want to overheat it. Meanwhile, roll out small balls of dough into thin sheets. The size of the sheets will depend on the size of the pan the oil is in: the sheets need to be smaller than the pan, with room to flip them. Place the sheets, one at a time, into the oil and let cook until the underside is a light golden brown (this will not take long.) Use tongs to flip the sheet and let the other side cook. Once the sheet is cooked, put it on a plate and brush it with the melted butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. Do the same for the other side. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Best served right away.
Some notes: The amounts in parentheses are the amounts you would use for a half batch, which is what I suggest making unless you have a large number of people that are going to help you eat the results. Even with the half batch you should have help: it makes approximately 10 ears 6 to 8 inches in diameter. You can wrap extra dough and store it in the fridge for a day or two if needed. Let it warm up again when you are ready to use it. If I don't feel like melting butter I will sometimes use that spray margarine stuff, it seems to work just as well.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Single Serve Molten Chocolate Cake
1 tablespoon butter, plus extra for greasing
1/2 - 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, flour, OR sugar
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg
4 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly butter a 3/4 cup ramekin, then coat it with unsweetened cocoa powder, flour OR sugar. (Put in a small amount of the dry ingredient in the ramekin and tilt to get the bottom evenly covered, then tap the ramekin as you turn it, coating the sides as well. Dump out any extra.) Set ramekin aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together and stir well. I used a double boiler but next time I'll try it in the microwave - one less dish to wash.
Whisk the egg and sugar together in a small bowl, then mix into the chocolate mixture until well incorporated, then stir in salt and flour until just mixed. Pour the batter into the ramekin, place on a baking sheet and put on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 7-10 minutes for a molten center (a 3/4 inch ring around the edge will look dull) or 10 to 12 minutes for a soft center (cake edge will look slightly puffy.)
Let cool a couple minutes and enjoy.
I've made this recipe twice now, and the first time I baked it for somewhere around the 7-10 minute range and it turned out to be almost entirely batter, with baked edges. Much too doughy for my taste, although it made an okay chocolate topping for the ice cream I had it with. Although, I did have 7 ramekins in the oven that time. The second time I made it I stuck to a single ramekin and baked it longer, until the top had puffed up out of the dish about half an inch and it was much better that way. But feel free to experiment on your own.
The original recipe called for a tablespoon of peanut butter instead of the additional tablespoon of chocolate chips, but I'm not that crazy about peanut butter in baking so I swapped it out. I found the recipe in Sunset magazine (my absolute favorite - I highly recommend it if you live on the west coast) and they got it from Joy the Baker Cookbook.
1/2 - 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, flour, OR sugar
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg
4 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly butter a 3/4 cup ramekin, then coat it with unsweetened cocoa powder, flour OR sugar. (Put in a small amount of the dry ingredient in the ramekin and tilt to get the bottom evenly covered, then tap the ramekin as you turn it, coating the sides as well. Dump out any extra.) Set ramekin aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together and stir well. I used a double boiler but next time I'll try it in the microwave - one less dish to wash.
Whisk the egg and sugar together in a small bowl, then mix into the chocolate mixture until well incorporated, then stir in salt and flour until just mixed. Pour the batter into the ramekin, place on a baking sheet and put on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 7-10 minutes for a molten center (a 3/4 inch ring around the edge will look dull) or 10 to 12 minutes for a soft center (cake edge will look slightly puffy.)
Let cool a couple minutes and enjoy.
I've made this recipe twice now, and the first time I baked it for somewhere around the 7-10 minute range and it turned out to be almost entirely batter, with baked edges. Much too doughy for my taste, although it made an okay chocolate topping for the ice cream I had it with. Although, I did have 7 ramekins in the oven that time. The second time I made it I stuck to a single ramekin and baked it longer, until the top had puffed up out of the dish about half an inch and it was much better that way. But feel free to experiment on your own.
The original recipe called for a tablespoon of peanut butter instead of the additional tablespoon of chocolate chips, but I'm not that crazy about peanut butter in baking so I swapped it out. I found the recipe in Sunset magazine (my absolute favorite - I highly recommend it if you live on the west coast) and they got it from Joy the Baker Cookbook.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Fourth of July Cupcakes
I am not, by nature, an overly patriotic person. (So sue me - it's just not my thing.) I don't decorate for the 4th of July, I don't cry listening to the Star Spangled Banner, and neither do I dress in red, white and/or blue. Scratch that last one - I am wearing blue shorts right now, but it was not done with the intent to display patriotism, they were simply the first relatively clean shorts I came across this morning. So the reasoning for the following recipe is not patriotism - it is a thinly veiled excuse to make cupcakes. Although, if you want to make these to display your patriotism and love of all things Fourth of July, by all means, enjoy.
White cake cupcake batter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract. Mix the baking powder and flour in a separate bowl and then add to the butter mixture, mixing well. Add the milk and stir until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter into three different bowls. Leave one batch plain, then add blue food coloring to one bowl and red to the third. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the tins, filling to between 2/3 and 3/4 full. Put the red batter in first, then the plain/white batter, and top it off with the blue. Try to spoon the batters in even layers so that the finished cupcake will have good color separation. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The cupcakes are done when the batter is set and the cake springs back to the touch.
Let the cupcakes cool and then frost. I was too lazy to make frosting today (and my mom insisted I use the can of store bought stuff we had in the pantry so that there wouldn't be any extra frosting around to tempt us) so I just used the white store bought stuff and topped it with sprinkles. If you wanted to be fancier, you could color your frosting blue or red and if you wanted to get really crazy, you could take blue, red and white frosting, spoon them into a piping bag, and pipe on a swirl of the three colors. I tried piping but my piping skills are not as good as I would like so they didn't turn out quite as pretty as I would have liked. Fortunately their looks have nothing to do with their taste and they were pretty good.
NOTES: If you want, experiment with adding flavor of some kind to the base batter to give the cupcakes whatever flavor you like. Also, to make adding the batter to the muffin tins easier, I put the batters into three different sandwich bags and then snipped the corner off the bag to give more control when adding the batter to the tins. To make getting the batter into the sandwich bags easier, I folded the edges of the bag down over a wide mouth canning jar so that I could keep the bag open while I poured the batter into the bag. Both bag tricks worked out really well and made the job much simpler. I am either very creative, or very lazy. I'm still not sure which.
White cake cupcake batter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract. Mix the baking powder and flour in a separate bowl and then add to the butter mixture, mixing well. Add the milk and stir until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter into three different bowls. Leave one batch plain, then add blue food coloring to one bowl and red to the third. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the tins, filling to between 2/3 and 3/4 full. Put the red batter in first, then the plain/white batter, and top it off with the blue. Try to spoon the batters in even layers so that the finished cupcake will have good color separation. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The cupcakes are done when the batter is set and the cake springs back to the touch.
Let the cupcakes cool and then frost. I was too lazy to make frosting today (and my mom insisted I use the can of store bought stuff we had in the pantry so that there wouldn't be any extra frosting around to tempt us) so I just used the white store bought stuff and topped it with sprinkles. If you wanted to be fancier, you could color your frosting blue or red and if you wanted to get really crazy, you could take blue, red and white frosting, spoon them into a piping bag, and pipe on a swirl of the three colors. I tried piping but my piping skills are not as good as I would like so they didn't turn out quite as pretty as I would have liked. Fortunately their looks have nothing to do with their taste and they were pretty good.
NOTES: If you want, experiment with adding flavor of some kind to the base batter to give the cupcakes whatever flavor you like. Also, to make adding the batter to the muffin tins easier, I put the batters into three different sandwich bags and then snipped the corner off the bag to give more control when adding the batter to the tins. To make getting the batter into the sandwich bags easier, I folded the edges of the bag down over a wide mouth canning jar so that I could keep the bag open while I poured the batter into the bag. Both bag tricks worked out really well and made the job much simpler. I am either very creative, or very lazy. I'm still not sure which.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Veggie Pot Pie, Take 2
Here we go, attempt number two. This is the new recipe:
Veggie Pot Pie
4 large potatoes
6 large carrots
1 cup of peas
2 recipes of white gravy (recipe in previous post)
salt
pepper
olive oil
Italian seasoning
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Cut the potatoes into small chunks, and the carrots into slices. Pour some olive oil onto a baking sheet with raised sides. Add the potatoes and carrots, sprinkle with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and toss to coat. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until fork tender (20-30 minutes). In the meantime, make the gravy. When the potatoes and carrots are done, toss them with the peas and gravy and pour into a deep dish casserole style dish. Cover with the puff pastry, poke some fork holes in the pastry to let steam vent, and fold the edges of the pastry over on itself if it overlaps the edge of the dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm.
Alright, now for the notes. About the gravy: be warned - it takes a LONG time to cook. Once you add the milk, it takes forever to heat up to boiling over low heat. And a few things I didn't bother to do when making the gravy: I didn't wait for the flour and butter mixture to get bubbly before adding the milk. I also didn't take the pan off the heat before adding the milk - I just poured the milk in while it was still on the stove. And I definitely didn't bother to stir it constantly - I just stirred it occasionally as I was moving around the kitchen getting other stuff ready, and it didn't seem to have any ill effects from my lack of constant attention.
And as for the pot pie: this version turned out considerably better than the last one did. It was actually pretty good. It could still use some tweaking, though. Roasting the potatoes and carrots before hand added flavor/seasoning to the final dish and softened the veggies up before cooking. The carrots were still a bit on the hard side but definitely not crunchy this time. I think I also could have increased the amount of all the veggies to add even more bulk to the pot pie. Another potato or two, 3-4 more carrots and increase the peas to 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups (depending, I suppose, on how much you like peas.) The gravy amount was pretty perfect this time, but it could still use more seasoning. And a note on seasoning: I tend to be something of a wimp when it comes to lots of spice, hence my lack of large amounts of herbs/spices. I do like the combination of herbs in the Italian seasoning mix so next time I make this recipe I'll up the amount of herbs (I didn't measure anything, just threw on what seemed to look good) and also the salt and pepper. I like to use sea salt because I think you get more flavor for less salt, plus it's tastier (to me, at least.) And lastly, the puff pastry. I didn't roll it out any thinner, just put it on top and folded over the edges (I wanted to keep it think and puffy.) I think that covers it... so, enjoy.
Veggie Pot Pie
4 large potatoes
6 large carrots
1 cup of peas
2 recipes of white gravy (recipe in previous post)
salt
pepper
olive oil
Italian seasoning
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Cut the potatoes into small chunks, and the carrots into slices. Pour some olive oil onto a baking sheet with raised sides. Add the potatoes and carrots, sprinkle with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and toss to coat. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until fork tender (20-30 minutes). In the meantime, make the gravy. When the potatoes and carrots are done, toss them with the peas and gravy and pour into a deep dish casserole style dish. Cover with the puff pastry, poke some fork holes in the pastry to let steam vent, and fold the edges of the pastry over on itself if it overlaps the edge of the dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm.
Alright, now for the notes. About the gravy: be warned - it takes a LONG time to cook. Once you add the milk, it takes forever to heat up to boiling over low heat. And a few things I didn't bother to do when making the gravy: I didn't wait for the flour and butter mixture to get bubbly before adding the milk. I also didn't take the pan off the heat before adding the milk - I just poured the milk in while it was still on the stove. And I definitely didn't bother to stir it constantly - I just stirred it occasionally as I was moving around the kitchen getting other stuff ready, and it didn't seem to have any ill effects from my lack of constant attention.
And as for the pot pie: this version turned out considerably better than the last one did. It was actually pretty good. It could still use some tweaking, though. Roasting the potatoes and carrots before hand added flavor/seasoning to the final dish and softened the veggies up before cooking. The carrots were still a bit on the hard side but definitely not crunchy this time. I think I also could have increased the amount of all the veggies to add even more bulk to the pot pie. Another potato or two, 3-4 more carrots and increase the peas to 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups (depending, I suppose, on how much you like peas.) The gravy amount was pretty perfect this time, but it could still use more seasoning. And a note on seasoning: I tend to be something of a wimp when it comes to lots of spice, hence my lack of large amounts of herbs/spices. I do like the combination of herbs in the Italian seasoning mix so next time I make this recipe I'll up the amount of herbs (I didn't measure anything, just threw on what seemed to look good) and also the salt and pepper. I like to use sea salt because I think you get more flavor for less salt, plus it's tastier (to me, at least.) And lastly, the puff pastry. I didn't roll it out any thinner, just put it on top and folded over the edges (I wanted to keep it think and puffy.) I think that covers it... so, enjoy.
Veggie Pot Pie, Take 1
A week or two ago I had a craving for a veggie pot pie but was unable to find the right recipe so I figured I'd try to make my own. Here's what I came up with:
Veggie Pot Pie
4 large potatoes
3 large carrots
1 cup of peas
1 recipe of white gravy (follows)
1 teaspoon of Italian seasonings
1 sheet of puff pastry
Cut the potatoes into small chunks and boil in water until fork tender. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the carrots into slices. Make up a batch of white gravy and add the potatoes, carrots, peas and Italian seasonings. Mix well so that the gravy coats everything evenly. Pour into a lasagna style dish and cover with puff pastry. Bake for about 30 minutes until puff pastry looks cooked. Serve warm.
White Gravy Recipe
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper with a whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in the milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute.
Okay, so there were several problems with this recipe. First, do NOT use a lasagna dish - it's much too large and shallow, and the puff pastry has too much trouble covering it all. Second, the carrots really need to be cooked or softened before baking, they don't get soft enough in the oven. Third, there wasn't really enough gravy. Fourth, the puff pastry didn't get as golden as I had hoped it would. Fifth, it definitely needs more seasoning and finally sixth, it perhaps wasn't enough food for four people, two of which are guys with large appetites. So tonight, I made a second attempt at this recipe and the revisions and notes can be found under Veggie Pot Pie, Take 2. See you there!
Veggie Pot Pie
4 large potatoes
3 large carrots
1 cup of peas
1 recipe of white gravy (follows)
1 teaspoon of Italian seasonings
1 sheet of puff pastry
Cut the potatoes into small chunks and boil in water until fork tender. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the carrots into slices. Make up a batch of white gravy and add the potatoes, carrots, peas and Italian seasonings. Mix well so that the gravy coats everything evenly. Pour into a lasagna style dish and cover with puff pastry. Bake for about 30 minutes until puff pastry looks cooked. Serve warm.
White Gravy Recipe
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper with a whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in the milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute.
Okay, so there were several problems with this recipe. First, do NOT use a lasagna dish - it's much too large and shallow, and the puff pastry has too much trouble covering it all. Second, the carrots really need to be cooked or softened before baking, they don't get soft enough in the oven. Third, there wasn't really enough gravy. Fourth, the puff pastry didn't get as golden as I had hoped it would. Fifth, it definitely needs more seasoning and finally sixth, it perhaps wasn't enough food for four people, two of which are guys with large appetites. So tonight, I made a second attempt at this recipe and the revisions and notes can be found under Veggie Pot Pie, Take 2. See you there!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Willpower: 1, chocolate: 0 ... for now
I made the mistake of buying a box of chocolate creams (my weakness... although if I'm going to be totally honest, almost anything with chocolate or sugar is a weakness of mine - I have a serious sweet tooth) a couple of weeks ago and I finally opened them on Monday. (No relation to Valentine's Day - it just happened to be the day that I finally gave in and opened the box.) This is probably extremely counter-productive to my goal of losing weight, but so far I have managed to limit my sweet tooth to one cream a day. I even managed to talk myself out of a second chocolate this evening after dinner when a serious craving hit. This craving was made worse by the sad realization that the dogs actually had a better dessert than I did today - they were scarfing down brownies while I was looking at a fine selection of ripe, over-ripe, and one-day-away-from-totally-rotten bananas. How depressing.
But, in case there are any canines following this blog (or people who enjoy spoiling their dogs) I'll include the recipe, and my notes, here:
Bow Wow Brownies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup carob chips
1/4 cup carob powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium-sized bowl, blend the oil and honey thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour onto a greased 15x10 inch baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool, then cut into bite-sized squares and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Notes: I pretty much followed this recipe exactly, except that I put the batter into a greased 6x9 pan instead of onto a sheet. It baked perfectly and I sliced it once it cooled and they turned out great - just like regular brownies. The dogs absolutely love them. (They appear to have inherited my sweet tooth...)
The recipe, by the way, is from Real Food for Dogs by Arden Moore
But, in case there are any canines following this blog (or people who enjoy spoiling their dogs) I'll include the recipe, and my notes, here:
Bow Wow Brownies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup carob chips
1/4 cup carob powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium-sized bowl, blend the oil and honey thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour onto a greased 15x10 inch baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool, then cut into bite-sized squares and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Notes: I pretty much followed this recipe exactly, except that I put the batter into a greased 6x9 pan instead of onto a sheet. It baked perfectly and I sliced it once it cooled and they turned out great - just like regular brownies. The dogs absolutely love them. (They appear to have inherited my sweet tooth...)
The recipe, by the way, is from Real Food for Dogs by Arden Moore
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Kettle Corn, part 2
Here we go, "kettle corn, the sequel." The first batch I made, while tasty, was more like caramel corn than kettle corn so I was forced try out another recipe. Which is a not entirely unpleasant way to spend the evening, and I found the perfect recipe. This one has a light coating of sugar and a hint of saltiness to make an awesome batch of kettle corn. As is my custom, here is the recipe, followed by my comments on it.
Kettle corn part 2
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup yellow popcorn kernels
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pour the oil into a large pot with a lid, and add three kernels of popcorn. Heat the oil over medium heat and once the kernels have popped, the oil is hot enough. Pour in the rest of the popcorn and the sugar. Put the lid on the pot and shake frequently until the kernels have stopped popping. Pour the popcorn out into a large bowl and sprinkle on the salt. Toss to coat with a wooden spoon. Let cool and enjoy.
The recipe is pretty good as it is, but I had a bit better luck with it when I stirred in the sugar instead of just shaking the pot to mix it. It's also a good idea to use a really big bowl to mix the popcorn with the salt, so you don't have popcorn falling all over the counter. In addition, if you want a large batch of popcorn, I would make several small batches (where this recipe is one small batch) instead of trying to double this recipe - adding any more popcorn to the pot will make it hard to evenly cook the kernels, plus you'll need a larger pot and the bigger the pot the harder it's going to get to pick it up and shake it well enough. With that said, good luck and have fun. It's actually surprisingly easy to make.
Additional note: You can also make this recipe using white popcorn kernels, but I would advise using less than the recipe calls for - maybe only one third cup? - because the white kernels are smaller than the yellow kernels and when I made the recipe with the white popcorn I had more trouble getting the popcorn evenly coated. The extra popcorn makes it harder to mix the pot by shaking it and so you'll end up with some pieces well coated and some with almost nothing on them.
And, as is proper, credit for the recipe goes to: http://pinchmysalt.com/2009/11/24/lets-get-old-fashioned-homemade-kettle-corn-recipe/
Kettle corn part 2
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup yellow popcorn kernels
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pour the oil into a large pot with a lid, and add three kernels of popcorn. Heat the oil over medium heat and once the kernels have popped, the oil is hot enough. Pour in the rest of the popcorn and the sugar. Put the lid on the pot and shake frequently until the kernels have stopped popping. Pour the popcorn out into a large bowl and sprinkle on the salt. Toss to coat with a wooden spoon. Let cool and enjoy.
The recipe is pretty good as it is, but I had a bit better luck with it when I stirred in the sugar instead of just shaking the pot to mix it. It's also a good idea to use a really big bowl to mix the popcorn with the salt, so you don't have popcorn falling all over the counter. In addition, if you want a large batch of popcorn, I would make several small batches (where this recipe is one small batch) instead of trying to double this recipe - adding any more popcorn to the pot will make it hard to evenly cook the kernels, plus you'll need a larger pot and the bigger the pot the harder it's going to get to pick it up and shake it well enough. With that said, good luck and have fun. It's actually surprisingly easy to make.
Additional note: You can also make this recipe using white popcorn kernels, but I would advise using less than the recipe calls for - maybe only one third cup? - because the white kernels are smaller than the yellow kernels and when I made the recipe with the white popcorn I had more trouble getting the popcorn evenly coated. The extra popcorn makes it harder to mix the pot by shaking it and so you'll end up with some pieces well coated and some with almost nothing on them.
And, as is proper, credit for the recipe goes to: http://pinchmysalt.com/2009/11/24/lets-get-old-fashioned-homemade-kettle-corn-recipe/
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Kettle Corn
It has been a while since I've written anything, not so much because I have nothing to report but because I have been too busy with school and homework to find time to sit down and write. I've been short on time, long on stress, and heavy on homework. But tonight I attempted to make kettle corn and I figured I'd pass along the recipe and my thoughts on it. So here you go:
Kettle Corn
yellow popcorn kernels
vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
You will need a pot with a lid, a smaller pot, a wooden spoon, and a large bowl. Pour some vegetable oil into the lidded pot, enough to cover the bottom. Add the popcorn kernels - put in enough to make a single layer on the bottom of the pot in the oil. Put the lid on and heat the popcorn over the stove, shaking the pot every five to ten seconds. The popcorn is done when it's no longer popping continuously. Pour the popcorn into the large bowl and set it aside. Combine the water, vegetable oil, and brown sugar in the small pot and heat to boiling. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium and let simmer for 3 minutes. Mix the salt onto the popcorn, and then pour in the sugar mixture and toss with a wooden spoon to coat the popcorn. Let cool a few minutes and then enjoy.
Okay, so that was my first time making popcorn on the stove and it turned out pretty good - much better than the disaster I was expecting. As for the finished recipe, it wasn't exactly as kettle corn-y as I thought it would be. Not that it wasn't good - it was. I mean, how can you go wrong when you put sugar on popcorn. (Or almost anything, for that matter.) But I would describe it as being more like caramel corn than kettle corn, which could be due to a couple of factors. It could be that I didn't put in enough salt. And it would probably have been more like kettle corn if I had a made a LOT more popcorn so that each piece got a light coating as opposed to being drenched in sugar. I should also note that the popcorn was fairly sticky and messy-ish to eat, not as dry as the kettle corn I'm used to. I think that the next time I try out a kettle corn recipe I'll try one of the versions that uses regular sugar instead... I'll keep you posted on how that turns out.
And now, unfortunately, it's back to my microbiology notes - I have a midterm coming up on Tuesday and I am dreading it as the teacher gives us a study guide and then promptly tests us on material not on the study guide.
By the way, I found this kettle corn recipe here: http://www.aliciakachmar.com/blog/life/homemade-kettle-corn-cheap-and-easy/ in case you want to check out the whole thing and see the pictures that go with it for yourself.
Kettle Corn
yellow popcorn kernels
vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
You will need a pot with a lid, a smaller pot, a wooden spoon, and a large bowl. Pour some vegetable oil into the lidded pot, enough to cover the bottom. Add the popcorn kernels - put in enough to make a single layer on the bottom of the pot in the oil. Put the lid on and heat the popcorn over the stove, shaking the pot every five to ten seconds. The popcorn is done when it's no longer popping continuously. Pour the popcorn into the large bowl and set it aside. Combine the water, vegetable oil, and brown sugar in the small pot and heat to boiling. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium and let simmer for 3 minutes. Mix the salt onto the popcorn, and then pour in the sugar mixture and toss with a wooden spoon to coat the popcorn. Let cool a few minutes and then enjoy.
Okay, so that was my first time making popcorn on the stove and it turned out pretty good - much better than the disaster I was expecting. As for the finished recipe, it wasn't exactly as kettle corn-y as I thought it would be. Not that it wasn't good - it was. I mean, how can you go wrong when you put sugar on popcorn. (Or almost anything, for that matter.) But I would describe it as being more like caramel corn than kettle corn, which could be due to a couple of factors. It could be that I didn't put in enough salt. And it would probably have been more like kettle corn if I had a made a LOT more popcorn so that each piece got a light coating as opposed to being drenched in sugar. I should also note that the popcorn was fairly sticky and messy-ish to eat, not as dry as the kettle corn I'm used to. I think that the next time I try out a kettle corn recipe I'll try one of the versions that uses regular sugar instead... I'll keep you posted on how that turns out.
And now, unfortunately, it's back to my microbiology notes - I have a midterm coming up on Tuesday and I am dreading it as the teacher gives us a study guide and then promptly tests us on material not on the study guide.
By the way, I found this kettle corn recipe here: http://www.aliciakachmar.com/blog/life/homemade-kettle-corn-cheap-and-easy/ in case you want to check out the whole thing and see the pictures that go with it for yourself.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Chocolate Chip Cookies Mini Batch
I have decided that it is time I share my absolute most favorite cookie recipe. It is actually a quarter batch of a regular recipe batch, hence the "mini." It makes around 7-9 cookies depending on the size you make the cookies, which is perfect for when you want a few cookies but don't want to make an entire batch because you just know you'll end up eating at least 25 cookies. (Or maybe that's just me - I have disgustingly weak will power when it comes to sweets.) The other reason I love this recipe is because the cookies come out a little bit crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside - yum. I should note that my mom never liked these cookies when I started making them but because she can't resist a cookie any better than I can, she would eat a couple anyway and she says now that they've started to grow on her. I made a batch a couple of weeks ago and Mom asked, as usual, if she could have one. When I mentioned that she sure eats a lot of these cookies she doesn't like she replied that "they're addicting." At any rate, try it for yourself and see if you like it. If you don't like them, at least you only have to throw out 7 or 8 cookies instead of 50. So here you go, but pay attention to the notes at the end:
Mini-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening (I use either Earth Balance vegetable shortening or Crisco sticks)*
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 egg *
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sugar, brown sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda until everything is well mixed. Add in the chocolate chips at the very end. The dough will be very loose and crumbly. Scoop up a handful of dough and pack it into a ball, then flatten gently between your hands before placing on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 5-8 minutes, or until the cookies begin to turn golden and develop cracks. Take them out of the oven and let them sit on the sheet until cooled off. Leaving the cookies on the sheet until cool lets them finish baking.
* The shortening is important in keeping the cookies from spreading out too much and becoming little pancakes. To get the half egg I use EnerG Egg Replacer powder (found in stores like Whole Foods or New Seasons around here, in the vegan food section) and simply cut in half the recipe for the one egg equivalent. It ends up being 3/4 teaspoon powder mixed with 1 tablespoon water, if memory serves. I know that it would be easier to make the cookies if the dough wasn't so crumbly, but these are good enough that I don't mind the little extra time it takes.
Mini-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening (I use either Earth Balance vegetable shortening or Crisco sticks)*
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 egg *
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sugar, brown sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda until everything is well mixed. Add in the chocolate chips at the very end. The dough will be very loose and crumbly. Scoop up a handful of dough and pack it into a ball, then flatten gently between your hands before placing on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 5-8 minutes, or until the cookies begin to turn golden and develop cracks. Take them out of the oven and let them sit on the sheet until cooled off. Leaving the cookies on the sheet until cool lets them finish baking.
* The shortening is important in keeping the cookies from spreading out too much and becoming little pancakes. To get the half egg I use EnerG Egg Replacer powder (found in stores like Whole Foods or New Seasons around here, in the vegan food section) and simply cut in half the recipe for the one egg equivalent. It ends up being 3/4 teaspoon powder mixed with 1 tablespoon water, if memory serves. I know that it would be easier to make the cookies if the dough wasn't so crumbly, but these are good enough that I don't mind the little extra time it takes.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes
It's been a while since I've tested any recipes but I have finally gotten around to trying out this one, and it was pretty good. I found this recipe in Shape magazine, another one of my favorites that I've been reading for years. So here you go, enjoy - my notes are included in italics and at the bottom of the recipes in the cryptically named "NOTES" section.
Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender buds, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and brought to room temperature (I just used whatever butter I had on hand, I have no clue if it was salted or unsalted, and I was too impatient to wait for it to get to room temperature and it seemed to turn out fine)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk (or whatever buttermilk you have on hand)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in a 12-cup muffin pan. To make the batter, whisk together flour, lavender, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and zest. Beat in one-third of the flour mixture until just combined. Beat in half the buttermilk, followed by another third of the flour, then the remaining buttermilk and flour.
Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds full and bake for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Thanks again to Shape magazine for the recipe, from the August 2009 issue
Lemon Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (I just used Crisco sticks)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups sifted powdered sugar (approximately a 1 pound bag... and I never bothered with sifting it)
2 tablespoons milk
Few drops yellow food coloring, if desired
1-2 tablespoons of lemon zest, if desired
In a large bowl, cream shortening and butter with an electric mixer. Add lemon extract. Gradually add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape the bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in the icing will look dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
If you have left over frosting after topping your cupcakes, you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.
NOTES: These cupcakes were pretty good, but if I make it again I think I'll leave out the lavender or else put less in, even though I generally like the smell of lavender. But then maybe I'm just not an eating lavender type of person so use your own judgement. And for the frosting, if you have extra left over you could either use it on some other frosting friendly baked good (cookies or cake or more cupcakes, something like that) or you could try sandwiching it between two graham crackers as a snacky thing - that's one way we typically use up extra frosting.
Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender buds, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and brought to room temperature (I just used whatever butter I had on hand, I have no clue if it was salted or unsalted, and I was too impatient to wait for it to get to room temperature and it seemed to turn out fine)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk (or whatever buttermilk you have on hand)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in a 12-cup muffin pan. To make the batter, whisk together flour, lavender, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and zest. Beat in one-third of the flour mixture until just combined. Beat in half the buttermilk, followed by another third of the flour, then the remaining buttermilk and flour.
Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds full and bake for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Thanks again to Shape magazine for the recipe, from the August 2009 issue
Lemon Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (I just used Crisco sticks)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups sifted powdered sugar (approximately a 1 pound bag... and I never bothered with sifting it)
2 tablespoons milk
Few drops yellow food coloring, if desired
1-2 tablespoons of lemon zest, if desired
In a large bowl, cream shortening and butter with an electric mixer. Add lemon extract. Gradually add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape the bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in the icing will look dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
If you have left over frosting after topping your cupcakes, you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.
NOTES: These cupcakes were pretty good, but if I make it again I think I'll leave out the lavender or else put less in, even though I generally like the smell of lavender. But then maybe I'm just not an eating lavender type of person so use your own judgement. And for the frosting, if you have extra left over you could either use it on some other frosting friendly baked good (cookies or cake or more cupcakes, something like that) or you could try sandwiching it between two graham crackers as a snacky thing - that's one way we typically use up extra frosting.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Graduation Cake
So here's my latest attempt at baking a cake. I made it for my sister's graduation from college and it is my first time ever working with fondant. It is, admittedly, not perfect, but it's not a complete disaster either. The stars are courtesy of my brother's help and they look pretty good, I think. I got the recipes online and here they are:Classic White Cake
6 cups cake flour, sifted
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 cups sugar
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 egg whites
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray the sides and bottom of two 9-inch cake pans with PAM or similar non-stick spray.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and set it aside. Then cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and set aside. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and set this aside as well. Then, with the mixer on slow speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternately with the milk. Beat well after each addition to thoroughly incorporate it. Next, beat in the vanilla and then gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour half of the batter in each pan and bake it until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
NOTE: This recipe comes from the Wilton website (http://www.wilton.com/) which has lots of good information on making cakes and makes a lot of different cake decorating supplies. I can't remember exactly how long the cakes were in the oven and the recipe doesn't specify but I think it might have been around 20 minutes. Once the cakes are out of the oven, let them cool for just a couple of minutes and then take them out of the pans and wrap them in plastic wrap or a sealed plastic bag. (I got that tip from some other website about making cakes, and it's supposed to keep the moisture in the cakes and prevent them from becoming dry. I've used this idea a couple of times now and it has turned out well so far.)
Buttercream Icing
1 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 sticks of butter cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 cup shortening
Whisk the sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk at a low speed until smooth. Add the butter, one slice at a time until incorporated, and then add the shortening and whip at the highest speed for 10-12 minutes, until the volume increases by at least 50%.
NOTE: I found this recipe on this website: http://www.easy-cake-ideas.com/buttercream-filling.html which has a lot of great recipes of buttercream and fillings, and the recipe turned out really well. This recipe was approximately enough to frost a three layer 9-inch cake, depending on how much frosting you like to use.
A note on fondant: I must say that it looks good, but I wasn't overly fond of the taste. Perhaps it is because I was working in my sisters kitchen, with her rolling pin, and it is a less than ideal situation for a baker as she does more cooking than baking, and could not seem to get the fondant to roll out as thin as I would have liked, thus resulting in a thicker than ideal layer of fondant. Or perhaps I just don't like the taste of fondant. Or maybe it was both the thickness and the taste, but I have decided that I will concentrate for the time being on buttercream rather than fondant as the finish for my cakes.
Both of these recipes were really good - the cake didn't turn out dry like some of the previous recipes I've tried and the buttercream didn't give me any problems, so I'd use both of these recipes again, and probably will at some point but I'm a bit junk fooded out at the moment, having just finished a road trip to Idaho during which I ate a shameful amount of cake, restaurant food, and Oreo cookies. Additionally, my mom has ordered a moratorium on all baking activity for the time being, and as I have a bridesmaid dress to fit into in August, I am forced to comply. I have a distressingly weak willpower when it comes to avoiding sugar and carbs so just how successful my diet will be remains to be seen.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Rustic Round Loaf, etc
I have, for the last twenty minutes, tried to come up with an amusing description of my day, a few charming stories of the goings on at the Unfarm today, and a clever segue into my bread recipe, but I've come up empty handed. I am, apparently, all out of good ideas for today. I blame my 9am two hour accounting final. Well, whatever the reason, the words aren't coming to me and I will have to content myself with a less than spectacular blog. Here goes nothing.
My day, except for the accounting final and my late afternoon ennui, was not very noteworthy. I have no idea how I did on my final, I can only hope that I passed it so that I never have to deal with accounting again. I also have no idea what triggered the case of ennui, but the result was that for a couple of hours I was completely unmotivated to do anything other than lie on the couch and stare at pictures of me as a five year old. I eventually forced myself off the couch and went out to put the chickens away, bring the ducks in, and (in a burst of motivation) take the dogs out for a walk. Somewhere in between the final and the ennui I decided to finally try out a bread recipe I've had for a few weeks. It's surprisingly simple to make, turned out well and looks like one of those fancy rustic style loaves of bread you see in gourmet bakeries. But you don't have to take my word for it... (notice the Reading Rainbow reference??)
Rustic Round Loaf
*you'll need a 6-8 quart cast iron pot with a lid
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 packet)
1 1/2 cups water (between 120 and 130 degrees F)
olive oil as needed
Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl, and then add the water and stir with a wooden spoon until it's blended. The dough will be "shaggy." Let it rest in the bowl in a warm room (70 degrees F) for 4 hours. Spray some olive oil onto a work surface (I just used a metal cookie sheet - I figured the bread board would be too sticky) and knead the dough a couple times. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 F, placing the pot in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, take the pot out, put the dough into it, put the lid on, and bake it for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove the bread and let it cool on a rack. Voila.
Things on the Unfarm have been quiet today, for the most part, with the exception of the rabbits, who are conspiring against me to get in as much trouble as possible. They are spending the evening launching a coordinated attack against the cardboard box that holds the fire escape ladder. I'll chase one of them away only to turn around and discover that the other one has taken advantage of the opportunity to sneak in behind me and start tearing at the cardboard again. Cardboard, it would seem, is one of the four food groups of rabbits. Occasionally the bunnies will leave the cardboard alone and move on to chewing the wood trim around the closet. This is why I do not generally let the rabbits have their free time when I can't be there to supervise. It always results in property damage. The only thing that could cause more damage would be to turn a beaver loose in here. Which, the way I tend to attract animals, is not an altogether impossible situation...
My day, except for the accounting final and my late afternoon ennui, was not very noteworthy. I have no idea how I did on my final, I can only hope that I passed it so that I never have to deal with accounting again. I also have no idea what triggered the case of ennui, but the result was that for a couple of hours I was completely unmotivated to do anything other than lie on the couch and stare at pictures of me as a five year old. I eventually forced myself off the couch and went out to put the chickens away, bring the ducks in, and (in a burst of motivation) take the dogs out for a walk. Somewhere in between the final and the ennui I decided to finally try out a bread recipe I've had for a few weeks. It's surprisingly simple to make, turned out well and looks like one of those fancy rustic style loaves of bread you see in gourmet bakeries. But you don't have to take my word for it... (notice the Reading Rainbow reference??)
Rustic Round Loaf
*you'll need a 6-8 quart cast iron pot with a lid
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 packet)
1 1/2 cups water (between 120 and 130 degrees F)
olive oil as needed
Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl, and then add the water and stir with a wooden spoon until it's blended. The dough will be "shaggy." Let it rest in the bowl in a warm room (70 degrees F) for 4 hours. Spray some olive oil onto a work surface (I just used a metal cookie sheet - I figured the bread board would be too sticky) and knead the dough a couple times. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 F, placing the pot in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, take the pot out, put the dough into it, put the lid on, and bake it for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove the bread and let it cool on a rack. Voila.
Things on the Unfarm have been quiet today, for the most part, with the exception of the rabbits, who are conspiring against me to get in as much trouble as possible. They are spending the evening launching a coordinated attack against the cardboard box that holds the fire escape ladder. I'll chase one of them away only to turn around and discover that the other one has taken advantage of the opportunity to sneak in behind me and start tearing at the cardboard again. Cardboard, it would seem, is one of the four food groups of rabbits. Occasionally the bunnies will leave the cardboard alone and move on to chewing the wood trim around the closet. This is why I do not generally let the rabbits have their free time when I can't be there to supervise. It always results in property damage. The only thing that could cause more damage would be to turn a beaver loose in here. Which, the way I tend to attract animals, is not an altogether impossible situation...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The search continues
I am on a search for something. I'm looking for the perfect biscuit/scone recipe that produces a smooth, somewhat flaky, rich buttermilk style biscuit. I've decided to chronicle my search here, partly so that I can keep track of which recipes I've tried and which ones I haven't, and partly so that I have something to write about now that the colder weather has the animals in a more subdued mood.
Tonight I attempted another recipe to see if it was the holy grail of biscuits, but alas, it is not. It's not bad though, and is a good plain sort of biscuit that works well as a vehicle for any sort of jam or curd you might have on hand. So here it is:
Basic British Scones
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons milk
Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Put the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl and stir it with a whisk. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter until it resembles small grains of rice. Add the milk and stir until the mixture forms a dough, then turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead it a few times and then roll it out to 3/4 inch thick and cut out circles with a round biscuit cutter and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
I had to try it out if only for the reason that it's called Basic British Scones and we are very British... my great grandmother (Nana, to all of us in the younger generations) came here from England so by the time I came along my grandma had been married to my grandpa (Nana's son) for long enough to fully entrench all his British customs in her so that we grew up with grandparents who drank tea daily and - on Christmas morning - made up a fancy breakfast of welsh pancakes with orange sauce, and blood sausage. (Which I hated at first, partly because the name grossed me out a bit - who wants to eat something called blood sausage? - but gradually came to like until I became a vegetarian over 10 years ago.)
Tonight I attempted another recipe to see if it was the holy grail of biscuits, but alas, it is not. It's not bad though, and is a good plain sort of biscuit that works well as a vehicle for any sort of jam or curd you might have on hand. So here it is:
Basic British Scones
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons milk
Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Put the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl and stir it with a whisk. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter until it resembles small grains of rice. Add the milk and stir until the mixture forms a dough, then turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead it a few times and then roll it out to 3/4 inch thick and cut out circles with a round biscuit cutter and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
I had to try it out if only for the reason that it's called Basic British Scones and we are very British... my great grandmother (Nana, to all of us in the younger generations) came here from England so by the time I came along my grandma had been married to my grandpa (Nana's son) for long enough to fully entrench all his British customs in her so that we grew up with grandparents who drank tea daily and - on Christmas morning - made up a fancy breakfast of welsh pancakes with orange sauce, and blood sausage. (Which I hated at first, partly because the name grossed me out a bit - who wants to eat something called blood sausage? - but gradually came to like until I became a vegetarian over 10 years ago.)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Rustic Pear Tart
While I have put off the daily art for the time being, I have not put off baking. Today's specialty: Rustic Pear Tart. The original recipe came from Sunset (my favorite) magazine, but I've altered it a bit, leaving out the egg wash and the creme fraiche, and making a few other changes. I'll include the original and my alteration recipe.
Original Rustic Pear Tart
1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 large egg, beaten to blend
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
6 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into thin wedges. Arrange them, overlapping them slightly, on the pastry rectangles, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border clear. Warm the marmalade in the microwave to melt, then brush over the pears. Fold border over edge of pears, stretching slightly and pressing down to hold. Brush new edges the egg, then sprinkle turbinado sugar over the tarts, especially the edges. Bake until pastries are richly browned, 25-30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk creme fraiche and sugar until slightly thickened. Serve warm or cool, with creme fraiche.
The Unfarm's Rustic Pear Tart
1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade, heated in the microwave
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Whipped cream, optional
Option one: family style: Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Transfer it to the baking sheet. Core the pears (and peel if you want) then cut into small chunks and drop them into a bowl. Measure out the marmalade into another bowl and melt it in the microwave, then add it to the pears. Toss the pears until they are evenly coated. Spoon them out onto the pastry, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve (best warm) plain, or with whipped cream.
Option 2: individual tarts: Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into small chunks. Toss them with the marmalade in a large bowl, then spoon them onto the pastry sheets, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Serve plain, or with whipped cream. (Tastes best warm)
Original Rustic Pear Tart
1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 large egg, beaten to blend
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
6 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into thin wedges. Arrange them, overlapping them slightly, on the pastry rectangles, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border clear. Warm the marmalade in the microwave to melt, then brush over the pears. Fold border over edge of pears, stretching slightly and pressing down to hold. Brush new edges the egg, then sprinkle turbinado sugar over the tarts, especially the edges. Bake until pastries are richly browned, 25-30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk creme fraiche and sugar until slightly thickened. Serve warm or cool, with creme fraiche.
The Unfarm's Rustic Pear Tart
1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade, heated in the microwave
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Whipped cream, optional
Option one: family style: Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Transfer it to the baking sheet. Core the pears (and peel if you want) then cut into small chunks and drop them into a bowl. Measure out the marmalade into another bowl and melt it in the microwave, then add it to the pears. Toss the pears until they are evenly coated. Spoon them out onto the pastry, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve (best warm) plain, or with whipped cream.
Option 2: individual tarts: Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into small chunks. Toss them with the marmalade in a large bowl, then spoon them onto the pastry sheets, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Serve plain, or with whipped cream. (Tastes best warm)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Recipe special notes
Apple pie notes:
To make fun, cute individual apple pies: using ramekins, place a ramekin on the rolled out pastry crust dough and cut out circles that are about 1/2 an inch larger than the ramekins all the way around. Cut out enough circles for all your ramekins. Spoon the sugared apple mix into the ramekins and fill them up to slightly heaping. Place the dough circle on top and seal the edges, then prick with a fork or knife a few times. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 - 25 minutes. Check them occasionally for apple tenderness and a golden crust.
Pizza notes:
You can skip the parmesan cheese if you don't have any/don't want the extra calories/can't find any good vegan option. This pizza is also really good when made with vegan mozzarella - buy a block of the melty kind and grate it yourself - Jenny has tested and approved it :)
To make fun, cute individual apple pies: using ramekins, place a ramekin on the rolled out pastry crust dough and cut out circles that are about 1/2 an inch larger than the ramekins all the way around. Cut out enough circles for all your ramekins. Spoon the sugared apple mix into the ramekins and fill them up to slightly heaping. Place the dough circle on top and seal the edges, then prick with a fork or knife a few times. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 - 25 minutes. Check them occasionally for apple tenderness and a golden crust.
Pizza notes:
You can skip the parmesan cheese if you don't have any/don't want the extra calories/can't find any good vegan option. This pizza is also really good when made with vegan mozzarella - buy a block of the melty kind and grate it yourself - Jenny has tested and approved it :)
Double crust pie pastry
2 1/2 cups flour plus extra for rolling
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled vegetable shortening or margarine
1/3 cup (more or less) ice cold water
1 tablespoon milk
Stir together salt and flour. Using pastry cutter, blend shortening into flour until it is the size of small grains of rice. Pour ice water over dough and toss with a fork until it can be shaped into a ball. Add more water if needed. Cut ball of dough in half and set one piece aside. Roll dough out, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Transfer it to the pie plate by rolling the dough up around the rolling pin and then unrolling it over the pie plate. Make the pie as directed then roll out the second piece and top the pie with it.
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled vegetable shortening or margarine
1/3 cup (more or less) ice cold water
1 tablespoon milk
Stir together salt and flour. Using pastry cutter, blend shortening into flour until it is the size of small grains of rice. Pour ice water over dough and toss with a fork until it can be shaped into a ball. Add more water if needed. Cut ball of dough in half and set one piece aside. Roll dough out, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Transfer it to the pie plate by rolling the dough up around the rolling pin and then unrolling it over the pie plate. Make the pie as directed then roll out the second piece and top the pie with it.
Apple pie
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 pounds (about 5) tart cooking apples
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 Double-crust Pie Pastry
Combine sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Stir together. Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into quarters, and then cut each quarter into 8 long pieces, and finally cut the pieces in half. Drop the apples into the sugar mixture and toss them to coat all the pieces evenly. Preheat oven to 450. Line the pie plate with the bottom crust, then spoon the apples into the pie plate. Cut the butter into bits and sprinkle them over the apples. Lay the top crust over the top, trim and seal the edges, prick with a fork in several places, and paint the crust with milk. Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes, or until the top is browned and the apples are tender when pricked with a fork or knife.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 pounds (about 5) tart cooking apples
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 Double-crust Pie Pastry
Combine sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Stir together. Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into quarters, and then cut each quarter into 8 long pieces, and finally cut the pieces in half. Drop the apples into the sugar mixture and toss them to coat all the pieces evenly. Preheat oven to 450. Line the pie plate with the bottom crust, then spoon the apples into the pie plate. Cut the butter into bits and sprinkle them over the apples. Lay the top crust over the top, trim and seal the edges, prick with a fork in several places, and paint the crust with milk. Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes, or until the top is browned and the apples are tender when pricked with a fork or knife.
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