Microwave Peanut Brittle

This recipe is special in our family, at least I think so. For as long as I can remember, my family has been eating peanut brittle and chocolate balls at Christmastime. Personally, since the chocolate balls have coconut in them my favorite was peanut brittle (though I always enjoyed helping roll and dip the chocolate balls). The mystique of making peanut brittle was great in my mind though. You had to cook it just long enough and work quickly so that it didn't set up in the bowl or too thick. I left this difficult task to the experts...my Grandma and Mom....until this summer.

I was home visiting family for my cousin's wedding (Congrats Rob and Sarah!) when I decided to have Grandma and Mom teach me the secrets of peanut brittle. We went to shop for all of the ingredients (more on that later) and got to work.

Mixing the peanuts, sugar and corn syrup, that's easy. Just be sure to get the sugar really mixed in with the corn syrup, coating the peanuts...makes it come together better later.

After the first cooking time, the mixture should be boiling and nuts brown. Keep in mind that every microwave is different. Apparently this is the real "secret" of making great peanut brittle...finding out how long to cook it for each step in your microwave. SO, you'll likely need to experiement a bit...good thing the ingredients aren't that pricey! A warning...from this point foward the mixture is extremely hot!

Anyway, since Grandma and Mom had done this a billion times before in Grandma's microwave, they knew the exact time...and it came out looking perfect. So we quickly moved on to the next step and added the butter and vanilla....stir it in and put it back in the microwave for the second time.

Ok...so this is the step where things were a bit scary for me....the warnings of "work fast," and "have everything ready to go so you can go quickly," were ringing in my ears. SO...take note...make sure you have your pan buttered, your baking soda measured and be ready when the buzzer goes off.
The baking soda, once added, will make the mixure foam up and you'll think you're working with a chemistry set (I guess in a way you are! Cooking/Baking is like that sometimes!). Again...work quickly, stirring it in and then....pour out onto the lightly buttered pan and spread the nuts into a single layer. You'll notice I let my expert mom handle this batch...so I could snap photos (I did do the other batches later though...I promise!). Now the hard part....waiting. HA! You have to let it sit and cool down. Once cooled you break it into pieces and enjoy. Yumm...(sorry for the blurry shot...)

As it turns out that one of the hardest parts of this family recipe is finding raw spanish peanuts....HA! So, I asked if we could make it with other more easily available nuts as well....we made a batch with the hard to find peanuts (as shown), a batch with cashews and a batch with mixed nuts. Of course, the traditional peanut was a hit, but I also really liked the other variations. They were all just as easy to work with and didn't require adjusting the cooking time. Though I would imagine if you were to use the larger Brazil nuts only, you may want too cook them a bit longer.

A tip for clean up: Soak everything that touched the brittle IMMEDIATELY! This stuff becomes rock hard, and pretty quick. Once you've spread out the brittle, take that spoon and the bowl and put it in hot water. You'll be glad that you did later....trust me.

I don't have a glamor shot of any of the three batches, but they were a big hit and enjoyed. It was so fun to be in the kitchen with my Grandma and mom learning this recipe. Maybe one day I can pass it along to the next generation now.

The Recipe:
Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 cups peanuts (or other nuts)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix nuts, sugar and syrup in a microwave-safe glass bowl. Cook 7-10 minutes on high (again, adjust to your microwave!). Mixture should be boiling and nuts browned. Quickly stir in butter and vanilla. Cook 2-3 minutes more.

Add baking soda and stir quickly, just until foamy. Pour immediately onto buttered cookie sheet. Let cool. Break into pieces. Enjoy! (Store in airtight container, or as we do in my family, a zip-type baggie.)

Enjoy with Love,
Christina

Daring Cooks - Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes (August 2009)

This month's Daring Cooks recipe was offered by Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes. She chose to have us prepare a Spanish recipe, Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment.

At first I was not thrilled about making this recipe. I don't like seafood that much, am picky about mushrooms and artichokes. BUT, after reading through some of the modifications I could make I decided to press on.

This recipe has several steps and took a couple hours to complete, but you could apparently break them up and not end up like I did, standing in the kitchen for hours.

I started with the Allioli a la moderna because I did not have a mortar and pestle. The ingredients all seemed "normal" though I was a bit nervous that my fellow Daring Cooks kept calling it a mayonnaise type emulsification. I don't like mayo.

It came together perfectly...looked exactly like it should...but taste...well, it IS similar to mayo. But I pressed on hoping that with the rest of the dish it would be fine. You know, much like potato salad...you don't really notice the mayo right?!


The next step was to make the Sofregit. Chopping veggies is fun right?! They sure were pretty before I started.

Once the party started in the pan I was getting excited. It smelled great and seemed to be cooking down as it was supposed too. I loved using the bay leaf. It reminded me growing up and being at one of my best girlfriend's house. Her grandmother would make homemade spagehetti sauce...always with a bay leaf...which I, as the guest for dinner, was always allowed (honored?!) to remove. I sometimes wonder if exposure to these kinds of women and experiences influenced my love for cooking.

After an hour of simmering away on the stovetop....it looked like this...and smelled divine.
Finally I was ready to being the actual recipe. Here's where I generously altered the orignial recipe and got a bit creative. I really try to only cook with ingredients that I can find at the "normal" grocery store, which for me is Safeway. My local Safeway didn't have cuttlefish...I'm told it's divine...but I wasn't going to trek all over town to find it. SO....after a phone call to my wonderful friend who is culinarily trained (a real pro!), I decided to go with Basa Fish (Why does that sound like the phone a friend lifeline on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"). He also recommended shark, but I wasn't feeling quite that adventurous nor do I think my fish guy had that available the night I shopped.

I also am not a big fan of artichokes and really was not in the mood to clean 4 of them...I opted for asparagus because it was in season and suggested by one of my Daring Cook cohorts.

SO...everything into the pan. I looked really good...seemed to be coming together perfectly. No step was too hard or too frantic.

After adding all the liquids...it was a boiling cauldron of dinner...

(As a side note, I used Gnarly Head Pinot Grigio. I was SO excited to use a wine from Manteca...HOME!...but was SO disappointed when I tasted it. Let's just say that it was NOT a wine I'd buy again. I'm sure some people will love it but it was not one that I enjoyed. In fact, it was so not enjoyable (I hesitate to call it bad) that it ended up down the sink. Again, super disappointed. Their Old Vine Zin is really good...if that's any consolation.)

After simmering and cooking for the alloted time, the dish was done! It seemed to look just like it was supposed too according to the other photos I'd seen from my fellow Daring Cooks. I was a bit nervous about trying it. SO...I took a few glamour shots (are you ready for your close up!?) and then dove in...with a small bite.

What did I think? Ick...I didn't like it. At first I thought it was just the Allioli a la moderna I didn't like because as I mentioned...mayo-like. SO, I tried another bite, without the Allioli....still not that great. What went wrong? Likely nothing. It was edible, but since I didn't care for the fish (just my tastebuds...it had a great texture), it ended up in the trash. It truly seemed such a waste of food, but I knew I wouldn't eat it. I must say...next time I may try it with chicken...I like chicken. The time was not wasted though...I truly enjoyed trying the new recipe and working with ingredients I'd not tried before. I must say...those saffron threads are pretty cool.

If you try this one....let me know what you think. Who knows...maybe I have defective tastebuds...or my alterations went haywire.

The (Original) Recipe

Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Equipment:
1 Chopping Board
1 knife
1 medium saucepan
1 Paella pan (30 cm/11" is enough for 4 people. If not available, you may use a simple pan that size)
1 Saucepan

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
1 glass of white wine
2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)
"Sofregit" (see recipe below)
300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person)

Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) – optional

Directions:
1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than "al dente")
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit
Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 Bay leaf
Salt
Touch of ground cumin
Touch of dried oregano

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.

Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Pinch of salt
Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:
1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José's tips for traditional recipe:

It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes

Ingredients:
1 small egg
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Break the egg into a mixing bowl.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the vinegar or lemon juice.
3. Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste.
4. Little by little, add what's left of the olive oil as you continue blending.
5. If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce.
6. Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli.
7. The sauce will be a lovely yellow color.
8. Add salt to taste.

José's tips for modern recipe:

1. If you do not have access to a hand blender, you can use a hand mixer (the kind with the two beaters) or a food processor. If you use a food processor, you must double the recipe or the amount will be too little for the blades to catch and emulsify.

2. What happens if the oil and egg separate? Don't throw it out. You can do two things. One is to whisk it and use it as a side sauce for a fish or vegetable. But if you want to rescue the allioli, take 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water in another beaker and start adding to the mix little by little. Blend it again until you create the creamy sauce you wanted.

Olga’s Tips For Complete Recipe:

1. In Spain, rice is not stirred as often as it is when cooking Italian risotto. You
must stir it once or twice maximum. This tip is valid for all Spanish rice dishes
like paella, arròs negre, arròs a banda.

2. When cooking the alternative style you can change the cuttlefish or squid for
diced potato.

3. If you can’t find cuttlefish or squid, or you’re not able to eat them because of
allergies, you can try to substitute them for chicken or vegetables at your choice.

4. Sofregit can be done in advance. You can keep it in the fridge or even freeze it.

5. For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes,
please watch this video

6. To watch how Jose Andres cooks this dish click here.

7. To tone down the taste when you do it by hand in a mortar, then add an egg
yolk. If you want to tone it down in the alternative way use milk or soy milk.
Anyway, the best alternative way is the original oil and garlic alone.

8. Allioli must be consumed during the preparation day and preserved in the fridge before using it.

Enjoy with Love,

Christina

Chipotle-Yogurt Chicken Kebabs

Wow...so since my last savory dish got such a great response (on FaceBook...leave your comments here folks!), I decided to stick with it....especially since the temperatures outsides are pushing the century mark now. I discovered this dish in my Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute cookbook. For the record...I always thought it was kabobs...not kebabs...but I'm going with the spelling in the books so you can find it easily.

Oh, I'll just go ahead and mention this now so you don't wonder about my ability to count...there are more than 5 ingredients in this recipe....the book assumes you have some staples on hand...like salt, pepper, cooking spray...just go with it. :-)

I didn't get many photos of this one as it was so quick and easy that I forgot to document each step. When all you do is mix up a few things, toss it in the 'fridge to marinte for an hour, it goes quickly. SO, I finally remembered to start taking photos once I had the chicken on the skewers. Now, those that know me well know that I am a tad squeamish about raw meat, especially chicken. Threading the chicken on the skewers (which I soaked in water) was not a comfortable task for me, but honestly, it wasn't hard to do. They turned out pretty even...well, for raw chicken at least.

Since I live in Fairfax County and in a condo, I am NOT the proud owner of a kick-butt gas or charcoal grill....sadly. Safety comes first here...gladly. Therefore, my grill is a George Foreman Grill...happily. I could only grill in small batches though...unfortunately. (OK...enough with the..."ly" words.) As a side note, I love my grill because it cooks both sides at the same time, no flipping and saves time! It's really easy to clean as well. These cooked up quickly and smelled amazing. The book recommends serving with a sweet-n-spicy grilled pineapple but...I don't like pineapple. So they also recommend to serve with a doctored up couscous. I just used the plain boxed couscous, but didn't get any pictures.

The flavor of the chicken is so yummy...but a bit spicy from the chipotle...I loved it, but I think someone like my mom who doesn't do spicy well would probably want to tone it down a bit. The couscous cuts the spicy a bit, and I'm sure if you did the pineapple that would add even more flavor while adding a sweetness to further cut the spicy.

Yummm...made great leftovers for lunch too.

The Recipe
Chipotle-Yogurt Chicken Kebabs

1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
Cooking spray

1. Combine first 6 ingredience in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour into a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal bag, and toss to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

2. Prepare grill (I just plugged in and switched on the power! HA!).

3. Thread chicken evenly onto 4 (10-inch) metal skewers (Yeah, so I didn't have those...I just used wood skewers soaked in water). Place on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 11 minutes or until done, turning once.

Yield: 4 servings, one kebab (or 1/4 the recipe). Points value: 4

Enjoy with Love,
Christina

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Well my Shaking N Baking friends, it's time for another savory dish. I think this one is rather timely for those suffering the summer heat (though it's a beautiful mid-70's day here...with low humidity..when did I move to San Diego!?). This one is done in the crockpot for the most part!

I got this recipe from my mom. I'm not sure where she got it, but in classic mom form it's easy, uses normal ingredients and tastes great! You can also use "alternate" low-fat/healthier ingredients to make it even better for you.

The first step I do is mix all the "sauce" ingredients. What can be easier than opening a can of soup, a Lipton (yeah, brand name here!) soup mix packet and a container of sour cream and stirring them all together.

The next step is really hard....HA! Put frozen chicken breasts into your crock-pot! OH...and here's a tip that I'm sure most of you will already know, but in case there is that one person out there that was like me not too long ago.......Spray your crock-pot bowl with Pam (geesh! another brand name) cooking spray. This will make clean up so much easier!

SO, once you've put the chicken in, pour the "sauce" over the chicken and let it cook. Mom says 6-8 hours on low, but it will really depend on your crock-pot (which I just realized is actually a brand name for a slow cooker! Look at me name dropping in this post!).

No matter how long it takes, you'll know it's done when you can shread the chicken with a fork and it's cooked (as in not pink!). It should look sorta like this:

SO...as you're shreading the chicken, put on the egg noodles. Boil according to package directions. Once they're cooked, pour the noodles in with the chicken (or vice versa depending on the size of your crock-pot/noodle pot) and stir. Done! Dinner...or in my case, lunches are ready!

OK...so I have to suggest that you serve this with some kind of side dish that is green...get your veggies in folks! :-)

The glamour shot for this recipe shows you how I "pack" my lunches. I portion them out and then pop them in either the 'fridge (if I know I'll be taking them soon) or the freezer. This recipe actually freezes well...just let it thaw out in the 'fridge before you reheat.
The Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 8-0z. carton of sour cream (use low-fat or fat-free if you want!)
1 packet dry onion soup mix (this is the Lipton stuff)
1 bag of wide egg noodles (use no-yolks or whole wheat...just as good!)

Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients, except noodles, until smooth. Pour over the chicken. Cook 6-8 hours on low.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Shread chicken and mix with noodles. Serve!

Enjoy with Love,
Christina

Daring Bakers - Milan Cookies (July 2009)

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This past month has been super busy with the July 4th weekend, traveling to California for my cousin's wedding, being sick and just generally trying to enjoy the summer weather. SO, I chose to only complete one of the cookies for the challenge (legal per the rules!) at this time. I'm still going to attempt the other cookie, just not in time to post about it for the challenge. :-)

So..which cookie did I choose?! The Milan Cookies by Gale Gand! They looked a bit easier and I love Gale Gand. Gale was one of the first bakers I remember seeing on TV (The Food Network) and thinking..."wow, I'd love to have HER job!" :::SIGH:::

The recipe for the cookie is fairly straight forward. The butter, sugar, egg whites and extracts come together easily (my butter was super soft due to the summer heat!). I was a touch concerned about the amount of egg whites. My carton said that one cup was 4 eggs, but the recipe said that 7/8 cup was about 6 eggs. I used the 7/8 cup, hoping that it was the more accurate measure since egg size can vary.

Once you add the flour, the cookie mixture resembles a thick cake batter type texture (in my opinion). I was a bit worried that the batter was too runny, but it seemed to be fine in the end.


Piping the cookies turned out to be the most difficult part of this entire challenge. The directions say to use a 1/4 inch plain tip and pipe 1-inch sections. I'm not sure I used the right tip, but my first batch of cookies turned into little burnt bricks, so I had to modify my piping technique. I figured that I needed them to be thicker and a bit bigger. The picture below is what finally seemed to work for me.


Again, the hardest part was the piping...and trying to get them all about the same size. You can see that I did ok, but some were bigger than others. I figured as long as they had a "mate" I'd be ok in the long run.


While the cookies were cooling (on the pan...too difficult to move right away!), I moved on to the chocolate filling. I chopped the chocolate and zested the orange before I started to scald the cream, knowing it would go quickly.

I was right, once the cream was hot and poured over the chocolate, the zest was added and "voila!" chocolate filling was ready!

Putting the cookies together was easy, if not a bit messy. Again, the hardest part was finding the appropriate "mate" for each set. It made for quick work though.

The end result was a fairly elegant looking cookie that tastes really great! The lemon extract and the orange zest give this cookie a sophistication that lacks in some other cookies. They are truly yummy and present well. I got a two thumbs up and a "this is like crack" from the first taste-tester. :-)

Editted After Original Post: Ok, after eating a few of these and getting a bit more input (love the people at work!), I think that I added a bit too much orange zest into the filling. It's nice, they still taste good, but it's a bit overpowering for my liking (and a few others that were polled). SO, go easy on it....but enjoy it if you like that burst of citrus. OK....on to the glamour shot!

The Recipe: Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 1 hr
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy with Love,
Christina

Daring Bakers - Bakewell Tart...er...Pudding (June 2009)

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

This month’s challenge did not seem like a challenge at all. This could be because I am comfortable with making pastry dough and it did not have any hard to find ingredients. Of course, I could have taken the extra challenge of making my own jam, but I did not make the time to do that. That said, I still managed to mess up this simple recipe (read on...).

SO...it all started with the Sweet Shortcut Pastry dough. Grating frozen butter was a bit messy and I certainly did not want to end up back at the Emergency Room again with a grated appendage. Considering that the box grater and I have sparred before (and it won, hence my hesitation), this was probably the worst part of the whole challenge. Once grated, and mixed with the dry ingredients, it was pretty clear sailing.

Pastry Dough in the Works

Once the dough was chilling, I turned my attention to the frangipane. Again, nothing too challenging or wild with this part of the recipe. Of course, after the fact, and as I write this entry I realized that I used the wrong kind of sugar! I used regular sugar, not icing (or confectioners) sugar! I think the “batter” still turned out just fine.

Frangipane...Ready for the Tart...er...Pudding

PS...Yes, I know this picture is rotated wrong...can't figure out how to fix it!

Once ready to assemble the tart, I microwaved a seedless raspberry jam a few seconds at a time, stirring between each 20 second interval. This worked out well. In fact, once I poured it into the tart, it was easily spread by just tilting the pan in order to get it into each area. I tried to ensure that the frangipane covered the jam entirely so that it wouldn’t bubble out once baking. I think it looked pretty good before it went in to the oven.

Ready for the Oven

Once the tart...er...pudding was almost done I added the almonds. I did them in a decorative pattern just for presentation’s sake, but they could have just as easily been randomly scattered on the top.

Bakewell Tart...er...Pudding...Finished!

So, the reviews...even though I used the wrong sugar everyone that had a piece of this tart...er...pudding raved! Thinking about it now, it may have been too sweet had I used the icing sugar! It certainly did not compromise the finished product to use regular granulated sugar. I even had one person tell me that they would pay me to bake this again! Hmmm...grand ideas of opening my own bakery popped into my head (again...as if they ever really leave!). Here is the glamour shot of the finished product.

Yummy...Served Slightly Warmed

Thanks Jasmine and Annemarie for an easy challenge, that I still managed to accidentally tweak!

Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)

Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)

Resting time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)

Bench flour

250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spread-ability

One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)

One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatized for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)

Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour

30g (1oz) sugar

2.5ml (½ tsp) salt

110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)

2 (2) egg yolks

2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)

15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened

125g (4.5oz) icing sugar

3 (3) eggs

2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract

125g (4.5oz) ground almonds

30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in color and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow color.

Enjoy With Love,

Christina

Daring Cooks - Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers (June 2009)

Yes folks, you can make these yummy things at home…from scratch no less. You just have to have some time and patience. This month’s challenge of making potstickers from scratch sounded like it was going to be difficult, but honestly it was very easy.

So first, a bit about the host of the challenge, Jennifer Yu writes a blog call use real butter. I started reading her blog long before I became a member of The Daring Kitchen. In fact, it was because of her Daring Baker entries that I decided to look into the group! I feel a bit of gratitude for Jen and her wonderful blog. I aspire to one day have this blog be as beautiful, both in written and photographic form, some day.

Now, onto the challenge! The filling was easy enough to assemble once everything was minced. Take your time and actually do the mincing by hand, don’t use a food processor. According to Jen the texture will be much better this way. Besides, the ingredients smell incredible and you’ll be able to enjoy them longer. I had some trouble finding the napa cabbage, but as always, can count on Whole Foods to have my “odd” ingredients. I think my Safeway was simply out of it the day I went looking for it.

Filling Looking and Smelling Great

The next part was the dough and making the dumplings. As you’ll read in the recipe and tips, the stickiness had to be “just so.” The first batch of dough I made I used method #2 (see below), the second batch I used method #1. Personally, I like method #2 better. The dough seemed to come together better and not be as sticky. Once I followed the instructions and started rolling, I realized that this wasn’t going to be so hard.

Rolled and Ready for Filling

Honestly, the hardest part was taking the time to roll them all and then the pleating! Jen’s blog has a great demonstration of how to pleat here. GO LOOK AT HOW SHE DID IT! Mine turned out ok, but hers are simply beautiful! (I’ll wait for you to get back…) Are you back? See?! I told you she was a master!

My Pleats...Not Perfect, But Not Bad Either

Once pleated, they were ready for cooking. I decided to fry mine because, well, who doesn’t love fried foods! SO, again, following the instructions I placed my newly pleated dumplings into the oil. The next step was to add the water…BE CAREFUL! Jen recommends having the lid ready and waiting, and pouring the water in pretty fast (as in all at once!). This step makes a big mess if you don’t put the lid on quickly.

Sizzle, Sizzle, Pop, Pop, Splatter Everywhere!

I must admit, once they were done, they turned out looking great! Even better is that they tasted great! I made the dipping sauce and enjoyed my test run as lunch. Yummmmmm! I froze the rest and have not yet tried to make them from frozen yet. If I have any tips or run into any issues that aren’t mentioned in the recipe I’ll come back to edit this post. In the meantime, here’s the “glamour” shot of these delicious things!

Ready for Eating!

Thanks Jen for a great challenge!

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers
You can (and should) reference instructional photos and discussion on Jen’s blog post here.

Pork filling
1 lb ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

DoughNote: You will want to double this for the amount of filling listed, but it's easier to work with in two batches rather than one large one. (Jen tends to use leftover pork filling for soup meatballs.) A single batch will yield about 40 dumplings depending on size.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
flour for worksurface

Dipping sauce
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional) (I didn’t use because I didn’t have it..wish I would have though!)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky. [Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2: In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images above).

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface and steam for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziploc bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.

Enjoy with Love,
Christina

PS…Confession time…this was actually posted very late according to Daring Cooks rules…but hey! better late than never right!?