This is the orange sherbet I made to go with the Tuiles. It was slightly painful to make because I was juicing citrus just after slicing through my finger.
For those of you wondering, sherbet is not the same as sorbet. Sorbet, and the Italian sorbetto, is an ice made from fruit, sugar and other non-dairy ingredients. Sherbet contains 1-5% milk solids, depending on who you ask. Ice cream usually has 10-20% milk solids, just for comparison purposes.
The tuiles didn't come out so good but the sherbet is really good. It only took a couple minutes to prep, no eggs to temper and strain and all that fun stuff. So at least something good came out of my failed tuiles.
Orange Sherbet
based on this recipe from the New York Times
3 oranges, juiced and zested
1 lemon, juiced
ginger ale
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp gelatin
1/2 cup heavy cream
Put the gelatin in a bowl with enough water to mix it in. Heat the gelatin in 15 second shots until it dissolves.
In a measuring cup, add the juices and add enough ginger ale to get it to 1 1/2 cups.
Add the sugar to the gelatin and add some juice.
Heat for a few seconds just to dissolve the sugar.
Add the rest of the juice.
Chill until cold.
Churn the juice mix and cream in an ice cream maker however you normally do that.
Firm up in the freezer.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Daring Bakers: Tuiles
This recipe was a pretty easy month. No 18 components that all need to be baked separately. No really random ingredients that I didn't already have. The recipe is so simple I could probably do it on a weeknight after I got home from work. Piece of cake!
The biggest concern was the bit about something fruity. What's fruity and January? The only things I could think of was citrus and bananas. I had a lot of trouble with this. I spent a couple weeks just trying to think of something fruity that would work with these. Something that wouldn't make the tuiles turn to mush because it's too liquidy but something that's not a cake with random things stuck on top.
Fortunately I saw a recipe for Tangerine Sherbet and decided that would be it. It was warm enough the day I decided to make it, in the 50's, to keep sherbet from being too inappropriate for January. When I looked at the tangerines I had they weren't looking so good. I had had them for a few weeks and was trying to use them up but oh well. I had some oranges so I made orange sherbet instead. More on that in a separate post tomorrow.
I can't say I'm thrilled with how mine came out. It did the same thing as my 'crisp' layer of the yule log came out. Meaning a rubbery disk. I don't know what I am doing wrong and I think I am giving up on these types of things. They just are not working out for me.
I took a couple pics of it with the sherbet but I don't feel like posting them because the tuiles just did not work out and it seems wrong to post pics of it when it failed so badly. This was a sad Daring Bakers challenge. Hopefully next month will work out better.
Edit: Here's a pic
This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
The biggest concern was the bit about something fruity. What's fruity and January? The only things I could think of was citrus and bananas. I had a lot of trouble with this. I spent a couple weeks just trying to think of something fruity that would work with these. Something that wouldn't make the tuiles turn to mush because it's too liquidy but something that's not a cake with random things stuck on top.
Fortunately I saw a recipe for Tangerine Sherbet and decided that would be it. It was warm enough the day I decided to make it, in the 50's, to keep sherbet from being too inappropriate for January. When I looked at the tangerines I had they weren't looking so good. I had had them for a few weeks and was trying to use them up but oh well. I had some oranges so I made orange sherbet instead. More on that in a separate post tomorrow.
I can't say I'm thrilled with how mine came out. It did the same thing as my 'crisp' layer of the yule log came out. Meaning a rubbery disk. I don't know what I am doing wrong and I think I am giving up on these types of things. They just are not working out for me.
I took a couple pics of it with the sherbet but I don't feel like posting them because the tuiles just did not work out and it seems wrong to post pics of it when it failed so badly. This was a sad Daring Bakers challenge. Hopefully next month will work out better.
Edit: Here's a pic
This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Finger
This is my poor finger. For the record, it is really hard to take a picture of your own finger. Since I am left handed, I cut my right index finger. So to take a picture of it I had to hold the camera with my left hand, thumb on the bottom to try and stabilize it, and then snap the picture and try to hold it still enough to take the pic. The first couple I tried to get a close up but it came out really blurry. The first one I tried I didn't even get my finger.
So the split down the length of the nail... that is how it grew back when I smashed it in a car door a couple years ago. I thought it would close but it never seemed to. The nail grows in, in 2 sections and the side at the top of the pic grows in under the other side. Don't ask me why. I don't know. That's just what it does. I've been trying to make it grow normal but that hasn't worked so far.
Anyway... back to the knife.... I was slicing up some bread for the recipe I posted earlier when I sliced my finger. That would be the slice toward the tip of the nail in the pic. I sliced through the top nail, the bottom nail and into my finger. I actually responded pretty fast and kept it from bleeding much. This is the next day after I cleaned it up. Doesn't look too bad, considering. Anyway, that's my story and now I am typing without my pointer again.
Bacon Spinach Panzanella Salad
I was getting some maple syrup so I could eat the leftover pancakes I had in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. There was some bread in the clearance section. You know, the stuff from the day before or something. Perfect for making croutons.
From there I decided to make a spinach salad. Doesn't that sound healthy? By spinach salad I mean a bunch of fresh bacon-y croutons, bacon bits, goat cheese with a little spinach. This is still pretty healthy for me.
It was actually really good. Although maybe not the healthiest salad out there, pretty healthy for me. And good. It would have been better if I hadn't cut through my nail and finger while cutting up the bread but oh well. And of course it was the one I smashed a while ago and the nail never quite grew back right. I'll post pics of that after I am less afraid of blood getting everywhere when I take the bandaid off.
I only used about 1/4 of a lemon but it could have used more so I'd go with a half. I'd also add some dried cranberries and some minced garlic to the bacon/bread while it cooks next time.
Bacon Spinach Panzanella Salad
1 strip maple bacon
several slices of French bread, slightly stale and cubed
a drizzle of olive oil
2 big handfuls baby spinach
about 1 oz goat cheese
1/2 lemon
Slice up the bacon into small pieces. Put it in a cold pan.
Add the bread. Drizzle with olive oil.
Turn the pan on medium low.
Cook covered for about 15 mins, tossing occasionally, until you have nice crisp croutons and bacon bits.
Turn the burner off.
Add the spinach, squeeze the lemon over everything and toss so that it wilts a little.
Put it in a large bowl. Sprinkle with goat cheese chunks.
From there I decided to make a spinach salad. Doesn't that sound healthy? By spinach salad I mean a bunch of fresh bacon-y croutons, bacon bits, goat cheese with a little spinach. This is still pretty healthy for me.
It was actually really good. Although maybe not the healthiest salad out there, pretty healthy for me. And good. It would have been better if I hadn't cut through my nail and finger while cutting up the bread but oh well. And of course it was the one I smashed a while ago and the nail never quite grew back right. I'll post pics of that after I am less afraid of blood getting everywhere when I take the bandaid off.
I only used about 1/4 of a lemon but it could have used more so I'd go with a half. I'd also add some dried cranberries and some minced garlic to the bacon/bread while it cooks next time.
Bacon Spinach Panzanella Salad
1 strip maple bacon
several slices of French bread, slightly stale and cubed
a drizzle of olive oil
2 big handfuls baby spinach
about 1 oz goat cheese
1/2 lemon
Slice up the bacon into small pieces. Put it in a cold pan.
Add the bread. Drizzle with olive oil.
Turn the pan on medium low.
Cook covered for about 15 mins, tossing occasionally, until you have nice crisp croutons and bacon bits.
Turn the burner off.
Add the spinach, squeeze the lemon over everything and toss so that it wilts a little.
Put it in a large bowl. Sprinkle with goat cheese chunks.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Potato Chip Cookies
I guess Christmas time is cookie time to the rest of the world. So while I refused to bake anything, everywhere I looked I saw cookie recipes. So I bookmarked lots of recipes for later use. This was one of them. I originally saw pics of them on Tastespotting and, well, they seemed different.
They came out pretty decent. Though I think they are a little prettier if you do the cookie press thing mentioned on Noble Pig. I had done them as slice and bake. They didn't look all that pretty. Didn't spread at all. That's OK. Other than that, they were good. The salt from the chips brings out the flavor without being salty
Potato Chip Cookies
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup crushed potato chips
2 cups flour
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the vanilla.
Stir in the flour, walnuts and chips, just until combined.
Roll into a log.
Roll the log in granulated sugar.
Chill the dough.
Slice and bake.
They came out pretty decent. Though I think they are a little prettier if you do the cookie press thing mentioned on Noble Pig. I had done them as slice and bake. They didn't look all that pretty. Didn't spread at all. That's OK. Other than that, they were good. The salt from the chips brings out the flavor without being salty
Potato Chip Cookies
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup crushed potato chips
2 cups flour
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the vanilla.
Stir in the flour, walnuts and chips, just until combined.
Roll into a log.
Roll the log in granulated sugar.
Chill the dough.
Slice and bake.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Cookies
I had a cookie baking marathon. All the doughs I had made since Thanksgiving got baked. Here are some pics.
Citrus Meltaways:
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Chocolate Butterfinger Cookies:
I also attempted to make Rugelach. They didn't work out so well. I guess I didn't work enough flour in and they ran out all over the pan. I broke it into chunks when it cooled. They still tasted good though they definitely did not come out the way they were supposed to. This is that recipe, though I would work more flour in next time if I try again. Maybe 2 cups flour, scoop and sweep rather than sifted. Well we'll see. No pics of this because it was a mess.
Rugelach
can't remember where I got it from.
1 pack cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour, sifted
apricot preserves, pureed
Filling:
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
Coating:
1 egg beaten, with 1 tbsp milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Mix in the flour just until combined.
Split the dough into 4 equal balls.
Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and flatten into disks.
Refrigerate the disks for at least 1 hour to firm up the dough.
Mix together the filling.
Roll out the dough into a 9" circle.
Brush with a thin coating of apricot puree
Cover with the filling.
Cut into 12 equal wedges, like each hour on a clock.
Roll each one up starting on the outside of the circle.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle on the coating.
Bake at 350 for 15 mins or until done.
Citrus Meltaways:
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Chocolate Butterfinger Cookies:
I also attempted to make Rugelach. They didn't work out so well. I guess I didn't work enough flour in and they ran out all over the pan. I broke it into chunks when it cooled. They still tasted good though they definitely did not come out the way they were supposed to. This is that recipe, though I would work more flour in next time if I try again. Maybe 2 cups flour, scoop and sweep rather than sifted. Well we'll see. No pics of this because it was a mess.
Rugelach
can't remember where I got it from.
1 pack cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour, sifted
apricot preserves, pureed
Filling:
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
Coating:
1 egg beaten, with 1 tbsp milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Mix in the flour just until combined.
Split the dough into 4 equal balls.
Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and flatten into disks.
Refrigerate the disks for at least 1 hour to firm up the dough.
Mix together the filling.
Roll out the dough into a 9" circle.
Brush with a thin coating of apricot puree
Cover with the filling.
Cut into 12 equal wedges, like each hour on a clock.
Roll each one up starting on the outside of the circle.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle on the coating.
Bake at 350 for 15 mins or until done.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Barefoot Bloggers: Pecan Sticky Buns
Time for the next Barefoot Bloggers recipe. This months choices were very me... first the pancakes and now Stick Buns.
We made these Sunday morning for breakfast when K was here. They were really easy and tasty. It only took a few minutes to prep everything. About as long as it took the oven to warm up. Flipping them out is a little bit scary. Here's a tip when making sticky buns in a muffin pan: lay a piece of parchment over the top. Then put a sheet pan over the top. Then flip. Then slowly lift off the pan and check if it released. This helped to keep the buns from flying out all over the place and took away some of the scariness of inverting a pan.
I think I prefer them with a chewier dough. I made them again using the dough from my cinnamon buns rather than puff pastry. Nothing against puff pastry. These were really flaky and all, which is good in some applications. But in this case I think a breadier dough that soaks up more of the sticky gooeyness works better.
Easy Sticky Buns
from Back to Basics, page 240
We made these Sunday morning for breakfast when K was here. They were really easy and tasty. It only took a few minutes to prep everything. About as long as it took the oven to warm up. Flipping them out is a little bit scary. Here's a tip when making sticky buns in a muffin pan: lay a piece of parchment over the top. Then put a sheet pan over the top. Then flip. Then slowly lift off the pan and check if it released. This helped to keep the buns from flying out all over the place and took away some of the scariness of inverting a pan.
I think I prefer them with a chewier dough. I made them again using the dough from my cinnamon buns rather than puff pastry. Nothing against puff pastry. These were really flaky and all, which is good in some applications. But in this case I think a breadier dough that soaks up more of the sticky gooeyness works better.
Easy Sticky Buns
from Back to Basics, page 240
Makes 12
We used to make really delicious sticky buns at Barefoot Contessa, but they took two days to make because the yeast dough needed to rise overnight in the refrigerator. I was dying to find a way to make them easier, so I decided to try baking them with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough, instead. OMG are they good … and they’re really easy to make! Light, flaky dough filled with brown sugar, toasted pecans, and sweet raisins — my friends go crazy when I make these.
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.
Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.
Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
As I think I mentioned before, I got Bakewise by Shirley O. Corriher a few weeks ago. K heard mention of it on NPR, which is how he knew about the existence of the book. So he got it for me. And not for Christmas because he knows better than that. This is why I have allowed him to exist. He has a slight obsession with NPR. By slight I mean he is like that lady in the NPR fundraising commercials saying "I constantly find myself saying 'I heard this on NPR..' in everyday conversations." It might just be a local commercial but you get the idea.
Anyway, these are the cookies she talked about on NPR. She said these are her favorite cookies of all time. So I made them for K when he came and visited. By made for him I mean I made them while he was here and allowed him to have 2. The rest were mine. All mine.
A bunch of people online have made them already so I'm slow but that's OK. Apparently a lot of food bloggers are NPR fans as well. And are a bit faster than I am. I saw some posts on them the day after it was on NPR. They moved fast.
The key to these is using really good chocolate. These are really about the chocolate. There isn't much else to them.
The first batch came out slightly burnt on the bottom because I wasn't really sure on the timing. I made them slightly smaller than she recommended so I baked them shorter but then left them a few minutes longer because they didn't look done. The second batch came out nice and melty and chewy in the middle. mmmm I like cookies.
One thing is, I really need to get a kitchen scale. This would work so much better if I had a scale and didn't have to do the volume approximations.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
in Bakewise, by Shirley O. Corriher with minor tweaks
8.2 grams AP flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
8 oz good dark chocolate (I used 60% Callebaut)
2 3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar
In a medium bowl, beat together flour, baking powder, salt.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds to keep it from burning, until it is just melted.
In a mixer, beat together 2 1/2 cps sugar, oil and corn syrup to blend. Beat in eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Then, on low, beat in melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until uniform.
Form cookie size balls (about 1 1/2"), cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least a couple hours (or leave in the fridge or freezer until you want cookies)
Pour the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl and the granulated sugar in another bowl.
Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and then powdered sugar.
Arrange on greased piece of foil on a cookie sheet. The cookies will spread quite a bit so make sure to leave plenty of room for them to bake.
Bake 12-14 mins at 325. Make sure to keep the cookie sheet level when putting them in the oven. The balls roll off very easily.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet only until the firm up. Then slide the foil off the cookie sheet to cool completely.
Anyway, these are the cookies she talked about on NPR. She said these are her favorite cookies of all time. So I made them for K when he came and visited. By made for him I mean I made them while he was here and allowed him to have 2. The rest were mine. All mine.
A bunch of people online have made them already so I'm slow but that's OK. Apparently a lot of food bloggers are NPR fans as well. And are a bit faster than I am. I saw some posts on them the day after it was on NPR. They moved fast.
The key to these is using really good chocolate. These are really about the chocolate. There isn't much else to them.
The first batch came out slightly burnt on the bottom because I wasn't really sure on the timing. I made them slightly smaller than she recommended so I baked them shorter but then left them a few minutes longer because they didn't look done. The second batch came out nice and melty and chewy in the middle. mmmm I like cookies.
One thing is, I really need to get a kitchen scale. This would work so much better if I had a scale and didn't have to do the volume approximations.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
in Bakewise, by Shirley O. Corriher with minor tweaks
8.2 grams AP flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
8 oz good dark chocolate (I used 60% Callebaut)
2 3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar
In a medium bowl, beat together flour, baking powder, salt.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds to keep it from burning, until it is just melted.
In a mixer, beat together 2 1/2 cps sugar, oil and corn syrup to blend. Beat in eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Then, on low, beat in melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until uniform.
Form cookie size balls (about 1 1/2"), cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least a couple hours (or leave in the fridge or freezer until you want cookies)
Pour the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl and the granulated sugar in another bowl.
Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and then powdered sugar.
Arrange on greased piece of foil on a cookie sheet. The cookies will spread quite a bit so make sure to leave plenty of room for them to bake.
Bake 12-14 mins at 325. Make sure to keep the cookie sheet level when putting them in the oven. The balls roll off very easily.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet only until the firm up. Then slide the foil off the cookie sheet to cool completely.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Molasses Spice Cookies
These cookies are quite spicy. In a good way. They definitely have a lot of flavor. It helps that I had all my spices freshly ground and the knob of ginger in the freezer.
Source is Pioneer Woman. She totally rocks my socks. Even if I didn't want to make the recipe, she's very entertaining and has lotsa pretty pics. I doubled the recipe. I knew they would be good. Just knew it.
Molasses Spice Cookies
2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup Crisco (vegetable shortening)
1/2 cup molasses
2egg
4 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 tsp salt
5 tsp baking soda
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg together until well combined.
Dump in dry ingredients, stirring dry ingredients together lightly. Mix together until dough is combined.
Roll dough into walnut-sized balls.
Roll each ball with sugar.
Place balls on a baking sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, allowing to bake for about a minute after cookies begin to crack.
Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
EZ Peanut Butter Cookies
These cookies are so easy. They took all of 5 mins to mix up. And they were incredibly good. They came out nice and dense and chewy. I was a little suspicious because there was no flour or leavening or anything else. But they worked out. They were definitely a favorite at work.
EZ Peanut Butter Cookies
from Bakewise, by Shirley O Corriher
(recipe doubled)
2 cups Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Stir all the ingredients together until uniform.
Drop tablespoons of batter on a baking sheet.
Press down with the back of a fork like you always do with peanut butter cookies.
Bake until the edges just start to brown, about 10 mins.
EZ Peanut Butter Cookies
from Bakewise, by Shirley O Corriher
(recipe doubled)
2 cups Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Stir all the ingredients together until uniform.
Drop tablespoons of batter on a baking sheet.
Press down with the back of a fork like you always do with peanut butter cookies.
Bake until the edges just start to brown, about 10 mins.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Potstickers
Like I mentioned, there is that asian grocery store down the street from my house. I had seen some posts online about potstickers and decided I wanted to try to make them. I meant to make them over the weekend but then I didn't quite get to it.
Maybe a Tuesday night was not the best time to do it but nonetheless that's when I decided to do it. It ended up taking about 3.5 hours, which included making a batch of cookies because, well, I needed cookies. So I didn't get dinner until after 9 that night but they were good.
My first batch that I ate didn't have that great of a crust because I was hungry and somewhat impatient but that's OK. The next batch had a better crust that I had for lunch the next day. And I froze a bunch of them for later. And I only cut myself once making them. I probably should have chopped the cabbage smaller and maybe let it strain out more but still pretty good nonetheless.
1 pack dumpling skins
egg whites
Filling:
1 lb ground pork
1 head cabbage, finely chopped
salt
6 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (I would add more next time)
2 inches ginger, grated
4 oz silken tofu
3 tbsp soy sauce (I would add more next time)
1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Layer the cabbage with salt in a fine mesh strainer and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, tossing every once in a while. Squeeze out all water that comes out.
Mix together the rest of teh filling ingredients so it is completely uniform.
Mix in the cabbage.
Lay out the dumpling skin.
Brush the edges with the egg white.
Fill with about 1/2 tbsp of filling.
Crimp the edges. Look for a video online for how to do it.
Repeat until you get bored or run out of ingredients or get hungry and want to cook up a batch.
To cook:
Heat up a nonstick pan on medium with about a little oil.
Lay out a single layer of dumplings.
Allow to cook for a few minutes.
Add water so that the dumplings are about half submerged.
Cover and allow to cook until the water is almost all gone.
Take the cover off and cook until the pan is dry and the bottom of the dumplings get a nice crust.
Maybe a Tuesday night was not the best time to do it but nonetheless that's when I decided to do it. It ended up taking about 3.5 hours, which included making a batch of cookies because, well, I needed cookies. So I didn't get dinner until after 9 that night but they were good.
My first batch that I ate didn't have that great of a crust because I was hungry and somewhat impatient but that's OK. The next batch had a better crust that I had for lunch the next day. And I froze a bunch of them for later. And I only cut myself once making them. I probably should have chopped the cabbage smaller and maybe let it strain out more but still pretty good nonetheless.
1 pack dumpling skins
egg whites
Filling:
1 lb ground pork
1 head cabbage, finely chopped
salt
6 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (I would add more next time)
2 inches ginger, grated
4 oz silken tofu
3 tbsp soy sauce (I would add more next time)
1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Layer the cabbage with salt in a fine mesh strainer and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, tossing every once in a while. Squeeze out all water that comes out.
Mix together the rest of teh filling ingredients so it is completely uniform.
Mix in the cabbage.
Lay out the dumpling skin.
Brush the edges with the egg white.
Fill with about 1/2 tbsp of filling.
Crimp the edges. Look for a video online for how to do it.
Repeat until you get bored or run out of ingredients or get hungry and want to cook up a batch.
To cook:
Heat up a nonstick pan on medium with about a little oil.
Lay out a single layer of dumplings.
Allow to cook for a few minutes.
Add water so that the dumplings are about half submerged.
Cover and allow to cook until the water is almost all gone.
Take the cover off and cook until the pan is dry and the bottom of the dumplings get a nice crust.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Barefoot Bloggers: Banana Sour Cream Pancakes
The first recipe for this month (that I missed the posting date on) was chosen by Karen of Something Sweet by Karen. She chose Banana Sour Cream Pancakes. They made a perfect Sunday morning brunch. They came out pretty good. Good enough for the batch to be gone by the end of the day.
My bananas were slightly underripe. Didn't get a chance to buy them early enough. Or rather I didn't realize what I was making until Friday so I bought them on Saturday. They probably could have been a little better if they had been ripe.
My batter didn't come out as thick as some other people say theirs did. Maybe I didn't measure the milk or sour cream very accurately. Measuring sour cream never seems to work all that well for me. I should use my Pampered Chef plunger measuring cups but I already had another measuring cup out and most of my measuring implements were in the dish washer from my cookie baking marathon the day before.
I can't say I could really taste the sour cream or lemon in them but that's OK. I added chocolate chips to some of them because I had some chocolate out and chocolate goes well with banana. Chocolate goes well with pretty much everything.
No pictures. I was lazy/hungry. Whichever you want to call it.
My bananas were slightly underripe. Didn't get a chance to buy them early enough. Or rather I didn't realize what I was making until Friday so I bought them on Saturday. They probably could have been a little better if they had been ripe.
My batter didn't come out as thick as some other people say theirs did. Maybe I didn't measure the milk or sour cream very accurately. Measuring sour cream never seems to work all that well for me. I should use my Pampered Chef plunger measuring cups but I already had another measuring cup out and most of my measuring implements were in the dish washer from my cookie baking marathon the day before.
I can't say I could really taste the sour cream or lemon in them but that's OK. I added chocolate chips to some of them because I had some chocolate out and chocolate goes well with banana. Chocolate goes well with pretty much everything.
No pictures. I was lazy/hungry. Whichever you want to call it.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Kahlua Chocolate Cake with Caramel Brown Butter Frosting
I totally Sandra Lee'd this one. This recipe starts with a cake mix. That's OK. It's still good. It's good to be back.
I still had a bit of the caramel syrup left from the Daring Bakers challenge a while back and that frosting was really good so I decided to make it again, or at least something like it. But I figure you should probably have something under the frosting. This time I opted for something a bit darker and less sweet to compliment the frosting. Also, it meant I could make the frosting sweeter (if that's possible) and use more of the caramel syrup. Oh and I used salted butter rather than adding salt.
1 box chocolate cake mix (the kind that says add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1-1/3 cup water)
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup kahlua
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
2 sticks butter
about 1/4 cup caramel syrup (left from the November Daring Bakers challenge), to taste
a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, to taste
Mix the eggs, milk, kahlua and oil together in a bowl.
Mix in the cake mix. Do not overmix.
Bake according to the package directions.
Allow to cool completely.
Melt butter in a pan over medium low heat.
Allow to cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Strain the butter to remove the large brown bits. The small ones can stay and will give the frosting a nice brown color.
Cool the butter so that it firms up.
Stir in the caramel syrup and sugar gradually. Add each to taste.
Frost the cooled cake.
I still had a bit of the caramel syrup left from the Daring Bakers challenge a while back and that frosting was really good so I decided to make it again, or at least something like it. But I figure you should probably have something under the frosting. This time I opted for something a bit darker and less sweet to compliment the frosting. Also, it meant I could make the frosting sweeter (if that's possible) and use more of the caramel syrup. Oh and I used salted butter rather than adding salt.
1 box chocolate cake mix (the kind that says add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1-1/3 cup water)
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup kahlua
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
2 sticks butter
about 1/4 cup caramel syrup (left from the November Daring Bakers challenge), to taste
a sprinkling of confectioners sugar, to taste
Mix the eggs, milk, kahlua and oil together in a bowl.
Mix in the cake mix. Do not overmix.
Bake according to the package directions.
Allow to cool completely.
Melt butter in a pan over medium low heat.
Allow to cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Strain the butter to remove the large brown bits. The small ones can stay and will give the frosting a nice brown color.
Cool the butter so that it firms up.
Stir in the caramel syrup and sugar gradually. Add each to taste.
Frost the cooled cake.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Sweet 100
Some time ago, someone out there came up with the Omnivore's 100, a list of 100 items that everyone who is into food should eat before they die or something like that. And people with blogs would copy the list and signify what they'de eaten and such. The original list came from someone I think in England or something, so the list definitely leaned toward English and Indian food. I'd been meaning to do it but I hadn't quite gotten around to it.
Then I saw this list from Cakespy. It's the same type of list except for all sweets. This is so much more me. So here's the list. Bold means I've eaten it. Small means I wouldn't eat it (there aren't any, haha). 49/100 isn't bad. You'll probably be seeing a number of these being made and posted in the near future.
1. Red Velvet Cake - who hasn't? though I have to admit I think every one I've had came from a box mix.
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie - I did live in central PA for several years....
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet - mmmm
6. Baklava - I've made it a few times and had it in restaurants a few times... not that difficult to makes
7. Black and white cookie - who hasn't? though I never really loved them, maybe it was the ones that I had that weren't so great. maybe I'll have to try them again some day
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies) - I have to admit the first time I'd had a freshly made one was just a couple months ago at the Apple Festival in
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon / mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku - never knew what they were called but they are the glutinous rice balls filled with red bean paste, or black sesame paste, or peanut or something else
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Crème brûlée
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen - I haven't yet but I have one on my counter that I will be cutting into shortly
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa
Then I saw this list from Cakespy. It's the same type of list except for all sweets. This is so much more me. So here's the list. Bold means I've eaten it. Small means I wouldn't eat it (there aren't any, haha). 49/100 isn't bad. You'll probably be seeing a number of these being made and posted in the near future.
1. Red Velvet Cake - who hasn't? though I have to admit I think every one I've had came from a box mix.
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie - I did live in central PA for several years....
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet - mmmm
6. Baklava - I've made it a few times and had it in restaurants a few times... not that difficult to makes
7. Black and white cookie - who hasn't? though I never really loved them, maybe it was the ones that I had that weren't so great. maybe I'll have to try them again some day
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies) - I have to admit the first time I'd had a freshly made one was just a couple months ago at the Apple Festival in
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon / mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku - never knew what they were called but they are the glutinous rice balls filled with red bean paste, or black sesame paste, or peanut or something else
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Crème brûlée
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen - I haven't yet but I have one on my counter that I will be cutting into shortly
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Candied Orange Zest
This is a post I wrote before I left and scheduled so something would be going on here during the 2 weeks that I'm gone. I'll be visiting assorted people and may or may not have time to make anything/post anything up here.
I got a bag of oranges from work. There were 8 in the bag. I had been eyeing a couple recipes for Candied Citrus Peel so I decided to use it. This was supposed to be a no cooking, use up what's in my fridge and leave for a few weeks. Well this won't go bad in the fridge while I'm gone so I am almost doing it.
I am leaving it in the pot of syrup in the fridge until I get back. When I get back I'll do the roll in sugar and maybe dip in chocolate, that's still TBD.
You'll be left with a lot of orange simple sugar, which is good in tea or you could make another batch. I suppose you could probably half the sugar/water mix and that's probably enough. I thought about doing that but then I wasn't sure there would be enough. That's OK. Simple syrup never goes to waste.
These are the organges that were left. You can see I started snacking then.
Here they are in the syrup after boiling in it for a while.
Here they are finished and rolled in sugar.
Candied Orange Peel
8 oranges
6 cups sugar
2 cups water
Cut the ends off of each of the oranges. Score the oranges once around with your knife to facilitate peeling. Use your fingers to peel off the peel.
Put all the peels in a large pot. Add water to cover. Boil about 20 mins.
Fish out the peels. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, use a spoon and scrape off the pith. You want to make sure you get all the pith but be careful and try not to tear the peel. If you have trouble getting the pith off throw it back in the water and come back to it later.
Slice the peel into thin strips, however big you want them.
Put the 6 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the peel to the syrup and simmer for about 45 minutes. The zest should be translucent.
Allow to cool in the syrup overnight.
Fish out of the syrup and put on a fine mesh strainer over the pot, allow any excess syrup to drain and toss is sugar.
Dip in dark chocolate, if desired.
I got a bag of oranges from work. There were 8 in the bag. I had been eyeing a couple recipes for Candied Citrus Peel so I decided to use it. This was supposed to be a no cooking, use up what's in my fridge and leave for a few weeks. Well this won't go bad in the fridge while I'm gone so I am almost doing it.
I am leaving it in the pot of syrup in the fridge until I get back. When I get back I'll do the roll in sugar and maybe dip in chocolate, that's still TBD.
You'll be left with a lot of orange simple sugar, which is good in tea or you could make another batch. I suppose you could probably half the sugar/water mix and that's probably enough. I thought about doing that but then I wasn't sure there would be enough. That's OK. Simple syrup never goes to waste.
These are the organges that were left. You can see I started snacking then.
Here they are in the syrup after boiling in it for a while.
Here they are finished and rolled in sugar.
Candied Orange Peel
8 oranges
6 cups sugar
2 cups water
Cut the ends off of each of the oranges. Score the oranges once around with your knife to facilitate peeling. Use your fingers to peel off the peel.
Put all the peels in a large pot. Add water to cover. Boil about 20 mins.
Fish out the peels. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, use a spoon and scrape off the pith. You want to make sure you get all the pith but be careful and try not to tear the peel. If you have trouble getting the pith off throw it back in the water and come back to it later.
Slice the peel into thin strips, however big you want them.
Put the 6 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the peel to the syrup and simmer for about 45 minutes. The zest should be translucent.
Allow to cool in the syrup overnight.
Fish out of the syrup and put on a fine mesh strainer over the pot, allow any excess syrup to drain and toss is sugar.
Dip in dark chocolate, if desired.
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