This month's second recipe was chosen by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen. She chose white pizza with arugula. mmmm I liked this recipe and it's pretty damn easy too.
I suck at reading recipes. I saw the garlic, thyme and red pepper flake in the ingredient list but didn't see where they were being used so I kneaded them into the dough. I thought it was a little weird but that's OK. Then I see the instructions for the garlic oil. Oops. Oh well.
Oh and I used my fancy unbleached bread flour. I can definitely taste the difference in the crust. It's good. You should try it. Unless you already use it and I am just slow to the party. Which is a definite possibility.
These came out pretty good. What I did was I put the entire ball of dough in the fridge and then I pull off a chunk for a personal pizza when I want one. Then I cooked it on a skillet, kinda the way you grill a pizza except in a pan. I still have some dough left but I am figuring it'll make about 6 9" pizzas.
Hopefully I'll get around to posting these pics too.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Dobos Torte
I really had the intention of trying to make it pretty at some point. Or least to make it decent looking. But that didn't work out so well.
My buttercream definitely came out more like a ganache. I probably should have chilled it a bit before trying to put it on the cake. That would have helped thicken it up so there wouldn't be a pool of it running off the cake in every possible direction. Oh well.
I poured the extra caramel onto the pan and let it cool with the cake layer. When it was still somewhat warm and sticky I pulled off some of the extra stuff and pulled it around and tried to make some random stringy shaped caramel things. So those went on instead of hazelnuts.
I made it but I don't think I will be making it again. You don't get a good cakey texture because they are so thin and there is so much frosting. I guess it's interesting looking although that's never really been my thing. Oh well. Maybe I'll like next month's pick better.
I have been meaning to upload my pics but so far that hasn't happened yet.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
My buttercream definitely came out more like a ganache. I probably should have chilled it a bit before trying to put it on the cake. That would have helped thicken it up so there wouldn't be a pool of it running off the cake in every possible direction. Oh well.
I poured the extra caramel onto the pan and let it cool with the cake layer. When it was still somewhat warm and sticky I pulled off some of the extra stuff and pulled it around and tried to make some random stringy shaped caramel things. So those went on instead of hazelnuts.
I made it but I don't think I will be making it again. You don't get a good cakey texture because they are so thin and there is so much frosting. I guess it's interesting looking although that's never really been my thing. Oh well. Maybe I'll like next month's pick better.
I have been meaning to upload my pics but so far that hasn't happened yet.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Century Eggs and Tofu
This is one of those things I had a bunch when I was growing up. It was one of those easy throw on the table, no heat, good for hot days dishes. It's usually served as one of a number of dishes family style with rice.
The picture is... maybe not the most appetizing. And this might be a bit of an acquired taste. Century eggs are a bit pungent and rich and musky. I don't know how else to describe it. It's one of those you just have to try to understand things. I bought a box of 6 for $4 and they are a pantry item. As far as I know of, they don't go bad like ever. It doesn't cost much to try it and it's definitely authentic. You won't find this at any sort of takeout place. At least not around here.
The sauce is definitely an eyeball thing. Just don't go too heavy with the fish sauce or sesame oil. Probably could use more soy sauce but I'm not big on a lot of salt. Could also throw in anything you want, teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce come to mind.
Century Eggs and Tofu
2 century eggs (preserved duck eggs)
1 block silken tofu
a small bunch finely chopped chives
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
a couple drops fish sauce
Drain and chop up the silken tofu into chunks.
Peel the century eggs and cut into small pieces, about 1/4-1/8" cubes, and sprinkle on top of the tofu.
Sprinkle with chives
Drizzle all the sauces over.
Serve chilled.
The picture is... maybe not the most appetizing. And this might be a bit of an acquired taste. Century eggs are a bit pungent and rich and musky. I don't know how else to describe it. It's one of those you just have to try to understand things. I bought a box of 6 for $4 and they are a pantry item. As far as I know of, they don't go bad like ever. It doesn't cost much to try it and it's definitely authentic. You won't find this at any sort of takeout place. At least not around here.
The sauce is definitely an eyeball thing. Just don't go too heavy with the fish sauce or sesame oil. Probably could use more soy sauce but I'm not big on a lot of salt. Could also throw in anything you want, teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce come to mind.
Century Eggs and Tofu
2 century eggs (preserved duck eggs)
1 block silken tofu
a small bunch finely chopped chives
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
a couple drops fish sauce
Drain and chop up the silken tofu into chunks.
Peel the century eggs and cut into small pieces, about 1/4-1/8" cubes, and sprinkle on top of the tofu.
Sprinkle with chives
Drizzle all the sauces over.
Serve chilled.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Barefoot Bloggers: Mango Banana Daquiri's
... but not really. So I had a dilemma. The recipe is for a daquiri but I don't drink. It's not that I am opposed to drinking or whatever, but I just don't.
I decided to make a Mango Banana Smoothie instead. Pretty much replace the liquor with yogurt. And I halved it so I could make it in my magic bullet. Because I am cheap and don't own a real food processor or blender. One of these days I will get one, I swear.
I used an orange simple syrup. I could try to claim things about subtle the subtle citrus flavor it gave it but really I used it because I have a quart of it in the fridge and need to find uses for it. And I wasn't going to make another batch of simple syrup when I have that one sitting there waiting to be used.
Anyway, my smoothie was good for breakfast. Check out other Barefoot Bloggers to get a real Daquiri.
I decided to make a Mango Banana Smoothie instead. Pretty much replace the liquor with yogurt. And I halved it so I could make it in my magic bullet. Because I am cheap and don't own a real food processor or blender. One of these days I will get one, I swear.
I used an orange simple syrup. I could try to claim things about subtle the subtle citrus flavor it gave it but really I used it because I have a quart of it in the fridge and need to find uses for it. And I wasn't going to make another batch of simple syrup when I have that one sitting there waiting to be used.
Anyway, my smoothie was good for breakfast. Check out other Barefoot Bloggers to get a real Daquiri.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Bagels
J sent me this article about what foods were worth making at home and what should be bought. One of the items that the said you should make is bagels.
I did something that was a combination of Smitten Kitchen's bagels and Alton Brown's pretzels.
69 g bagels are about the same size as Lenders bagels. I think it's a better size than the big New York style bagels. I know, I'm not a very good New Yorker. But the smaller bagels are a much better portion size. If you are one of those healthy types then having one bagel is a nice healthy size portion. If you are not, it means it's small enough you can have a couple with different flavors. Your choice how you want to look at it.
I did something that was a combination of Smitten Kitchen's bagels and Alton Brown's pretzels.
69 g bagels are about the same size as Lenders bagels. I think it's a better size than the big New York style bagels. I know, I'm not a very good New Yorker. But the smaller bagels are a much better portion size. If you are one of those healthy types then having one bagel is a nice healthy size portion. If you are not, it means it's small enough you can have a couple with different flavors. Your choice how you want to look at it.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This recipe is all over the place. You can thank Pioneer Woman, Ree, for creating Tasty Kitchen. I know, you are thinking everyone else blogged about it so I'm gonna skip this one. And maybe you should. I tend to ramble someone incoherently and my pictures aren't anywhere near as pretty as PW's. Your choice. I was intending to give you a reason to read my post but then I couldn't really think of one. Oh well.
Anyway. This recipe is practically health food in my book. Lots of zucchini, only 3 tbsp oil, a couple eggs and a few other things. All that sugar? Psssh don't worry about it. Just look at that huge pile of zucchini.
I upped the zucchini a bit because I bought 5 of them and this was the only recipe I had picked out for them so far. I only used 2. Better get thinking on the other 3 before they go bad. Or I'll make this again. Either way.
I sliced mine with the julienne blade on my mandoline. Me and the hand guard don't get along, especially with long, relatively skinny stuff so I ditch the hand guard and wear a cut glove to do it. Safety first kiddies! Also, those blades are SHARP. And the little ones for the julienne, they are slightly hooked for extra grab. Dig one into your palm once and you won't do it again. Trust me on this one. I know.
Here's the wets. 2 eggs, 3 tbsp oil, a splash of vanilla and a couple slices of zucchini that I didn't bother getting out of the bowl when I dumped them out because I realized I needed a bowl for my wet ingredients. Yup. You can tell, I should be a professional chef. Look how healthy it is. You can't even see the oil!
It's pretty much a standard cake recipe, combine the dry's, combine the wets, mix together, bake. For some reason the sugar is in the dry's for this recipe. Not sure why or if it matters but I actually followed it this time.
My approach when baking most things is line the pan. There's nothing worse than making a tray of brownies and then not being able to get them out of the pan or mutilating them so you lose all the nice crusty bits to the pan.
Don't even get me started on the crusty bits. I have a friend, we'll call her D, who would cut the edges off of her brownies and throw them away, thinking who would want those. I was always suspicious as to why I could never get an edge piece but I figured someone beat me to them or something. When D told me she cut them off I was aghast. Absolute horror. Who could do such a terrible thing?
Wait, this is supposed to be about zucchini cake. Right, back to the cake. Focus on the cake. Because it is a good cake. A very good cake. But it sticks. It sticks bad. I guess because it's so healthy and low in fat there isn't much to help keep it from sticking. I don't know how anyone got it out of the pan if they didn't line the pan. I baked mine in a 9x13 pyrex pan lined with foil and greased. By greased I used a very liberal spraying of cooking spray. Up the sides too. And this is what the cake looked like coming out.
Look at all the deliciousness stuck to the foil! It was somewhat upsetting. It may have gone better if I had let it cool all the way before lifting out of the pan but there is no way around all that sticking. Line and liberally grease the pan and get over it. And everything that is stuck to the foil is a chef's snack.
Just look at that tastiness.
ok I'm done rambling. Here's the recipe with my changes.
Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Based on this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, that was made by Linda of Linda's Country Kitchen
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1-1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 teasupoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste
1 teaspoon fresh grated Ginger
3 tablespoons Canola Oil
2 whole Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini
1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
3 tbsp butter
1 to 1.5 cups powdered sugar, to taste
3 tbsp pineapple juice reserved from the canned pineapple, adjust for consistency
1 cup chopped walnuts
Shred the zucchini on a box grater or mandoline. You should let it sit for about an hour and squeeze out the excess moisture but I didn't and it didn't seem to hurt anything. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir the the coconut. Combine the eggs, oil and vanilla and whisk. Toss the zucchini in the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and the crushed pineapple. Stir to combine. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
Combine all the ingredients for the frosting and stir together until smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness and add more pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over the cake. Lightly toast the walnuts and sprinkle over the frosting.
Anyway. This recipe is practically health food in my book. Lots of zucchini, only 3 tbsp oil, a couple eggs and a few other things. All that sugar? Psssh don't worry about it. Just look at that huge pile of zucchini.
I upped the zucchini a bit because I bought 5 of them and this was the only recipe I had picked out for them so far. I only used 2. Better get thinking on the other 3 before they go bad. Or I'll make this again. Either way.
I sliced mine with the julienne blade on my mandoline. Me and the hand guard don't get along, especially with long, relatively skinny stuff so I ditch the hand guard and wear a cut glove to do it. Safety first kiddies! Also, those blades are SHARP. And the little ones for the julienne, they are slightly hooked for extra grab. Dig one into your palm once and you won't do it again. Trust me on this one. I know.
Here's the wets. 2 eggs, 3 tbsp oil, a splash of vanilla and a couple slices of zucchini that I didn't bother getting out of the bowl when I dumped them out because I realized I needed a bowl for my wet ingredients. Yup. You can tell, I should be a professional chef. Look how healthy it is. You can't even see the oil!
It's pretty much a standard cake recipe, combine the dry's, combine the wets, mix together, bake. For some reason the sugar is in the dry's for this recipe. Not sure why or if it matters but I actually followed it this time.
My approach when baking most things is line the pan. There's nothing worse than making a tray of brownies and then not being able to get them out of the pan or mutilating them so you lose all the nice crusty bits to the pan.
Don't even get me started on the crusty bits. I have a friend, we'll call her D, who would cut the edges off of her brownies and throw them away, thinking who would want those. I was always suspicious as to why I could never get an edge piece but I figured someone beat me to them or something. When D told me she cut them off I was aghast. Absolute horror. Who could do such a terrible thing?
Wait, this is supposed to be about zucchini cake. Right, back to the cake. Focus on the cake. Because it is a good cake. A very good cake. But it sticks. It sticks bad. I guess because it's so healthy and low in fat there isn't much to help keep it from sticking. I don't know how anyone got it out of the pan if they didn't line the pan. I baked mine in a 9x13 pyrex pan lined with foil and greased. By greased I used a very liberal spraying of cooking spray. Up the sides too. And this is what the cake looked like coming out.
Look at all the deliciousness stuck to the foil! It was somewhat upsetting. It may have gone better if I had let it cool all the way before lifting out of the pan but there is no way around all that sticking. Line and liberally grease the pan and get over it. And everything that is stuck to the foil is a chef's snack.Just look at that tastiness.
ok I'm done rambling. Here's the recipe with my changes.
Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Based on this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, that was made by Linda of Linda's Country Kitchen
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1-1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 teasupoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste
1 teaspoon fresh grated Ginger
3 tablespoons Canola Oil
2 whole Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini
1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
3 tbsp butter
1 to 1.5 cups powdered sugar, to taste
3 tbsp pineapple juice reserved from the canned pineapple, adjust for consistency
1 cup chopped walnuts
Shred the zucchini on a box grater or mandoline. You should let it sit for about an hour and squeeze out the excess moisture but I didn't and it didn't seem to hurt anything. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir the the coconut. Combine the eggs, oil and vanilla and whisk. Toss the zucchini in the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and the crushed pineapple. Stir to combine. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
Combine all the ingredients for the frosting and stir together until smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness and add more pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over the cake. Lightly toast the walnuts and sprinkle over the frosting.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Cookies!
This months choice was cookies. But very specific cookies. Imitation really common store bought cookies. I started with the Mallows. These are a cookie base with a marshmallow on top and then coated in chocolate.
I live in the South. It is hot. And I am cheap. So I have issues turning on the oven while the A/C is cranking at full blast trying to cool the place down. I held off doing it until the last minute. But I did it for these cookies. And about a half a dozen other things I had prepped a while back and didn't get around to baking because I didn't want to turn the oven on.
I rolled the dough into a log and cut 1/8th inch slices rather than rolling it flat and cutting them out. I don't have a cookie cutter for that so I figured that would work better. I know, who doesn't own a cookie cutter, but that's me. Get over it.
The cookies were a little more puffy and soft than I thought they should be. In my mind they should be crisp shortbready cookies but oh well. Also possible I didn't measure properly.
Chocolate coating didn't go so well for me. After I tried to dip 2 or 3 and just made an absolute mess I decided to go another route. I dipped the bottom and then drizzled the top with chocolate. See?
That's OK. They still tasted good. They went with me to work. I don't need to eat all of these, a cake and a number of other things that I baked all at once.
I ran out of eggs so I didn't get to the Milan cookies though hopefully I will make them one day later.
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.
I live in the South. It is hot. And I am cheap. So I have issues turning on the oven while the A/C is cranking at full blast trying to cool the place down. I held off doing it until the last minute. But I did it for these cookies. And about a half a dozen other things I had prepped a while back and didn't get around to baking because I didn't want to turn the oven on.
I rolled the dough into a log and cut 1/8th inch slices rather than rolling it flat and cutting them out. I don't have a cookie cutter for that so I figured that would work better. I know, who doesn't own a cookie cutter, but that's me. Get over it.
The cookies were a little more puffy and soft than I thought they should be. In my mind they should be crisp shortbready cookies but oh well. Also possible I didn't measure properly.
Chocolate coating didn't go so well for me. After I tried to dip 2 or 3 and just made an absolute mess I decided to go another route. I dipped the bottom and then drizzled the top with chocolate. See?
That's OK. They still tasted good. They went with me to work. I don't need to eat all of these, a cake and a number of other things that I baked all at once.
I ran out of eggs so I didn't get to the Milan cookies though hopefully I will make them one day later.
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.
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