Cake Decorating Class: S'mores Cupcakes

We had our first lab for our cake decorating class. The first half of the semester will be more focused on baking and construction, and the second half more on decoration.

We started off with something fairly easy. We started a cheesecake, which we will finish in the next class session. We also did S'mores cupcakes, that while fairly simple, looked and tasted great.

These cupcakes are a rich chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, graham cracker crumbs, Swiss meringue, and a little square of milk chocolate with smoked salt. We baked it in a square shape.

We torched the meringue to give it the toasted marshmallow flavor. The smoked salt was to give it a little taste of the campfire.

I really liked the look and taste of this cupcake. It manages to be both homey and elegant.

We did not explicitly cover the recipe for the ganache, but I expect it is probably the one here. For the chocolate, we tempered milk chocolate, and spread it thin on a sheet of acetate. It was sprinkled with smoked salt, and allowed to harden. It was then cut into squares.

S'mores Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

dry ingredients:

5 oz. by wt. all purpose flour

7 oz. by wt. sugar

1 1/2 oz. by wt. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

wet ingredients:

1 egg

2 oz. by vol. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz. by vol. brewed coffee

4 oz. by vol. buttermilk

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. 

Sift together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix until well combined.

Scoop into lined cupcake pan. Bake 18 - 22 minutes. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Swiss Meringue

4 egg whites

8 oz. by wt. sugar

3/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/8 tsp. salt

Heat all ingredients in a double boiler over simmering water while whisking continuously. Heat to 165 F. Transfer to a stand mixer and whip on high until cooled to room temperature.

Happy Eating!

Slow Baked Pork Chili and Kirschwasser Strawberry Shortcake

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. The day before yesterday, I had pulled out a pork roast to defrost for dinner, and I had the strawberries from my CSA that I planned to make into strawberry shortcake. I did not have a plan for the roast. Then, I saw a post from a foodie friend on Facebook announcing that it was National Strawberry Day, and National Chili Day. I thought, OK, I have half of that covered. And, as the day was cold and rainy (by San Diego standards), it was a perfect day for chili.

I have fallen in love with doing my chili by slow baking it in an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I think it gets the best texture that way, and there is no danger of scorching the bottom. It also gets the flavors to meld  to perfection.

I had a two pound pork sirloin roast, It was very lean. I cut it into 3/4" cubes. I dredged it in flour seasoned with berbere (an Ethiopian spice mix) cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. I seared the pork pieces in small batches in a little vegetable oil in the bottom of my dutch oven.

After pulling out all the seared pork pieces,  I added diced onion and green and red bell peppers to the oil, and sweated them.  To that I added diced fresh tomatoes, a can of crushed tomatoes, and a little pinot noir. I brought that to a simmer, and let it cook for about 45 minutes, to reduce the liquid some.

I seasoned the chili with oregano, rosemary, dried cilantro, thyme, cumin, bay leaf, chili powder, pepper, and salt. I returned the pork to the pot, then put on the lid. I placed it into a 280 F oven, where it cooked slowly for three hours.

After three hours, the pork was tender, and just starting to fall apart. The flavors had melded beautifully.

Strawberry shortcake has always been a major comfort food for me. And, I mean real strawberry shortcake, not stale store bought sponge cake rounds. Proper shortcakes are scones or biscuits, maybe lightly sweetened.

It was a summer favorite my grandmother made. Sliced strawberries are macerated in a little sugar, to get them to release their own juices. The biscuits are soaked with lightly sweetened cream or half and half. It's a simple dessert, but one I adore.

In this case, I tried to elevate the dessert by adding a little kirschwasser to the strawberries and sugar as they macerated. I also added a little of the kirschwasser to the heavy cream, with a little sugar. I used a whisk to whip it until moderately thick, but stopped well before it reached even soft peaks.

For the biscuits, I used my basic scone recipe. The spouse had made them to take to work, and had more than she needed. She rolled them and cut them out, to the stage where they were ready to go into the oven. She then froze about half the batch. I pulled the frozen scones out, and placed them on an ungreased baking sheet. I baked them for 20 minutes in a 375 F oven, and they turned out just as nice as if they hadn't been frozen. This is actually good news for the business.

I thought the kirschwasser added a nice touch. We both enjoyed the dessert very much.

Slow Baked Pork Chili

Coating Flour:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. berbere powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

Chili:

2 lbs. pork sirloin roast, cut into 3/4" cubes

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

7 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 28 oz. can peeled crushed tomatoes

1 cup pinot noir

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried cilantro

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients for coating flour.

Heat oil in a large enameled cast iron dutch oven over medium to medium high heat. Toss pork pieces in coating flour, shaking off excess. Sear pork pieces in the oil until brown on all sides. Remove from dutch oven, set aside.

Add onion and bell peppers to oil, cook until softened. Add fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and wine. bring to a simmer, let cook for about 45 minutes, until somewhat reduced. Add herbs and spices, and return pork to the pot. Cover, place in a 280 F oven. Bake for three hours, until pork is tender.

Happy Eating!

Bread Class: Quick Breads

Monday was our first lab for the bread class. We started out simple, doing some tea bread, and a couple of kinds of muffins.

The first thing we made was an almond lemon tea bread. It has plenty of almond paste and butter, and is flavored with lemon zest and poppy seeds.

While the bread is still warm, a glaze of lemon juice, orange juice, and sugar is allowed to soak into the bread.

This is a great bread, with a texture like a pound cake. The zest and the glaze give it a very strong citrus flavor. I might go a little heavier on the poppy seeds myself. but I really like poppy seeds.

We made two kinds of muffins. The first kind we made were cranberry orange muffins with streusel topping. These are a classic fall muffin.

The orange juice and fresh cranberries give a nice tartness to these muffins. The streusel topping adds a nice bit of crunch, and some sweetness to counter balance the tartness.

These are a simple, straight forward muffin. They have a pleasant soft texture. These are great for breakfast.

The second type of muffin we made was a pumpkin muffin with a cream cheese filling. I love pumpkin muffins, and the cream cheese filling adds a nice twist to another fall classic.

The muffin has a fair bit of spices; in addition to some pumpkin pie spice, it has cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and a hint of cardamom.

The filling is cream cheese sweetened with a little powdered sugar. It is piped into the center of the muffin. The muffin is then topped with a little bit of pecans tossed with cinnamon sugar.

It was really fun to get back into the pastry lab again. I really do thoroughly enjoy my pastry classes.

Recipes

Almond Lemon Tea Bread

for the bread:

4 oz. by wt. pastry flour

½ tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/8 tsp. salt
5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
7 oz. by wt. almond paste
7 oz. by wt. sugar
8 oz. by wt. butter
zest of 1 lemon

for the glaze:

3 Tbsp. orange juice
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
5 oz. by wt. sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. stir in poppy seeds. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine almond paste, sugar, butter, and zest. Cream together until light and fluffy.

 

Add eggs, one at a time, letting each one become incorporated until adding the next.

 

Add extract, allow to become incorporated.

 

Add dry ingredients in two stages, allowing to incorporate after each addition.

 

Transfer to loaf pan, and smooth out top.

 

Bake for 60 minutes, or until bread is set.

 

Remove from oven. Let cool ten minutes in pan.

 

While bread is cooking, prepare glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, dissolve sugar into juices.

 

When bread has pulled away from sides of pan, loosen edges with a small spatula, and invert bread onto a cooling rack over parchment paper.

 

While bread and glaze are still warm, brush bread lightly with glaze. Let bread absorb the glaze, then repeat until bread has a shiny appearance.

Cranberry Orange Struesel Muffins

for the muffins:

10 oz. all purpose flour
5 ¼ oz. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 ½ oz. fresh cranberries, rough chopped
6 oz. orange juice
2 oz. oil
1 egg
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest

Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

for the streusel:

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 ½ oz. sugar
pinch salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
2 oz. butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

To make streusel, sift together dry ingredients. Cut butter into dry until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

To make muffins, in one bowl sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Stir in cranberries.

In another bowl, whisk together juice, oil, egg, and zest.

Fold liquid into dry ingredients.  Do not over mix.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Sprinkle streusel on top of muffins.

Bake 15 - 20 minutes, until tops are golden and muffins set.

Makes 10 - 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

for muffins:
7 ¼ oz. all purpose flour
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spices
pinch cardamom
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
7 oz. sugar
8 oz. pumpkin puree
5 oz. oil
1 tsp. vanilla paste

for the cream cheese filling:
5 oz. cream cheese
1 ½ oz. powdered sugar

for the topping:
2/3 cup rough chopped pecans
2 tsp. cinnamon sugar

Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Place in a piping bag with a small round tip.

Toss pecans with cinnamon sugar. Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

In one bowl, sift together flour, spices, salt, and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla paste.

Fold wet ingredients into dry. Do not over mix.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Pipe about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin. Top each muffin with pecans.

Bake 12 - 15 minutes.

Happy eating!

Black Hat Tea 2013: The Savory Course

It's fall again, time once more for the spouse to hold her Black Hat Society Tea. Last year, the signature fall flavor was apple. This year, we decided that pear should be the featured flavor would be pear. I think we had about twice as many people attending. I want to thank the two friends that helped me in the kitchen, one acting as my sous chef, and the other washing dishes and keeping tea pots flowing. Also, a huge thank you to Rebecca Freeburn of Freeburn inc. who came out and took great photos of the food.

For the savory course, we served three items. We had a number of people attending that were gluten free, so only served one tea sandwich, and added a soup and a salad.

We opened with a soup. This was a shooter of a cold spicy pecan soup, with a garnish of a little chipotle pepper. This soup is pecans simmered in vegetable stock, and flavored with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, onion, and cilantro. It is then thickened with heavy cream. I rinsed the adobo sauce off some of the peppers, and then cut them into fine ribbons as a garnish.

I was very happy with this soup. I got just enough spice to notice, without it being overwhelming. It was very rich, and the cream gave it a luscious mouth feel.

I also made a vegan version, where I used almond milk instead of the cream. It was also very good. It was a bit sweeter, and did not have quite as silky a texture.

The next item was a tea sandwich of walnut onion bread with slices of pear and Gorgonzola cheese.

The bread is a yeast bread with onions and pieces of walnuts.  I alternated slices of red and Bartlett pears, leaving the skin on for the color. I added the Gorgonzola crumbles.

The flavor combinations were good. I think next time I will cut the bread a trifle thicker, and toast it. I might also work the Gorgonzola into some cream cheese and make a spread.

The last item was a three  bean salad with a vinaigrette of date vinegar and olive oil, flavored with basil mustard and herbs.

I used black, kidney, and garbanzo beans. There is some minced red onion mixed in.

The  dressing is a  vinaigrette using date vinegar and olive oil. I added some Trader Joe's Basil Mustard. I also added dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

The salad was served in half of a miniature sweet pepper. I added a chiffonade of fresh basil as a garnish.

Recipes

Spicy Cold Pecan Soup

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups pecan pieces
3 Tbsp. canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, minced
1 Tbsp. dried cilantro
2 cups heavy cream
salt to taste

In a stock pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add stock, juice, pecans, chilies, and cilantro. Simmer for two hours. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Place pan in an ice bath to cool. Refrigerate soup until time for service. Stir in cream. Adjust salt as needed.

This soup can be made vegan by replacing the cream with the same amount of almond milk.

Onion Walnut Bread

1/2 cup  walnut oil
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups warm water (105°F. to 115°F.)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 envelopes dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups (about) bread flour
3 oz. by wt. walnut pieces

In a skillet over medium to medium high heat, add walnut oil. Add onion, and saute until tender. Set aside to cool.

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy.

Sift flour. Place yeast mixture in the bowl of a food processor with onions, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Pulse to combine. Add flour 1 cup at a time, processing after each addition. Do this until dough forms a smooth ball. (My food processor was straining before I got that far. I kneaded the last cup or so in by hand.)

Transfer the dough to a well floured surface. Need until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking.

Oil a bowl with walnut oil. Place dough in bowl, rotate to coat surface with oil. Cover, let rise until doubled in size.

Punch down dough, let rest for five minutes.

Transfer to a well floured surface. Roll out to about 1 inch thick. Spread walnuts evenly over surface. Knead dough to incorporate walnuts.

Coat the insides of two loaf pans with oil. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an  oblong, place each oblong in a loaf pan. Cover, let rise until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Bake about twenty five minutes, until golden brown and it sound hollow when thumped. (I think next time, I will try it at 375 F, and bake it longer. I'd like to see if I can get the bottom a bit crisper.)

Remove from oven, place on wire racks to cool.

Three Bean Salad

1 large can each kidney, black, and garbanzo beans
1/2 large red onion, diced
4 oz. by vol. date vinegar
12 oz. by vol. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. Basil Mustard
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Drain beans, and rinse thoroughly. Place in a bowl, stir in onion. In another bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, and herbs.  While whisking vigorously, slowly add oil, until dressing thickens. If necessary, a little water can be added to thin it out.

Pour dressing over beans. Mix. Refrigerate until service.

Happy eating!

Intermediate Culinary Class: Cheese

This class is focused on taste and presentation, and this week we were exploring cheese. We a couple of cheese dishes, and while they were baking, tasted a number of cheeses.

The first thing we put together was a baked brie. Instead of the usual jam, we had made it with toasted walnuts and cinnamon sugar. The whole thing is wrapped in puff pastry, and baked until golden brown.

I liked this version. We used a better quality brie that had no rind. The brown sugar melted and coated the walnuts. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The bottom crust of the puff pastry, infused with cheese, sugar, and walnuts was particularly tasty.


The other thing we made was a bacon, onion, and cheddar soufflé. We sautéed bacon in butter, then added onion and garlic. We added flour to make a roux, then cream to make a béchamel sauce. Egg yolks and cheddar cheese are folded into the béchamel. That sauce is then folded into stiffly beaten egg whites. That is poured into ramekins that have been coated on the inside with butter and Parmesan cheese. The soufflés are baked for 35 minutes without peeking.

They came out appropriately fluffy. They tasted strongly of bacon, onion, and cheese. They were a bit heavy. Personally, I'd probably not use the butter, and cut the amount of bacon in half.

While the brie and soufflés were baking, we tasted a number of cheeses. Being a long time cheese fan, I was familiar with all but one of the cheeses we tried. That was Boursin, a fresh cheese, mild and smooth textured.

We also were to bring in plates for appetizers. We didn't actually use them, but Chef looked them over. He really likes the more modern plain white plates in funky shapes. He is not a fan of color. Other than our every day Ikea plates,  I pretty much own no white service, at all. I have a lot of hand made pottery, and a lot of bold colors, especially blue and green.

Recipes

All recipes courtesy of Chef Joe Orate.

Cheddar and Bacon Souffle

1/2 cup diced bacon
2 oz. by wt. + enough to line ramekins butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
4 oz. by wt. shredded cheddar cheese
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Grease inside of eight ramekins with butter. Liberally coat butter with Parmesan cheese. Tap to remove excess.

In a saucepan over medium to medium high heat, melt 2 oz. butter. Add bacon, cook until fat is rendered. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is soft. Add flour. Cook, stirring constantly for about two minutes. Add cream. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip to stiff peaks.

Fold egg yolks into cream sauce, then mix in cheese.

Gently fold in egg whites 1/3 at a time into cream mixture. Ladle into ramekins.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet, and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Do not open oven door during that time.

Remove from oven, and serve immediately.

Brie en Croute with Walnuts

1 8 oz. wheel of brie
1/2 sheet frozen puff pastry
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Mix cinnamon into brown sugar, set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add walnuts, toss until lightly toasted.

Lay out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Place a circle of 1/2 the brown sugar mix in the center of the puff pastry. layer 1/2 the walnuts on top of the sugar. Place the cheese on top of the nuts. Place the rest of the sugar and nuts on top of the cheese.

Fold pastry around cheese, using egg wash to seal all overlaps. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush entire surface with remaining egg wash.

Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm, with crackers or thin slices of baguette..

Happy Eating!

A 16th Century Italian Dinner

I had the opportunity to cook for some friends. I looked through some of the recipes from a renaissance Italian cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi for inspiration. His Opera dell'arte del cucinare was the Joy of Cooking of the time, with over a thousand recipes, plus general cooking advice. Looking through it, one can see the start of the transition from medieval to modern cuisine.

I was surprised to find some very modern style cookery. Barbecued rack of beef ribs, with dry rub and a vinegar based sauce (no tomatoes, though) appears in Scappi. Like medieval cookbooks, he doesn't trust vegetables, and boils them to mush. He has very modern pastas, but they are served dusted with sugar and cinnamon, rather than with a cream or tomato sauce.

For the entrée, I was inspired to find a pork fat wrapped beef tenderloin in his cookbook. I found asparagus with sour orange sauce that looked interesting, and I wanted to try my hand at making pasta, and found a recipe with chard, spinach, and cheese that sounded good.

The fillet Mignon was first brushed with a mix of white wine, white wine vinegar, and rosewater. It was then seasoned with a rub of kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and coriander. I wrapped them in thick cut bacon. They were pan seared, then finished to medium rare in a hot oven. I removed the fillets from the pan to rest, and reduced the pan juices with a little white wine and white wine vinegar. That made a very nice dipping sauce for the fillet.

For the asparagus, I lightly steamed them in a pan with some homemade vegetable stock. Sour oranges have only a limited growing season in the winter, so I used regular oranges with lime juice, salt, and a little cane sugar. Scappi recommends cooking wild asparagus with raisins. Instead, I added some currants (small, intensely flavored, raisins) to the sauce. I reduced the juice to about one quarter the original volume. This produced an intensely acidic sauce, which the currants helped mellow. I think it was the best thing on the plate.

The pasta were tortetelli; tortellini on steroids. The pasta dough was based on this recipe by Tyler Flores. I've had a pasta roller for years, this was the first time I've actually played with it. For the filling, I sautéed spinach and Swiss chard in olive oil with fresh parsley, oregano, and thyme. I allowed that to cool, then drained the liquid off. The greens were then mixed with ricotta and a healthy amount of Parmesan. To make tortetelli, roll the dough very thin, and cut about a five inch diameter circle. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the center. Brush the edge with beaten egg, and fold in half, pressing to seal. Bring the two corners of the half circle together and overlap, using the egg wash to stick them together. Fold the excess rim of the half circle down, forming a ring. Dust with flour, and allow to dry a little. To serve, I simmered them in vegetable stock, then fished them out, dusted with a little cinnamon sugar, and topped them with grated Parmesan.


For dessert, I made a strawberry custard tart. I sautéed strawberries in butter until they were tender. I forced the strawberries through a strainer, to remove the seeds and fibrous material. The resulting puree was placed in a food processor with ricotta, biscotti crumbs, sugar, eggs, and Parmesan, and processed until smooth. The pastry is a dough of flour, butter, sugar, and rosewater, which Scappi calls 'royal dough'. I needed a garnish for the plate, so made a basil syrup. It worked really well with the strawberry, and brought out the rose in the pastry.

Overall, I think this was one of my best meals yet. The fillet was really good quality, and I think I enhanced it well with the spices, bacon, and sauce. I thought the sauce for the asparagus came out great. I think I under cooked the pasta a trifle, but I really liked the flavor of the filling. The tart filling had a wonderfully smooth and rich mouth feel, and the pastry was light and flaky. Then basil syrup added a nice note, though I had hoped to get a more intense green color. Will have to work on that.

Recipes

Bacon Wrapped Fillet Mignon

for the brushing liquid:

2 Tbsp. white wine
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. rosewater

for the rub:

2 Tbsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

for the sauce:

1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar

6 fillet Mignon's
6 strips thick cut bacon

Mix together brushing liquid ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together rub spices.

Brush lightly all surfaces of the fillets with the brushing liquid. Lightly coat all surfaces of the fillet with the rub. Wrap a bacon strip around of each fillet, overlapping, and securing to fillet with a toothpick of skewer. Refrigerate, covered, for three to six hours.

Pre-heat oven to 425 F. In a large heavy skillet over medium high heat, sear top and bottom of fillets. Transfer to oven, cook to medium rare, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, transfer fillets to a cutting board to rest.

Place pan with juices over medium high heat. Add wine and vinegar. Boil vigorously until volume is reduced by half. Transfer sauce to small cups for dipping.

Steamed Asparagus with Sour Orange Currant Sauce

1 bunch asparagus
2 oranges
2 limes
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup currants
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable stock

Wash asparagus, remove woody ends of the stems (keep and freeze to use for future stock). Juice oranges and limes. Place juice in a small saucepan with sugar, salt, and currants. Cook over medium to medium high heat until volume is reduce by 3/4.

Heat a non-stick heavy skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add stock and asparagus, cooking until asparagus is al dente.

Plate sauce, place asparagus on top.

Chard, Spinach, and Cheese Tortetelli

for the filling:

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and rough chopped
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and rough chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh oregano
1/4 cup minced fresh
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

for the pasta:

2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
3 eggs, plus one for wash
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 quarts vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Place flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. While mixer is running, add three eggs, one at a time, allowing a little time between each addition. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, until dough forms a ball.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured board. Knead for ten minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

In a large pot, heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add spinach, chard, and herbs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Strain off excess liquid.

Place greens in a bowl. Add ricotta and Parmesan, mix thoroughly.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Beat an egg to use as a wash for the pasta. Using a pasta machine, roll out a thin dough, keeping it well dusted with flour to prevent sticking. Cut out five inch diameter circles. Place about one tablespoon of filling on each circle. Wet edges with egg, fold circles in half and press to seal. Bring corners of the half circles together, overlapping and using the egg to stick together. Fold down top of half circle to form a ring with a bulge on one side.

Dust tortetelli with flour, place on a baking sheet to dry.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar, set aside.

Bring vegetable stock to a simmer. Add tortetelli, cook until tender, about 4 to 8 minutes.

Remove pasta from stock. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Plate, top with Parmesan cheese.

Strawberry Custard Tart

for the crust:

9 oz. by wt. all purpose flour
6 oz. by wt. cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 oz. by wt. sugar
3 oz. by volume ice cold rosewater
1 tsp. kosher salt.

for the filling:

1 lb. fresh strawberries
2 oz. by wt. butter
2 oz. by wt. biscotti crumbs
5 oz. by wt. ricotta
1 1/2 oz. by wt. Parmesan
3 oz. by wt. cane sugar, plus 1/4 cup for dusting
5 egg yolks
1 egg white

Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs. Slowly add rosewater one tablespoon at a time, mixing by hand, until dough just sticks together.

Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill.

Wash, hull, and rough chop strawberries.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt two ounces of butter. Add strawberries, sautee until tender.

Remove from heat, cool. Force strawberries through a strainer to remove seeds and fibrous pulp.

Place strawberry puree in the bowl of a food processor with crumbs, ricotta, sugar, egg yolks, and Parmesan. Process until smooth.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Lightly grease six small ceramic ramekins. Roll out dough thin, line ramekins. Cut out circles just big enough to cover. Cut out vent holes in top crusts.

Fill ramekins with custard mix. lightly wet lip of crust with water. Place top crusts on, pinch crusts together to seal. Dust top of tarts with egg white, and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in oven. bake 20 minutes. Turn oven temperature up to 425 F.  Cook another 5 - 8 minutes, until top is brown and custard is set.

Remove to a rack to cool.

Basil Syrup

3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup whole fresh basil leaves

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until sugar is dissolve and basil leaves are soft, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a blender. Blend until basil is finely chopped. Strain, place in a squeeze bottle, and chill until time to plate.


Happy Eating!

 

 

Sour Apple Schnapps Cheesecake

Saturday we were invited to a gathering at the beach, and I wanted to take something to contribute. I had a five pound container of ricotta left over from the Renaissance Italian lunch, so thought cheesecake would be a good use. I decided to adapt the Greek style cheesecake I made for Gaslight Gathering.

I looked at what I had by way of flavorings, and decided I liked the idea of using sour apple schnapps. It's honestly not very good for drinking, but adds a nice flavor when cooked. I decided to make an almond crust, as I had plenty of them left over as well.

Because this style uses no egg yolks, and whips the whites into a meringue, it is a very light style, especially compared to the density of a New York style cheesecake. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

The sour apple flavor came through clearly. It is not overly sweet, rich enough to be satisfying without being heavy.

Sour Apple Schnapps Cheesecake

For the crust:
 4 oz. by wt. almonds
1/6 cup sugar
 8 oz. by wt. all purpose flour
 4 oz. by wt. butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

In a heavy skillet, toast almonds over medium heat. Transfer to a food processor. Pulse several times. Add flour, sugar, and salt, process until nuts are finely ground.

Transfer nut mixture to a mixing bowl. Add butter, egg, and vanilla. Work by hand until ingredients are well mixed. Form into a ball, wrap balls in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least ten minutes.

For the cheesecake:
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
16 oz. by wt. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sour apple schnapps
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, mix together ricotta and schnapps, refrigerate.

In an ungreased ten inch spring form pan, press almond dough to form a 1/8 inch thick crust on the bottom, and about 3/4 inch up the sides of the pan.

 In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly beat in flour, sugar, and salt until eggs are medium stiff peaks. Beat in honey, until fully incorporated. Fold ricotta into egg whites until well blended, with no lumps of egg white or ricotta remaining.

 Pour batter into spring form pan, using a spatula to smooth to an even layer. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until cheesecake is resilient to the touch, and lightly browned. It should be a little jiggly in the center.

Remove from oven. Lightly dust with cinnamon powder. Place on cooling rack to cool. Refrigerate until serving time. Remove spring form ring when ready to serve.
Happy eating!

Gltuen Free Vegan Alternatives to the Renaissance Italian Lunch

Whenever I'm cooking for a large number of people, I try to provide alternatives for the most common dietary restrictions. If someone contacts me about other issues, I'll do my best to accommodate them. About the only thing I cannot do is hardcore kosher, as I can pretty much guarantee that every cooking implement in my kitchen has contacted both dairy and meat products at some point.

For the lunch, I knew that I would have both vegans and gluten intolerant people eating. To keep it simple, I just combined those issues, and made pastries that satisfied both issues.

To make my life simpler, I made one 12 cup muffin tray with crusts, blind baked them, then added cheese substitute and herbs to half, and modified fruit and nut filling to the other half.

My first attempt at gluten free pie crust was an unmitigated disaster. I tried a straight substitute of multipurpose gluten free flour for regular flour in my pie crust recipe. This resulted in way too much fat, making the hand pies completely melt in a smear of goo all over the sheet pan. That prompted me to use the muffin tin, to give some structure to hold the shape of the dough in my second attempt.
My more successful attempt was based on this website, which I modified and adapted a little. I think next time I will use disposable mini tart tins, as getting the crumbly tarts out of the muffin tin was challenging.

The flour I used was Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour. It had a slightly grainy texture, like a find grind corn meal. The resulting crust was a bit crumbly, and grainier than I would like.

For the cheese tarts, I used Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese as a substitute for the ricotta. I was very surprised at how good it was. It really had a good texture and taste. It's major downside is cost. I paid about the same for a half pound of Tofutti as I did for five pounds of ricotta.

For the Neapolitan Pizza, I substituted 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup cornstarch for the egg. Seems to have jelled up nicely.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

1¼ cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend
½ cup vegetable shortening
2 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. kosher salt

Measure shortening, and place in freezer for 30 minutes.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt. Pulse a few times to combine. Add shortening to processor. Pulse in short bursts, until mixture resembles course crumbs, about 6 - 8 times.

With food processor running, dribble in water one tablespoon at a time, until mixture just clumps together. Form into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Dough tends to be crumbly. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Lay out a sheet of wax paper, lightly dust with gluten free flour. Place disk of dough on top. Dust top with more flour. Cover with wax paper. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.

Lightly grease cups of muffin tin. Cut 3inch diameter circles of dough. Gently press dough into cups. Dough will be delicate and crumbly, may take some careful pressing to fully fill cup.

Line cups with wax paper, and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool. Remove wax paper and weights.

Add filling. Return to oven. Bake 20 minutes, or until filing is set and crust is golden brown.

Happy eating!

A Renaissance Italian Lunch

For a local SCA event, I was asked to provide a lunch. I wanted to do something based on late 16th century Venetian cookery. I did some searching online, and found out about Bartolomeo Scappi, who published an enormous cookbook in 1570. I found menus and recipes online at various places.

I will be the first to admit that the food I do is period inspired, not period accurate. My first concern is to provide a tasty, filling, and fulfilling meal that doesn't scream modern. I realize I am cooking modern ingredients for a modern palette, and first and foremost, must have happy customers. I do like to push the palette a little, making food that is familiar, but still different.

I decided on a menu of spiced chicken, salad of mixed greens and edible flowers with a simple vinaigrette, a cheese and herb pie, and Neapolitan pizza for dessert.

The recipe that I used for inspiration called for the chicken to be boiled, then have a mix of sugar and spices sprinkled on. This was an appropriate way to treat a 16th century chicken, but not a good approach to a modern bird. I decided to grill chicken breasts, and I made a mix of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and kosher salt to season them.

The salad was half a commercial spring mix, and half fresh lettuce, arugula, basil, and edible flowers from a friends garden. Salad dressings in the 16th century tend toward simple vinaigrette. The original recipe called for red wine vinegar. I didn't have any in my pantry, so used a mix of balsamic and white wine vinegars. That was combined with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

The pies were a standard 3-2-1 pie crust with a filling of ricotta and fresh basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley. They were brushed with an egg wash, to get a nice color. Both the salad and pies were based on items mentioned in a lunch menu by Scappi.

The Neapolitan pizza, really a fruit tart, had a base of pie crust that was blind baked. The filling was a paste of almonds, pine nuts, fresh figs (from the garden of the friend that provided the greens), dried dates, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, and eggs. We spread that over the crust, and garnished it with slices of dates and pine nuts. We baked it until the filling set., then sprinkled them with rose water.

I think this lunch went well. It was simple, but balanced and filling. I was very happy with the pizza. It was rich and sweet, and had a great texture.

Recipes

Grilled Sugar and Spice Chicken

4 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix together sugar and spices.

Pat breasts dry. Liberally sprinkle both sides of breasts with sugar and spice mix. Place on a medium hot grill. Allow to cook 6 - 10 minutes, then turn over. Cook another 6 - 10 minutes, until a good color on both sides, and about 90% done. Move to top rack to finish, until breast is cooked through, but not dry.

Italian Vinaigrette

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a liquid tight container. Shake vigorously, until ingredients form an emulsion.

Ricotta and Herb Pies

For crust:
9 oz. by wt. flour
6 oz. by wt. butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
3 oz. by vol. ice water
1 tsp. kosher salt

Sift together flour and salt. Cut butter into flour, until it resembles course crumbs. Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until dough just clings together. Roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for at least one hour.

For filling:
3 cups ricotta
1/2 cup chiffonaded fresh basil
1/2 cup rough chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup fresh oregano leaves
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. kosher salt.

In a bowl, thoroughly mix together all ingredients.

For pies:
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cold water

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut two three inch circles per pie. Place one teaspoon of filling in the center of each bottom crust. With a finger, wet edge of bottom crust with water. Place on top crust. Use a fork to crimp edges together. Transfer to an ungreased sheet pan. brush each pie with beaten egg.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until crust is cooked and golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Neapolitan Pizza

1 1/2  recipes of above pie crust
9 oz. by wt. Almonds
6 oz. by wt. Pine nuts
4 1/2 oz. by wt. Dried dates
4 1/2 oz. by wt. Fresh figs
4 1/2 oz. by wt. Raisins
6 eggs, beaten

9 oz. by wt. Sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. rose water

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with oil. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to lined pan. Cover with wax paper, then press another half sheet pan onto dough. Bake for ten minutes. Remove from oven, and remove top pan and wax paper. Let cool slightly.

In a food processor, grind almonds to course crumbs. Transfer to a bowl. In the same processor, grind together figs, dates, and raisins. Stir into nuts. Add sugar, eggs, and cinnamon. Thoroughly mix together.

Spread filling in even layer over crust. Bake 20 minutes, or until filling is firm.

Remove from oven. With a pastry brush, lightly sprinkle pizza with rose water.

Happy Eating!

Asian Mushroom Chowder with Bacon Dry Jack Biscuits

As you might remember, I was given a variety of Asian mushrooms for my birthday. For dinner tonight, I used some of them to make a chowder. I used shiitake, maitake, and bunashimeii  mushrooms. It has chicken stock, a little milk, and it is flavored with rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf.

To go with the chowder, I made some biscuits with bacon and the Spring Hill Dry Jack

These went really well together. This was a meal that emphasized umami. Mushrooms, bacon, and aged cheese are high in it.

Recipes

Asian Mushroom Chowder

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 cup chopped maitake mushrooms
1 cup bunashimeii mushrooms
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
2 small bay leaves
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, sauté until tender. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add stock, bay, rosemary, and thyme. Simmer 20 minutes.

Sift cornstarch. Whisk into milk. Add mushrooms and milk. Bring back to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Bacon Dry Jack Biscuits

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup bacon bits
1/4 cup grated dry jack cheese

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in bacon and cheese, Add milk, mix until everything is just moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured board. Knead until dough just hangs together, two or three strokes. Pat or roll into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into six pieces. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Happy eating!

Mango Carrot Cake with Mango Ginger Pastry Cream and Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

A friend of ours was celebrating her birthday, and the spouse and I wanted to make her a cake. The spouse had found a recipe for a mango carrot cake in the April 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. We followed the cake recipe, but I came up with my own filling and icing recipes. We coated the outside with toasted walnuts.

For the filling, the spouse and I collaborated on a mango ginger pastry cream. It came out very nice. It had a nice light mango and ginger flavor, and wasn't too sweet.

For the icing, I pulverized some candied ginger in my spice grinder, and added that to a cream cheese frosting. It was tangy, with a little ginger bite.

The original recipe had ribbons of plain old carrot piled on the cake by way of decoration. That seemed both lacking in flavor and messy to me. I candied ribbons of carrot in a simple syrup that had candied ginger and orange zest in it. While still warm, I rolled them up. I think it added color to finish the cake, and gave the cake a more professional appearance. And, they were tasty too.

The cake came out a little dense and gummy for my taste. Although, the person we made it for liked the texture. I think it is a fine idea, and some combination of more leavening, less liquid, or more cooking time should result in a better cake. Also considering moving from all purpose to cake flour.

Recipes

Mango Carrot Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups shredded carrots
3/4 cups mango nectar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour two eight inch cake pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well each time.

Alternate flour mixture and mango, mix on low after each addition, just until mixed.

Stir in carrots. Divide evenly between pans. Bake 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(Update: Note that the recipe above should work fine. The original recipe  said 1 1/4 cup juice in the ingredients list, but buried in the text said to add 3/4 cup to the cake. The spouse added the full 1 1/4 cup to the cake.)

Mango Ginger Pastry Cream

2 cups milk
2 2/3 oz. by wt. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger
1/4 cup mango nectar
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch kosher salt

In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine milk, sugar, vanilla, ginger, salt, and juice. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Slowly add 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Add mixture back to pot, return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain mixture, cover directly with plastic wrap, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool.

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz. by wt. cream cheese
3 oz. by wt. room temperature butter
6 oz. by wt. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger
1 tsp. vanilla

Pulverize ginger in a spice grinder. Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer. Cream with a paddle until smooth.

Candied Carrot Curls

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 large carrot, peeled
zest of 1 orange
2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger

Use a vegetable peeler to make long carrot strips. Set aside.

Place sugar, water, zest, and ginger in a small pan over medium low heat. When syrup comes to a simmer, add carrot strips. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until carrots are translucent. Remove from heat. Spread carrot strips out on wax paper. Let cool just enough to be handled. Roll up strips  to make a cylinder. Place on end on wax paper to cool.

To Assemble Cake:

Put one cake on a cake round. Place a 1/2 inch layer of pastry on top. Add the second cake. Using a spatula, place a thin layer of frosting on sides and top of cakes. Refrigerate twenty minutes to set coat. Add a top coat of frosting. Coat outside of cake with ground toasted walnuts. Pipe a ring of rosettes of frosting, add an inner ring of candied carrot curls.

Happy Eating!

 

Maple Bacon Popovers

Why don't I make popovers more often? They are easy, delicious, and impressive. It may be because the cabinet in the kitchen that holds most of the less commonly used equipment is ridiculously non-ergonomic. Getting the popover pans out is an enormous pain in the ass.

If you haven't tried popovers, you need to, soon. They are descended from the Yorkshire pudding. They are a thin batter, cooked in a very hot oven, and are dependent on the mechanical leavening of steam. They develop a crisp, chewy exterior, and a soft, fluffy interior. They must be eaten as soon as possible after coming out of the oven.  A cold popover is not pleasant, and don't even try re-heating in a microwave *shudder*.

All the recipes say you can use a muffin tin. I never have, and I'm dubious that the results would be optimal. They would certainly be smaller than ones from a proper popover pan. That would also result in a higher crust to fluffy interior ratio, the cube square law being what it is.

The proper popover pan has a kind of trumpet shaped cup, which is much longer than it is wide.

We are still frantically busy getting ready for Potrero War. Since the spouse is pretty much the anti-morning person, I find doing a special breakfast helps encourage her to get on with the days business.

So today I decided to make popovers. I went with maple bacon, because, well, bacon. The recipe I use as a base is from the famous Jordon Pond House in Maine. The order they do things seemed a little wonky to me, so I changed things around to be more in line with the methods I learned in my pastry class.

To accompany the popovers, I made some Bingo Blueberry tea from the Cobblestone Cottage Tea Shoppe in Alpine California. I thought it continued the New England vibe well. It was very good, just needed a little sugar to balance it out. It went well with the popovers.

Maple Bacon Popovers

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup bacon bits
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs until fluffy and light yellow. Add maple syrup, beat on high until well incorporated. Add flour mixture in three stages, alternating with half the milk. After each addition, beat on high until well incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl after each addition of flour.

Once all the milk and flour mixture are incorporated, beat on high for two minutes.

Strain batter. Stir in bacon bits, distribute batter evenly among the six cups of the popover pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350F, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Happy Eating!

Chicken Noodle Soup and Buttermilk Dry Jack Biscuits

Monday was a little wet and drizzly. So, it was a perfect day for soup. I had some cooked chicken left over from Gaslight Gathering, and some  three color rotelle, which would work just fine for the noodles. I added some diced carrot and white radish. I flavored it with a little thyme, oregano, and basil.

I always like a little bread with soup to help sop up the juices.  I decided to make biscuits. I thought the dry jack from Springhill Cheese would add a great flavor. I still had buttermilk that needed used up.

These biscuits came out light and fluffy, with a rich, deep flavor from the cheese and buttermilk.

Recipes

Chicken and Rotelle Soup

6 cups chicken stock
1 cup diced cooked chicken
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced white radishes
1 cup tri-color rotelle noodles
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried time
salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, heat stock over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer, add carrots, radishes, and dried herbs. Let simmer gently until vegetables are tender. Add noodles, increase heat until liquid comes to a boil. When noodles are al dente, stir in chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Buttermilk Dry Jack Biscuits

1 cup all purpose flour
3/8 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup grated dry jack cheese
1/4 cup butter, cold, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cream of tarter, and baking soda.

Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in dry jack cheese.

Add buttermilk, stir until dough comes together.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly, adding flour as necessary, until dough is  not sticky.

Pat or roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into six biscuits.

Place biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 12 minutes, or until biscuits are firm and golden brown.

Happy Eating!

Gaslight Gathering: Saturday Tea and Port of Call

Saturday at Gaslight Gathering was a very hectic day. Like at most cons, it was the busiest day, so lots of people came through the Observation Lounge looking for a beverage or light snack. We also were responsible for an afternoon tea in another part of the building, plus two special events in the Lounge itself.

This is the third year we have run the steampunk Saturday tea. This year, in keeping with the nautical theme of the convention, each table was named for a famous shipwreck or ghost ship of the 19th or early 20th century. We got to do the center pieces. Each table had general nautical ephemera, plus photos or paintings of the ship. Each table also had place cards with the name of the ship, and a unique trivia question about the ship inside. Everyone also got a goodie bag, containing a handmade medal, some white chocolate sea shells, and a card with nautical knots and some cord to practice with.

For entertainment, we went intimate this year. We had a magician, Dino Staats, doing close up magic, and a couple of friends as sea hags, telling fortunes. From all accounts, both acts were marvelously entertaining.

After getting the room set up and everyone seated, I rushed back to the Observation Lounge to supervise the Port of Call. The port of call for Saturday was the Island of Santorini. To celebrate that, I made a lemon chicken rice soup, and a ricotta honey pie. I made the little cheesecakes as individual one bite desserts. They have a pine nut crust. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the food from this event. If  you are willing to let me use, let me know.

Finally, in the evening, we had a birthday party for the Artist Guest of Honor, Brian Kesinger. We had cake, including a lovely one with the head of Boba Fett, made by another fan.

Recipes

Lemon Chicken Rice Soup

12 cups chicken stock
1 cup lemon juice
1 bunch celery, finely diced
1 1/2 lbs. carrots, finely diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
4 lbs. precooked chicken, diced
3 cups cooked rice
salt to taste

Place stock and lemon juice in a crock pot. Simmer on high for one hour. Add garlic, celery, and carrots. Let simmer one more hour, or until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Ten minutes before serving, stir in chicken and rice. Add salt, and additional lemon juice as needed.

Ricotta Honey Cheesecake with Pinenut Crust

For the crust:

8 oz. by wt. pine nuts
1/3 cup sugar
16 oz. by wt. all purpose flour
8 oz. by wt. butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

In a heavy skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat. Transfer to a food processor. Pulse several times. Add flour, sugar, and salt, process until nuts are finely ground.

Transfer nut mixture to a mixing bowl. Add butter, egg, and vanilla. Work by hand until ingredients are well mixed. Divide into balls, wrap balls in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least ten minutes.

One ball is enough crust for one batch of cheesecake.

For the cheesecake:

4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
16 oz. by wt. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, mix together ricotta and thyme, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly beat in flour, sugar, and salt until eggs are medium stiff peaks. Beat in honey, until fully incorporated. Fold ricotta into egg whites until well blended, with no lumps of egg white or ricotta remaining.

Line mini-muffin pan with paper cups. Place about 1 teaspoon of pinenut dough in the bottom of each cup, pressing it down to form a thin layer on the bottom of the cup. Spoon in batter to about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until cheesecakes are resilient to the touch, and lightly browned.

Remove from oven. Lightly dust with cinnamon powder. Place on cooling rack to cool. Refrigerate until serving time.

One batch makes about 35 miniature cheesecakes.

Happy Eating!

Creampuffs with Strawberry Orange Pastry Cream and Galangal Dark Chocolate Ganache

I owed a friend some cream puffs in exchange for a favor. I decided to use the opportunity to experiment a little. We had purchased some strawberry oranges at the Farmers' Market. This is a variety whose technical name is Vaniglia Sanguigno. This is Italian for 'Vanilla Blood'. It is also marketed as a Vanilla Orange, or as a Mango Orange. It is an almost acidless variety, with none of the tartness one expects from an orange.

I thought the strawberry orange would make a really great pastry cream. I adapted this recipe for orange pastry cream. Since the strawberry oranges are sweeter, I needed less sugar, and because they lack the acid, I could increase the amount of juice without worrying about curdling the milk.

The pate a choux for the cream puffs is the same recipe I used here. That was not my first intention, though. I still have a lot of buttermilk, so I thought I'd try a buttermilk pate a choux. When I googled it, however, I found no recipes. None, whatsoever. With the number of food bloggers out there, every combination of food that makes any sense, and quite a few that don't, have been done. So, I was suspicious, but decided to try it, anyway.

I learned why there are no buttermilk pate a choux. As soon as I started heating up the mix of buttermilk, water, and butter, the buttermilk curdled. But, as I learned as a science student, we learn as much, or even more, from the experiments that fail as from those that succeed. So, now I know why there are no buttermilk pate a choux recipes, and the next person to google looking for one may find this blog post.

For the ganache, I used a semi-sweet chocolate with 58% chocolate liqueur. I added some galangal. Galangal is a relative of ginger, but with a more peppery taste. Since orange and ginger are such a classic combination, I thought it should work. I kept it light, however, as I did not want the galangal to overwhelm the delicate orange flavor of the pastry cream.

Recipes

Strawberry Orange Pastry Cream

2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. strawberry orange zest
1/4 cup strawberry orange juice
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch kosher salt

Sift cornstarch. Add egg yolks, whisk until light colored and smooth. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine milk, sugar, vanilla, zest, salt, and juice. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Slowly add 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Add mixture back to pot, return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain mixture, cover directly with plastic wrap, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool.

Chocolate Galangal Ganache

4 oz. by wt. semi-sweet chocolate
4 oz. by vol. cream
1/4 teaspoon ground dried galangal
pinch salt

In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Slowly whisk in cream. Add salt and galangal. Whisk to combine.

 

Buttermilk Chiffon Cake with Key Lime Curd

I had an awful lot of buttermilk and egg whites left over from the Baseball and Princess parties we did recently. I wanted to find a way to use them up. I found this recipe, and adapted it a little to my understanding of the foaming method.

Looking in the store for inspiration, I saw that key limes were inexpensive. I love key limes, so I decided a key lime curd would be awesome as filling in the cake. I adapted this recipe for my curd.

The frosting is a vanilla lime Swiss butter cream. It is flavored with a little key lime zest, and some vanilla extract.

To garnish the cake, I candied some key lime slices in a simple syrup.

I really like this cake. This recipe is a keeper. The cake is not as fluffy as the chiffon cake I learned to make in school. It still has a very tender crumb, and there is definitely a bit of buttermilk tang to the flavor. It is a sturdier cake, and would hold up to more manipulation, if one was inclined to do something interesting with the construction.

The key lime curd is bright and acidic, and very intensely flavored. I added just a touch of green food coloring, to help with the visual cue that this is not lemon.,

I am very pleased with this cake. It is firm, but still moist and tender. I like the intensity of the curd. I think it's acidity helps cut the sweetness, and that plus the buttermilk helps give depths and complexities of flavor. The lightly flavored butter cream frosting complements, without overshadowing, the cake.

Recipes

Buttermilk Chiffon Cake

3 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 + 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
6 oz. by wt. egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Grease and flour two nine inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with wax or parchment paper.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture in stages, alternating with buttermilk. Beat to combine thoroughly between each addition.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add almond extract and cream of tartar. Whip to soft peaks, then slowly add 1/2 cup sugar. Whip to medium stiff peaks.

Fold 1/4 of egg whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites, until whites and batter are well combined, with no visible streaks of whites remaining.

Divide batter between cake pans.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes, or until cake is firm. Remove to rack to cool.

Key Lime Curd

1 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice
2 Tbsp. key lime zest
pinch kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until curd thickens, about ten minutes.

Strain curd. cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes, then transfer to refrigerator to finish cooling.

Vanilla Lime Swiss Butter Cream Frosting

6 oz by wt. sugar
4 1/2 oz by wt. egg whites
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. water
1 lb. butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of one key lime
 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Heat sugar, egg whites, and water in a double boiler to 160 F, whisking continuously. Whip in a stand mixer five minutes, or until mixture decreases to room temperature. Add butter one chunk at a time, until all the butter is Incorporated. Add salt, vanilla, and lime zest. Whip until smooth and glossy.

Happy Eating!

Baseball Party

A friend of ours oldest son wanted a baseball themed birthday party. He much enjoyed the opportunity to be able to articulate his desires, and have adults listen and take notes. I think it's something that doesn't happen enough for most kids.

We sat down with him and his parents. We asked leading questions, but sincerely listened to the answers. He wanted a cake with a baseball diamond and someone hitting a home run. He wanted vanilla cake with creamy cherry filling. He wanted ball park food; hot dogs, cracker jacks, peanuts. Carrots and grapes OK, but no vegetables.

He and the spouse also worked out what kind of games and activities he wanted to do.

The hot dogs were easy. We have a propane powered slow cooker. It worked perfectly to steam the hot dogs in the park.

I made my version of Cracker Jacks. I modified the recipe I used for bacon flavored caramel corn. I used dark corn syrup instead of the bacon flavored syrup.  I oven roasted some raw, unsalted Spanish peanuts, then tossed them with the popcorn and caramel. The spouse packaged up the snack with it's own prize, a set of temporary tattoos.

I like caramel in just about any form. Cracker Jack was certainly a favorite as a kid. The prizes have gotten lame, however.


The cake was a collaborative affair. It was a half sheet cake. I baked the cake, scaling it up from the yellow cake recipe I used for the chocolate marble cake at the Princess tea we did recently.

I really like this cake recipe. It finds a nice balance between robust enough to work with, yet with a moist and tender crumb.

The filling was a cooperative effort between the spouse and myself.  It consists of whipped topping, cherry pie filling, and a little salt. We whipped together the topping and the pie filling. We used whipped topping instead of whipped cream, because we knew it would be unrefrigerated at the park for some time.

I think cherry was a great choice. The bit of tang of the sour cherry helped counter the sweetness a bit.


The decoration is all the spouse's work. She used a special tip to make the grass, and the base path is covered in graham cracker crumbs.

I think she did a great job on the decorations. She's immensely creative and imaginative. By all accounts, the birthday boy was thrilled with the cake.

Recipes

Homemade Cracker Jacks

1/2 lb. raw, unsalted Spanish peanuts
8 quarts popcorn
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
Spread peanuts on a baking sheet. Bake in a 300 F oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
Place popcorn and peanuts in a large roasting pan.

In a three quart sauce pan over medium heat, combine butter, sugar, salt, and syrup. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Let boil for five minutes. Remove from heat, add baking soda. Caramel will foam up. Pour caramel over popcorn. Stir thoroughly. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread out on wax paper to cool. Store in air tight container. If caramel corn softens, re-heat in 200 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Yellow Cake

2 cups butter
3 cups sugar                                                     
16 egg yolks                                                     
1 1/2 cups milk                                                                     
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract                                                                     
4 cups cake flour                                                                   
4 tsp. baking powder                                                                     
1 tsp. kosher salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Grease and flour a 1/2 sheet size rectangular cake pan. line bottom with wax paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, two at a time, allowing yolks to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Add vanilla, allow to mix in.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mix in three stages, alternating with the milk in two stages.

Pour into cake pan. Use a spatula to level batter. Tap pan on counter a few times to eliminate any bubbles.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 F, bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool until just slightly warm. Slide a knife or spatula between cake and pan to loosen. Upend onto a cake board. Let cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cherry Filling

3 1/4 cups whipped topping

2 2/3 cup cherry pie filling

1/4 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whip attachment. Whip until well combined, and cherries are somewhat broken up.

Happy Eating!