A Gilt Nutmeg: 2011 September

Entries from September 30th, 2011

Apple Honey Cake

Friday, September 30, 2011

The Jewish New Year is upon us! The Boyfriend’s family is Jewish and every year I beg to go to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services with them. I love the traditions observed and, of course, all of the food. The best combination of both of those is the Rosh Hashanah tradition of eating honey and apples to symbolize the hope for a sweet year.

So I rushed home today and grabbed some apples from the grocery store on the way. I had to be ready to go in 45 minutes and would you believe that I was able to combine the ingredients, bake the cake, let it cool a little and take photos of it all before it was time to leave for Temple? That should show you how easy and quick it is to throw this delicious little cake together.

Some notes: the cake will end up very thin, since the original recipe called for a smaller cake pan. I used what I had and actually really liked it thin-it let the apple and honey flavors shine and made for a perfect light dessert instead of a one that makes you feel overly stuffed. Also, I really suggest using a mandolin slicer for this project. I got a great handheld OXO mandolin for just about $15 and it’s an amazing tool (slicing pizza toppings- just sayin’).

Happy New Year! This Apple Honey Cake will guarantee it’s a sweet one.

Apple Honey Cake
Adapted from Taste of Home

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling
2 Gala apples, very thinly sliced (use a mandolin if you have one)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon honey, plus extra for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line an 8″ square baking pan with parchment paper (I forgot to coat the paper with nonstick spray, but it was fine without it, so no big deal if you don’t have any). Sprinkle cinnamon in a light, even coat across the bottom of the pan.
Arrange apple slices in whatever pattern you want. I did three rows of 6 overlapping slices, the center row moving the opposite direction. Fancy!
Cream the butter and brown sugar until crumbly and fluffy, about 2 minutes, beat in egg, then milk and vanilla.
Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a small bowl, then add to butter mixture and beat until combined.
Drizzle honey evenly all over the arranged apples in the pan, as much or as little as you like. Gently pour the cake batter over the apples and honey and spread until entire bottom of pan is evenly covered.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and the apples are soft.
After taking it out of the oven, let the cake cool for 5 minutes or so and invert the cake onto the serving platter.
Serve warm if you can, but no matter what the temperature, definitely serve it with whipped cream!

Acorn Squash Bisque

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I have just been beside myself with glee watching all of the squash and pumpkin recipes popping up all over Pinterest and the food blogging community! I love love love the Fall for cooking and I wasn’t sure where to start diving in but, I have to say, this bisque is an excellent start to the deluge of Fall recipes coming at you!

I admit that I was hesitant to switch it up from my normal Butternut Squash soup but was delighted with the results. The recipe makes a delicious, almost delicate, bisque that would make a fantastic start to a large hearty meal, or just as a light meal in itself. It does thicken up as leftovers, but reheat it very very gently, as mine started to curdle very quickly. (You wouldn’t think it, but a quick whirl with the stick blender gets rid of all those unsightly white specks in an instant)

The soup was excellent with just the little bit of thyme seasoning it, yet I could tell I wanted just a teensy bit more flavor. I make a mean Butternut Squash soup so I had to physically restrain myself from adding all the normal spices I add to that-I wasn’t making a clone, after all. I left the nutmeg, the cinnamon, bay leaf, and rosemary behind (but it was almost painful to do so) and stared at the rest of my spice shelf. I hesitated for a second before grabbing the cloves, knowing they would be overpowering if I wasn’t careful. It was just what I was looking for! 1/8 of a teaspoon is honestly all that is needed for the whole big pot to give the soup that warm spiced flavor without losing the delicate acorn squash flavor. It doesn’t have the stunning orange color that butternut squash soup or pumpkin soup does, but it is absolutely a wonderful addition to the Fall dinner table.

Acorn Squash Bisque
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 4 as a main dish or more as a starter appetizer

2 acorn squashes (3 pounds total)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 - 1 medium onion, finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Halve squash lengthwise; scoop out and discard seeds. Place squash, cut side down, on a rimmed baking sheet; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast until almost tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes minutes. When cool enough to handle, scrape out flesh and discard skin.
In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add squash, thyme, broth and water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to medium, and cook until squash is very tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender until very smooth (or leave it in the pan and use a stick blender, the most useful soup tool ever). Return to pan; add half-and-half, cloves and season to taste with salt and pepper (mine didn’t need any extra).
Serve garnished with thyme sprigs.

Caesar Salad Pizzas

Monday, September 26, 2011

caesar salad pizza

I’ve been looking forward to this recipe ever since I first opened the Pastry Queen cookbook, so I knew that it would be a winner-Caesar salad, is my favorite after all. I’ve attempted to make salad dressing myself before and, while it ended up okay, I wasn’t going to stop buying my favorite dressing (Annie’s Lite Herb Balsamic, if you were curious) in favor of my own. I know now that whenever I need a Caesar dressing, it will without a doubt be homemade! I thought the dressing was fantastic and, for the first time, I got to use the little drip hole tube in my food processor specifically for making salad dressing (I kept screeching at the Boyfriend to come watch this miracle tool in action). I’m a bit of a Caesar salad purist, so I left off the tomatoes Rebecca suggests and, of course, the pizza crust was more than enough to substitute for croutons. In a bit of a Southerner moment, I realized I had no coarse cornmeal in my kitchen and substituted grits instead, which worked fine.

The crust is good, if not a little thick for the amount of salad and I think going forward I would enjoy making a big salad and a half recipe of crust to cut up for breadsticks to accompany. In the end, though, a great dinner!

As always, you can find my fellow Pastry Queen-ers versions of the recipe here; be sure to check them out!

Caesar Salad Pizzas
Yields four 8″ pizzas
Adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rathers

Crust

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (110 degrees)
2 oz active dry yeast (what’s usually available at the store is a strip of 1/4 oz packets)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for brushing on crusts
2 teaspoons honey
4 to 5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Dressing

2 cloves garlic
2 large eggs, beaten (or 1/2 cup pasteurized egg product)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

Combine the lukewarm water, yeast, olive oil, and honey in a large mixing bowl. Add 3 cups of all purpose flour, salt, and crushed red pepper and stir till well combined. Add 1 additional cup of flour to the dough and stir in until combined.
Turn contents of bowl onto a floured surface and knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10-15 turns). Place in large oiled bowl and cover and let rest at room temperature for 30-40 minutes.
Generously coat 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Sprinkle the sheets with cornmeal. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each piece into a ball, place the dough balls on a clean baking sheet, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10-15 minutes longer.
Using a floured rolling pin, flatten each dough ball into an 8 inch circle. Brush each dough round with olive oil and sprinkle each with 1 1/4 cup of cheese. Transfer the crusts onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes until browned and crisp.
While the crusts are baking, pull out the food processor and turn it on. With it running, toss in the garlic cloves first, and once the cloves are as chopped as they can be (just a few seconds), then add the eggs, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Wait a few seconds for it to fully combine and then either pour the olive oil in a slow steady stream through the open the feed tube, or find the empty cylinder with the small hole in the bottom and fill it up with olive oil. It will take care of the slow steady stream for you!
Toss the chopped lettuce with the salad dressing while the crusts cool for just a minute or two and then top the crusts with a big pile of salad. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper. Yum!

Mint Cantaloupe Aguas Frescas

Friday, September 23, 2011

I know, I know; I just can’t seem to let summer go. While I absolutely cannot wait to pull out my Fall arsenal of recipes (you will wonder how much more butternut squash you can possibly stand from me), I’m still sad to see all the fresh fruits and veggies go under a winter frost. Luckily, my CSA veggie shipment still has some treats tucked in it, like one more beautiful cantaloupe for the season. Wanting something special for a last hurrah to summer’s melons, I decided to try my hand at aguas frescas. I’m pretty impressed with what came out of these ingredients and this is such a refreshing drink that I’m pretty bummed that I’ve gone the whole summer without it. It’ll be great for those warm Indian Summer afternoons and evenings that may still pop up-and if you want to make it for a party, I’m sure adding vodka would make it fantastic.

Mint Cantaloupe Aguas Frescas

1/2 cantaloupe, diced
handful of fresh mint leaves (package from my store was .66 oz)
1 bottle (750 mL) sparkling water, such as San Pellegrino
4 cups lemonade (click here for my favorite recipe)
ice

Puree the cantaloupe and add to pitcher.
Muddle the mint leaves in the bottom of the pitcher by crushing the leaves with a wooden spoon. When it smells minty, you’re done.
Pour sparkling water and lemonade into the pitcher and stir.
Add ice cubes and serve with mint sprigs for decoration!

James and the Giant Bourbon Honey Peach Pie

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

When I saw KCRW & LACMA were holding a pie contest, I was interested. When I saw that there was a category just for pies inspired by Tim Burton, I was hooked. I instantly started churning out ideas and sketching them out on scraps of paper….Jack the Pumpkin King Pumpkin Pie, Sweeney Todd “Meat” Pie, the Queen of Hearts’ Strawberry Tarts….the possibilities were endless! I couldn’t have asked for a more inspiring and creative special category and I was disappointed to find out we could only enter one pie per category. So instead of disguising my cast-off Tim Burton creations to be suitable for other categories (fruit, nut, savory, or cream/chiffon), I decided to focus all my creative and baking energy to making one really great pie: James and the Giant Peach Pie.

I felt, despite the fact that the judges were a total all-star panel, that pumpkin and strawberry and meat pies are so subjective to a judge’s mood on any given day…but that no one can actually turn down a really good peach pie, no matter what their mood. Since it was for Tim Burton, I knew I had to go all out on themeing the pie and if there’s one thing I love it’s a challenge that combines baking and crafting. In “James and the Giant Peach,” the characters live inside a peach floating across the English Channel, at one point being pulled by a large flock of birds. So I went to the co-op, found the largest peach in the bin, and proudly carried it home, knowing it would be my centerpiece. I held up the line at FedEx-Kinko’s while the guy at the desk and I printed out the characters in a few different sizes for me to experiment with (and mirror images of them, so no matter what side you looked at the pie from, you wouldn’t be staring at the white back of paper). And I dashed through the craft store, wondering if I really needed a pair of needle nose pliers and wire cutters to pull off this project (I did). The final result was a “giant” peach, the cast of characters merrily perched on top, being pulled by birds through waves of ~~the English Channel~~ pie crust.

There were some hurdles to jump first, though. I admit, though I love making pies, I normally have no patience for pie crust and just use frozen crust from the store (it could be because I make most of my pies around Thanksgiving when I have other things to worry about, like if I remembered the cranberries for the stuffing). These pies had to be 100% homemade and, truthfully, I’m glad for it, because the process reminded me that crust really is so simple to throw together that I should take the time to do it more often. The other hurdle was that in order to pull off my design element, I needed a little stand to hold the peach up at crust level and I didn’t know a single pizza store that still used those plastic stands to keep the box from drooping into the cheese. Imagine my delight when the hero boyfriend called from a conference he was at in San Fransisco to say that he had triumphantly found and saved two pizza box stands and he would be home on Friday with them!

So with all challenges behind me and nothing left to do but bake a pie, I plunged ahead, making the crust on Saturday night and the pie early on Sunday morning, hoping it would cool off enough before having to bring it to LACMA for judging. And when all that was said and done….

I placed first in the Tim Burton category! My very first blue ribbon! I was so nervous seeing my pie up on the judges’ table, but after my name was called, I was absolutely jumping for joy and so proud of what I had accomplished. The boyfriend had been hiding inside the pie tent so that he could have first dibs at tasting some of the 250 pies entered in the contest, but came out to celebrate with me and join in my first paparazzi moment (after 3 years in LA, it’s about time, eh?). I’m so grateful to all the friends who showed their support either by coming to the event or just offering moral fortitude for my first baking contest-it certainly paid off! And now, dear readers, I pass the recipe on to you to share with your family and friends. Award Winning Bourbon Honey Peach Pie, submitted for your pie-eating pleasure:

Bourbon Honey Peach Pie
adapted from Gourmet, July 2009 via Sassy Radish
crust adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Pie Crust (enough for 2 crusts, a top and bottom)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening , cut into 4 pieces
4 tablespoons vodka , cold
4 tablespoons ice water

Filling

3 lb ripe peaches
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
heaping 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp bourbon
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 egg white
sugar for sprinkling

Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.
Add remaining 1 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
Place a foil lined baking sheet on the middle rack in your oven and preheat to 425 degrees. This will ensure ,when you put the pie in the oven to bake on the already hot sheet, that the butter and shortening will melt and coat the flour faster, before the peach juices get to the flour. If the butter and shortening melt first, you’ll get a flaky crust. If the peach juices get to the crust first, you’ll get nothing but a soggy crust. If you have been chilling your dough overnight, pull it out now so that it can soften.
You can choose to peel the peaches or not. If you do want to peel them, blanching them will make the process a lot easier. I personally just didn’t want to take the time to peel them and the pie was, obviously, fine.
Slice the peaches into 8 pieces per fruit, tossing them in a bowl as you go.
Pour the lemon juice over the peaches slices.
In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour the mixture over the peach slices and toss the peaches until evenly coated.
Bring 1/2 cup sugar, honey, vanilla, and bourbon and water to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so the mixture darkens in color evenly, until dark amber, about 5 minutes. (Tricked you! You’re basically making vanilla honey caramel here! But we’re not going all the way to caramel, instead we’re just cooking the sugar long enough to deepen the flavors and give it a hint of caramel flavor.)
Remove from heat and add butter, swirling pan until butter is melted. Pour over fruit and toss the peaches until evenly coated.
Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the first dough round and roll out 1 piece of dough into a 13-inch round on a generously floured surface. Gently roll the dough around the rolling pin and then unroll it into the pie plate, gently lifting the edges and settling it into the plate (at this point it is suggested that you chill the pie plate and crust while you roll out the other crust but truthfully, I was rushing and forgot and it was fine). Roll out the second pie crust using the same flouring methods.
Spoon (or dump) the peaches into the pie crusted plate and lay the second rolled out crust on top. Trim the overhand so there’s just about a 1/2 inch left. Going around the edge, you’ll seal the juices in best if you fold the edge of the crust underneath itself before crimping or decorating it. Cut a hole about 2″ wide in the center of the top pie crust for steam to vent out.
Brush the crust with the egg white and then sprinkle with sugar. Both will make the crust shiny and delicious!
Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Continue to bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes more-tent tin foil over the top of the pie if the crust starts to brown too much. Cool pie to room temperature, 3 to 4 hours.

Bananas Foster Shortcakes

Monday, September 19, 2011

First, I want to remind all you faithful readers to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for status updates from me and alerts for new recipe posts!

Now before I dive into this week’s PPQ recipe, I have to bow down and say that Bananas Foster is not mine to lay claim on within my family. My father and little sister (my only sibling) staked that claim loooong ago. Dad makes Bananas Foster, often to introduce guests to fine Southern cuisine and, I suspect, to show off a little bit since the process involves flambeing. My sister started making it soon thereafter, probably also to show off a little bit, but I think mostly just because it’s a delicious recipe that’s really not too hard to do. So now it’s my turn. I have to admit that I have been on pins and needles waiting for the chance to choose a recipe for Project Pastry Queen and when it was finally my turn, there really was no other option than to choose this.

After years of other family members flambeing bananas, I had to, once and for all, make Bananas Foster. Reading this recipe over and over again, one major thing stood out to me-Rebecca doesn’t flambe the bananas. This is a key component as it caramelizes and deepens the flavors by raising the temperature to a high degree that wouldn’t be attainable by just a pan over a stove burner. Now that said, I tried and tried and I could not for the life of me get the pan to ignite. It was still delicious regardless and I didn’t set my hair on fire.

I admit, I made a number of other changes to the recipe as well. Usually when I am served this dessert, it is served over ice cream (as Rebecca suggests as well) and since you know that it is a requirement of my cooking to forget an ingredient, it wasn’t until making it tonight when I forgot the ice cream, that I realized ice cream is just too sweet for this recipe and my lack of serious sweet tooth. I used whipped cream instead and I thought it was perfect-finally a Bananas Foster that didn’t give me a sore throat from all the sugar! I also forgot the banana liqueur, but I kind of didn’t want to pay for a bottle of it anyway, and I think the recipe benefited from the subtle banana flavor instead of in your face banana flavor. Finally, Rebecca suggests adding pecans to the processor while making the biscuits. It’s optional, so I opted out, but it got me thinking of another New Orleans classic treat…instead of adding to the biscuits, I roughly chopped the pecans and sprinkled them on top, which added some fantastic crunch and when mixed in with the sauce made it like a praline!

All the other Pastry Queens-In-Training versions of this recipe can be found here, be sure to check them out.

Bananas Foster Shortcakes
The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather (with help from Brennan’s)
Serves 8

Biscuits

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
sugar for sprinkling

Bananas & Syrup

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dark rum
8 barely ripe bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (a mandolin slicer makes quick work of this)

whipped cream
1/3 cup pecans

Turn the oven to 425 degrees.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process about 30 seconds. Cut the butter into 16 pieces and add to the flour mixture. Pulse about 15 times, until the mixture is crumbly. Turn on the processor and pour the cream in through the feed tube in a thin, steady stream, until the mixture begins to form a ball.
Remove the dough and place on a flat surface that has been sprinkled with flour. Gently form the dough into a 1/2 inch thick disk. Use a 4 inch biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or a glass to cut the dough into rounds. Roll the biscuits in the coarse sugar and set on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet (Rebecca instructs you to use an ungreased cookie sheet, but my shortcakes stuck hard and fast to the sheet. I was not a happy camper).
Bake for 8-10 minutes until the shortcakes begin to turn golden brown around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then use a spatula to transfer the biscuits to individual serving plates (or on a cooling rack if you’re not serving them immediately).
While the shortcakes are in the oven, Melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large saute pan set over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes. The mixture should not be heated beyond a simmer; if it begins to boil over, decrease the heat.
Add the rum and sliced bananas to the syrup and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Rebecca suggests splitting the shortcakes but mine did not rise enough to actually split, so I used them as a base instead, and poured spoonfuls of the bananas and syrup over the cakes, topped with whipped cream and chopped pecans.

End-of-Summer Vegetable Soup

Friday, September 16, 2011

All summer I was thinking, “Man, I should be making vegetable soup.” Of course now it’s September and I never got around to making vegetable soup. And then Real Simple dropped this recipe in my inbox last week and I thought: “it’s a sign!” So I went to the co-op and sorted through the last of their summer veggies and I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised at how quickly this soup was thrown together. Just slice it all up and throw it in the pot and it’s ready in 10 minutes!

I added a few spices to the recipe I received-the original had only the fresh dill. First and foremost, I added cayenne which is my all time favorite spice to add to vegetable soups. I feel like some veggie soups’ flavor can just glide over your tongue and disappear as soon as you swallow. Just a little cayenne gives it a just a touch of heat that keeps the flavor lingering on your tongue. I also added garlic powder because it grounded the flavors. A toasty bit of garlic bread would have made this a perfect complete meal to close out the summer!

End-of-Summer Vegetable Soup
Adapted from Real Simple
Serves 4

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 large zucchini (or 2 medium), cut into bite-size pieces
1 large yellow squash (or 3 small-medium), cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 pound green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups corn kernels (cut from 2 ears, or frozen)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup fresh dill springs

In a stock pot or large sauce pan, bring the chicken broth to a boil.
Add all of the vegetables and spices except for the dill and turn the heat down to medium.
Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes until the veggies are soft.
Stir in the dill and serve with crostini!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Corn Flake Balls

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Even though school always starts in August, it never really felt like school until September rolled around. So now that the kids have definitely been in school for a little while and are into the swing of things, I can’t think of an easier, more delicious snack to whip up for them for their lunch boxes or for after they get home off the big yellow bus. But I’m a 25 year old girl and, even though I don’t carry a lunch box or ride a big yellow bus, I still will gobble these up like a 5 year old, given the chance.

I don’t know exactly where the recipe came from, but I do remember my mom suddenly making these one day when I was young, saying that she remembered eating them at school when she was a little girl. Let me tell you, after Mom started making these, I don’t remember Rice Krispie Treats ever making an appearance in the house again. I dare you to take one bite of these and then tell me if you ever desire a RKT again in the same way that you will desire these. Why? One is mostly air and has no flavor save for a little vanilla from the marshmallow. The other is dense and chewy and full of flavor.

They take 10 minutes to make so just go for it and then you get back to me on those RTK permanently disappearing from your brain, okay?

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Corn Flake Balls
(If anyone can think of a better name for these, tell me. I’m open to suggestions!)
Makes about 16-20 depending on how big you make them

3 tablespoons butter
1 bag mini marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups corn flakes

Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium heat
Dump the marshmallows in and stir with a big wooden spoon until completely melted with no lumps
Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated to the marshmallow
Turn off the burner and add the corn flakes. Stir until flakes are evenly coated with marshmallow-peanut butter mixture. Don’t worry about being too gentle and not crushing the corn flakes. It’s okay if they get crushed and most will stay surprisingly whole (see picture above and I was actually pretty rough in the stirring process). Be sure there are no pockets of goopy mixture left (I thought I was done stirring and then accidentally came across a few pockets in the pot).
Lay out a sheet of wax paper and butter your hands up. Taking small handfuls of the mixture out of the pot, roll them up in your hands approximately golf ball sized or a little larger if you prefer. Be sure to firmly squish them into the ball shape-again, this is no time to be gentle. The harder you squish them, the chewier they will be later and that is ALWAYS my goal in this matter. This is a great step to let the kids help with; I have strong memories of Mom mixing the ingredients together and then me and my sister helping to roll the balls up. Be careful with little hands in the hot mixture. Most of it will have cooled, but sometimes you just hit a hot spot. You can avoid this by using a spoon to pull up portions of the mixture so that they can test it or blow on it to cool instead of grabbing a handful of hot stuff.
Let the balls cool before eating (although I can never resist eating a few still warm). These also freeze wonderfully so make a huge batch and throw them in the freezer for treats. They are, of course, hard on the jaw right out of the freezer, but once the outside softens up a little, they’re still super crispy on the inside, which is fun, but a mess.

King Ranch Casserole

Monday, September 12, 2011

Out of all of the recipes I’ve made for Project Pastry Queen, this is by far the most “Texan”. Full of southwestern flavors, this is an extremely hearty casserole! I admit I don’t love corn tortillas, so already this recipe was at a disadvantage in terms of going into my permanent recipe box, but the flavors all even out quite nicely and, while not my favorite PPQ recipe, it’s certainly one to pull out when your Texas relatives come to visit.

In typical Emily-fashion, I had a few forehead slapping moments. I try to do my food shopping economically but also locally & organic when I can which means that I ended up going to three different grocery stores (which was not my intention). Most of my basic ingredients came from Trader Joe’s, because they have the best prices, the local food co-op (appropriately called “The Co-op”) for my veggies, but then I still had to go to Von’s to get the poblano peppers because the co-op strangely enough had no chile peppers whatsoever. So I’m happily cooking away and I’m to the part of the recipe where I start assembling the casserole when I realize with a jump-this is a chicken casserole…I didn’t buy any chicken today! I blame it on the way the recipe is worded and arranged, since I didn’t make my own chicken stock, but in the end I can’t believe I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and remember to actually buy chicken. All’s well that ends well. I’m just glad I live only 2 blocks from the supermarket.

The whole roasting poblano peppers routine may seem really tedious, but I promise, learn now because one of my favorite recipes ever (and I mean EVER) uses roasted poblano peppers and you’ll be glad you have the technique down when I finally post it.

Also, I’ve been very slowly working towards liking mushrooms. It’s an uphill battle, for sure, but I think that smelling the mushrooms simmering in butter was a turning point for me. They smelled truly delicious.

Interesting Fact: this recipe is named for one of the biggest ranches in Texas but….it’s a ranch, which means beef, not chicken. The ranch is just as confused you probably are about why the casserole got named after them.

Update: I have to say that while I wasn’t the biggest fan of this recipe at first, I’m loving the leftovers! I think the flavors just needed time to meld in the fridge overnight. This Home Plate‘s version for PPQ looks delicious with sides of salad and black beans-I know what I’m adding to my plate tomorrow night with the last bit of casserole!

King Ranch Casserole
The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather
10-12 servings

1 roasted chicken, meat shredded
3 poblano chiles, roasted and diced (Rebecca suggests New Mexican green chiles, but they’re pretty difficult to find)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all purpose flour
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes
18 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (or do what I did and buy a bag of pre-shredded Mexican mix cheese which includes both Monterey Jack and Cheddar and is half the price of buying two blocks of the cheeses and shredding yourself)

Roasting the Peppers: Turn the oven to broil and while that’s heating up, slice the poblano peppers in half, clean them of stems, seeds, and ribbing, then lay the pieces on a cookie sheet, skin side up. They should lay as flat as possible-just squish them. Slide the cookie sheet under the broiler element as close as it can go. In my oven, there’s a little drawer in the bottom so I can slide them right up underneath the flame. You want the skin to turn black and bubbly, which in this case doesn’t mean it’s burned, but instead means less work for you. You really do want every inch of that skin bubbly because if it’s not, it just means you’ll have to put the peppers back in the oven (so leave it on after you take the peppers out, just in case). Leave the peppers under the broiler for about 5 minutes. When you pull them out, put them in a paper bag so they can sweat for 5 minutes. Pull them out (they’ll be cool) and peel the skin off the peppers. If you leave the skin on, it’s kind of like finding pieces of plastic wrap in your food. The skin will come off pretty easily. If there is still skin that won’t come off, just slice that part of the pepper off and put it back under the broiler for another 5 minutes.
Making the Filling: Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Saute on medium-low heat about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour in the pan, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until the white of the flour is no longer visible (I doubted it but it happens, I promise). Whisk in 3 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the cream and stir in the diced roasted chiles. Add the tomatoes (juice and all). The cream sauce will be nice and thick.
Assembling the Casserole: Place 1/2 cup of chicken stock in a wide bowl so that you can lay 6 tortillas in the bowl flat and covered with the chicken stock. Wait a few minutes while you get everything else ready. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13″ baking dish with butter. Line the bottom of the baking dish with tortillas. Rebecca suggests 6 per layer, saying that a thick layer of tortillas means it will be easier to cook, but I used fewer since I don’t like corn tortillas. (Put the next 6 tortillas in the bowl of chicken stock.) Cover the tortillas with half of the cream sauce. Add half the chicken and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Add a second layer of soaked tortillas (and put the last tortillas in the bowl to soak), the remaining cream sauce and chicken and another layer of cheese. Top with the last layer of tortillas and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Bake the casserole for 45 minutes until hot, bubbling, and lightly browned on top. Remove the casserole from the oven and let sit about 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serve.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Thursday, September 8, 2011

About a month ago, we had a Hawaiian Luau themed luncheon at work. For it, a coworker bestowed upon me her beloved Grandmother’s secret family recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. I was truly honored to be able to make it and I could tell immediately at looking through the ingredients that this cake was something special. The cake was a big success at the Luau and I couldn’t wait to share the recipe with you except…it’s called “Grandmother’s secret family recipe” for a reason. I was desperately trying to think of a way to share it, but, really, there must be integrity and honor amongst chefs, right?

I couldn’t leave you with nothing, so I’m including Cooks Illustrated’s Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, since their recipes are usually foolproof. You’ll still be eating fantastic cake! (If you promise not to tell anyone, I might suggest you think about adding bit of a three letter alcohol. It’s not the most secret ingredient and not the one that adds the biggest special taste profile, so I feel okay sharing it). Please note again, that the cake shown above is not the same recipe as below! If you want a more traditional looking cake closer to what I made above than what CI suggests, make the caramel sauce, pour it into the cake pans, and arrange the maraschino cherries (first) and pineapple rings (second), then pour the cake batter over them. Aloha!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Recipe from Cooks Illustrated

Pineapple Topping

1 medium fresh pineapple (about 4 pounds), diced into 1/2 pieces (about 4 cups prepared fruit)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (7 ounces)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened but still cool
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 egg white at room temperature
1/3 cup whole milk at room temperature

Lightly spray 9-inch round, 2-inch deep cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
For the pineapple topping: Combine pineapple and brown sugar in 10-inch skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally during first 5 minutes, until pineapple is translucent and has light brown hue, 15 to 18 minutes. Empty fruit and juices into mesh strainer or colander set over medium bowl. Return juices to skillet, leaving pineapple in strainer (you should have about 2 cups cooked fruit). Simmer juices over medium heat until thickened, beginning to darken, and mixture forms large bubbles, 6 to 8 minutes, adding any more juices released by fruit to skillet after about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla; pour caramel mixture into prepared cake pan. Set aside while preparing cake. (Pineapple will continue to release liquid as it sits; do not add this liquid to already-reduced juice mixture.)
For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, add vanilla, and beat to combine; one at a time, add whole eggs then egg white, beating well and scraping down bowl after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add about one-third of flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add half of milk and beat until incorporated; repeat, adding half of remaining flour mixture and remaining milk, and finish with remaining flour. Give final stir with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to ensure that batter is combined. Batter will be thick.
To bake: Working quickly, distribute cooked pineapple in cake pan in even layer, gently pressing fruit into caramel. Using rubber spatula, drop mounds of batter over fruit, then spread batter over fruit and to sides of pan. Tap pan lightly against work surface to release any air bubbles. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then place inverted serving platter over cake pan. Invert cake pan and platter together; lift off cake pan. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours; then cut into pieces and serve.

A Gilt Nutmeg

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