hey there, cookie

Today is Tuesday.  Tuesday is supposed to mean a recipe from Dorie Greenspan.  Todays choice was an amazing one, in fact, I have had this Chocolate Caramel Tart marked since I bought the book well over a year ago.  Unfortunately, too much has been going on here this week for me to make it.

Jon, my Hub, has been working out of town for the past 3 weeks, so I have been alone to take care of Seven and the house.  I have also had a busy week with a long buying trip for my store, and an extra bit of time actually putting the new items on the shelves.  Fitting an extra pie in to the mix (and onto my ever expanding rear-end) wasn’t going to happen this time.

I also had an order for cookies.  Star Wars cookies to be more precise.  Thanks to Cathy of The Tortefeasor for singing my praises to one of her friends, who ordered these for her little birthday boy.  I was told that his favorite characters were Darth Vader, R2D2 and Yoda, but I threw in a few Storm Troopers, Logos and Millenium Falcons as well to round out the whole Galactic experience.  I hope he enjoys them!

Because I had the icing out and the cookies baked anyway, I made up a few for the new arrivals over at Chez Sticky Feet…Anna James and Clara Jane!  These lucky little twins were born to Jamie & Mike on Monday evening after being induced at the 38 week mark.  Way to go, Jamie – you made it!  Maybe a couple of cookies will help sweet little Big Brother Bo get over a bit of the “what do you mean we’re taking them home?” panic he’s bound to be feeling!  Until then…Congratulations, Jamie & Mike…enjoy those girls!   

Daring Bakers Challenge…vols au vent

Here it is, the end of another month. Time is flying by! New seasons of television have begun, football season is well underway, and the leaves have already started turning! Wasn’t it just July? I remember when I was younger hearing all of the “grownups” complaining about how fast time was going. I thought they were crazy. But they were right. The older you get, the faster the time goes. Thus ends September, and, in my case, the fastest September on record.

Before I delve into the Daring Bakers Challenge, I just want to say a BIG Thanks to Taste of Home Magazine. I was featured in their October/November issue for being a "Cook Who Cares" because I started the Baking GALS organization. Baking GALS has been a very rewarding project for me, and I have participated every month with a private team since we started baking. But it is all of the bakers, the ones who bake for strangers, the ones who bake selflessly that deserve all of the credit. Baking GALS wouldn't be what it is today if not for these bakers. It would also not be where it is without the leadership of Lyndsay, who has stepped up and taken over the site when I asked for help. She has done some amazing work, and she is an amazing person. She deserves tons of credit. So thank you, Lyndsay - you are so appreciated.

Now I just need to squeal...I was in Taste of Home Magazine! Holy Crap!

Okay, that's out of the way. Let's get on with our regularly scheduled program.

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

You know me and Dorie Greenspan. Love her. And Julia Child? Well, say no more. I was super excited to get started on this months challenge as soon as I saw the recipe. But puff pastry? It’s so time consuming. Mix. Roll. Chill. Roll. Chill. Rinse, repeat. You know the drill. But I am a Daring Baker and I did it!

It was up to us as to what to fill our Vols au Vent with, be it sweet or savory. I, of course, chose sweet, because that’s just me. I actually did two different fillings – one being a Nutella Mousse. This is now my “go-to mousse". I think everyone should be able to say they have a “go-to mousse”, don’t you?

For my other filling, I went a little more “gourmet”…White Chocolate, Coconut & Pumpkin Mousse. The flavor was beyond good. So light and yet full of flavor. The coconut accented the pumpkin in such a surprising way, and I really enjoyed it.

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Baking:

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

welcome, fall

Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day -cool, crisp, a little rainy. The leaves here are starting to change a bit, and everywhere you look, pumpkins are for sale.

Oooh, pumpkin. For me, there is no other symbol of autumn that can compare in both beauty and taste. Sure, the apple puts up a good argument, but pumpkin is the hands down winner. My Mom always made a pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving, and for some reason, it was pretty much ME who ate it. Why did everyone pass up her Pumpkin Cake for Chocolate? Or Apple Pie? Maybe because I kind of hid the cake. Perhaps it was difficult to find it in the basement or under my bed. They should have looked harder.

Last year, I made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Pumpkin Cupcakes, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Pecan Pie. To kick off my pumpkin repetoire this year, I am starting with Pumpkin Bites. They are very similar to whoopie pies, only much much smaller and terribly addictive. I must have made 1000 of these last year for some of the functions I was catering, because they kept getting requested. At only about an inch wide, they are perfect for popping and great for parties and tailgates, especially because they are foolproof and take such a little amount of time to put together.

Pumpkin Bites

makes 60+ sandwich cookies

• 3 cups plus 2 Tbsps all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 TBSP cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
2. In a Mixer Bowl, whisk the sugars, canola and melted butter together. Add the pumpkin puree and combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the wet ingredients and slowly whisk to combine. Do not overmix.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare to baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a SilPat.
4. Place entire mixer bowl in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes while oven preheats, then transfer batter to piping bag fitted with a star tip* (or any tip you choose, just choose one that is mostly open, not a leaf style or tiny tip). Pipe cookies in about 1 inch circles onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies look done. Once cool, fill centers with cream cheese icing.

(* I couldn’t find my small star tip for this batch & used a large tip. I MUCH prefer the smaller one, I think it is Wilton 12. Maybe a 22. I have a hard time remembering the numbers! You’ll get a more distinct pattern using that tip…kids I served them to called them Pumpkin Acorns, and LOVED them. If you don’t have a tip or piping bag, you could always just use a spoon and forgo the extra pattern, they’ll taste the same – delicious!)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick butter, Room Temperature
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
• 3 1/2 cups Confectioners Sugar, maybe more
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• Dash of Salt

Beat Cream Cheese, Butter, Salt & Cinnamon until lump-free and smooth. Gradually add sugar until well combined. Add vanilla until just incorporated. Pipe onto cookies and sandwich them together. Enjoy!!

So, what’s YOUR favorite Pumpkin recipe? Soup? Mousse? Cake? Please share! My husband is a huge Pumpkin Lover, and being the sweet wife I am (hardy har har) I want to make him fat & happy!

in a jam

Stop Right There.  Have you ever made jam?  Ever wanted to try?

 

Doesn’t making  jam sound like trouble?  Up until last week, I had never made it.  A couple of years ago I made some grape jelly, and I think I may have tried to block out that experience.  Not sure.  But jam? Never tried.   

The raspberry bounty in my back yard though is incredible, and I needed to do something with them.  Gorgeous, flavorful, perfectly plump berries.  So, jam was in order.  I didn’t even bother looking for a recipe, I just tweeted Helen and asked her what to do. Beyond simple.  I could have been making freaking jam all summer!

 

This may be the easiest thing ever.  I don’t know how long it will keep – I would imagine my mother would call this freezer jam, meaning, can it in a jar and then freeze it until you want to use it.  If you know the official answer, let me know, but no more than this recipe makes, I think we’ll be using all of it quickly.  Seven is loving it on Nutella Sandwiches – and so am I!  Give it a try – you’ll be shocked at the ease of it.

 

Raspberry Jam with Orange and Vanilla Sugar

• 2 cups crushed fresh berries (about 4 cups before smashing them)
• 1 cup Vanilla sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Orange Oil
• Splash Vanilla

Combine berries and sugar and bring to a boil over med/high heat, stirring frequently.  When mixture is thickened, pull off heat and add oil and vanilla.  Stir until well combined and add to canning jars.  Turn jars upside down wile still hot to seal.

Do you have a favorite flavor of jam?  Something you don’t find on the grocery store shelf?  Want to share it with me?  I’d love to know!

Have a great day!

cereal killer

That’s me. Cereal Killer.

A few weeks ago, I received a huge box of breakfast cereals from General Mills with only one request..make something “Spooky” for Betty Crocker. Sounds easy, but it’s not! Trying to think “outside the cereal box” can be a nightmare, and my brain literally froze. I couldn’t think of a single new idea that hadn’t been done before. So, I just modified an old standby and dressed it up for Halloween.

Instead of making Rice Krispy Treats, I made Reese’s Puff Treats…only better. I supercharged mine with Nutella, and they were delicious! For the Spooky Factor, I covered them in marshmallow fondant and drew on them with edible markers. I call them “Ghosts in the Graveyard.” You’ll call them crazy easy and scary good.

Ghosts in the Graveyard

Makes about 20

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 10 1/2 ounces marshmallows
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 6+ cups Reese's Puff Cereal

Directions

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over med-low heat then stir in marshmallows until melted.

2. Add Vanilla and Nutella until well combined. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in cereal. I smashed mine a little in order to make it a little more user friendly. Start with 6 cups, and add more as needed to get the right consistency. It should not be gooey.

4. Wearing rubber gloves that have been greased, shape into ghosts and tombstones. Insert sucker sticks.

5. If you want to make them like mine, color and roll out fondant. Press onto cereal treats. You can make ghosts, tombstones, bats, spiders...anything you want!
   

Now that I have shared a little easy project with YOU, tell me this…what simple recipe do you find yourself making this time of year? Are you a Halloween junkie? Because i have a 2 year old now, I think I need to step up my Mommy Skills and get with the creativity program. Help?! I promise to try at least 2 of the best recipes/ideas I get here and repost them with a link to you – so help a girl out!

Let the weekend end

I now know my limits, I think.

This weekend, I had the task of creating 3 cakes, plus catering a soup & sandwich type of event for 40 people.  Keep in mind I do this out of my own kitchen, not a restaurant.  I have but one oven. One refrigerator.  It’s tough!  Add to that I had two of our friends in for the weekend for an impromptu “Bachelor’s Weekend” – meaning, I had to clean and such – you see now why I found my threshold.

   The first cake was for a wedding.  I had serious concerns about this cake when I first took the order.  It was to look like a tree stump. As realistic as possible, and yet, pretty enough to be a wedding cake.  The bride and groom both hunt (I know!) and she had a topper made that showed the two of them in their camo.  What emerged in cake form I am very pleased with!  It was a very pretty wedding set-up – outdoors by a creek, lots of pumpkins and gourds and hay bales and such, and yet elegant at the same time.

The cake served around 90.  Two of the layers were milk chocolate with a light chocolate buttercream, and two of the layers were Buttermilk with the same chocolate buttercream.  The outside frosting was a darker chocolate buttercream with a bit of shortening mixed in.  To get the look of a real tree, I used two colors of cocoa powder and just flicked it on to various parts of the tree. For moss, I dyed some confectioners sugar pale green and also used my “flicking technique” to apply it.  I created cuts and bark using an offset spatula, and made roots using crumpled up aluminum foil, which worked really well.  I tinted some fondant to “carve” their initials into the tree, and also used rolled fondant to make the top of the stump.  I handpainted all of the tree rings and the cracks in the top, and that worked out really well.  Not bad for a tree stump!

The other two cakes I made were not quite as scary.  One was a small round for our friends, who were celebrating their 6 year anniversary.  This cake was a sort of replica of the top tier of their wedding cake.  I made it out of pumpkin and frosted it with a cream cheese icing.  Various words like Happy Anniversary, Love, Baby – things that happened in the past 6 years – were written around the sides of the cake.  So, if you are reading this…Happy Anniversary Friends! We love you!

The final cake of the weekend was for our Couples Golf Tournament season ending.  It was to feed about 50.  The bottom layers were Milk Chocolate with Nutella Mousse and cut up candy bars, the top level was a yellow cake with caramel and crushed Dulce de Leche sugar cookies. (It was fab, by the way!)  I decorated the bottom tier with light green buttercream and piped grass onto it, the top level i made fondant “argyle” to go around the sides. The tops of each layer were covered with fondant “greens” as well as graham cracker crumb sand traps.  it got a lot of compliments, but I wish I had been able to do a little more with it. maybe there will be a next time!  Until then – I’m taking a break!

Have a great week everyone!

Mastering the Art of French Cooking…Week Five

Let me start by saying this: I am not a fan of Pot Roast.

Mom will make it occasionally, and while it’s good, for sure, I just don’t dig it.

So why I didn’t realize beforehand that “Carbonnades a la Flamande” was well, Pot Roast, I don’t know. Maybe it was the extra steps that Julia Child always throws in. Maybe it was the fact that beer was involved. Maybe it’s because I’m just plain stupid. Something like that. But nonetheless, I made it. A fancy French Pot Roast. And you know what?

It was damned good.

Carbonnades a la Flamande, according to Julia, is Beef and Onions Braised in Beer. It all starts with a nice lean cut of beef, sliced and browned in a smoking hot skillet before being braised with, well, onions and beer. The recipe was actually pretty straightforward, not too many extra steps, and believe it or not, I was able to put it all together in about 30 minutes. That doesn’t include the 2 1/2 hours of oven time, but who cares about that? You can go play a round of golf while it bakes, like I did. Then, when you get home and pull it out of the oven? Heaven on a plate.

The beef was so tender and juicy, the onions so flavorful. And before you ask…no, it didn’t taste a thing like beer. It was just plain good. It would be the perfect late fall or dead of winter meal, so warm and delicious and the exact thing you’d want after a day of playing in the snow or watching your local football team whip up on their rivals. I served mine over potatoes, as Julia recommends, but her other suggestion was buttered noodles, which I can see being equally good. Or, as my Aunt Sylvia might say, “it would be good on a piece of shoe leather,” and she’d be right. Mighty fine.

Try it! You’ll like it! You can find the recipe on pages 317 & 318 of Julia’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” or, there are several websites with adapted recipes floating around. Personally, I think you should just buy the book. I have yet to find a recipe I haven’t liked.

Moving on…its still Football Season! Last week was the first home game for the Virginia Tech Hokies, so that meant TAILGATE! Around 10pm on Friday night, a mere 11 hours before we were leaving to go to the game festivities, I set about making a “Hokie Cake.” Just something sweet for us all to eat in addition to the Cilantro Cheeseburger Sliders, Chicken Wings, and Kabobs. 10 o’clock is not the most ideal time for cake making/decorating, but it was good enough. I made a square Devils Food double layer cake, using a malted milk chocolate mousse as filling that I mixed tons of cut up Kit Kats into. The icing was Red Russet Cocoa Buttercream, and I added Maroon food coloring to it to bring it up to Hokie Par. I tinted some fondant orange, left some white, and cut circles out of it to decorate the top and sides quickly. As a topper, I used a little fondant Hokie Bird that I had made a week or so ago on a whim, just for fun. It was nice to have a use for it finally!

There’s another big game this weekend, but I have a wedding cake to deliver right around the time of the tailgating…so no party for me. I hope you’ll be partying though! Have a great weekend!

stuffed french toast macarons

Did you follow along with the Macaron Makers on Sunday? If you are on Twitter (if not, you should be) perhaps you saw us Twittering using the hashtag of #sundaymacs. What started out with only Helen of Tartlette, Tiffany of Food Finery and myself ended up having quite a turnout with Sarah, Barbara, Charli, and Megan! We even had 2 continents involved! I do hope you’ll follow along with us the next time we set about baking macarons – there is so much to learn and there is really no reason for you NOT to try making them. We had tons of success last Sunday although I did have one failed attempt of my own, but I knew I would. My oven rack wasn’t where it normally is, I knew it, and I didn’t change it. I learned my lesson. But I still ended up with a great final product…you just have to keep on keeping on!

I do wish I could take the credit for this flavor combo, but, alas, I can’t. My friend Nicole is the culprit. Nicole loves eating my macarons, but a couple of weeks ago she piped up and said something like “Can you make one that tastes like a pancake? I’m tired of chocolate.”

After I slapped her for dissing chocolate, I dug a little deeper. Maybe she had something. While I’m not a huge fan of maple, I started thinking that it could work. If you think about it, macarons aren’t all that different than a breakfast food…sugar, eggs, vanilla…why not make it taste like breakfast? And who doesn’t love French Toast? Better yet, who doesn’t love Stuffed French Toast? I know I love it, full of cream cheese and fruit – yummmm. Good stuff.

So I put my thinking cap on. Should I make a filling with maple syrup and a shell using a fruit flavor? I guess I could have done that, but I didn’t. I found maple flavoring and added it to the shells, and stuffed the center full of a cream cheese butter cream that I packed full of fresh raspberries.

Verdict? It tastes exactly like French Toast, only sweeter. Crisper. Decadent. So unusual but so delicious. Try them yourself and tell me what you think!

Stuffed French Toast Macarons

• 2 ounces almonds
• 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 Egg Whites, Room Temperature
• 5 Tbsp. Superfine Sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Maple Flavoring Flavoring
• Splash Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Meringue Powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/4 to 1/2-inch) ready. Grind together the powdered sugar, cinnamon and almonds in a food processor until finely chopped. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, add in the granulated sugar a little at a time, until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. If you can turn the bowl upside down and the meringue stays put, you've got it. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. Before dumping in the second half of the dry ingredients, add the meringue powder, Maple and extract. Stir quickly and gently, then add remaining dry ingredients. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone). Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheets in 1-inch circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch or more (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons. Place an empty baking sheet on the lower oven rack, then place the macarons in the upper third of the oven. Bake them for 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet. Macarons that are not being baked (waiting their turn on the counter) are fine, and can be left out unbaked for a half hour or more.

Fill cooled shells with Cream Cheese Buttercream that has a few fresh berries blended in – I used Raspberries but strawberries or blueberries would be great, too!

Tuesdays With Dorie…Flaky Apple Turnovers

For this week’s get-together, Julie of Someone’s in the Kitchen picked Flaky Apple Turnovers, on pages 316 and 317 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking:From My Home to Yours. Have I mentioned I love this cookbook? Have I mentioned my desire to BE Dorie Greenspan? Consider it mentioned.

So, Flaky Apple Turnovers. The dough is made with sour cream. Huh? This threw me off. Never would have thought of making a pie crust with sour cream. But I trust Mrs. Greenspan. She did work with the Mastah, Julia Child after all. That being said, I didn’t exactly follow the directions. I was supposed to have taken the dough and made a rectangle out of it before putting it in the fridge to chill. I missed that part. I just threw the whole bowl in the freezer. Ooops. So I had issues arise when it came time to roll it out and fold it into an envelope. My envelope was more like what happens you you incorrectly open one of those padded manilas and all the crap falls out of them while you are trying to scurry to the nearest available trash can. Not ideal. But I smooshed it all togehter and returned it to the fridge. From there, I was able to roll it out and cut large rounds using my big cookie cutter.

The filling I used in most of mine was as directed – apples, cinnamon, sugar and butter. For fun I added a bit of ginger. The other turnovers I filled with Nutella and fresh raspberries. Because I love me some Nutella. And raspberries. Love.

Into the oven my turnovers went,and alas, they did not puff. I knew they wouldn’t, so I’m okay with that. But the taste? Stupendous. The apple filling was certainly awesome, but the Nutella filling? Good Lord.

I hope all the TWDers enjoyed this week, and I really appreciate so many of you baking along with MY choice last week! Next week…Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes decided on Cottage Cheese Pufflets. Not sure how I feel about it – Cottage Cheese? But, if there’s anything I’ve picked up on from this group it’s this: live and learn, friends, live and learn.

through my lens…Peanut Butter & jelly

Culinary Snapshot has a great event called Through My Lens – and it involves the challenge of photographing a particular food.  Last round was Chocolate Chip Cookies.  This round is Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches!  If you’ve ever tried to take a picture of a PB&J, I know you feel my pain. Not attractive. Not much to look at. Kind of, well, blah.

To amp mine up a bit, I grabbed a jar of homemade grape jelly and a few grapes from our vines and added it to the shot.  It’s not my favorite Foodie Photo ever, but it will certainly do for a simple sandwich.  Check out the site in the next day or so and see what the other entrants came up with!

baby steps

Good morning everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!

I just wanted to take a minute to address all of the Mommies out there, especially the Mommies of infants & toddlers.  I know that it was an issue for me, so maybe it is an issue for you, too….shoes.  I think between all of the articles we read on the subject – to shoe or not to shoe – it just gets overwhelming.

For me, when it came to my son Seven, I chose not to put him in shoes for the first several months.  He wasn’t walking anywhere,and to be honest, he didn’t like them on his feet.  Even after he started crawling, I was pretty non-committal.  In fact, my mom made most of the slipper shoes he wore – he even had a pair that had his picture on them!  His feet were growing so fast that I couldn’t justify the high dollar pricetags of “real shoes” to keep in  fashion for 3 days after which time his foot was too large to wear that size anymore.  But once he started walking? All bets were off.

Walking brought about stress.  He needed soles that were sturdy, but not so sturdy that his foot couldn’t flex.  And being the persnickety Mom that I am, the shoes needed to be cute, too.  I found a great solution with SeeKaiRun shoes, and he wore them almost exclusively while learning to get his bearings.  They were stylish and yet foot friendly, so I was a happy camper.

Another great choice is Stride Rite. I love that they are made not with just fashion in mind, but your child’s well being.  Their baby feet need support, and Stride Rite makes it their business to provide us Moms with great solutions.  Now they’ve taken it a step farther with their new Sensory Response Touch shoes, which, according to their press release “improves the way a child learns to walk via a sensory feedback system, an ultra-flexible design that allows for more freedom of movement, and a unique construction that reduces the number of stumbles and falls.”   Add to that THEY ARE CUTE! – and I’m sold.

SRT's features promote a healthy lifelong walking pattern and improve baby's ability to respond to their environment. Highlights include:

* Greater feel of terrain: Sensory pods in the forefoot of the outsole move independently of each other offering multiple reaction points, increasing a baby's feel of the ground beneath them. This allows a baby to stabilize their gait and better respond to their environment.
* More natural support: Unique "hourglass" construction in the midfoot mirrors a baby's foot structure to help supporting bones and muscles that are not yet fully developed. A smooth, rounded transition from outsole to upper prevents catching an edge, reducing the number of stumbles and falls.
* Freedom of movement: Ultra-flexible design allows the foot to move in many directions to help baby learn how to adapt to uneven surfaces.

You should definietly consider Stride Rites for your toddler – don’t they deserve the best?  And just FYI, your can check out the entire press release here.

And now you can follow them on FaceBook!

Best of all, Stride Rite is GIVING AWAY 5 PAIR of these great shoes! Just fill out the form to be entered to win.  Entries will be accepted through the 28th of September, so fill out the form!

5 winners will be chosen at random by Stride Rite to receive one pair of SRT shoes, available in sizes 3 to 8 infant/toddler (including medium and wide).  Each pair is a retail value of $50.  In order to enter, you must fill out the following form.  http://bit.ly/zb2Qb

Good Luck!

Getting your tailgating grill on

I love winning things. Love it. I love giving things away, too, but winning feels soooo good. A while back, I was the lucky, lucky winner on In Jennie’s Kitchen. Ooooh, I was so excited… it was the most incredible prize! What did I win, you ask??

Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned, by Elizabeth Karmel – aka The Grill Girl(@GrillGirl on Twitter, FYI.)

I know. Susan isn’t much of a griller. Actually, Susan isn’t a griller at all. To be honest, I don’t even know how to turn on the fancy Jenn-Air grill I bought the Hub a few years back. But – I LOVE to eat grilled food. And lucky for me, the Hub loves to grill. Even luckier for me is that he likes to experiment with new sauces, rubs, glazes, and mops. This book is the be-all, end-all for all things grilling. No other book needed – as in, ever. It has every recipe you’ll need to make the perfect grilled food. The only thing bad about winning this book was the timing…if I had won it in October, it could have qualified as a Hubby Birthday Present. Now I’ll have to buy him something. Shucks.

As I am sure you are aware, it’s now Football Season. Oh, I love me some football. College Game Day? Uh-huh. Helloooo, Kirk. I mean, Hello Tailgating! My Hub and his buddy Adam built a grill to attach to the hitch on his truck that is shaped like the Virginia Tech VT, and every home game involves massive grilling. This week marks the first home game of the season for the Hokies, so I thought it fitting to share with you one of the amazing recipes from Elizabeth’s Cookbook. We had it on chicken legs, and let me tell you – big time tasty. Give it a shot yourself…but better yet, buy the book! You won’t be sorry! (Plus, click here or the picture of the book above – it’s on sale at Amazon! Wooot!)

Elvis is in the House Sauce

from Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned, by Elizabeth Karmel

Makes about 3 cups

• 1 – 12 ounce bottle of Heinz chili Sauce
• 1 – 12 ounce jar o Welch’s Grape Jelly
• 2 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper
• Pinch Granulated Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)

1. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the chili sauce and jelly. Stir occasionally until the jelly has melted and you can whisk the two together.

2. When the mixture is smooth and begins to bubble, add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and garlic. Taste and adjust the seasoning if desired. If it is too sweet, add the vinegar. let cool. The sauce will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

3. Brush in on food 5 minutes before the cooking time is finished. If desired, serve extra on the side.

I hope everyone has a great weekend especially those watching football on Saturday!

Hey, if you are up for it, why not join some of us on Sunday for a Macaron making party online? Helen of Tartelette will be joining me, as well as Tiffany from Food Finery. Everyone is welcome…we’d love to have you baking along with us via Twitter!

Let us know!

Tuesdays with Dorie…Chocolate Soufflé

Holy Macaroni…I’ve been baking along at Tuesdays with Dorie for so long that it is MY turn to pick the recipe! I never imagined when I started all those months ago that I would actually still be alive when it got around to me…but here we are, and I got to pick the very first recipe I marked in the book!
Many of you know I have not been baking/cooking very long. It was because of this group, TWD, that I really got the kitchen bug last year. That bug led me to the Daring Bakers, then Baking GALS, then You Want Pies with That…and one thing led to another and now I run a small catering business along with doing custom cookies and most currently – specialty cakes! So thanks all of you faithful TWDers – it’s because of you that I stepped up my game and have learned so much along the way!
I think I chose Chocolate Soufflé because several years ago, before I had ever made anything at all, I found a recipe for one and actually made it, even though I had never seen nor tasted one. It turned out perfectly, and tasted so great that I surprised myself! Seeing this recipe in Dorie’s cookbook just reminded me that we all start somewhere! Perhaps you are a newbie like I was (and still am) or maybe this is your first week with the TWD bunch (welcome! Say Hi, won’t you?) and maybe Chocolate Soufflé was a bit intimidating for you. That’s a good thing! I have found that the more intimadated I am by a recipe, the more I learn! So I hope everyone learned something this go round!
Before I get to the recipe, I just wanted to give a shout out to a few of the Dorie Bakers that have really inspired me along the way. Maybe I never told you, maybe I did, but each of you in some way or another have pushed me to be more creative, try harder with my photos, or step outside of my comfort zone and try something entirely new. So thank you…you can’t imagine what you have done for me.

• First off, Dorie Greenspan. Thank You! You have been so kind to me and such a change in my life, whether you realize it or not. If not for this cookbook, who knows what I would be doing? So thank you, thank you thank you. I am a baking fiend because of you. (and 20 pounds heavier than last year, but we won’t dwell on that.) And Laurie? Thanks for having the insight to start this great group based on Dorie’s cookbook!
• Shari at Whisk: A Food Blog was and is one of the most inspirational bloggers for me. I rush each week to her site to see what imaginative way she interpreted the recipe, whether it be baking cookies in coin wrappers or cakes in tea cups, she never fails to inspire me.
• Holly at PheMOMenon I consider to be a “real friend” these days. She rarely if ever misses a recipe for any of the groups she belongs to, and she always has something positive to say about each one of them. If I lived in Utah, I hope it would be next door to her.
• Jayne, the Barefoot Kitchen Witch was one of the very first blogs I followed along with, as was Spatulas & Corkscrews by Donna. Surprisingly enough, they live near each other but have yet to meet. Both of them were so helpful when it came to my neverending questions. I don’t bug them like I used to, but I know they are still there. That means a lot.
• I found Fields of Cake when Carrie was still baking along with TWD. I understand not being able to keep up, and I’m glad that she is so busy with her passion that it has escalated into a profitable thing for her. She has really been a lifesaver, especially recently since I started the cake baking. You should check her out – ah-mazing work. Just gorgeous.

There really are too many to mention that have pushed me in some way, but these hold a special place for me. I hope you don’t mind me sharing them with you!
Now, on to this delicious Chocolate Soufflé! I found it super easy to pull together and had no issues with it whatsoever. I regret that I made it at night and had to use a stupid work lamp in my cellar to light it enough to grab a half-ass picture, but you gotta do what you gotta do somedays! Thanks everyone for baking along with me! If you aren’t a follower of mine, I hope you will be! See the sidebar? See where it says Google Friend Connect? Well, there is a particular number I am hoping for, and I’m close! Once I reach that number, I am going to have a drawing and one of those Friends is going to win a prize! I won’t tell you exactly what it is, but it’s a good one and you’ll be snazzy in the kitchen with it, that’s for sure! So, sign on, be my Google Friend, and maybe you’ll win! Thanks again everyone – it’s been SO much fun baking along with you every week!
Chocolate Soufflé
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
Serves 4-6

• 6 ounces bittersweet Chocolate, finely Chopped
• 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbs. Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Whole Milk, at Room Temperature
• 4 Large Eggs, Separated and at Room Temperature
• 2 Large Egg Whites, at Room Temperature
• Confectioner’s Sugar, for dusting

Getting Ready: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Give the inside of a 6-7 cup soufflé mold a thick coating of butter, sprinkle it with sugar and tap out the excess. Refrigerate until needed. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
Put the chocolate and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the bowl to the counter and whisk in the milk. let the chocolate cool for about 5 minutes, then, one by one, whisk in the yolks.
Working in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large ol with a hand mixer, whip the 6 egg whites until they just turn opaque and start to hold peaks. Still beating, add the reamining 2 tablespoons sugar in a slowish, steady stream and continue to beat until the peaks are glossy and almost firm. Stir one-quarter of the whites into the chocolate to lighten it, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the remaining whites.
Delicately turn the batter into the prepared mold and lightly sprinkle the top with confectioners sugar. Put the mold on the baking sheet.
Bake-it’s better not to open the door and peek until you think the soufflé is almost done-for 40 minutes, or until the soufflé is beautifully puffed and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean (find a noncrusty part of the soufflé and gently insert the knife at an angle). Remove the soufflé from the oven and serve immediately, dusting the top with more confectioners sugar if you’d like.


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Mastering the Art of French Cooking…Week four

Whoa. Falling behind! It’s been two whole weeks since posting my last French Meal. It’s just been so busy here at Casa DoughMesstic with cakes, cookies, parties, etc. that I just haven’t had the time it takes to execute a full on Julia Recipe.

But sit back and relax, dear readers, this one was worth the effort.

Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme, on page 252 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Apparantly this translates as Casserole roasted Chicken with Bacon, Onions and Potatoes. Huh. I don’t speak a lick of French, but I would have guessed this would have translated as Chicken in a Pot with a Good Woman. Or Chicken and Pot Makes a Good Woman. Something like that. But that’s just me.

Whatever it translates as, it’s good. Yes, it’s a bit of work. I’ll admit I have never cooked a whole chicken. Never even touched one if we’re being entirely honest. I had no idea they left all those spare parts shoved inside the dear bird. So, after that little surprise (which involved a bit of gagging and shaking the chicken until aforementioned parts exited the cavity) I went to work. Unafraid, Julia-style.

Instead of just dumping the bird and veggies in a pot and putting it into the oven, there are a few extra steps. Sauteing the bacon, saving the fat, and then browning the chicken in that fat is one additional step. Even cooking the veggies a bit in advance is a step which I believe is only to aggravate me, as I detest having extra dishes to wash. But Julia didn’t know that, so I assume that mustn’t be the case.

What did make it worth it was pulling a beautifully browned, crispy skinned and juicy chicken out of the oven. It was perfectly cooked, as were the vegetables. And the taste? Surely you know the answer to that already…divine. That Julia really knew what she was doing. Pick up a copy of the book if you haven’t already. I’ve even made it easy for you – click the link below.

Now, help time. I had to borrow a lidded casserole dish from my grandmother in order to cook this recipe. i am in love with Le Creuset, though I own nary a piece of it, as money is a little too tight to be spending it on cookware these days. However, I am in the market for a long lasting, good quality lidded casserole dish. I am thinking 5 quarts or larger would suit me best. Any suggestions? Please?

Thanks in advance, kids…I know I can always count on you guys.

Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme

• 1/2-pound piece bacon
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3-pound roasting chicken, trussed and buttered
• 15 to 25 peeled white onions (about 1-inch diameter)
• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Herb bouquet made with 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme tied in washed cheesecloth

1. Remove the rind and cut the bacon into lardons (strips 1/2 inch wide and 1 1/2 inches long). In 2 quarts water, simmer the bacon for 10 minutes. Rinse in cold water and dry. In a fire-proof casserole, saute the bacon for 2 to 3 minutes in 1 tablespoon of the butter until lightly browned. Transfer to a dish.

2. Brown the chicken in the hot fat, breast side down. Brown for 2 minutes, regulating heat so the butter is always very hot but not burning. Turn the chicken on another side using 2 wooden spoons or a towel. Continue browning and turning the chicken until it is a nice golden color almost all over, particularly on the breast and legs. This will take 10 to 15 minutes. Add more oil, if necessary, to keep the bottom of the casserole filmed.

3. Remove the chicken from the pan. Pour the fat out of the casserole. Set the oven at 325 degrees.

4. Drop the onions into boiling, salted water and boil slowly for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

5. Peel the potatoes and trim them into uniform ovals about 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Drain immediately.

6. In the casserole, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons butter until foaming. Add the potatoes and roll them around over moderate heat for 2 minutes to evaporate their moisture; this will prevent their sticking to the casserole. Spread them in the pan. Salt the chicken and place it breast up in the casserole. Place the bacon and onions on the potatoes and add the herb bouquet. Baste all the ingredients with the butter in the casserole, lay a piece of foil over the chicken, and cover the casserole.

7. Heat the casserole on top of the stove until the contents are sizzling. Transfer to the oven and roast for 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes or until the chicken leg registers 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Baste once or twice with the juices in the pan.

Adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" Volume One, printed in the Boston Globe.

have you seen this?

Customized stationary.

Customized stationery from Paper Culture, to be more precise. A few days ago, I received a sample of their products. Can you say gorgeous? So many companies these days tend to cheap out on their quality, especially when it comes to paper products – but Paper Culture is not one of them. All Paper Culture papers and envelopes are FSC certified as 100% post consumer recycled paper…and it is HEAVY cardstock. So basically you can have great looking stationery and save the environment at the same time.

I was really impressed with all of their different designs…so hip, so modern, so – well, top notch. They have everything from Wine Tasting Invitations to We’ve Moved Announcements. Even your everyday personalized notecards get a real kick in the pants at Paper Culture.

I can’t wait to see what they do for Christmas. Know why? I’ll tell you why. They will address, stuff, and mail your cards for just the cost of the stamp! Whaaaa? That’s right – no more Holiday card stuffing in your future if you don’t want to do it! Go give them a look. I think you’ll like what you see!