Bread and Jam

Lunch Rut and a Giveaway

 
With the holidays quickly approaching, I've decided to give away a copy of one of my favorite baking books, Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor and Chronicle Books. True to the title, this book is full of mouth-watering sticky, gooey desserts such as Chocolate Caramel-Pecan Souffle Cake, Cinnamon Donut Bread Pudding, Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel-Butterscotch-Buttercream Frosting and many, many more. Being a designer, I have to say this is one of the most creative, well-designed/food-styled cookbooks I've seen yet and you will love reading the entertaining forward.

 

So what's the catch? You need to help me out with the lunch rut I am in!

I've been struggling with lunch ideas for awhile now. I've been trying to be disciplined in bringing my lunch to work at least 3 days a week, although it usually pales in comparison to the carryout that my colleagues are eating across the table from me or what I order on the days I eat out. I feel like I'm packing the same thing and need some new inspiration.

The other side to the coin is that lunch through the work week is partly a social thing for me. An escape from the office and a chance to try new restaurants. My friend Steve is one of my favorite lunch buddies because he always wants to eat at the really good places and he is always game for seeing the dessert menu, even after polishing off soup, salad and entree. (You can face the worst of all days when you've ended lunch with cake.) And lunches with my friend Beatrice are a favorite because she always indulges my cravings for Mexican food week after week and we have the best conversations. So on the days I've exiled myself to the lunch table with a brown bag, I need to have something I'm excited about eating and not feel like I'm missing the party.  

So help me out and reply to this post with a link to your favorite lunch recipe, whether it be on your site or elsewhere. All I ask is that it's something that is relatively easy timewise through the week. I will select a recipe on Tuesday, 11/10 and post the winner. The winner should in turn, post the first sticky, chewy, messy, gooey recipe they make from the new cookbook. :)

Two NEW Peanut Butters to Try

Peanut butter is one of those things that I could eat morning, noon and night. I even keep a jar at work for those afternoon munchies. (I eat it on everything.) And as content as I was with plain or crunchy for these thirty-some years of my life, I am now hooked on the flavored versions as well. Here are two of my favs:

Peanut Butter & Co. makes a really good dark chocolate flavor that will make you forget all about Nutella. They are a little sandwich shop in NYC that makes a variety of gourmet peanut butter flavors that are easy to find in most major markets. You can check out their site for a store near you and see the list of other yummy flavors such as Mighty Maple, White Chocolate, Honey and more. They have some great recipes online too.

My other new favorite is made by P.B. Loco, a company specializing in what they call "peanut butter for adults", with flavors ranging from Asian Curry, Cocoa Banana, Cookie Dough and many more. Their Sumatra Cinnamon Raisin version is unbelievable. Sounds kind of weird, I know, but picture cinnamon raisin bread toasted with peanut butter and you get the idea. Sooo good. Best of all, both brands are all natural. Please bring me a spoon.

Gingersnap Macaroons with Pumpkin Filling

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

This was my first run at making macaroons so I wasn't sure how far to go with experimentation. Aside from staying close to the Gramercy Tavern recipe, Ami's only rule was that we use a filling for the cookies. With it being Fall right now, I decided I wanted to do something with pumpkin and ginger. I'm really happy with the flavors and would definitely make these again, although I lost the volume and texture in the egg white step - they came out pretty thin. Next time around I will stick with granulated sugar for that part. A very easy recipe though - see steps below:

Mix together your almond flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon and ginger. You'll notice the almond flour is pretty coarse.

The important step is whipping your eggs whites to stiff peaks and keeping them that way after adding the granulated sugar. You can see by the photo above that mine fell by the time I incorporated the flour mixture into them. Here's the thing: Make sure your eggs whites are at room temp as the recipe says. I did this and they started out perfect. However, where the recipe called for white granulated sugar, I substituted brown sugar to give it more of a gingersnap flavor. I realize now that there was probably too much moisture in the brown sugar which cost me the pillowy consistency and trademark "feet" on the bottom.

You'll want the rounds as close in shape as can be since you will be matching them together with filling. I used a cake decorating bag with 1/2" tip to pipe the batter onto the sheets. Another important step: Be sure to line your bakeware with parchment paper if you want these to remove intact.

So you can see they didn't rise as they should have, but they did keep their sheen on top and their perfect chewy texture.

So I cheated a bit in that I didn't make my filling from scratch. Trader Joe makes this amazing pumpkin butter that is perfect on pancakes, bread, toast, pretty much everything. If you've never tried it, let me assure you there's not actual butter in it, it's a blend of pumpkin and spices in spreadable consistency - just like apple butter. It was the perfect compliment to the ginger and cinnamon in the macaroons. Note: You may view the full cookie recipe here.

Be sure to check out the other Daring Kitchen posts - there are some really creative combinations! I've noticed espresso, chocolate, cherry, mint, and even green tea versions posted so far. Great job everyone.

Sugar Hiatus is Over - The Blog is Back!

Thanks so much to all of you sweet folks who inquired about my MIA blogging status. Love you all and appreciate the inquiries. Back around 4th of July weekend I started having major blood sugar issues and was put on a super strict diet to balance hypoglycemia which meant the only sugar I was allowed to have was apples. And for a girl who has been able to eat anything she wants whenever she wants, switching to limited amounts of structured meals was a huge adjustment. So for a few long months I lost all interest in cooking and blogging and I'm sorry I didn't keep up on your sites as well. Ignorance is bliss and I know how amazing all of your posts are and just couldn't bear to see what I was missing. Long story short, everything is back in check and I'm eating normal again. Just don't expect any recipes that involve apples for awhile.

I can't wait to catch up on all of your sites. Fall is here and I'm looking forward to trying out some new seasonal foods and getting back to having food parties for my friends so stay tuned! And if any of you have any recipes using agave syrup, please let me know. I am going to try and start baking with that in place of refined sugar whenever possible but not sure about the ratios with recipes.

xoxo - shannon

Bakewell Tart with Rose Petal Jam

What I love about this recipe is that I now know how easy it is to actually make it. It's something I've seen in the European bakery cases and a myriad of cooking magazines, but one of those things that in the back of your mind seems like it would take all afternoon. So not the case. And I suppose that's the reason for the Daring Bakers addiction: I'm forced to attempt something that I normally wouldn't take the time for. Or in the case of the March challenge, something that was way out of my culinary comfort zone.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England. Bakewell tarts combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits. Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almond pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almond sponge cake-like filling.

The version we were assigned was a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavored shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

I've shared the basic steps below and you can view the complete recipe here.

So here we go. After making the sweetcrust pastry, fill the tart shell with homemade preserves or in my case, store bought. I chose rose petal jam because I wanted to see how it went with the almond flavoring. Delicious by the way...

Next, you add your layer of frangipane...

After that, it goes in the oven with some almonds added near the end of baking time. It's that easy!

Zabaglione with Amaretto

This is absolutely one of the easiest desserts you can make this summer, using whatever fresh fruit you have on hand. I opted for blueberries and strawberries the other day and it was delicious. Blackberries, raspberries or peaches would also be nice.

Zabaglione

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup amaretto

In a medium to large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the amaretto and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure it fits snugly enough for the bowl to rest on top of the pan. Whisk the mixture for about 5 to 10 minutes until it becomes hot and thickens. If it coats the back of a spoon it's ready. Pour over fresh fruit that has been divided among 4 ramekins or parfait cups and serve immediately. It's that easy!

I actually had some of this leftover and after it was refrigerated it became more of a custard consistency so you really could enjoy it either way. I've also heard of versions where fresh whipped cream is mixed into the zabaglione before serving to give it more of a mousse texture. I think I prefer it hot over the berries with a bit of whipped cream on top.

The only way I can picture this tasting any better would to actually be sitting in Italy, enjoying it at an outdoor cafe. Sigh...

Plum Tart and a Warm Thank You

Plum Tart is a wonderful thing. When baked, plums have the consistency of apples, but with a deliciously different flavor. There are many variations for this recipe so you really have to go on your own taste. You can add a custard base before baking or skip the custard and serve the tart with ice cream or fresh whipped cream. It's equally good as a stand alone slice, even with breakfast. :)

The first time I ever had plum tart was when my friend was visiting from Germany and she made it without a tart pan. Her version was more rustic and involved rolling out the pastry onto a cookie sheet, pouring in the filling and pulling up the sides over top and baking. Very simple and good. For convenience, I like using a tart pan with a removable bottom because it makes for flawless edges.

Before I share with you the recipe for this delicious pastry, I want to send a thank you out to Heavenly Housewife, a fellow food blogger and kindred spirit from the UK who was kind enough to pass on a Meme award to me.  She has great taste in food and very entertaining posts so I do hope you will visit her site.

So are you ready to make the tart? Let's get started:

Tart Shell

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

14 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2" pieces

ice water

Stir together your flour, sugar and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until you have coarse, pea-sized bits. Add some ice water, a couple tablespoons at a time until mixture is moist enough to form a ball of dough. Shape the dough into a ball and flatten to a disc in between two pieces of wax paper. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour.

Filling

1 1/2 lbs. plums, pitted and cut into slices

4 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tablespoon flour

1/4 cup apricot preserves

Assembly

Mix sugar, spices and flour together in a bowl. Add plums and toss together well. Set aside while you bake your crust.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 14" round. Carefully lay the dough into your tart pan, smoothing out any air and pressing tight to the edges. Trim around the top, leaving about 1/2" inch overhang. Press/crimp this along the top inside of the pan. Because you'll be adding a juicy fruit filling, you will want to blind-bake your crust. Line the inside with parchment paper, making sure paper comes up about an inch over the side. Fill the sides and center with rice (to weigh down the paper). Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

Carefully remove the rice and parchment paper. Pour plumb mixture into the partially baked shell, arranging plums skin side down. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F and then reduce heat to 375F and bake 40 minutes more. Slightly warm the apricot preserves and brush over top of of plums when the tart is removed from the oven. Cool at least an hour before serving.

Homemade Apple Strudel

Apples, raisins, walnuts and flaky, buttery crust.....delicious!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was my first attempt at homemade strudel and I learned a lot throughout the process of what to do and what NOT to do next time around. All in all it was a fun experience AND a team effort. My sister-in-law is a German teacher and she has been wanting to make some authentic German food with her students so she came over to make a test run with some of the recipes first. Her apple strudel recipe was almost a mirror image of the one Linda and Coco selected, with only a few variations. The one thing we discovered was you really do need a pastry cloth in order to roll the pastry out thin enough. I thought my pie mat would do the trick but it wasn't large enough or as flexible as we needed. The recipe even suggests a tablecloth but a large pastry cloth should work well.

Below are some steps for assembly and you can view the full recipe here. The filling is quite easy: some walnuts, apples, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and orange rind.

Rolling the strudel dough out thin enough is definitely a challenge. Again, I recommend a pastry cloth (not a pastry mat as used below.) The cloth will allow you to stretch the dough paper thin and give you leverage for rolling it into the log shape after filling.

Sealing up the ends....

Be sure to brush with butter throughout the baking process so the outside is lightly browned when removed from the oven.

More Cake Please

Can one ever have too much cake, really? Lately it seems that I have been eating a fair share of it. Sometimes I get in a pie rut where all I want is pie. Right now I'm definitely in cake mode.

The picture above is my mom's chocolate cake that I always want for my birthday. (Or any other time for that matter.) I like it best layered like this because you can have frosting sandwiched throughout. You'll want to add a nice layer of white frosting or buttercream in the middle. So delicious!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup softened butter or shortening

1 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate

 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on low for 1 minute. Mix for 3 minutes on high speed and pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9 inch round pans. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. You can also use a 9 x 13 pan, and bake it for 40 minutes.
Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the pans and removing the cakes to cool. Note: When I grease and flour cake pans, I like to cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and then I pour the batter right over top. This allows the cakes to be removed perfectly after baking.

Spicy Skillet Pasta with Chicken Italian Sausage

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes to make on a weeknight because it doesn't require a lot of time and there's not much clean up. It's also a recipe that can be easily adjusted spice-wise to your own taste. If you're not a fan of spice, feel free to substitute the spicy Italian sausage with sweet, or simply omit the red pepper flakes. If you're like me and actually like your eyes to water a bit, stick with the spicy sausage and add as many pepper flakes as you like. And,if you're having guests, you can actually make two separate skillets of this dish -  one mild, one medium-hot.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound Spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing (chicken or pork)

1 28-oz can diced or crushed tomatoes

2/3 cup whipping cream or half & half

1 pound bow-tie pasta

Fresh basil & Parmesan

Heat your oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and crushed red pepper and sauté until sausage is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. You can break it up with your spoon into small chunks as it cooks. Add your onion and garlic and sauté about 3 minutes longer. Add your tomatoes and cream (or half & half) and reduce heat to low, simmering for 5 minutes. Add a sprinkle or two of salt to taste.

Cook your pasta in large pot of boiling water until just slightly tender but still firm to bite. Drain and add to sausage mixture, stirring until pasta is well-coated by sauce. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Transfer to a nice serving dish and garnish with chopped basil and serve with fresh grated Parmesan. Note: Try to use fresh basil if possible for this dish. I was out of fresh basil when I recently made it and used dried basil instead. The dish was still delicious but the fresh basil adds a more intense flavor. Hope you enjoy!