a sofa in the kitchen

Looking Back : 2011

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

2011 was the year.

It always starts with breakfast.

After which, the biggest question was popped.

Speaking of questions, I spent a week over at Glamorous Gadabouts answering Miss Poppy's fabulous questionnaires all about yours truly. Which culminated with my 300th blog post featuring some very delicious sweet & salty chocolate pretzel cupcakes.

I then hosted the infamous Daring Bakers, challenging my fellow bakers to whip up a batch of silky panna cotta & chewy oatmeal Florentine cookies.

I shook up these kiwi martinis spiked with a bottle of Dry's lemongrass soda. Somehow the company got wind of these green beauties and asked to feature this recipe in their Dry Soda App.

Then there's this whacky creation.

It's one hell of a cornbread mess, but delicious nonetheless.

Something sweet & simple. A whipped cream pound cake for Easter.

After a dream of a foodie trip to Portland, and breakfast at Pine State, I had a hankering to make the perfect biscuit. These may be as close as I ever get.

One particularly stressful, wedding planning, grey and rainy weekend called for my favorite comfort dishes of all time - macaroni and cheese. This one spiked with bacon & caramelized onion.

Our indian summer produced some of the sweetest, floral apricots you've ever tasted. The fiance, our beard and I spent an evening turning 10 pounds into 20 jars of vanilla bean apricot jam - which turned out to be the most delicious of wedding favors.

As the big day approached my dearest friend, and maid of honor, hosted the most perfect of bridal showers.

I took a few months away from blogging to spend weeks in Kauai and get married.

Without a doubt, the best three weeks of my life.

We then thoroughly enjoyed our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.

So a serious toast to the year 2011, one which I will never forget.

And a look ahead to 2012, a year I intend to make just as unforgettable.

Cheers!

Simply Breakfast : Smoked Salmon Egg Salad

2011-12-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Smoked salmon egg salad, it's quite possibly the quickest, mind-blowingly delicious weekend breakfast there is. Confession; it's also one of the husbands favorite simple weeknight dinners. It hits all the tastebud spots. Creamy, hearty, salty and bright. And from start to finish, about 20 minutes to make, which doesn't get better on the weekend, leaving you plenty of time to do all the wonderful things you love to do come Saturday and Sunday. Read the newspaper, sip coffee on the beach, snuggle with your hubby (or the dogs), window shop - that's what weekends are for. In our house, they're also for breakfasts like this.

Now, this dish is so simple you don't even need recipe, but I'll lay it out for you anyway. Because let's be honest, it's Saturday and who really wants to use their brain or braun today?

Slathered on crackers, piled high on warm toasted english muffins, or wrapped in butter lettuce leaves, you'll be happy you whipped this one together. The protein will keep you going for hours, whatever activity it is you like to do on Saturday, and the dish itself will having your stomach and your tastebuds feeling spoiled.

Happy Saturday readers! Wishing you a lovely one!

Smoked Salmon Egg Salad

Ingredients

5 eggs

2 Tabelspoons mayo (I always use light)

3/4 teaspoon yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

squeeze of lemon

3 ounces smoked salmon

Directions

1. Medium/Hard boil the eggs (bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes, ice bath eggs when finished).

2. Mix remaining five ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

3. Chop eggs and pile into bowl with the other ingredients.

4. Mix well and enjoy in, or on, whichever vessel you choose! Perhaps straight out of the bowl?!

Masculine : Orange Spiked Brandy

2011-12-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

I realized something today that should've been entirely obvious. As I spent the afternoon in my kitchen cooking (or in this case pouring) up three recipes for the blog - I found myself grinning. Ear to ear. There I was hopping about the kitchen to the music pouring out of the speakers in the next room, smiling like a fool. Dancing, cooking, pouring, and photographing. I was truly happy. That's when it hit me. I love blogging. I love every aspect of it. I love creating food to share, I love setting it up, taking pictures of it, and ultimately writing about it. It brings a joy to my day to day life that cannot be compared. I need more of this feeling in my life, I must blog more. So there you have it, my (perhaps slightly obvious) confession.

Okay, moving on.

As far as drinks go this is just about as simple as it gets. I've never been a brown-liquor girl. I've always enjoyed the clean, often barely there, taste of clear liquors. Darker spirits aren't that. They're generally richer, mustier, deeper. They're not to be ignored. These facts have always put me off. Until recently.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I'm a little (at best) odd. Case in point. For no good reason one day, I decided that I wanted to teach myself to enjoy dark liquor. I got it in my head that there was something sophisticated, classic, masculine and a bit dangerous about a pour of dark liquid in a crystal clear glass. And I wanted a part of it. My understanding is that whiskey's, bourbons, cognacs and brandys are best enjoyed pure. Leave the the frilly mixers, and fancified rims to the vodka cocktails of the world. So that's (essentially) what I did here, my first at home attempt at a classic dark drink. A few ounces of high quality brandy poured over crushed ice, add a touch of triple sec and a thick orange twist and you've got yourself one delicious at-home-happy-hour sip. One thing I love about these darker drinks is that they encourage a bit more enjoyment, you're not likely to guzzle this one down as you would, say a pear martini. As the ice melts a bit, the drink gets even smoother and more enjoyable. A drink to be savored, who wouldn't love that?!

After a few of these drinks at home in the evening, around our christmas tree, and an order or two of similar drinks at my favorite bar, I'm on my way to becoming a true lover of the dark side.

Cheers!

thanksgiving two-thousdand-eleven

2011-11-24T18:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving readers!

This year marked the first thanksgiving my dear husband and I spent as a married couple.

We enjoyed copious amounts of food, wine, and delightful company. This wonderful day has me giddy for the holiday season, that as of today, has officially arrived. Hoping your day has been a wonderful one!

makin' whoopie : part deux

2011-11-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it? During the interim this food blogger married the love of her life, then proceeded to spend two glorious weeks with said love on the island of Kauai. Planning and pulling off a wedding is no an easy feat. This, coming from a girl who relishes throwing lavish soirees. That wedding kicked my butt. Kauai healed it. And here I am. Back to cooking, writing, photographing and absolutely ready for the holidays! So, I present to you the pumpkin whoopie pie.

This isn't my first time makin' whoopie. Two years ago during the holiday season I shared these decadent chocolate peppermint whoopie pies with you, surely a Christmas treat worthy of any cookie platter. Those chocolate cake, cookie combos marked my virgin whoopie baking experience. I was immediately smitten. Whoopie pies are basically perfection. Two incredibly moist lumps of cake filled with heaps of frosting. Plus, they're pretty darn cute, especially miniaturized (the only way I've ever made them). Tiny whoopies also make a fantastic gift, as they're a bit more exciting than your standard cookie, but nearly as simple. These whoopie pies were just that, a little 'just because' giftie for a few of my nearest. We'd made plans to slurp down some spicy hot Pho on a particularly chilly Friday evening and a I had nothing to do the day of, so on a whim I decided to whip them up a little something to take home and enjoy after dinner. A bit of tissue paper, a few craft paper bags, and some yarn made the package pretty. Whoopie pies inside made them delicious. Needless to say, the recipients were quite happy. After dinner, I don't think one person made it out of the restaurant lobby before tearing open their bags and enjoying at least one of the treats buried inside.

Seeing as it's not quite December, and we have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the states, chocolate and peppermint were off the table. I wanted whoopie that screamed "fall!" "autumn!", and I think these gems do just that. Pumpkin spice whoopie pies filled to the brim with a maple vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. The cakes themselves not too pumpkin-y, not too spice cake-y, I'd say a perfect balance, piled high with plenty of sweet maple filling for good measure, how could these be anything but perfection? And I swear the cakes were even moister the next day, making them a great holiday choice. You'd be safe whipping these up a day ahead and keeping them stored in an airtight container. I promise you, these whimsical little treats will be sure to delight whomever you decide to share them with, that is, if you can resist the urge to hoard them all for yourself.

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

(Whoopie)

3 cups unbleached AP flour

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 Tablespoons butter (room temp)

3/4 golden brown sugar

3/4 granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs (room temp)

15 oz pure pumpkin puree

1/2 cup milk

Ingredients

(Filling)

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (room temp)

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon mapel-ine (maple extract)

(or subtract a bit of powdered sugar and add a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup)

1/2 vanilla bean scraped

1 to 2 Tablespoons half and half, cream or milk (to thin filling if needed)

Directions

(Whoopie)

Preheat oven to 350 F

1. Sift first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and both sugars. On medium high, mix until well incorporated (2-3 minutes).

3. With the mixer still going, slowly add your vegetable oil.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing 30 seconds between each.

5. Add pumpkin and mix until incorporated (scraping down bowl as needed).

6. Reduce speed to medium-low and add the flour and milk in two additions, staring with flour, milk, then ending with flour.

6. Cover bowl and chill for one hour.

7. With a melon baller scoop chilled dough out onto a prepared cookie sheet (you need a silpat or parchment, and if using parchment oil it too, these babies are that moist, they will stick).

8. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet, transfer to parchment lined counter (my wire racks dug into their moist cakey flesh).

9. Repeat until all of your whoopies are baked.

10. Cool completely, then fill with your filling. I use my melon baller, about half full, dump onto one whoopie top with another and viola! Whoopie!

Directions

(Filling)

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. 2-3 minutes.

2. Reduce the speed to slow (or all of your sugar will escape) and add powdered sugar. Mix until creamy. Another 2-3 minutes.

3. Add maple extract, vanilla bean scrapings and milk (if desired). Mix well.

4. Fill your cakes and make whoopie!

a most important day

2011-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

Snapshot Sunday : A Very Special Shower

2011-09-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Favors : Apricot Jam

2011-09-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the fiance, our favorite bearded friend and I spent an evening making apricot jam. We'd devoted the entire afternoon to the lake, we swam, jumped off the rock dock, lunched, and lounged. Apricot jam was the perfect end to a nearly perfect summer day. I lit all the candles in the kitchen (of which there are many), opened all the windows, and softly played Bon Iver radio on Pandora. Oh yes, I was setting a jam-making-mood. I love to do that when I cook, scratch that, I like to do that period. I'm a mood setter. I admit it. Make your surroundings lovely and a bit of enchantment is sure to follow. The happier the jam makers were, the better I figured the jam would turn out. My wedding guests are going to hear that soft music, feel that candlelight, or smell that sweet end of summer breeze in their jam, mark my words!

David Lebovitz is one of the few who has never let me down. No matter the recipe, whether it's chocolate ice cream, carnitas, or this apricot jam, the man knows his stuff. I tripled his recipe for apricot jam to produce the 18 jars I needed, and added the guts of a few vanilla beans. My hope was for this small army of jars to mimick the candles I plan to have strewn about our reception dinner, natural beeswax tapers doted with bits of dirt. May sound odd, but it's actually quite stunning. Think vanilla bean studded apricot jam.

I apologize as there are no filled jar pictures to share with you. Sunlight faded quickly that evening, and although the three of us were more than content to make jam by the light of a kitchen filled with candles, my camera did not agree with the lack of natural light. If apricots are still available at your local farm stands or markets, why not pick up a couple of pounds and spend an evening canning a few jars of jam? Your tastebuds will thank you when you pull out a jar of apricot sunshine in the dead of winter. It's also not a bad way to spend one of your last summer days.

In The Making : Caramelized Onion Mac & Cheese

2011-08-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's been so long, I really don't know what to say. Perhaps only that this blog post has been a long time in the making. It's been far too long, I realize. Here it is, nearing the 2 o'clock hour (in the middle of the night, or early morning, however you want to look at it) and I type away. Determined. I can't fathom that months have passed without a word. A recipe. A photograph.

Life. It has a funny way of speeding up and passing you by. Wedding planning, deaths in the family, birthdays, a newborn, math exams and swimming the waters of my favorite lake on a nearly daily basis have gobbled up what has now quickly become a fast fading summer. Life gets the better of us at times, without our even realizing it, and that's what has happened to me. But, here I am, ready to return, for good. I will be finished with school next week, leaving me plenty of free time to finish planning my October wedding and blog. I truly plan to make up for my absence.

Only days after my 26th birthday, I feel it necessary to mark my return with a personal favorite. If I were hooked up to the electric chair tomorrow, this dish (in just about any form) would be on my last meal list. Macaroni and cheese, it's always been a favorite. The mere mention has angels singing, heavenly light shining down, and my tastebuds wagging. There is something so simple yet unbeatable about pasta bathing in a silky, gooey, cheese sauce.

I'm always attracted to mac and cheese on a menu. If it's there, I generally have no choice but to order it. So it's fair to say that I've had quite a bit of macaroni and cheese in my day, and unfortunately rarely am I impressed with what I'm served. Restaurants have a hard time getting it right, often serving up oily, bland, or dry versions of this beloved dish of mine. Then a few months ago it happened, I met one of the ultimate mac and cheese matches at a new bistro here in Bellingham. The base was a white smoked gouda (which I'm not a general fan of, but boy did it work here), penne pasta, perfectly dark caramelized onion (I could eat caramelized onions all day long), and local bacon. They got it right, simply and straightforwardly. The flavor combination was not only spot on, but the texture was perfection, gooey, sticky, and silky. A bowl of stovetop mac and cheese perfection. The bistro was open for less than a year, then one day, on my way to treat myself to a bowl of said macaroni and cheese, there on the door hung a small craft paper sign, a goodbye letter. A few weeks have passed since that sad day, and the cravings finally hit me. So I picked up the same ingredients and set out to quell my thirst for the Bistros macaroni and cheese.

Perfection. Extra gooey sauce poured over perfectly al dente noodles, tossed with a large vat of caramelized onion and slow roasted salty bacon. My fork and I went a little nuts. But boy, was it worth the full belly ache and weight gain!

Caramelized Onion & Bacon
Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

2 onions
1/2 stick butter
1 Tablespoon evoo
-
6 slices of the best bacon you can get your hands on
-
1 cup smoked gouda
2 cups gruyere
1 cup sharp cheddar
1/2 cup parmesan/ramano/or pecorino
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
4 cups warm milk
14 1/2 oz penne pasta (cooked al dente)

Directions

1. First caramelize your onions. Halve or quarter your onions and cut into thin slices. Melt 1/2 stick butter and olive oil in a medium size, high sided skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, cook 5 minutes until slightly translucent, add salt and pepper (a pinch of cayenne for a kick) then reduce heat to very low. Cook for at least an hour, stirring occasionally, until onions are a gorgeous deep amber color. Remove onions from skillet and set aside.
2. Fry your bacon to your preference in the same skillet. Remove and place on paper towel to cool. Once it's cooled chop or tear into bite sized pieces.
3. To this very same skillet (imagine all that good bacon, caramelized onion flavor in there!) over medium/low heat, add 3 Tablespoons of butter and melt. Once butter has melted add the flour and cook together for at least one minute, you want to cook off the flour a bit so your sauce doesn't taste of it. Slowly whisk in your milk, I do about a cup at a time. Be sure to whisk well. After each addition let this mixture bubble and thicken (can take up to 5-10 minutes as you near the end). If need be add a bit more milk, you don't want this sauce to be oh-so thick because you'll be adding a lot of cheese which will naturally thicken it up.
4. Once you've got a slightly thick, silky bechamel, remove skillet from heat and whisk in cheeses, a few cups at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth.
5. With a wooden spoon, fold in your cooked pasta, then onions, and finally cooked bacon.
6. Try to resist eating the whole vat.

Expect to see a lot more of me my friends!

What To Do : Biscuits

2011-06-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

The last time we spoke, it was of biscuits. Buttery, flakey, downright dreamy biscuits.

So what do you do with those biscuits? Sure you could go nuts a la Pine State and pile your biscuits high with a fried egg, some bacon, melting cheddar, fried chicken and homemade sausage gravy, but here at home I opted for something slightly different, and far less laborious.

This breakfast biscuit was made for the fiance. Before work, he craves for food that's simple, quick and flavorful, so I whipped together this biscuit sandwich up for him with ingredients we had laying about. I roasted a whole jalapeno over our cooktop, sliced it in half and set it atop a gooey fried egg (just as we like em, the runnier the yolk, the better) and a hand formed fried chicken sausage pattie. Slathering the inside of each biscuit round with soft salted butter kissed with a touch of lavender honey really didn't hurt either. Sweet, salty, spicy and scrumptious, four of my favorite s-words!

The best way to use up your biscuits in my book? Breakfast sandwiches. Anyway you make them, whatever you throw in em', I promise you, they'll be delicious.

Biscuit Bliss

2011-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

Biscuits are serious business for some. Very serious business. I've read ongoing debates about the right ingredients, methods, as well as various tips and tricks. As a girl growing up in the Northwest and in a Norwegian household, I rarely caught sight of a biscuit, let alone baked one. Regardless of what was normally on the table as a kid, I've become an avid southern food fan. It's comfort food to the hilt, just my kind of poison. My love of southern cuisine has given way to a curiosity about the highly revered, seemingly simple (but not so much so), southern born biscuit.

A recent trip to Portland (Oregon, of all places) only hightend my interest in baking up my very own batch of perfect biscuits. Breakfast at Pine State Biscuits is as close to a religious food experience as one can get. I spared no artery or fat cell at Pine State, ordering up what was both the most delicious and highly caloric plate ever placed in front of me. The Reggie Deluxe. Pine States famous (and by far the most perfect biscuit specimen I've ever had the pleasure to taste) stuffed with a giant piece of boneless white meat incredibly crispy and perfectly seasoned fried chicken, cheddar cheese, freshly fried bacon, an egg, and wait for it. . . sausage gravy. Let's recap - biscuit, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, egg, sausage gravy. And. I. ate. every. bite. The guy sitting next to me waned to his dining partner that he could never justify eating fried chicken for breakfast, and thus couldn't bring himself to order the The Reggie. I shot him a slight look of disgust and aiming to convey the one word that jumped into my head upon his confession, 'pussy', as I slowly relished every bite. Is it something you should eat every Saturday morning? Well, no. But at least once (twice, three, or perhaps twenty plus times) in your lifetime? Do I even have to answer that for you?

Upon my return home I searched, endlessly, for Pine States biscuit recipe, my version of the biscuit holy grail. I turned up empty handed. For a moment, I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I found an article on Oprah's website for The Reggie. As I waited for the page to load I thought 'if these boys gave their biscuit recipe to anyone, it's Oprah', I believe that woman has the power to break, or buy anyone. So imagine my disappointment when the recipe was simply a list of ingredients, a blueprint if you will, the recipe suggested using a buttermilk biscuit, but hell if they were going to give you their recipe. Perhaps Oprah is not as powerful as I once thought? After some additional internet research, including reading multiple discussion boards regarding Pine States guarded biscuit recipe and hoping desperately to run across some jilted ex-employee serving up the recipe goods, and still failing to find anything remotely close to a recipe I gave up. Lucky for me I didn't give up on making biscuits, I gave up on Pine's recipe.

These biscuits have the high rise I like mixed with a soft denseness, a touch of sweet mixed with plenty of savory goodness. The best biscuit I've ever made and my new go-to biscuit. It may not be yours, depending on your biscuit I.Q. this biscuit may not be your cup of tea. But for a newbie to the biscuit baking game, I loved these.

Close to Perfection Biscuits

via Home Based Mom

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 400 F

4 cups flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup cold, cold butter

16 oz sour cream

3-5 teaspoons water

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.

2. Add pads of butter and pulse until you butter is the texture of pebbles in your flour mixture.

3. Add sour cream and water and pulse until just mixed.

4. Dust a board or your counter with a bit of flour, turn dough onto surface, and knead very gently just to incorporate a dough (being careful not to heat the butter with your hands).

5. Role dough to 1 - 1 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter (or drinking glass, rim dipped in a bit of flour). Place evenly spaced on silpat or prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake in heated oven for 14-17 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Delicious warm out of the oven, with salted butter & plenty of sweet amber honey.

Whip It Good : Whipped Cream Cake

2011-04-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not a well planned food blogger. I'm not one to make Easter candy, or Valentines dessert, or Halloween cookies weeks before hand just so I can blog about them. That probably makes me kind of a lame food blogger at times, since rarely can you count on me for fabulous ideas before the respective holiday arrives. And although I may lack in planning strategies when it comes to blogging, my hope is that my posts give you some great ideas, recipes you want to make, and food you want to eat any time of the year. Case in point. My easter dessert. What we ate on easter, not before. In fact, I whipped this cake up, start to finish, in less than 40 minutes. A cake worthy of baking spring, summer, fall or winter.

This cake is a recipe of Rose Levy Beranbaum's from the book Rose's Heavenly Cakes. My original easter dessert plan was to serve vanilla bean pavlova's with stewed rhubarb, lemon curd, strawberries, and freshly whipped cream. But you see, my mother was coming over to our house for easter dinner, and if you are anything like me, when the mother is coming over cleaning the house takes on a whole new meaning. I cleaned. And cleaned. In fact I cleaned all day. And still, if probably wasn't 'mom clean'. The ham was set to go in at 4:30, and by the time I'd finished cleaning it was 3:00. I had run out of time for a proper pavlova and I desperately needed a plan b. A quick to make, quick to bake plan b that could be served with the same accompainments planned for pavlova. . . Rose came to the rescue.

Sure it looks like a bundt cake, but it's better. No butter here, can you imagine? A cake without butter? The heavy cream more than makes up for it. Whipped to a frenzy, mixed with standard cake ingredients like vanilla, eggs, and flour, the resulting batter is light, creamy, and quite unique. The best part of all? It took only 25-30 minutes to bake, half the time of any bundt cake I've ever made. Perfection in a pinch. This cake was light in texture, just sweet enough, and the perfect vehicle for all sorts of tasty toppings (kind of like the cake version of vanilla ice cream in a sundae). So the next time you run out of time for dessert, or are craving a quick sweet fix that packs a pretty punch, please consider Rose's whipped cream cake. Surely, wonderful any time of the year.

Rose's Whipped Cream Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups Cake Flour or 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons Baking powder
3/4 teaspoons Salt
1 1/2 cups Heavy cream, cold
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Superfine sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, whip the cream, starting on low speed, gradually raising the speed to medium-high as it thickens, until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla just until lightly combined. On medium-high speed, gradually beat the egg mixture into the whipped cream. The mixture will thicken into mayonnaise consistency (unless high-butterfat cream is used). Gradually beat in the sugar. It should take about 30 seconds to incorporate it. [Here's a slight change in how I now incorporate the flour thanks to both Marie Wolf and Hector Wong commenting on the difficulty with a rubber or silicone spatula] Detach the bowl and whisk beater from the stand.

3. Add half the flour mixture to the cream mixture and, with the whisk attachment stir and fold in the flour until most of it disappears. Add the rest of the flour mixture and continue folding and mixing until all traces of flour have disappeared. Using a silicone spatula or spoon, scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Run a small metal spatula or dull knife blade through the batter to prevent large air bubbles, avoiding the bottom of the pan. Smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula.

4. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted between the tube and the side comes out completely clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. With a small metal spatula, loosen the top edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Cool completely.

Unconverted : Banana Bread

2011-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine, I like to call her Reaux, fellow food lover, gourmet cooking groupie, and overall soul sister, often searches for recipes by typing 'the worlds best _____' into her favorite search engine. Now understand, the girl doesn't choose the first recipe that pops up. She's got a keen eye for ingredients and directions, scouring numerous versions of the top recipes before landing on (or combining a few to create) a final recipe. She generally uses this method for classics; chocolate cake, cookies, coq au vin, etc. Since she always seems to knock it out of the park doing this, I decided to implement her search process for banana bread. Primarily because I don't like it, and therefore know very little about it. Yes, you read that correctly, I'm not fond of banana bread and understandably so have never really had a desire to make it. Dare I say this in the food world, but, banana bread is boring, kind of ugly and tastes far too much like, well, bananas! Thus, my lack of interest in whipping up a loaf. That was until I somehow wasted yet another batch of bananas. Positive I wasn't ok with throwing them away I knew I had to come up with a plan b. My solution? Banana bread of course. Simple and quick, with a list of ingredients (including the bordering on rotten bananas) I already had on hand. Regardless of my general feelings towards the stuff, I knew it was the route I was destined to take to save my browning bananas. I realized that if I was going to voluntarily make banana bread, for the first time, and possibly the last, ever, I needed to give it the best shot I could. Thus Reaux's search tactics came into play.

Anyone who knows me well enough will tell you, I can be pretty darn impatient. Therefore, instead of scouring recipe after recipe a la Reaux, I clicked 'image' search and picked the picture I thought looked most appealing. Here is where I landed. Once I read through the description I figured a guarded long used mom recipe couldn't be bad. And it wasn't. In fact, I may actually go as far to say it was good, the banana bread lovers in my life were going gaga for the stuff. Best of all, it was just out of the oven moist & soft for four days, and it made the house smell amazing. All in all I can't complain, it surely wasn't the worst experience, but unfortunately I remain an unconverted banana bread lover. But if you are, and I bet you are, bake this. Easy, quick, and simple with winning results. Who could ask for more?

Best I've Ever Tasted Banana Bread

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar & 1/4 cup honey

(I modified to add the honey, if you don't like it than just use 1 cup sugar)

1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature

3 very ripe medium sized bananas

2 eggs, well beaten

1 1/4 cup ap flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed cream the butter and sugar together for 3-5 minutes until light in color.

2. Add the bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Beat another 2 minutes to incorporate well.

3. In a small separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients.

4. Dump flour mixture into wet mixture and beat on medium speed until just incorporated. Do not overmix here. Seriously.

5. Pour into a prepared loaf pan and bake in your preheated oven for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

6. If I were a banana bread lover I would turn this mother out 5-10 minutes after it comes out, slather a slice with soft salted butter and devour.

Happy Easter.

2011-04-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a relaxing, tasty, beautiful Easter Sunday.

A Hot Mess : Cornbread Stacked Salad

2011-04-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

That's right. This dish is a hot mess and I know it (unlike half the hot messes out there).

Regardless, this is one unique and tasty hot mess.

Let's jump in so I can explain what you're looking at.

First, you start with a thick(ish) slice of incredibly moist, sweet, sharp cheddar cornbread.

Next, a few large butter lettuce leaves.

Then, a scoop of home pickled red onion.

A sprinkling of fried chicken sausage.

Followed by, a perfectly poached egg.

Drizzled with a homemade spicy, creamy, chive dressing.

All finished off with a sprinkling of cornbread 'sprinkles'.

Admittedly, I'm not sure this dish is up everyones alley, it was in fact a bit of an experiment. In the end I liked it, liked not Loved (notice the use of a capital L), but it could easily be tweaked. Perhaps substituting the chicken sausage for some deliciously fatty, salty pulled pork (pork and cornbread a natural pair), or the chive dressing for, well, I'm not entirely sure because hollandaise or anything in the same family would end up being far too rich with the cornbread I think. Yet, tweaked it could be. Ultimately, the flavors and textures worked really well. Soft slightly sweet cornbread with bits of sharp cheddar and pops of fresh corn kernels throughout. Crunchy light butter lettuce. Incredibly tangy red onions pickled in cider vinegar with thyme and honey. Salty bits of seasoned chicken sausage. Poached eggs with runny yolks that mixed beautifully with all of the other elements. Finally a creamy, spicy sauce to top it all off. Different, incredibly colorful, and a bit whimisical. A dish whose colors and flavors, for some reason, reminded me of our newly Spring season. All in all, not bad for a weeknight dinner!

Chive Dressing

1/2 cup creme fraiche
juice from one small lemon
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons fresh chive, chopped
1/2 teaspoon your favorite hot sauce
a pinch of cayenne

Directions:

1. In a small bowl whisk creme fraiche and lemon juice together.
2. Place the creme fraiche mixture in a standard jar, add the remaining ingredients, place the lid on the jar and shake vigorously.

Thus far, my favorite cornbread recipe.

Pickled Red Onions
(adapted from a Molly Wizenberg Bon Appetit Recipe)

1 small red onion quartered and sliced very thin (think caramelized onion)
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 sprigs of thyme
pinch of chili pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Pour cider vinegar, honey, sugar, thyme, and pepper flakes into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes (to dissolve honey and sugar).
2. Place onions in a jar.
3. Pour hot brining liquid over onions, cover, and leave at room temperature for 5 minutes. Uncover, and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
4. Screw lid onto jar, and chill in the refrigerator for up to ten days.

A Spin : Curried Chicken Salad

2011-04-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I know.

But you see, my lovely little white 8 month old ibook decided to burn up it's charging port on me a few weeks ago, so off it had to go the Apple doctor, and at home I was left with nothing more than the fiances old pc. Snoring boring. So blogging halted while this Spring weather and longer, lighter evenings definitely started to bring out the cook in me. Luckily, I was a smart girl and snapped photos of a few of my favorite dishes and drinks over the last few weeks so expect a slew of new content in the very near future.

First up, curried chicken salad. I loved this. Loved with a capital L! I want to have a bowl sitting in my fridge at all times. Although I made it for dinner I think it would make a satisfying after workout or after school snack and of course a wonderful lunch. It's simple, sweet, tangy, smoky, crunchy, creamy. . . basically, all things good. I mixed half a rotisserie chicken with light mayonnaise, plenty of Madras curry powder, sliced almonds, green onions, cilantro, sriracha, a touch of honey, and a bit of hungarian paprika. Let the culinary angels sing out *ahwwwwwh*. Spread on crackers, stuffed in a split pita with plenty of greens and veggies, or wrapped up in a whole grain tortilla - it's simply delish.

One thing I need to tell you, a disclaimer if you will, I did not measure my ingredients. Whenever I make chicken salad I generally just throw a bunch of ingredients in a bowl and hope for the best. What can go wrong, really? So I'll give you a recipe, of sorts, but it's not written in stone so be cautious, particularly with spices, start with a little, taste, add more, taste, you get the idea.

Dreaming of leftovers, too bad I don't have any.

Curried Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

half a rotisserie or roasted chicken shredded

2 1/2 Tablespoons light mayonnaise

quick squeeze of sriracha

1 Tablespoon (I know I used a LOT more, start slow here though) Madras curry powder

small handful of toasted sliced almonds

1 to 2 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

4 green onions sliced

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon hungarian smoked paprika

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl until every ingredient is well incorporated. The flavors will intensify as it sits, but it's also wonderful to nosh on immediately after being mixed together.

2. Spread it on or in your favorite carbohydrate, or simply eat it right out of the bowl.

Spring Green : Kiwi Lemongrass Cocktail

2011-03-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air. Plants are budding, birds occupy the trees each morning in droves, and the temperature outside has slowly begun to climb. I've already said it, and I'll say it again, I love when the seasons begin to change, the death of one and birth of another. Spring is likely my favorite. The color, the warmth, the sun, and the sweet smell. It's perfect.

In honor of this change, our hostess for my cooking clubs dinner this March, miss Ashley, chose the theme of green. Our dinner this Saturday falls smack dab between St Patties day and the Spring equinox. Ashley had only one (very good) stipulation; no artificial coloring. I've got the pleasure of serving my gourmet girls the cocktail and the appetizer course. I knew immediately that I wanted to make kiwi cocktails, complete with kiwi juice and pulp. Would it be green enough? I wondered. Clearly, green is not an issue. I amped this mixture up a bit by adding a splash of fresh lime and pineapple juice, finishing each drink with Dry Lemongrass soda. Refreshing, slightly sweet, tropical, light, and bubbly. Just about as perfect as a libation can get.

Wondering what I've got up my sleeve for appetizer? Stay tuned!

The Kiwi Cocktail

Serves Two

Ingredients:

4 oz Belvedere Vodka

6 oz kiwi juice (see note)

Kiwi Pulp

3 oz pineapple juice

1 oz fresh lime juice

Lemongrass Dry Soda

Directions:

1. In a cocktail shaker full of ice add vodka, kiwi, pineapple, and fresh lime juice. Shake well.

2. Pour mixture into two cocktail glasses of your choice full of ice with a tablespoon or two of kiwi pulp.

3. Top off with lemongrass soda, or sparkling water.

4. Sip and savor.

Note: For this recipe I used four kiwis, food processed them, and strained the juice using a sieve. This gave me about 3/4 cup kiwi juice and plenty of pulp.

Hostess : Daring Bakers February 2011

2011-02-27T14:11:00.000-08:00

Nearly a year ago I was approached about hosting my very own Daring Bakers challenge. I was a little new to the game but loved it so, and there were no hosting months available for nearly a year. Sure, I thought, plenty of time. I knew immediately I wanted February. A month with a fun, colorful little holiday smack dab in the middle, the perfect excuse to challenge the bakers to make something a little dreamy, even love inspired. For the first, oh, 10 months I was set on having them whip up Charlottes. I even bought two boxes of Rose de Reims biscuits in New York for the occasion, then made, and photographed two different versions. Yet, as the challenges wore on, and my month got closer, I felt it better to give the bakers something a little lighter and a little creamier, something a bit different than what we've been baking up. It was between panna cotta & creme brulee, desserts I adore equally. After a bit of hemming and hawing I chose the panna cotta, I felt it was a bit more versatile, adaptable, and fun. Still, as I told them, we're bakers, not whiskers and chillers. So while creamy, dreamy panna cotta was divine, we needed bake something. Then it came to me, florentines, wonderous little oat cookies that spread out in a large buttery puddle upon baking, slathered with chocolate. Smooth, silky panna cotta served alongside crispy, chewy, chocolatey florentines. . . it was as if the sun shone bright and angels sang out from above.

I'm always awe-inspired by my fellow bakers. The wonderful variations they come up with never fail to drop my jaw. Hosting this month I felt that ten-fold, what these bakers whipped together was beyond expectation, I didn't know panna cotta or florentines could be so beautiful, creative, or unique. From gorgeously tipped layers, to unique flavors and textures. To say that I was wowed does not do my amazement justice. I urge you, truly, to seek the bakers blogs out and marvel at the wonder they've created, they put my vanilla bean strawberry panna cotta and milk chocolate stuffed florentines to shame!

Thank you everyone who participated, encouraged one another, whisked, baked and created a frenzy of beauty. I hope in the end that you enjoyed my picks, had a blast making it. Everyone was so kind, supportive, and inventive, thank you again for inspiring me and allowing me to be your hostess this February!

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make panna cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe.

Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) whole milk

1 Tablespoon (generally one packet) (15 ml)(14.3 grams) (.5 oz) powdered gelatin

3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)

1/3 cup (80 ml) honey

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) (14.3 grams) (.5 oz)granulated sugar

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigetor for a few minutes before you start making the panna cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).

3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.

5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

Hope you love it!

Chocolate Panna Cotta:

Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes.

2. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.

3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.

4. Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.

5. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Nestle Florentine Cookies:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter

2 cups quick oats

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups dark or milk chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)

Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

2. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

3. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flaten slighty with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

5. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

6. Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire wrack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean). Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end)cookie atop the chocolate. This recipe will make about 2 1/2 - 3 dozen sandwiched florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

300th Post : Glamorous Gadabout : Double Chocolate Pretzel Cupcakes

2011-02-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Don't these cupcakes look sinfully delicious?! They are.

If you want the recipe, you'll need to head over to a fabulous website, Project Gadabout, published by the fantastically fun Poppy Darrington, sometime after 1pm tomorrow (Saturday). Poppy has been running a series she's dubbed 'Glamorous Gadabouts', wherein each week a blogger is featured for a week straight. When I say featured I mean this; Poppy asks said blogger to fill out fun questionnaires, treasure hunts, photograph the contents of ones bag. . . you get the idea, and features one of these items everyday for a week. This week, it was my turn! I had such fun filling out all of the questionnaires. Seven days all about me? For the Leo in me, that's quite exciting. Saturday she's going to feature this scrumptious recipe from yours truly, so be sure to head over there and check it out!

These cupcakes were inspired by a recent day trip to Seattle. I've cut back on my cupcakes as of late, but could not resist a trip last weekend to my all time, hands down favorite shop, Trophy Cupcakes. The first thing that caught my eye was this gorgeous row of double chocolate cupcakes, tops rolled in crushed pretzel. Swoon. How can you not love that comibination? Moist chocolate cake, rich fudgey frosting, crunchy, salty pretzel. I'll say it again, swoooon. I knew I had to try these at home, and share them with you. I took mine a step further and packed the bottom of each cupcake with a brown sugar/pretzel crust, only rolled only the edges (not the entire top) in pretzel dust (and salt), finishing each one off with a whole pretzel hand dipped in melted bittersweet chocolate.

Once more for the cheap seats in the back, swoon.

ps. I simply cannot believe this is my 300th post! That's a pretty major accomplishment for this food blogger, fairly amazing!

Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

I have an announcement. I'm engaged! I've actually been engaged for over a month now, but I wanted to announce it to most of my friends and family before posting anything official here on the blog. I didn't want someone to read it here without hearing it from this food bloggers mouth first. Though, admittedly I haven't necessarily kept it a secret either, as seen in the last post, the darling boyfriend is now being referred to as the fiancee, and soon enough the husband - eep! - So here I am, on the road to marriage!

Needless to say. I'm feeling extremely lovey dovey this Valentines day.

I also want to apologize. I've had an incredibly busy new year, I know I've been absent lately, far more than I'd like to be. But, I'll get back in the swing of things here incredibly soon. This week even. So stay tuned!

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you find time for a few special moments with your loved ones today (and don't forget to nosh on a decent amount of chocolate)!

Sunday Morning : Sweet Potato Kale Skillet

2011-01-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with the Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' repeating in my mind, Lou Reed's heavy voice dancing around in my brain like an old record stuck repeating the same few lines over and over. Then, I realized why. Yes, it is indeed Sunday morning, but that wasn't entirely the reason. The waves of hot steam rolling off the large cup of strong black assam sitting on my nightstand and something delicious, mixed with plenty of garlic, frying away on the stovetop had awoken me from my deep, late slumber. This is how Sunday mornings should always smell & sound. But rare is the Sunday my darling fiance isn't working, and thus able to spoil me in such a fashion. Not only did I come home last night to an incredibly clean house; floors mopped, sheets washed, counters and sinks disinfected, my piles of magazines organized into one attractive stack, bedroom free of clutter - but there I was, waking up in my clean house, the smell of a delicious breakfast slowly occupying the air. It simply doesn't get any better than that. No wonder I'm marrying this man.

Sunday Morning is still playing in brain, my belly full of this delicious skillet. Parboiled sweet and gold potatoes fried in a few tablespoons of olive oil infused with too many garlic bulbs to count, finished with slivers of sweet red pepper, torn pieces of earthy kale and a healthy sprinkle of sea salt. Top each serving with a perfectly poached egg, serve with a giant cup of strong black tea, and you've got a Sunday Morning breakfast that simply cannot be beat.

Our Sunday afternoon calls for boots and a long leisurely stroll with our two pug-a-lugs around Lake Padden. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday just as much as I am!

Stuffed : Blueberry Vanilla Scones

2011-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

Scones. For me it conjures visions of moist, cakey, sweet biscuits, slathered with generous helpings of fresh fruit preserves and lightly whipped cream. An easy little treat I often neglect. Scones are one of the simplest baked goods you can whip up, wonderful for a weekend morning, and even tastier when washed down with a strong cup of black tea. So when I had a lonely little pint of blueberries wasting away in the fridge, and a bit of homemade lemon cream, I knew something had to be done. My first thought, naturally, was blueberry muffins with streusel topping. My second, simple scones split up the middle and stuffed with a few fresh berries, *ding ding ding* I had a winner. Less than an hour later I had these delicious little pastries. Blueberry scones, lemon cream, and black tea, an afternoon pick me up doesn't get much better than that!

Blueberry Stuffed Scones

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 sticks of ice cold butter - cut into tablespoons

3/4 cup buttermilk (as a substitute I generally use milk with a splash of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)

2 Tablespoons really good vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh berries

sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F

1. Mix flour, both sugars, and baking powder together in the bowl of an electric mixer.

2. On low, medium speed add the butter and mix until butter is incorporated and pebbly.

3. Mix milk and vanilla, slowly add (on same speed) to your flour/butter mixture until just incorporated.

4. On a flour dusted, clean surface, dump your dough out and shape into a disc or rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick.

5. Cut into desired shape, move scones to a prepared baking sheet. If stuffing with berries take a small sharp knife and split the scone open down the middle, throw in a few fresh berries, gently placing the top of the scone around the berries.

6. Sprinkle with sanding sugar and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, just until the scones begin to take on a golden hue, being careful not to overcook and dry out your scones.

7. Serve hot. I love that with berries you don't need jam, though it's perfectly okay if you want to double up on your scone accoutrements. May I suggest a dollop or two of whipped cream? Or perhaps a generous slather of lemon curd.

Devour!

Reminisce : 2010 Reviewed

2010-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a year.

A wonderful, challenging year.

A year that saw a lot of growth and a bit of change.

In honor of that I'm going to do something I've not done in the four years I've been blogging here at A Sofa in the Kitchen, a look back on my favorite parts of the year.

Buckle up for a long one, let's review 2010, food blog style, shall we?

New Years Day 2010.

January marked the very first Snapshot Sunday series here at A Sofa in the Kitchen.

The month also featured one of my favorite indulgent, comfort recipes: cream of spinach soup.

February was a slow blogging month. My pick? Jello topped, strawberry heart stuffed, cheesecake bites with a chocolate cookie crust. Now that's a mouthful. My favorite part of the whole dish? Clearly, these adorable strawberry heart cutouts!

A week in March features, by far, my favorite Snapshot Sunday of the year.

It also marked the beginning of the year of pie. 2010 was pie heavy for this girl. The three layer key lime pie with it's heavenly flax granola crust was one of my favorites, and by far the best key lime pie these tastebuds have ever enjoyed.

March was also the month I finally attempted the legendary New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie.

In April, my brain concocted this insane sandwich for the annual Grilled Cheese Pageant. Homemade corn bread, jalapeno aioli, pimento studded sharp cheddar, and crispy, thick pepper bacon.

My dearest fellow food blogging friend invited the boyfriend and I over for Easter brunch. Creme Brulee french toast was the belle of the ball, the perfect dish for this Snapshot Sunday's spotlight.

Molly at Orangette never disappoints, and these chocolate capped macaroons I baked up for my easter baskets are proof of that.

If you can't tell by the slew of pictures, May was likely my favorite month all year. Great recipes like simple smoked salmon appetizers, a wonderful sorbet champagne martini, roasted sweet potato bisque, and sweet pea pesto pasta were featured. Apparently, Spring had me inspired. Therefore, I say, May is worth reviewing all at once.

In 2010 I joined The Daring Bakers, a group of creative bakers that are given challenges monthly, that I love being a part of. My chocolate pavlova June submission was by far my personal favorite DB submission of the year.

In July our oven broke. After a week or two of strong buttermilk biscuit cravings, I broke down and sought out a neighborhood oven so that I could bake up a batch. I served them with a side of honey comb salted butter, of course.

I also shared one of my most sacred recipes in July. A slow cooked, pulled pork recipe that really, truly, cannot be beat. It's sheer pork perfection.

In August I turned 25. Unarguably the most memorable birthday I've ever had.

Exactly a week later, one of my soul mates turned 30.

As September rolled around, I kicked off a cooler season with roasted sweet potato, pancetta & arugula penne pasta.

As the days grew shorter and colder in October, I began the month with pull apart cinnamon bread. A recipe my darling boyfriend requested I make every single Sunday (ha!)

As Halloween approched, I attempted to keep our bones warm and spirits high with a few delicious Vanilla Bean Tequila Sunrises.

And on the last day of October, we partied. We had a lot of dry ice and a ghoulishly good time, as seen in this snapshot sunday.

Come November I shared a few of my favorite Brooklyn food spots.

As well as a delectable fall pear martini.

Ushering in the final month in 2010. . .

I made a wreath out of yarn for our front door.

Ate bowl after bowl of spicy thai curry butternut squash soup.

And finally, s tuffed stockings with some old fashioned-homemade granola.

So goodbye 2010, you were a good year. And, hello 2011. I look forward to all that this year has in store. I'm sure it will bring many new experiences, adventures and of course, good food!

Chin Chin!

Is That You Santa Claus? : Thomas Kellers Shortbread

2010-12-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

I love the holiday season. I believe my mom and grandma are responsible for this as they were always so good about making Christmas something extra special. For me, as a child, Christmas eve was particularly exciting in our little Norwegian household. We opened our gifts from each other on Christmas eve, the only ones under the tree in the morning were the ones that Santa had snuck in and left while we slept. Each christmas eve my mother and I would finish our day by preparing for Santa an assortment of freshly baked cookies, a tall cold glass of milk, a note from me to him, and a few carrot sticks for the reindeer. I remember waking up Christmas morning, and unlike most kids, I ran to the check the cookie plate before ripping open any presents. And year after year, without fail, only crumbs remained on the plate, half the milk was gone, the carrots had been nibbled, and Santa left me a thank you note in return. I remember marveling at the teeth marks in the carrots, wondering which reindeer had left them there. This remains one of my favorite memories. So each year when the holiday season rolls around I do my best, in my own way, to keep that memory alive.

Cookies, no matter the variety, shape, color, or texture, seem to be the ultimate holiday symbol. In honor of that, this week I went cookie crazy. It was my attempt to make the most of this Christmas season. One of my favorite baking sessions came straight off the pages of Thomas Kellers Ad Hoc at Home - I made both his chocolate and vanilla shortbreads.

Both recipes are oh so simple and quite tasty. I have to say I preferred the chocolate (even though it was so soft it fell to pieces, unlike most traditional shortbreads) it's perfectly rich and chocolatey. Before baking I topped my cookies with large chunks of sanding sugar mixed with a bit of fleur de sel, so that each soft cookie bite was followed by a serious sweet and salty crunch. Both shortbreads got a bit of fun garnish. The vanilla cookies took a little white chocolate dip, then a roll in crushed pistachio and dried cranberry, while the chocolate was dipped in melted semisweet and dusted with coconut or white snow-like sprinkles. Along with that delicious granola, a few of each shortbread will be finding their way into my families stockings.

While I may not leave a plate out for Santa or his reindeer pals any longer, I know he would've enjoyed these immensely.

What are you leaving out for Santa & his reindeer?

Stuff Your Stockings : Almond Cranberry Coconut Granola

2010-12-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

It's been one of those years, one of those seasons. Both the boyfriend and I are in college, and paying out of pocket, so outside of all the normal financial responsibilities, it has been a tight holiday season. Enter, the homemade holiday gift. I loved the idea of granola. Mixed by hand, toasted in my warm oven, and packed up lovingly in vintage glass jars. Since I didn't think these jars should be placed under the tree (nose level for the dogs? I think not) I'm going to tuck them away inside everyones stockings. Christmas morning, the boyfriends mother will be receiving a basket packed with this granola, greek yogurt, & home blended black tea - easy Christmas breakfast ready to eat. Plus, it's the least I can do considering my family is whisking the boyfriend and I away for the holiday.

I can't tell you exactly how I came about it, but, as soon as I saw the combination of dried cranberry, almonds and coconut over at Two Peas and their Pod, I knew it was the recipe I was going to make. It's so simple both in preparation and ingredient list. I wish I could bake a batch in my oven every single morning, because the smell is something wonderful. Sweet, nutty, toasty - it was reminiscent of sweet sticky buns mixed with oatmeal cookies. Phenomenal to say the least. And the taste is just as good as the scent, the cinnamon adds a touch of spice, the coconut and the dried cranberry give it a slight chew, while the oats are sweet and crunchy. So simple, so delicious, I may never buy granola again. I'm slightly fearful that those who will be pulling these jars from their stockings won't want to either, and will be looking to me to fill their future granola fixes!

Stay tuned, I've got a few cookie recipes on the way, and one long look back at this last year - food blog style!

Snapshot Sunday : Wrapping Up

2010-12-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

A Cold Weather Treat : Coconut Thai Curry Soup with Roasted Butternut Squash

2010-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Whew. It's been a while. I simply hate when this happens. I love blogging, and I regret when I'm unable to keep up with it. I've been swept into a whirlwind of holiday fever full of decorating trees, seeing old friends, long dinners, and of course, finals week. Oh yes, finals week. But here I am, back in full force and here to share a decidedly un-holiday recipe with you; roasted butternut squash soup - littered with ingredients like coconut milk and red thai curry. A true twist on one of my favorite fall soups.

Not long ago I was an avid squash hater. Couldn't stand the stuff. Nowadays, it's on my menu at least once a week. Sweet, easily salted and savory, a perfect side dish or entree shining star. In this case it's paired with your usual soup suspects, good stock, some onion and garlic, but a few unusual ones as well, a bit of thai red curry, fatty coconut milk, lemongrass, and a sprinkle of green chile. I really enjoyed this soup, the kind of dinner that warms your insides on a cold winter night. Sweet, salty, spicy, and creamy. Delightful. Period.

Coconut Curry Soup with Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 medium to large butternut squash - cleaned, chopped and roasted

1 large white onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 small spicy green chile - minced

1 large stalk of lemon grass split in two

5 cups of good vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 can full fat coconut milk (full fat people)

2 teaspoons thai red chili powder/paste (you may want more, so-to taste)

Directions:

1. First, roast your squash (little olive oil, slat and pepper in the oven on 400 for 40 minutes). Also, pour your stock into a medium saucepan on low heat, place lemon grass in the stock, cover and allow to steep.

2. Meanwhile, in a soup or other large pot heat a bit of vegetable or olive oil, saute onions, chile and garlic. After 10 minutes, when onions are translucent add thai red curry and stir until well combined.

3. Strain lemongrass from stock, pour stock into soup pot with onions.

4. Next, add roasted butternut squash and puree (I use a hand blender).

5. Finally, pour in the coconut milk, season with salt and pepper, and stir.

6. Pour into a large bowl, garnish with plenty of cilantro and devour!

Snapshot Sunday : A Homemade Christmas Wreath for the Frontdoor

2010-12-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

Daring Bakers : November 2010 : Crostata

2010-11-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

This November the daring bakers were challenged to make a Crostata. Crostata is essentially an italian tart, most often made with pastry cream and fruit filling. A sweet short pastry crust is baked, topped with delectable fillings, cut, and hungrily consumed.

I was a little late on this challenge as time has become somewhat of a precious commodity these days. School, work, and the impending holiday season has me in a bit of a whirlwind. So, I'm going to be quick and tell you simply, make this. I adore tarts, almost as much as I adore cookies and cake. Simple, gorgeous, and downright delectable. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect challenge!

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

For some reason when I try to post the recipe, blogger is just not reading it. Fortunately, there are thousands of Daring Bakers out there who I'm sure did not have the same issues with posting as me. Be sure to check them out!

Gobble It Up : Candied Pecans & Dried Cranberries

2010-11-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

An uber quick post as the boyfriend and I are frantically packing overnight bags, and gingerly placing stuffing, creme brulee, roasted squash, and my homemade green bean casserole in to-go bags. We've only got about half an hour before we're headed out to my mothers, boyfriends sister & food in tow for a long, lazy, thanksgiving night. Hard to believe some of you are already sitting down to eat!

We're not your typical family when it comes to Thanksgiving. We usually eat dinner around 7 or 8. You see, we feel that any holiday, or mid week day off, should be taken full advantage of. That's why we take the afternoon to sit in front of the fire, play gin rummy, sip wine (glass, after glass of wine), maybe taking a few minutes to flip through a magazine or two. Eventually, we boot ourselves up and take all five dogs (theirs and ours) out for a long romp through the massive 20 acres of greenspace situated just beyond the 5 acres my mother owns. Then we come back inside, and repeat the sitting in front of the fire ritual quite a while longer. That's where a treat like these simple and delicious candied pecans come in oh-so handy. Regardless of the fact we're about to eat a massive meal, we still need something to nosh & nibble on while we lounge around.

This recipe was introduced to me by my dear friend Reaux. A true kitchen wizard. I'm posting them on Thanksgiving because they're that simple. A three (okay, maybe four or five if you count the seasonings) ingredient recipe that boasts a list of things you probably already have in your pantry. It all cooks up in under a half an hour in the oven, and viola! Insta-amazing-snack. Absolutely delicious with a glass of wine, and a warm fireplace. The nuts dry out a bit, making them extra crunchy and crisp, while the sugar coating dresses each nut with the flavor and texture of toffee. I like to toss mine with a handful of dried cranberries and/or cherries (making the mix look quite festive). So, if you don't already have enough on your plate, or your table, consider this delicious little snack. Absolute perfection for a relaxing afternoon such as this one.

Reaux's Candied Pecans

(enough for 6-8 to snack on)

Ingredients:

2 cups pecans

(I'm sure you could use any nut really, pistachios would be delish)

4 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

healthy pinch of sea salt

healthy pinch of cayenne

1/4 cup dried cherries/cranberries to toss

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F and place parchment paper or silicon baking mat on rimmed baking sheet

1. In a small to medium bowl, cover pecans with water and swish around. Drain well, place nuts on a paper towel to dry.

2. In a small to medium bowl add your nuts, then toss well with corn syrup and sugar. Season with salt and cayenne.

3. Pour mixture, in one even layer, on prepared baking sheet and place in the oven.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally (to keep the nuts coated in sugar mixture)

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

6. Break apart stuck together bits with your hands, put in a bowl and toss with dried fruit.

Viola, a simple, tasty little treat!

(can I just say: after a week of snow and ice, we woke up this morning to yet another snow storm! what in the world is going on here in the northwest? so unlike our little corner of the world! truly magical nonetheless)

Snapshot Sunday : Brooklyn Foodie

2010-11-22T11:04:00.000-08:00

Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn.

Snapshot Sunday : The Little Red Lighthouse & the Great Gray Bridge

2010-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

If you know me personally, you likely know I have a thing for lighthouses. I fell in love with this charming little red lighthouse, built long before the George Washington Bridge was erected, and now towers over it. There is something quite special about it, no?

A Twist on a Classic : Cranberry Lime Bars

2010-11-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

I've had quite the productive morning, let me tell you. I got up with my darling boyfriend and the sun, early enough that I was convinced I'd be crawling back in bed and sleeping in once the boyfriend was off to work, but no. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I made a shopping list, headed to grocery store, purchased a basket full of goodies only to come home and start dinner. Dinner prepared at 8 am! As I sit here and type the air is filling with the delicious aroma of spicy cuban style beef slow roasting in my crockpot (I truly cannot wait for dinner tonight, I may have to have a taste before it's finished).

The busy bee bug just kept on biting. I decided we needed something sweet, and tart, to balance what will surely be a spicy dinner. I also wanted to make something easy, that you my reader, may be inclined to whip up for the impending Thanksgiving holiday.

I threw a cup of of fresh cranberries on the stovetop to reduce, covering them with a few tablespoons of water and sugar and set out to make a simple shortbread pastry crust. My dessert inspiration was an autumn infused lemon bar. Cranberry and lime was a natural choice. The end result was very good. The cranberry and lime compliment each other very well. Tart and sour. The sugary crisp crust, and the gooey topping. It all works so nicely. Next time, I might add a little sweetened shredded coconut to the crust, I just think it would really take this yummy little bar over the edge.

A great little bite with a strong cup of black tea, or coffee.

I enjoyed mine while taking a dreaded chemistry test, which I aced, perhaps thanks to these tart sugary little treats.

Cranberry Lime Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 stick of butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup of flour

healthy pinch or two of salt

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons of flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup cranberry preserve

(I simply reduced cranberries, sugar and water on the stovetop until I had my own fresh 'preserve')

1 teaspoon lime zest

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Directions:

1. To make the crust; melt the butter, mix melted butter with sugar, vanilla, flour and salt until it comes together. Press into the bottom of a prepared 8x8 baking dish and bake on 350 F for 20 minutes until cooked and slightly browned.

2. To make the topping; place sugar and flour in a small bowl and mix well. Next, with a small whisk, mix in the eggs, then the preserves, zest and lime juice until well incorporated.

3. Pour filling over warm crust, reduce oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. I chose not to, but feel free to sprinkle with powdered sugar.

A Sip of Autumn : Pear Martinis

2010-11-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

I've had the loveliest of evenings. The darling boyfriend and I have spent it lounging in the kitchen, a kitchen I've begun to autumize (and de-halloween). We've been listening to Dean Martin blaring out of the speakers, playing gin rummy, noshing on rosemary crackers schmeared with port soaked sharp cheddar & sipping on these lovely pear martinis. A cocktail truly infused with the taste of autumn. It's as if the season hopped in glass, just for you to ingest and enjoy. A little sour, a bit sweet, with a serious punch of pear. Pear vodka is violently jiggled in a shaker filled with ice topped with pure pear juice, and a splash of lemonade. So simple. So good.

So why not shake up a batch of tasty cocktails and create a lovely evening at home for yourself, or a few friends? Break out a tasty snack, a deck of cards (perhaps a board game or two), put on a few of your favorite songs and settle in.

Cheers!

Pear Martinis

makes two

Ingredients:

plenty of ice

4 oz. pear vodka (I prefer absolut, it's very pear and a little floral)

2 oz pure pear juice

1 1/2 oz. lemonade (or a mix of lemon juice and sugar)

Directions:

1. Fill cocktail shaker half way with ice.

2. Pour vodka, pear juice, and lemonade over ice.

3. Shake vigorously.

4. Pour into martini or fancy glass of your choice (a nice touch: rim with sanding sugar)

5. Garnish with large slices of fresh pear.

6. Enjoy a warm evening inside.

Balanced : Sweet & Salty Pancetta Caramel Corn

2010-11-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of popcorn. I used to love the stuff, it was the perfect snack to munch while cuddled up on the sofa watching a movie. And now, well, we're not so fond of each other. Not entirely sure why exactly, I suppose my taste buds simply fell out of like. Thinking of popcorn and writing this post has me reminiscing about all of the things I used to hate and now enjoy so much, like: caramelized onions, squash, beets, goat cheese, and sweet potatoes. In fact, until I sat down to write this post I hadn't realized that tastebuds could go both ways. Sure I've heard of tastebuds maturing, growing to love the tastes of foods once loathed. But can it go the opposite way, can you eventually dislike the taste of something you once enjoyed? Case in point, popcorn.

You know, I suppose I don't so much dislike the flavor, I feel that popcorn tastes ok, I just don't like the hassle. The stabbing kernels, those bits of 'popcorn skin' that scrape against your gums and get stuck in between your teeth, that at times, no amount of flossing can rid you of. Now, that I can live without.

Here I sit delving into my personal aversion with popcorn. Kind of stupid of me actually. I hope I'm not talking you out of popcorn altogether, because I'm about to turn around and tell you to eat popcorn. I'm also about to explain how amazing this popcorn recipe is (remember, this coming from a general popcorn hater). So don't jump on mallory's popcorn bandwagon of hate, give this recipe a try a first. Whether you love the stuff, or turn your nose up at it, this spicy, sweet, pancetta studded recipe will either only deepen your love for this generally popular snack, or make you born again popcorn lover.

No microwaves required. Simply white corn kernels, popped in a few tablespoons of bacon fat (come on, it's already got bacon in it, what's the harm in using a little bacon fat for popping?), tossed with pancetta, sprinkled with cayenne mixed with sea salt, and finished with a healthy dose of black tea caramel. Ladies and gentlemen, despite my disinterest in popcorn, the sweet and salty snack doesn't really get much better than this. I suggest pairing this amazing snack with a good cocktail or tall glass of beer, this would make the ultimate bar snack.

Pancetta Caramel Corn

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white corn kernels

2 Tablespoons bacon fat

8 ounces pancetta - fried until crispy

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon black tea

nonstick spray

Directions:

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons of bacon fat on medium high in tall lidded pot. Toss kernels in the pot, and cover with lid. Wait until the kernels start popping, when they do, hold the pot with holders and shake lightly over flame until popping stops. Pour popped corn into bowl.

2. Toss fried pancetta and, salt, and cayenne with hot popcorn. Place popcorn on large cookie sheet prepped with nonstick spray.

3. Place cream and loose black tea in a small saucepan, heat until simmering, remove from heat and allow to steep ten minutes. Strain loose leaf out. (you could easily use a strong black tea bag here if you'd prefer)

4. Place sugar, water and corn syrup in medium saucepan, heat over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, and continue to let it bubble for at least 10-15 minutes, until candy thermometer registers at 300 degrees and the sugar is a nice amber color (being careful not to overcook or burn).

5. Remove sugar from heat, and immediately pour black tea cream into sugar (mixture will bubble, be careful) and stir until blended.

6. Immediately pour caramel over corn mixture on cookie sheet, and toss with nonstick spatula (or spatulas, whatever your tossing style may be) until popcorn is well coated with caramel.

Snapshot Sunday : Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween readers! We're currently getting ready here at 1313 for our Halloween soiree which commences in only a few hours. I wanted to share this amazing punch bowl that our dear ex-roommate and favorite friend, Asher, created for it. How crafty is he? Taping leaves to a paper bag and then making a sleeve out of said paper bag for a large metal bowl? How Martha of him! With the addition of dry ice it's over the top amazing, right?!

Hope you're all having a delightful holiday. We're making roasted squash soup, mini gruyere/caramelized onion grilled cheeses, caramel bacon popcorn (a recipe I will be sharing with you next week, so stay tuned!) and that amazing bowl you see will be filled with champagne punch or 'drink' (as Asher refers to it)! Later we'll grab our goodies and our drinks, and head outside for a backyard Halloween bonfire. Good times!

Be safe, have fun, and don't forget to be a little ghoulish!

Daring Bakers : October 2010 : Donuts

2010-10-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

If these donuts are any indication, I've officially lost my mind.

I planned to make and blog about donuts sometime this October. You could say they were on my 'to blog' list. So imagine my surprise and excitement when I opened the Daring Bakers announcement folder only to read that we were being challenged to fry up a batch of donuts. Serendipitous, truly. Donuts? Check. Daring Bakers? Check. The classic two birds, one stone scenario.

What you see here is my spin on this months challenge. Yeast raised donuts, schmeared with a brown sugar maple/cinnamon/cayenne glaze, topped with pepper bacon & candied oats (or as I refer to it, bacon granola). Yes, you read that correctly. Donuts, maple cinnamon glaze, bacon granola. Miss mallory has gone and lost her marbles. . .

Now, I've tried a few maple bacon donuts in my day. Each of which proved to be disappointing, even at my favorite donut haunts. Why is it that most donut shops, even the great gourmet ones, insist on using some form of microwave or other less-than-stellar bacon product? Why in the world would I want to eat thin, limp, dry bacon? I want thick, crispy edged, fatty fried, true blue bacon. So, for these donuts I used thick slices of pepper encrusted bacon, fried to perfection. I then chopped my slices up to bits, I was gunning for meat sprinkles, which is what I got. The night I fried and assembled these donuts also landed on a night we were having a few friends over for dinner. The candied granola originally had no intention of being mixed with the bacon, it had been created as a gluten free (as one of our guests is gluten intolerant) topping for a batch of delicious lemon cream ice cream I had planned for dessert. Mid day my lovely boyfriend, in a fit of hunger, scooped up two handfuls, one bacon the other granola, and popped them in his mouth. Let's just say, something magical occurred. Bacon granola? It's genius. So much so I feel like I should be marketing it!

I could not resist. Sure I'd heard of a maple bacon donut. But a maple bacon granola donut?

Thus the bacon granola donut was born.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Nuemann, and Epicurious.

Alton Browns Yeast Donuts

makes 20-25 donuts

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 oz vegetable shortening (about 1/3 cup)

2 packages instant yeast

1/3 cup warm water

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of nutmeg

23 oz flour, plus additional for dusting

vegetable or peanut oil for frying (at least enough for 3 in depth in dutch oven)

Directions:

1. Warm milk until just hot. Place shortening in a bowl, pour warm milk over shortening.

2. In a small bowl pour yeast over warm water. Allow yeast to stand & dissolve 5 minutes.

3. Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the milk/shortening to the yeast, being sure the milk is only lukewarm.

4. Add eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg and half of the flour to the mixing bowl.

5. On low speed beat until ingredients are incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until ingredients are well combined.

6. Reduce speed to low again and add the remaining flour. Increase speed one last time, and beat well.

7. Remove paddle and attach dough hook. Knead dough on medium speed for about 4-5 minutes, or until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

8. Cover bowl and allow dough to rise for about an hour, until it has doubled in size.

9. On a well floured surface, roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick.

10. Cut out donut circles, one larger one smaller (I used a large round cookie cutter, and a very large icing piping tip for the middle hole, my donuts were thinner, but I loved the way that looked).

11. Set cut donuts (and donut holes) on baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and allow to proof, for about a half an hour. (when you poke the dough with your finger and it bounces back almost immediately, your dough is sufficiently proofed).

12. Heat oil (enough for 3 inch depth) to 365 F in a dutch oven.

13. Using a metal slotted spoon or other slotted kitchen gadget, gently place 3 donuts and a few holes at a time in hot oil. Cook for 1 minute or so per side, until golden brown, and removing from oil and placing on a baking rack set above paper towels.

14. Allow to cool about 20 minutes prior to glazing and decorating.

I swear, the only thing better than a warm donut, is a warm donut hole. . . they're the perfect bite size. No?

30 Layer Cinnamon Loaf

2010-10-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

I've been hit with a few serious cravings lately. Major, pregnant lady-esque cravings. I know their root, and no, it's not a growing baby belly (promise, I'm so not anywhere near ready for that, we're talking years down the road), it's a my newly adopted, generally healthier lifestyle. Small meals every three to four hours. Healthy snacks. Low fat dinners, high fiber breakfasts. You get the idea, same old same old stuff we've heard a million times over, and the way I've attempted to eat most of my adult life, (but falter on here and there). While I don't crave 'bad' foods, like this delicious sugary loaf, everyday, I did wake up Tuesday of last week dying for a few slices of cinnamon bread. An odd craving for me, one that followed me through the day. Something needed to be done, I needed to honor this one.

First, I considered going out and purchasing your standard $2.99 grocery bakery loaf. Then I thought to myself, 'mallory, why in the world would you do something like that?'. You see, I quickly realized that I had a big jar of yeast in my freezer, plenty of flour, cinnamon, butter, eggs, sugar. . . . you see where I'm going with this? Why not go to the effort to make my own amazing loaf of cinnamon bread instead of buying a boring, bland loaf a the store. So worth the calorie/sugar splurge, far more so than anything I can buy. This loaf did not disappoint, how could it not? Look at this beauty.

This loaf is inspired by a post I found via Tastespotting at Bittersweet Baker , which was in turn inspired by Elissa's Lemon Scented Pull Apart Coffee Cake over and 17 and Baking. I used the same sweet dough, which was a dream to work with. I have a weakness for doughs. I love their smell and the way they feel as they get smooth under the pressure of kneading hands. Dough makes me giddy. It's true. This dough did not disappoint, it was absolutely lovely; soft, warm, and yeasty. Baked it was even better; pillowy, a little chewy, and soft, basically perfect. My filling was a lot different than the other two though. It was straight cinnamon roll filling, plenty of butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a touch of nutmeg. Slathered between layer upon layer of sweet dough, as the filling bakes up it creates this caramelized cinnamon sugar crust at the top of each layer. Unfortunately, slathering the cinnamon cream cheese frosting all over the top covered up that gorgeous crust. I believe this to be the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas morning treat. Definitely a recipe I'll be baking again, and one I suggest you try, particularly if you're craving any variation of cinnamon bread, this will surely quell such a craving.

30 Layer Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Makes a 9″x5″ pan

Ingredients:

Sweet Yeast Dough

About 2 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (2 1/2 fluid ounces) whole milk

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces) water

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

pinch nutmeg

zest of one lemon

Tangy Cream Cheese Icing

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/8 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon whole milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix two cups (nine ounces) flour, the sugar, yeast, and salt in a mixer bowl with a rubber spatula. 2.Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or in the microwave, combine the milk and the butter and heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat, add the water, and let rest a minute until just warm (120 to 130°F [49 to 54°C]). Stir in the vanilla extract.

3. Pour the milk mixture over the flour-yeast mixture and, using a rubber spatula, mix until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened.

4. Attach the bowl to the mixer, and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition just until incorporated.

5. Stop the mixer, add 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) of the remaining flour, and resume mixing on low speed until the dough is smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Add 2 more tablespoons flour and mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, soft, and slightly sticky, about 45 seconds.

6. Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough gently until smooth and no longer sticky, about one minute. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of flour only if the dough is too sticky to work with.

7. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place (about 70°F [21°C]) for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size. An indentation made with your finger should keep its shape.

Make your cinnamon sugar mixture.

8 .Gently deflate the dough with your hand. Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 20″ by 12″ rectangle. Use a ruler to get the rectangles as accurate as possible for a prettier loaf that will fit better in the pan. Also sure both sides are floured, so that the dough will be easy to lift up later.

9. Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter evenly and liberally over the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

10. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough crosswise in five strips, each about 12″ by 4″.

11. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan.

12. Slice this new stack crosswise, through all five layers, into 6 equal rectangles (each should be 4″ by 2″.) 13. Carefully transfer these strips of dough into the loaf pan, cut edges up, side by side. it might be a little roomy, but the bread will rise and expand after baking.

14. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place (70 °F [21°C]) until puffy and almost doubled in size, 30 to 50 minutes. When you gently press the dough with your finger, the indentation should stay.

15. Bake the loaf until the top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cover the top with foil if it is browning too quickly. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.

Time to make the cream cheese frosting: Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth. Then add the milk and lemon juice. Stir until creamy and smooth.

16. Flip the loaf over onto a cooling rack, then flip onto another rack so that it’s right side up. Spread the top of the warm cake with the cream cheese icing.

I recommend eating it warm. I also recommend that you to eat some before your housemates or guests gobble it down. This loaf lasted less than 12 hours in my house. I wonder how long it will last in yours?

Gnarly : Vanilla Bean Tequila Sunrise

2010-10-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, confession time, this may not technically be a tequila sunrise. Sure there is fresh orange juice and tequila, but that's basically where the similarities end. So, why have I dubbed it a tequila sunrise? Well, it's far more sunrise colored than it's more traditional twin brother, which is laced with grenadine that lends the drink an orange red hue (tequila sunset anyone?). That, and I'm lazy. I didn't want to come up with a new name. Hey, at least I'm honest.

This cocktail is simple, quite tasty, and absolutely perfect for Halloween, which is a mere 18 days away. Light orange in color, peppered with black vanilla bean dots, and garnished with a long twisting, curling, sleepy hollow-esque branch-like vanilla bean. What more could you ask for in a Halloween drink? So this year reconsider the black vodka, the sticky red sugar blood dripping down the side of your martini glasses, or the floating grape eyeball garnish business (as fun and impressive as that stuff is). An easy drink paired with a simple yet effortless garnish will give you the effect you're after, along with more time to drink up and enjoy your guests.

Other than the october appropriate color and garnish, this drink is filled with 100% agave tequila, fresh squeezed orange, grapefruit, and lime juice, the innards of half a vanilla bean, topped off with a splash of sparkling water, and finished with a dash or two of lemon bitters. The aroma that fills your senses as you tip the glass up to your mouth cannot be beat, sweet, citrus, vanilla, a little floral, the heavenly scent is almost better than the drink itself.

The True Tequila Sunrise

serves 4

Ingredients:

8 oz agave tequila (I used silver Patron)

16 oz fresh squeezed orange juice

8 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

4 oz. lime juice

2 vanilla beans scraped (an additional two for glass garnishing) (our co-op sells them for $1.25 a bean)

sparkling water

lemon bitters

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients, except for sparkling water and lemon bitters, in a pitcher. Whisk to break up the vanilla bean.

2. Fill tall glasses with large ice cubes, pour equal amounts over ice, leaving enough room at the top to add desired amount of sparkling water. Add a dash or two of lemon bitters. And finally, garnish with your wonderful vanilla beans.

*Don't just keep this one in your halloween cocktail file either. Substitute (or for a true lush, leave it in) the tequila for champagne and you've got one lovely little vanilla bean mimosa on your hands.*

Snapshot Sunday : Scarpetta, Manhattan

2010-10-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

Comfort as the Cold Sets In : Honey Laced Panna Cotta

2010-10-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

You will be hard pressed to make or enjoy a better dessert than Panna Cotta. If you read my blog, or you know me, you are aware that I'm an avid cake and cookie lover, yet, there is something about this creamy dessert that's stolen my heart. It's like a cup of pudding and a slice of cheesecake had a little baby and stuck her in a glass ramekin. Panna cotta is incredibly easy, fairly low on sugar (well, this particular recipe is), decadent, and can be paired with so many flavors, from stone fruit, to berries, to cookies (imagine!), to coffee, to chocolate. . . my goodness the possibilities are numerous, limited only by your imagination!

I made this particular dessert for a dear friend of mine who has recently cut down a lot on her sugar intake. While I realize this recipe has a tinsy bit of white sugar and even more honey (and I do realize that honey converts to sugar once inside of our complex bodies), it's far lower than most cake, cookie, or other sweet confection recipes you'll find out there, without sacrificing on richness and flavor. Plus, this dear friend of mine is a fiend for all things creamy.

I'm a huge fan of the classic combination of milk and honey. Both flavors are quite delicate on their own, making the task of combining the two, while still being able to decipher their unique flavors, a bit of a challenge, not here. I topped each one with vanilla bean brown sugar poached pear slices, and fresh blackerries. An ode to the end of September here in the northwest, and quite the ode at that.

So, bring on the Panna Cotta I say!

Honey Laced Panna Cotta

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole milk

3 cups whipping cream

1 Tablespoon gelatin

1/2 Tablespoon white sugar

1/3 cup clover honey

garnish of your choice

Directions:

1. Pour just the milk into a medium heavy bottom saucepan on the stove. Sprinkle gelatin over the top and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes (no heat).

2. Turn your burner onto medium/low heat, stirring often, cook the milk and gelatin for about 3-5 minutes until gelatin has fully dissolved and milk is hot, but not bubbling.

3. Pour your heavy cream, honey, and sugar into your milk mixture. Cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until honey and sugars have dissolved.

4. Pour into desired vessels, I've used decorative glassware, stemware, and pictured are mini trifle dishes.

5. Allow to cool a few minutes on the counter, then wrap them and place them in your refrigerator overnight, or no less than 5 hours. I made mine same day around 4pm, served at 11pm, and they were perfect.

6. Once chilled garnish with desired fruit, and serve!

For brown sugar poached pears:

I didn't use a recipe for this one ladies and gentlemen, I flew by the seed of my pants as they say, but I'll share with you my process. First, I peeled, sliced, and pitted two anjou pears. I then threw them in a small pot with about 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup of water, scraping one vanilla bean and adding the bean husk to the whole shabang. I brought the whole mixture to a light bubble, covered it (to keep liquid in the pan and slowly poach the pears) and cooked for about 15-20 minutes. I then removed the pears from (then tossed) the brown sugar liquid and kept them stored at room temp in a small tupperware until I was ready to serve them atop the panna cotta! Pretty simple!

Easy Street : Butternut Squash, Carrot & Leek Soup

2010-10-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

A simple post for a simple soup. As the evenings grow short, the nights get cold, and the days grayer soup is on the forefront of my weeknight menu, and my mind. It doesn't get much quicker or tastier than this soup. The flavor is complex, but boasts only a few ingredients, most of which I guess are in your autumn stocked fridge or cupboard at this very moment. Butternut squash, carrot, and leek are sauteed in a large skillet with a bit of butter, until softened and a bit caramelized. Then, into a large pot they go with a bit of fresh thyme, stock, a bit of nutmeg and cayenne (a spice that lends more warmth than spice to this soup). At the end of a quick bath in broth and spices everything is pureed up with a quick wave of a hand blender. Smooth, nutty, sweet, salty, and a little spicy. Almost as quick as a can of soup, but packing way more nutrition and a flavorful punch. And as an October bonus, it's pumpkin orange, perfect snuggled for a cozy evening at home, or on the table served to guests as an autumn dish.

Butternut Squash, Carrot & Leek Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

3 cups of carrots, diced

2 cups butternut squash, cubed

2 medium sized leeks, thinly sliced

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 generous tablespoon fresh thyme

2 fresh sage leaves, sliced up

pinch of nutmeg

healthy pinch (healthy now) cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place butter in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Once melted and hot, throw in the carrots, squash and leek. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sautee until vegetables are softened, and the squash/carrot has picked up some caramelized color.

2. Move veggies into medium/large stockpot, cover with stock, thyme, sage, nutmeg, and cayenne. Cover and cook 25-30 minutes.

3. Turn heat off and carefully blend with a hand blender. Season with any additional salt and pepper if it needs it, to taste.

4. Serve hot, garnish with a few fresh herbs.

Note to readers and to self: This bowl of soup would be incredible with a sharp cheddar/bacon biscuit. . .

Daring Bakers : September 2010 : The Sugar Cookie

2010-10-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

I'm late. I'm beyond late. For a very important date, indeed. My Daring Bakers entry is due on this blog the 27th of each month. As you know, it's nearly three days into the next month. Whoops. I have good reason though. You see, I took a trip east, to New York City, and upon my arrival home (a few days shy of my DB due date, mind you) I contracted my second cold flu in two weeks. Therefore, I feel I had good reason to be late. Sheer exhaustion. My butt required to be relaxed in my sofa, sipping tea, snuggled in with a blanket, recovering. Not rolling out sugar cookie dough.

During my trip I missed a dear friends 26th birthday. So, being the multi-tasking daring baker that I am, I combined her much deserved birthday cake, with my daring bakers challenge. It wasn't intentional, at first I simply intended to spend the day baking, both cookies and cake. But as they both neared the finish line, I could not help but put the two together. It turned out quite beautiful, if I do say so myself!

The cake is a 6 inch, tall, 4 layer best chocolate cake ever with a generous schmear of brown butter cinnamon frosting which I stumbled across at the always lovely My Kitchen Addiction. Each cookie was cut with a very small tart tin, I loved the scalloped look. Every other cookie got a dusting of sanding sugar and itty bitty white sprinkles, baked up, and then gently placed around the bottom edge. Two cookies were left, one plain, one sprinkle, so I quickly wrote 26 on the plain cookie and supported them against each other atop the cake. Couldn't have been a bigger hit, more delicious, or elegant but fun (and what an oh so easy way to decorate a cake while squeezing in one more baked confection to the mix).

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

Basic Sugar Cookies:

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour

200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar

1 Large Egg, lightly beaten

5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions

• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming

creamy in texture.

• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during

baking, losing their shape.

• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.

• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid

flour flying everywhere.

• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.

• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)

• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.

• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an

hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.

• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.

• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.

• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.

• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.

• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in

some cookies being baked before others are done.

• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.

• Leave to cool on cooling racks.

• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated

cookies can last up to a month.

A Birthday Treat : Sour Cream Apple Pie

2010-09-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Make. This. Pie. Now.

This post could easily consist of those four simple words. So, if you're satisfied with my demand go ahead, scroll down to the end of the post, copy down this recipe, and get your behind in the kitchen! If, however, you need a little more convincing and thus aren't prey to my bossy nature, read on!

Tuesday was my mothers birthday. So, naturally, I was given dessert duty. First, she requested a chocolate version of the cheesecake cupcakes I posted recently. A few hours later I got a phone call, she'd changed her mind (good thing I'd decided to wait until the day of to make dessert, or I may have already been deep in chocolate cake batter). She had spied the stunning brightly colored apples ripening in the yard on a visit earlier that day and decided that she wanted apple pie for her birthday. I was fairly happy to oblige, I say 'fairly' because the idea of pie crust generally sends shivers down my spine. Luckily she wanted half crust (on the bottom of the pie) and half streusel (on the top, naturally), which is exactly the way I like my apple pie. Gosh, you'd think we we're related. . . ha!

Speaking of my apple pie, I should confess, I never use a recipe. It's just so unnecessary. All you really need for a good pie are a bushel of tart apples, sugar (I like both brown and white), cinnamon, maybe a bit of ginger, nutmeg and/or cardamom, a touch of flour perhaps, and a good streusel. Come September for the last 5 (or more) years, without fail, I've made an apple pie. Seeing as this was going to be my first pie of the season I wanted to try something a little different. Regardless of the fact that I wait months for September to arrive so that I can make apple pie, I was bored with the idea of my same old, same old, apple pie. That's when I stumbled upon a recipe for sour cream apple pie. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well, have you? I never had, that's for sure! I found the pictures displayed on countless foodie sites, of what appeared to be perfectly cooked apples suspended in a silky custard, absolutely irresistible. Let me repeat, irr-esis-tible.

This pie did not disappoint. All of the sour cream apple pie recipes I sought out failed to use any kind of spice though, it's really just vanilla and lemon to flavor the filling. I abhorred the idea of leaving out my oh-so autumn flavors, and threw a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg both into the filling and the streusel. The result was apple pie heaven. Sure, a little different, but worthy of any special occasion or Thanksgiving table, and surely much different than any apple pie I've ever seen or tasted. Most of the lucky consumers loved it, warm especially. The boyfriend was the only one who didn't care for it, claiming it just didn't taste like the classic cinnamon laden pie he has grown to look forward to each fall. I have to tell you, that man often surprises me with his traditionalist tastebuds.

Flaky all butter pate brisee (perfect recipe via elise over at Simply Recipes), topped with apples that have been sauteed in a bit of sugar and butter with a touch of spice, a mixture that is then tossed with a bright lemon scented sour cream vanilla bean studded filling (whoa), poured into the buttery crust, and topped with a healthy portion of crispy streusel lumps, all baked to golden perfection. If you dare, top with a scoop of ice cold vanilla ice cream. I don't know how you could complain about such a masterpiece, a wonderful new (for me) take on a classic.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Ingredients:

9 cups tart apples, peeled and sliced
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon high quality cinnamon
a pinch (or two) ground nutmeg
one round of pate brisee prepared, chilled, and ready to go in a large 8 or 9 inch pie dish
1 3/4 cups sour cream
1 vanilla bean scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of one small lemon placed in a small dish
2 eggs
streusel (recipe below)

Streusel:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) butter unsalted butter, melted
1/2 of the lemon zest from above
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, until well combined, and crumbly. Set aside.

Pie Directions:

1. Place butter, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large skillet over medium heat. Saute for about 5 minutes (perhaps more depending on the size of your slices) until softened. Set aside and allow to cool a bit.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, mix your sour cream, vanilla (bean or extract), half of your zest (reserve the other half for the streusel), and the eggs. Whisk until well combined.
3. Pour sour cream mixture over apple mixture and stir until combined.
4. Pour sour creamed apples into brisee prepared pie dish. Top with streusel.
5. Start the oven at 400 F and bake for 15 minutes covered with tin foil at this heat.
6. Reduce oven to 375, keep pie covered, and cook an additional 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat a final time and bake an additional 20-30 minutes until crust and crumble is golden and crunchy.
8. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.
9. Devour!

Now, I dare you to tell me this pie isn't exciting, and unworthy of the extra steps. . . .

Sweet September : Roasted Sweet Potato Arugula Penne

2010-09-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

The grey has come. The warm orange glow of the sunset leaves my kitchen window hours earlier than it seemed to last week. The rainy days are outnumbering the sunny. The leaves along the avenue are quickly turning brown, yellow, and ruby red. Last night, I sat by my backdoor and took as much of the night air into my lungs as humanly possible, and for the first time this year I smelled it. You know what I'm talking about, that unmistakable autumn scent, woodsy, spicy and a bit cool.

Today was an outnumbered day, a day of sun and blue skies. Still the cold has crept it, it's unavoidable this time of year, and thus I was craving some fall inspired flavors this evening for dinner. Enter, heavily peppered and salted oven roasted sweet potato, punchy arugula, and crispy fried pancetta all tossed with warm penne, a simple dressing, and a bit of pecorino. For me it wasn't a perfect bowl of pasta, but I can be picky, the boyfriend hungrily scarfed down two bowls and was happy to assure me it was 'amazing'. I'm not going to give up on this recipe though, while it may not have been my perfect bowl of pasta, I think next time I'll throw in a leek sauteed in butter and see what effect that may have on this dish.

Are you looking forward to the autumn days upon us?

Roasted Sweet Potato & Arugula Penne

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled

olive oil

salt and pepper

5 slices of pancetta

1 small shallot - minced

1/8 cup cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1 lb of penne

1 1/2 cup fresh arugula

pecorino and flat leaf parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F cut your sweet potato into 1 inch cubes, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, season well with salt and pepper, toss, and bake for about 30 minutes until caramelized and soft.

2. While the sweet potato is cooking, fry the pancetta in a small skillet over medium heat until cooked and crispy. Place on a paper towel and reserve pancetta fat dripping for your dressing. Chop pancetta into large-ish pieces.

3. In skillet with the drippings add your olive oil, shallot, brown sugar, and a touch of salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, allowing all the flavors to melt into each other and the vinegar to reduce a little.

4. In a large bowl toss your fried pancetta and fresh arugula.

5. Cook pasta until al dente, 8-10 minutes drain.

6. Top fresh arugula with hot pasta, then dressing, sweet potato, a bit of cheese and parsley. Toss until well mixed.

7. Relax and eat a generous bowl (perhaps with a little more cheese?)

Snapshot Sunday : Sauk Summit

2010-09-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

A Visit From Montana : Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Cupcakes

2010-09-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Nearly 12 years ago, a long time (think high school) friend of my mothers gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Montana, named after a state that holds a special place in her mothers heart. That baby was a little gift that nobody saw coming. You see, none of my mothers old high school pals, at least none that I had grown up knowing, had chosen to have children. Many of these friends were her closest, so, as an only child myself I spent most of my time either around adults, or in my own world of make believe. I was in my teens when Montana was born, so while she wasn't the promise of a playmate I would've likely wished for a few years prior, she was the most exciting addition to the group to come along for as long as I can remember.

Tana is likely the most down to earth, calm, sweetest 11 (almost 12) year old you'll ever meet. She's polite, well spoken, considerate, and always has something interesting to say. She also adores being in the kitchen, my kind of girl. With this in mind, I invited her up for a girls sleepover. I imagined 11 year old me, and how cool I would feel if a 25 year old I looked up to invited me over to their house for a sleepover. 11 year old me would've thought that was pretty awesome. . .

So, when I called her mother to finalize plans, you can't imagine my excitement when the first thing I hear from Montana's lips is 'we have to make cupcakes'. 25 year old me was thrilled. I knew our evening together would be full of sugar and flour, whisking and mixing. An afternoon, for me, could not be spent in a better way.

*montana's photograph*

Upon her arrival I pulled out my arsenal of cupcake recipes, cookbooks and cards and urged that she find the cupcake she most wanted to make. Narrowing it down to, oh, about 15 at first, then slowly chipping away at the pile of recipes until we landed on this, absolutely amazing, cupcake recipe. Moist vanilla cake topped with vanilla bean, lemon kissed cheesecake batter, and (yes, and) brown sugar crumbles. As if that wasn't over the top enough, each one is finished with a pile of fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar. A cupcake recipe could not be more perfect. And, little did I know it, not until we sat down, peeled back the waxy rapper and began devouring our hard work, that these were the quintessential end of summer cupcake as well. Light, spongy, cheesy, crunchy, and bright. A perfect crown on a pretty perfect summer, and an amazing evening.

Not only did Montana helm the baking of these gems, but she excitedly shot the picture above. I wonder, do we have a budding baker, photographer, dare I say food blogger on our hands?

Vanilla Cheesecake Cupcakes

from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans

Cake:

1 1/4 cups unbleached ap flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup sugar

1/2 canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Cheesecake:

1 8 ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon zest

juice from one small lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble:

1/2 cup ap flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl, set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer w/a paddle attachment, on medium speed beat the egg, yolk, and sugar until thick and light, appx 2 minutes.

3. Scrape bowl as needed (and now), on low speed add the oil and vanilla. Mix well to combine. Add sour cream and mix well, yet again.

4. Finally, mix in the flour mixture on low speed, mixing until just combined.

Filling:

1. Rinse out your electric mixer, no need to an intense clean. In an electric mixer w/the paddle attachment, on low speed, mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

2. Add egg, lemon zest, and juice, mix well.

3. Set mixture aside.

Crumble:

1. In a small/medium sized bowl mix flour, brown sugar, salt and melted butter until crumbly.

Assembly:

1. Line a 12 count muffin tin with liners. Your oven will have been preheated to 325 F.

2. Fill each liner about 1/2 way with cupcake batter.

3. Top each cake with a large spoonful of cheesecake batter.

4. Now top each with a tablespoon of brown sugar crumble.

5. Place the whole shabang in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven when cupcakes are cooked through and allow to cool in pan an additional 25 minutes.

7. Remove cakes from pan, place on wire rack, cool completely.

8. Garnish with fresh berries and dusting of powdered sugar.

9. Try to resist eating them all!

Thank you for a wonderful day lovely girl. Your overnight visit was a sheer delight.

Snapshot Sunday : Reaux's 30th Part II

2010-08-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

Daring Bakers : August 2010 : A Brown Butter Cheat?

2010-08-28T00:20:00.000-07:00

I think I cheated. I fully intended on building a tower of baked alaska amazingness, yet, somwhere in the process what you see above is where I ended up. With a bit of a deconstructed baked alaska mess. . .

This whole process started with me picking apples from the front yard. I've been watching them from my kitchen windows, growing in size and color over the last few weeks. I feel they've ripened far quicker than normal this year, I attribute it to the mixture of rain and sun we've had here in the northwest this summer. It seems that every few days of 80 degree weather we get are followed by a few grey rainy days. That's been the pattern this year.

I really have no clue what variety of apple they are, they were in our yard long before we were. Yet, they are quite possibly the best apples I've ever tasted, rivaling the pink ladies and honeycrisp kings, a perfect mixture of tart and sweet. Perfect for eating straight from the branch, or piled high in pies (blackberry apple being one of my favorites).

After picking them, I introduced them to my mandoline. Afterwhich they took a long bath in cast iron skillet filled with copious amounts of cinnamon, sugar, and butter. They bathed for a good half an hour, until they were completely sticky, gooey, and caramelized.

While the apples simmered away on the stovetop, I melted and cooled a batch of brown butter, whipping it together with the usual cake suspects of sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour. Baking it to a golden perfection and allowing it to cool by an open window (I have yet to tempt any cake or pie burglars, like those featured in many a cartoon).

This is where things went south for my baked Alaska. After the brown butter pound cake cooled, as I sliced two large pieces away from the loaf, my plans changed. I fully intended to stack slices of cake with slabs of homemade vanilla ice cream, sandwiching caramelized apples throughout. I also entirely intended upon slathering the whole thing with fresh made meringue and toasting it until perfectly golden. Yet, as my knife sliced through that cake something came over me. I can't tell you why exactly. I was fully committed to the baked alaska tower. But, at that moment, the moment the slices fell from the cake, I was hit with the desire to make a deconstructed baked alaska. I'm not sure I love the looks, but the taste was spot on. Nutty, crumbly, sweet, creamy, with a hat of crunchy meringue to top it all off. The brown butter pound cake is a must try for your fall menu. It's incredibly unique in flavor, so nutty, buttery, but sweet. It would make the perfect end to a autumn inspired sunday supper. Top it off with apples and ice cream (the meringue could easily be skipped) and you've got yourself a certifiable mouthgasm on your hands.

I know I could've gone with summer flavors, seeing as it's still summer. But the brown butter and the apples dripping from the branches outside begged to be made into something Autumn in flavor and inspiration.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter

2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)

1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt

1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar

1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan (I baked mine in a traditional loaf pan). Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (45 minutes for the loaf pan).

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

6. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.