My Friend Ginger

Recently I was given the gift of a stack of new cookbooks.  It’s a nearly perfect gift for a food lover like myself, and I have been enjoying pouring over the possibilities within their pages.  When planning and dreaming became too much this past weekend, I got to baking.

These are the Ultimate Ginger Cookies from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa At Home.  The recipe, like most of her work, is simple and straightforward.  In fact, I already had all of the supplies in my pantry, including the crystallized ginger (thanks, mom)!  I happen to love ginger in all its sweet and spicy forms, so this was an easy first recipe to make from this book.

There is a lot of mixing time involved, so I would recommend using a stand mixer if you have one.  That way you can let the batter do its thing while you chop up the ginger and prepare your baking pans. I was worried that the pieces of ginger would be overpowering in the cookie, but they blend right into the crumb and play nice with the rest of the cookie.  These cookies are crisp and sugary on the outside, tender and chewy on the inside.  Like Ina says, “How bad can that be?”.

The recipe says it will yield 16 cookies.  I made mine a little smaller and got about 24.  They don’t spread much while baking, so you can really get a lot onto one sheet.

The best part is, it’s Tuesday and I still have some leftover to enjoy with my afternoon tea!

What’s your favorite cookie?

Sandwich Perfection

Is it wrong to mix processed American cheese with Cabot’s sharp white cheddar?

It can’t be, because the combination of the two felt so right!  Melted together they created the creaminess of a fake cheese with the tang and sharpness of the cheddar.  So perfect!

1 slice Cabot’s + 2 slices American + wheat bread+ mini gherkins= a divine lunch experience.

It Looks Just Like The Picture!

I know you’ve done it: you see a beautiful photograph of some food item on a cookbook or magazine, and you buy it, full of hope that you will be able to recreate it in your own kitchen.  It rarely comes out looking just as wonderful as that enticing photo, although it usually tastes pretty good.  Then there is the rare occasion when the stars align and magic happens.

This recipe came from the Fall entertaining issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.  It snagged the cover shot and was the main reason I purchased the issue.  I dreamed of serving this beautiful pie to my loved ones on Thanksgiving.  It turns out dreams do come true!

One of the most interesting things about this recipe (and there are a couple) is that there is vodka in the recipe for the crust.  Apparently it is an irreplaceable dough tenderizer.  I happened to have a bottle of Grey Goose on hand for holiday entertaining, so I went for it.  The dough works up beautifully, and after I had rolled out the crust I had to taste it.  Not a whiff of the booze.  And it baked up beautifully and tasted great: flaky and light yet substantial enough for the tart filling.  I made a double batch and used the same dough for my pumpkin pie and it turned out beautifully as well.

The other interesting bit about the recipe was that you cook the cranberrry filling and apple filling seperately before putting them in the pie shell.  I was concerned that the filling would be mushy by the time the crust was finished baking.  I used golden delicious apples, and they held up well through both cooking experiences.  Tart cranberries, sweet-tart apples, and tender buttery crust.  What could be better on Thanksgiving?

Bakery Catch Up

Well, it’s been a bit quiet around here, hasn’t it?  My sincere apologies.  I haven’t been blogging, but I have indeed been baking.

As the crisp air of fall settled in and I could stand having the oven on for extended periods of time again, I made a simple pledge.  Bake something once a week.

That first week I made pumpkin cookies using a recipe from a fellow knitter and baker, A Friend to Knit With (view it here).  They were very soft and moist, and the texture was more like a muffin than a cookie.  They actually reminded me of muffin tops (the tasty kind, not the unflattering kind some of us have).

Then I made some cupcakes for Halloween.

Last week, in celebration of election night, I made an O cake in red, white and blue trimmings.

I used a chocolate organic cake mix that I found on the regular baking aisle at Stop & Shop, Dr.Oetker Organics.  Sometimes these things can turn out badly, but this was great.  It tasted like homemade, with just the right balance of sweetness to a more acidic chocolate flavor.

And finally, this morning I made a batch of chocolate chip Blondies.  The recipe came from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, The Foster’s Market Cookbook.  These were easy to make, but they use a ton of pantry staples, so if you aren’t stocked up on butter and brown sugar things could get dicey.

The recipe calls for 2 cups of pecans in addition to the chocolate chips, but I left those out, opting instead for another cup of chocolate.  When was too much chocolate every a bad thing?

I trimmed the edges off and crumbled them up to save for ice cream sundaes.  I had never made Blondies before, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these bars taste like thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies.  How could some of that goodness be bad sprinkled over ice cream?  In fact, one bar would go great under a scoop of ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce.  I must be hungry…

As the wind whips through today and seperates the last of the leaves from their trees, I am comforted by the warmth and sweet smell of baking.  Do you have any baking pledges?  Are you thinking about holiday baking yet?

Summer Comfort Food, Light

I love chicken pot pie. Just about any time of year, any mood, mention those 3 little words and it sounds good to me. I have enjoyed everything from the frozen microwave variety to more upscale restaurant versions. I have made them at home with cream, butter, biscuits, and pie crust, endless variations of a classic theme.

For a comforting summer meal that uses up all those lovely seasonal veggies and keeps it on the lighter side, I turn to Ellie Krieger’s recipe. It uses chicken stock, cornstarch, and skim milk for the sauce, and it turns into a velvety dream.

I basically cleaned out my vegetable drawer for this one: carrots, green beans, asparagus, green onions, potatoes, and garlic. After cooking the vegetables and making the sauce, you transfer the mixture into one large baking dish, or individual serving bowls. Then you layer on phyllo dough, another reason this is such a light recipe. I used three layers, but next time I think I might double that. It’s just so crispy and tasty! Sprinkle on a little parmesean cheese, and bake.

This is sure to be a simple, tasty recipe than even the most seasoned chicken pot pie connoisseur will enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cookie Therapy

You know how sometimes there’s this thing that you need, you crave, but you can’t quite put your finger on it? You know you’re hungry, have a hankering for something, but you have no idea what it could be. And then, magically, it jumps out at you: “ahha! that’s what I’ve been wanting!”.

Well, I was having a full-on PMS day: grumpy, moody, craving that unknown something. I took a shower, thinking that would help me shake off my bad mood. When I got out of the shower, my house smelled like cookies. Like the Keebler Elves snuck in while I was in the bathroom and whipped up a batch of something yummy.

Well, it was better than that. My Sweetie had baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! I followed my nose down the stairs, and found these waiting for me.

The recipe is from the Foster’s Market Cookbook, a perennial favorite of mine. It has everything from simple summer salads to savory roasts and delightful desserts. Definitely worth checking out. (Note:while looking up the link I noticed she has some new books–must check them out!)

These peanut butter cookies turn out great every time, and with the addition of some mini chocolate chips are sure not to last long in my house. Thank you, Sweetness!

So Many Berries, So Little Time

Summer harvest yields a multitude of irresistible sunshine-enhanced berries. When I saw the bounty of blueberries and strawberries for sale at the market this week, I couldn’t pass without buying some. I froze half of each for later, then started thinking about what to do with the fresh berries I had leftover. Since it was about a zillion degrees outside, I wanted to do something that involved as little cooking as possible. Hence, the fresh fruit tartlettes:

These are super simple to make, either in the mini or full size version. As a shortcut I used store bought pie crust and instant pudding; normally I would make both from scratch, but it’s hot and I wanted to spend time relaxing, not slaving over a hot stove stirring custard…

Chocolate and strawberries: a winning combination.

If you want to make these at home, simply use your favorite pastry dough or store brand. Roll it out to about 1/4″ thick and cut into circles using a cookie cutter or glass that is about 1/2 inch larger than your pie tin. If you’re making an 8 or 9 inch pie, just roll out the dough, put the pie plate on it and cut a circle about 2 inches wider than the plate. Press the dough into the pie tin, making sure to trim the edges. I stab the bottoms of mine with a fork a few times before baking so the pastry doesn’t puff up. Bake the shells empty as directed by your recipe. Let them cool, then fill with pastry cream, chocolate mousse, pudding, lemon curd, whipped cream, or whatever else you can dream up! Decorate with as many fresh berries as you can and enjoy.

Eat something fresh today.

What’s your favorite way to use fresh berries?

Banana-rama

We’ve all done it: bought too many bananas at the market. We have every intention of eating the fruit before it turns soft and brown, but inevitably one or two bananas do not get eaten. I had a couple wilting away on my counter yesterday and decided to try out a recipe for banana muffins.

I first turned to Old Faithful, otherwise known as the Betty Crocker cookbook. This is my go-to for traditional, simple foods like baking powder biscuits, pot roast, and meatloaf. But when I found their recipe for banana bread, I was sorely disappointed. The recipe calls for Bisquick baking mix instead of flour and baking powder or soda. I am not in the habit of buying Bisquick, and so I was disappointed to see that they didn’t offer any alternatives. This reminds me of the time I was looking up recipes for Clam Chowder. I found one recipe that started out by saying “Open 2 cans clam chowder”. Seriously.

So I pulled out another old friend, How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. The woman makes cooking and eating unbelievably sensual and fun, so I trust her recipes implicitly. I looked in the index, and sure enough, there was a recipe for banana muffins!

The ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, honey, butter, and bananas. That’s it! No eggs, no milk, no oil… I was intrigued enough to give it a try.

The batter was pretty dry, at first, and the recipe discourages over mixing. I turned it around in the bowl a couple of times until the wet and dry ingredients were mostly combined. It smelled and tasted great, and that was before I baked them! I’m a sucker for raw batter and dough…

I sprinkled a few chopped pecans on each muffin because nuts and bananas go together like ham and cheese; one just makes the other better! Plus, I just love a little crunch on the top of a muffin.

25 minutes later, I had these:

They’re a little dense, but very tasty. And there’s no processed sugar, so they’ve got to be pretty healthy, right?

Bottom line: if you’ve got black bananas and this book, make the muffins! They go great with coffee or a glass of milk, and they’re super quick and easy to make.

Creature Comforts

This weekend I made a cake for a friend’s daughter who turned 2. She is a berry fiend and fierce animal lover, so when it came to coming up with an idea for a cake it seemed natural to combine the two.

I started with a plain yellow cake recipe. Then I made Elisa Strauss’ buttercream icing and my own recipe for mixed berry mousse (I’ll post it next time).

I always pipe a dam of icing around the perimeter of the cake before adding the filling. It contains the filling and prevents it from seeping out later when you ice the cake.

This is the crumb coat stage; a very thin layer of icing over the entire cake to contain the crumbs and filling. Then I put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to set up before doing the finish icing and decorating.

My Sweetie & I played in the gumpaste together and made some critters for the top of the cake:

Add some mixed berries,

and voila! A fun cake

for a very fun little girl.

Creative Cake Day

I have been commissioned to make a cake for a bridal shower this weekend. Cake decorating is my passion in the kitchen; I almost can’t wait to get through the baking and assembly so I can play with decorations!

I’ve always enjoyed making representational cakes and thought this would be a great opportunity to make a wedding dress cake. Right now I’m taking a break from putting the finishing touches on the cake to write this. Sometimes it’s prudent to step away from whatever art you are creating, take a breath, and consider it with a clear head. I was about to put way to many sparkles on it and said to myself “Sonia, put down the petal dust and step away from the cake.”

I used Elisa Strauss’ recipe for chocolate cake from her book, Confetti Cakes. If you haven’t seen her work, go to her website and check it out. The cake has two surprises in it: sour cream and coffee. Interestingly enough, both flavors work well to bring out the flavor of the chocolate. I then filled the cakes with vanilla buttercream (also Strauss’ recipe) and set them to chill in the freezer while I rolled out the fondant.

I have a love hate relationship with rolled fondant. On a good day, it sets on the cake like a dream, creating a smooth matte finish on which to embellish with decorations. On a bad day, it’s sticky, stretchy, and full of air bubbles. Today was somewhere in between. Slightly sticky but pretty easy to work with, I had just enough to cover and decorate two 8-inch round cakes (about 3 pounds).

Fondant tip: grease your work surface with a vegetable based shortening like Crisco. It prevents the fondant from sticking and keeps it from drying out while you work with it.

I had a vauge idea of what I was going for with this design, but wanted to wing it on the details. Sometimes this creative process works for me, and other times it’s just chaotic. But today I was in the zone and it came out just as I imagined it would in my mind.

I decorated the cake with all edible elements: rolled fondant, glitter, dredges, and sprinkles. The finishing touch is a whisper of silver and white luster dist to highlight the accents. Unfortunately, the camera didn’t pick up on the subtleties, but trust me it sparkles!

This was an enjoyable way to spend the day. I hope she likes it!