Category Archives: Food Friday

Food Friday – April 2018 King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge: Almond Puff Loaf

20 Friday Apr 2018

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from Tracey G.

Almond Puff Loaf

It’s Bakealong week again! This month’s King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge is Almond Puff Loaf.

This recipe uses one of the same techniques we learned in making the Butter Pecan Kringle, which is the way the “bases” are made. The end result looks much more complicated than the actual recipe making! It’s actually quite lovely and looks like you could’ve spent hours on it!

There’s a base that’s two-fold: basically a pie pastry base and then a layer of patè choux on top. Which BOTH are very simple to make!

After making the pastry dough you divide in half, and pat each half into approximately a 10×3” rectangle on your prepared baking sheet. Both fit side by side fairly nicely. Next is the patè choux layer…

The patè choux is a mixture of water, butter, salt, flour and eggs, and for this recipe, with almond extract added. Making it is in two simple steps:

  1. In a saucepan you add the butter, water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir until it becomes a ball that leaves the sides of the pan.
  2. Add it right to your mixer bowl and mix for about a minute or so to cool it slightly. Add your eggs one at a time beating well after each, add your extract. Mix it until it looks smooth and not clumpy/slippery.

That’s it. That’s all there is to making the patè choux layer!

That gets split evenly between the two pastry rectangles, completely covering the rectangles all the way to their edges. Now, you bake them.

While it’s baking, you can toast the almonds that are part of the topping and measure out your jam-of-choice. I used apricot because it’s one of my all time faves.

When the loaves come out of the oven, you divide the jam evenly between the two warm-from-the-oven loaves, sure to get all of the surface covered, then sprinkle on the toasted almonds. (I decided it would be good without toasting them as well!) Allow them they cool completely.

Once cooled, the final step is a simple icing is drizzled on consisting of:

  • Powdered sugar
  • Milk (or water)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Almond or vanilla extract

I really liked this recipe! It’s not sweet – only sweetness comes from the jam and the icing drizzle, so it goes well with anything, especially with coffee!! And between Jeremy and I (since these days Harry is anti-almond), these didn’t last long, and Jeremy has already requested a version with raspberry jam. What I love is that it looks like you really went to a lot of trouble to create something pastry shop-worthy, both in appearance and taste!

Here’s a link right to the recipe, not the KAF Bakealong blog post:

Almond Puff Loaf

from Kris B>

A Bakealong week with no difficulties or funny stories to tell.  That makes for a nice baking experience, but not much of an interesting blog post.  Lol!

Tracey gave you the down and dirty on the making of the Almond Puff Loaf.  As she said, though it looks difficult because of the multiple steps, it goes together quickly and easily.  I made it one evening after my longest day at school with no frustration.  That says a lot!

Since the recipe says that you can use any kind of jam, I asked my family what they would like.  Their choice was cherry preserves.  With the almonds, this seemed like a good choice.  And after eating a piece, I know it was a good choice!

I think my favorite thing about this recipe is that it is not overly sweet.  As Tracey said, the only sweetness comes from the jam and then the icing.  Since you can control the amount of icing used, even a bit more of the sweet could be cut if necessary.

My daughter did suggest a variation on the patè choux layer.  She thought frangipane would be good as well, although it would add a touch more sweetness since it does use  sugar.  Frangipane is made from ground almonds or almond flour, butter, egg, a tiny amount of all-purpose flour, salt, and almond extract.  I may give this  try next time.

This recipe definitely will be made again!  It is perfect for work or book club gatherings.  Or, for your own hungry family!

I need to thank Tracey for giving you all of the recipe details this week.  I am the one-handed bandit baker and typist this week because of an injury to my thumb, which requires a lovely splint.  I should say however, that I was able to make this recipe despite that so that should tell you how easy it is to make!

Almond Puff Loaf

Happy baking!

 

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Food Friday – Whose Side Are You On?

13 Friday Apr 2018

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  • from Kris B.

Parmesan Puffs

I haven’t been baking loaves of bread lately because I don’t want to be eating entire loaves of bread, but I wanted a littler something more interesting than crackers to have with soups and salads.  In my search of the King Arthur website, I found these Parmesan Puffs.  They seemed to fit the bill!

I am traveling this weekend so I had to bake before I left.  Because of a crazy work and performance schedule, the time that I had to do this was at 9:00pm on Tuesday evening.  I wasn’t thrilled about this, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  As I look back, this was actually a good thing.  It made me realize just how quick and easy this recipe is – an hour from start to finish!

To make the dough, water, butter, salt and pepper, are placed in a saucepan and brought to a rolling boil.  At that point, the flour is added immediately and stirred until it forms a cohesive ball.  The moisture is then removed from the heat and transferred to a mixer bowl.  The cheese is beat in and then the eggs, one at a time.  You want the dough to be smooth and shiny, with a pudding-like texture.

My daughter, you is a professionally trained pastry chef, asked if I did “the snot test” on my dough.  “The what?” She said that in school they were taught to do this dough to test the dough of their Gougeres (the fancy names for these puffs).  To perform this test, pinch a small amount of dough between your thumb and index finger.  The dough should stick and stretch as your fingers are moved apart.  If it does, your dough passes the snot test and should puff in the oven.

Using a tablespoon scoop, the dough is portioned onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  The recipe makes 30 puffs.  You will need two baking pans to allow space between the individual puffs.  PLace them in a 425 degree oven and bake.  The instructions say to bake for 35-45 minutes.

I feel like my oven is on the “cool side,” and I baked mine for a little over 30 minutes, with both pans in the oven), and they puffed nicely and were plenty done.

Oh my goodness!  This things are delicious…and addictive!

As a testament to that, tonight while visiting my friend, we decided to make these again.  The catch was there are only two of us and we didn’t need thirty of these things!  We tried making only a quarter of the recipe.  The only problem was that we ended up with such a small amount of dough that it didn’t warrant breaking out the big mixer.  I whisked it by hand, but I didn’t do as good a job as the mixer.  This small batch did not puff as much as the full batch that I made at home, but they were equally as flavorful.

If you are looking for a snack, an appetizer, or a side for soup or salad, give these Parmesan Puffs a try.  You will not be disappointed!

from Tracey G.

Deviled Eggs

I was going to be making some Deviled Eggs this week one day, and then I saw King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Deviled Eggs, and I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone! The treat for Jeremy and my recipe for the week! Boom! Done!

I also happen to think that Deviled Eggs are another one of those recipes everyone should have in their recipe arsenal, because for me it seems, it ‘s been one of those things that have always eluded me in getting the end result I was after. In discussing making said Deviled Eggs, Jeremy made the comment “Well, you can’t go wrong with Deviled Eggs right?”. Well, yes, yes you can. I made the same mistake over and over it seems, through the years, of trying to make them too “fancy” or something, different seasonings etc. And usually they were a fail. I have found, that most, but most certainly not all, prefer a good old-fashioned Deviled Egg.

This is a really good basic recipe, not much different than my usual go-to recipe that I’ve recently discovered, by the way. The difference mostly in this one is it adds the sweet pickle relish – which also is totally optional, and Worcestershire Sauce – again, that too is totally optional. But I used both because they sounded like good additions. Another addition I do like that isn’t on the “plain” side, but doesn’t overpower the Deviled Egg’s integrity, is chopped green pimento-stuffed olives.

This recipe was super easy, the only difficult part was I had a couple eggs that were difficult peelers, but had I read this blog post on the KAF site in their Flourish blog, entitled “Deviled Eggs: Simple Tricks For Perfect Results”, I would likely have not had as much of hard a time with them!! It’s a great post, with a lot to great ideas that make total sense, and made me shake my head and say “why didn’t I think of that?”!

This recipe calls for:

  • 6 eggs, hard boiled
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons prepared mustard; or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons sweet pickle relish, pressed dry; optional
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, optional, for enhanced flavor

The preparation involves peeling and halving the eggs. I then mashed the yolks with a fork and then added the rest of the filling ingredients. It then gets spooned  back into the egg halves. Then, garnish as desired (I did the tried-and-true paprika and little bit of dried parsley for color). I used a pastry bag fitted with a tip, and I’ve also put the filling in a zip-top bag and snipped a corner off and piped it into the egg half that way. Plus,I’ve also read that you can just mix by mashing all the ingredients together in a zip-top bag, then snipping the corner off and continuing from there, I’ve not tried that yet – but I will!

These were deemed very good by my taste-tester, Jeremy. Although the comment “I’m not sure I care for the crunchy bits” was made in regards to the sweet pickle relish. But that’s ok , I can do with or without it as I like them both ways!

Food Friday – In, On, and Around

06 Friday Apr 2018

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from Kris B.

Creamy Artichoke-Zucchini Dip

Yep, this is another recipe that I chose based on my ongoing attempt to be more intentional about what I eat with the hope that I will lose some unneeded and unwanted weight.  I am following the Weight Watchers plan which, at least in the first three weeks, has proven to work for me.  We’ll see if over the next few months the rest of the weight comes off as easily.

Fruits and veggies are “free” foods on the Weight Watchers plan so I figured a recipe that has veggies as its primary ingredients would be a good place to start.  I have always been a fan of spinach-artichoke dip.  In fact, I will eat spinach with, on, or in just about anything.  I was a little surprised by this recipe’s use of zucchini instead of spinach; but hey, I like zucchini too so what is there to lose?  And if my garden produces like it did last year, I should have an abundance of zucchini.  I’m always grateful for new ways to use it!  So, Creamy Artichoke-Zucchini Dip it is!

You may think that a recipe that uses both cream cheese and sour cream would not be  “figure friendly.”  This recipe actually uses both low-fat cream cheese and low-fat sour cream.  The use of these low-fat ingredients is not a high calorie recipe re-do; they are used because full fat of both of these ingredients would make the dip way too rich.

The full list of ingredients is:

  • 1 14oz can of artichoke hearts
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 scallions
  • 8 oz. of low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
  • 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1/4 tsp salt

In addition to the twist of zucchini rather than spinach, this recipe also suggests an interesting means of preparation.  It calls for the dip to be cooked in a bread machine on the jam setting.  I don’t have a bread machine because, well, using a bread machine takes all of the fun out of making bread.  That said, I had no idea that you can use a bread machine for making something other than bread.  To be honest, as intriguing as this sounds, even if I did have a bread machine with a jam setting, I don’t know why you would choose to cook this dip that way.

To make the Creamy Artichoke-Zucchini Dip, all of the ingredients are placed in a food processor.  I pulsed them until the large chunks of vegetables were small  You don’t want a completely smooth paste.  Then place the dip in an oven-safe dish and bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  It’s that simple!

For some reason, I don’t seem to have an oven safe dish the proper size for the three cups of dip that the recipe makes.  Everything I have is either too big or too small.  I felt like Goldilocks in the kitchen!  Lol!  In the midst of this dilemma, I decided to calculate the Weight Watchers point value for the dip.  It turns out to be a reasonable 5 points for a half cup serving.  And with that discovery, my baking problem was solved.  I used six half-cup ramekins making it very easy to control portion size!

Weber and I had the dip on celery for lunch.  It is quite tasty.  I did use the lesser amount of Tabasco; he requested more next time I make it I use “a lot” more.  The 1/2 of a teaspoon wasn’t even noticeable.  And this is not because are Texas taste buds are numb to heat.  So, next time I make this, a little more hot and hopefully some homegrown zucchini!

Snack, appetizer for guests, lunch, a dinner side…the Creamy Artichoke-Zucchini Dip is up for the challenge!

My next experiment with it may be as a topping for a flatbread pizza.  I’ll let you know how that works!

from Tracey G.

Lemon-Garlic Butter

As I looked through recipes for this week, a thought struck me that, sometimes, simple is better. Something super easy to make is something we don’t usually think of. This week, the compound butter recipe from King Arthur Flour for Lemon-Garlic Butter felt like that kind of thing – simple, yet something I don’t usually make or have on hand, which is crazy because it’s an easy and quick thing to make and use! And this recipe is really just a jumping off point to all the possibilities. As I was combining the ingredients, my brain was already ahead of myself as to the variations that this could be put through…chili powder for something different, or even sweet versions adding honey for biscuit topping or whatever else you like. The possibilities are endless, and butter is a good vehicle for all kinds of flavors!

This recipe uses the KAF Lemon Juice Powder, but you can use fresh if you desire. I have the powder on hand, so wanted to give it a try that way first. And, me being me, I sometimes cannot leave well enough alone, and, I added a splash of extra-virgin olive oil as the butter was blending in the mixer and a drop or two of my Lemon Oil that I get from KAF. But seriously, none of that is necessary and it’s my own thing I felt compelled to do! And, ok, I added some dried parsley as it, admittedly, would (hopefully) help it photograph better! A little bit of green in a sea of butter-colored butter!

This is recipe that is actually more of a method, and in this instance the method has amounts of particular ingredients. If you wing it on some other flavor, you can make it to your taste!

This, method/recipe involves:

  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 tbsp of garlic
  • 1 tbsp of Lemon Juice Powder, or 1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp salt if you use unsalted butter.

You put all ingredients into the mixer bowl and blend until the butter is fluffy. I then dumped it out onto a piece of waxed paper, and proceeded to make a roll out of it, twisted the ends of the wax paper, then back in the refrigerator it went!

It’s just that easy to have flavored butter around for whatever you desire. I am planning on using this on hot pasta and possible a pat of it on a nice steak! And since you can freeze butter beautifully, this would keep well in smaller portions frozen, ready to be pulled out as needed!

 

Mix It Up Friday – Spring Mixes

30 Friday Mar 2018

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country blueberry muffin mix

I am thankful that this is mix week because it is also Holy Week.  As a church musician, that means little free time between singing for the Triduum services in addition to my regular work responsibilities.  Simplicity is the motto that has gotten me to the end of the week still upright and fairly coherent!

Blueberries are a favorite at my house making King Arthur Flour’s Country Blueberry Muffin Mix seemed like a nice treat to have around during the busy weekend.  The mix requires that you add to it oil or butter, eggs, and milk.  I used almond milk and oil.  All of the ingredients are mixed together, poured into a prepared muffin tin, and baked for 18-22 minutes.  That’s it!  It doesn’t get much simpler than that!

We are still being careful about eating too many sweets and snacks at my house, so I decided that rather than making the dozen regular sized muffins that the mix makes, I would make mini muffins.  I got 60 mini muffins. I used about a TBS or a little more for each muffin.  They baked for only 10 minutes.

This is a great mix to keep in your pantry “just in case.”  Whether you need a quick breakfast or a snack, these muffins are quick and easy to make…and delicious!  They have a strong flavor of blueberries, which is what you want from a blueberry muffin, right?

To those of you that celebrate Happy Easter.

Happy spring to everyone!

from Tracey G.

Lemon Coffee House Cake Mix

Well, this week has been quite the adventure, with Easter coming up, an unexpected illness or two, so let me say I was extra double happy that it was Mix Week! Not only was I in need of a yummy treat, I was also in need of something fast and easy!

This Lemon Coffee House Cake Mix from King Arthur Flour was all of those things rolled into one – easy, fast and yummy! It’s a lovely lemon pound cake-style cake, with a yummy lemony icing they provide to top it with.

The cake mix required very little by way of extra ingredients  for the cake you provide:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 stick of softened butter
  • 1/3 cup milk

For the icing:

  • 1 tbsp of butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp of milk (or more depending on the desired thickness of your icing)

Everything gets dumped into the mixer to be combined, then poured in the pan and baked about 45-55 min, mine needed about 50 minutes. You let it cool, mix up your icing ingredients and spread or pour it on. Done. Slice and eat! I should mention that, they also have an alternative preparation with involving these ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of butter
  • 1/3 cup water instead of milk

I did notice that online, the back of the package has those amounts for oil and water reversed, but the product page has the ingredients as I listed out, which made more sense to me.

But that’s all there is to it. It’s very easy way to have a yummy informal treat that does go great with coffee! I have a feeling that on their next mix sale I will be picking up a couple to have around on hand!

Food Friday – Taking Hold of Whole Grain

23 Friday Mar 2018

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from Tracey G.

Tasting Is Believing Whole-Grain Brownies

This week I tried King Arthur Flour’s Tasting is Believing Whole-Wheat Brownies.  And, as I type this I am munching happily on one of these brownies and first thought was “oh my gosh these are wonderful!” Second thought was “I still can’t believe they’re whole wheat!”. They use King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, which has quickly become a favorite of mine as it’s a great way to get the whole grain goodness, without the whole wheat “taste”, for lack of a better term!

The trick aside from the  White Whole Wheat Flour, is to let the brownies sit overnight before cutting them. It gives the wheat bran a chance to soften and blend in seamlessly – I cannot tell these were made with a whole grain flour at all!

The usual ingredients apply, nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the whole grain flour. These include:

The recipe is easy to do:

  1. Melt the butter (either in a small saucepan or microwave safe bowl) and add the brown sugar so that some of it melts a bit (this gives your brownies a shinier top after they’ve baked).
  2. Add that to a bowl, stir in the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, espresso powder if you’re using it and the vanilla.
  3. Mix in the eggs until well blended, then add the flour and chips.
  4. Pour into your prepared pan (I lined mine with parchment paper so I could take them out to cut them), and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes.
  5. Allow to cool completely, then cover and let sit overnight before cutting.

Not only are these fantastic, they are easy which makes them fabulously fantastic in my opinion! If you didn’t tell anyone they were made with a whole grain flour, they would never guess it all – so it’s a treat that can be a sneaky way to get whole grains into everyone’s diet!

 

from Kris B.


Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls

Spring has sprung in Dallas!  We’ve had temperatures in the 70-80s for the last couple weeks.  There is a chance we will make it to 90 degrees this weekend.  This seems crazy considering what all of you in the northeast have been enduring this winter!  With this warm weather comes the wearing or short sleeves and the potential for shorts.  Unfortunately the effects of all my winter baking and hibernating rather than going to the gym are revealing themselves in the form of “thunder thighs” and “flying squirrel arms.”  LOL!  In an effort to address these things, I’m trying to be a little more conscious and careful with our food choices at home.

Carbs continually get bad press, but they are nutritionally important.  And there is no way, thunder thighs or not, that I can give up eating carbs even for a finite period of time.  Again, I’m trying to be intentional about the ones I do it.  Enter this week’s recipe for Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls.  I was drawn to this recipe because of its use of rye flour and the fact that it contains a little protein.  One of these rolls with some fruit and, or course, coffee makes for a filling and satisfying breakfast.

Despite its name, this recipe only uses 1/2 cup of rye flour to its 3 2/4 cups of all-purpose flour so it doesn’t have much rye flavor.  In the recipe’s defense, however, it does call for an optional ingredient, Deli Rye Flavor from King Arthur Flour, which I did not have.  I suspect that this flavor enhancer is caraway seeds and perhaps some other “secret” ingredients.  The King Arthur Flour website does not give any specifics on the ingredients of the Deli Rye Flavor.  Despite not having this, the dough is delicious!  It’s hearty but not heavy.  It was also the easiest dough I’ve worked with in a long time.  It was a little sticky during the initial kneading process, but I used the dough hook on my stand mixer, which made the kneading easy.  The dough rose beautifully.  When it came to roll it out to add the filling, it was a breeze rolling it into its 12×18 rectangle.  Because of its stickiness, I did roll it on a generously floured board.

Another deviation from the recipe for me was that I used unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk.  Best I can tell, this caused no issues.  And if there were issues, I’m going with they had a positive impact!  Lol!

The Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls recipe makes eighteen rolls.  The 12×18 rectangle of dough is rolled from the long side and then cut into eighteen one inch rolls.  It is important to spread the filling all the way to the edge of the twelve-inch sides or your rolls on those ends will have no filling!  That’s not a good thing! 🙂

This dough is a flavorful all around dough.  Though the recipe calls for it to be filled with bacon and onions, I suspect that there are many savory combination of meat and/or vegetables.  I think bacon or ham and spinach would be quite tasty.  I’ll let you know when I try it!

If you are still considering your menu for Easter brunch or some other spring gathering, these rolls would definitely be a nice addition!

For those of you digging out of the spring snow, I hope warm weather heads your way soon!  Happy spring, everyone!

 

Food Friday – March 2018 King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge: Gruyere-Stuffed Crusty Loaves

16 Friday Mar 2018

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from Tracey G

Gruyere-Stuffed Crusty Loaves King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge #19

Well, another King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge accomplished! This bread is a simple recipe, and should have been really simple to accomplish – and it was. But it was fraught with some craziness from the get-go for both of us!

Here is how it went.  Our experience with this month’s Bakealong Challenge as experienced in our text messages throughout the week.  Enjoy! 🙂

MONDAY

Tracey: The Bakeslong requires an overnight starter, I see.

Kris: I just looked at the Bakealong.  I’ll make the starter tonight.

Tracey: I have no idea when I’ll get to the Bakealong.  I need the cheese.  LOL!

Kris: Ha!  We stopped for coffee on the way to the grocery store for just regular housed stuff and I remembered to look at the Bakealong ingredients while we were sitting there.  Good thing!

TUESDAY

Kris: I made the starter for the Bakealong last night.  It is not bubbly at all this morning.  It seemed WAY too dry when I made it.  I’m not sure where I’ll go from here.  It will be late today either way before I can do anything with it.

Tracey: It seems that I read somewhere around the recipe that it would be a much drier starter than we’re used to…I wish I could remember where I read that.  It was just yesterday!  Lol!

Kris: I am going to read through all of the comments.  It says it should bubble some.  Mine isn’t at all/

And, its fresh yeast so I’m fairly sure that that’s not the problem.

Tracey: I’m booting up my laptop now to see if I can find that tip, or whatever it was.  Or, it’s going to make me crazy!!!

Kris: I may try it and see what happens.  The worst thing is wasting the cheese.

Tracey: Ouch!  Wasting cheese is a crime!  Maybe it needs a bit more time to develop???

Kris: I’ll give it until this afternoon to grow into a respectable starter. 🙂

…

My starter never bubbled.  I’ll make another tonight.

I know salt kills yeast.  I wonder if the fact that they call for the salt and yeast to be added consecutively in the starter recipe was an issue.

Tracey:  Hmmm…That’s a good question.  I wonder why theirs worked and yours didn’t do what it was supposed to do?  Maybe you don’t have too much wild yeast floating around your environment! 🙂

Kris: Probably user error.

WEDNESDAY

Tracey:  Good morning!  I’ve hit a Bakealong snag!  Jeremy and Harry ran to town yesterday and were going to get the Gruyère for me.  Our little grocery didn’t have it!  Ugh!  In the mean time, thinking they’d bring it home and I could get the bread made today, I made the starter last evening while they were gone.  I checked it this morning and it’s nice and bubbly…It’s mocking me because I don’t have the cheese!

Kris: We need to get together; I have cheese and no starter!  I’ll give the starter another try today.  I seriously don’t know what the deal was with mine.

Tracey: I have alternate plans, but I want Gruyère!  LOL!  I sent Jeremy a text asking him to check the grocery store that is on his way home, but 40 minutes away for me.  If they don’t have it, I’ll get creative with cheddar and mozzarella, or mozzarella and swiss.

Well..other, usually well-supplied, grocery store – no Gruyère.  So, it will be alternate cheese for me.

Kris: I made another starter.  We’ll see what happens this time.

Tracey: I hope it worked.  My poor starter is just sitting and waiting.  I guess I’ll go to plain cheese tomorrow.

THURSDAY

Kris: I made a decent (not great) starter yesterday, but did not get the bread made.  I put the starter in the fridge last night and will make the bread tonight.

Tracey: I’ve got my dough rising.  It was chilly here today so it’s kind of slow going.  I’m using mozzarella and pizza seasoning as it mentions and I made garlic oil since I can’t have Gruyère.  Lol!  I’m just happy my starter lived for two days!

Kris: I have the pizza seasoning and the KA dough seasoning.  And, I keep garlic oil made.  We’ll see what happens.  My expectations are low.

Tracey: Well…I got two “pretty” loaves (and that’s even debatable) and two uglies that will be had for dinner.  At least there are two for photos.  Lol!

Kris: Mine are on their first rise.

Tracey: Sooo..decided to cut one of the mini loaves in sort of slices…my serrated knife slipped and I cut through my fingernail and drew blood.  What a dummy!!!  Scared the crap out of me.  Jeremy came running and declared that I would live.  Lol!  I’ve never had THAT kind of ouchy before!

But…The bread is yummy!  My cheese got kind of over-dark waiting for the bread part to brown, but I will make them again.

I should say that I cut into my nail bed and it’s ouchy!

Kris: OUCH! I’m glad the bread was worth it! 🙂

Tracey: Yes!  This food was definitely worth spilling blood for.  But hey, it’s bread.  I LOVE BREAD!

…

Kris: My bread…#ugly   I’m not sure how to photograph it.

And, I burnt the crap out of my hand taking it out of the oven!

FRIDAY

Tracey:  I’m unsure myself – Mine may be best photographed with the lens cap on or with my finger in front of the phone lens!

Maybe we should call this the “Bread of Doom” since we were both wounded in its making!

Kris:  LOL!  I suspect that this one will most definitely have a “rustic” look. 🙂

Tracey: Photos done.  Now to see if I got anything that’s workable.

Kris: My bread is ugly brown, not really any shine.

Tracey: No shine to mine either.  Not as pretty as KAF’s!

Kris: Time to work on a photo.

Tracey: Good luck!

Kris: Ha! Thanks. 🙂

Here’s what Tracey learned:

  • I can’t always find Gruyère cheese. Two grocery stores and no Gruyère. Stupid odds!
  • Make sure you make the starter the night before and to my surprise mine lived for an extra day while waiting to see if I could find Gruyère cheese.
  • Mozzarella is always a good substitution.
  • I had 2 of the extra ingredients on hand – Pizza Seasoning and Pizza Dough Flavor
  • Garlic Oil is very easy to make at home – I heated some olive oil with some garlic cloves cut in half on low until desired flavor was achieved. That’s it. No amounts, just winged it.
  • All-Purpose flour worked well, as I didn’t have any bread flour.
  • It went together easily – very easy recipe to do and work with.
  • For some reason my cheese over-browned while waiting for the bread to catch up in color.
  • If you wish to cut your loaves in pieces to serve, make sure it’s on a sturdy and stable surface, otherwise your serrated knife will cut through your nail bed and draw blood when it slips… ouch.

Here’s what Kris learned:

  • I found the Gruyère cheese, smoked which was even better, but realized when I got it home that it was processed Gruyère.  Oh well; it worked.  Next time I’ll read the labels more carefully.
  • I put my second starter in the fridge overnight and it worked just fine.
  • The King Arthur Flour Pizza Seasoning and Pizza Dough Flavor are a tasty addition.
  • Always keep garlic oil in your pantry!
  • User error seemed to be the biggest issue in making this recipe.
  • Don’t judge a loaf of bread by its looks!
  • This bread is heavenly hot out of the oven.
  • Pay attention to which part of your hand your oven mitt is covering and which part it’s not when removing pans from the oven.

HAPPY BREAD BAKING!

Food Friday – Anytime Is A Good Time For Scones!

10 Saturday Mar 2018

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Cream Tea Scones

A hint of sweet, but not too much…that’s what I love about scones.  They are perfect when you want something a little bit special but don’t want to over indulge with a serious sugar overload.

King Arthur Flour’s Cream Tea Scones are a basic scone, their  “flavor” being only vanilla.  This neutral flavor means that everyone can top these scones with their favorite jam or jelly and the scone itself offers no competition.  In my house, that’s three different kinds of topping – blackberry, raspberry, and red plum.

The necessary ingredients are minimal – all-purpose flour, baking soda, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream.  The recipe suggests  1/4 – 1/3 cup of sugar, depending on your preferred degree of sweetness.  I used the larger amount and did not find the scones overly sweet.

Once the dough is made, it is divided into two halves.  Each is shaped into a 5 1/2 circle and cut into six wedges.  The cut pieces are placed on a parchment lined baking sheet and chilled in the freezer for fifteen minutes before baking.  This aids in their rising.

The Cream Tea Scones bake 14-15 minutes at 425 degrees.

To me, scones sound like a fancy treat.  They may be, but they are simple to make.  If you want something a little different for brunch, afternoon snack, or maybe a gathering of your book club, give these Cream Tea Scones a try.  They will not disappoint!

from Tracey G.

Maple Bacon Scones

Since I am still suffering at the hands of this illness (started as flu I’m sure, and now a secondary cold/virus) I was happy it was something fairly easy for this week’s recipe! Scones! And to make it even a bit more enticing to me, was finally having a chance  to use my KAF Scone Pan I’d gotten off my King Arthur Flour Website wish-list for Christmas from my Mom-in-Law!

I did have a hard time coming up with what I wanted to makes as far as scones went – I wasn’t able to get out and about to shop, so wanted to use things I had lying around the house and on hand. Lots of recipes were discarded due to not having what was needed. And even the add-in-your-own basic recipes weren’t much help as since I wasn’t feeling the greatest, my powers of creativity were pretty low.

Then I ran across this recipe for Maple Bacon Scones. Interesting… I happen to have maple flavoring on hand and thanks to some leftover bacon from dinner one night that I had stashed in the fridge (it was waiting to head to the freezer for future recipe use). The only thing I didn’t have was the optional maple sugar – but I had an idea for that, I could use brown sugar in its place. They don’t list it as an option, but I decided to try it anyway in all the places it was called for! (after all, I do love to coat bacon in brown sugar and bake as usual for a sometime for a treat!)

It mixed up really quick, ingredients include:

Topping includes:

Mix up all the dry ingredients, cut in the butter. Mix the milk, egg and maple flavoring in a separate bowl/measuring cup and then mix it into the dry ingredients. If it’s too dry, you can add a bit more milk until it comes together better.

Now, for the traditional no-pan recipe directions, you pat the dough into a 9×9″ square, cut that into 9 3″ squares, then cut each into 2 wedges, with a total of 18 scones. Place them on your prepared pan (I always use parchment), and pop into the freezer for about 30 minutes. While they are chilling, preheat your oven to 425° F. Before popping them into the oven, brush the scones with cream or milk and sprinkle with maple sugar if desired. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until they are medium to deep-golden brown. Cook briefly on rack and serve warm.

The only thing I did differently, was to pat the dough into my scone pan. I then brushed with cream and sprinkled with brown sugar, instead of the maple sugar. I had to bake mine a wee bit longer as my pan states it’s oven safe to 400° F, so I was 25° lower than the recipe called for. The scone pan in great, they popped easily out of it! I did spray lightly with cooking spray, but I don’t really think I needed to – I highly recommend it. I plan on trying it for my cornbread one of these days!

I really loved these scones for something different than the usual scone that I’m usually making. I loved the combination of the maple, the bacon and the brown sugar too! They were easy and a nice savory treat! I think I want more maple flavor next time, so you can be sure I’ll be messing around with that the next time I make these!!

Mix It Up Friday – Rich, Dark, and Delicious

23 Friday Feb 2018

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from Tracey G.

Chocolate Indulgence Cake Mix from King Arthur Flour

This past week has been a rough one, as you all know back in January Kris got to deal with influenza knocking her flat, well, this week it’s our household. Harry tested positive for influenza on Monday at his school’s clinic and has been home sick all week, as they have to stay out a mandatory 5 days. The clinic in his school is an Extension Unit of a local area Health Clinic/System, so they can do anything the regular doctor’s office can – and only deal with children (and they have helped us adults out a few times as well, out of the goodness of their hearts!). It’s wonderful, a huge step above when I was in school and we just had the school nurse who could only either send us home or back to class! It’s also nice because they pretty much know all the kids, so they aren’t just numbers to them. I was able to make an appointment for Monday and get him tested, and they even supplied the school’s office (just down the hall from the clinic) with the doctor’s note to excuse his absence, which originally was to be until Thursday, but after touching base with the N.P., she ended up extending to Friday – today. Unfortunately, this illness has now sunk its teeth and claws into Jeremy and I. Thank goodness it’s mix week, easy for the sick to make!

And that brings me to – in a roundabout way, to my mix for the week. I’d chosen this mix, Chocolate Indulgence Cake Mix in honor of Harry’s birthday, which is today, the 23rd, and mine which is tomorrow, the 24th. Also unfortunate as we are all sick! Not much fun to be had this weekend, so we’ll have to bump any fun to another weekend as soon as we can.

But I’d thought a cake would be a fun mix since Mix Week fell on Birthday Weekend. I’d decided on this particular mix, Chocolate Indulgence Cake a long time ago as it sounded super yummy and super easy. It’s a one-pan cake! It’s also flourless – and comes with the chocolate wafers to make a ganache coating out of, to finish the cake.

The ingredients are simple – all you supply are the eggs, butter and heavy cream for the ganache coating. That’s it. The only trouble I had with this cake was getting it out of the pan, which you cool it in for 2 hours. It didn’t stick, because when I finally did get it out of the pan, it wasn’t broken or anything, but I think a vacuum had created itself, thereby holding the cake firmly in the pan.

And once it’s out, don’t count on being able to move it around on your serving/presentation plate or cake stand, that’s not happening unless you want it in pieces. The texture is like a cheesecake without the cheese, lol. I had to live with it not being quite where I wanted it on my presentation plate. But oh well. No harm, no foul.

Now, the taste-test. Jeremy and I taste-tested it the day I made it – the day before I took my photos. We both were in agreement that this was not like any boxed mix we’d ever had. It was upscale-restaurant worthy all the way. He made the comment that all it needed was a drizzle of a raspberry sauce on the plate as garnish and it was ready for the public! So, the next day when I was debating on how to photograph it – I made a homemade raspberry sauce I’d found a recipe for somewhere online. It was super easy, just some frozen raspberries I’d had, a little water, sugar and lemon juice and I used a fine-mesh sieve to make it seedless. I used a bit of KAF’s Instant ClearJel to help thicken it a little as I think I had too much water in it to – I didn’t want my “drizzle” to become a “puddle”!

And that’s all there is to it. It’s a mix of cocoa powder, ground chocolate and sugar for the most part, then the chocolate ganache on top. It’s creamy and wonderful – I didn’t find it either too sweet or too bitter/chocolaty at all. It was just right in my opinion, and a little sliver goes a long way. I am really blown away that this was a mix, there’s no way I’d ever suspect that if I didn’t know any better! If you want an impressive dessert for company, or even just an indulgent treat for yourself – this is the mix to cover all of that and more!!

Dark Pumpernickel Bread Mix from King Arthur Flour

It’s no secret that I am a bread fan.  Not only do enjoy eating it, I enjoy the making of it equally as much.  So, it felt a little bit like cheating when I decided to make bread from a mix this week.  I chose the Dark Pumpernickel Bread Mix because Pumpernickel Bread, though a taste I enjoy, is not one that I make at home in my normal rotation of bread baking.  It is also a favorite of my husband’s.  Since he humored me by spending last weekend with me and hundreds of other woman photographers at Click Away, the pumpernickel is a nice treat for him.  I may even use it to make him a Patty Melt this weekend.

I have to admit that making bread where all I have to do is dump the mix, a cup and a half of warm water, and two tablespoons of melted butter or oil into a bowl and then knead it for a few minutes was really nice!  My least favorite part of bread baking is rounding up all of the ingredients on the kitchen counter and then putting them away.  Making this bread from the box was painless!

The direction say that once mixed, you may have to add additional flour or water until you have a soft, smooth dough.  I feel like my dough was a bit sticky when I shaped it for its first rise, but I decided not to add any additional flour.  I didn’t want to run the risk of a dry loaf of bread.

The suggested first rise time for this loaf is an hour.  Then, it is shaped and placed in a 9×5 bread pan and rises again until it has crowned the pan by an inch.  The bread bakes for 35-40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  I split the difference and baked my for 40 minutes and it is perfect!  And, not dry.

If I can get past my thought that baking from a box is somehow cheating, I will keep a box of the Dark Pumpernickel Bread Mix in the pantry for when we need something a little different for our lunchtime sandwiches.  I think I can justify this boxed mix by saying that I don’t have any room in my pantry for another bin of specialty flour.  Rye is not one that I routinely keep on hand.

Don’t tell anyone, but I might have to try a few more of King Arthur Flour’s bread mixes.  Sshhh….

Food Friday – February 2018 Bakealong Challenge: Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberries

16 Friday Feb 2018

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from Tracey G.

I’m on my own this week as my partner Kris had a crazy week – between work and travel on Thursday, and this would have put her on overload, so I had no issues going solo this go around! As we all know with the way life seems to go, I may be needing the help one week! LOL! 

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberries

It’s Bakealong Week! Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn’t get to do last month’s Bakealong offering, so I was happy to get to do this month’s! This is a recipe that I actually spotted last fall in the Holiday Baking articles on the King Arthur Flour website, it sounded fairly easy and yummy to me – that right there made me really glad to have an excuse now to make it! And it worked out perfectly to be my Valentine’s Day treat for my boys – although Harry loves raspberries, he doesn’t love their seeds – this meant more cake for me! Ha! I now introduce the Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberries Bakealong.

Anyway, while this is one of the yummier things I’ve eaten, it is a bit step-filled. To be honest, if I had to do it all in one day, I may not have enjoyed the process as much. As it was, I’d read that all the parts can be made up to 3 days in advance – keep the cake tightly wrapped and stored at room temperature, the mousse filling and frosting are kept in the refrigerator. This turned out to be the way to go for me – I made all the parts in one day, and then assembled it the next day. By doing that, I think I saved myself a lot of hassle, and by that I mean no pressure in hurrying along, I could take my time assembling it and that helped it to be more fun AND turn out much neater!

And it really was fun to put together and see this lovely creation take form that I’d made in my own kitchen! Nothing is complicated about any of the steps and stages, just there are a few of them – but don’t let it be daunting and put you off of it. I recommend if you’re going to make it, plan ahead so you can make and bake on one day, and assemble on another. It makes a lovely presentation, I still look at it in wonder!

The first step is to make the cake layers. Here you have options on what way to go achieve the four layers. I happened to have enough cake pans to make 4 layers vs. using  2 pans and then making those two into four layers via splitting them. I’m not very good at doing that, my layers are never straight so I went with the easy route – making four from the get-go. They do give you amounts for how much batter should be in each cake pan no matter how you choose to do it.

After your cake layers are made, you make the mousse filling. The mousse filling includes cream cheese, which surprised me, but works well. There are a couple optional ingredients as well – one is KAF’s Instant ClearJel. I happened to have it, so I used it, it helps to stabilize the filling. The other optional ingredient is mini chocolate chips – I didn’t have any on hand, so I skipped that addition.

Once you have the cake layers made and cooled and the mousse filling made, it’s time to assemble the cake. It takes about 1.5 – 2 pints of raspberries for the filling and garnishing should you so choose. Wash, dry and halve some raspberries. It’s recommended to halve them lengthwise – you get more coverage out of them that way. It’s now time to assemble: start with one layer of cake, spread about 1 cup of the mousse filling over that, and then top that with halved raspberries. Repeat with more cake, filling and berries. Pop into the refrigerator to firm up so it’s easier to frost.

The frosting is a basic buttercream and really easy, plus it’s not too sweet. I really enjoyed it as you don’t put a thick layer of frosting on the cake at all. It’s rather thin, and that works wonderfully. They do direct you to do a crumb coat, meaning a super thin layer of frosting sealing the cake layers after it’s been assembled. Then it goes in the refrigerator for a bit of time to set up, then you put the final coat of frosting on. Garnish as desired.

And then, you’re done. It’s time to eat – and I am thoroughly in love with this cake! It may take some time, but the end result does not disappoint. I do not feel like my time and energy were spent in vain at all – I think I could sit and eat the whole thing, by myself!

Again, it’s a bit of work, step-wise. But each step is easy, and I am glad I spread it over a couple days. Made it much more enjoyable and relaxed when it came time to put it together. Otherwise, if I’d had to make it all in one day, I think by the end of everything I’d be anxious to just get it done and not care too much about what the end result looked like. This is the cake/dessert if you want to look like a rockstar – it’s beautiful once it’s all together, tall and impressive looking and doesn’t need a lot of frill to make it look lovely. Some extra frosting piped on or around and a handful of raspberries work well for some lovely garnish. Even if it was ugly it would still taste wonderful!

Food Friday – Brownies!

10 Saturday Feb 2018

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from Kris B.

Zucchini Brownies

Friday mornings at my house are the best.  My daughter is off.  I don’t have to be at school.  And, Mr. Retired is always home.  This is the one day a week that we can all sit at the table together, drink coffee and eat breakfast, and discuss the goings-on in the world.  At our house, we still get an actual newspaper that we enjoy reading with our morning coffee.  It often provides fodder for our Friday morning family conversation.

Today there was a story about a Girl Scout in San Diego, California who set up her cookie selling operation outside a marijuana dispensary.  She sold 300 boxes of cookies in six hours.  In response to hearing about this girl’s successful entrepreneurial  endeavor, my twenty-eight year-old daughter said, “If the Girl Scouts really want to increase their cookie revenue, they should start selling edibles.”

This same (adult) child of mine then asked me what I was making for this week’s blog recipe.  I told her that I was making Zucchini Brownies.  She said to me, “I don’t know why people ruin baked goods by putting stuff in them that doesn’t belong.”

Clearly we have an issue at our house in getting from point A to point B. 🙂

Last week I mentioned that we all can use more fruits and veggies in our diets.  When I saw King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Zucchini Brownies, I thought why not.  Let’s give this a try.  

Unlike most zucchini bread recipes, which use grated zucchini, this Zucchini Brownie recipe uses pureed zucchini.  In fact, the batter is made entirely in a food processor.  First, the zucchini is pureed with melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.  Then, the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt – are processed in. Once all of the ingredients are fully incorporated, chocolate chips are added to the batter and pulsed a few times, just enough to break them up a little.

The brownies are baked at 350 degrees in a 9×9 pan for 25-30 minutes.  I did check my brownies at the 25 minute mark; it took the full thirty minutes for the center to get completely done.  Once out of the oven, the brownies cool completely before then being frosted.

The frosting for the Zucchini Brownies is a simple mixture of chocolate chips and milk or cream that are melted together in the microwave.  The recipe makes enough frosting for a thin layer that does not overpower the brownies themselves.  After frosting the brownies, they are placed in the refrigerator for an hour to allow the frosting to set.

So, the taste…

The truth is that on its own zucchini has little taste.  When eaten as a side vegetable, it picks up the flavor of the spices and other food with which it is combined.  In this case, chocolate is definitely the over-arching flavor, but my daughter and I both agree that there is sort of an “earthy” after-taste to the brownies.  It’s not bad.  I have to wonder, though,  if I would notice it if I didn’t know that the brownies contain zucchini.

This brings me back to my daughter’s question of why add ingredients that don’t really belong.

I love brownies and I also love zucchini.  And though the two work OK together in this recipe, I have to be honest here and say that I would rather eat my zucchini with dinner and have a “regular” brownie for dessert.  If you have to sneak vegetables into someone’s diet, this recipe is an excellent way to do it.  And, it does make for a moist and chewy brownie.  But if, like me, you enjoy both zucchini and chocolate each in their own right, I’d skip this combination.  Enjoy them as the chocolate and zucchini separately.

It all comes down to “Why?”

King Arthur Flour’s Zucchini Brownies

from Tracey G.

Cinnamon-Spiced Chocolate Brownies

This week being my dreaded root canal appointment week, I wanted an easy-to-do and easy-to-eat option, as the reason for my needing the root canal, is a broken tooth that’s temporarily filled and therefore, my food choices are limited, ugh. I didn’t want to make something I couldn’t eat (i.e. crunchy, sticky, chewy etc), so, Brownies jumped right out at me – easy and easy to eat!

I found this recipe for the Cinnamon-Spiced Chocolate Brownies at the King Arthur Flour website, and I knew I had to try them. My usually brownie recipe includes cinnamon, so I wanted to see if this was better (or worse I suppose).

This recipe was easy to put together and involved ingredients I had on hand.

Ingredients:

  • unsalted butter, melted
  • sugar
  • All-Purpose Baking Cocoa, or Dutch-process cocoa
  • salt
  • baking powder
  • espresso powder, optional
  • ground cinnamon
  • Mexican vanilla extract, or your favorite vanilla extract
  • cinnamon oil, optional
  • eggs
  • Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • semisweet chocolate chips

To start, you melt butter in a saucepan, add your sugar and stir until heated through. At this point, you add your cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and espresso powder (which is optional). Then add your vanilla. It also calls for a bit of cinnamon oil, but that, like the espresso, is optional. I didn’t have that on hand, so I didn’t use it.

Once you have that put together, you whisk in 4 eggs. Then stir in flour and lastly, fold in your chocolate chips. Spread in your prepared 9×13-in. pan, and bake for 34-36 minutes.

I think mine went the full 36 minutes and were just right, for once. Usually I have a tendency to over-bake my brownies for some reason, so I pleased with myself that I didn’t do that with these. Once they cool completely, you can cut them up and enjoy!

I love cinnamon hint, but Jeremy thought it was too strong for his tastes. So, maybe next time I’ll back it down to the amount I use in my old Brownie recipe and see how that goes, or no cinnamon at all. But I do know that this recipe is replacing my old one – it seemed to come together much easier, and involved things I always have on hand, which is definitely a plus!!

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