Pecan Passion

Pecan Passion - made January 11, 2011 from Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies (book #36)

One of the things I'm really enjoying about my baking challenge to try at least one recipe from every cookbook I own before I let myself buy a new one is I get to revisit a lot of cookbooks I've owned for some time but haven't really used.  And the point really is to make use of what I have instead of yearning for more, more and more.  I've had this recipe book for years but I honestly can't remember the last time I made anything from it or if I've even used it.  Hence why this challenge is good for me.

I leafed through the whole book and saw many recipes I wanted to try but I had to limit myself to one for now.  The recipe I chose was one that seemed similar to my Chocolate Caramel Brownie in that it had a chocolate brownie base covered with a layer of caramel and pecans.  Maida's recipe didn't call for chocolate chips but I put them in anyway - as soon as the brownie was done and the caramel pecan layer was still hot and bubbly from the oven, I generously sprinkled chocolate chips over the top to let them melt into the top layer.

Cut these while the chocolate chips are still soft.  They'll be gooey but that's okay as they'll firm up when they're fully cool.  This can only be described as a "confection" since it's practically candy.  The chocolate brownie base is thin and provides a good backdrop for the caramelized pecan topping.  The caramel layer is a bit chewy (as caramel should be) and the toasted pecans add a wonderful flavor.  Be warned though as it's pretty rich.  Use a good dark cocoa for the bottom layer so the dark chocolate provides a contrast to the sweet topping.  I'm seeing friends tomorrow so thankfully I can hand these over to them - otherwise I'd be tempted to have more than my usual one taste test piece.

ETA: I had a(nother) small piece once this had completely cooled.  The caramel was definitely chewy, a trifle more than I would've liked, and once it was cool, I could taste the rum more clearly even though there was a relatively small amount in it.  If you're like me and don't care for the taste of rum, I don't see the harm in leaving it out.

Bottom Layer

3 ounces (¾ stick) unsalted butter

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup sifted all-purpose flour

Topping

1 tablespoon dark rum or cognac

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

3 ounces (¾ stick) unsalted butter

1 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar

Scant ¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup dark corn syrup

7 ounces (2 cups) toasted pecan halves

1.    Preheat oven to 375⁰F.  Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

2.    In a small pan over moderate heat, melt the butter.  Place it in the small bowl of an electric mixer.  Add the sugar, salt, vanilla and egg and beat to mix.  Beat in the cocoa and flour.

3.    Place this thick chocolate mixture in a ribbon or in several mounds all over the bottom of the foil-lined pan.  With the bottom of a metal spoon, spread the mixture in an even layer.  It will be a thin layer and level itself while baking.

4.    Bake for about 15 minutes until the shallow cake springs back when gently pressed with a fingertip.  Remove the pan from the oven and let stand. 

For the topping:

5.    Add the rum or cognac to the cream; set aside.

6.    In a heavy, 3-quart saucepan over moderate heat, melt the butter.  With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the sugar, salt, and corn syrup.  Stir over moderate heat until the mixture begins to boil all over the surface.  Place a candy thermometer in the pan and cook, stirring a few times until the temperature reaches 250⁰F (this takes about 2 minutes of boiling).  Watch it carefully and do not let it cook even slightly too long.

7.    Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the cream mixture (the mixture will bubble up) and then the pecans.

8.    Immediately pour the mixture over the bottom layer.  Use a metal spoon to even the layer.

9.    Bake at 375⁰F for 25 minutes.  Time carefully and don’t overbake or it’ll be too hard.

10.   Remove from the oven and let stand for at least a few hours, until completely cool.  Cut into squares with a sharp knife.

Buttermilk Bread

Buttermilk Bread - made January 10, 2011 from Baking in America by Greg Patent (book #35)

When I was a kid, my mom used to make homemade bread regularly.  She used a recipe for potato bread that I found addicting.  I have fond memories of cutting a thick slice of fresh-baked bread, still steaming, and spreading butter to melt over it.  There was nothing better than that slice of fresh baked, warm bread.  Anything store-bought just couldn't compare.  Sadly, it almost seems like the days of homemade bread have gone by the wayside.  At least, in most working families that I know.  In today's busy environment and shelves of convenience food, not to mention the modern convenience of breadmakers, the days of old-fashioned "mix the dough, let it rise, knead the dough, let it rise some more, knead it again, shape it and let it rise one last time" feel extinct.  Does anyone still make homemade bread the old-fashioned way?

I myself rarely bake bread or any kind of yeasted dough.  It's not hard to do but it takes time, especially if you have more than one rising.  Bread making is not for the rushed or impatient which, by necessity, most of us have to be just to fit life in.  Fortunately, however, I have all kinds of time these days and a cloudy, overcast day seemed like a perfect day to make fresh bread.  This is a standard bread recipe except for the buttermilk but I'm always on the lookout for recipes that use buttermilk so I can use all mine up before it expires (always a constant battle).  With a KitchenAid mixer, it's even easier to make the dough - throw it in the bowl and let the dough hook do its job.  Much as I love homemade bread, I don't enjoy kneading it.  The trick to good bread is kneading the dough well enough to develop the gluten.  How do you know when the gluten is fully developed?  It's a matter of feel and look.  A properly kneaded dough is elastic and not too sticky.  You can also pull the dough and make a "window pane" by stretching the dough without it breaking.  If you don't knead it enough, your dough is clumpy and sticky.  If you knead it too much, the gluten breaks and your dough isn't stretchy.  We made bread doughs in culinary school and it's something you get good at with lots of practice but it's definitely an art.  I've been out of practice for awhile so I wanted to try something fairly simple....and shamelessly used my Kitchen Aid and dough hook.

When my mom made bread and needed a warm place for the dough to rise, she would boil hot water, pour it into a shallow pan set in the oven and place the dough in a bowl on the rack above the pan of steaming water.  The hot water and steam provided a warm, humid place for the dough to rise and whenever it had cooled off too much, my mom simply boiled more water and replaced the cooled water in the baking pan with more hot water.  I thought I would have to do the same thing, especially since it was a cold day and the recipe says to let the dough rise at room temperature.  Room temperature in winter can be pretty cool and not warm enough to let bread dough rise.  However, when I looked at the bells and whistles on my oven, I discovered a setting marked "Proof".  Seriously?  Yippee!  I pressed the button and the oven warmed to just the right temperature to gently allow the dough to rise but not so hot that it actually baked the dough.  Genius, these oven people are.

I only made half the recipe since I didn't need 2 loaves of bread.  The first rising went fine and so did the second rising.  I took the dough, kneaded it a bit with a little flour and put it in a greased loaf pan.  Put it to proof in the oven for an hour while I did other stuff. When I came back after 70 minutes (lost track of time), the dough had risen and spilled over the sides of the pan.  Eek.  I scraped off the excess dough at the sides and set the loaf to bake but put the loaf pan on a baking sheet in case any more dough spilled over.

I forgot to time it so I don't know how long I baked it but I baked it until it was the golden brown color you see.  I did brush it with egg wash before I baked it to help it brown better.  Overall, this was pretty good.  The inside was soft but not too soft and it was chewy.  The outside was crusty but not hard.  I expect it'll soften once it's cool.  I can taste the tang of the buttermilk.  It's not quite as good as my mom's potato bread recipe though so I'm going to have to look up that recipe and try it myself.

2 cups warm buttermilk (105⁰ - 115⁰F)

½ cup warm water (105⁰ - 115⁰)

1 ¼-ounce package (2 ¼ teaspoons) fast-rise active dry yeast

7 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg

¼ cup sugar or ½ cup untoasted wheat germ

1 tablespoon salt

1.    In a mixer bowl, stir the buttermilk, water, yeast and 3 cups of flour together with a wooden spoon.  Beat until smooth, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in volume and bubbly, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

2.    If using a stand mixer, add the butter, egg, sugar or wheat germ, salt and the remaining 4 cups of flour to the bowl.  Attach the dough hook and knead on low to medium speed for 5 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic, cleans the sides of the bowl, and is only slightly sticky.  Knead in a bit more flour if the dough seems too wet and sticky.

3.    Lightly oil a 6-quart bowl or coat with cooking spray.  Add the dough, turn to coat all surfaces, and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Let rise at room temperature until almost tripled in volume, about 1 ½ hours.

4.    Butter or grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans or coat with cooking spray; set aside.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it gently to remove any air bubbles.  Divide the dough in half, and shape each piece into a loaf.  Place the loaves into the prepared pans.  Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until the centers of the loaves have risen 1 ½ to 2 inches above the rims of the pans, about 1 hour.

5.    About 30 minutes before the loaves are ready to bake, adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 375⁰F.

6.    Remove the plastic wrap from the loaves and place in the oven, leaving a few inches between the pans.  Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the loaves are well browned and sound hollow when you remove them from the pans and rap the bottoms.  They will not rise much.  Cool on wire racks. 

Low fat, high fiber....chicken?

Oven-fried chicken - made January 7, 2011

This may be one of the healthier things you'll see on my blog...as long as you ignore the butter with mashed potatoes and cheddar muffin.  But the corn and the chicken leg are healthy!  Actually, I wasn't even following a recipe with this and did it on a whim as I pictured putting together something like a KFC meal I used to eat before I stopped going to fast food.

I was having one of those use-what-I-have-on-hand days and this fit the bill.  I had buttermilk I needed to use before it expired so I soaked a package of chicken legs in buttermilk overnight like my other recipe had me do.  Except, instead of frying it, I oven baked it and skipped all that oil.  For the coating, I crushed Fiber One cereal with a rolling pin and coated the chicken legs in the crumbs after letting the excess buttermilk drip off.  No egg, no flour, just Fiber One and some random spices I threw in.  The main motivation for using the Fiber One was I bought the cereal thinking it was healthy. And it is. One 1/2 cup serving only has 60 calories and a whopping 14 grams of fiber.  Which would've been great except I didn't like the taste.  I had tried a different Fiber One cereal and been fine with it but couldn't make myself like the original version.  After trying a serving, I can safely check "eat bark" off my bucket list.

But I didn't want the cereal to go to waste so I figured I would try it as chicken coating.  Cornflakes can do it, why not Fiber One?  It actually didn't turn out half bad.  The coating made it crispy and the cereal is already the color of golden brown chicken so all you really had to do was cook the inside.  Protein and fiber - what a deal.

Cheddar Muffins

Cheddar Muffins - made January 7, 2011 from How to Bake by Nick Malgieri (book #34)

I can also call these "the muffins that set off my smoke alarm".  In my defense I followed the recipe baking instructions exactly - oven at 450 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes.  I checked them just before 20 minutes and the oven was smoky.  Not a good sign, especially when my smoke alarms are uber sensitive and it took several minutes of frantically fanning a dish towel at the smoky air and throwing open a window and 2 French doors to clear the smoke.  Fortunately I took them out when they were only starting to think about scorching and were merely on the slightly overdone side.  That's the cheddar cheese protesting the high temp.  I don't know whether my oven was exceptionally strong or 450 degrees is simply too hot when baking anything with cheese (I think it's the latter).

It's not uncommon for muffins to be baked at a high temperature since that's what gives them that initially "spring" and high muffin top to activate the leavening in the baking powder.  But when you have cheese in them, some of which is at or near the top of the muffin cavity, it might be inevitable that they'll burn if you don't take them out sooner rather than later.

I made half this recipe since I didn't need that many muffins.  The key to tender muffins is to handle them as little as possible so always mix muffin batter with a fork, mix your dry ingredients first then add the wet ingredients (already mixed together) all at once.  I had to add a little more milk than the recipe called for as the batter still had flour pockets and I didn't want to mix them in to the point that the batter became overmixed.

For the most part, I did like these muffins....once I took off the over-toasted bits.  The outside was crunchy and the inside had a nice soft but chewy texture you can get from a good cheese bread.  They're not as fragile or soft as the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster or as buttery but they had a good flavor.  Next time I make them, I'm going to lower the oven temp to 400 degrees and check them early and often.  Properly made, I think they'd make a nice bread accompaniment to a meal.

2 ½ cups bleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter

1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)

2 large eggs

¾ cup milk

One 12-cavity muffin pan with paper liners

1.     Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 450˚F. (You might want to play it safe and put it at 400 degrees instead.)

2.     Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

3.     Cut the butter into 12 pieces, add to the dry ingredients, and rub in until the mixture resembles fine meal.  Stir in the cheese.

4.     Whisk the eggs into the milk and stir into the dry ingredients to form a very soft batter.  Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough.

5.     Spoon the batter evenly into the lined pan.

6.     Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are golden and firm.  Do not overbake or they will be dry.

Buttermilk Cake with Butter Sauce

Buttermilk Cake with Butter Sauce - made January 6, 2011 from Cakes to Die For by Bev Shaffer

Earlier this week I discovered my local library which was just a little less than 3 miles from me and therefore was a nice walk (about 5.5 miles roundtrip).  Although I'm quite the book lover, I haven't frequented the library as much as I should, preferring to buy books from amazon or get them from paperbackswap.com.  However, as I enter into a state of preferring to minimize my "stuff", especially the books that threaten to overwhelm me because I've accumulated so many of them, borrowing from the library seemed like the way to go.  I was wandering through the stacks looking for books on my wish list when this one caught my eye, prominently displayed as it was in the New Books section.  I had Brownies to Die For by the same author and I couldn't resist thumbing through the pages for any cake recipes I wanted to try.  Needless to say, this one came home with me for the next couple of weeks.  Technically, since I don't own it, I can't count it in my baking challenge so we'll just consider this a brief detour.

I've hardly ever borrowed cookbooks from the library before and now I'm asking myself why I didn't think to do so before.  Maybe because my acquisitive nature wanted to own the book instead of only borrowing it for brief periods of time.  I should've learned better in kindergarten.  I have so many cookbooks that I'm hardly likely to ever bake through them all.  Yet I still cling to them and sometimes acquire even more.  I need to get over that because in some cases, borrowing makes more sense.  Not only does it minimize the "too much stuff" issue but it's a good way to test drive a cookbook to see if you really like it before you make the commitment of purchasing it.  And if you don't, you still can try it by borrowing it.  Food for thought.

This is the first recipe I've tried from this book and I must say, I really liked it.  If you like pound cakes and butter, this is a good cake.  What sets it apart from the usual pound cake is the butter "sauce" which actually hardens into a glaze, like the sugar glaze on a cake doughnut.  I love the texture contrast of that when you're biting into a slice of moist, soft cake.  My Bundt pan has seen better days and despite my greasing it well, the cake didn't come out of the pan intact.  I still covered it with the butter sauce and let the moistness and sweetness set in.  Yum.

ETA - just had to add, this tasted even better the next day.  Just sayin'....

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
4 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter sauce

¾ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.     Heat the oven to 325⁰F.  Grease and flour a 10” tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan, tapping out excess flour.

2.     In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

3.     In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  With mixer on low, blend in the buttermilk and vanilla.  Scrape bowl.

4.     Alternately beat in the eggs, one at a time, with the flour mixture until blended.

5.     Spread batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 52 to 74 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6.     For the butter sauce: in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water.  Whisk over medium heat until butter melts; do not boil mixture.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 

7.     Prick warm cake in pan 12 times with a long-tined fork (a skewer would also work).  Slowly pour butter sauce over the cake.  Cool pan completely on a wire rack.

8.     When ready to serve, run a knife around the inside edge of pan and remove the cake.  Serves 10-12.

Potato Onion Frittata

Potato Onion (and Ham) Frittata - made January 5, 2011, adapted from Mary Engelbreit's Queen of the Kitchen (book #33)

I've never made a frittata before but once I looked through a few recipes, it looked pretty simple to make and seemed just like a more uppity version of scrambled eggs.  Which I love so I thought I'd try my hand at it, especially since I'm cutting back on the baking temporarily but still have to eat so I might as well cook.

I got the original recipe from the Mary Engelbreit book but I took so many liberties with it that I figure I might as well write up what I did.  It was actually quite liberating not to follow a recipe so closely and just make it up as I go, especially as I was trying to use the ingredients I had on hand.  Now I have a better understanding of cooks on the "hot side" who can make it up as they go and come up with their own creations.  Although I think I will still always prefer baking and the more exact nature of it.

But I did like how this turned out.  The eggs were fluffy and the potatoes were just the right, soft texture.  The original recipe called for parsley but I'm glad I substituted basil for it since I prefer the taste of basil to parsley.  I wasn't as wild about the onions but mainly because I don't care for onions unless I can't taste them.  Next time I might cut back on them and add more ham.  I couldn't really taste the cheese but assume they added to the creamy texture of the frittata.  Check this when it's in the oven as you only want to bake it until the eggs in the middle are just set.  Otherwise the edges will be overdone.

1 large Russet potato, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large yellow onion (you can use all of the onion if you love onion), chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 slices ham, cut into 1/2" squares
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup grated cheese (your choice - I used a 6-cheese blend)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large saucepan, cover the potato with salted water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Cook for 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain and set aside.
3. In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until softened.  Add the potato, ham, basil, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, half and half and the cheese.  Pour into the skillet and stir until mixed.  Cook over medium heat, about 3 minutes, until the eggs just begin to set.  Place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set.  Let stand at room temperature, loosely covered, for 5 minutes.
5. To serve, with a spatula loosen the frittata from the skillet, invert onto a platter, and cut into 6 wedges.

New Year's Day 2011

This is traditionally the time of year when the world goes on a diet and makes the famous resolutions to eat better and lose weight.  I applaud any and all efforts along those lines.  Unfortunately this isn't the type of blog to help with that unless you're okay consuming only virtual calories.  You'll notice there's nothing low-fat, low-cal on here and I don't bake with unnatural sweeteners: no splenda or stevia, just good ol' sugar.  And full fat butter and wheat flour with gluten.  The funny part is, the question I'm asked most often is not how to bake a particular item but "how come you don't weigh 300 pounds?"

I usually cut back on baking in January out of respect for people "dieting" as I didn't want to sabotage anyone's healthy eating efforts.  I myself used to be one of those people who would be fired up at the new year to drop the last 10 lbs, eat more veggies (or any), and cut back on rich, fattening foods.  Which always seemed easier to do after holiday feasts.  Then it got less easy as the month of January wore on and the dim memory of Christmas eating got more and more dim. By February I was back to my old ways.

In recent years, I've gotten honest enough with myself to finally break that cycle.  Successful weight loss and maintenance isn't about getting fired up for a short time, dropping a few pounds then going back to old habits that made you gain the weight in the first place.  It's about establishing new habits over the long term.  The only way you can do that is to make small changes, stick to them, make further small changes, keep sticking to them and over the long-term, those small changes actually become big changes that are now second nature.

Case in point - if you're not currently very active, joining a gym and making a resolution to workout 7 days a week is a pretty drastic change from your normal lifestyle.  You might be able to keep it up for a few weeks or longer but the first day you're too tired to exercise or run out of time, are you going to throw the towel in because you missed a day or keep pressing on?  The easier thing to do is focus on being more active all day.  Definitely get a workout in (that'll never hurt) but also go for a walk as often as possible, move around and do activities instead of sitting in front of the TV or a computer.  Move.  One of the things I like about where I live is I can always go for a walk and I can walk some of my errands, primarily to the grocery store, the post office, and, if I have enough time, even the library.  I consciously try not to take my car out at least 1 day a week and just walk instead.  I take the stairs everywhere, I park farther away than necessary, and I look for ways to stay active throughout the day.  Not to say that I'm not a couch potato sometimes but it's not all the time and it's not day after day.

Portion control is another key element.  I've long ago given up the "Snackwell syndrome" - you know, where you eat a lot of low-calorie, low-fat food because you think they're healthier or lower calorie.  Perhaps they are but not if you eat a lot of it.  Even low-calorie foods add up in calories. Personally, I'd rather eat 300 calories of a small portion of something rich and satisfying than 600 calories of something larger but sub-optimal in taste that leaves me unsatisfied and wishing I'd eaten something else.  If I'm going to have empty calories, they're going to be the best empty calories I can have.  I just don't have a lot of it and I don't have it all the time.  Food is meant to be enjoyed and savored, not give you a sick, full feeling or looked at as something that has the power to make you unhappy because it causes your clothes to become tighter.  It doesn't jump into your mouth on its own.  Make a conscious choice about what you're going to enjoy and how much.  Then stop and savor for another day.

Happy New Year!