Food: But Seriously, I Can Cook
I may not be able to bake, my donuts may be hard as rocks, and yes, I develop severe ADD once batter forms and is able to be eaten, but I do have cooking skills. Check out my newest article on Local In Season – Chicken with Clementine-Horseradish Sauce.
Food: Timing is Everything, Part 3 (aka: SB Quits Baking, Again)
Well, at 8:17 when I went into the kitchen to check on my doughnuts, they were indeed NOT poufy and pillowy. So, I officially quit baking (again) at 8:18am this morning.
But as my last official act as a wannabe baker, I decided I should at least try finishing the doughnuts to see how they came out. The dough had risen a bit, just not to double its height. I made myself some coffee and proceeded to heat the oil and drop in the dough.
first batch
The first batch was a loss- the oil was too hot and they burned far before the inside was anywhere near cooked through. I dumped the oil and started again. The second batch was ok, but by the third batch the oil was too hot again. I sugared the second batch, ate a clementine to calm myself, and set about finishing the pastry cream. Now this was a matter of pride. I was at least going to get a nice looking picture of doughnuts.
Not too bad, right? Just don’t try eating them.
The End.
(Bad baking doesn’t get a Voila.)
Food: Timing is Everything, Part 2
It’s 5:33 am on my day off and I’m awake so I can do this, because I’d like to eat these doughnuts before I turn 50:
“Lightly flour a baking sheet. On a well- floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch square about 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-4 inch biscuit cutter, cut out 9 doughnuts. Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm spot to rise for 2-3 hours, or until they are about doubled in height and feel poufy and pillowy.”
Here are my doughnuts:
Now, I am going to go back to bed, and when I get up for real in 2 hours, so help me god, this dough better be poufy and pillowy, or I quit.
Food: Timing is Everything, Part 1
It turns out, you can’t just come home one night and make doughnuts. Perhaps if I had read Joanne Chang’s Flour Cookbook recipe for Vanilla Cream Filled Doughnuts before starting to make them, I would have realized this. But of course, I did not. So instead of sitting down to type up the recap of this experience after it’s all over, I’m going to do this in real time.
Tuesday, January 4th – 8:34pm:
I bought all of the ingredients for these doughnuts as I left work today, and then proceeded to take an infuriating trip to Target, during which I lost my list of Things I Needed to Buy at Target. By the time I got home I was in a pretty serious mood, and I was almost annoyed that my plan tonight was to make doughnuts. I really just wanted to sit down and drink a few glasses of wine.
But no, I pressed on. While I hadn’t read the details of the recipe the night before, I had scanned it closely enough to know I needed to make some pastry cream first, so I began with that. The cream was easy to make and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself until I read that I would need to cool it for “at least 4 hours.” At this point I thought “Seriously? I’m not going to be eating these doughnuts until 10pm?” (Wrong.)
With the cream (minus several liberal spoonfuls to my mouth) in the fridge, I began work on the doughnut dough. I have to admit, I was a little thrilled to be able to use a different attachment for my hand mixer for the first time- the dough hooks.
dough hooks
But my excitement soon dissipated as my dough began to form a nice round ball and I got to this directive in the recipe:
“Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 15 hours.”
Not only had plastic wrap been one of the forgotten items on my lost List of Things I Needed to Buy at Target, it now sunk in that I wasn’t eating these doughnuts at all tonight.
You’ll never guess what the next step is. But I’ll tell you around 6am tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.
dough ball, now chilling.
Food: The Magic is Butter
This is what three sticks of butter cut into 2 inch slices looks like:
a whole mess of butter
Clearly, this qualifies as a whole mess of butter. Before the holidays I would have been all over butter as a main ingredient, but I’m feeling pretty food-hungover lately. If I had been making anything other than Chocolate Cupcakes with Crispy Magic Frosting – my second attempt from the Flour cookbook – I may have passed altogether. However, I am committed to using this book to make me a better baker, so I pressed on through the ingredient list.
The recipe for these cupcakes was a little more labor intensive than that of the vegan muffins, but not complicated. It was the Crispy “Magic” Icing that really tripped me up, and I believe it was in this step that I lost any magic I may have possibly performed:
The instructions were to mix egg whites and sugar into a slurry and then heat, while whisking, over simmering water. I really, really thought I had performed this task perfectly, but the finished icing was nowhere near as sweet, nor as delightfully crispy as those from the cupcakes I buy and devour at Flour. Sigh.
The cakes did turn out better than my vegan attempt – I adjusted the cooking time, though I still wish I’d taken them out a minute earlier. I was also mystified that the store-bought cupcakes seem to have chocolate bits in them, but these did not. I even re-read the recipe to make sure I hadn’t missed something (stranger things have happened), but nope. Puzzling.
I think I would have been content with these cupcakes if I didn’t know how good they were supposed to be, though as it was I felt annoyed that they ended up being a semi-sweet imitation. But then again, some people like cupcakes that aren’t super sweet.
Next up: Vanilla Cream – Filled Doughnuts.
Food: Meatless Monday – Vegan Muffins
The number of times I’ve mentioned Joanne Chang’s Vegan Low-Fat Chocolate Muffins is probably approaching inappropriate, but oh well. I received the Flour cookbook for Christmas and damnit, I’m going to make myself a passable baker if it kills me. For my first trick, I tried to recreate my beloved muffins. Joanne’s recipe is easy to follow, and it turns out the key to these muffins is espresso powder and molasses. (So now I have large container of molasses that I need to get rid of…)
Unfortunately, I always get in my own way with baking. Due to some canola oil that was probably past its prime, and my inability to translate baking times to my own oven properly, my first try at my favorite muffins was not exactly successful. I will say the flavor was there, and they looked almost identical to those I have purchased many times before, but they were much too dry. However, nothing I can’t overcome (eventually).
Next up: Chocolate Cupcakes with Crispy Magic Frosting.
Frame: Happy New Year
I’ve never been much of a New Year’s Eve person- I’m all for a nice party, sure, but when you wake up the next day everything is still pretty much the same (especially if you aren’t resolving to become a vegan, like I did last year). I’ve always thought the change of seasons to fall was more of a new beginning, so I usually reserve my personal reflection for September, when I can eat cider donuts and caramel apples while I ponder.
But, in case you want to chase 2010 out with a bang, here are some traditions from around the world– several of them food related- to try out this year. I particularly like the tradition in the Philippines:
Round shapes (representing coins) are thought to symbolize prosperity for the coming year in the Philippines; many Filipino families display heaps of round fruits on the dining table for New Year’s Eve. Other families are more particular; they eat exactly 12 fruits at midnight (grapes, which are also eaten at midnight in Spain, are easiest). Still others wear New Year polka dots for luck.
Now, if only I owned something with polka dots.
Food: Danish Christmas Pudding
one whole almond waiting to be hidden
Last year, my parents took a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, right before Christmas. When asked if I would like them to bring anything back for me, I requested a “cool” sweatshirt. My reasoning? If anyone asked where I got said cool sweatshirt, I could shout “Copenhagen!” What can I say- I’m a little eccentric.
Nonetheless, my parents did indeed get me a cool sweatshirt, and I’ve been able to pretend I’ve been to Copenhagen on several occasions (though by now the word has spread- “don’t ask Kate where she gets her clothes, she just starts screaming names of foreign cities”). But even better than the wearable gift, my mom returned with a recipe for traditional Danish Christmas Pudding. It’s a form of rice pudding, but the base is whipped cream instead of pudding, so it’s much lighter than, say, Cozy Shack. In Denmark, the tradition is to present the pudding in single serving dishes, with a bit of a ceremony. The host/hostess will have hidden one whole almond in the bottom of one serving, and whoever finds the almond wins a small prize.
Not only is the ceremony of a roomful of people eating dessert until someone finds the almond /gets the prize pretty fun, the pudding is really nice. It’s not overly sweet, and the texture with the rice, almonds, and cream is much more interesting than regular rice pudding. The acid from the raspberry sauce cuts through the cream to prevent it from being too rich, but you could switch it up to a strawberry or peach sauce if you wanted (though it wouldn’t be quite as true to the tradition). It’s clearly a little late to have this for Christmas, but if you’re having friends over for New Year’s Eve, give it a try.
Danish Christmas Pudding
2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup arborio rice
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 oz. unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup Sherry or Marsala
1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds, plus a little more for garnish
1 whole almond
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 small containers fresh raspberries
ground cinnamon (for garnish)
1 small item to serve as a prize
Bring milk to a boil and add rice. Reduce to simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. In small saucepan, mix Marsala and gelatin, and stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in sugar until completely dissolved. Add vanilla and chopped almonds and stir mixture into the room temperature rice. Refrigerate for several hours.
Whip cream until soft peaks form and fold into chilled rice- the finished product will be thick and creamy.
folding whipped cream into cooled, gelled rice mixture.
Blend raspberries with 1/4 cup sugar and a touch of sherry or Marsala (to your taste).
Serve pudding in small, single serving bowls with raspberry sauce and cinnamon on top. Bury one whole almond in the bottom of one of the small bowls. Before serving explain to guests that there is a whole almond in one bowl and that the person who gets the almond wins the prize. This is important- you don’t want someone to choke on the almond, or eat it without realizing it. The tradition in Denmark is that the hostess tries to rig it so the youngest child in the room wins the prize.
Voila.
finished rice pudding, and prize
Food: Leftovers
As much as I love Christmas dinner, I think I like the leftovers even more, most likely because the day after is less hectic, you don’t feel quite so stuffed, and the prospect of drawing out the festivities just a little bit longer is always appealing. Who can say no to a hot turkey sandwich piled with leftover stuffing and doused with gravy that’s been marinating all night? Even better than turkey sandwiches, however, is turkey soup. You just can’t make real turkey soup without a turkey carcass- and how often do you have a turkey carcass?
The very word – carcass – makes me feel a bit like a caveman, and in fact the ritual of the soup itself is a little caveman-ish. Stripping meat from bones, boiling them in a big vat, throwing in some rough cut herbs and vegetables. Grr.
Although, maybe cavemen didn’t have vats or herbs? Am I thinking of pioneers? Well, I’m sure cavemen had vegetables and animal carcasses that they stripped the meat from, probably using some sharp stick or rock or animal hoof, right? Whatever, turkey soup is rustic, that’s my point.
If you want to feel a little less caveman/pioneer/rustic about your soup, you can add parmesan cheese on top, like my family does (though, what don’t we add parmesan to?), or you can take a page from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. His recipe for chicken soup uses a roux and honey to thicken the stock, and includes dumplings made with butter, flour, mustard, chives, and eggs.
Now, I know cavemen didn’t know how to make roux.
DoSB's chicken soup
Food: The Artichoke Appetizer
It doesn’t matter how good or gourmet of a cook you are, there are still some dishes you just have to have, not matter how small of an audience will enjoy them. For example, my mother still makes a raspberry jello salad that serves 12 but is pretty much only eaten by me. She makes it for me because I love it, because it reminds me of being a kid, and because no matter how sophisticated my palate may become over the years, certain simple things will always taste good.
Another ever-present item in SB’s house at Christmas is The Artichoke Appetizer (TM). Unlike the raspberry salad, this is something that everyone likes, even people who aren’t in our immediate family. When I asked my mom about the recipe, this is what she said (after she said “do not mock me on your blog!”):
“You take two cans of artichoke hearts packed in brine, drained. Oh. I always double the recipe because we eat a lot of this. So yeah, two cans of artichokes, 16oz of grated parmesan cheese – get a good quality canned parmesan. Two cups of mayonnaise. And it can’t be light mayo because that would separate. A small can of sliced black olives drained. Add the artichokes and olives together in one bowl, then mix the cheese and the mayo in another bowl. Pour in 1/4 cup of vodka to the mayo mixture- that’s the trick! It gives it a little zip. Combine all of the ingredients, put it in a baking dish, and sprinkle with paprika on the top. Then you bake it at 350 for 30 minutes or until it is bubbling.”
Voila.
Feast: Moio’s Pastry
While I love my job – which is especially fun during the holidays – there is one particular morning when I wish that I, like (seemingly) the rest of the world, had the day off for Christmas Eve. Before I worked in the food industry, my father and I would go to Moio’s Italian Pastry Shop in Monroeville, PA on the morning of December 24th, and stand in line to pick up our cannoli and rum cake.
As is any food establishment on Christmas Eve, Moio’s (still going strong after 70 years) was packed. When you plucked your number from the plastic ticket holder you were always at least 50 away from being next in line. But the place smelled delicious, the customers (mostly married men, totally psyched to have been sent on this errand instead of asked to peel carrots or clean the silver) were pleasant, and the staff handed out samples of pastry and cups of coffee. This trip is such a part of my Pittsburgh memories it even made it to an article in the Post Gazette last year.
One treat I have not found since Moio’s is Pasticciotti, an Italian cream puff with mild lemon filling, which I miss almost as much as having that quality time and tradition with my dad (and in later years, my brother as well). But I’m lucky enough to have a new holiday tradition. Now, it’s just not Christmas without a sfoie wrapped in paper towels, hidden away in my purse.
sfoie from modern (and george)
Frame: Channeling Elizabeth Lane
liz lane tries to flip flapjacks
My favorite holiday movie is Christmas in Connecticut (1945). It’s the story of Elizabeth Lane, a woman who writes a Martha Stewart-esque column and is known to the public as America’s best homemaker, wife, and mother. In reality, she is a single girl living in a tiny apartment in the city, relying on her best friend to bring her omelets because she can’t even boil water. Her editor, who knows nothing of her fraud, demands that she invite both he and a local war hero to her (imaginary) family’s (imaginary) country home for Christmas. In a desperate attempt to save her job, Elizabeth begrudgingly agrees to marry an old friend who can provide both a country home and a family for the holidays, but winds up falling head over heels for the Navy hero she is hosting (and deceiving). Hilarity ensues.
I love movies from the 1940’s – you can’t get away with this kind of plot anymore. You can try, but then you end up with something terrible like The Proposal.
We’ve all felt a little bit like Ms. Lane, in one way or another, at some point in our lives. Take a page from Liz’s book – she eventually comes clean about who she really is – consequences be damned – and gets the happy ending that we all deserve.
Frame: Pumpkin Bread (The Best)
Every family has a slew of Christmas traditions, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, and mine is no different. For example:
1. After the great ornament fire of 2007, candles are no longer allowed in the room with the tree.
2. Due to the flu epidemic of 2008, which felled each member of the family -one after the other- on Christmas morning, anyone with a hint of the sniffles is quarantined immediately.
3. Mom’s pumpkin bread is delivered to the Dodson residence on Christmas morning, but we are only allowed to have one glass of champagne with them before returning home to help cook.
4. In return for the pumpkin bread, Mrs. Dodson gives us a coffee cake, which is consumed with mimosas while opening presents.
stained and worn, the way all good recipes become
Mom has been making pumpkin bread since before I learned how to tie a bow around a present (not a skill I’ve ever developed much proficiency with), and every year we deliver it to close friends and neighbors. It’s one of those sweet breads that you feel equally ok about eating with ice cream for dessert, or with cream cheese for breakfast. She only makes it once a year, so you have to fill up when you get the chance. She wraps it in tinfoil and ties a red ribbon around it, and sometimes we are lucky enough to have one left over to freeze and eat later in the winter.
Mrs. Dodson’s coffee cake is another once-a -year treat that my family literally salivates over. I don’t know the ingredients or the recipe, I just know it is filled with some kind of nut/sugar/cinnamon combination that makes opening presents even more fun.
Mrs. Dodson, if you’re reading this, I hope you haven’t decided to start giving cookies instead of coffee cake this year (though I’m sure those would be pretty good, too).
a christmas past
Frame: Made with Love
The holidays are a great time to try out new recipes with your friends.
But sometimes, they don’t turn out exactly the way you’ve envisioned.
The lesson is: Just because you ruin one half of your dessert (and you break a cake stand in the process), it doesn’t mean your effort is any less appreciated, or that your remaining layer is any less delicious.
dedicated to my lovely wellesley ladies, especially melon.
Frame: Haiku for Raw Garlic
photo credit: the talented jim morrison
you bite my tongue like
a nervous lover, who’s lost
his way from my lips.
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread 