Get new posts by email:

Archives

Currently Reading

Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

Scroll down to the bottom to view my Blogroll

Posted in Appetizers, Breads, on May 27th, 2010.

At the bacon-oriented cooking class last week, Phillis Carey served numerous dishes, including this bread/tart/pizza thing that she mentioned was one of her top favorite dishes anytime, anywhere. That kind of recommendation is something I listen to closely. So when it was served early-on in the class, we all had great expectations. It did not disappoint!

This could be served as an appetizer. It could be served as a dinner dish – with a salad (that’s what I did) – or with soup. If there was such a thing as a French pizza, this would be it. It’s rich. Not only are the onions rich, but you stir it up with some sour cream (I used light) and an egg, along with a little squirt of Dijon mustard. Then you add some cheese on top. I happened to have some goat-cheese Monterey jack cheese on hand (Trader Joe’s). I mixed it with Gruyere and sprinkled that on top – you don’t need much. Oh my yes this was fabulous.

Buying a raw ball of pizza dough is so darned easy. A 1-pound ball (Trader Joe’s) is just enough to fill one of the 15×10 baking pans. Do use a Silpat underneath . . . the dough will adhere to it well and it takes very little effort to push it out to the edges. If you don’t have a Silpat, I am pointing my finger at you … telling you to go out and buy one. You’ll not regret it. I use mine all . . . the . . . time. The filling is piled on top (leaving a 1/2 inch border of dough) then cheese is sprinkled. It bakes for about 25 or so minutes – do use convection bake on this one. You want the underside of the pizza to be just golden brown – so check for that as it’s baking.

If you don’t have convection bake it might take another 5 minutes or so of traditional baking time. Let it rest for a few minutes (so you don’t burn the roof of your mouth) before serving.
printer-friendly PDF

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Focaccia Tart

Recipe By: From a Phillis Carey cooking class 5/2010
Serving Size: 6

8 slices bacon — smoky type, thick-sliced, chopped
5 cups yellow onions — sliced
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt — (maybe optional)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch ground nutmeg — freshly grated
1 pound pizza dough
1/2 cup Gruyere cheese — grated

1. Preheat oven to 375 using convection bake, if that’s available.
2. Saute bacon in heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat until slightly crisp. Drain out most of the bacon drippings. Add onions to bacon and saute over medium heat until onions are very tender and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool.
3. Whisk egg, sour cream, mustard, salt (if using), pepper and nutmeg in a large bowl to blend. Stir this into the cooled onion mixture.
4. PIZZA DOUGH: Use a large baking sheet and line it with a Silpat. Roll and stretch the pizza dough out onto the Silpat. If it shrinks, stretch it as far as it will go, cover with a slightly dampened tea towel and wait 10 minutes. Stretch the dough again. Allow it to rest a 2nd time and stretch the dough until it’s nearly filled the pan.
5. Spread the onion mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch unadorned border around edges. Sprinkle the pizza with the cheese (it will seem like very little, but it’s sufficient). Bake the tart until the onion-custard is set and crust is golden brown around the edges and on the bottom (use a knife to lift up the crust to see if the bottom is browned), about 25 minutes.
6. Remove the pizza from the pan and put out onto a cooling rack (off the baking sheet). Allow to cool about 10 minutes, then slice and serve in wedges or rectangles.
Per Serving: 357 Calories; 14g Fat (35.4% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 61mg Cholesterol; 392mg Sodium.

A year ago: ButterSCOTCH pudding
Two years ago: Mashed Potatoes with Shallots and Truffle Oil

Posted in Breads, on May 26th, 2010.

Most of you have probably never heard of sangak. It’s a bread. A wonderfully fragrant, thin stretchy sesame-topped bread. At a local market here, called Wholesome Choice, they carry a variety of ethnic foods, provide a full meat department, including helal, plus an indoor hot deli with ethnic foods from about 4-5 different cuisines.

Last week I stopped at Wholesome Choice in Irvine and while I shopped for produce, my DH waited in the hot bread line to buy a strip of sangak (also written sagnak sometimes). It’s an Iranian bread, cooked in a hot stone oven, and it’s popular in their culture. Sangak is/was the staple food of the Persian army. It’s soft, chewy, light, holey, stretchy, spongy and moist all at the same time. I absolutely love this stuff. The pieces are about 12-14 inches wide and probably 3-4 feet long. Maybe longer. A family of 4 would easily devour the entire thing.

When we buy it, it’s brought absolutely blistering hot right from the stone oven on a dowel and flopped over onto a piece of lightweight brown butcher paper. It’s loosely folded up and placed in your grocery cart. And I defy you to not have some as you browse the shelves or stand in the check-out line.

That night our longtime friend Joe came to visit and stay overnight with us. Instead of going out to eat (my choice), by popular demand, I brought out some leftovers and we made dinner with sangak, some Sabra brand hummus with lemon, grilled red bell peppers I had on hand, with some Feta, basil, olive oil and balsamic. We also had a little bit of leftover grilled Italian sausage. It was a heavenly light dinner. We ate all but about 6 inches of the sangak bread. I haven’t tried this technique yet (but was informed this works), but if you have leftover sangak, tear or cut it into pieces, layer it between waxed paper, seal in plastic and freeze it. When defrosted (eat it within a day or two) reheat it in a skillet or on the grill for just a brief time.

A year ago: Mini-Mocha Choc Chip Cookies
Two years ago: Field Greens with Fire Roasted Poblanos
Three years ago: Sausage Pinwheels

Posted in Breads, Desserts, on March 16th, 2010.

My friend Linda, who came up to visit last week, was telling me all about Tyler Florence, and about how much she enjoys his cookbooks (I bought her one for Christmas), his Food Network programs, and his recipes. Naturally, I had to go check him out. It’s not like I didn’t know who he was – I did – or that I’d never watched his show – I had – but somehow I’d never tried any of his recipes. So, I’ve started to Tivo his programs now, and I’m subscribed to his blog (through his website). And in the process I came across this chocolate banana bread recipe.

At a local restaurant we go to now and then, they offer a tart that always rocks my boat – it’s a very small pastry shell filled with chocolate pudding, with sliced bananas on top, then some whipped cream on top of that, with more bananas. It’s been a year or two since I’ve had one of them, so I thought maybe this chocolate banana bread would sort-of satisfy that flavor need.

The bread is quite easy to make – you just have to have some very ripe bananas. I think Tyler mentions it in his blog piece – gotta have ultra-ripe bananas or it just doesn’t have the flavor he knows it can have. The bread calls for both cocoa – I used Penzey’s natural (which is extra dark), not Dutch processed, which weakens the flavor –  and semisweet chocolate (I used some Ghiradelli chocolate chips I had in the stash). Otherwise, the bread is typical (butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs). It requires little mixing once you get everything all together and it’s baked for a little under an hour. I should have rapped the pan once on the counter (see the air bubbles in the top half of the bread in the photo above), but otherwise it was easy to remove and slice. The taste is really good – I mean really, really good. Very chocolate-y and moderately high on banana flavor too. I like it very much and would definitely make it again.

Chocolate Banana Bread

Recipe By: Tyler Florence (on his website)
Serving Size: 12

NOTES: You won’t need to butter the pan if you use a nonstick bread pan. The bread develops deep cracks during the baking process, but it does flatten some once it cools.

1/2 cup unsalted butter — (1 stick) softened, plus more for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate — melted
2 large eggs
3 whole bananas — ripe
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter until lightened, then beat in the chocolate, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined and no streaks of flour are visible; do not overbeat.
2. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Drop the pan on the counter from about 2-3 inches above it (to pop any air bubbles in the batter) and bake until a toothpick stuck into the center of the bread comes out almost clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding.
Per Serving: 286 Calories; 14g Fat (42.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 56mg Cholesterol; 233mg Sodium.
printer-friendly PDF

A year ago: Corned Beef Dinner
Two years ago: Fumi Chinese Chicken Salad

Posted in Breads, on February 23rd, 2010.

ham goat cheese biscuits

With our split pea soup dinner the other night, we surely didn’t NEED more carbs. But actually split pea soup is fairly low on the carb scale, believe it or not. And these biscuits were downright tasty – with a bit of minced-up ham (which could be eliminated if you didn’t have any) and some crumbles of goat cheese mixed through it. As with most quick breads, the least amount of stirring or kneading you can do will provide the lightest and flakiest texture. These are no exception. You can see a little blip of goat cheese in the closest biscuit on the lower right edge.

Obviously, this is a good choice if you happen to have a leftover ham (I did), some goat cheese (yes, I had that too), and some cornmeal (yup, that always lives in my pantry). These aren’t overly cornmeal-y, if there is such a word, but you definitely do get the granular kind of crunch of cornmeal with every bite. And a great accompaniment to a bowl of hot soup.
printer-friendly PDF

Cornmeal Biscuits with Ham and Goat Cheese

Serving Size: 12

As with most quick breads, the least amount of stirring or kneading you can do will provide the lightest and flakiest texture.

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
3 tablespoons unsalted butter — cold, cut into chunks
1/2 cup goat cheese — crumbled
1/2 cup ham — diced
3 whole green onions — diced
2/3 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 425. Prepare a cookie sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients.
3. Add the cubed butter and crumbled goat cheese. Using a pastry blender combine the dough until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (there will be small pieces of visible goat cheese, and that’s fine).
4. With a spatula, stir in the minced ham and green onions.
5. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir gently until it comes together is a raggedy mass. (If it’s too dry to come together drizzle about a tablespoon of buttermilk in the dough until it does come together).
6. Pour out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently 3-4 times. Press the dough into a round, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a 2-inch round cutter and place biscuits on the baking sheet, leaving at least a 2 inches between each.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes until browned and crusty. Serve hot.
Per Serving: 145 Calories; 6g Fat (34.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 454mg Sodium.

A year ago: Steak & Mushroom Soup
Two years ago: White Lady (a tasty alcoholic drink)

Posted in Breads, on February 18th, 2010.

irish soda bread

Is there some salivating going on looking at that photo of Irish Soda Bread? Should be. Especially if you were here on my end of the camera and you could smell the fresh-out-of-the-oven aroma of this bread. There surely are lots of ISB recipes out there. I even have one here on my blog. But it wasn’t as good as this one –  THIS recipe from Ina Garten. And it’s not all that different (it is made with buttermilk just like the other one) except that it contains some grated orange zest and a bit more butter. Orange zest is non-traditional, but Ina was kind of cute and cheeky when I watched her make this a week or so ago on her show when she said she likes orange zest, and so what if it’s non-traditional. It tastes good, and that’s all that’s necessary to make the addition! You can see a little bit of the orange in the bread if you look closely.

I’ve updated this post – with a new picture above. It’s very easy to make. Really it is. Almost no handling at all. Ina recommended mixing it up in a stand mixer, although surely it could be done by hand, even. Once all the ingredients are added the wet dough is rolled out onto a floured board and you literally knead it about 4-5 times adding a bit more flour if needed (mine didn’t except to keep it from sticking to the countertop), shape it into a round (I did an oblong kind of shape – this isn’t an exact thing) and into a 375 oven it goes for 45-55 minutes. I took it out at 45 and it was plum-perfect! Not only did we eat it with our ham dinner, but we had some with an elegant cheese course which was served afterwards.

Ina mentioned how fabulous this bread is as morning toast. We did have one small end leftover from our Sunday dinner and we had it for breakfast. Oh my yes. Loved it.
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)

Irish Soda Bread with Grated Orange Zest

Recipe By: Ina Garten
Serving Size: 12

4 cups all-purpose flour — plus extra for currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter — (1/2 stick) cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups buttermilk — cold, shaken
1 whole extra large egg — lightly beaten
1 teaspoon orange zest — grated
1 cup dried currants

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.
3. With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.
4. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.
5. Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Per Serving: 257 Calories; 5g Fat (17.6% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 386mg Sodium.

A year ago: About my Kindle
Two years ago: Coriander Lime Shrimp (oh yes, delish)

Posted in Breads, Brunch, on February 5th, 2010.

make ahead coffee cake

As part of the lore of baking, I had always heard or read that once you combine the baking leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda) with any wet ingredients, you’ve got to bake it right away. Because the leavening will do its thing and die otherwise. Well, there’s something wrong with that reasoning, because this recipe, for a make-ahead coffee cake – WITH both baking powder and baking soda contained in it, can sit overnight in the refrigerator and in the morning it bakes and rises just fine. How come? I don’t know. Maybe somebody with more of a cooking chemistry background can answer the question!

Over the years that my DH has been in his men’s Bible study group, whenever it’s his turn to host, I scramble to find something that will work. Usually I have to bake something the day before and Dave reheats it in the oven for a short time in the morning, or I’ve gotten up at some really unreasonable hour in order to prepare and bake something so it’s ready to serve by 6:45 am. But neither option has been ideal. So when I saw this recipe online recently I knew I’d make this the next time Dave hosts the group.

This makes two 9-inch (round or 8-inch square ones) pans of coffeecake. You can halve it, as I did, but the other option is to freeze one of them in batter form (up to a month) and just add 10 minutes to the baking time when you bake it from a frozen state. I mean, is that easy, or what?

Leave it to the folks at Cook’s Illustrated (aka America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country) to develop a make-ahead bakery item that works. I subscribe to an email from Cook’s Illustrated (although I don’t pay for an online subscription, just the magazine) and it was sent out with one of them, and the recipe was available then. Not now. I printed it out back then, but did find it online at another site also. But, back to how the make-ahead part works. I pulled out my favorite reference book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. It says that using cream of tartar releases 2/3 of its leavening power within 2 minutes of mixing. But if the acid (whatever it is in the batter that provides acid – like buttermilk, yogurt, brown sugar, molasses, fruit juices, vinegar and even chocolate) is not very soluble (so that would likely be yogurt, brown sugar, molasses – not the more liquid of the acids), then it can be held for awhile and only when it’s baked does the leavening begin to work.  Baking powder, on the other hand, is called “double-acting” because it does have some part of it that activates when you mix the batter together, but the other part doesn’t release until it’s in the oven. The book also says that in the restaurant business there is a type of baking powder that contains slow-release acids just so the leavening action doesn’t dissipate while the batter sits, before it’s baked. I’ll have to look at Surfas, the mostly pro cookware and foodstuffs store in Los Angeles, to see if they carry such a thing. Probably in 10 pound boxes. Uhm, no thank you.

make ahead coffee cake collage So, back to this coffee cake. It was simple enough to prepare, really. I made half a recipe because my freezer is full to the brim. I found the batter to be stiffer than expected, so had a hard time spreading it. In the picture at left – the dough layer in the left-hand photo – you can see where I had to use my fingers to kind of spread it out. On the right side shows the nut streusel on the top. I ended up using my finger to kind of chop off  little globs of batter all over. Then I dampened my fingers with water and spread it out (the water helps the batter from sticking to your fingers). Then you spread the non-nut streusel in the middle. Then the other half of the batter goes on top. I did the same thing with dampened fingers to spread it out. Then the nut enhanced streusel goes on the top and it’s refrigerated. My DH got up at 5:30 so he could bake this. He just had to take the foil cover off the top of the cake pan and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes. It does need to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. One interesting note about the streusel – the recipe has you make the sugar-flour-cinnamon combo and divide it in half. Half of it gets nuts, which goes on the top only. The info says that in their testing of this recipe they found that the steam the nuts produced in the oven made the batter/dough around them soggy. Interesting, I thought.

And the taste – really good! There are crusty parts on it (from the streusel), which made for good taste contrast. Next time I think I’ll add some cocoa powder in with the streusel – just because I like it. The cinnamon was subtle and I think it could be pumped up a bit. The cake rose perfectly in the oven – amazing! It didn’t look like it was in any way stunted because of overnight refrigeration. Yes, I’d make this again if only because of the ease of it!
printer-friendly PDF

Make-Ahead Coffee Cake

Recipe By: Cook’s Country (Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen)
Serving Size: 12

STREUSEL:
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter — (1 stick) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans — (I used walnuts)
CAKE:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter — (1 1/2 sticks) softened
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sour cream — (I used low-fat type)

1. For the streusel: Pulse sugars, flour, cinnamon, and butter in food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Divide streusel in half. Stir pecans into one half and reserve separately.
2. For the cake: Grease two 9-inch cake pans. With electric mixer on medium-low speed, mix flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Beat in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is crumbly with pea-sized pieces, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add sour cream in 3 additions, scraping down bowl as necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until batter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Divide half of batter between prepared pans. You may need to spread the dough around. Using spoonsful of dough around the pan then spreading with dampened fingers worked well for me. Sprinkle streusel without nuts evenly over each pan. Divide remaining batter evenly between pans and top with nutty streusel. Wrap pans with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 1 month.
4. When ready to serve: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap cakes and bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few dry crumbs attached, about 40-45 minutes (about 55 minutes if frozen). Cool at least 15 minutes. Serve.
5. This recipe produces two small coffee cakes, which can be baked on different days if desired (unbaked cakes can be frozen for up to 1 month). We omit the nuts from the streusel used inside the coffee cake, because the nuts give off steam when baked, which can make the cake soggy. If you don’t have two 9-inch round pans, NOTES: Don’t overbake – my oven runs a bit on the hot side, so this was done in 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick and remove when it’s no longer wet. Next time I’ll add about 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the streusel mixture (in addition to the cinnamon). Just because. I didn’t have enough sour cream when I made this, so added some yogurt instead. Worked fine.
Per Serving: 677 Calories; 31g Fat (40.8% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 94g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 120mg Cholesterol; 326mg Sodium.

A year ago: Leek & Turnip Puree
Two years ago: Shiitake-Crusted Chicken

Posted in Breads, Brunch, on January 16th, 2010.

lemon ginger muffins

Aren’t these cute? I bought a new silicone pan the other day – I probably should have placed something in the picture so you could see the relative size of these little guys. They’re small – about 1-inch square. A little bigger than bite-sized. These are lemon and ginger mini-muffins. With a tart lemon glaze on top. The recipe is from an old Bon Appetit, but is credited to the Baldpate Inn in Estes Park, Colorado. I made a couple of changes to the recipe – I added some minced crystallized ginger to the batter and I added the lemon glaze on top. An easy recipe, really. A mixer is not needed, as everything is stirred up by  hand. They’re good. Maybe not sensational, but tasty. My only caution is to not overwork the batter – you know how muffin batters are – they don’t like to be over-handled. Just mix it up until the streaks of flour have disappeared. You can make these in regular muffin tins (in a paper liner) too – that’s how the original recipe makes them.
printer-friendly PDF

Lemon-Ginger Muffins

Recipe By: Adapted from Bon Appetit, 2005, from the Baldpate Inn, Estes Park, Colorado
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: I used a Wilton mini-brownie pan (silicone with about 18 tiny squares) for this. I filled the little cups almost level and baked them for 17 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure they’re fully baked in the middle. The lemon glaze was my own addition as well as the crystallized ginger. Do not overmix the batter or the muffins might be tough.

LEMON-GINGER MIXTURE:
1/2 whole lemon — peel only, use juice for frosting
1/3 cup fresh ginger — peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons sugar
MUFFINS:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger — very finely minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter — melted
LEMON GLAZE:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice — approximately

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8 muffin cups with paper liners. Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (yellow part only, no white) from lemon. Coarsely chop peel. Or, use a microplane. Place peel, ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in processor. Process until moist paste forms.
2. Whisk remaining 3/4 cup sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, oil, melted butter, crystallized ginger and fresh ginger mixture in medium bowl to blend well. Stir into flour mixture to just blend.
3. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. If using a different sized muffin pan, adjust time accordingly.
4. Combine powdered sugar and some of the lemon juice. Stir and add more juice as needed for a very thin glaze. Brush the glaze onto the top of each muffin, doing it twice if you have enough.
Per Serving: 229 Calories; 7g Fat (28.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 35mg Cholesterol; 176mg Sodium.

A year ago: Turkey Meatballs
Two years ago: Gingerbread Pudding Cake

Posted in Breads, on January 5th, 2010.

zucchini muffins

Sorry this photo isn’t better – I’d intended to take more photos – I just plain forgot – and when I remembered, these muffins were all gone – but at least I’d taken this one picture, a real close-up using a new lens. Do notice the little dots of moisture here and there in the muffin  . . .

Nearly every Christmas my cousin Gary from northern California comes to visit. He’s a single guy. Very tech oriented (he’s a retired programmer from Hewlett-Packard), and helps me with lots of little things – giving me instruction about html (the stuff that runs how this website looks) and tweaking my computers. Would you believe I have four computers – five if you count my iphone. (And my DH, Dave, has a computer, but he rarely uses it.) I own two desktops at home, an old laptop (that’s going to be retired soon) and a new netbook I use when I travel. Gary’s a member of Mensa, and in his spare time he tutors high school kids in the programming of robots (for an annual international competition). And he always offers to help me cook too. I’d had several recipes I’d wanted to try but I wasn’t up to it because of my upper respiratory infection. We ate out more than usual during his visit.

Anyway, Gary is wheat intolerant, so when he visits I try to make new things for him to try. This time he took home about four recipes – two he asked for, and two I decided he should try. I did do a bit of cooking on days when I felt good enough, and I made these muffins for him to have with his breakfast. Generally we make a trip to Whole Foods so he can buy some GF crackers and bread. But he ate all of these muffins first and liked them. The recipe came from over at Kalyn’s Kitchen blog. Kalyn adapted the recipe from a GF cookbook called The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Anderson. Kalyn is a South Beach Diet fan, so no refined sugars, etc.

If you like light, fluffy, traditional muffins made with flour, these might not satisfy you. These are made with almond flour. Not almond MEAL (which I do buy at Trader Joe’s and use for other things), but blanched almond FLOUR, which is a finer milled product – looks and feels a bit more like flour. But of course, it isn’t. The fat content of these muffins is high – but it comes from the natural oils in the nuts (the almond meal and the minced pecans), not from added fat (although there is one T. of oil in it – for six muffins!). So, if you want to tame down carbs, or have a wheat intolerance, give these a try.
printer-friendly PDF

Low-Sugar and Flourless Zucchini Muffins with Pecans (Gluten-Free)

Recipe By: From Kalyn’s Kitchen blog, she was inspired by Zucchini Bread from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elena Amsterdam
Serving Size: 6
NOTES: The muffins don’t rise much at all – so fill the muffin cups almost to the brim. They’re also very moist. Not dense like fruitcake for sure, but they are almost dripping with moisture. With only a T. of oil in it, the fat comes from the ground nuts, a healthy type.

1 cup blanched almond flour — (not the same as almond meal)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 whole egg white
1/3 cup sugar — or Splenda
1 tablespoon brown sugar — (or an additional T of Splenda)
1 tablespoon canola oil — or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon buttermilk — could probably use milk
3/4 cup zucchini — grated raw, loosely pack into measuring cup
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Measure 1 cup almond flour into medium-sized bowl. (If flour has been stored in freezer, let it come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes.) Add salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to flour and use a fork to combine and press out any lumps.
2. Put 1 egg and 1 egg white into small bowl. Add Splenda and brown sugar and use a hand mixer to beat until the mixture has tripled in size, about 2-3 minutes. (You shouldn’t beat it until the eggs begin to form peaks like meringue.) Gently stir in canola oil and buttermilk.
3. Wash zucchini and grate with large side of a hand grater. Squeeze water out of zucchini and pat dry between a few sheets of paper towels if it seem wet, then loosely measure out 3/4 cup of grated zucchini. (Zucchini doesn’t have to be completely dry but shouldn’t be dripping water.) Measure 1/2 cup pecans, then chop coarsely with chef’s knife.
4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, only stirring enough to barely combine, then gently fold in the zucchini and pecans. Spray 6 muffin cups (or muffin tin) with non-stick spray or oil, then divide mixture evently into cups.
5. Bake muffins about 45 minutes, or until top is browned and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (It does take this long.)
Per Serving: 248 Calories; 14g Fat (48.5% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 35mg Cholesterol; 220mg Sodium.

A year ago: Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins (also GF, made when my cousin was visiting in 2008)
Two years ago: Roast Lemon Chicken

Posted in Breads, on December 14th, 2009.

bishops bread slices

This is not a new recipe. I posted it here on my blog in 2007, because it’s a family favorite. Or maybe I should just say it’s one of my all-time favorites. You need to like chocolate (the dark spots you see above), walnuts (the brownish bits) and maraschino cherries (they’re not citron, but the bottled red dye maraschino cherries). I took a whole series of photos as I was making it this year, just because I could, and because I had time to fiddle with my tripod and the remote control for my DSLR camera.

With the exception of wrapping gifts, I’m pretty-much ready for Christmas. I have a few more gifts to buy, but it won’t take long to do that part. So now I can sit back and enjoy the rest of the month.

Here’s how you make Bishop’s Bread:

bishops bread fruitnuts closeup

First you start with the add-ins: chocolate chips, walnuts (and I added a few pecans because I didn’t quite have 6 cups of walnuts in my freezer), and maraschino cherries. I wore plastic gloves to handle the cherries, although I buy them at Smart & Final and they’re already halved. How convenient! These go into a mammoth bowl (I made a 3x recipe) and are mixed around.

bishops bread mix Then you add in the dry ingredients (well, not the sugar, as it goes in with the eggs). I mixed up all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. I sifted that mixture over the bowl and used my gloved hand to mix up everything gently, but well. You particularly want flour on the cherries because they’re a wet ingredient and you don’t want the baked batter around the cherries to get soggy.

bishops bread eggs Then you add in the eggs and sugar, which have been mixed well. I did it in my stand mixer, but you could do it by hand with a whisk just as easily. I use a big spatula to stir the mixture up at this point. You don’t want any visible white flour spots. As hard as I try, I sometimes get some of those anyway. It won’t hurt the flavor – it just doesn’t look all that pretty. You can see a couple of little white spots in the picture below.

bishops bread in pans The batter is very thick. It’s hard to get it into the pans. I used purchased paper pans and spooned it into each pan to just under the height of the pans. Level them as best you can.

bishops bread baked 540 After 40 minutes these were done (baked at 325°). I set them on the grill/grates on my cooktop to cool. Then I cut one of them to make sure they turned out correctly – quality control, you know. <big grin>
printer-friendly PDF

Bishop’s Bread

Recipe: Mary Wilfert
Servings: 20 (slices)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
2 cups walnuts — chopped
1 cup maraschino cherries — drained, halved [or buy them in a great big jar at Smart & Final where they’re already halved for you]
3 whole eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a bread pan and line the bottom with waxed paper (yes, it’s important). Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add chocolate chips, walnuts and cherries and stir to coat the cherries.
2. With mixer, combine eggs and sugar, add to flour mixture and stir gently, but well, until combined. You don’t want to see any pockets of dry flour. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 90 minutes. Test to make sure it’s done. If baking in smaller pans, start checking for doneness at 40 minutes. Continue baking as needed and test at 5-minute intervals. Remove pan to a rack and allow to cool in the pan. When cool, remove and wrap well, or place in plastic bags and refrigerate. [Makes one loaf.]
Per Serving: 255 Calories; 13g Fat (42.8% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 82mg Sodium.

Two years ago: Spiced Fruit (a nice addition to a holiday brunch)

Posted in Breads, Brunch, on December 5th, 2009.

pumpkin streusel coffeecake whole

Does that look yummy, or what? It’s so pretty. Extra flavorful. Easy to make, although you must concoct three different mixtures – the cake batter, the pumpkin and dried cranberry middle and the nut streusel for the top. They’re layered in a springform pan and that’s all there is to it.

pumpkin streusel side view

Reading Canela y Comino’s blog, she raved – with lots of superlatives – in the write-up about this coffeecake. Since pumpkin in just about anything is “my cup of tea,” there was no question I’d be making it. My DH was having his Bible study guys here, so it was a perfect occasion to make it. Festive for the holidays.

pumpkin streusel slice The cake batter is a normal type – this one contains buttermilk (I used whole-milk yogurt because that’s what I had on hand). The recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice. I don’t keep that combo in my spice pantry, so just added my own mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, in descending quantities. If you make your own as I did, do note that there is pumpkin pie spice in both the cake batter and the streusel.

The pumpkin was Libby’s canned. And I used walnuts in the streusel, just because I didn’t have any pecans on hand.  I didn’t take photos of all the different processes (but if you go to Gretchen’s blog, she has photos of every step). The pumpkin layer, although not all that much quantity, really (it starts with a cup of canned pumpkin), does give you almost a pumpkin-pie type consistency. But it’s thin as you can see in the photo above and right. You place half the cake batter on the bottom, the pumpkin in the middle, blobs of the cake batter on top of that (which must be carefully spread out to the edges) then the nut streusel generously sprinkled on top. The recipe indicated the cake should be baked for about 60-65 minutes. I did 60, poked my cake tester in it in several places. What I didn’t do was poke the tester right in the center. Once the cake cooled, I discovered it was still doughy in the middle, so it likely should have baked another 10 minutes. The other option would be to bake this in a bundt pan for about 50-55 minutes (my guess on time).

So, if you’ve still got some pumpkin lurking in your pantry, this is a winner. Try it! Gretchen says the recipe came from a cookbook (magazine maybe?), Holiday Baking, 2009.
printer-friendly PDF

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel

Recipe By: Adapted from Holiday Baking 2009, on Canela y Comino blog
Serving Size: 12

PECAN STREUSEL:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons cold butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans — [or walnuts, my alteration]
PUMPKIN FILLING:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
COFFEE CAKE:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup unsalted butter — softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk — or sour cream, or plain yogurt

1. To prepare pecan streusel, combine flour, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles pea sized crumbs. Mix in the pecans. Reserve.
2. To prepare pumpkin filling, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, cranberries and flour in a small bowl. Reserve.
3. Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla and then eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Add one third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk; repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Remove and reserve 1 1/2 cups of batter.
4. Pour remaining batter into a 9? springform, already prepared with cooking spray, spreading into an even layer. Spoon filling into the center of the pan, spreading to make an even layer. Carefully spoon reserved batter in small mounds on top of filling, spreading gently to cover. Sprinkle with streusel.
5. Bake at 325F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested in the center of the pan. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the springform pan. Cool completely.
Per Serving: 332 Calories; 14g Fat (37.8% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 64mg Cholesterol; 291mg Sodium.

A year ago: Panettone bread
Two years ago: Salmon with Maple Syrup and Thyme

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...