Random Thoughts

I like that the more I cook, the better I am getting at recognizing potential problems in a recipe.  I can't recall a specific recipe that prompted this thought, but it makes me happy just the same.

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I read on a forum about a family that was having trouble with the kids complaining about the house not having any food.  The trouble was summed up very clearly when it was pointed out that there was apparently a discrepancy with the definition of food.  As far as the kids were concerned food equals something already prepared that they need to do little to nothing to in order to consume it.  In the kids eyes Mom was only buying ingredients. 

In that case, we don't really buy any food at all (except for fruits and veggies most of which require little more than a rinse in the sink).

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I love to watch my kids interact with one another.  I love that I can use them to cheer one another up or ward off a funk.  If the Storm Sprite is upset I can often encourage Little Man with little or no coaxing to come talk with her and try to cheer her up.  In fact, usually I don't need to do anything and he comes to see what's the matter of his own volition.  This can be done by him shaking his head back and forth 2 inches from hers with his nose all scrunched up and a big grin dominating his face as he says repeatedly, "Gimme those smiles! Yeah, yeah! Gimme those smiles!"  Other times he is more mild and simply pats her and reassures her that he is there, (or I am there, or Daddy is there). 

Likewise, if Little Man hasn't woken himself from his nap by 3, I know that I have a much better shot at a happy child if I bring the Storm Sprite in with me and lay her down next to him as I try and rouse him.  Instead of getting a wimpy, whiny boy, I end up with one grinning and snuggling his sister for a few minutes before he decides he is ready to get up and move on with the day.

Of course, since they are both human (and still rather small, immature ones at that) it can also be frustrating to watch their interactions.  The two of them were sitting on my lap giggling and tickling and having a grand old time.  For no apparent reason this went suddenly downhill as Little Man bit his sister's finger.  No warning.  No reason.  And that was the end of that merry scene.

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Little Man loves his daddy.  I have numerous pictures of Little Man copying, helping, or just following Hey, Babe in whatever he is doing.  One of the things that he wants to be able to do with Hey, Babe, is mow the lawn.  He has his own little plastic walk behind mower, just like his daddy does.  Unfortunately for him, we don't let him use it while Hey, Babe is actually mowing the lawn because we have too many rocks in our yard that might become accidental projectiles. 

One particular day as Little Man joined Hey, Babe putting his equipment away, he decided to help.  To do so he bent down pushed on the body of the still very hot mower and before anything could be done had burned his fingers.  Thankfully it wasn't a bad burn but still it hurt, especially for a child only beginning to expand his repertoire of painful experiences.  Since that occurrence, when we tell him not to touch something and that it is hot or dangerous he always asks, "Like a lawnmower?"  In our house it is not hot like a stove. Nope.  Around here, it's dangerous like a lawnmower.

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Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Compote

When I found myself with a partially used container of ricotta cheese languishing in the fridge, I decided I wanted to bake something.  Anything.  Well, anything sweet really, since I wasn't in the mood for stuffed shells or lasagna or other such things.  It was with this in mind that I found myself browsing through the first cookbook anyone had ever gotten me, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.

I received this cookbook as a Christmas gift from one of my brothers while I was in college.  I don't recall having as pronounced an interest in cookbooks, recipes, and cooking then as I do now, but it is safe to say that this book was probably the catalyst that sparked my current interest.  It was unlike any other cookbook we as a household owned (and by we I mean Mom).  Mom had a few of your typical cookbooks such as Better Homes and Garden's New Cookbook (the link is for a newer version) as well as some not so typical like the Le Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family (which I'd still like a copy of and again, I think that link is for an updated version).  There were a scattering of other cookbooks and magazines of cookie recipes and such, but this book was strictly for baking.

Growing up there wasn't a lot of baking happening in our house.  Mom was, and still is, an incredible cook.  She was able to seemingly instinctively throw together ingredients, sometimes with random leftovers, and create a delicious meal.  Baking, however, didn't happen except during predictable times such as pies for Thanksgiving and cookies for Christmas.  I think that having eight kids to corral kept Mom understandably otherwise occupied.  Which is why a book devoted to baking held such an allure.

I have read through the book cover to cover at at least once.  I like that it has short captions, suggestions, and interesting tidbits of information scattered throughout the recipes.  If it were up to me, there would be a lot more pictures of the final products included but we can't have everything.  This time, while I was flipping through it with intent, I came across this recipe for Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Compote and even without an accompanying picture I knew it would be the perfect way to use up my neglected ricotta.

The filling recipe had to be modified a bit to cater to how much ricotta I had left and I cut the sugar for the compote in half (why does everything have to be so sweet?) as well as altering the cooking method a bit.  The results were absolutley delicious.  The tang of the blueberries were offset nicely by the delicate crepes and the smooth creamy filling.  I am sure that this would grace a breakfast buffet just as easily as a dessert table.  We ended up eating it as breakfast for dinner and were perfectly content.

Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Compote
Crepes:
1 3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
5 Tablespoons melted butter or oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or vanillla (optional)

To your blender add all the ingredients and pulse until very smooth.  Allow the batter to rest in the fridge for about an hour.  This allows the gluten to relax (I often skip this step because I'm impatient).

Preheat a lightly greased nonstick crepe or omelet pan over medium high heat.  The amount of batter you will need for each one will be determined by how large your pan is, for an 8 inch pan use about 1/4 cup of batter.  Tip and tilt the pan in a swirl to allow the batter to spread into a thin coating on the surface of the pan.  Cook the pan until it has set and no longer looks wet.  Remove the crepe to a plate to cool and start the next one.

You may stack the crepes as long as you stack them with the "uncooked" side all facing the same direction so that they don't stick together.    These can be topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, sliced fruit, Nutella, etc. if you don't want to make blintzes.

Creamy Ricotta Filling:
6 oz cream Cheese, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg yolk (I added the white to the crepes)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Ricotta

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, salt and sugar together until well combined.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

Blueberry Compote:
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch salt
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Combine water and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combined.  Heat over a medium flame until the mixture is starting to bubble and slightly thicken.  Cool to lukewarm.

Blintz Assembly:
Place about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each crepe.  Fold the sides in, the top down, and then roll the crepe to enclose the filling.  Place them all in a lightly greased pan and bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for about half an hour or until they are heated through.  Serve them hot topped with the blueberry compote.

White Bean and Ham Soup

As I was scrolling through the backlog of recipes I have that are waiting to be posted here, I came across this one. It surprised me that I had yet to share it considering the fact that I have made it several times over the past few months and so I knew it was time to pull it off the shelf.

I keep thinking that soup weather is fading and then I look out the window and realize that Spring still has no idea what it is doing yet.  Case in point, we are currently awaiting a thunderstorm and our expected high temp for the day was reached at around 9 AM.  We aren't in freezing temperatures by any stretch of the imagination, but after a dreary rainy day having a cup of this hot soup with beans that just melt in your mouth will be sure to cheer just about anyone up. 

A lot of soups take hours of simmering to reach the right flavor and consistency, the original version of this recipe was no exception.  Since I'm not always on top of things (in fact I'm not even often on top of things) I adapted this recipe to be made in a much shorter time frame.  Out went the ham bone, dried beans, and the long and low cooking time and in came a few cans of White Beans, a Ham Steak and a quart of Chicken (or Veggie) stock.  Rather than fresh warm bread (see above - not on top of things) I whipped up a quick batch of biscuits to serve with the soup.  I mention the biscuits only as a suggestion since the recipe I selected was passable but not worth repeating.  And here is the first clap of thunder, it seems the weatherman was correct after all.  Anyone else have soup on the forecast for tonight?

White Bean and Ham Soup
 Ingredients
2 cans of white beans - either Great Northern or canelli
4 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
1 diced ham steak
1 cup carrots chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup onion chopped
3/4 teaspoon thyme
Dash of hot sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions
In a large stock pot, saute the diced ham steak in a small portion of olive oil, just until it starts to get a little color.  Add the carrots, celery and onions and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until they are soft, about 5-10 minutes. Add stock, beans and thyme and simmer until the beans are soft and the flavors have come together at least half and hour (or up to 2).  Season with salt and pepper and add vinegar and fresh parsley. If you'd like have a slightly thicker soup, mash up some of the beans a bit.

Starting a new hobby

The past several weeks have had me preoccupied with the various steps of planning and starting my first garden.  Due to the very unwelcoming weather that spring started off with, it was even more enjoyable to be a part of the sprouting, potting and transplanting process for my first time.  I have been scouring the internet for recommendations on everything garden related that I can think of, and you should see the lists!  Actually, heh, you probably shouldn't because you'd then think I'm a bit cracked.

(Lettuce!)

For most of my new endeavors, the planning and research stage is the part that I get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from.  I thoroughly enjoy the lists, the search queries and the acquiring of new and obscure information.  Perhaps that is why most things that catch my interest only hold it for so long before they lose their appeal.  I am sure that Hey, Babe is hoping that my gardening interests don't dwindle too quickly, especially in light of the fact that he is going to be doing the lion's share of building the raised garden beds in the coming days.

(sprouting Marigolds)

In my bay window there are currently dozens of tender new green plants of several different varieties all in various stges of growth.  Occasionally there are casualties or catastrophes.  My tomato seeds came in two packets, each containing a mixed variety of seeds dyed various colors according to their type.  Unfortunately the colors used within each of the packets overlapped and I placed them all into the same container when trying to presprout them.  I say unfortunately because Little Man took it upon himself to shake the container, scrambling them into one mishmash of mixed colors rendering it impossible to tell the green Cherry Tomato seed from the Green Regular Tomato seed.  On top of that, in mixed seed packets you are not guaranteed anything and for two of the varieties I had used all two of the provided seeds in my sprouting attempts.  We shall see when they start bearing fruit whether I guessed correctly at which type they were.  Little Man has also uprooted more than a few seedlings in his enthusiasm for "helping" me.  Soon enough the weather will change and he will be able to help me carefully transplant them into the garden where they might have a better chance at surviving.

 

 (tomato seeds pre-shaking)

I am hoping that this, my first attempt at gardening, will stay a lifelong interest rather than turn into one of my more fickle ones, like the crocheted blanket I started nine years ago...and have not yet finished.  I know that part of that will be determined based on my results and so I am curiously anticipating the results of this season.  What color do you suppose my thumbs actually are?

April Meal Plan

In the past week or so, Hey, Babe and I decided to change how we eat a little.  We already avoid a lot of processed foods, but we are going to be making an effort to eliminate even more of them.  Things like white flour, white sugar, processed oils, etc. will be if not totally removed from our diet (I really like to bake and I don't want to give that up entirely) they will be drastically reduced.  I am curious to see how increasing our consumption of foods nearer to their natural form will alter our energy and health (both mental & physical).
It was a bit trickier for me to come up with a variety of foods that would work with this new tactic.  As you can see below, we didn't avoid them completely, but there is a significant lack of pasta and breads in the majority of our month's plan. 

April
Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thur.	Fri.	Sat.	Sun.
				Potluck Dinner	Chicken Pot Pie	Chicken Stir Fry
Chicken Curry, Brown Rice	Salisbury Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Peas	Salad Pizza	Taco Salad	Eggplant Parmesan	Birthday Party	Black Bean Soup
Chicken & Basil Roulades w/Mustard Sauce, Baked Squash, Green Beans	Beef & Broccoli, Brown Rice	Salmon Fish Sticks, Carrots & Peas	Black Bean Mushroom Burgers, Roast Corn	Pork Chops, Brown Rice, Broccoli	BBQ Chicken stuffed in a loaded Baked Sweet Potato	Sautéed Spinach w/Chickpeas & Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Roasted Potatoes
Chicken Cordon Bleu, Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli	Fiesta Steak, Tomato Salad, Corn	Pizza	Taco Salad	Vegetable Torta	Greek Grilled Chicken Kebabs,	Easter
Herb Roasted Chicken & Sweet Potatoes	Stuffed Zucchini Cups	Fish, Rice, Broccoli	Potato Nachos	Kielbasa, Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes, Sauteéd Apples	Chicken Florentine, Whole Wheat Pasta, Peas

It seems that this month my work will be more cut out for me.  It will be interesting to see the results of our efforts. Enjoy!

The Daring Bakers make Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Holy cow was this good!  When I realized that I was going to be making this without any extra hungry people around to help me eat it (other than Hey, Babe and Little Man) I decided that I was either going to have to cut the recipe down or make half of it a savory version.  After sitting back and thinking of all the interesting filling possibilities we had in the pantry, I knew that cutting the recipe down was no longer a viable option.

I narrowed down my choices to three.  A savory pizza-like "cake" stuffed with chopped onions, pepperoni, mozzarella and herbs, and two sweet versions.  The first sweet cake had the standard chocolate, cinnamon and nut filling provided in the original recipe and the second had blueberries with a dusting of cardamom. 

I had no trouble getting the dough to come together, the only adaptation to the given recipe that I made was to use 2 yolks instead of one of the whole eggs that were called for to eliminate the waste the meringue would otherwise have created.  I did chose to allow it to rise in the fridge overnight so that I wouldn't have to deal with it the next day, taking it out of the fridge to come to room temperature a few hours before I'd need it (we have a cold house).

When the pepperoni version was baking in the oven my mouth started watering, it smelled so tempting that I could hardly wait to try it.  It was incredibly tender and moist and I said to Hey, Babe that even if the other two version were awful I'd still make this again.  Next time I might add some more cheese, but other than that it was delicious.

After having finished dinner I was curious to see if dessert would be as good.  I tasted the chocolate version and decided it was my favorite.  Then I tasted the blueberry version and decided that it was my favorite.  But when I tasted the chocolate a second time I changed my mind again.  Can you see where this was going?  They were both so delicious I really can't say which I liked more.

This dough was so easy to work with and has so many possibilities for filling variations that I know I will have to try some more versions.  I can see cream cheese, or apples, or sausage and peppers, or broccoli and cheddar, or...I think I need to go eat something.  All those possibilities are making me hungry.

Find the challenge recipe here.

Tips To Make An All Butter Pie Dough

Growing up I thought that all pie crusts were gross.  They looked nice (most of the time) and lots were very flaky but sure enough every time I bit into a piece of pie one of two results awaited me.  Either the crust was so dry, bland, and moisture sucking that I'd rather have eaten a stick of chalk, or it left a weird film of something akin to a liquid plastic chemical over the entire surface of my mouth and I'd feel the urge to scrape it off.  Thankfully, Mom agreed that the efforts of making a pie crust weren't worth the unappealing results (and the results of store bought crusts were even worse) and skipped the process entirely, always choosing instead to use graham cracker crusts. 

While in college one of my roommates made a pie for a Thanksgiving dinner we were hosting.  I didn't want to offend her, leaving the crust she had worked hard to make very obviously sitting on my plate with only the filling gone, so I quickly took a bite of the outer crust side.  I had thought to get the gross part over quickly so that my last bites would be nearly all delicious filling, but as I ate that bite I knew it had been a mistake.  It was the best pie crust I had ever tasted.  I don't mean to say that it was just better then all the other gross ones but still not worth eating. No, this crust was incredible.  It was worth savoring.  I should have been taking small bites of the buttery, moist flakes to make it last as long as I could and here I was chomping away trying to get it over with so I could get to the good stuff.  Oddly enough I can't tell you now what kind of pie it even was because the awesome crust pushed all other memories of the experience out of my head.

Now that I knew good pie crust wasn't a myth I knew I was going to have to learn how to make one myself.  After some consultation I was made aware of the standard tips, not to overwork the dough, keep everything cold, use all butter for better flavor use some shortening if you want it flakier (no thanks, that would be the liquid plastic I have always hated), etc.  So I tucked that knowledge away for the next pie crust making opportunity.  Which didn't happen for quite a while.
 

Since that first experience, I have learned a couple of other things.  If you freeze your sticks of butter and then run them over the coarse side of a box grater it will be easy to toss them together with the flour using a fork. Use less water then you think you will need.  Leave dry spots even.  Otherwise you will just add a ton of flour later, toughening up your crust.  I tend to like using my food processor to grate the butter because it is quicker so I also use it for the mixing part, but if you use a hand grater you can mix this with a fork.  Also, who says that you can't flavor the crust?  Recipes don't usually call for any, but I like to add some spices in with the flour that work well with the filling (cinnamon for apple pie readily comes to mind).  Really it seems that good pie crust comes more from practice and a gentle touch then from any specific "best pie crust" recipe, but I have used this one with great success.  One of the benefits of baking is being able to eat your mistakes as you learns from them so get in the kitchen and give it a try. 

All Butter Pie Dough

-= Ingredients =-
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 tablespoons Sugar(for savory applications, reduce this to 1)
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 tsp ground spice, like cinnamon (optional, use whatever will best complement your filling)
2 sticks unsalted butter, frozen
1/2-34 cup ice cold water

-= Instructions =-
To the bowl of your food processor add the flour, salt, sugar and spice.  Pulse once or twice to mix it up.  Open up the processor and remove about a cup of the dry ingredients.  Using the coarse grating disk, feed the first of your frozen sticks of butter carefully through the tube.  Pour the dry ingredients in.  Feed the second stick through.

Switching back to your s-blade, pulse two or three times and then begin to drizzle 1/2 cup of ICE cold water into the feed tube while pulsing.  The dough will look like it is starting to think about coming together. Maybe.  Dump it out into a bowl (or your counter top) and use your hands to finish mixing and bringing it together.  If you really need it, add another tablespoon of water at a time to the dough, but only just enough to make it barely clump together.  


Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Use the sides of the plastic wrap to pull in the dough and shape it into a disk.  The thinner the disk is now, the less work you will have to do later, but don't go too crazy. Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least two hours before rolling it out.  This helps the butter to get cold and solid again (we don't want it melting into the flour) and also allows the water we added so stingily to distribute more evenly.

Your dough should keep at least a week in the fridge, and in the freezer longer. This will make enough dough for one double crust pie.

Just a couple of rolling tips: When you are ready to roll out your crust, lightly flour your workspace and leave the plastic on the top of the dough.  Turn the crust often so it doesn't stick to your counter.  Halfway through rolling it out, peel off your plastic wrap since it will have been stretched quite a bit by now and may be at risk of tearing.  You can stick it back on if you like, but removing it will have released the tension that was building up (learned that the hard way, see the below photo).  We don't want it to rip and leave behind bits of plastic.  If you use plastic all the way to the end of your rolling, allowing the dough to chill again will make it easier to remove the plastic without ripping your hard work to shreds.