Savoring Time in The Kitchen

Lobster Poached in Prosecco Butter

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 23:51:00 +0000

Are you still looking for something special to serve to your Valentine this week? This Lobster Poached in Prosecco Butter is absolutely delicious! I made this wonderful dish during the holidays and we just loved it! It was so simple to make too.

I found a package of small lobster tails at Costco where I also found a large package of frozen lobster claws.

We did a Surf and Turf combination but this would be wonderful on it's own. Pasta would be a wonderful combination with the buttery lobster.

Here is a photo of our lobster and steak combination holiday dinner.

After seeing a mouth-water photo of lobster poached in butter on Instagram, I started researching recipes. This one is mainly adapted from Unami Girl's recipe here with the Prosecco (or Champagne) idea coming from Kit's Kitchen here.

Here is a wonderful video of how to quickly remove lobster tail meat from the shells, which is the exact method I used the the one I found that was the best, in my opinion.

If you use lobster claws, those are a little bit trickier to remove but the lobster claw is my absolute favorite part. You can find a good video for that process by clicking here.

Lobster Poached in Prosecco Butter

Printable Recipe

Notes:

If you don’t have prosecco, you could use Champagne, white wine or plain water. It’s a good idea to plan on two small lobster tails per person, unless you do a surf and turf combination.

TOTAL TIME 40 minutes

8 4-ounce (113-gram) lobster tails

2 tablespoons (30 ml) prosecco, champagne, white wine or plain water

16 tablespoons (224 grams) butter, cut into 16 pieces

4 garlic cloves, chopped

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2-3 bay leaves

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Remove the tails from their shells: I like this video for a tutorial on removing the tails.

Make the poaching liquid, which is called a beurre monté. Set a 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. You don’t want the skillet to be too hot. Pour in the prosecco or liquid of your choice, and let it heat up a bit. Add one piece of butter and whisk into the water until melted. Then whisk in the second piece.

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and bay leave and whisk to incorporate.

Whisk in the remaining pieces of butter, one by one, and wait for each one to melt before adding the next. If you have an instant read thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature of the butter. You'll need to keep it about 180 degrees, if possible.

When all butter is incorporated, add lobster tails in a single, snug layer.

Poach until opaque throughout, turning every 1-2 minutes, for a total of about 6 minutes.

If serving straight from the pan with crusty bread, sprinkle on the lemon juice, pepper, and parsley, and serve.

If you’d like to serve the lobster over pasta, remove the lobster meat to a platter and discard the bay leaves. Add lemon juice, pepper, and parsley to the pan with the poaching liquid and stir to incorporate. Add cooked pasta and toss to coat. Place some pasta on each plate, top with two lobster tails, and serve.

Enjoy!

Sbrisolona Cookies and a Tea Lover's Advent Calendar

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 21:15:00 +0000

Hello...I'm still here! I have definitely been Missing In Action the past few months. So much going on! I'm trying a new email service to deliver my posts by email. I imported subscribers from my last service. If you no long wish to receive emails from me, please unsubscribe by using the link the the email that was sent to you. Thanks!

The holiday season is creeping up on us quickly! Not only do I have a gift idea for those of you who are tea lovers or for friends and family who love tea, but I also have a delicious new cookie recipe for you!

This lovely Adagio Tea Advent Calendar is available for purchase now! You want to order quickly so you can open the first door and enjoy your first tea surprise on December 1st! This is not a paid post. I received this calendar from Adagio Teas in order to review their lovely Advent Calendar again this year. I'm very grateful as I love tea! Thank you, Adagio Teas!

24 Festive tea blends of tea to savor before Christmas Day are available in either lovely pyramid tea bags or as loose tea. You may pick which you prefer when you order.

You may be wondering what Sbrisolona Cookies are. They are the most delicious, crunchy, crumbly, shortbread-like cookie made with almond flour and chopped almonds! Usually called Torta Sbrisolona, because it made in one large piece, it normally contains fine corn meal and broken into rough pieces. There are many different variations! I found a wonderful recipe which did not include corn meal and was cut into wedges, which I adapted and and absolutely loved. I will definitely be making these again and again and will most likely show up on my Christmas cookie tray.

The first time I tasted Sbrisolona was at a lovely Italian Restaurant in our area called Ca' Lucchenzo. They were served along with a glass of Vin Santo sweet wine at the end of dinner but they are equally delicious any time of day...and especially with tea or coffee! I decided to enjoy them with one of the teas from the Adagio Tea Advent Calendar.

Ooops! I've given away one of the teas included in the Advent Calendar! 😉 It's called Blueberry White Tea. It was absolutely delicious. Just a hint of blueberry flavor and the white tea blend was very good and so refreshing. I love their pyramid tea bags.

Order your 2023 Advent Tea Calendar from Adagio Teas by clicking on the link Tea Advent Calendar and I hope you try making Sbrisolona Cookies!

Sbrisolona Cookies

Printable Recipe

Makes 12 servings

Equipment: 9-inch square pan lined with parchment or a 9-inch springform or tart pan with removable bottom. 👉 If you wish your cookies to be even more crispy, use a slightly larger pan.

1 ½ cups all purpose flour (270 grams) 👉 I used White Lily White Baking Flour

1 ½ cups almond flour (160 grams)

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 👉I used salted butter and reduced the salt by half

½ cup whole almonds, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 large egg

½ teaspoon almond extract

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds (or decorate with whole almonds)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper with the parchment overlaping the sides (to use as a handle to lift out the cookie) 👉 Photo Below. Or, grease a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan or a tart pan with a removable bottom.

I used a food processor to coarsely chop the whole almonds and then finished chopping them to get the size I wanted (about the size of large diamonds) on a cutting board with a chef's knife.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix well to combine.

Add the cold butter cubes to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or two knifes, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. The butter should be well distributed throughout the mixture, and be about the size of peas or smaller. Stir the roughly chopped almonds and lemon zest into the crumbly mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg, almond extract and scraped insides of vanilla bean (or vanilla extract) together. Pour egg mixture over the dry ingredients. Using your hands, or a large fork, gently mix and press the mixture together until it begin to come together. Do not to overwork the dough; it should still be quite crumbly.

Transfer the crumbly dough into the prepared pan. Press it down firmly and evenly to form an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoon of granulated sugar over the top and press in coarsely chopped almonds. I used a smaller square pan to press down on the mixture (covered with another piece of parchment paper) in order to get it evenly distributed in the pan.

Bake the sbrisolona in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The center may still be slightly soft, but it will firm up as it cools.

Remove the sbrisolona from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once the cake has cooled, carefully remove it from the pan. You may cut it or break it into pieces after it has cooled.

👉 If the cut cookies lose their crispiness, put them on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes, as you would second-bake biscotti. After they cool they will be nice and crispy again!

Cookies may be stored in a container at room temperature for 3-4 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Recipe adapted from This Italian Kitchen

Shredded Beef Tostadas

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 23:38:00 +0000

Personal note: This may be one of the last emails you get from me via Mail Chimp. I am going to try to reduce my subscribers to below 500 based on engagement with my blog and will try to continue to use the free version. You are also welcome to follow me via Feedly or Instagram. You will always see my new posts and perhaps a little more personal information about me on Instgram :) I appreciate every one of you who have followed me and look forward to connecting with you in the future.

One of my favorite Mexican dishes is the tostada. A crispy, crunchy tortilla topped with either chicken, beef or pork, followed by some shredded cabbage or lettuce and topped with melted cheese. So yummy!! If you prep the shredded beef the day before, you can have a quick and delicious meal for several days! What beef you don't use, freeze for later.

Your shopping should include 1) Your favorite tortillas. I like corn. 2) A can of low fat refried black beans. 3) Shredded Mexican blend cheese. 4) Your favorite salsa 5) A few avocados 6) Sour cream. 7) A small head of Napa or Savoy cabbage to slice thinly, or a bag cole slaw mix, if you'd rather. 8) Fresh cilantro, optional.

Have your toppings ready to roll (mise en place, as they say). Spread some refried black beans on a tortilla. Cover that with your shredded beef (recipe below)

Top with some shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix, and then top with a generous amount of shreeded cheese.

In a non-stick frying pan, add a little oil. I like to use avocado oil but any mild cooking oil will do. Get the oil hot over medium heat and then place your tortilla in the pan. Cover the pan with a lid to help the cheese melt, and check the bottom of the tortilla occasionally to make sure it is well browned.

Remove to a plate with a large spatula and enjoy with all of your favorite toppings!

Mexican Shredded Beef for Tostadas or Tacos

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3 lb beef chuck roast. Trim off as much fast as you can.

1 large onion, sliced

1-1/2 cups beer (I used Stella Artois because it's what I had on hand)

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup tomato salsa (your favorite brand)

Dash of Tabasco – to your taste

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder (or chipotle chili powder)

2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 bay leaves

For assembling, preparing and serving tostadas:

Napa or Savoy cabbage

Refried Black Beans

Shredded Mexican Blend cheese

Avocados, serve sliced or make into quacamole

Your favorite Salsa

Sour Cream

Fresh Cilantro or Parlsey, optional

Preheat ove to 300 F.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except for beef roast and onions.

In a large dutch oven with cover, heat 2 tablespoons of avocado or olive oil over medium high heat.

Add chuck roast and brown on both sides until a nice crust forms.

Pour sauce ingredients over meat and poke meat all over with a fork. Add sliced sliced onions.

Cover dutch oven and place in oven to bake for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until fork tender. Cooking time will depend on the size of your chuck roast.

Remove meat from dutch oven and place on a large bowl. Cover with aluminum foil.

Put the sauce remaining in the dutch over through a strainer. Discard onion rounds and bay leaves.

Put the sauce in a small saucepan and reduce to about 3/4 cup, skimming any fat from the top.

Using 2 forks, or your fingers shred beef and add reduced sauce. Can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or frozen for 3 months.

Note: Before serving, I like to put some of the beef with sauce on a baking sheet and broil to crisp meat before using for tostadas or tacos.

Lemon Love Bundt Cake

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 20:26:00 +0000

First I'm going to tempt you with lemon in this luscious lemon bundt cake before I explain about the lemons of blogging. Please see below for my update. 💛😡

I've had this lemon bundt cake recipe for over 10 years and it's still a favorite! Originally found on a blogging friend's website. She no longer posts but her recipes are still online here. She found the recipe through Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook. I renamed it because it's not a true pound cake since it only uses 2 sticks of butter and not 4, but the 1 cup of sour cream kind of makes up for that! It is moist and so delicious.

I used a light lemon glaze over the top. This cake is wonderful on it's one but even better with some berries on the side and maybe a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

👀 Now, I'd like to talk about the trials and tribulations of blogging. Recently, I received an email from Mail Chimp (which I switched to after Blogger/Google stopped offering free email campaigns with the Blogger platform). The free version of Mail Chimp suited my purposes just fine, given my 1200 or so followers. Now, starting March 10, Mail Chimp will no longer send out free email posts if you have more than 500 subscribers. I can try to delete followers who don't usually engage with nor look at my posts but it's going to be difficult to delete that many to get down to and remain at 500. I'm sad and upset that they made such a drastic change in their policy in such a short period of time after choosing them for my blog.

As of today, I'm going to delete the Subscribe By Email widget here which sent you to Mail Chimp. I'm also returning the Feedly Subscription icon. If you enjoy seeing my posts, please follow me using Feedly button after you read this. By the way, you can get the Feedly App on your iPhone, Android, or tablet. I just installed it on my phone and it's great! You can not only follow blogs with Feedly but other news sources as well.

I sincerely appreciate all my followers and am very sorry for the inconvenience!

Susan

Lemon Love Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2¾ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
5 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
½ cup fresh lemon juice, from about 4 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 10-inch Bundt pan with lots of pan spray and sprinkle it with granulated sugar. (Flour will leave an unattractive residue on the cake.)

To make the cake:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest, mix them together.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Mix sour cream and lemon juice together. Add flour and sour cream mixture alternately, finishing with the flour.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Place a wire cooling rack over the top of the bundt pan and carefully flip bundt pan and rack over using oven mitts. Allow cake to cool about 5-10 minutes before lifting the pan off of the cake. Cool completely.

To make the glaze dizzle:

1-2/3 cups fonctioners' sugar, sifted.
Pinch of Salt
2-4 tablespons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix the sugar and salt, then add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir, add more lemon juice as needed to create a thin glaze that can be poured artfully over the cool cake. Add sprinkles, if desired.

Christmas Traditions, New and Old

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 20:15:00 +0000

Hello friends! I know I've been MIA here lately and have neglected my blog. I haven't been gone, as you know if any of you follow me on Instagram, @savoringtime.

I wanted to pop in before Christmas to share two of my Christmas traditions...one new that will definitely be repeated in Christmas to come, and the other, an oldie but goodie that I've been making for a VERY long time.

First, this riff on the Christmas cheese ball. A Cheesy Christmas Tree! If you need a very quick and easy appetizer to bring to a party this weekend, this is it! This is not my invention, but one I discovered on Instagram. This started out as an idea made from a traditional home-made cheese ball to become a very quick and easy one made from a package of Boursin cheese. You don't have to make a thing! Simple assembly. I've included the directions below.

Boursin Cheese Christmas Tree Appetizer

Purchase a package of Boursin cheese. I used Garlic and Herb. Or, use 3 to make a mini tree forest :)

Buy some fresh parsley, a yellow bell pepper, sliced almonds or any other edible decor you'd like such as pomegranite arils.

Rinse, dry and chop parlsey finely. Lay out on paper toweling dry thoroughly.

Toast sliced almonds in a 350 oven for about 6 minutes until lightly browned. Cool.

Unwrap the cheese but keep the base on the bottom.

Place the cheese on a large sheet of plastic wrap and bring it upward.

Shape cheese into a pyramid/tree by pressing or rolling gently along the sides to bring cheese upward.
Twist top of plastic wrap and freeze cheese for about 10-15 minutes.

Remove cheese from freezer and upwrap. Roll in chopped parsley all around and press to adhere.

Stick in toasted almonds all around and top with a star made from the yellow pepper.

Serve with crackers and slices of yellow pepper or other veggies.

Done! A cute and festive addition to a cheese or charcuterie platter.

The Oldie but Goodie tradition in my family are these Candy Cane Cookies. I've been making for more years than I can remember and are from an old Betty Crocker cookbook where I've found many gems! Betty Crocker's All Time Favorites. We have already had one family Christmas celebration and this was my cookie platter.

The recipe for the Candy Cane cookies can be found here: Candy Cane Cookies

The recipe for my Sugar Cut Out cookies can be found here: Celebration Christmas Cookies

(sometimes I'll roll the dough into logs and drizzle with melted chocolate).

The recipe for my (mild) Gingerbread Cookies can be found here: Gingerbread Cookies, My Way

May those of you who celebrate all have a safe and blessed Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

Fondly, Susan

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Chicken Meatballs with Parmigiano Reggiano

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 21:30:00 +0000

I'm still here! We took our first group vacation since 2020 with good friends and, since then, it's been a mixture of various commitments, a little procrastination and lack of inspiration. However, after enjoying a delicious appetizer of chicken meatballs served in a wonderful savory sauce at a local restaurant we enjoy, I was determined to try and replicate the recipe at home. Inspiration found!

I adapted this recipe slightly from one I found on Skinny Taste. It's basically a riff on Chicken Romano and Chicken Piccata and it's wonderful! I wanted to use chicken thigh meat but couldn't find any already ground. So, I used my Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment and ground my own. Any ground chicken will do, so don't feel you have to grind your own or ask your meat department to grind it for you. 😉

The meatballs have all the standard meatball ingredients of bread crumbs and egg, along with Parmigiano Reggiano, herbs, seasonings and garlic. I have a large container of Parmiginao Reggiano from Costco which makes putting these together easy.

After browning the meatballs in batches (don't crowd them), they are set aside while you make the sauce, which is a delicious combination of shallots, garlic, chicken broth, white wine and lemon. It's amazing! Feel free to add capers if you like them.

This recipe is light, delicious and perfect for spring (which has been slow to arrive this year!) Serve with rice, pasta, a salad or simple vegetable and enjoy!

Tip: When you harvest your herbs this season, be sure to freeze plenty. I used frozen chopped parsley from my freezer for this recipe and all my frozen herbs throughout the winter. I harvest parsley (both Italian and curly), oregano, chives, thyme (I freeze the whole stems), and rosemary. Use your salad spinner to clean, then either chop them or put whole into freezer bags. You'll be glad you did next winter!

Chicken Meatballs with Parmigiano Reggiano

Printable Recipe

Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken (chicken thighs preferred)

1 large egg, stirred with a fork gently

½ cup bread crumbs

⅓ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried basil

½ teaspoon fresh or dried oregano

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauce

1 small shallot, diced (about 1 tablespoon

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine, like chardonnay

2 cups chicken broth

1 lemon, preferably organic, sliced

1 tablespoon capers, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken with the egg, bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, dried basil, oregano, pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until just combined - don't overmix. Shape the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and return to the bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the meatballs in a single layer without crowding, browning on all sides, cooking about 5 to 6 minutes in total. You can do this in batches if you have a small skillet. Just brown them and remove - they will finish cooking in the oven. Transfer all browned meatballs to a large plate.

In the same skillet over medium heat, add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the white wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock and lemons and simmer gently for about 5-10 minutes until slightly reduced. Add the meatballs to the sauce in the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the meatballs cooked through. Serve with pasta, rice or a vegetable.

Beef Short Ribs Braised with Red Wine and Cranberries

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 16:09:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Where I live in the Midwest, we woke up to 12F and a fresh layer of snow this morning. Brrrrrr. Since winter will be with us for another 3 months, it's time for warm, comforting food! Slow braised and tender beef short ribs are the epitome of comfort food; fashionable enough to be served in restaurants, easy enough to make at home. My husband and I enjoyed this particular recipe (courtesy of Half Baked Harvest) at our mid-December gourmet group dinner hosted by good friends. We enjoyed it so much that we decided it would become our family Christmas Dinner.

Please excuse the quality of the photos as I was taking them while cooking and entertaining so simply used my cell phone. 😏

Beef short ribs are a generously fatty piece of meat cut into short sections with the flat rib bone intact. Each short rib is cut to about 3-4 inches in length. Slow braising is the best way cook short ribs after which they become fall-off-the-bone tender. They have become very popular in the last 10-15 years and therefore, have come more pricey. You can expect to pay about $10 a pound. You may wonder why pay so much for a piece of meat that you have to cook long and slow in order to get them tender? One bite will answer that question.

^Just before going into the oven ^

Our hosts at the gourmet group dinner served the ribs over Pappardelle pasta, with the juices from the braising liquid drizzled over the pasta. My husband requested mashed potatoes for our Christmas dinner, which is the most common way to serve them. Other options for serving them are mashed parsnips or squash, polenta, or egg noodles. I added sides of sautéed green beans with shallots, and sautéed mushrooms, which were delicious compliments to the meat and potatoes.

And, you can make them a day ahead if you like! Braising the meat a day ahead gives you the opportunity to easily remove all of the congealed fat from the pan juices once it has been refrigerated. You could also remove the bones, if you desire but I like the way they look on the plate.

Don't balk at the cranberries in this recipe. You won't taste them but they add a wonderful complexity to the flavor of the sauce.

You could make them in a slow cooker but they take up a lot of room if you're cooking for a group, so I used a very large Dutch oven. The temperature is more precise in the oven also and browning the meat is an essential step to the tastiest short ribs, so one large pot is all you'll need.

Beef Short Ribs Braised with Cranberries and Red Wine

Printable Recipe

Recipe Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

5 pounds bone in, beef short ribs

kosher salt and black pepper

2-3 tablespoons avocado oil for searing the ribs (has a high smoke point),

2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing the vegetables

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

4 carrots, chopped

3-4 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 cups dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

2 cups organic beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 cups fresh cranberries

Mashed potatoes or Pappardelle Pasta for serving

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat the avocado oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ribs on as many sides as you can. Don't crowd, brown in batches, if necessary. This takes about 3 minutes per side to get a good sear. Remove the ribs to a baking tray. (At this point, after browning the ribs, there will be quite of bit of fat in the pot. I poured as much of the fat off into a Pyrex bowl. Then, I added 2 tablespoons of olive oil to sauté the vegetables.)

Add the onions, shallots, and carrots, cook 5-10 minutes or until the onions begin to caramelize. Add the wine, broth, tomato paste, brown sugar, garlic cloves, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and gentle stir to blend. Return the short ribs to the pot and sprinkle the cranberries over the ribs. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the short ribs are tender and falling off the bone.

Remove the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. Serve the ribs along with some of the vegetables over a bed of mashed potatoes and drizzle with the pan juices.

My Favorite Mashed Potatoes

Adapted from the New York Times.

I find a potato ricer makes the absolute best mashed potatoes.

Makes 6 servings

Salt

3 pounds potatoes (about 6-8 potatoes), preferably a combination of russet potatoes and large Yukon Golds

4 tablespoons butter, more for dotting

1/2-3/4 cup whole milk or light cream

Peel and quarter potatoes and keep in cold water until ready to cook. (This can be done up to 4 hours in advance.). When ready to cook, place potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife goes in with almost no resistance. (It is better to overcook than to undercook.)

Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Shake them around in the hot pan over the heat for a minute to remove excess water from the potatoes. Place potatoes back into the strainer and, using a potato ricer, rice a few pieces of potato at a time back into the pot. When all the potatoes are riced, gently mix in the butter until melted. Then add enough milk or cream to get the creamy consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To keep hot until ready to serve, transfer to serving bowl, dot top with butter, cover tightly and keep in a warm place, like the back of the stove. Potatoes will stay hot for at least 30 minutes. Some people like to keep them warm in a crock pot. Before serving, mix well.

Also, it's easy to reheat mashed potatoes that have cooled off. Put the in a pan over medium heat and keep stirring gently until warmed or microwave, stirring occasionally. You may need to add more milk to make them creamy again. Dot with more butter and serve.

Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots

Adapted from Epicurious

Serves 4

1 pounds slender green beans or haricots vert, stem ends trimmed
2-3 shallots, sliced
1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves are even better)

Have a large bowl of ice water ready.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add the green beans and return to a boil. Cook until just tender, about 5-6 minutes. Drain and transfer immediately to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain on a clean dish towel or paper toweling. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in several layers of paper towels. Seal in plastic bag and chill.)

Trim ends and peel shallots. Cut lengthwise in half, then slice. Melt butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low; sauté until shallots are browned and tender, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Shallots can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover loosely with foil and let stand at room temperature).

Add pre-cooked and drained green beans to the shallots in skillet and stir over medium-high heat until heated through, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meringue Snowman Cookies

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 21:57:00 +0000

I can't believe I forgot to post these adorable snowman meringue cookies last year! I posted it on Instagram but never got around to sharing it here. A friend's recent meringue post reminded me :) I know we all had a lot on our minds last year at this time! Thankfully, the holidays will be celebrated with many more families together this year.

These little meringue snowman are crispy and delicious with a touch of chocolate used to make the face, buttons and arms. I used a good, tasty chocolate - Ghirardelli is my favorite.

They not only make great decorations for your next gingerbread house project like mine did, but also make great cake or cupcake decorations. If your kids are old enough, they can help you pipe on the faces, arms, buttons, hats, scarf, whatever sounds fun! They make a cute addition to a holiday cookie platter or are fun to float on top of a cup of hot chocolate.

Merry, Merry! ♥

Meringue Snowman

3 large egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon fresh cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate (I used 1-1/3 ounces of Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar)

For the Meringue Bodies:

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium and then medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Continue beating, while slowly adding sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vanilla and beat for 30 seconds.

Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat to 200 degrees F.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip) with the meringue. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you may use a 1-quart resealable plastic storage bag. Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a small opening for air to escape from the top as you squeeze. Snip off one corner of the bag with scissors, making a 3/4-inch-wide opening. Fold the top of the either type of bag over a few times, then gently push the meringue down to the tip or snipped corner.

Working with the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the meringue into 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookies rounds. Then pipe half as much meringue on top of each round to resemble a snowman.

Bake the cookies, switching the pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through, until dry and crisp throughout, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Be sure your cookies are crisp before removing from oven. If your kitchen is humid, baking time may take longer.

Chocolate Piping Decorations:

Place chocolate chips or 1-1/2 ounces of baking chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and continue microwaving in 10-second intervals until melted and smooth. Place the melted chocolate in a piping bag or sealable plastic bag. Push the chocolate down to one corner and snip off the tip of that corner to create a piping bag. Pipe dots for eyes and buttons and twig-like arms along the sides. Allow the chocolate to harden before serving.

To make ahead bake meringues and store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Pipe chocolate one day ahead of using.

Adapted from Eating Well Magazine

Turkey Legs - Confit Style

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 15:54:00 +0000

Today, I bring the dark meat turkey lovers out there a real treat! Confit Turkey Legs! My husband and I first enjoyed these at our daughter and SIL's home last Thanksgiving. This past weekend we had an early Thanksgiving feast with some of our family and I decided to try making these myself.

If you've ever tried making or eaten confit duck legs, you know how the cooking process makes the meat so tender. The combination of dried chilis, garlic and oregano in this recipe are reminiscent of slow braised pork shoulder and almost as tender!

The turkey legs can easily be braised one to four days ahead and either sliced and reheated or reheated whole in a low oven and then browned in a skillet until crisp. I made these a day ahead and simply sliced and reheated the meat along with the whole turkey that I prepared fresh that morning. I also chose not to use the optional almond sauce that is included in the recipe.

I'm sorry I didn't get any 'after' photos, but, I will share how tender and delicious they are! My husband raved about them. For him, this was the best part of the meal.

So, if you have dark-meat lovers in your family, please give this recipe a try.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Legs - Confit Style

4 - 6 Servings

Braising Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp. plus ¼ tsp. kosher salt

2 whole turkey legs (4–5 lb. total)
6 garlic cloves, smashed, plus 2 heads of garlic, divided
8 dried guajillo, ancho, or New Mexico chiles, stems and seeds removed
4 sprigs oregano or 1 tsp. dried oregano
3–4 cups (or more) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. (or more) crushed red pepper flakes

Ingredients for Sauce:

½ cup unsalted roasted almonds or peanuts
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl. Place turkey legs in a baking dish just big enough to fit them or a medium Dutch oven. Sprinkle all over with the brown sugar mixture and scatter smashed garlic cloves over them. Let sit at room temperature at least 2 hours, or chill up to 12 hours (the longer the better).

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 275°F. Cut heads of garlic heads in half crosswise. Place the garlic halves, chiles and oregano sprigs around the turkey legs. Pour in oil until turkey is mostly if not completely submerged. Push down chiles beneath oil as they can burn if above the surface. You may need a bit more oil depending on your pot and size of turkey legs. The garlic and chili infused oil can be used in all kinds so don't through it away after braising!

Braise turkey, uncovered, until meat has shrunk away from drumsticks dramatically and meat shreds easily with firm pressure, 3–4 hours. Keep the temperature at a lazy simmer and reduce heat if it starts to bubbled too vigorously. Let meat rest, still submerged in fat, at least 1 hour.

If making sauce, pick out chiles from braising oil with tongs and place in a blender; add red pepper flakes and 1 cup braising oil. Let cool slightly, then blend until chiles are coarsely chopped. Add almonds and pulse until largest pieces are no bigger than a red pepper flake. Add sesame seeds and pulse just to combine. Season with remaining ¼ tsp. salt and add more red pepper flakes if desired. Otherwise, strain the oil and reserve, refrigerated, for browning potatoes, frying eggs or your next confit project.

If eating right away, heat 2 Tbsp. braising oil in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Cook turkey legs, carefully turning with 2 pairs of tongs, until brown and crisp all over, 8–10 minutes (I eliminated this step). Serve with the almond-chile sauce, if desired.

Turkey legs can be braised up to 4 days ahead.

2 Thumbs Up!

Adapted from Epicurious. Visit the site to read reviews and other suggestions.

Tea and Cookies! Chocolatey Ginger Crackle Cookies and a Tea Advent Calendar and Gift Ideas!

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:18:00 +0000

Happy November my friends! It has been more than a year since I tasted my very first chocolate ginger cookie from a wonderful local bakery. I was in love with the combination of flavors. I have tried to replicate the recipe twice without success - until now! This is a delightfully chewy chocolate crackle cookie with just the right amount of ginger and cinnamon flavor to make it perfect for the chilly weather and upcoming holidays. My husband, who does not care for gingerbread cookies, remarked at how good he thought they were. Quite a compliment coming from him :)

What can be more perfect alongside a delightful cookie than a delicious cup of tea? I love my coffee in the morning but each afternoon in the cooler months I love a hot cup of tea in the afternoon. In the warm months I enjoy iced tea.

It was serendipity that during the time I was testing this cookie recipe, I was invited to preview the 2021 Adagio Tea Advent Calendar along with their 2021 Twelve Teas of Christmas. I was given a sample of both to review and give my honest opinion. This is not a paid promotion.

The charming 2021 Adagio Tea Advent Calendar has a delicious seasonal tea surprise behind each window in the calendar.

A wonderful gift for the tea lovers of your friends and family! You can find the Adagio Tea Advent Calendar by clicking here.

I absolutely adore The Twelve Teas of Christmas from Adagio Tea! Each seasonal tea is held inside it's own 'Twelve Days' tin with a charming illustration. Each tin has a green satin loop to hang from your Christmas Tree. 𝅘𝅥𝅱𝅘𝅥𝅱 On the first tea of Christmas my true love gave to me...A Partridge in a Pear Tree! 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Each tin holds a different tea to sample, the Partridge in a Pear Tree contains White Pear tea. You can buy the Twelve Teas of Christmas and see a list of the 12 teas by clicking here.

Lastly, to drink with my new Chocolate Ginger Cookies, I tried Adagio Tea's Reindeer Fuel. It is a delightfully delicious tasting tea which I truly enjoyed. It's an Adagio "Signature Blend" of black tea, toasted mate, cocoa nibs, cocoa and cinnamon natural flavors, peppermint and ginger. Sooooo good! This pouch is a rewards gift with purchases. You can learn more about this on the Adagio Teas website.

Thank you, Adagio Teas, for asking me to sample your charming holiday gift teas. There are more tea gift ideas on their website along with all of their regular and seasonal teas and accessories.

Now for the AMAZING Chocolate Ginger Cookie recipe!

Chocolate Ginger Crackle Cookies

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup (113 g, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, just barely melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup (56 g, 4 tablespoons) vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
2/3 cup (140 g) packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (87 g) dark molasses (I used Blackstrap molasses)
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups (225 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 g) cocoa powder (I like Ghirardelli cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3 ounces(85 g) coarsely chopped 60% dark chocolate (I used a Ghirardelli Bittersweet baking bar)

Sanding sugar, for rolling the cookies

Directions:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the melted butter, shortening, brown sugar, and molasses in a large bowl. Add the egg and mix in.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt and add to the butter mixture all at once. Slowly mix in until evenly combined (the mixture will be quite soft). Blend in the chopped chocolate. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight. I chilled mine overnight. This will insure the best looking crackle.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking trays with parchment or silicone baking sheets.

Scoop out 1 tablespoon portions of cookie dough. Roll each into a ball and then roll the balls in the sanding sugar to coat. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheets allowing 2 inches (5 cm) between each one. Leave the balls round, do not flatten! This also attains the best crackle and texture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until they crackle and feel set at the edges. I baked mine for 11 minutes. You want the centers to remain moist.

Let the cookies cool on the trays on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and remove to a rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and freeze beautifully.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1-1/2 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, which I omitted. They freeze well also.

Recipe adapted from Baking Day with Anna Olson and also appears in the October Costco Connection magazine.

Creamy Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 21:23:00 +0000

Seasonal and fresh as can be, this silky, creamy, slow-roasted tomato sauce does not contain any cream! All you need to create this luscious sauce is 2 pounds or so of cherry tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, oregano, and garlic. My sauce has a golden hue due to the combination of yellow and red cherry tomatoes. I used Sun Gold (yellow) and Sweet Million (red) cherry tomatoes because they are the most plentiful in my garden right now but any kind of tomato will work in this slow-roasted recipe.

If you don't have a garden, the next best thing is to visit a local farmers' market for freshly picked tomatoes. Many grocery stores stock locally grown tomatoes too. I love walking in my garden in the morning to see what is ripe for picking. I grow poblano peppers, little cucumbers (See my Mom's Refrigerator Pickle recipe here), cherry tomatoes, big heirloom tomatoes which are just starting to ripen, plus lots of herbs such as basil, parsley, oregano, marjoram, tarragon and a few varieties of thyme.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put them on a baking sheet. Cover them with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, sliced garlic and lots of fresh basil and oregano and pop them in a 250 F preheated oven for about 3 hours. No tossing or turning, just let them roast away.

When you pull them out of the oven they will be soft and intensely flavorful! Wait a few minutes to allow the tomatoes to cool a bit, then scoop the tomatoes, herbs and garlic out of the olive oil with a slotted spoon and place half of them into a saucepan. Place the other half of the roasted tomatoes in a tall measuring bowl and blend with an immersion blender (or regular blender) until almost smooth then add them to the other tomatoes in the saucepan. Stir in 1 generous tablespoon of butter and heat gently while you prepare the pasta. Be sure to strain and save some of the oil from the baking sheet for bread dipping!

Add the sauce to your cooked pasta, toss gently and enjoy! So easy and the freshest-tasting pasta sauce you will ever make.

Notes:

If you use larger tomatoes, scoop out as many seeds as you can before roasting. Cut into even pieces.
Adding 1 chopped onion is optional
Strain and save the oil from the roasting pan to use as a dip for crusty bread
These slow-roasted tomatoes can also be used as a topping for bruschetta along with some burrata cheese.

Creamy Cherry Tomato Pasta

This makes approximately 4 side-dish servings of pasta

Printable Recipe

2 pounds (I used a little more) cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

8-10 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

8-10 fresh oregano leaves, chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced very thin

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter (reserved for reheating the sauce)

1 pound dried pasta of your choice

Freshly chopped Italian parsley for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Arranged cut tomatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sugar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Scatter sliced garlic and herbs over the tomatoes.

Drizzle all over with olive oil .

Roast, uncovered until tomatoes are very tender, about 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Transfer with a slotted spoon to a saucepan. (Don't throw out the oil. Strain it and use it for dipping crusty bread.)

Remove about half of the tomatoes, together with herbs and garlic, and place in a deep mixing bowl and blend with an immersion blender (or use a regular blender) until just barely smooth. Return to the saucepan.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the sauce and heat gently while you prepare the pasta. I used Campanelle pasta but use any pasta you wish and prepare as directed on the package.

Drain cooked pasta and place in a serving bowl. Add the tomato sauce, toss gently, top with some freshly chopped Italian parsley and enjoy!

Lemon Posset with Berries and Grand Marnier

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 22:03:00 +0000

Lemon posset is a deliciously refreshing dessert for summer because it's served chilled, but great at any time of year using whatever berries you can find. You know how I love do-ahead desserts, especially when you're entertaining and have a lot of other things to do! Lemon posset actually needs to be made at least several hours ahead of time for the cream to fully thicken and set so making it the day before is best.

Last spring, after my husband and I were fully vaccinated, we traveled to Georgia to visit good friends who were also vaccinated. One night, they hosted a dinner party and one of the guests brought this dessert. We loved it so much I asked for the recipe. Thank you, Debbi! When we were recently invited to dinner at a friend's home, I offered to bring dessert and made Debbi's lemon posset. Everyone loved it and also requested the recipe.

Posset gets it's name from an old-time English drink dating back to the Middle Ages made by curdling milk with spiced wine or ale. Thank goodness, it is more commonly known today as a creamy, pudding-like dessert made by boiling cream and sugar and adding lemon juice and zest or other citrus flavors. That's it! No temperamental eggs or gelatin, flour or cornstarch needed to thicken it. Many Americans have never encountered posset but it's so delicious and fairly easy to make that I think it will become very popular. This recipe is based on one by Ina Garten, and we all know her recipes are wonderful!

This particular recipes uses cream, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and limoncello to make the posset. If you have a good liquor store near you, you can find small bottles of limoncello which hold at least 3 tablespoons, enough for this recipe. Our Total Wine had several varieties to choose from. I was also able to find a very small bottle of Grand Marnier for the berry topping. The Grand Marnier and sugar-soaked berries are so delicious with each spoonful!

I made some pecan shortbread cookies to go along with the posset but store bought pirouettes would also be a lovely garnish, although neither is really necessary as this is a satisfying dessert on its own.

I hope you give it try!

Lemon Posset with Berries and Grand Marnier

Printable Recipe

The Lemon Posset should be prepared the day before serving in order for the custard to fully set.

Hands On Preparation Time, 20 minutes

Servings: 6

Note: I needed 8 Servings so I increased the recipe, ingredient amounts for 8 in parentheses. I used strawberries and raspberries but any berries would also work well.

3 cups (4-1/2) heavy cream

1 cup (1-1/2) plus 2 (3) tablespoons sugar

1 (1-1/2) tablespoon lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)

¼ (1/2) teaspoon kosher salt

⅓ (1/3 c plus 2-2/3 T) cup lemon juice

2 (3) tablespoons limoncello liqueur

1 (1-1/2) cup fresh raspberries, picked over

1 (1-1/2) cup sliced fresh strawberries

3 T Grand Marnier (or limoncello)

Combine the cream, 1 (1-1/2) cup of the sugar, the lemon zest, and salt in a medium saucepan.* Bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Lower heat to a vigorous simmer and cook 6 minutes, without stirring. Watch the mixture carefully. If it begins to boil up toward the edge, take the pan off the heat for a few seconds before continuing to simmer.

Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and limoncello and set aside for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup, pressing on zest to release as much liquid as possible. Discard zest. Divide mixture evenly among six (or eight) 8- to 10-ounce glasses or bowls. Allow to cool on the counter and then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, either overnight or up to 3 days.

Thirty minutes before serving, combine raspberries, strawberries, the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 T Grand Marnier (or limoncello) in a bowl and allow to macerate. To serve, spoon the berries and their juices onto the custards.

*Don't use a saucepan smaller than 6 inches round and 5 inches tall.

Adapted from: English Lemon Posset - Barefoot Contessa

Classic Rhubarb Crisp with Buttery Crumble Topping

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 21:38:00 +0000

Warm weather is the perfect time for cool and refreshing desserts and if you enjoy rhubarb as much as I do, here is an easy and delicious dessert to put together. I usually like to try at least one new rhubarb recipe when my rhubarb is ready for picking. Seeing an instagram friend's @2020kcmd post was the initial inspiration for making rhubarb crisp. If you have a friend or neighbor that asks if you want some rhubarb, take it and make this!

The rhubarb crisp recipe I chose was originally shared by a dear friend who sadly passed away not long ago, Barbara from Moveable Feasts. She loved rhubarb as I do and shared many great recipes, including this one, which comes from Mark Bittman. The crumble topping, however, comes from my blogging friend and fellow garden lover of over 20 years, Monique at La Table de Nana. She shared an apple crisp with crumble topping from this French site. It is a delicious, buttery, crunchy topping that holds up beautifully to the moisture in the rhubarb.

This is a lightly sweetened, pure rhubarb dessert with orange or lemon zest and juice added for a bit of citrus brightness. The sweet crumble topping adds the rest of the sweetness to the dessert.

A large scoop or two of vanilla ice cream gives the whole dish a creaminess that is irresistible! Enjoy!

Classic Rhubarb Crisp

Printable Recipe

Serves 6 to 8

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
2-1/2 to 3 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice

Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, cut into cubes

In a bowl, mix all of the topping ingredients with a fork until well combined and refrigerate for while making the rhubarb filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. degrees. Butter a 8 or 9 inch baking dish (I used a 11 x 7 inch glass baking dish). Toss rhubarb with white sugar, orange or lemon zest and just pour out into the baking dish, leveling it as best as possible.

Sprinkle crumble topping over rhubarb as evenly as possible. You may have extra, which can be refrigerated for a future crumble topping dessert.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden and beginning to brown and rhubarb is bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool. This is best eaten while slightly warm but may be made in the morning and refrigerated. Take out of refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving or warm slightly in a 350 for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

Mom's Refrigerator Pickles and Feedburner Email Subscriptions

Wed, 12 May 2021 19:44:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

As you may have heard, Google has decided to end it's Feedburner email subscriptions which is how you had been getting my posts by email. In order to keep you posted (pun intended), I have now changed my email delivery of new posts to Mail Chimp (originally it was follow.it, but I wasn't happy with the email platform). Please follow with Feedly or the new email subscription form, which is via Mail Chimp. I apologize for any inconvenience. You may always unsubscribe at any time.

I have transferred all the email addresses of those of you who are Active followers from the Feedburner data base to Mail Chimp so you shouldn't miss a thing. Thank you to almost 1,500 of you for following my humble blog! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions.

It's been a long year for many of us! You may have noticed I haven't been blogging as often as I used to. Late last year, we bought a 1901 vintage home as a rental investment which was in need of lots of TLC! I'm in charge of researching and ordering everything necessary to complete the renovation...paint, flooring, door, windows, blinds, fixtures, vanities, etc., etc. It has kept much of my attention away from the kitchen these past few months.

I have recently sowed one of my favorite crops, cucumbers, I'd like to reshare my 'most viewed' recipe of all time with an updated photo. Since it was first published, it has been viewed over 750,000 times! It's my mother's recipe for refrigerator pickles. You can use any cucumber you like, but homegrown or the baby cucumbers you can find at the store now are the best and taste as close to homegrown as you can get.

It's a simple and easy sweet and sour pickle made without cooking that will last 2-3 months in the refrigerator. I keep adding freshly cut cucumbers to the jar as they ripen on the vine. They are great as an accompaniment to lunch or dinner or to add extra crunch to a salad or sandwich. I often eat them as a snack too.

My Mom's Refrigerator Pickle Recipe

Printable Recipe

1 cup white vinegar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water 1-2 teaspoons celery seed (I like 2) 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups sliced cucumber 3 small onions, thinly sliced Place sliced cucumber and onions in a large container or bowl. In a separate bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Add celery seed. Pour mixture over cucumber and onions and refrigerate. Best flavor 1-2 days after making. Keeps for 2-3 months.

Once again, thank you to all of my followers!

Madeleines à la Monique

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 23:37:00 +0000

It's always so exciting to try a recipe that turns out just as you had hoped it would! This is the first time I have made perfect Madeleines, that is, Madeleines with the high 'bump' in the middle which means you have arrived at the pinnacle of perfect Madeleine baking. Madeleines are simple little cakes and you probably have all the ingredients in your home right now.

Last fall, my friend Monique, at La Table De Nana, shared the perfect Madeleine recipe along with links that detailed the proper way to make them. There were so many suggestions on the proper oven temperature from many famous chefs! Which one to try? I had to confess, the first batch I almost burned, but try, try again, and I found the best temperature for my oven!

Tip number one, I found out, is to prepare the dough the day before and refrigerate it for at least 12 hours.

Tip number two is to brush melted butter in each cavity of your pan and then refrigerate until the butter has solidified.

Tip number 3... after filling the each cavity of the pan 3/4 full, refrigerate for at least 15 minutes while the oven is preheating.

Tip number 4, bake them first at high heat and then reduce the heat for rest of the baking time. This 'cold dough/hot oven' technique will assure a cripsy crust around the edges and the the perfect 'bump' on the top of each Madeleine.

I loved them without any powdered sugar or extra sweetness but Monique also shared a link on how to coat one side with melted chocolate. I'm going to try that next time!

No Madeleine pan? No problem! You can use a mini muffin tin. Just fill whatever cavity you use 3/4 full. My Madeleine pan is a metal, non stick pan similar to this one, but it's still important to brush the inside of each cavity with melted butter to get the nice browned edges and bottom. Madeleines are perfect with a cup of tea or any time of day snack. I enjoyed mine with my new favorite Rishi Tea's Hibiscus and Blueberry tea...I local company I like to support.

Wishing all of you Lovelies a Very Happy Valentine's Day!

Madeleines à la Monique

Note: Yesterday when I first published this the 120 grams of flour was listed twice. I've since edited the recipe.

This recipe yields approximately 1-1/2 dozen Madeleines,

2 small eggs, weighed in grams. If eggs weigh 120 grams then use…
120 grams of sugar (I reduced that slightly)
120 grams of flour
120 grams of butter, melted
1 tsp honey
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1-1/2 teaspoons orange zest (or lemon) or sub vanilla. I used dried orange peel.

Grate the zest one organic lemon or orange, if using. In a small bowl mix the zest of the two lemons with the sugar. In other bowl, sift the flour and the baking powder. In a small saucepan melt the butter.

Beat the eggs together with the lemon zest, sugar and the honey until the mix becomes a bit foamy. Next add the flour-baking powder mix and whisk. Finally add the melted butter and mix until well incorporated.

Refrigerate overnight or at least 12 hours with plastic wrap touching the top of the dough so it doesn't dry out.

The next day, melt a small pat of butter and, with a pastry brush, brush the insides of the Madeleine molds. Place the molds in the refrigerator for 15 min until the butter firms. Sprinkle flour and remove the excess (only for non stick pans). Fill molds to ¾ full with a heaping tbsp of dough. Spread out dough in molds using the pastry brush to gently tap dough into mold. Refrigerate again while oven is preheating, at least 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 420 F). Bake them for 3 minutes and reduce heat to 320 F and bake for another 4 minutes. Timing will depend on your individual oven. Check often during last few minutes. Madeleines should not be shiny on top with a nice ‘bump’ and be golden with browned edges. Let the Madeleine’s cool before removing them from the mold.

Leave plain or dust with confectioners sugar or dip in melted chocolate.

Sourdough Focaccia with Garlic and Onions

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:52:00 +0000

Today, I bring you Sourdough Focaccia! Have you ever tried to made focaccia? My only other attempt was a long while ago and it wasn't great. I'm sure it was baker's error. I've been seeing some very tempting sourdough focaccia photos on Instagram lately, and since I still have a lively sourdough starter from the start of the pandemic, I decided to give focaccia another try. Oh my, this was delicious! Even my husband commented on how good it tasted.

I served the focaccia as an accompaniment to soup that night but it would be a delicious accompaniment to any pasta dish or hearty salad. You can also slice it in half horizontally and use it to make sandwiches.

The recipe I used for this focaccia is adapted from @Breadtopia on Instagram and you can find the recipe on the Breadtopia blog. Included on their website is a yeast version if you don't have a sourdough starter.

In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flatbread baked in the ashes of the hearth. The Latin word for hearth was 'focus' = 'focaccia'. Focaccia spread across many countries....focaccia in Italian cuisine, hogaza in Spain, pogácsa in Hungary, and fougasse in Provence, among others.

If you have an active starter, you will be as impressed as I was with the formation of bubbles in this recipe. Sourdough baking can be a long process, as there is no yeast involved, but with this recipe, I had the focaccia in the oven within six hours after mixing the dough in the morning.

It helped to use my oven as a proofing box, preheated only with the oven light turned on. My oven light warms the oven to about 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have an oven thermometer, you can test how warm your oven gets with just the light on. You don't want it to get warmer than 95F or you could kill the starter or yeast, if using. If the oven light method doesn't work I've also read about using a pan of warm water on the bottom oven shelf. Or, you may want to try the 'overnight' version included in the recipe.

I wanted to make a simple but flavorful topping for my first attempt at sourdough focaccia so I sprinkled freshly chopped green onions and chopped fresh garlic over the top before baking. There are many other ways to top focaccia with some of the most popular choices being rosemary, olives, basil, sage, tomatoes and cheese.

There is quite a bit of olive oil used in making and baking focaccia so you'll want to use a good tasting extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is also used to coat the bottom of the baking pan which gives the bottom a nicely browned crust as well.

Sourdough Focaccia

Adapted from Breadtopia

Note: A digital kitchen scale comes in very handy. I use mine all the time for baking to get more precise measurements.

400 grams bread flour (about 3-1/2 cups)
75 grams whole wheat flour (slightly more than 1/2 cup)
345 grams water (1-1/2 cups)
143 grams sourdough starter (1/2 cup)
15 grams honey (2 tsp)
13 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
11 grams salt (2 tsp)

Additional coarse salt for sprinkling on top before baking,
Toppings of your choice (I used 4 chopped green onions and 2 large cloves of chopped garlic)

Make the Dough and First Proof:

Add all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes with the paddle attachment, and medium speed for another 8 minutes with the dough hook, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula a few times. If necessary, you may mix by hand the same for the same amount of time.

Move the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Note the time as the beginning of the first rise. (bulk fermentation). This is when I first put my dough into the oven with only the oven light turned on.

After the dough has rested for 30 minute rest, either stretch and fold, or coil fold the dough four times (every 20-40 minutes) over the next 2-3 hours. Wet your hands before handling the dough, and cover the dough afterward. Here is a YouTube video showing both folding methods. I put the dough back in the oven after every fold, which lasted 2 hours.

Next, allow the the covered dough to continue rise undisturbed (using oven light warmth, if possible) for 2 more hours until it has almost doubled and is bubbly.

Final Proof:

I used a non-stick 9 x 13 inch baking pan but you can also use a 13 x 18 inch pan which will yield a thinner focaccia. If your pan is not non-stick, line it with parchment paper Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of the pan and cover the entire bottom and sides of the pan, or parchment, with the oil.

Scrape the dough gently into the pan. With oiled fingers, push and press the dough out to the edges of the pan. Dimple it with oily fingertips.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap or put it inside a large, plastic grocery bag, trying not to let the plastic touch the dough.

Let rest 1-2 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the refrigerator, plus another 2-4 hours to warm up in the morning). The dough should look thicker and have some bubbles when the final proof is over.

Topping and Baking

Place a flat baking sheet or pizza stone one rack up from the lowest oven rack. Preheat the oven to 450F for 20 minutes with a baking sheet and 30 minutes with a pizza stone.

Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on the top of the dough and dimple it again. Add toppings and finally sprinkle it with coarse salt.

Place the focaccia pan in the oven on top of the hot baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. The internal temperature of the focaccia should be at least 200F.

Remove the focaccia from the pan and parchment, and let cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be wrapped in parchment.

Christmas Cookies!

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 21:26:00 +0000

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Even though this holiday season may not be the same as previous years, we could all still use a little 'cookie love' to deliver or send to loved ones or friends.

Here is a sampling of the cookies I've made and frozen so far to be delivered to my 3 grandsons this weekend. ♥♥♥

First, on the left, are my family's all-time favorite Candy Cane cookies. These are from a vintage cookbook called Betty Crocker's All Time Favorites. A wonderful cookbook I still use! To the right of those, is a new stamp recipe shared my my friend, Monique, at La Table de Nana. There are some ground oats in the recipe which gives them a slightly nutty flavor which I like. I'll find out soon how the grandsons like them :)

The rest are all sugar cookie cutouts. I first made these at Thanksgiving and my grandsons loved them more than any other sugar cookie I've made, so it's a keeper in my cookbook!

All the cookies, except for the stamped cookies, were frosted with Royal Icing. The recipe I use includes meringue powder and glycerin for a slight sheen. You can find both at JoAnn craft stores. It makes enough frosting for a couple dozen cookies and keeps for a few days in an airtight container. For the pine trees on the bottom, I mixed Wilton gel food coloring with a small amount of vodka to a consistency perfect for painting. You can blend the colors just like real paint so it's a fun project.

So, whether you will be alone or with your family "Bubble", a few cookies can bring some cookie happiness into your lives. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

I still can't figure out how to use the new Google Sites where I have kept all my recipes for years since I've merged them to the new format :(

Please copy and past from here:

Candy Cane Cookies

Adapted from Betty Crocker's All Time Favorites

½ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup shortening
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp red food coloring

Topping:

1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy (candy canes work)
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Place the peppermint candy into a strong plastic bag and smash with a meat mallet or hammer until broken into bits. Place the broken pieces along with the granulated sugar in a food processor with steel blade and process until just coarse bits remain of the candy. Plastic in a bowl or storage container next to the oven when ready to bake.

Heat oven to 375 F.

Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, confectioners’ sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; blend in flour and salt. Divide the dough in half and blend food color into one half. Place the dough in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For each candy cane, shape 1 tsp of dough from each half into a 4-inch rope (for smooth, even ropes, roll the dough back and forth on a lightly floured surface.) Place the ropes side by side and press together lightly; twist. Place on a Silipat or parchment-lined baking sheet and curve the top of each twist to form the handle of the cane.

Bake 9 minutes or until set and very light brown. Sprinkle the peppermint sugar on the hot cookies right when they come out of the oven. Allow to cool on sheet at least 5 minutes before trying to removing to a cooling rack or parchment paper.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Notes:

I usually double this recipe because I like the canes a little larger. If making separate ropes is too time-consuming just take a little less than a tablespoon of each color dough together and roll them into a rope together, then, holding onto one end of the rope twist the other side to swirl the colors.

Half the dough can also be dyed green for wreaths, or leave the dough plain and dip each end in melted chocolate and then finely chopped nuts.

Stamped Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from Weekend at the Cottage

¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon salt
18 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1 tablespoon pieces

Sparkling sugar for sprinkling

Fluted or round cookie cutter slightly larger than your stamps

Cookie stamps (I used Nordic Ware Starry Night Cookie Stamps)

Preheat oven to 300˚F and plastic rack in the center of the oven.

In a food processor fitted with a blade attachment pulse oats until finely chopped. Add flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Pulse once or twice.

Add butter and run on a low dough comes together.

Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to four days. On a floured surface, roll one half of dough at a time 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out cookie shapes and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gently but firmly press cookie stamps into dough.

It's best to freeze or refrigerated the stamped cookies about 15 minutes before baking to they hold their design better.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden, watching carefully that they don’t burn. (Mine took about 15 minutes).

Remove from oven and sprinkle with sparkling sugar or confectioners’ sugar.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week, or frozen.

Royal Icing

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 2 1/2 cups of icing

5 Tablespoons meringue powder
4 cups confectioners' sugar, or more to thicken icing
6 Tablespoons water
3 drops glycerin

Clean Ketchup style squeeze bottles work great for piping the frosting!

Note: You can find both meringue powder and glycerin at JoAnn in the baking section.

Add the meringue powder and confectioners’ sugar to a bowl Add water, a few tablespoons at a time and mix with a hand mixer until the consistency looks good. Not too runny but not too thick. It shouldn't hold peaks. Add more powdered sugar or water, if needed. Beat for 1 minute. Add glycerin and mix thoroughly.

The icing will keep for several days in an airtight container. After you decorate the cookies use sprinkles immediately, if desired. Otherwise, the frosting will take at least one hour to dry thoroughly so handle carefully until then.

*To paint cookies, use Wilton Gel Food Colors. It's best to wait at least 8 hours or overnight before painting over the royal icing to make sure it's very dry. Use new, clean, craft paint brushes that have no residue of other paints. Have 1 tablespoon of vodka in a small dish. (Vodka will dry the food coloring more quickly than water and not spoil the icing underneath.) Dilute or mix gel colors to get desired colors using a small plate as a palate.

Note: Savoring Time in the Kitchen is a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. If you purchase a product by following a link that we provide, the price you pay as a consumer does not change, but if you do make a purchase through one of these links, we earn a very small commission for providing that link. Thank you for your support of Savoring Time in the Kitchen!

Sourdough Banana Bread and Country Rustic Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Sat, 31 Oct 2020 22:05:00 +0000

I can't believe it's the end of October and I'm still on the sourdough bandwagon! Even if many have grown tired of the sourdough trend, I'm having a great time with several special sourdough recipes and I've been baking a lot of bread lately! I gave a loaf to my daughter recently, and our oldest grandson loved it so I hope to keep them supplied with bread for as long as they continue to enjoy it.

You may be wondering what I've been doing with my time for the past 3 months! Other than baking and gardening, social distancing but still spending some time with our small family, we've had a few large renovation projects that have taken much of my time. We bought a small home as an investment and I'm the one who picks out the paint, carpet, cabinets, countertops, etc. It's been mostly a fun project!

Back to the sourdough baking, I know I'm speaking to a small audience so I thought I'd share two recipes at once. :)

The sourdough starter that I received from Kitty early last spring is still going strong and I enjoy tending to it. It's nice having little hobbies when our social lives have been so disrupted.

I bake these banana bread loaves in my 4-cavity Wilton mini loaf pan so that I can freeze them individually for freshness. I tried putting a streusel topping on one of the loaves of bread but frankly, I enjoy it better without the topping.

You can see the slight open-hole texture of this banana bread due to the sourdough starter. It's so moist and delicious and not at all 'sour'!

This is the sourdough loaf I've been making almost every week since I first discovered this recipe. I was looking for a sandwich loaf that rivaled the Country French artisan loaf from a local bakery that I used to buy for $4.99. It's so good with a high dome, crispy crust and moist interior. This recipe rivals that loaf!

Based on King Arthur's Rustic Sourdough bread, it took several attempts to get the high dome I wanted by playing with the amount of dough I used. My high-domed loaf is baked in an oven-safe glass loaf dish that measures 9 x 5.

I also learned that I can use my bread machine for the mixing and kneading and it makes making this bread so easy! Since it uses a very small amount of regular yeast it rises much more quickly than more traditional sourdough loaves which also shortens the process.

Using about 2/3rds of the dough to get the high dome, I have enough left over to make a small baguette which is the perfect size for the two of us. I forgot to slash this one!

It also makes the most amazing French toast, grilled cheese sandwiches and BLTs!

I still have some of Kitty's dried starter if anyone is interested in rehydrating it and trying sourdough baking!

The new Blogger platform is giving me some grief and I'm having some issues with editing as you may be able to tell with the different sized fonts in this post :( And now I can't figure out how to post a recipe on the new Google sites where I merged all my recipes when I was advised the Classic sites wouldn't be available much longer. That's another reason I haven't posted for a while. I hope things get easier, as I continue to figure it out.

Please copy and paste from this post if you want to save either recipe. I hope I've reached at least a few sourdough bakers out there :) Happy baking!

Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe

Servings: Makes 4 mini loaves or 2 8x4 loaves

1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups (3 to 4) very ripe bananas, mashed (preferably overripe)
1 cup Sourdough Starter (227 grams)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (either fresh or dried orange zest I buy from my local spice store)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecans or your favorite nuts, coarsely chopped

Spray loaf pan(s) with nonstick baking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with oven rack in the center position.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with a mixer. Add egg and mix until blended. Stir in the mashed bananas and the sourdough starter. Stir in the vanilla extract and orange zest and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture and the chopped nuts to the prepared sourdough mixture, stirring just until blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans and allow to rest for just 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Start checking at 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.

I like to wrap the individual loaves in plastic wrap and freeze so we can enjoy a fresh loaf any time. They also make great gifts!

Adapted from: https://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughBananaBread.htm

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Rustic Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 loaf (1 lb 12, ounces of dough, weighed with digital scale)
plus 1 small baguette or several French style rolls using the remainder of the dough.

Note: Original recipe was intended for 2 smaller free-form loaves.

1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups (340g) lukewarm water
1 to 2 teaspoons instant yeast*
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 cups (602g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur)

(Please visit the King Arthur site at the end of the recipe if you want to manual knead the bread.)
Combine all of the ingredients in your bread machine adding them in the order suggested by your machine. Set machine to the 'Dough' cycle which takes about 90 minutes. After the first few minutes, check to see if you need to add another teaspoon or so of water if the weather is dry. Your machine should not work too hard to mix the dough.

After the dough cycle is completed turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Deflate the dough and cut the dough into 2 pieces, approximately 2/3rd and 1/3rd. Weight the larger portion on your digital scale. It should weigh 1 pound 12 ounces or slightly more. Add more dough to the scale from the other piece, if needed.

Shape the larger piece into a loaf. Here is a very good tutorial on how to form a sandwich loaf with bread dough: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/baking-skills/how-to-shape-a-sandwich-loaf.
Spray a 9 x 5 inch glass loaf pan with cooking spray and place the shaped loaf into the pan. Using a large, somewhat clear grocery bag, cover the loaf loosely and allow to rise for about 1 hour or so, until the dome has risen above the pan by about 1 inch.

With the smaller portion of dough, but using the same shaping technique make a long thinner loaf for a baguette, or shape the remainder into rolls. I place the baguette dough on a piece of parchment which I fold several times lengthwise to form a baguette sized form to hold the dough and place the parchment on top of a flat baking sheet. Envision two lengthwise triangles with a center narrow cavity of about 3 inches. Place a long length of plastic wrap over but not touching the dough (two glasses place on either side keep the parchment in place and keeps the dough from spreading).

At the end of the hour, start preheating the oven to 425 F degrees. Allow the oven to preheat for at least 15 minutes.

I like to bake the baguette first as the rising time is quicker. Slide the parchment holding the baguette right onto the center oven rack. Lightly spray the sides of the oven with water and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn the baguette over and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and place on a cooling rack.

Right after removing the loaf, place the loaf pan with the larger loaf into the oven. Again spray the sides of the oven with water and bake the loaf for about 25 minutes or until nicely brown on the top. Carefully remove the glass loaf from the oven and tip out the loaf. Place the loaf back into the oven, directly on the rack and bake for another 5 minutes until the bottom and sides are golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe

Note: Savoring Time in the Kitchen is a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. If you purchase a product by following a link that we provide, the price you pay as a consumer does not change, but if you do make a purchase through one of these links, we earn a very small commission for providing that link. Thank you for your support of Savoring Time in the Kitchen!

A Sourdough Story Of Sweet Friendship During Covid

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 15:15:00 +0000

I'm back! Sorry for my prolonged absence but I've been suffering from lack of motivation lately. Is anyone else having the same problem? I'm also trying to spend as much time outdoors as I can as it keeps me from thinking about the problems facing us now. My priorities are being with our small, immediate family, working in my garden, golfing with my husband and baking when it's raining.

Speaking of baking, I wanted to tell you about a wonderful and very kind baking story that happening during the time we were in lock-down this past spring. I've met so many wonderful bloggers over the years and one of them is Kitty from Kitty's Kozy Kitchen. We share a loving of baking and being with our grandchildren. Kitty loves tea cups and having tea parties with her granddaughters! About 20 years ago, Kitty was given a live sourdough starter from someone she knew who had brought it back from Arkansas in a cooler. It was called a Civil War Starter. Kitty has kept it alive all these years and continues to use it to this day.

At some point, Kitty mentioned her starter in one of her blog posts. I asked her if she would consider sharing her starter with me. She said she would be happy to share it but she didn't think a live starter would survive being sent from Texas to Wisconsin. I remembered reading about a way to save sourdough starters for future use by drying it out and found a great tutorial on how to do it at King Arthur Baking Company's website. I asked Kitty if she would be interested in trying it. Of course, she did and, within a very short time, I received Kitty's dried starter! When I opened the zipper bag of dried starter, it smelled so fresh and good!

The same King Arthur tutorial on how to dry the starter also gave instructions on how to revive the dried starter and soon I was on my way into the world of COVID sourdough bread baking (along with countless other bakers in the world who weren't able to find dried yeast on the grocery shelves for so long).

Kitty's starter and recipe from Arkansas were different from the usual starters you might find online in that none of the starter is ever discarded. After feeding, it is divided in half. One half to use for baking bread and the other half returns to the refrigerator for next time. It's also different in that sugar is added to maintain the starter and in the bread recipe.

Here is Kitty's sourdough starter after a feeding. As you can see, it makes a lot of starter! At it's peak, it contains five to six full cups of starter. I have to tell that you Kitty was so patient with me because I had so many questions about the starter and recipe. ♥ She is such a kind person!

These were the first loaves I made with Kitty's starter! The starter makes three full-size loaves of bread. If you look closely, you can see that I added walnuts and cranberries to the loaf in the center. All were delicious and smelled and tasted wonderful!

I was able to bake 2 or 3 times more times with this beautiful starter and, then, I decided to try to decrease the amount of starter. I started by trying to decrease the recipe by one-third. I didn't want to make so many loaves at one time as it's just my husband and I at home and I was going through a lot of flour.

That was when things started to go wrong. The starter seemed okay at first. The first rise would be fine but after the loaves were formed they did not rise very well. I tried twice to revive the starter but it still didn't do well and I had two baking failures. When I performed the starter 'float' test, it wasn't floating. Perhaps this starter likes it better in the south :)

Back to square one! I did have more of Kitty's dried starter so I started over from scratch. This time, I decided feed the starter in the conventional way and in the proportions of the King Arthur starter instructions. I decided to keep some with a much smaller amount of added sugar, and created another starter without any sugar at all as an experiment.

The first bread I made with my newly revived starter from Kitty was this whole wheat loaf from, who else, King Arthur. I had asked a friend's daughter who bakes a lot of sourdough bread for her family what recipe she was using and she pointed me to this one. It is delicious too! And now, my new "Kitty" starter makes one loaf, which is perfect for us.

"Kitty" on the left has no sugar. "Kitty" on the right has just 1 tablespoon of added sugar when it's fed. The one with the sugar in it seems to perform slightly better than the one without the sugar. Perhaps that's because it was used to having sugar in it for 20 years!

Now that I have a more conventional starter made from Kitty's original starter, I now also have the flexibility to use the discard when I feed it. There are some great recipes that use discarded sourdough starter!

The first thing I tried were popovers. Oh my, these are so good! A little butter and preserves on a Sunday morning make having discard so appreciated. I've made Sourdough Parmesan Popovers...

and plain Sourdough Popovers.

The plain popovers are so delicious with a little butter and preserves and make a special weekend breakfast treat.

The other recipe I've made with the discard is this Sourdough Coffee Cake. Both my husband and I loved it!

Rather than bake it in a square pan as the recipe indicates, I decided to make 4 mini loaves so that I keep one out and put the rest in the freezer. The crumble topping is delicious. The coffee cake would be wonderful with homemade blueberry sauce. Another great weekend treat! There are many more sourdough discard recipes that I look forward to trying.

So, my adventure in sourdough baking continues, thanks, in whole, to the kindness of Kitty going out of her way to dry her starter and send it to me. My starters are doing very well in their new format and I feel confident I can keep Kitty's Civil War Starter alive and well for a very long time to come!

The timing with the Pandemic stay-at-home order could not have been better as we couldn't see our family and friends and, even now, we are still are not able to resume our former social activities. It really does help the mind and soul to be able to have fun in the kitchen creating with Kitty's sourdough starter.

The recipe for the Whole Wheat Bread and links to the sourdough discard popovers and coffee cake below.

If you have any questions, or would enjoy receiving a packet of Kitty's starter, please let me know, as I still have 5 vacuum-sealed packets to share. I prefer to ship within the United States due to shipping costs. I would also be happy to try drying some of my current starter for anyone who would like to try sourdough baking. Happy Baking!

Click on links to find recipes for Sourdough Popovers and Sourdough Coffee Cake

Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Printable Recipe with my Tips and Edits

Makes 1 loaf

1 cup (227g) fed and risen sourdough starter

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (255g) lukewarm water

2 cups (226g) Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup (113g) AP Flour

2 tablespoons (14g) honey

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

2 tablespoons (25g) neutral vegetable oil (I like using Avocado oil)

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients, and mix until a loose dough forms.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. Turn out of a lightly floured surface and knead until fairly smooth. It should be slightly sticky. Depending on how wet your starter is, or the humidity in your kitchen, you may need to add 1/3-1/2 cup more flour. Only add enough flour to be able to form a cohesive, somewhat sticky ball of dough.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and let it rise until almost doubled, about 60 minutes or so. I like to turn my oven on to preheat for one minute, and then turn the oven off. This will make a warm but not too hot environment perfect for the dough to rise. Place the bowl inside the oven. It usually only takes 60 minutes for my dough to double in size with this method.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough onto itself pulling from the outside and folding toward the center. Do this several times. Turn it over and shape it into an 8" log, and place it in a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. I use an oven safe glass loaf pan.

Cover the loaf with a tea towel and let it rise until it has risen about 1" over the rim of the pan, (using the 1 minute preheated oven tip above, for about 60 minutes). Towards the end of the rising time, carefully take the loaf out of the oven without jarring it, and preheat the oven to 350°F

Bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center registers 205°F to 210°F.

Remove the bread from the oven. Let it rest in the for about 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool. I have taken the bread out of the baking pan and placed it back in the oven for about 5 minutes to get more browning on the sides and bottom.

Adapted from King Arthur Baking Company

Garlic and Herb Bubble Bread

Wed, 13 May 2020 13:32:00 +0000

It's the simple pleasures right now. Soon, I'll be planting flowers outside but we're not there yet, weather-wise. Frost warning last night. Time for soup and some bread! Or, just bread :)

I found this recipe for Garlic and Herb Monkey Bread in my Bread Machine Magic cookbook and wanted something to add to our grilled salmon dinner last week. My husband loved it so much I made it for him again when we had soup this week. It is delicious! I prefer the term bubble bread to monkey bread just because it just sounds more appetizing :) "Bubble" refers to the balls of dough that look like bubbles on top when they rise.

My first attempt at making this bread, I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan. The bread rose so high that it made a 'shelf ' across the top because of the pan I used. Not the prettiest, but it still tasted great. The dough is cut into small pieces and each piece is dipped into garlic and herb-infused butter as it is placed into the baking pan. After rising and baking, the bread pulls apart into small bite-sized pieces.

The second time I made it, I used a chiffon cake pan which worked much better and created more browning in the center. Any pan with a flat bottom and higher sides should work. I would not recommend a bundt pan as bundt pants are rounded on the bottom. This bread gets tipped out of the pan after baked and then inverted again onto a serving plate so the 'bubble' part is on top.

You don't need to have a bread machine to make this bread and, if you're lucky, you have found yeast and flour after the hoarding began in late March and April.

I hope you can give this bubble bread a try next time you're in a baking mood as it's worth the effort!
I'm including ingredient amounts below for small, medium and a large recipes. I hope you enjoy it!

Just wanted to add a special thank you to both of my daughters for arranging a wonderful, social distancing Mother's Day visit on Sunday. Along with flowers and some special gifts from them, I was also given some artwork made especially for me by my 3 grandsons. They are placed in order by age, 4, 7 and 10. The last one, my daughter painted as an extra Mother's Day card.

While I've been Covid baking, they've been Covid painting. Keeping them busy is essential right now with no school since mid March. They paint almost every day after they do their online schoolwork. The 4 year old has no school work so he is just on vacation :)

Hope you are all well and continue to stay safe.

Garlic and Herb Bubble Bread

Printable Recipe

Dough (Small Recipe for a (8-1/2 x 4-1/4 inch loaf pan)

3/8 cup warm water
3/8 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Dough (Medium Recipe for a tube pan or large loaf pan 9 x 5)

½ cup warm water
½ cup sour cream
1-1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Dough (Large Recipe for 2, 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 loaf pans)

5/8 cup warm water
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Herb butter (ingredients for small, medium and large recipe)

1, 2, 3 small garlic cloves, minced (small, medium, large recipe)
3 tablespoons, 4 Ts, or 6 Ts melted butter (small, medium or large recipe)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Note: Increase or decrease herbs 1/2 teaspoon for each size recipe. I like a lot of herbs. Garlic can be optional if you don't care for it.

Thoroughly butter the pan you chose to use whether it be a loaf pan or tube pan.

If you have a bread machine, combine water and sour cream and warm gently. Melted butter. Pour liquids into pan of bread machine. Add sugar, salt, flour and lastly, yeast. Turn on dough setting, which takes about 1-1/2 hours to mix and rise. Note: If conditions are dry in your home, you may need to add a little more water, so watch the dough carefully as it's mixing. It should be soft and pliable but hold together in a ball.

If you do not have a bread machine, you can use a stand mixer with the dough hook to mix and knead until the dough is pliable, about 2 minutes. Place into a greased bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel and place in a warm place until doubled in size (about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the temperature in your home). Alternately, you can mix the dough by hand, kneading the dough until soft and pliable, about 8-10 minutes. Place into a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (Tip - turn your oven on to preheat for 1 minute and then turn off. This makes a good warm place for the dough to rise.)

When your dough is almost finishing rising, mix the herb butter ingredients together.

After the bread machine has finished the dough setting, or after your dough has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 1-2 minutes to release the air. Form into a ball.

Cut the ball in half, then each half into half again. Keep cutting the pieces in half the pieces are roughly the size of a walnut. Exact size is not crucial.

Dip each piece of dough into the herb butter mixture and arrange in layers spaced about ½ inch apart in the prepared pan. If you have extra butter mixture, drizzle over the top of the bread. Cover pan with a tea towel and place in a warm place until doubled again. This will take about 30-35 minutes. (Tip – turn on your oven to preheat for 1 minute and then turn off. This makes a good warm place for the dough to rise).

When the dough is almost finished rising, take it out of the oven but keep it covered. Preheat oven to 375F. Remove tea towel and place pan in the 375F oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your pan, or golden brown on top. Watch closely, as ovens differ. Add or subject time accordingly.

When bread is finished, remove from oven and invert onto a large plate or baking sheet. Then invert again onto a serving dish so that the ‘bubbles’ are on top. Brush bread with extra melted butter, if desired. Note: If I think the bread looks too pale on the bottom after removing from the pan, sometimes I carefully put it back in the oven without the pan and leave it in for another 5 minutes.

Buttermilk Sandwich Bread

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 22:25:00 +0000

What do you do on Easter weekend when you can't be with your family because of social distancing? Bake bread! At least, that's what I did. It's was satisfying having something that turned out so delicious, I wanted to make it again and again (which I did in the past two weeks). Quarantine carb heaven!

Unfortunately, I realize that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to find yeast right now. Even flour is scarce in some areas. I was lucky enough to find an out-of-the-way store, which specializes in ethnic groceries, that carried 1pound packages of instant yeast. Knowing that I could freeze yeast for up to a year, I didn't hesitate to buy the large quantity (which was only a little over 5 dollars, so a real bargain. I also found it at another local grocery store today that offers pick up so keep checking with your stores, especially the smaller independent or co-op stores.

The first time I made this bread I didn't have buttermilk so used the DIY buttermilk hack, which is to add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes to thicken. The last time I made it I was able to use real buttermilk and I did not notice a significant difference in taste but noticed that the bread was slightly more 'soft' in texture with the real buttermilk.

I have a bread machine, which I used just for the dough setting, but you can easily use a stand mixer with a dough hook or knead it on your counter the old-fashioned way. Above you can see the dough ready to be punched down after the first rise, second is the shaped loaf (I like to keep tucking the dough underneath with the floured palms of my hands, and lastly, the dough after the second rise and ready to go into the preheated oven. I use a small sheet of parchment paper to use as a 'lift' to remove the baked bread from the hot pan to cool.

The finished loaf! Did my husband hesitate after hearing the words buttermilk bread? Yes, he did, but after he tasted it he told me it was really, really good :)

I waited 15 minutes for it to cool and cut a few slices it while it was still warm. The dark crust and soft, interior is perfect for any kind of sandwich.

How could I resist the first warm slice with butter? Oh my!

This past weekend, I used the same recipe and formed it into sandwich rolls instead. I baked a small ham on Easter Sunday for the two of us, and we enjoyed these delicious rolls for our sliced ham sandwiches with Dijon mustard and looking forward to using them for ham salad spread next.

Buttermilk Sandwich Bread

Printable Recipe

Note: This recipe makes 1 loaf of bread, and uses a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. If you only have an 8-1/2 x 4 inch pan, measurements for that size are in parentheses.

The recipe will make about 1 dozen sandwich-sized rolls to use for sandwiches, hamburgers, etc.

1-1/8 cups buttermilk (1 cup), warmed slightly (if your home is dry you may need a little extra milk)
3 tablespoons honey (2 T)
2 teaspoons salt (1 tsp)
1-1/2 tablespoon butter, melted (1 T)
3 cups all purpose flour (2 cups)
2 teaspoons dry, instant yeast (1-1/2 tsp)
1 tablespoon melted butter for brushing on loaf before baking

Poppy seeds or Sesame seeds, optional, for making rolls.

Place liquid ingredients followed by the dry ingredients into your bread machine pan with yeast added last. Use the 'dough' cycle for the initial kneading and 1st rise.

Alternately, if you do not having a bread machine, in a large bowl, whisk together the salt, flour and yeast. In another smaller bowl, stir together the melted butter, honey and warmed buttermillk, then pour into flour mixture and stir until smooth it forms a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place into an oiled bowl, turning once to oil the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I like to turn my oven on to heat for 1 minute, then turn it off. Put the covered dough in the slightly warmed oven with the door closed to rise.

Meanwhile, prepare a loaf pan by cutting a piece of parchment to fit the pan lengthwise and long enough to hang over each edge to use as 'handles' to remove the hot loaf from the pan. Then spray the pan and parchment with non stick cooking spray such as canola oil.

After the dough cycle is finished on your bread machine, or after the dough has risen until almost doubled, remove it to a flour surface, gently deflate it and knead again for about 5 minutes. Form an oblong loaf shape about the size of your pan by tucking the sides under with the palms of your hands to for a tight loaf. Place the dough into the prepared pan, cover loosely with a tea towel and place in a warm place to rise again until doubled in size. The dough should have risen to about top of the loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 375 about 15 minutes before loaf is done rising.

Gently brush loaf with melted butter over the top and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, depending on your oven. When the loaf looks golden and sounds hollow when tapped, it is probably done. I like to remove the loaf from the baking pan and return it to the oven rack to bake for 5 minutes longer to ensure a browned crust on the sides and bottom, but this is optional. You may also brush the top of the loaf when out of the oven with additional melted butter, if desired.

To make rolls, rather than bread, after the first rise and knead, divide the dough in half, then each half into thirds. Each third should make 3 rolls. I like to use a digital scale and use about 2 ounces of dough for each roll. Take each 2 ounce piece of dough and form it into a ball tucking the edges under with your palms as you turn it. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. After the dough has doubled, brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired.

Bake rolls in a 375 preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden.

Recipe adapted from Bread Machine Magic.

Chocolate Babka with Caramelized Oranges

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:44:00 +0000

I'm proud to say that I've made my first babka! This babka recipe is seriously Valentine worthy should you be so inclined to treat the loves in your life!

I'm a little late to the babka party but I had never tasted one until recently. There is a wonderful bakery where I buy the best bread in town when I entertain. I follow them on Instagram @rocketbabybakery and noticed that they were selling individual-sized chocolate and orange babkas so I ordered one the last time I needed bread for company. It was love at first bite! Theirs was filled with candied orange peel and chocolate chips, a delicious combination.

I tried in vain to find good candied orange peel. The huge bags sold on Amazon didn't appeal (pun attended). Then, in my online search, I found a great YouTube video (click on link) on how to make caramelized orange slices at home. I must say they turned out great and I was able to use organic oranges and felt better about eating orange peel without any residual pesticides.

The only minor mishap with the babka recipe was the melted chocolate filling. It was so runny that when I tried rolling up the dough after adding the filling, much of the filling pooled at the end of the roll, making distribution of the filling uneven. Next time, I would let the filling cool enough to thicken but still remain spreadable so it stays in place better, or just use chocolate pieces as the bakery did.

This recipe makes two large loaves and one mini loaf, using the scraps of dough. If you don't have a mini loaf pan, you could use another other small baking vessel, or use muffin cups.

Babka, or Kranz cake, is originally from Poland and a traditional filling is made with cinnamon sugar and raisins, as well as chocolate, which became very popular in New York bakeries. The name babka means Grandmother in Polish. If you are my age, you probably remember the Seinfeld television comedy series episode where Jerry and Elaine go to the local New York bakery to buy a chocolate babka to give as a gift at party they were going to,,,but the person in line ahead of them buys the very last babka. So funny. Even saying the name babka makes me smile.

Speaking of loves, my two daughters are great skiers. The first one loves Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the second loves teaching her sons how to ski at the local ski hill. We just received a lot more snow to keep the family fun going!

I hope this recipe makes you smile! Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Babka with Caramelized Oranges

Printable Recipe

My Notes:

I made the dough through the first rise in my bread machine. If you don't have one, just use the instructions below.

To make the lukewarm milk/water mixture, place milk, 1/4 cup cold water in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup boiling water.

It's best to make the babka dough, fill it and roll it the day before and refrigerate overnight, if possible. If not, freeze the rolled logs for 15 minutes before cutting.

5 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
1 package (2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
1/2 cup cold milk
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¼ cup honey
½ cup avocado oil or other neutral oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling:

Note: I suggest letting the chocolate mixture cool until it is thicker and therefore stay in place inside the dough better when rolling.

¾ cup (130 grams) dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
½ cup (1 stick | 120 grams) unsalted butter
½ cup (50 grams) powdered sugar
⅓ cup (30 grams) cocoa powder
1/3 cup diced caramelized oranges (See recipe below) or dehydrated orange peel

Syrup:

⅓ fresh-squeezed orange juice
6 tablespoons sugar

First make the lukewarm milk/water mixture by placing 1/2 cup cold milk and 1/4 cup cold water in a large bowl such as an 8 cup pyrex bowl . Add 1/4 cup boiling water to make lukewarm mixture.

Whisk one cup (128 g) of the flour with the yeast and stir in the lukewarm milk/water mixture until combined. Cover with plastic wrap or dish towel and let rise about 30-45 minutes or until it looks bubbly.

Add the yeast mixture and the rest of the dough ingredients to your bread machine and set to dough cycle (about 1-1/2 hours). If you're not using a bread machine, proceed as follows:

Directly into the yeast mixture bowl, add the salt, honey (or sugar), oil, eggs, zest and vanilla. Stir with a spatula or spoon until well mixed, then add the remaining four cups (486 g) of flour. Stir with a spoon until dough forms a sticky mass. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface and knead for just a few minutes, until dough becomes smooth. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with dish towel or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, one to two hours or longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen. (To create a warm place to rise, see notes above.)

Make the filling: Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. I prefer using a microwave, stirring after 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted, this should only take 1 minute, 30 seconds. Stir in powdered sugar and cocoa until smooth. Cool until thickened slightly.

Punch down the dough and divide it in two equal parts. Using a rolling pin, roll one half into a rectangle about 10- to 11-inches in width by 14- to 16-inches in length. Spread half of filling over top leaving ½-inch border all the way around. Starting from the short end, roll into a tight coil. To help keep coil bound, I wrap it in parchment paper and transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. At this point, I place the logs in a glass baking dish and cover loosely with plastic wrap as the dough will continue to expand. Chill overnight. If you don't have time to refrigerate, place loaves in the freezer for 15 minutes . Rub two 9-by-4-inch loaf pans and one small vessel such as a mini loaf tin, with butter. Place parchment paper in each pan from side to side with a slight hangover, so make removing baked bread easier.

Place chilled logs on a cutting surface. Trim last inch (or less) off each log and reserve. Cut the logs in half lengthwise and lay them next to each other cut sides up. Lift one half over the other and twist each around the other. Here is a great video on how to fill, cut and braid the logs. You can also see the proper way to place the parchment in the pans from the video. Transfer the twist into the prepared loaf pan. Don't worry if they're not perfect, just tuck under the ends. Repeat with remaining two halves. Place trimmed ends next to each other into the mini loaf or other small baking dish. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rise 1 to 1½ hours at room temperature or until dough has risen and is filling the pan. If your kitchen is cool, just start your oven for 1 minute, turn off, and place the loaves inside until time to bake. Remove plastic wrap.

Heat oven to 375°F and place a large sheet pan on the center rack. Place loaf pans on the sheet pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes. The mini loaf will only take about 20 minutes. Cover the loaves with foil if they are browning too quickly.

Make the syrup while the babkas are baking. Mix orange juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a low boil to dissolve sugar, stirring occasional. Remove from heat and reserve. Remove babkas from oven, and evenly brush the syrup over the loaves. Let loaves cool completely in loaf pan. They will be easier to slice if refrigerated for 15 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden a bit.

Recipe adapted from Alexandra Cooks, Epicurious and inspired by Rocket Baby Bakery.

Caramelized Oranges

Adapted from an Instru ctional Video on YouTube

2 oranges (organic preferred to avoid pesticides)
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (150 ml) water

Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Cut oranges into slices about 1/4 inch thick place them in a bowl. Pour the boiling water over them and let the slices sit in the hot water for 2-3 minutes.

Remove slices from the water and arrange orange slices on a paper towel and pat dry. Place slices into a large saucepan or frying pan large enough to fit the orange slices.

Add the sugar, vanilla extract and water to a small saucepan and cook until the sugar dissolves. Pour the syrup into the saucepan with the orange slices and cook on medium heat until the white part of the orange peel is transparent and much of the syrup evaporates.

Preheat oven to 210°F/100°С. Remove orange slices and spread them out a baking sheet lined with foil, parchment paper or silicone liner.

Dry the orange slices in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

After slices are cool, place them in a container in single layers separated by wax paper or parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Duck Ragu Pasta

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 14:56:00 +0000

There is a wonderful Italian restaurant in town that serves a very popular duck ragu pasta which I love and have always wanted to try and recreate at home. After searching for all the recipes I could find, I took the best parts of several and made my own version. I must say, it turned out quite well!

This is a recipe that requires a little advance planning. First you need to find some duck leg quarters (with the thigh attached). We are lucky enough to have a poultry farm store nearby that sells frozen duck legs but if you can't find legs, go ahead and buy a small whole duck and cut it in half.

If you don't like duck (even people who dislike duck love this ragu), you could use bone-in country-style pork ribs.

The duck legs are slow roasted in a blend of vegetables, spices and tomato sauce for 1-1/2 to 2 hours in the oven. The best part of this recipe is the duck legs can be roasted a day ahead and reheated in the sauce the next day.

When they come out of the braising liquid they are pull-apart tender. The meat is then shredded and returned the the braising liquid.

I served my duck ragu with pappardelle pasta but use your favorite thick cut pasta.

Top it with some fresh parsley and a generous sprinkle of Grana Padano cheese and start twirling! This is a wonderful fall and winter comfort-food, pasta. Enjoy!

Since this is my first post of 2020, I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year from my family to yours! Cheers to all and here's to a delicious year ahead! (Christmas Day in SE Wisconsin)

Duck Ragu Pasta

Printable Recipe

Note: For those readers who live in the Milwaukee Metro area, I buy my duck legs frozen at Tower Chicken on South 6th Street. They also sell the best roasting chickens you can find and people line up to buy turkey for Thanksgiving.

Do Ahead: The duck legs and ragu can be prepared a day ahead and reheated at the time of serving.

Serves 4

The day before, rub duck legs all over with the dry rub. Don't worry if they are frozen, they will thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Dry Rub for Duck:

2 duck legs
1 teaspoon brown sugar, packed firmly
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

1/8 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup full-bodied red wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 large can whole Italian plum tomatoes in with juice (use the best available)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 sprigs of thyme
1 small bay leaf

12 ounces dry pappardelle pasa
Grana Padano or other good Parmesan cheese, grated
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

In a small bowl, combine salt, brown sugar, black pepper, and ground cayenne and rub mixture over duck legs well. Refrigerate 24 hours. Trim legs of excess fat before sautéing.

Soak porcini mushrooms in ¼ cup boiling water for 30 minutes. Mince very finely and return to soaking liquid.

Finely dice celery, onion and carrot and place in a bowl. Mince garlic and place in small prep bowl.

Place whole plum tomatoes and juice in food processor and process until tomatoes are just broken up. Place in medium bowl.

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat a covered Dutch oven or enameled cast iron roasting pan (such as Le Creuset) over medium-high heat, add oil and then melt in butter. Add duck legs and sauté until nicely browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes, turning once. Remove legs from pan and reserve. Remove all but the browned bits from the pan and add 1 Tablespoon olive oil.

Add celery, onions, carrots and garlic to pan and cook until lightly brown, about 6 minutes, turning down heat, if necessary.

Add red wine and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and juice, red pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in thyme sprigs and ½ bay leaf. Return duck legs to pan. Add chicken stock to cover if needed. Cook in oven until legs are very tender, about 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours.

Remove legs from pan and cool. Skim excess fat from top of the braising liquid.

When cool, pull meat from bones, shred with your fingers and return meat to sauce, discarding skin and bones. Add another splash of red wine and cook over medium heat until all ingredients are well blended and thickened slightly, about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package directions. Do not rinse. Add pasta to duck ragu sauce and toss well.

Serve immediately topped with fresh parsley and grated cheese. Pass extra cheese at the table.

Cranberry Lime Tart

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:16:00 +0000

I may be the last one in the world to make this pie! After appearing on the cover of Bon Appetit in the fall, it took the baking world by storm. I'm sure it appeared on many a Thanksgiving table! But, in all honesty, it didn't appeal to me. Cranberries and lime just sounded too tart so I dismissed it.

Then, thankfully, along came our holiday gourmet group menu, hosted by friends last weekend. Guess who was assigned this recipe? Yep. All I can tell you is, Thank Goodness! It is absolutely delicious and the cranberries and lime juice are mellowed into a delicious curd with plenty of sugar, butter and eggs to take the 'bite' out of the cranberries. And, the gingernap/pecan crust is to die for. It is the most perfect compliment to the curd and delivers a playful crunch in every bite.

I increased the recipe by half and used one large (9-1/2 inch) and one small (7-inch) tart pan in order to serve 10 and have some left over. Topped with sweetened whipped cream, sugared cranberries or a sprig of fresh thyme, this needs to be on your Christmas dinner table!

Speaking of sweetness, we've been enjoying our grandsons this past month decorating Gingerbread houses, visiting our local indoor botanical garden's holiday display, and outdoor adventures and sleepovers. We love to have them over individually to love and spoil them ♥ We have been so blessed with these three, wonderful boys.

More sweetness was gifted to me by my dear cyber friend of 20+ years, Monique, of La Table de Nana and @monique_qc on Instagram. Among other goodies, she sent this beautiful hand-stitched cardinal and two beautiful paintings (the tree was painted on the craft paper in which the package was wrapped. How stickin' cute is that?

This likely will be my last post before Christmas and I want to wish each and every one of you peace and happiness this holiday season. Thank you all for being so supportive to me and my humble little blog all of these years.

Cranberry Lime Tart

Printable Recipe

Please see my note about the amount of time required to thicken the curd below:

Crust
4 ounces gingersnap cookies (about 16 if using Nabisco)
1 cup pecans
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons light brown sugar

Filling
1 12-ounce package fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries, plus 4 ounces (about 1¼ cups) for serving
2½ cups granulated sugar, divided
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest, divided
½ cup fresh lime juice
Pinch of kosher salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

Whipped cream (for serving)

To Make The Crust

Preheat oven to 350°. Pulse cookies in a food processor until very finely ground (you should have about 1 cup). Add pecans; pulse until finely ground. Add butter and brown sugar; pulse to combine. Transfer to a deep 9" pie dish. Using a measuring cup, press firmly onto bottom and up sides of dish. Bake until firm and slightly darkened in color, 10–15 minutes. If crust slides down sides, gently press back up. Let cool. Crust can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.

Filling

Bring 12 oz. cranberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat; simmer until cranberries burst and most of the liquid evaporates, 12–15 minutes. Let cool. Purée in a blender until very smooth.

Cook purée, eggs, egg yolks, lemon zest, lime juice, salt, ½ cup sugar, and 1 tsp. lime zest in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (bowl should not touch water), stirring with a rubber spatula and scraping down sides of bowl often, until curd thickens and coats spatula, 8–10 minutes. (NOTE: On my stove this process took at least 20-25 minutes, so go to the bathroom before you start stirring - LOL). Cool until still warm but not piping hot. It needs to be warm enough for the butter to melt in the next step.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat curd, adding butter a piece at a time and incorporating after each addition, until curd looks lighter in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Scrape into crust and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Garnish

Bring ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add remaining 4 oz. cranberries and cook until barely starting to soften, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Chill until no longer sticky, 20–30 minutes.

Toss remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. lime zest in a small bowl. Toss cranberries in lime sugar. Top pie with cranberries; serve with whipped cream.

Do Ahead: Pie (without topping) can be made 2 days ahead. Cover once filling is firm and keep chilled. Let sit at room temperature 2 hours before serving.

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

Molasses Brown Bread - Similar to Cheesecake Factory's

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 21:29:00 +0000

I recently tried a loaf of Cheesecake Factory's brown bread that I found it at my local grocery store. It was in love at first bite and serious addicting. It's slightly sweet, with hints of chocolate, molasses and coffee. Those of you who've eaten at Cheesecake Factory restaurant were likely given a variety basket of breads with their brown bread in it. It's delicious!

Ever since I bought that loaf of bread, I've been on a quest to try and duplicate it at home. There are many copycat recipes out there; some with honey, some with brewed coffee, or espresso and various mixtures of flours and liquids. I tried a couple of them but they just didn't come close enough to the color, flavor and texture I was looking for. I wanted to find one that included most of the ingredients I found on listed on the CF Brown Bread package I found at the store.

Then, I found one recipe using a water roux, a Japanese method of mixing small amount of flour with hot water before making the bread dough. That recipe had the texture I was looking for not quite the taste. So I adapted that recipe, changed a couple of ingredients and added a couple I found on the package, and I think I found exactly the taste and texture I was hoping for! This is what they looked like just before baking...

I decided to make six small free-style loaves rather than large loaves, baguettes or rolls, but am looking forward to experimenting with other shapes or even bread bowls. Speaking of which, this bread tastes absolutely wonderful with soup not to mention just plain slathered with butter.

On of my favorite ways to use my Molasses Brown Bread is to make egg salad sandwiches but it also makes wonderful Jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwiches with a bowl of tomato soup for dunking. And don't forget, avocado toast would be soooo good made with this bread.

Molasses Brown Bread

Printable Recipe

I want to thank Amy at U Try It for the inspiration for this recipe, which I've adapted.

Notes:
The water roux needs to be made the night before and refrigerated. It must come to room temperature before using. This recipe uses a bread machine but you can use a dough hook on a stand mixer or by knead by hand for about 15 to 20 minutes. Allow dough to proof (covered with a tea towel) for a hour or until the dough doubles in size before proceeding to shape the dough.

Makes 6 small freestyle loaves, 3 baguette loaves, 12 hamburger sized rolls, or 18 smaller, dinner-size rolls.

For the water roux:

3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons bread flour

For the Molasses Brown Bread:

1 cup warm heavy cream (whipping cream) or double cream
Room temperature water Roux
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons avocado oil
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 cup rye flour
2 tablespoons wheat bran (not wheat germ)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast

For the oat topping:

1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water (at room temperature)
2-3 tablespoons old fashioned oats

To make the water roux the night before:

Place bread flour in a small bowl, pour boiling water over the bread flour a little at a time, stirring quickly with a fork to combine until smooth. Allow to cool and then wrap the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.

To make the Molasses Brown Bread:

Take the water roux out of the refrigerator at least an hour before using. It should be at room temperature.

In a bread machine container, first add the warm cream, water roux, molasses, avocado oil, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, brown sugar, whole wheat flour, bread flour, rye flour, wheat bran and yeast. Set bread machine to dough cycle according to your machine's menu. On my bread machine it is setting 8 which includes kneading and the first rise, which takes 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When dough cycle is finished, pour out the dough onto a clean surface and punch it down to deflate it. Divide dough into 6 equal portions (I like to use my kitchen scale for this) and shape them into balls and place on a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let them rest in a warm place for 15-20 minutes. An unheated oven with a bowl of very warm water on the bottom and door closed is a good place.

Next, knead each dough ball a few times and then roll each into a small, hoagie-style loaf. Place them back onto the lined baking sheet, cover with the tea towel and let the dough rise for 45 minutes to an hour, also in a warm and moist place.

15 minutes before the dough is finished rising, take it and the water bowl out of the oven (if that's where it is rising) and preheat the oven 420°F. Brush the egg wash on top of each loaf and sprinkle the oats on top. Bake for 10 minutes, give the pan one turn, and finish baking for another 6 minutes. 16 minutes total baking time.

Transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool completely.