Posted at 10:45 PM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: baking, cooking, custard, hand pie, heart, pie, sprinkles, sweet, valentine's pastry, valentines dessert, valentines pie
Last week I was killing some time at Barnes and Noble when I was drawn in by the big table of cook books. The funny thing about this table is that it draws you in via your stomach. So many of the books are covered in glossy photos of scrumptious foods that it's impossible for an even moderately hungry person to pass it by without at least a quick look. All the gorgeous books and their yummy looking food, and I fall for a book with no pictures on the outside.
Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson is a substantial book. I LOVE a well made book. The subtitle on the front fits me perfectly, "Art Craft Recipes." That is exactly how I view cooking. It appeals to my artistic and crafty side just like glue, paper, and yarn do.
This book is filled not only with recipes and photos, but also with culinary essays that I found captivating. It's much like reading a food blog but without the clicking and scrolling. So many of the recipes in the book were things I want to make but it was one recipe that sealed the deal... marzipan scones.
The funny thing about the changes I made with this recipe? I didn't use marzipan for the marzipan scones. I used Almond Paste instead. Marzipan and almond paste have the same three ingredients: almonds, sugar, and glucose syrup. The difference is that marzipan has slightly more sugar and is sweeter than almond paste. I am quite sure that these scones would be delicious with marzipan but I love almond paste just as much and didn't need the extra sugar.
The recipe tells you to cut your marzipan into chunks and then it is worked into the dough by hand at the end of the prebake process. You can't go wrong with large chunks of sweet almondy goodness in your scones.
The almond paste mixed in easily and left me with a lovely sweet dough. I didn't get any pictures of the dough disk or wedges after they were cut. The dough was very sticky and needed to be cut and moved to the pan quickly. It was a bit hard to work with the sticky dough but well worth the gorgeous texture after they were cooked. I wouldn't have wanted more flour added to make them less sticky causing a tougher final product.
I cut down on the nutmeg a little in my dough because I wanted to make sure the almond flavor was crisp and clean. If you can't tell, I'm an almond fan.
Just like Lisa says in her book, the texture of these scones isn't your standard flaky and semi-dry texture. These little lovelies have a soft crumb that is more dense but just as soft as cake. They are a joy to eat.
The almond paste holds the shape you cut it into but the lumps disperse through the dough evenly. It spreads it's flavor throughout but maintains it's lovely mouth feel.
I ate my scone with a little homemade clotted cream. It was delicious but I actually like them better just as they are. Warm is nice but room temperature is even better. I also loved it just as much the second day.
Marzipan Scones
From Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson
7 ounces marzipan (I used almond paste)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used a little less)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I used salted)
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
confectioners’ sugar, for sifting over the baked scones (optional – I didn’t use any)
makes 6
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a heavy rimmed sheet pan or cookie sheet with a length of ovenproof parchment paper.
For the dough, cut the block of marzipan into small cubes and set aside.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 1 minute on moderate speed. Whisk the eggs, milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl. On low speed, blend in a little less than half of the sifted mixture, all of the whisked eggs and milk mixture, then the balance of the sifted mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition. The dough will be firmly moist. By hand, work in the chunks of marzipan, using a sturdy rubber spatula.
On a lightly floured work surface, form the dough into a plump 5 ½- to 6-inch disk. Cut the disk into 6 wedges. Place the scones on the prepared baking pan, spacing them 3 inches apart.
Bake the scones in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until risen, set, and golden on top. Cool the baked scones on the pan for 1 minute, then remove them to a cooling rack, using a wide offset spatula. Serve the scones warm or at room temperature, their tops sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, if you wish. Store in an airtight container.
Posted at 09:54 AM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (2)
Technorati Tags: almond paste, baking, Baking Style, cook books, cooking, Lisa Yockelson, marzipan, marzipan scones, pastries, pastry, scones
We are a busy family. With both my Girlies dancing with the ballet company this year, we spend a large part of dinner time driving back and forth to dance classes. Last year at this time I made the commitment to cooking at home as often as I can even with those crazy time constraints. Not only do I cook at home, but I try very hard to have well balanced meals that are both yummy and if not always perfectly healthy, at least not terribly unhealthy. I've noticed a huge change in my family from this year long commitment to eating better. Buster and I have lost weight and are feeling great. The Girlies have gained healthy muscle mass which they needed. Take a look.
Now I'm going to show you what kinds of things we eat. My kids have developed a love of all things sea food and Bug loves nothing more than going to the fresh fish counter at Central Market and asking for one of everything. Last week we had mediterranean tilapia with baked zucchini fries. This is pretty much Bug's favorite meal. It's not the prettiest dish I cook but it tastes really good and is so healthy. The tilapia is cooked on the stove and then the oven with onions, tomatoes, and capers. The zucchini batons are dredged in egg whites and breadcrumbs and then baked until crispy.
Last night we had stuffed shells. Bitty loves Italian food. Buster and I don't love all the carbs. This was a good way to go. Part-Skim Ricotta cheese from Central Market was dialed up with herbs, mascarpone, and my favorite sea salt.
Then Bug spooned it into a zip top bag for easing stuffing.
See, a little help from the kid and cooked shells are easy to turn into stuffed shells. We stuffed them really really full so we could use fewer shells and more yummy cheesyness.
I went easy last night and used premade meatballs from the butcher. They were fennely and delicious. I also used Rao's sauce. It was the best prepackaged marinara I have ever eaten. Sure, I could have made sauce from scratch, meatballs too. I may have mentioned back at the top how busy we are. This was a good compromise and the kids went back for more.
Cheesy Stuffed Shells
12 ounce box of jumbo shells
15 ounces of Ricotta cheese
4 ounces of Mascarpone cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian spice mix
1 jar marinara or red sauce of your choice
store bought or homemade meatballs
shredded mozzarella cheese
salt
pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook the shells according to the directions on the package and drain.
While the shells are cooking mix together the ricotta, mascarpone, egg, parmesan, spice mix, and salt and pepper to taste. Fill a large zip top bag with your cheese mixture. When your pasta is done drain it well and then cut the tip of your cheese bag and pipe cheese into pasta. As you fill the shells, place them in a lightly greased (I use olive oil spray) baking dish.
Brown your meatballs in a pan on the stove. Cook your meatballs at least ¾ of the way through before adding them to your pan with your stuffed shells. If you need your dinner faster then make sure your meat is cooked all the way through so that your pasta will not need to bake as long.
Cover pasta and meatballs with your sauce and then sprinkle with mozzerella.
Bake pasta in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way through and the cheese on top is golden and delicious.
Posted at 08:56 AM in Cooking, Girlies | Permalink | Comments (1)
Technorati Tags: cooking, diet, food, stuffed shells, tilapia, zucchini fries
Sometimes when I am looking at food blogs on the internet I will come across a picture of something that looks yummy and want to make it. I'm very visual which often means that I only look at the pictures and maybe the name of the dish, but not the actual recipe. That is what happened with these pinwheels. I saw a picture of some pastry and cheese concoction and thought it would make a good quick lunch for me and Buster on some busy weekday. I went to the store to get the ingredients and realized that beyond refridgerator dough of some sort, I didn't know what the ingredients were. Here's what I came up with.
I used Pillsbury Crescent rolls from a can. The big ones, not the cute little tiny ones. Instead of seperating them into triangles I left them attached in two triangle rectangles, which made them easier to roll up. I also used deli cajun turkey sliced on the thick side, Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb cheese, a jalapeno, and some cheddar and chihuahua cheese I had in the fridge already. Oh, and it didn't make it into this picture but I also threw in some French's french fried onions because even though they are a little silly, we love them.
I mixed the cheeses all together with the jalapeno and spread it on the crescent rectangles. Then I put on the turkey and the onions and rolled them up. The trick to getting good pinwheels is to roll as tightly as you can. As you can see in the picture above, some of mine came out better than others. I also found that it helped to squeeze the rolls a little before cutting to make sure they were squished tight.
Cook them on a lined baking sheet according to the directions on the crescent package. Basically 350F for 12 minutes or so.
We thought they were quite yummy though maybe not spicy enough. I used half the jalapeno and it probably needed the whole shebang. We are mustard junkies at my house so we had a little of that on the side.
In order to not being eating too crazy unhealthy I whipped together a little southwest salad to ride shotgun. I love my Texasware bowl so much. It's a little stained and worn but it is still the best all around mixing bowl ever.
Do you ever "find a recipe" just to realize once it is made that you didn't really follow the recipe at all?
Posted at 05:35 PM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: cajun turkey, crescent rolls, jalapeno, pillsbury, pinwheels
For Father's Day Bitty decided to make Buster some ice cream. She got the idea from 2 Little Hooligans. Both Girlies made ice cream for themselves as well. Even though we have an ice cream machine this ziploc bag version was a HUGE hit.
She even decorated the inner and outer ziploc bags.
Once the cream in the inner bag was frozen she added mix-ins like caramel and butterfinger. Can't go wrong there.
Posted at 09:30 PM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)
I think peaches taste like summer time. What do you think?
Recently Bug has been interested in fruit which is a good healthy interest. I've been packing peaches, grapefruit, oranges, and apples in her dance lunches and she has been going crazy for it. When we were at the store the other day she asked about buying more peaches so I bought a huge bag. Just around the corner from the peaches were fresh blueberries, which are wonderful with peaches.
So tonight when I was trying to figure out what to do with all the fruit that needed to be used while it was fresh and the huge chunk of goat cheese in the fridge I did a google search. Google + Food = recipes filled with yumm. This is what I found~ Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body . I adapted the recipe for blueberries instead of strawberries and cut the recipe in half. Then I baked in a mini loaf pan. I made a simple peach compote to go on top. It was fantastic. Bug loved it. My fruit hating kid, Bit, wasn't as happy with it. I bet if I put whipped cream on the pound cake tomorrow she will be all in.
This is what Bitty did while we were eating cake. Summer doesn't just mean yummy fruit, it also means more time for "arts and craps".
Posted at 10:23 PM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)
Technorati Tags: blueberries, blueberry pound cake, goat cheese, peaches, pound cake, summer
Today is Buster's 36th birthday. He doesn't much care for people making a big deal over him. Having two little daughters means he has to put up with a little excitement anyway. I try to make it fun for them without overwhelming him so this year all we bought for him was a little remote controlled helicopter from Brookstone. To make it just a little more special I also made him a Crepe Cake because I had never done it before and I knew he would like it.
I used Martha Stewart's Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake recipe. I had never made a crepe before so I got some really good practice making 20 of them for this cake.
The crepes are stacked alternately with a layer of meyer lemon curd mousse. That was fun to make too. I don't get the opportunity to use gelatin all that often.
The recipe calls for 15 crepe layers but I had 20 usable crepes so I used them.
We cut into it early (last night) and it was fantastic. The Buster liked it, and that was the most important part.
I'm hoping to find the time to turn the left over egg whites into macarons. We'll see how that goes.
Posted at 08:38 AM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (2)
Technorati Tags: Crepe, crepe cake, martha stewart, meyer lemon, meyer lemon crepe cake
I finally got the cherry brown butter bars from smitten kitchen done. The Girlies and I had fun pitting the cherries.
This little shield on the OXO Cherry Pitter is meant to save you from all the splatters. If there is more splattering without it then I will never go without. My goodness.
We pitted right into the trash can and after we were done it looked like a slaughterhouse.
This recipe was very easy to put together (even with my wrong sized pan). Bitty and I even had a great teaching about cooking moment. As I was browning the butter Little Bit wanted to know why I would want it to be brown. Then she wanted to know why things turn brown. The best part was when she said, "It smells like Caramel!" It was so much fun to explain to her about caramelizing the sugars in foods and how it changes the color, smell, flavor. She tasted all the pieces of this culinary puzzle as it was coming together and then tried the finished product and could actually taste the individual parts in the whole. I'm pretty proud of my little 7 year old chef. I hope that someday she will love to cook as much as I do.
Posted at 11:25 PM in Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: cherries, cherry, cherry brown butter bars, cooking, smitten kitchen
I'm thinking of making these today.
They are the Cherry Brown Butter Bars from Smitten Kitchen. I bought one of these yesterday to go with my fresh cherries.
Make sure to check back later and see how it went. Before we can get to the cooking we have to get some painting done. I'm really hoping two more days to paint the trim and built-ins and I will be done. I know it seems like this is taking forever, but that is a room with so much to do. It's also hard painting mostly alone while taking care of my princesses. We'll get there though.
Posted at 10:23 AM in Cooking, Products | Permalink | Comments (1)
Technorati Tags: cherries, cherry brown butter bars, cooking, OXO, paint, room design
I haven't mentioned it yes, but we are having a HUGE bash in early September at my house. Bitty's birthday is August 30 and Buggy's birthday is September 7 so labor day weekend is the perfect time to have a joint birthday party. Last year we didn't know anyone in our neighborhood yet so the girls didn't get to do anything for their birthdays until much later. Once we did get around to birthday party type events we just went with one friend each for a sleepover and dinner at the American Girl Cafe. This year we know tons of kids so we are doing it up right. Our front yard is fenced in so we are going to have a carnival. What carnival is complete without a snow cone machine?
Bug said we needed a snow cone machine and I knew I had seen them at Target ( I love Target) so off we went. They had their Dual Ice Shaver by Back to Basics on clearance so we bought it. Honestly, I didn't hold out much hope that it would make a real snow cone, but it might be fun all the same.
You can shave your ice into standard snow cone paper cones in a built in holder or you can shave into a cup. We went with the cup. We also bought a bottle of snow cone syrup, cherry, on clearance.
The syrup tastes just exactly like cherry flavored cough medicine, yuck. The kids like it. I'm pretty sure I won't be offering it to them again.
Did you see that they are using their plastic rinse and reuse straws? I love not having to throw a straw away for each kid every time they want something to drink.
I made myself one so I could check out the texture without having to eat the icky cherry. I flavored mine with just a tiny touch of coconut creme Coffee Mate.
The texture was nearly perfect; shaved, not chipped. Cold, icey, good for Texas in September. Now I just need to come up with some more palatable (and maybe slightly healthier) recipes for snow cone syrup. I was thinking maybe a simple syrup lightly falvored with vanilla and almond extracts to mimic the "wedding cake" flavor my kids love. Do any of you have good ideas for me? I'd like to have a few flavors for kids and a few flavors more pleasing to adults.
Posted at 05:36 PM in Cooking, Girlies, Products | Permalink | Comments (3)
Technorati Tags: carnival, ice shaver, recipes, snow cone, syrup