5 Tasty Recipes

5 Tasty Recipes  (that I didn't invent :))

My own sparkling cranberries, made from the recipe below. So pretty!

1. Candied Walnuts -- good on salad, good eaten straight....

2. Sparkling Cranberries -- a friend of mine linked to these on facebook, so I made them yesterday. SO beautiful and delicious! You should at least go see the pictures (and maybe make these, while cranberries are still available!)

3. Poached Figs -- so this is out of season, but you should really save it for when figs are back! Even if you don't like figs...This recipe turns them into beautiful things. (It's very versatile, too. I don't usually have port, so I substitute whatever wine, red or white, I happen to have around. :))

4. Brownies -- it makes a big 9x13 batch, so if you have a small family you can freeze them. (And they are delicious straight out of the freezer, too.....) I usually cut the cinnamon in half, cause it was a little much for us.

5. Mushroom Soup -- something completely different! It is SO tasty, and the author claims it will boost your immune system. And your immune system will need a boost after the other four recipes!

Perfect Holiday Pie Crust

Confession: We LOVE pie crust in our family... flaky, buttery, lovely pie crust. And while we all have opinions about what is best IN the pie crust we all agree on the pie crust itself.

Since I talked about getting pie crust ready early for Thanksgiving here is our favorite pie crust recipe to share with you all.

This is our beloved cookbook that taught me and my daughters how to make beautiful pie crust without having to include shortening. As you can see, it is a VERY used page in a very used cookbook. What I wanted to point out is that the trick to pie crust is not so much in the ingredient list...a humble 5 ingredients... but in how you handle those ingredients. As hinted at in the fact that the recipe, though only 5 ingredients, is an entire page long. But WAIT, don't run off in fear. It only looks complicated...I made 6 pie crusts in a half hour this evening...truly simple. So let's get to it!

First, credit where credit is due. This recipe is from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 sticks COLD unsalted butter
ice cold water

Measure flour into a food processor bowl fitted with an S blade. 2 1/2 cups flour equal 12 1/2 oz on a scale.
Add in the salt and the sugar and pulse a couple of times to mix.

Slice the cold butter and add to the food processor. Process for 10 to 15 seconds until the flour resembles cornmeal.

Measure 6 to 10 tablespoons of ice cold water into the flour mixture. This is the only place I deviate from the recipe. The recipe says 6 tablespoons but I can never get the flour to ball together with less than 10. I have no idea why. 

Stir with a fork until the dough balls together. Pick up the dough with your hands and finish pressing it lightly into a ball. Then tear the ball into two equal pieces. 

Wrap each ball in plastic wrap, flattening it down into a disc, and then again in aluminum foil to freeze them for later. Mark Bittman says it freezes almost indefinitely.

When you are ready to bake your pies take the dough discs out of the freezer and defrost in the refrigerator. Do NOT bring the dough to room temperature. While it is still cold roll out the first disc on a well floured surface and lay in your pie plate. For a double crust fill the pie and then get the second crust out of the refrigerator and roll it out. After you have the pie put together return the pie to the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before baking. The key to a perfect pie crust is keeping the dough cold. 

Happy pie baking. I would love to hear back from anyone who gives this a try about how it turned out. 

Cracking the Madeleine

Madeleines are one of my favorite treats. Perfect for a cozy afternoon-tea or special event...or, a plan B, if Aunty M. is making an unexpected visit. Quick, simple, and delish. I have gone through many different madeleine recipes, from Julia Child to Le Cordon Bleu; after tasting, testing, tweeking, and a few re-dos I settled on the recipe from The Culinary Institute of America. It was simple; in ingredients and technique. The very essence of a madeleine is simplicity. A friend once told me, "This is the biscuit the French mother makes every morning to go with a good cup of coffee"-- it should come like whipping up pancakes, it should be simple. So here is my recipe, with a few notes on the side for inquiring minds.

Ingredients:

⅔ cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp baking powder

4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature (This is very important! See Note 1.)

⅓ cup sugar

½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg, at room temperature (Also very important! See Note 1.)

2 tbsp cold whole milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat madeleine pan with oil (or butter, but it will brown more) and dust with flour.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed until smooth and light in texture, about 5 minutes (see Note 2). In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture in 2 or 3 additions, beating well after each addition. On low speed, mix in the sifted dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl as needed during creaming, gently mixing (not too much) to blend evenly (see Note 3).

Cool about 5 to 8 minutes in the refrigerator (just to make it a little more firm. This step is not necessary, but it is helpful if you're not using a pastry bag.

Fill pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch wide plain pastry tip with the batter (or just use a spoon, I was taught to use a small cookie scoop for portion control). Pipe into the prepared madeleine pan, filling the molds a little below the top. Bake until the edges of the madeleines turn a medium golden brown, about 12 minutes (see Note 4). Turn the madeleines out onto a wire rack while they are still warm, let cool before serving. Dust with powdered sugar.

Notes:

1: Although most home cooks seem to skip the whole, “at room temperature” bit in a recipe, it would surprise you to know that when the eggs and butter (for more on butter see note: 2) are at room temperature, the batter can actually become lighter! Interesting, isn’t it? Because, at room temperature, the eggs are lighter, it allows them to be mixed in softly yet quickly, reducing stir time (flattening time) and more importantly, when cold eggs are mixed with warm butter the mixture will leak liquid or curdle, causing the end product to be dry, grainy, and flavorless.

2: Creaming butter should take about five to six minutes. Just one more of those little things we all tend to skip. But, if you have enough patience, you’ll notice the butter will triple in size, that is if the butter is at room temperature; this is what helps to make the batter lighter. Warning: The creamed butter will start to sink instantly when it hits its peak, therefore, prepping all the other components is imperative to quick and effective assimilation. On the side: you should not microwave the butter to get it to room temp.

3: If the madeleines come out with air pockets in them (see example photo below), they were mixed for too long, allowing too much air to be incorporated. This creates the unwanted chewy-dense-texture that many people attribute to the defenseless tea-cake.


4: Also, if the madeleines bubble up like small mountains (see example photo below), they were baked for too long. They should round off a little, creating an even slope, not bubbling to such great heights .