TWD: Coconut Butter Thins

One of my favorite bloggers, Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch was our host for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. And she chose Coconut Butter Thins. I was thankful that she chose such an easy recipe. I'm currently packing up my apartment and I need quick and easy!

I decided to switch things up a bit and used pecans and lemon in the cookies. Well, I had no choice really. I don't keep macademia nuts in the house and there was no lime to be found. Only lemon in the fridge this time. I did leave out the coriander though. Not because I didn't want it in the cookie, I just forgot to put it in. Oops!

One sheet got a little crispier than they should have. I forgot to rotate during the baking time so the top sheet was very golden brown at the end of 18 minutes. They weren't bad though. In fact, I think I liked them better with that extra crisp.

Wow...these were some tasty cookies! I doubled up on the lemon zest so it was pretty strong but I really liked that. The coconut was a very subtle flavor and texture. Every once in a while I would get a crunch from a flake but not very often. These would be perfect for those that aren't fans of coconut or want to sneak it in to foods of those that don't. I loved the combination of lemon and pecan. Tarty and crunchy! So yum!

I will definitely be making these again. They were tasty, simple, and quick. Great pick Jayne!

To see more Coconut Butter Thins, check out the TWD Blogroll. You can see this weeks recipe at The Barefoot Kitchen Witch.

Daring Bakers: Lasagne

After suffering from technical difficulties the last few days, I finally have my computer back. Somehow I managed to crash and corrupt the hard drive on my Mac so thoroughly that I needed a new one. Thank goodness to the Mac dude at the Apple store who told me it would be way cheaper for me to go to Best Buy or another store like that to get a replacement or a bigger one (mine was 160 GB). It would have been $$ at the Apple store because my warranty had run out and I in my infinite wisdom didn't purchase the extended.

So off I went to Best Buy last night and got a 320 GB hard drive for about $100. Mac dude showed me how to install the new and remove the old hard drive so I was set to go. Whew! I spent most of last night reinstalling the OS and everything else. Thank goodness for my external backup drive. If I had not had one, I would have lost everything! I only lost things that were saved on my desktop (incl. my folder of recipes to try and tried...gah!!). I'm going to make sure that situation is changed ASAP!!!

The reason I suffered this outage, actually came from me starting my DB post Thursday night. Apparently I did something wrong and first my browser froze then the whole computer. I waited a few minutes and nothing changed so I had to do an 'illegal' shut down. I was never able to bring the computer past the start up after that. Next time, have more patience Heather!

Alright...enough of that! Let's get on to the food!

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I was very excited for this month's Daring Bakers challenge. Our hosts chose lasagne! There was actually two options. The traditional savory option and the sweet. Sweet lasagne? Yes, I was just as surprised too! Having made lots of savory lasagne in my life, I was instantly attracted to the idea of doing a sweet. So I did!

The noodles were made of a mixture of bread crumbs, flour, and milk. They were quite easy to make. I had a little trouble rolling them out to the proper thickness. They seemed a little too thick but not too bad. For my 'bechamel' I used a vanilla pastry cream from Dorie Greenspan. I love this stuff. I had to stop myself from eating all of it before using it on my lasange! And for my 'ragu', I made a Dried Cranberry and Apple Chutney. Wow...this was some awesome chutney! It was quick and bursting with flavor! Delicious!

When I had all of my individual elements ready, I started the layering. For the most part I did fine. I uh...got a little distracted tasting somewhere in the middle and ended up with only pastry cream in the middle. So I topped the lasange with extra chutney and slathered it with more pastry cream. Technically, this was cooked since I had boiled the noodles. But it was cold and I wasn't keen on eating cold lasagne, even if the noodles were cooked. I put the dish in the oven for about 30 minutes and came back to a hot, gooey, delicious lasange.

Wow. I was blown away with how tasty this was. The pastry cream was out of this world and was excellent with the tart and tangyness of the cranberry-apple chutney. The noodles were still a little gummy since they were a little thicker than needed but it really didn't distract from the tastiness of the lasange.

Would I make this again? Oh yeah. It would be interesting to play with the fillings. Fresh fruit would be wonderful in this, especially if I could get the thickness of the noodles right so I wouldn't need to bake the whole thing. Great pick this month to our hosts! I loved it! I plan on making the savory version soon. It looks so good!!

For more takes on both the savory and sweet lasagne, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll!

Lasange Noodles

You can find the recipe for the lasange noodles at Emilia-Romagna Turismo

Cranberry-Apple Chutney
Adapted from Quick Spiced Fruit Chutney

* 1 large apple - peeled, cored and diced
* 275g cranberry sauce
* 130g dried cranberries
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* zest of half of a lemon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. In a medium saucepan, place apple, cranberry sauce, dried cranberries, lemon juice, zest, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 3 hours. Serve cold.

Pastry Cream
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups whole milk (I used fat free)
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly--as I always do--put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Technical issues

Hey all! My daring bakers post is going to be late. I went to type up my post last night and somehow managed to crash my mac (that'll teach me not to schedule posts ahead of time!). I'm only able to access the Internet through my iPhone right now so I can't load my pics ( hopefully backed up on my external hard drive) or write long posts. The closest Apple store to me is closed for remodeling so I have to get an appointment at another one tomorrow. I'll hopefully be able to get a post up late tomorrow or Sunday!

Thanks for your patience!

Heather

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries

The first recipe that came to mind when I made the ricotta for Recipes to Rival, was this Ricotta Orange Pound Cake in Giada de Laurentiis' cookbook Giada's Kitchen. I had been eyeing this cake from the moment I got the book.

This was a very, very good pound cake. The orange came out nicely. It wasn't overwhelming but light and refreshing. The texture was not as dense as most pound cakes tend to be. I'm sure this is probably due to the addition of ricotta to the batter. If it is, I'm going to try adding to more baked goods! I was so happy with this one. And of course it will have to be homemade ricotta now that I know how easy it is! My only issue with the cake was it was a little under baked in the middle. Not to bad (in fact, quite tasty when re-heated!) and nothing baking a tidge longer wouldn't fix.

For the first serving, I added strawberries. They were unfortunately frozen because the grocery was not sporting any tasty fresh berries that week. Oh well, frozen makes do when you really need them. However, I loved the cake as is. It didn't really need any adornments in my opinion. I love orange flavor in my cakes and that was the star for me. Nothing else required!

If you must have a glaze or garnish, a simple orange glaze made from fresh orange juice would be nice. In fact, the next time I make this (and I so will!), I might try that. It would definitely play well with the flavor of the cake (obviously Heather...it is orange!).

The pound cake freezes wonderfully. I sliced it and placed wax paper between each slice for easy removal. A few seconds in the microwave and it is nice, warm, and oh so tasty. A few weeks after I made the pound cake, I was looking for something different for dinner. After discarding a few choices in the freezer, I saw the sliced pound cake just sitting there calling my name. Pound cake...its not just for dessert! Yum. Perfect for dinner too!

So here is the first of the what I made with my homemade ricotta posts that I promised! Hopefully the next ones won't take as long!

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups cake flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
* 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
* 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 orange, zested
* 2 tablespoons Amaretto (I used fresh orange juice b/c I didn't have Amaretto)
* Powdered sugar, for dusting
* 1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered or 3 oranges, cut into supremes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and Amaretto until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar.

Meanwhile, place the strawberries (or orange supremes) in a small bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit until the juices have pooled around the strawberries.

To serve, slice the cake and serve with a spoonful of strawberries and their juices over the top of the cake.

Source: Food Network. Also available in Giada's Kitchen.

TWD: French Yogurt Cake

Or in my case, French Sour Cream Cake. I had already started the cake when I realized I was out of yogurt. I generally keep a container of it in the fridge for smoothies and the occasional snack. However, this time when I did the grocery shopping (well over a week ago, I'm doing a freezer/pantry clean out and food shopping is at a minimum) I forgot to add it to the list. Since I already had half the ingredients out or mixed, I grabbed the container of sour cream I had and used it instead. Its tangy, yogurt's tangy, an equal trade right?

After last week's custard fail, I was hoping for something easy and quick. Thankfully, this cake fit the bill. Even grinding almonds into meal didn't make the cake any harder. The only problem was of course the missing yogurt but the sour cream fit in a pinch. I made a 1/3 of a batch in a mini loaf pan because I. Am. Trying. To. Be. Good.

I was quite happy with this cake. The lemon flavor was delicious. Just a touch beyond being subtle but not overwhelming. I did add a touch more lemon zest because some mentioned the cake being somewhat bland. I could definitely see it being bland otherwise. I also loved the nutiness that the ground almonds added to the cake. The cake would have been fine without them but they made the cake's texture very appealing and the taste delicious. I'm eager to try it with the yogurt though I doubt it would taste much different. I'm sure I'll like it either way.

The recipe calls for a marmalade glaze to ice the cake but I simply drizzled some blood orange marmalade over some sliced pieces. While it was good with the drizzle, I preferred it without. The cake was even better the next day toasted for breakfast. Delicious!!

To get this weeks recipe, please see our host Liliana at My Cookbook Addiction. Thanks Liliana! I enjoyed this recipe!

Check out the TWD blogroll for more French Yogurt Cake!

I know I'm a tease but at least he got to lick the plate!!

TWD: Lemon Cup Custard

I had high hopes for this one. I love custards and lemon. But this recipe seemed to fall flat. Many TWDers mentioned in the P&Q post for this recipe, that the custard lacked lemon flavor and was very eggy. I didn't really notice the eggyness too much. I expected it to be eggy. To enhance the lemon flavor, I boosted the zest to half a lemon (I made 1/4 of a recipe) and also added a touch of lemon juice. I also steeped the milk with one split vanilla bean. Lemon and vanilla is one of my favorite flavor combos. The vanilla wasn't as strong as I would have liked but that is most likely due to the lemon.

After the first bite and the lemon hit you, there seemed to be something missing. The lemon packed a light punch but after that.....nothing. Maybe it was the texture. I do prefer custards that are more along the lines of puddings not flans. And this was definitely a flan like consistency to this. Perhaps it needed the caramel that a flan traditionally has.

Maybe I should have backed off of the lemon. But then the custard would have been bland. A longer steeping time? I already extended that to an hour versus the 1/2 listed in the recipe. If it is the texture, should I have refrigerated it longer? Or did I leave it cooling at room temperature too long? It was a little juicy, should I have baked it longer? It is rather frustrating because I can't really put my finger on what exactly what was wrong.

Sigh...I had hoped to have more success with this recipe. This marks my 1 year anniversary in Tuesdays with Dorie. And after having to miss the past two weeks, I really wanted something special to come out. Oh well. Its all a learning experience. Perhaps I'll be able to put my finger or tongue rather on what was missing soon!

You can find this week's recipe at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. Our host this week was Bridget. Thanks for the challenge Bridget, sorry I failed at it!

To see more Lemon Cup Custard, check out the TWD Blogroll.

2HCB: Simple Crusty Bread

For my turn to choose a recipe for Two Hot Chicks Baking, I decided to challenge Christine and myself a little bit and do some bread baking. Because I've done some bread baking before, I decided to take pity on Christine and choose a simple no knead bread. I chose Simple Crusty Bread from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day as published by the New York Times.

The dough was quite easy to make. I had it mixed and resting in just a few minutes. I was able to use my baking stone again which I was very happy about. I don't get to use it enough. It makes the crust of pizza so crispy and good. And it works perfectly on bread loaves too. The crust was perfectly crisp and delicious.

The inside of the loaf the first two times I baked them were another matter. Most of the inside baked up fine but the center seemed to be still a tiny bit doughy. For my third attempt, I baked it longer and covered the top so it wouldn't over brown. This loaf was better but still seemed a bit under baked.

Even though I couldn't get the inside quite right, it was quite a tasty bread. Especially toasted and topped with melted butter! I took my failed first two loaves and made a delicious bread pudding. Instead of making small round loaves next time I bake the bread (and I will since it tastier and cheaper than store bought!), I'd like to use a loaf pan to get a bigger rectangular loaf so I could use it as sandwich bread.

Simple Crusty Bread

Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)

Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours’ resting and rising

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

Source: New York Times

R2R: Fresh Ricotta Cheese

February's Recipes to Rival challenge was to make homemade Ricotta Cheese. At first I was a little surprised. You can make ricotta at home? Really? I've always bought the 15 oz containers from the grocery store for who knows how much money. Still...I've always been interested in making homemade cheeses and this looked like a fairly simple one to start with. Our host this month was Lauren of I'll Eat You.

This recipe was not terribly complicated. It just requires a bit of waiting as the liquid reached the proper temperature. Other than stirring occasionally, there's really not a whole lot to do. That's my kind of recipe! I still managed to lose a couple of curds when they stuck to the bottom but over all, it turned out well.

I ended up with about 5-6 cups of ricotta after draining the curds. I lost a few tablespoons worth because I didn't have a cheesecloth so I subbed a thin sheet. It worked briefly but it wasn't quite thin enough to drain all of the whey. I used a collander with small slots to finish draining. The drained ricotta was tasty though I did think it could use a pinch or two of salt.

Because this is a savory group, we were supposed to use the ricotta in a savory dish (though our host said a sweet was okay too!). I made lots of things with the ricotta since I had so much and it was just me. My favorite was a simple pizza (with homemade dough from the October Daring Bakers challenge) with ricotta as the 'sauce', topped with zucchini and potato sauteed in butter, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella. Delicious!

I'll be posting the rest of the recipes I made with the ricotta (including an Orange Ricotta Poundcake from Giada de Laurentiis) soon. I found myself thinking of different uses for the ricotta as I got down to the last bits. It is excellent in scrambled eggs and fried rice by the way!

For more fresh homemade ricotta and all its uses, check out the Recipes to Rival Blog Roll! Thanks to our host Lauren for the unique and fun challenge! I'll definitely be making this again!

In other news, today marks my 1 year Blogiversary! On March 1, 2008, I posted my first food related post (Peabody's Snickerdoodle Muffins) and while it wasn't the greatest picture or post, my love of baking/cooking just grew from there! There may be a surprise later this month to celebrate so check back soon! Thanks to everyone who visited and commented! I've enjoyed everything so far and look forward to more foodie goodness and friends in the future!

Fresh Ricotta

1 gallon milk (you can use 1 percent on up, remember that the more fat in the milk, the more cheese it will yield.) (I used 2%)

1 quart buttermilk

-cheesecloth (a good, tightly woven one, not the kind you buy at the supermarket)- If you don't have one of these, you can get by with a slotted spoon, but you may lose some of the cheese.

-a thermometer (mine is for oil and candy)

Place buttermilk and milk in a pot, heat on med-low heat until it reaches 185 degrees.

It will begin to separate into curds and whey. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure no curds stick to the bottom and burn. You will see that as the temperature approaches 185, the whey becomes clearer as the curds coagulate more.

Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined collander. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang for 10-15 minutes. Remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container.

You can find the official Recipes to Rival post here.