Brandy Snaps, Brunch Bread, Chocolate Bean Bread and Meatballs

Today we've got a fancy cookie, a bacon, tomato and cheese bread, a delicious chocolate cake/bread that has garbanzo beans instead of flour and meatballs.

To start off, we have Brandy Snap cookies, which are sugar shells filled with a brandy-infused whipped cream.  To make, combine 1 stick butter, 1/2C molasses, 1/4C sugar and 1/4C brown sugar in over medium heat (I used a cast-iron pan) stirring constantly until melted and combined, then allow to bubble for a minute or two, then turn off the heat.  Stir in 3/4C flour, 1/4t ground ginger, 1/8t salt and 1T+ brandy until just combined.
Drop about 1T dollops onto a Silpat (silicone baking sheet) to bake in a 325 degree oven.  I could only fit 6 cookies onto a half-sheet (13x18) pan, as they spread out a LOT, so dollop carefully.  Bake for ~15 minutes or until done (it took a couple tries for me to get the timing right; if you under-bake them, they end up soft and don't hold their shape, so can't be filled effectively), take out of the oven and let sit for about 2 minutes, then mold over the handle of a whisk or other small-ish round implement (I used a thin French rolling pin).  If you baked them correctly, they should harden quite quickly to a hard brittle sugar tube.  I tried putting them on a cooling rack for a minute or so before molding it, but they ended up cooling too quickly.  Putting them back onto the hot pan will re-soften them.  Make the cooked shortly before they are to be eaten and keep in a dry place, as you would any molded sugar.
To make the filling, blend 2C whipping cream, 1-2oz brandy and 1/3C sugar until it forms stiff peaks.  Fill the cookies with a pastry bag or zip-lock with the corner cut off very shortly before eating, and enjoy!  I estimate that you have at most 2 hours after filling before the cookies start dissolving, so unless you have a spoon handy, make shortly before eating.  Also, make sure that they aren't on any liquid (like melted whip cream), or the bottoms will disappear.  Incredibly delicious, not overly decadent, and fantastic looking.  Via http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/brandy-snaps/


Next up is a bread that's filled with bacon, cheese and tomatoey goodness!  To start off, make at least 6 strips of bacon and crumble well.  Then, combine 3C flour, 1T sugar, 1C water and 2 1/4T proofed yeast and kneed until smooth.  Add in 1T of reserved bacon grease, the bacon, 2T tomato paste, 2+ oz grated Monterrey Jack cheese and 1/2t salt and kneed until well combined.  Let rise for about an hour, or until doubled.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, and you end up with a delicious and soft bread that's great on it's own, or as part of a dish (try removing some of the middle of a buttered slice and cooking it in a skillet with an egg in the void).  Also, to make a more tender crust, spray the oven with a water sprayer well a few times while cooking to maintain high humidity in the oven.  Via http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/bread-baking-tomato-cheese-and-bacon-bread.html














This is an extremely fudgy and chocolaty cake that's made with garbanzo beans, so you can pretend that it's good for you!  To make, combine 1 15oz can Garbanzos (drained and rinsed), 3 eggs and 1t vanilla in a food processor for about a minute.  Add in 5+oz melted chocolate chips, 1/2C sugar, 1/2t baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1t melted butter and 2T cocoa powder, and blend for an additional minute or so, until well blended and with a pudding-like consistency.  Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until a knife comes out clean.  The result is a really fudgey, decadent cake that is high in protein and not too bad for you (and you can't taste the beans at all). Via http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/01/chocolate-and-chickpeas-garbonzo-beans-cake-healthier-baking.html

Finally, a quick note on meatballs.  Our office had a competition a couple months ago, so I tried my hand (for the first time) making meatballs, and I think they turned out absolutely delicious.  I decided against going with just one recipe, so I just mixed together things that looked good.  For the balls themselves, I used unmeasured amounts of ground beef, seasoned breadcrumbs, caramelized onion, garlic, egg, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, Romano cheese, parsley, toasted onion powder, ranch dressing seasoning, apple cider vinegar and olive oil.  These were balled and browned in a pan, then glazed and baked.  For the glaze, I combined and reduced brown sugar, flour, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, raspberry jam and white wine.  They turned out really tasty, and took second in the office (to someone whose wife is a professional chef).  The picture is exceedingly unflattering, but the taste is what matters!

Breakfast salad, Corn Soup, Chocolate Milkshake

I was able to get to a farmers market (finally!), and so have been enjoying some fresh vegetables lately. One thing I've liked is a simple variety of fresh things for breakfast. A sliced avocado, tomato, cucumber, hard-boiled egg, crumbled bacon and cheddar, then drizzled with balsamic and sprinkled with sea salt make a great start to the day.

Next, a soup with some fresh sweet corn. Sauté 5 ears worth of corn with a little butter, cumin, salt and pepper, and add to chicken broth. Then, sauté a sliced onion with some olive oil, and add that to the broth. Add some milk, minced garlic, onion and garlic powder, more cumin, and a touch of cinnamon, them pepper and salt to taste. Simmer for half an hour or so, then puree, and add more seasonings to taste. Quite delicious, and also quite healthy.

Finally, a chocolate milkshake that's not nearly as bad for you as most of them out there. Start off with a couple cups of skim milk in a blender, then add ~12 ice cubes. Then add ~1/3C of baking chocolate powder, sugar, chocolate syrup, vanilla and peppermint schnapps. Comes out light and frothy, and significantly better for you than making a milkshake with ice cream, and just as delicious.

Pita, Balsamic Onion Tart, Dumplings and Maple Salmon

To start off, we've got homemade pita bread. I had never really considered making it before I had a bunch of extra hummus (see earlier post) and no pita to go with it, such a calamity! So, after making it, I found that it's really quite simple, quite fun to make, and is very good. To make it, combine and kneed 3C flour, 1.5t salt, 1T honey, 2t yeast, 1.25C water and 2T olive oil until well combined, and let rise about an hour and a half. Then, divide into 8 balls and press/roll into pita shaped on a well-floured counter. If you work them too much and they won't hold the flattened shape, let the dough rest 10 minutes and try again. Bake on a stone in the oven at 400 degrees until the bottom is lightly golden. They turn out soft and light, and go really well with hummus, or make a nice personal pizza crust. Based on http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread

Next up, we have a savory tart that turned out to be absolutely fantastic. I found a recipe for a French tart dough that made a shell similar to a pie crust that was quite simple, and went from there. To make the crust, put 6T butter, 1T oil, 1T sugar, 1/8t salt and 3T water in a Pyrex measuring cup, and bake at 410 degrees in the oven until the edges of the butter are just starting to brown. Carefully remove from the oven, and mix in 1 rounded cup of flour, then stir until well combined, let cool, then roll out to form a crust on a well-floured counter.

At this point, you can fill it with pretty much whatever you'd like, but I think my concoction was pretty delicious. I started by drizzling some reduced balsamic vinegar on the bottom, then layered thickly sliced onion and tomato, basil, oregano, thyme, more reduced balsamic vinegar, and top with mozzarella cheese. Now comes the challenging part, folding it up without making a disastrous mess. I used a pastry scraper to fold up the sides and press them together and used a small sheet pan as a peel to transfer to the oven. Bake at 400 degrees on a stone until nicely browned and bubbly. It turned out to be absolutely fantastic, and the crust is quite versatile. I have also used it with pear slices that were boiled in water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and it made a fantastic dessert. The crust is based on http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/

Next up is a dumpling that turned out OK, but weren't outstanding; I think because the filling I used wasn't the best. To make, kneed 2.5C flour, 1t salt, 3/4C water, 1t baking powder, 1t oil and 1 egg, then roll out on a well-floured counter. Make sure that you get it nice and thin, otherwise it doesn't cook evenly. Then fill with something good; the Italian sausage I used was good, the potato not so much. I think mozzarella would be good, as well. Make sure you cut the dough into larger pieces than you think, otherwise they can be tough to get closed. Once made, boil for a few minutes, then drain and serve with sauce, Parmesan, or whatever other garnish you like.

Finally, we end with an awesome maple salmon recipe. To make, mix 1/4C maple syrup, 2T soy sauce, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4t garlic salt, and 1/4t black pepper in a small bowl. Place the salmon in a foil-lined appropriately sized dish, pour over the glaze, and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until easily flaked. If you have a larger piece of fish, double the sauce, and use leftover for pouring on rice.

Soft Pretzels and Stuffed Tomato

Happy Sunday! I've been wanting to try my hand at soft pretzels for a while now, and decided that today was a great opportunity to do so. I also needed a side dish for my dinner, so made a stuffed tomato with what I had in the house, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Soft pretzels have a dough that is very similar to a lot of breads. What makes them have their unique crust is a short bath in baking soda. Years ago, lye was used instead with the same result, but cooks today use baking soda because it is safer, cheaper, and easier to work with. To make the dough, combine 1.5t activated yeast, 2T brown sugar, 1T heaping salt, 1.5C warm water, 3C all-purpose flour and 1C bread flour and kneed for 8-10 minutes, then let rise for an hour. Make the bath in a 8x8 pan with 2C warm water and 2T baking soda. Then, divide the dough into 12 pieces, roll out to ~3 feet and pencil-thin, create pretzel shape, dip in bath, and place on pre-greased pan. Let rise on the pan for an additional 15 minutes, then bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. When they come out, brush with melted butter and whatever toppings you like; I used coarse salt. When rolling out the pretzel dough, I found it easiest to angle my hands 90 degrees apart, then roll them forward and apart to stretch the dough while rolling it because of the stretchiness of the dough. Also, I twisted the middle of the pretzel twice and massaged the dough where the arms end on the body so that it would stay together in transit to the pan after forming the pretzel shape. Makes 12 delicious pretzels. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mall-Pretzels/Detail.aspx

The other thing I made came to exist because I wanted a side dish with dinner and didn't have anything specifically planned. I started out by hollowing out a large tomato like a pumpkin - carve a circle in the top and clean out most of the guts with a spoon. Then, I combined a bit of the guts with 2 strips of crumbled bacon, ~1.5T cream cheese, parsley, oregano, ~1T tomato paste, ~1/4C sauteed onion and ~1/4C milk, spooned it into the tomato cavity and baked at 350 for about half an hour. I served it in a ramekin because of the soupyness of the contents, and it worked very well, and the flavor was delicious, delicate and creamy. Also, it had bacon in it, which makes anything awesome. If you want sauteed onion but don't want to take the time to make it, try putting the chopped onion in a pile in the skillet, then placing a small pot lid over it. The steam causes it to cook quickly and become limp in only a few minutes.

Breads, Bisque and Pork, Oh My!

So in honor of not having much to do today, I decided to do some baking. Lately, I've gotten into baking breads in muffin tins, I think that they last a lot longer than a partially cut loaf. I made a rosemary bread recipe that is one of my favorites and a new bagel bread recipe in the tins. I also made a tomato basil bisque that turned out absolutely spectacularly and a very simple pork chop recipe.

The rosemary bread is one of my absolute favorites. It is very herb-ey, moist, light and fluffy, and is overall just awesome. I combine 2.5C bread flour, 1C water, 3T olive oil, 1.5t white sugar, 1.5t salt, ~1/2t each oregano, basil and thyme, pepper to taste and 1.5t activated yeast (put in dish with honey and warm water for a few minutes) in a bowl, then kneed for about 5 minutes. Then, add 1.5T or more dried rosemary and kneed for another 5 minutes. This dough is the stickiest I've worked with, so be prepared for lots of dough sticking to your fingers. Let rise an hour, punch down, then let rise another hour. Then, either form into loaf or divide into a muffin pan, and rub with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, Bake until lightly browned at around 375. Always delicious. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jos-Rosemary-Bread/Detail.aspx

Next, I tried the bagel bread. This is a much tougher and denser bread, much like the bagel it emulates. It has almost a cake like consistency on the inside, and would be great with cream cheese or other spreads on it. This dough has 2.25C bread flour, 1T white suger, 1t salt, 1.5 t activated yeast, 1 egg, 1/3C water, 1/2C milk. Kneed for 5-7 minutes, then divide or form loaf, then bake for about half an hour or until browned at 375. Not bad at all, but definitely more of a meal than other breads. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bagel-Bread/Detail.aspx

The tomato basil garlic bisque turned out awesomely. The final product tastes like a heavy cream dish, but the thickness is from flour, so it's actually not too bad for you at all. Sautee a chopped onion in 3T butter and 2T olive oil until wilted, but not browned. Add 2T minced garlic and sautee a bit longer, being careful not to brown it. Then, add in 4.5C chicken broth, 2T dried basil, 1 large chopped tomato, 2T tomato paste, 1/2t thyme, salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then, combine 1/2C chicken broth and 1C flour, and add to everything else once it is combined. Incorporate as best as you can, then puree everything. If desired, simmer a bit longer, but I don't think it's needed. This could easily be a sauce or bread dip, or is a delicious soup. Highly recommended, based on http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,153175-252199,00.html . This says to make a roux with the flour and broth, but a roux requires butter or oil, and applying heat to the combination cooks it like a pancake; therefore I don't recommend that. EDIT: after being refrigerated, the quantity of flour causes it to firm up to a stiff pudding consistency. Next time, I would add at most 1/2C flour instead of the 1C in the recipe.

Finally, a very simple pork chop recipe. First, rub the chops with garlic powder, onion powder and pepper, then brown in butter in a skillet. Then, put in a pan and cover with sauce. How much sauce you want depends on how many pork chops you have, but for 4 chops, combine 1C ketchup, 1C cola and ~2T brown sugar and a little flour to thicken it if you want. Once combined, just pour over the browned chops and cook at 375 for 30 minutes. Quite tasty and copiously simple. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cola-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx#