bridget

croissants 2 (martha stewart)

11/12/2009 By bridget

Hey, remember, uh, a long time ago? When I said I was going to do a series on croissants? Whatever happened to that anyway? I certainly didn’t stop making croissants. I just stopped talking about it. I suck!

Part of the problem was that these, the second batch of croissants I made, were just so bad. And it was all my fault. Well, mostly my fault; really I blame the yeast.

This is one of the only recipes I’ve made that calls for fresh yeast. I know you can substitute instant yeast, but my grocery store sells the fresh stuff, and I was curious to try it.

It ended up being probably the worst bread I’ve ever made. Maybe my fresh yeast wasn’t so fresh? Clearly something went very, very wrong. These croissants were dense dense dense, without any trace of flakiness. My only other attempt at bread made with fresh yeast was a failure as well.

Definitely not a success, and it’s hard to fairly judge the recipe when so much of what went wrong was my fault. Still, I learned things: 1) No more fresh yeast for me. 2) I like Martha’s method for shaping the crescents, where she stretches the wider part of the triangle a bit so that the center of each croissant isn’t so thick. 3) And the obvious: if the rolls don’t look like they’ve risen, they probably haven’t, and it might be best not to bake them yet, even if it’s already been over twice as long as the recipe recommends.

I should really try this recipe again using the type of yeast I’m more familiar with, because I’m sure this attempt didn’t do it justice. When I do, I’ll be sure to update with a continuation of my experiments with croissants. And this time I’ll try not to wait six months.

One year ago: Asian Peanut Dip

Printer Friendly Recipe
Croissants (from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)

Makes 2 dozen

If using dry yeast instead of fresh, heat the milk to about 100ºF, then stir in the yeast to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes, and proceed with the recipe. The dough can be made ahead through all of the turns and frozen for up to three months; before using, defrost the dough in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours. After baking, croissants are best eaten within six hours.

2 cups cold milk
2 tablespoons honey
1½ pounds (about 4 ½ cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
4 ounces (1 scant cup) unbleached pastry flour
½ cup sugar
1½ ounces fresh yeast, crumbled
1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons salt
1¼ pounds (5 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. Make the dough package: Pour the milk and honey into a 1-quart liquid measuring cup, and stir to combine; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together 1 pound 6 ounces (about 4¼ cups) bread flour, the pastry flour, sugar, yeast, and salt; stir to combine. Add milk mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 45 seconds. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

3. Make the butter package: Lay the butter sticks side by side on a piece of plastic wrap, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 ounces (about ¼ cup) flour. Pound with a rolling pin until flour is incorporated, and roll into an 8-inch square. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

4. Remove dough package from the refrigerator; place on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a 16-by-10-inch rectangle, about ½ inch thick, with a short side facing you. Remove butter package from the refrigerator; place on the bottom half of the dough; fold the top half of the dough over the butter, and pinch the edges to seal.

5. Roll out the dough to a 20-by-10 rectangle about ½ inch thick, with a short side facing you; keep the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Starting at the far end, fold the rectangle in thirds, as you would a business letter. This completes the first of three turns. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

6. Repeat rolling and folding as above two more times, starting with the flap opening on the right, as if it were a book, and refrigerate at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each: Make one mark for the first turn, two for the second, and three for the third. After the third, wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.

7. Turn out chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough to a 30-by-16-inch rectangle. (If the dough becomes too elastic, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.) Using a pizza wheel or pastry cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise to form two 30-by-8-inch rectangles. Stack one piece of dough on top of the other, lining up the edges. Using the pizza wheel, cut dough into triangles, each with a 4-inch base (you will have scraps of dough at both ends). Cut a 1-inch slit in the center of the base of each triangle. Place triangles in a single layer on a clean work surface.

8. To shape croissants, stretch the two lower points of each triangle to enlarge the slit slightly. Fold the inner corners formed by the slit toward the outer sides of the triangles, and press down to seal. Using your fingertips, roll the base of each triangle up and away from you, stretching the dough slightly outward as you roll; the tip should be tucked under the croissant. Pull the two ends toward you to form a crescent. Transfer the crescents to two parchment-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart (12 on each sheet). Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until very spongy and doubled in bulk, 45 to 60 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven to 400ºF, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Lightly brush crescents with the beaten egg. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the croissants are puffed and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Filed Under: bread, freezer friendly, recipe comparisons, yeast bread

wheat berries with caramelized onions, feta, and lentils

11/11/2009 By bridget

I’m really looking forward to moving to New Mexico. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Philadelphia; any unhappiness I had here was my own deal and not a result of the location. But I am excited about having a fresh start somewhere.

I am a little concerned about the grocery store situation. I have been majorly spoiled the last few years by always living near a Wegman’s. If you’re not familiar, suffice to say that it’s a great store, with a huge selection and high quality. When a recipe says that an ingredient can be found in “any well-stocked grocery store”, I’ve never had to worry about how I’d get a hold of it.

The town we’re moving to, though, is small and isolated. It has just one grocery store. My initial explorations during our visit there over the summer indicated that it isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. I should be able to find, say, goat cheese, but only one type.

So I’ve been trying to take advantage of the wide selection of my current store while I can, by buying random unusual ingredients that I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to find after the move. My plan was actually to buy farro, but I guess even Wegman’s has its limits because they didn’t have it. I almost went with quinoa, since it’s familiar and safe, but I managed to talk myself into trying wheat berries instead.

Well, I don’t know about farro, but wheat berries are certainly delicious. They’re nutty, and the texture was chewy, not unpleasantly crunchy or mushy. The sweet caramelized onions were a great compliment, and then the salty feta was perfect on top of all of that. The whole thing was just so good, and I couldn’t believe how healthy it was to boot. I sure hope I can find wheat berries and feta after we move because I want to be making this meal a lot!

One year ago: Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin Medallions

Printer Friendly Recipe
Wheat Berries with Caramelized Onions, Lentils, and Feta (adapted a bit from Orangette; wheat berry cooking method from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

2-3 servings

You might not need a recipe here, because you’re just combining grains and lentils with caramelized onions and feta. If you already have favorite ways to cook grains, lentils, and onions, you should absolutely feel free to use those. In case you don’t, I’ll provide my preferred methods here.

You can probably skip the lentils if you don’t want to deal with an extra ingredient. Also, I haven’t tried it myself, but I don’t see why you couldn’t just add them to the wheat berries at the point when the wheat has 25 minutes of cooking left. Just make sure there’s enough water in the pot. (Update 6/14/11: You can definitely cook the lentils in the same pot as the wheat berries. I’ve also used farro in this recipe now, which is convenient because it cooks in the same amount of time as lentils.)

I think you could use almost any grain here, as long as you adjust the cooking time. Quinoa would definitely be good (and would make this meal gluten-free).

¾ cup wheat berries
salt
2 onions, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup lentils, preferably lentils de puy, picked over and rinsed
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
hot sauce (optional)
lemon wedges (optional)

1. Soak the wheat berries in water for at least an hour and up to overnight. Put them in a pot with enough water to cover by a few inches. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer until they’re tender, 1 to 2 hours. Add ½ teaspoon salt once they’ve started to soften.

2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and ¼ teaspoon salt, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring somewhat frequently, until they just start to brown, about 8 minutes. Reduce to heat to medium-low and continue to cook and stir until the onions are evenly golden brown, about 20 minutes longer.

3. Put the lentils into a small saucepan. Add 3 cups of cold water and ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender but not falling apart, about 20 to 25 minutes. Drain.

4. Combine the wheat berries, caramelized onions, lentils, and feta. Adjust the seasonings if necessary and serve with either hot sauce or lemon wedges, if desired.

Filed Under: cheese, favorites, gluten free, good as leftovers, healthy, vegetables, vegetarian, whole grains

cran-apple crisps

11/10/2009 By bridget

It seems to me that there are bakers and there are cooks. There’s overlap, for sure, but most of us seem to be more on one side than the other. I like to cook, and I get a lot of enjoyment from it – sautéing onions, stirring pasta, pouring a bottle of beer into chili. But baking calls to me more.

I wonder why? People often say that the most important difference between baking and cooking is the precision required in baking, but I don’t think that’s why I love baking. I don’t like measuring that much. Is it because of my sweet tooth? Maybe, but lately, I crave the baking more than the eating anyway.

I think it’s just that baking is more sciencey. It always fascinates me that butter and sugar and flour turn into something totally different. When you cook, the ingredients usually don’t change form much from the beginning to the end. Onions in soup are still distinctly onions, chicken is still chicken, tomatoes are still tomatoes. In baking, the ingredients are transformed.

Crisps, though, are more like cooking. The fruit maintains its character, and the crisp topping, although it contains some flour and butter, still has some distinct elements, like oatmeal and often nuts. Perhaps that’s why I rarely make crisps, despite how easy and delicious they are.

That also means that crisps are exactly what they sound like. You don’t need to worry about it being dry or dense or tough. It’s apple and cranberries. They’re topped with something buttery and crispy. It tastes just how it sounds like it tastes – damn good.

Em chose these crisps for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Kugelhopf

Filed Under: dessert, fall, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

glazed lemon cookies

11/09/2009 By bridget

Earlier in the summer, I got it in my head that I could bake all I wanted as long as I just sent the treats away. Brilliant! All the swirling butter and sugar in the mixer without any of the calories! I don’t have a PhD for nothing, people.

So I put out a note on Facebook – essentially “Hey! Who wants treats!” – got a whole bunch of responses, and spent the next day baking.

The weakness in my strategy was that it’s almost never the actual baked dessert that I overeat. It’s the dough, always the dough.

Plus, I know everyone jokes about “Oh, I have to eat one, right? Just to make sure they’re good? <wink wink>.” The thing is, you do have to eat one to make sure they’re good! What if you forgot the salt and doubled the baking powder or, I don’t know, some other easily overlooked lame-brained maneuver? And you send out eight packages, all over the country, to friends and family you haven’t seen in ages, all filled with lackluster messed up “treats”?

Anyway, so after spending all day shopping, baking, packaging, eating lots of dough and (at least) one of each treat, I decided I should make myself go for a run.

Uh, it wasn’t the best run ever. It was one of those runs where puking doesn’t seem too far off. Weird that sugar and butter aren’t very good fuel for exercise. Bummer.

So I’ve mostly given up on the “I’ll just send everything away!” idea. Which is a shame, because now it’s going to be that much harder to find a reason to make these perfect lemon cookies. Sweet but tangy, super soft and tender, topped with a flavorful powdered sugar glaze that dries on top and snaps just a bit when you bite through it, these are cookies that I can’t resist in dough or baked form.

One year ago: Wheatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Printer Friendly Recipe
Glazed Lemon Cookies (from Cooks Illustrated)

Cookies:
¾ cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated zest plus 2 tablespoons juice from 2 lemons
1¾ cup (8.75 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
1½ cups (6 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

1. For the cookies: In a food processor, process the granulated sugar and lemon zest until the sugar looks damp and the zest is thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt; pulse to combine, about ten 1-second pulses. Scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients; pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. In a measuring cup or small bowl, beat together the lemon juice, egg yolk, and vanilla with a fork to combine. With the machine running, add the juice mixture in a slow, steady stream (the process should take about 10 seconds); continue processing until the dough begins to form a ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.

2. Turn the dough and any dry bits onto a clean work surface; working quickly, gently knead to ensure that no dry bits remain and the dough is homogeneous. Roll the dough into a cylinder approximately 10 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Center the dough on a piece of parchment. Fold the paper over the dough. Grasp one end of the parchment. With the other hand, use a bench scraper to firmly press the parchment against the dough to form a uniform cylinder. Roll the parchment and twist the ends together to form a tight seal. Chill the dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in the freezer or 2 hours in the refrigerator. (The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.)

3. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions; heat the oven to 375 degrees.

4. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the dough log from its wrapper and, using a sharp chef’s knife, slice the dough into rounds 3/8 inch thick; place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until the centers of the cookies just begin to color and the edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets about 5 minutes; using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before glazing.

5. For the glaze: Whisk the cream cheese and lemon juice in a medium nonreactive bowl until no lumps remain. Add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth.

6. To glaze the cookies: When the cookies have cooled, spoon a scant teaspoon of glaze onto each cookie and spread evenly with the back of the spoon. Let the cookies stand on a wire rack until the glaze is set and dry, about 1 hour. The cookies are best eaten the day they are glazed.

Filed Under: citrus, cookies, dessert, freezer friendly, fruit

buffalo chicken pizza

11/08/2009 By bridget

I’m not experienced in the ways of the buffalo wing. I generally find them…well, let’s just say that the ratio of meat to gross animal parts isn’t high enough for my liking, what with the skin and bones and weird tendony whatever bits. The sauce is good though!

A quick internet search indicated that there are several directions you can go with buffalo chicken pizza. Options for the pizza’s sauce include regular tomato sauce, blue cheese (or ranch) dressing, buffalo sauce, and skipping a sauce altogether. Some recipes use mozzarella and some skip it or use cheddar. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never even eaten buffalo chicken pizza before.

I eventually decided to use ranch dressing as the sauce, but I made my own and kept it pretty light. I just mixed up a bit of buttermilk (or plain yogurt) with mayonnaise and added some basic seasonings. It added a welcome tartness, plus the soothing dairy balances the spicy chicken.

On top of the sauce, I layered the buffalo sauce-coated shredded chicken, a skimpy amount of mozzarella, enough blue cheese to taste without it being overpowering, and some red onions, which caramelized in the oven and contributed sweetness.

This is most definitely the best buffalo chicken pizza I’ve ever had! And I’m pretty sure that isn’t just because it’s the only one I’ve had. Everything is in such a nice balance – the spice heat, sweet onions, tangy dressing, stinky blue cheese. And you know what’s thankfully missing? Bones and skin and weird tendony whatever bits. Score!

One year ago: Gallitos (Costa Rican Breakfast Tacos)

Printer Friendly Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Serves 3-4

You can really make the shredded chicken however you want. If you just want to poach a boneless skinless chicken breast, that’s probably easier, and if you have leftover rotisserie chicken or something, that will work too. This is just how I like it. Also feel free to skip the brining; I don’t think it makes a huge difference here since there are so many other flavors, but it was easy and I had time, so I did it.

If you’d like more spice, stir some hot sauce (hotter than Frank’s, like Tabasco) or a small pinch of cayenne into the buffalo sauce.

1 large bone-in skin-on chicken breast (about 12 ounces)
salt
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup Frank’s hot sauce
½ teaspoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
pinch of sugar
pinch of garlic powder
2 ounces (½ cup) mozzarella, shredded
1 ounce (¼ cup) blue cheese, crumbled
¼ cup red onion or scallions, diced very fine
12-16 ounces pizza dough (one third of a recipe calling for about 4 cups of flour), stretched out to 9-12 inches

1. For the chicken: Stir 2 tablespoons salt into 2 cups cold water until it dissolves. Add the chicken; refrigerate for 30 minutes, then remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry. Adjust an oven rack to the middle-low position and heat the oven to 450ºF. Heat a small oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan; place the chicken breast in the pan skin-side down. Cook without moving until well-browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over and move the pan to the oven. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken measures 160ºF or the juices run clear when small cut is made in the chicken. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside. When the chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove and discard the skin (or eat it, because it’s crisp and delicious!) and shred the meat with your fingers or two forks. (If you’ve used good chicken, brined it, and pan-roasted it like this, I dare you not to resist stealing bites of the shredded chicken. It’s delicious.) Increase the oven temperature to 500ºF.

2. For the buffalo sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the brown sugar, hot sauce, and vinegar. Mix the sauce with the shredded chicken.

3. For the white sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk or yogurt, mayonnaise, sugar, garlic powder, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

4. Assemble the pizza: Place the pizza dough on a wooden paddle that’s been liberally coated with cornmeal. (Or use parchment paper instead of the cornmeal, or the back of a baking sheet instead of the paddle.) Spread the white sauce evenly on the pizza dough; top with the chicken, then the cheeses, and finally the onions.

5. Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is browned. Let the pizza rest about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Filed Under: cheese, chicken, pizza, vegetables

pumpkin scones

11/07/2009 By bridget

Oh, did you want to see something besides scones? I’m sorry, it turns out that the ol’ crumblycookie has become all scones, all the time.

No, just kidding. This is the last scone recipe. I just wanted to get through them in one fell swoop, which is what’s kind of fun about NaBloPoMo.

Like most of us, I love pumpkin. The thing is though, that you can’t just add pumpkin into whatever your favorite baking recipe is, because it changes the texture quite a bit. It adds a moist, cakey…I want to say gummy texture, but that sounds negative, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But it also isn’t what you want in scones.

So even though I have two great basic scone recipes, I didn’t even consider just adding pumpkin into one of them and seeing what happens. (Although now I’m curious.) So I had to start my search for recipes from scratch, and I settled on this Joy of Baking recipe because the picture shows tall scones with flaky layers.

And I nailed it! I can’t imagine a better pumpkin scone. This has everything I want in a scone – the texture walks the line between tender and flaky, it’s sweet but not too much, and the pumpkin and spices are noticeable but not overwhelming. Yet another perfect scone recipe.

One year ago: Gratin Dauphinois

Printer Friendly Recipe
Pumpkin Scones (adapted just a bit from Joy of Baking)

Makes 8 scones

I left out the nuts and raisins, just because I wanted a smooth texture this time. And instead of using the egg wash and turbinado sugar for sprinkling, I brushed the scones with milk and sprinkled them with a mixture of about 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. It gave the scones a really nice thin crisp layer after baking.

I’ve also tweaked the order in which the ingredients are added to the dough, because I’m full of myself and I think I know better than the professionals. Or something.

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
⅓ cup (50 grams) raisins
¼ cup (30 grams) toasted and chopped pecans (optional)
⅓ – ½ cup buttermilk
⅓ cup (72 grams) light or dark brown sugar
½ cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk or cream
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling the tops of the scones (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins and pecans, if using. In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sugar, pumpkin puree and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

3. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 1½ inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar on top, if desired.

4. Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, fall, freezer friendly, quick bread

buttermilk scones

11/06/2009 By bridget

Having a great, seemingly perfect recipe for something isn’t enough to stop me from trying new recipes. There’s always something to learn, you know? Even though one of the first biscotti recipes I ever made is still the best, I’ve made many many more recipes and I’ve learned some little biscotti tricks along the way. But I still haven’t found a better biscotti recipe.

The cranberry scones were one of the first scone recipes I ever made, and certainly the first to knock my socks off. Of course, cranberries aren’t in season year-round anyway, but I successfully adapted the recipe for rhubarb, and I’m sure I could have used most other fruits.

But instead, I kept trying new recipes, including this one. And this time…well, I won’t say this recipe is better, but it is definitely as good. Aargh, don’t tell me I need to do a scone comparison!

I suppose it’s okay to have two perfect scone recipes, right? And one probably isn’t better than the other anyway. One thing I’ve found from recipe comparisons is that once you have great dependable recipes, it all comes down to personal preference.

Well, my personal preference is for whatever gets me a delicious treat on a Saturday morning. This certainly qualifies. And so does this.

One year ago: Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

Printer Friendly Recipe
Buttermilk Scones (adapted just slightly from Tartine, by Elisabeth Pruett and Chad Robertson)

The measurements are weird because this is half of the recipe in Tartine’s cookbook. But geez, who needs 5 cups of flour worth of scones? I’ve also made them slightly smaller – 8 scones for this half-recipe instead of 6, because 6 would have been huge. (Each scone would have 3 tablespoons of butter in it!)

Zante currants are just standard dried currants.

I skip the melted butter and just use milk on top of the unbaked scones.

6 tablespoons zante currants (1.75 ounces) or 3 ounces fresh berries
2¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons butter, very cold
¾ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
large crystal sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. To make the dough, first combine the currants with warm water to cover in a small bowl and set aside for about 10 minutes until the currants are plumped. Drain well. If you’re using berries instead of currants, put them in the freezer.

3. While the currants are plumping (or the berries are freezing), whisk the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl if making by hand, or into the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and salt and stir to mix with a rubber spatula. Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes and scatter the cubes over the dry ingredients. If you are using a mixer, pulse on and off so that you don’t break down the butter too much. You want to end up with a coarse mixture with pea-sized lumps of butter visible.

4. Add the buttermilk all at once along with the lemon zest and currants. (If you’re using berries, don’t add them yet.) Mix gently with a rubber spatula by hand or on low speed if using the mixer. Add the berries and continue to mix just until you have a dough that holds together. Be careful not to mash the berries into the dough, or you will color it with their juice. If the mixture seems dry, add a little more buttermilk. You still want to see some of the butter pieces at this point, which will add to the flakiness of the scones once they are baked.

5. Dust your work surface with flour, and turn the dough out onto it. Using your hands, pat the dough into a rectangle about 9 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 1½ inches thick. Brush the top with the melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar. Using a chef’s knife, cut the dough into 8 triangles. Transfer the triangles to the prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake the scones until the tops are lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, freezer friendly, fruit, quick bread

cranberry orange scones

11/05/2009 By bridget

This recipe changed the whole shape of my last year. Before making these great scones, I’d spend a large part of both weekend mornings cooking, usually something sweet one day and something savory the other. It made for a nice breakfast category here, but it wasn’t the best way to relax on the weekend.

Not anymore. I still often cook something one morning, but on the other, it’s all about scones. I make the dough early in the week and freeze it, then on a lazy weekend morning, I just have to bake them, make coffee (or, more often, wait for Dave to), and sit down to flip through a cookbook. It’s become one of my favorite times of the week.

These pictures? They’re from when I made the scones last winter, but it was way past cranberry season, so I’ve been holding onto this blog entry for months and months.

It’s time. Cranberries are showing up in stores, and there is no better way to enjoy them. These are so tender, have just the right sweetness, and make for a stress-free weekend breakfast, even with guests. Even after a year of making scones, these are still one of my favorites.

One year ago: Warm Chickpea and Butternut Squash Salad

Printer Friendly Recipe
Cranberry Orange Scones (adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen)

The recipe originally calls for (Meyer) lemon zest, but orange – or tangerine, which I’ve also used – is such a great partner for cranberry that I couldn’t resist using it instead. I also like increasing the cranberries a bit (already reflected in the recipe).

I’ve baked this recipe at high altitude (at least 5000 feet) with good results. They weren’t quite as pretty, but the taste and texture weren’t affected.

I always flash-freeze scones, then bake them straight from the freezer, adding a couple extra minutes to the baking time.

Makes 8 scones

1½ tablespoons freshly grated orange zest
2½ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar plus 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1½ cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse (I usually do this in the food processor)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a small bowl, toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar. In another small bowl, lightly beat the egg and yolk, then stir in cream.

3. In a food processor, pulse the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. (You can also just smoosh the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers instead of using a food processor.) Stir the cranberries into the flour mixture. Then gently fold the egg mixture into the flour until just combined.

4. On a well-floured surface with floured hands, pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter). With a 2-inch round cutter or the rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling the scraps as necessary. (Or cut the circle into wedges, which is my standard method.) Arrange the scones about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool about 10 minutes, then serve.

Filed Under: breakfast, citrus, fall, freezer friendly, fruit, quick bread, winter/holidays

pumpkin and mushroom soup

11/04/2009 By bridget

Cooking déjà vu: When you start to make a recipe and then think, “Wait a minute…this seems familiar…have I made this before?!” Generally not a great sign because if you don’t remember it, perhaps it wasn’t worth remembering.

I actually found pictures of this soup from last year, when I’d apparently made it and decided it wasn’t worth sharing. But I didn’t understand how a recipe like this could be anything but good – mushrooms and squash seem like a great match that can only get better with the addition of fall herbs and spices.

I don’t think I did too much differently this time – cooked the vegetables longer until they were nice and browned maybe, and this time I stirred in some pureed pumpkin at the end, whereas before I’d just used diced squash at the beginning.

The pureed squash made a huge difference in texture, thickening the soup so much it resembled stew. It was so hearty and delicious, and you’d never guess that there’s no meat in it, especially with that deep brown color. I was right to try this recipe again, because the woodsy mushrooms and the earthy squash are an unbeatable combination.

One year ago: Sugar Cookies (for decorating)

Printer Friendly Recipe
Pumpkin and Mushroom Soup (adapted quite a bit from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home)

Serves 4

I kind of feel like this should be called “Squash and Mushroom Soup” because it seems like other types of squash are used more in savory recipes than pumpkin is. You can really use any type of squash you want, as long as it has a similar texture. The same goes for the fresh mushrooms – I used maitake, but cremini, shiitake, button, whatever, they all work.

½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed
water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
salt and ground black pepper
1 small pie pumpkin, peeled and diced
12 ounces mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon sage leaves, minced
pinch nutmeg
¼ cup Marsala or dry sherry
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup cooked pureed pumpkin (like the stuff from a can)

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately turn off the heat. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven (not nonstick) over medium heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the squash, mushrooms, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper and continue cooking and occasionally stirring until the mushrooms release their liquid, it evaporates, and the vegetables brown, about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, use a fork to lift the rehydrated porcini mushrooms from the liquid and finely chop them. Save the liquid.

4. Add the porcini, garlic, herbs, and nutmeg and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the wine and cook until it nearly evaporates, scraping the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits.

5. Add the broth, pumpkin, and mushroom soaking liquid (either strain it through a coffee filter or just be careful to leave the grit behind with a bit of liquid) and bring the soup to a simmer over medium heat. Adjust the seasonings and serve.

Filed Under: fall, gluten free, healthy, mushrooms, soup, vegetables, vegetarian

chocolate caramel chestnut cake

11/03/2009 By bridget

My dessert rich-o-meter has chocolate chip cookies right near the middle, with cheesecake at one end and, I don’t know, maybe angel food cake on the other. Although I almost never eat angel food cake. Regular layer cakes tend to be slightly on the less rich side of cookies, until you add frosting of course, and then I figure it’s about the same. So if you disregard the less-rich-than-cookies side of the richometer (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, for maximum obnoxiousness), that means desserts just span from cookies – pretty darn bad for you – to cheesecake – just about 100% fat.

The last few Tuesdays with Dorie recipes have definitely been on the cheesecake end of the spectrum. (Of course, nothing is as bad as the lemon cream tart and peanut butter torte, which are off the charts!) At first I thought this cake was similar to a basic cake, but then it has this chocolate-butter filling, and a chocolate-cream glaze, and two sticks of butter in the cake itself. Whoa doggie.

So we have leetle leetle servings, one quarter of the size Dorie recommends. This isn’t my favorite type of cake – I tend to like more classic flavors and textures – but it’s certainly good, with the earthy chestnuts and bittersweet chocolate. Dorie expounds on the virtues of the ganache filling, made by melting chocolate with hot caramel instead of hot cream, and I agree that it lends some extra complexity to the cake.

Katya has the full recipe posted. I substituted Nutella for the chestnut cream and decreased the butter in the cake by 2 tablespoons. I also found that refrigerating the ganache filling overnight seemed unnecessary, turning the spreadable mixture into a hard-as-butter (which it mostly is) chunk. I had to wait an hour or so to let it warm up before I could use it on the cake.

One year ago: Rugelach, one of my favorite Dorie Greenspan recipes ever

Filed Under: cake, chocolate, dessert, fall, nuts, tuesdays with dorie, winter/holidays