Easy Christmas Baking

Merry Christmas from Little Rock!

I am going to be sharing two recipes one for the baking challenged and another that is incredibly easy yet looks and tastes awesome.

First up, Cinnamon Pinwheels.  My stepmom, Jane, found this recipe in the Sunday paper and put in the request.  I obliged.

Ingredients: 

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1-2 sheets puff pastry dough (from a box!)

Thats it for ingredients, looks complicated doesn't it.

Here's what you do:

1.  Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.  Find a work surface to roll out your dough.  Dust the work surface with 1/4 of the sugar.  Place the sheet of puff pastry on top of the sugar mixture and sprinkle another quarter of the mixture on top.  *The recipe told me not unfold the pastry before rolling it out.  I did it anyway and it was easier and worked fine* Roll the dough out just a little to be 13-x-15 rectangle.  

2.  Starting from the short end, roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Cut off 1/2 inch thick slices and place them 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets.  

3.  Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, make sure the centers are done.  Take them off the cookie sheet right away and place them on a clean sheet of parchment to cool.  

4. Repeat 1-3 with second sheet of puff pastry.

Done!!

The next recipe actually requires no baking at all.  

*Warning: The following recipe does contain booze and since there is not heat to burn off the alcohol... you get the idea*

Place in a mixing bowl:

2 cups sifted crumbs of graham crackers, or Nilla wafers  (I recommend chocolate graham crackers)

Add and stir to combine:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nut meat

1/2 cup chopped chocolate chips

In another bowl combine:

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1/4 rum or brandy (I say go rum)

Add the liquid ingredients slowly to the crumb mixture.  Use your hands to mix.  This is important because your fingers are going to tell you when the consistency is right because of the way the mixture will feel.  When the ingredients will hold together stop adding liquid. 

 Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls.  

Now you can go two ways

1.  Rolls the balls in powdered sugar and let them sit for 12 hours to ripen.

2.  Make chocolate ganache and coat the balls in chocolate and let them sit for 12 hours to ripen.

Ganache:

12 oz dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons rum

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a boil on the stove.  Pour the cream over the chocolate in the bowl and let it sit for 1-2 minutes.  

Whisk the chocolate until it is smooth and shiny.  Add rum and stir till combined.  Dip your rum balls in the chocolate and coat them all the way around and place on parchment paper until chocolate cools and sets.  Store the balls in an airtight container for at least 12 hours, they get better with time.  

Buttery Deliciousness, thy name is Brioche! Day 2

Ok, to start off with, I made a mistake in my last post.  I said I would post the recipe "below" but if you look there is no recipe.  Oops!  I had intended it to be one long post but halfway through the process I changed my mind.  So, today the recipe will be below.  :)

This morning I woke up after letting the dough "chill" overnight and split the dough into the pan for it's second rise.  It looked pretty good.

Here are the rolls after their second rise and egg wash.  Next step, oven!

These are the rolls right out of the oven.

And this is the finished roll right before I ate the $h!t out of it.

Needless to say my steamy love affair can now continue freely in privacy of my own home.  The only thing that can make this sensuous roll any better is a little less time in the oven, I used a whole 20 minutes.

Here is the recipe so that you too can be swept away by the buttery deliciousness that is Brioche!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup warm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 1/4 cup warm whole milk (110°F to 115°F)
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (measured from two 1/4-ounce envelopes)
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

PREPARATION

• Combine 1/4 cup warm water and warm milk in bowl of heavy-duty mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Sprinkle yeast over and stir to moisten evenly. Let stand until yeast dissolves, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
• Add flour and salt to yeast mixture. Blend at medium-low speed until shaggy lumps form, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in sugar. Increase mixer speed to medium; beat until dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until blended after each addition, about 4 minutes (dough will be soft and silky). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and climbs paddle, 8 to 9 minutes.
• Lightly butter large bowl. Scrape dough into bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Gently deflate dough by lifting around edges, then letting dough fall back into bowl, turning bowl and repeating as needed. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and chill, deflating dough in same way every 30 minutes until dough stops rising, about 2 hours. Chill overnight. (At this point, use the dough to make 12 brioches, or 6 brioches and 1 tart, or 2 tarts.)
• Butter 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces; cut each piece into thirds. Roll each small piece between palms into ball. Place 3 balls in each prepared cup (dough will fill cup).
• Place muffin pan in warm draft-free area; lay sheet of waxed paper over. Let dough rise until light and almost doubled (dough will rise 1/2 inch to 1 inch above top rim of muffin cups), 50 to 60 minutes.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Place muffin pan on rimmed baking sheet. Gently brush egg glaze over risen dough, being careful that glaze does not drip between dough and pan (which can prevent full expansion in oven).
• Bake brioches until golden brown, covering with foil if browning too quickly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool 10 minutes. Remove brioches from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

  

Buttery Deliciousness, thy name is Brioche! Day 1

My love affair with Brioche started with a trip to Las Vegas, I mean what better a place to get carried away with sweet passion.  

It started innocently with a search for fantastic breakfast.   Previous research had indicated that D and I should head to a little French Bistro owned by Thomas Keller, Buchon, hidden away in the towers of the Venetian.  Now when I say hidden I mean it; to get there requires an elevator trip off the main lobby to the tower lobby that you cut through to get to a hallway, where at the end the restaurant lies.  This place is fantastic, their pastries divine, but the belle of the ball is the Croque Madam. My first bite sent me head-over-heels for the light buttery bread known as the Brioche(doesn't she just sound sexy and French!).  

Well, since that first bite, I have wondered if it could be possible for me to bring this luscious little loaf of wonderful home with me.  Today is the day we will find out.  It is my own "Weird Science" experience where I will find out if I too can make my own fantasy come to life.

I will be using the Brioche recipe from Bon Appetit.  For your convenience it will be listed below.  Also, despite some technical difficulties and due to lots of work on my part, there are pictures!

This is the start of the Brioche.  It is not like other bread doughs I have worked with so I am hoping it will be ok.  At this point it is covered with plastic wrap waiting to double in size.

Wait to see what happens tomorrow when this dough actually becomes rolls... at least I hope so.

Creamy Chicken Soup with Dumplings

Alright, I am going to try and get more serious about posting, but as an apology I am about to share my recipe for Chicken and Dumpling soup.

This recipe has been developing for about 4 years and for the first time I stopped and payed attention to what I was actually doing so that I could share it in it's now nearly perfected form.   I first got this recipe from a friend of one of my ex-boyfriends and the original recipe was really basic and used cans of Cream of Chicken soup and Bisquick dumplings.  Overtime I eliminated both Bisquick and cans of soup.

*Warning*   This soup is a little labor intensive and takes time, but the added flavor is sooooooo worth it.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken cut into pieces  The chicken has to have bones and skin people, without it the soup will be boring.  You don't have to cut the chicken at home like me but you do want all the pieces from a whole bird.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped onion (1 large)

2 cups chopped celery,  use the heart of a bunch, leaves and all.  This will really impact the flavor of your soup (the heart is the inside bits)

2 cups chopped carrot (3 large)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups low sodium broth  (this way you can control saltiness) 

2 cups  water

1-2 cup  corn  canned or frozen works

salt and pepper

Thats the ingredients for the soup itself and now the dumplings.

1 1/3 cup  flour

2/3 cup  cornmeal

1 tbsp sage

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp  salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup  buttermilk

2 tbsp olive oil

Here is how this all come together.  

1. Heat a large pot to medium high, I use a large dutch oven, about 6 quarts.  While the pan is heating, sprinkle the chicken on both sides with a little salt and pepper.  Once the pan is hot add the olive oil and let it get hot, you will know it's ready when it shimmers, or ripples.  Place pieces of chicken in to let it brown, flip it over so it browns on all sides.  Don't put all the chicken in at once or the pans temperature will drop to much.  The chicken will not get cooked through. This is just to help add flavor.  When the chicken is all browned place it in a bowl and set it off to the side.

2. The pan should have plenty of oil/fat (not to mention brown bits) left over from the chicken.  Add the chopped vegetables to pot.  As the vegetables cook, they will release moisture helping to clean all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, this is very good.  Just keep stirring the vegetables and scraping the bottom of the pan until the veggies are softened.

3.  Turn the burner down to medium and take your veggies and scrape them to the sides of the pot so you have a clear space in the middle.  Put the butter in the middle and let it melt.  As soon as it is melted, add in the flour.  Stir all the butter, flour, and veggies together.  You are going to want to wait till the flour starts to look golden, this keeps the soup from having a raw flour taste.  Some of the flour will stick to the bottom of the pan, this ok, we'll take care of it in step 4.

4. Once the flour is ready, start slowly adding your broth, probably 1/2 cup at a time.  As you add the broth stir/scrape the bottom of the pan.  This is going to help get all that flour off the bottom and make sure that it doesn't get all clumpy in your soup.  You will notice tat the broth will start to bubble and thicken pretty quickly, just keep slowly adding in the broth.  After you have added all the broth, add the water.  Bring all the liquid up to a boil.

5. As your liquid is getting to boiling take the chicken from the bowl and peel off the extra skin and fat.  When the pot is boiling add the chicken pieces in, lid the pot, and turn the temp to medium low so that the soup can simmer and the chicken can finish cooking.  By adding the chicken, bones and all, to cook, you are adding tons of extra chicken-y flavor.

6. When your chicken is cooked, pull it from the pot and put it back in the bowl from earlier to cool.  This is now the time when you add the corn and put the lid back on.  After the chicken cools, tear off the meat, break it into smaller pieces, and throw it into the pot.  Taste the soup now too, it is the perfect time to add salt or pepper if needed.  Dispose off any bones or unwanted chicken bits.

7.  Now we will assemble dumplings while letting the soup simmer.  Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl then add your liquids.  Stir till just mixed.  Start dropping big spoonfuls of dough into the soup.  You can decide how many dumplings you want or how big.  After all the dumplings are in put the lid on pot and let them simmer in the soup for about 4 minutes then remove the lid and flip them over to cook for another 4 minutes or so.  Those times could change if you make tiny or humongous dumplings.  

That is pretty much it.  Now, you might have noticed that I didn't really give times.  I did this because I pretty much play it by ear when I make this soup.  If it simmers longer, great. If not, that's perfectly ok.  The important part is layering all the flavors and using the chicken to its fullest ability because that is what makes the soup sooooo yummy.

New York Epic Concluded

Ok, so I epically fail.  I have not blogged.  I did not finish my New York food adventure. So....here I am now finishing my story with more pictures. I will try to tell you as much as I can remember.

This was spinach artichoke dip pizza.  At first I was skeptical, but after my first bite I was in pizza heaven.  

Artichoke pizza from Artichoke

This needs no explanation.

Pastrami on rye with mustard, why mess with a classic?

One night we tried this new pizza joint in Jenn's neighborhood.  Funny thing is this was a wood fired oven pizza place which is a huge novelty in New York City.  Either way, the place was wonderfully decorated, the food delicious, and the prices reasonable.  Also, all the cute little Italian men running around added lots of charm.

Mussels from the pizza joint.

New York Epic Days 3&4

Day 3

This night I got to go to the Paul McCartney concert at Citifield.  Not only that, I was in a private party box being served food.  And not only that, it was Shake Shack burgers.  This place is so popular and busy that they have a camera that sends a live feed to the internet just so you can see how long the line is so you can plan accordingly.  I also got Brooklyn Lager, sushi, chips & dip, hot dogs, french fries, and cookies!!  It was amazing!!!!!

Before this though I got to go to the Brooklyn flea market where I stumbled across a wonderful hot dog stand that used more exotic (think asian) toppings for their grilled dogs.  Who knew a dog topped with mango, onions, cucumber, and peanuts or Japanese curry and kimchi apples would be so freakin' good.  Apparently they do this hot dog gig during the summers and are on the web, http://asiadognyc.com/#%23  To cool off after our hot dogs, there was shaved ice served in the awesome Dora the Explorer cups.

With a view like this how could I not.

The Ginny

Take it all Dari!

Shaved ice

The Ito dog.

The amazing hot dog menu.

Day 4

Sunday was Coney Island day.  I spent my time lounging on the beach, watching a Cyclones game, and walking the board walk.  The highlight of my day was my trip to the original Nathan's hot dogs.  Also, I tried a knish for the first time.

Potato Knish

Funnel Cake

New York Epic Day 2

Today the food adventure started around noon with a little trip to Jacques Torres Chocolate.  It was beautiful inside decorated with flowering vines, hanging butterflies, and shelves full of wonderfully wrapped chocolates.  Jenn and I decided to take it easy and share.  We ordered a frozen hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie.  This is no ordinary cookie though.  Rumor has it that Martha Stewart herself featured these cookies as one of her all time favorites, I was sold.  I must admit that after the first bite of each there was that moment Jenn and I closed our eyes and muttered softly, "hell yes!"

Jenn

Me

For lunch we went to China Town for dumplings at Vanessa's Dumplings.  Now I already knew I loved dumplings, so I had a feeling I was going to like this place. What I wasn't prepared for was the Peking Duck Sesame Pancake sandwich.  I also got the Boiled Pork and Chive dumplings and a coke all for $5.75!!  The best is not only was it cheap it was amazing.  By this point in the day, I was on cloud nine feeling better than I have in weeks.

It got better though with a stop at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.  It is one of the few places in the city that makes there own ice cream.  I walked away with a scoop of Lychee Sorbet, one word: yummy.

In the evening we headed home to eat left overs.  Now this might not sound exciting but you would be wrong! Dari, Jenn's boy friend, is Filipino.  This means his mom is Filipino. That means his mom makes Filipino food. And that means I get left over wonderful Filipino food.  I got a soup dish called  Sinagog that has green beans, salmon, yuca, and other stuff I can't spell. There was also fried salmon and rice.  Oh, and to drink I got Raspberry Schweppe's Ginger Ale, which instantly transports me to childhood summers in Chicago.  I have not been able to find this soda in Phoenix so when I saw it in the store here I made Jenn grab it.

That was it for today, but wait till tomorrow, there is a surprise.

New York Epic Day 1

So, I know I haven't written in awhile but I was saving it all up for this moment, my week long adventure to New York City.  I knew that this was going to be a trip with monumental  blogging potential.  I mean really the NYC is a foodie mecca and I am fully prepared to tap into it's potential.  

I will try to post every day, but you never know.  No matter what, I won't get very far behind.

Day 1

Breakfast was at a small little bakery called Bread Stuy.  I didn't take any pictures because a) I forgot and b) I just got a bagel.  It was a very yummy bagel and served to me by a clerk with a great sense of humor (I was accused of cream cheese smuggling).

Lunch we got at an outside cafe at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  Don't let this fool you though.  I ordered chilli that was more than just average, it was actually on the high end of good.  I also shared a pasta vegetable salad with my step sister (who will play an integral role in my great food journey, look for her).

Then (on our way to the next little tidbit) I grabbed a quick snack at a place called The Donut Pub.  It was a tough choice, but I finally decided on a boston cream donut that I ate on the way to...

The Beauty Bar!  This is just genius, you can get a manicure and cocktail for the amazing bargain price of $10.  I started of with something called a Redhead.  I didn't get pictures this time because my nails were wet and touching anything other than my drink was strictly forbidden for 10 minutes, sadly the drink didn't last that long.  Fortunately for me though I did get the opportunity to get a Brooklyn brewed beer.  This was a challenge all on its own.  The beer is named Sweet Action and in order to receive a glass you must say, "I want some Sweet Action."  In my case this not only resulted in beer but a furious blush as well.

Finally to round out the evening we got sushi.  Prior to arriving at the restaurant there was a discussion over liking sushi in which I proclaimed my love for eel.  Jenn, step sister, told me I was in luck because at Funayama they had an "I love eel" plate.  Once there I didn't get the "I love eel," instead I got the "eel delight."  For only $15, this very delicious plate of eel was all mine.  

Whew! My first day was amazing and it is only going to get better.  I <3>