Thursday, February 13, 2014

No-Knead Twisted Cinnamon Buns

Untitled

Super-easy to make, but time consuming. I made these when I had to stay at home to take care of Titus who had a fever. He spent the day on the sofa, but felt a lot better when these were finished. I got the recipe from one of my very favorite bread bloggers, Pain de Martin.  (Recipe in Swedish.)

I used about 25 g of yeast whereas Martin specified 10 - mine was past it's "best before"-date, so I figured it might need an extra boost. Use your discretion. It's a low-yeast recipe in any case, because of the long rising times.

No-Knead Twisted Cinnamon Buns
about 30

10-25 g fresh yeast
250 g water, cool
250 g milk, cool
150 g butter (at room temperature)
150 g sugar
6 g salt
10 g cardamom, freshly ground in a pestle and mortar
900-950 g strong bread flour (not all at once)

Cinnamon filling:
200 g butter, at room temperature
175 g sugar
20 g cinnamon
1 tbsp flour
a little water

Sugar Vanilla Syrup:
100 ml water
100 ml sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped out

I used my Kitchen-Aid, but you can do this by hand. Mix yeast, butter, sugar and salt until smooth, and add water, milk, cardamom and about half of the flour. Mix until well combined, then add the remaining flour, a little at a time. You should have a fairly stiff dough. No need for kneading, but make sure it's all come together. Cover with plastic and leave at room temperature for about 90 minutes.

After this, the dough should have risen a bit. Turn it out onto a very lightly floured surface, and fold it a few times. You want it to be fairly square shape. Again, cover with plastic and leave it for another 90 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your filling - just beat butter, sugar and cinnamon together until smooth, then add a little flour and a little water to make it perfectly spreadable.

When your dough looks nicely puffy, flour your rolling surface, and get rolling. Aim for about 80*50 cm - mine was a little smaller, I don't have awesome rolling skills. Make it as even as possible, though.

Spread on your filling, nice and even. Now fold your dough - in thirds from the top, like you would a letter? I hope that makes sense. Give it a quarter turn so that the long side is closest to you. Roll it a little, aim for about 60*25 cm.

Now come the tricky part, the twisting. Cut thin strips of the dough. Fold twice around your fingers then on top of itself - Martin made a very helpful little video of this because my description is clearly lacking. It's easier than it sounds, if that's any relief.

Let the buns rest on a baking sheet for another hour. Then, bake at 225°C for about 10-12 minutes. Make your syrup - combine water and sugar and vanilla, bring to a boil and let cook for about a minute. When your buns come out of the oven, immediately brush them with syrup to make them nice and shiny.

Eat!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Homemade Dark Chocolates


VALENTINES equals CHOCOLATES !

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATES equal 

I LOVE YOU !

treat your loved ones to something HOMEMADE from the heart.
chocolate CAN be a healthy indulgence.
BUT...you absolutely must
MOVE OVER TO THE DARK SIDE ! 
i am not a nutritionist, nor do i carry any reputable knowledge in the field, but I DO LOVE CHOCOLATE !  and...of course, i'm stretching it a bit to say chocolate is healthy, but it does carry a "SUPER-FOOD" status. there really are health benefits from the cacao nibs and the bitter seeds from which chocolate is made. 

DO YOU NEED A FEW REASONS TO GIFT DARK CHOCOLATE ?!
lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, lowers heart risk, helps fatigue, super high in antioxidants
blah, blah and more blah...

i find it's EASIEST TO WORK WITH, and....
CHOCOLATES MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY


MAKE YOUR OWN CHOCOLATES !
buy some molds,  use some mini cupcake papers or pour it on a sheet pan and make some "bark".
NO ONE WILL TURN DOWN HOMEMADE CHOCOLATES
(Chip N' Chipotle Bar recipe found HERE)

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...
TEMPER YOUR CHOCOLATE!
you want your chocolates to be nice and shiny?  go buy some molds like the ones shown... do you want it to hold up and not melt in hand?...be pretty for gift giving?  TEMPERING IS A MUST.  it is NOT hard to do.  i use the microwave method explained HERE.


here are a few flavors i have made...
always starting with 1 lb. GOOD "coverture"dark chocolate
UPDATE...shhhh...i did an experiment with Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips in a bag.  it works and the flavor is great.  some, MOST, chips won't work because they have stabilizers for baking.

DARK CHOCOLATE with South African flavors....
1 lb dark chocolate...TEMPERED
2/3 cup roasted salted peanuts
1/3 cup crystallised ginger, diced
1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp cayenne
So African pepper blend from Trader Joe's
sea salt and more fresh pepper blend to finish

CUMIN CHIPOTLE COFFEE TOFFEE DARK CHOCOLATE BARS
(i used Cacao Barry Mexique 66% for this one)
1/2 cup toffee chips
1/4 cup crushed crushed coffee beans
1/8 cup cocoa nibs
1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 1/4 tsp chili powder blend, 1/2 tsp cumin...sprinkle with black salt.

TOASTED COCONUT CURRY GINGER DARK CHOCOLATE
1/2 cup unsweetened toasted coconut
1/3 cup crystallised ginger pieces
1/2 tsp Madras curry, 1/4 tsp cayenne, lime zest, dollop of vanilla bean paste.  finish with sprinkle of sea salt and a little coconut strands.

ROSEMARY BLACK PEPPER and POTATO STICKS
(i forgot to write this recipe down...my bad)
but i always use fresh rosemary that is dried in the toaster oven.  store bought just isn't as flavorful.  i also used crushed potato sticks that come in a can from Mother's Market and fresh ground pepper with sea salt finish.

when your chocolate is tempered at 90 F degrees, add your ingredients.  i like to keep my glass bowl inside another bowl with a towel inside to cradle and keep everything warm.  have a small hairdryer handy in case you need a blast of warm air to keep your chocolate at or around 90 F degrees.  pour or spoon your chocolate into molds of choice.  try to work fairly quick or you will lose you temper...in more ways than one. 
give the molds or tray a few knocks on the counter to release any bubbles and settle the chocolate.  sprinkle with salt, pepper, your extra what-evers.  set in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes and remove from fridge.  let them come to room temp before packaging for gifts.

THIS IS A MESSY JOB for 1st timers, BUT WELL WORTH THE GRATITUDE YOU WILL RECEIVE FROM YOUR INTENDED LOVED ONE.


Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sweete Pies of Veale

For the IACP Conference in Chicago I'll be talking about coffins, as described in cookbooks and Shakespeare. Funeral Baked Meates, served as leftovers in Hamlet. We will be tasting too. The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen (1588) has a lovely recipe. The crust is hand raised. The proportions of filling seemed so perverse to me, that I had to test it. The crust is perfect:

To Make Paste, and to raise Coffins:  Take fine flower, and lay it on a boord, and take a certaine of yolkes of Egges as your quantities of flower is, then take a certaine of Butter and water, and boil them together, but ye must take heed ye put not too many yolks of Egges, for if you doe, it will make it drie and not pleasant in eating: and you must take heed ye put not in too much Butter for if you do, it will make it so fine and so short that you cannot raise. And this paste is good to raise all manner of Coffins.

To Make sweete pies of Veale:  Take Veale and perboyle it verie tender, then chop it small, then take twise as much beef suet and chop it small, then minse both them together, then put Corrans and minced Dates to them, then season your flesh after this manner. Take Pepper, salt, and Saffron, Cloves Mace, Synamon, Ginger, and Sugar, and season your flesh with each of these a quantitie, and mingle them together.

What does this mean? For a small pie that will serve 4, take 1/4 lb of veal shoulder. Braise it until tender and chop finely. Then take 1/2 pound of suet, chop finely by hand, add 1/4 lb of mixed dates chopped and currants. Throw in about a half cup sugar, a lot of cinnamon, other spices. Chill. Then take 2 cups of flour on a board, add an egg yolk, stir about. Boil 1/2 stick butter and 1/2 cup water, and mix it in. This will make a perfect malleable dough to raise your coffin by hand. I didn't use a rolling pin. Well, you can see that. Let it cool and no, you don't slice it. You break it and spoon out, with a 16th c. spoon like this. Set your table like this too.

Panini!

I've had a tabletop grill for several years but I finally gave in and bought a proper panini press. I LOVE it! Here's my lunch - cream cheese, st agur blue cheese, and some smoked ham. Awesome! And it took me all of five minutes.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Pork tenderloin in Blue Cheese Sauce

bluecheeseporktenderloin

Not the prettiest of meals, but I assure you you're in for a taste sensation!


Pork tenderloin in  Blue Cheese Sauce
400 g pork tenderloin
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp butter
100 ml marsala wine
150 g blue cheese (I prefer St Agur)
100 ml cream
100-200 ml milk
black pepper

Cut the pork into small dice, and fry along with the onion in butter until mostly cooked through. Pour on the marsala and cook on fairly high heat until it's mostly absorbed. Lower the heat and add the cheese. Let it melt, then add cream and 100 ml of milk and stir together. Let it cook on medium-low heat for a few minutes, and then season with black pepper. Add more milk if you want it to be thinner. Check to see if you need any salt - the sauce will be pretty salty without it.

Serve with plenty of veggies - we had steamed broccoli, green beans, wax beans and tomatoes - and rice to soak up the delicious sauce.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Pink Peppercorn Potato Chip Bar with Sea salt and Toffee bits


SPICY PINK PEPPERCORNS...
SALTY CRISP POTATO CHIPS
and SWEET CRUNCHY TOFFEE BITS

this is one of my favorite bars and i forgot to publish the post.  i've made so many bars in the last few months i can't remember them all.  i will post about the flavors in a few days...BUT... this post explains the way i temper chocolate.  it's quite easy once you get the hang of it.  it's possible to go from "plain disc-to-flavor bar" in about an hour.
i am not a chocolate expert, i have a regular kitchen like anybody else, no fancy equipment just a few molds and i use the simple microwave method.


TEMPER YOUR CHOCOLATE !!!!
i prefer the microwave method as seen here from Alton Brown.
BUT i have an adapted method without cocoa butter as noted below...
BIG NOTE... microwaves may vary.  you do not want this to happen too quickly.  you might lower the times by 5 seconds or need to power down your microwave a bit..... the point is small intervals of heat and stirring well in between to reach 115 degrees.  this will make for a good temper.

put approx. 3/4 of chopped chocolate in a glass bowl, set the remainder aside.  NOTE...i use a little less than 1/4 of the chocolate amount i am going to temper.
heat chocolate in glass bowl for 30 seconds...stir
heat again for 30 seconds...stir
heat for 15 seconds...stir
heat again for 15 seconds...stir
do this until 100 degrees
check temperature.  if it is 100 degrees stir and heat for 8-10 second intervals until it reaches 115 degrees for dark chocolate.  i only use dark chocolate.  the temperature is different for lighter chocolates.

at 115 degrees add the remainder of the chopped chocolate that you set aside...stir well to incorporate.
let it rest for a moment and stir again.  keep "gently" stirring until it reaches 90 degrees.  use a spatula to incorporate the sides so the whole bowl will be consistent.  it might take longer than you think, but do not rush this step.

90 degrees is the perfect temp to work with.

NOTE ABOUT TEMPERED CHOCOLATE USE......
(not really for this mix and pour recipe, but might be helpful if you are dipping or need it to stay tempered.

to help keep it at 90 degrees....keep your digital thermometer handy.  place the chocolate bowl inside a larger bowl with a kitchen towel inside.  this will keep it cozy and warm.  always remember to stir and keep the whole bowl/batch consistently 90 degrees.  ALSO... have a hair dryer handy.  if it starts to cool... blow a little hot air over the surface and stir at the same time.  not too much, just enough to keep it at 90 degrees.  ONE MORE....i have seen that you can also use a heating pad under the bowl, SET ON LOW.  i tried this once and it didn't seem to work.  maybe i own the wrong heating pad.  the element was not warming the bowl.


DARK CHOCOLATE
PINK PEPPERCORN  POTATO CHIP BAR with  SEA SALT and TOFFEE BITS

2 bars, 9.8oz. each, of Valrhona dark chocolate...chopped very well
1 cup Kettle One Salt and Pepper Krinkle Potato chips, crushed
1/2 cup toffee chips
3/4 tsp fresh ground pink peppercorns
flaked sea salt and fresh pepper for finish


NOTE...before you begin, cover your work surface.  chocolate can be a messy job.
once your chocolate is tempered, add in your ingredients.  add potato chips last so the salt doesn't mix in too much.  stir to incorporate.  pour into molds of choice.  work fairly quick or your chocolate temp will lower.  keep a hair dryer handy to give it a blast of hot air if necessary.  stir while using hot air.
NOTE...if you do not have molds, make "bark" OR use mini muffin cups, set them on a small tray or cookie sheet, spoon in chocolate.

tap and jiggle molds gently on the counter to level and get any bubbles out.  sprinkle with sea salt and red pepper flakes to finish.  put in fridge until set, about 15-30 minutes.  remove from fridge and let come to room temp before packaging.
if your chocolate has been tempered correctly it should stay nice and "snappy", not melt to the touch and package well for gifts or hidden chocolate stash.

Easiest Homemade SCOBY for Homemade Kombucha


EASIEST HOMEMADE "MOTHER" SCOBY...

go out and buy a bottle of GT's ORIGINAL RAW KOMBUCHA

pour it into a sterilized 1 quart jar
cover with cloth or double paper towel, secure with rubber band
put it in a nice warmish place.
do not disturb the jar.
WAIT at least 2-3 weeks
(mine was in the jar for 24 days.  photo below)
DONE...proceed to brewing homemade kombucha

 raw GT scoby day 24
about 1/2 of the original kombucha liquid has evaporated...or been eaten? 
there seems to be a few layers in there.

SCOBY HOTEL

surprize!...3 scobys developed after 24 days
i thought i better put them in a hotel of some sort, so i added 2 cups tea sweetened with 1/8th cup sugar and put them in a new clean jar (along with the liquid they were growing in)  until i have time for another brewing...i already have 2 separate gallon jars brewing now....YIKES !

 it seems this looks like a super "clean" scoby...like it needs to grow some "ewe factor".  i will let you know what happens after the first brew...

UPDATE... 11-5-13
as you can see from the photo, i started this experiment 8-14-13.  then i moved them to a hotel for a few weeks.  on 9-17-13 i started the batch with the new scobys.  i put all three small discs in to brew.  within a few days the new larger baby scoby started to form.
I WAITED ABOUT 16 DAYS for the brew to finish...

IT WORKS !!!
I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BREWED A BATCH OF DELICIOUS KOMBUCHA FROM THIS EASY HOMEMADE SCOBY.

UPDATE 1-31-14
i have continued to this date to make 6 more DELICIOUS batches...
AND... my scoby hotel is more like a "RESORT"

in conclusion...there is no need to hunt down a scoby or pay for a kit with shipping and handling.  all you need is a little patience and a few bucks for a bottle of GT's RAW ORIGINAL KOMBUCHA