Archive | September, 2008

salsa – take two

30 Sep

I needed to resolve the issues I had with my last batch of salsa.  It was too juicy, too mild, and I knew I could do better.  So did the spouse.  He agreed with me completely (as a smart spouse should) and I took another shot at it.  We decided this version is much improved.  He wants to put it on fish, hamburgers, hot dogs, and more. 

He loves artichoke hearts, but I wasn’t sure what he would think of them in salsa.  Turns out, we both love the tangy vinegar flavor they bring to the bowl.  A note about the parsley – any normal person would use cilantro.  Cilantro tastes kind of funny to me.  So I use flat leaf parsley instead. 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

new and improved roasted tomato and artichoke salsa 

10 tomatoes (roasted on a parchment lined sheet pan in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes, turning once)

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, bashed

2-3 jalapenos, seeded (wearing gloves for this is really helpful)

1 six ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts (drained)

2-3 big parsley leaves

salt and pepper

Peel the tomatoes and discard juice.  Put everything into the food processor and pulse a couple of times.  Store in the fridge to let all the flavors really work together.

spicy, salty, yummy

27 Sep

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh??  This takes me back to my college days.  I was like a magician – 7pm nothing by 3 the next morning a 20 page paper on the evolution of French furniture.  The funny thing about those all nighters was that I always knew I needed to wrap it up when I could smell the doughnuts cooking in the nearby dining hall.  No doughnuts today, just lavash crackers and salsa.

It seems co-hosts of this Daring Bakers month’s challenge (Natalie and Shel) must have heard about my slightly elevated cholesterol and decided to steer me to the slightly safer side of baking.  Sometimes I just so so caught up in the butter and sugar I forget about that side.  So, to Natalie and Shel I say “Thank you”.

Wheat crackers seasoned with either kosher salt and black pepper or a blend of smoked paprika, cumin, and fennel with a roasted tomato and artichoke salsa. 

Well that title is a mouthful all on it’s own.  Though I can tell you a mouthful of these crackers with salsa is a more delicious mouthful.

As for how the challenge broke down.  Well I am already thinking of what to do differently for the salsa **.  The next batch I think I will  use regular onion.  The scallions were a little mild.  I will also be adding more jalapeno.  This didn’t have enough kick.  I was nervous about adding too much because I didn’t want too much conflict with the artichoke’s flavors.  I will also be draining off the tomato juice to have a thicker end product.

The lavash was all right.  I don’t know that I would ever make them again.  It might be fun to try a sweet version with something like cinnamon and sugar for an afternoon snack.  Yes, that’s something I would definitely try. 

It was a fun change of pace from the usual baking so I’m glad I finally got around to trying it.

 

Roasted tomato and artichoke salsa **

makes about 4 cups of salsa

10 tomatoes (roasted in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes) peeled and chopped (The next time I will be sure to drain out the juice before putting in processor.  This batch was not as thick as I had hoped.)

3 green onions chopped

3 cloves of garlic bashed

2-3 sprigs of fresh parsley

1/2 jalapeno seeded and chopped

1 six ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts (drained)

salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients and blitz until blended.  Refigerate to let the flavors really come together.

** for an updated version of this salsa be sure to check out salsa take two

Crackers

makes one full sheet pan a crackers

1 cup unbleached bread flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 Tablespoon rice syrup

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons water at room temperature

here are the seeds after they have been shaken

1/2 teaspoon coriander seed *

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed *

1/2 teaspoon ground smoked paprika

kosher salt and fresh black pepper

* I used whole seed that I bashed in a flavour shaker

In a bowl, mix together flour, salt, yeast, rice syrup, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.  Knead for about 5 – 10 minutes, or until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Allow to set at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until dough doubles in size. 

Mist the counter with a light spray of oil and transfer dough to counter.  Divide the dough into half (one for salt and pepper crackers, other for spice blend).  You can roll it out with a rolling pin to a paper thin sheet, dusting with flour as needed.  I rolled mine out with my hand crank pasta machine.  When you have it rolled out let it rest for 5 minutes on a parchment lined sheet.  (I used a knife to score lines to make breaking the crackers apart easier.  You can skip the scoring and just break them into irregular pieces after they have cooled.)   

Mist pieces of dough with water to help the spices stick.  Sprinkle on spices.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until crackers begin to brown evenly across the top.  When they are baked cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Snap apart and serve.

 

worlds have collided

25 Sep

Never again do I have to debate whether I want brownies or cookies for dessert.  Turns out they can peacefully coexist, like two desserts in one.  Too bad all debates could be settled this easily.  Although maybe they could if we all ate more brownie chunk cookies.

I made the first batch according to the Bon Appetit recipe.  My son was originally suspicious of the combination. He kept leaving bits of brownie on his plate.  Also, they were very soft.  We like our cookies with a little more crunch and the original recipe was just too soft for us.  So, I switched up the recipe and we are all happy with the results (which means I’m not finding bit of brownie on CJ’s plate anymore).    How peaceful.

 

Brownie Chunk Cookies

for the brownie

6 ounces chocolate chopped

1/2 butter cut into cubes

2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line with parchment and butter a 9 x 13 pan.  Stir chocolate and butter in bowl placed over saucepan of simmering water (a la double boiler)  and stir until melted.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Whisk sugar and vanilla into chocolate, then eggs and salt, then flour.  Spread into prepared pan and bake until tester comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes.  Cool in pan.  Cover and chill overnight.

for the cookie

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 salt

1 stick butter

8 Tablespoons butter flavored Crisco**

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 recipe chilled Old Fashioned Brownies cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment.  Whisk flour, soda, and salt together in bowl.  In mixer beat butter, Crisco, and sugar together until smooth.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients.  Then fold in brownie cubes.

Spoon onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. 

Bake until just golden, 12 – 14 minutes.

** While I’m not a supporter of processed ingredients, it gives crispness to the end product.  You can always use two sticks of butter, but you will get a softer cookie.  Which may actually be what some people prefer.  Ahh, the beauty of choice.

uber lemon bars

21 Sep

 

I have always loved lemon bars.  These bars, however, have little resemblance to the bars I loved as a child.  These are far more tart and more lemony than any other I have tasted.  They are also far more delicious.  Don’t worry my mom’s not offended – she introduced me to this recipe.

Transforming a traditional lemon bar to an uber lemon bar is simple.  You add much more fresh lemon juice.  The other great thing is this recipe also uses a 9 x 13 pan instead of the usual 8 x 8, which means even more of a good thing. 

I love the sugar crust that appears on the top too

The bottom crust is magical.  You blend the ingredients together and pat them into the bottom of the pan.  It looks so dry and I always think I must have put in too much flour.  Every time I think - this is never going to come together to form a crust, but it works every time.  It’s important to let the crust cool before you fill it.  One time I was in a rush and skipped that step.  Note I only did it once.  When they baked the crust floated to the top.  Those upside down lemon bars tasted great they were mess to cut, so be sure to let that crust cool.

dusted with sugar and ready to eat

dusted with sugar and ready to eat

uber lemon bars

for the crust

1 1/2 cup AP flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cups (1 1/2 stick) butter chilled and cut into pieces

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  In a bowl combine flour, sugar, and butter.  Blend with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.  Gently pat into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and bake 20 – 25 minutes.  You want the edges to be a little golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

the filling

3 cups granular sugar

6 large eggs

zest of 3 lemons

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 7 lemons)

1/2 cup flour

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.  In a bowl whisk together eggs and sugar together.  Stir in lemon zest and juice.  Sift in flour and stir to combine.  Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake until filling is set, about 45 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.  If you like, you can top with a dusting of powdered sugar, or top with a layer of frosting.

it’s apple picking time

18 Sep

Monday the kids didn’t have school so we went on an apple picking adventure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been on a mission off and on for years now hoping to make my Grandmother’s (and Mom’s) most fabulous apple pie.  It requires a Lodi apple, and they can be a challenge to find.  One - because they are ripe very early in the season.  Two – because nobody seems to grow them anymore.  Turns out this orchard grows them, but like I said they are an early apple and were long gone. 

The staff at the orchard told me these Burgundy apples would be a great substitute.  They’re beautiful.  When I sliced into them I could smell how tart they were.  This was going to be perfect.

WRONG.  (don’t worry there is a happy ending)

Now in everybody’s defense, I don’t think the staff fully grasped what I was looking for in an apple.  I knew I was going for tart and something that would cook down with a slightly soft texture.  What I didn’t know then was that I needed an apple that was all that, and not juicy.  The pie looked great and smelled great.  I had such hopes, but when I stole a little bite while it was cooling I saw that it was a watery mess.  So I had to throw away an entire pie. 

But then…

I made apple bake.  Growing up, this was the closest thing we had to apple crisp at our house.  These apples are perfect for apple bake.  In less than 30 minutes we were devouring bowls of warm gooey apples mixed with a layer of crunchy cinnamon and brown sugar.  It was gone before we knew it.  So I have been making it every night, and will continue to do so until my two baskets of apples are gone.  After that I may go back and get more.

Apple bake

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter (cut into pieces)

6-8 apples (peeled and sliced)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place apples in bottom of an 8″ baking pan.  In separate bowl, blend the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter together with a pastry blender or fork.  Sprinkle mixture over apples and bake 30 – 60 minutes.  You will know it’s done when it bubble in the center.

As for Grandma’s pie – ask me next July

a canopy, finally

17 Sep

Bad Mom!!

Lulu is a big fan of Fancy Nancy books and asked if we could make her room more fancy, so in June I promised a canopy.  I kept putting it off because I kept having visions of the cat jumping to the top and then sliding all the way down (a la the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp).  The cat no longer lives with us and I was beyond overdue on this project.

 

I purchased the net panels at Ikea two years ago.  (Oh, how I miss you, Ikea.)  Back then I had a different project in mind.  I was thinking about something for a playroom when we moved.  But we moved into a house that doesn’t have a playroom.  So the panels waited and waited for a purpose.  To get them to tent I stitched each panel to a strip of fabric (a retro ballerina print) at the top.  I had to stitch along the twill tape at the top of the net panels because the net is so slippery.  Then I stitched the two strips together at the very top and finished up by stitching lower to create a tube for the dowel to go through.  We used a 48″ dowel cut in half and put a wooden drawer pull on the end to act as a finial.  To really fancy it up we glued over 100 ribbon roses and 4 ribbon butterflies on it.  Lulu gasped and told us it was “really super beautiful”

Here’s the view from her pillow -

fill the freezer week

12 Sep

It’s been a rainy and it’s getting dark earlier around here.  This shift in the seasons seems to have kicked my brain into nesting mode.  My freezer is almost at capacity.  I have been roasting grape tomatoes.  Lately I have been individually freezing them rather than packing them in olive oil.  More beans, both green and yellow, have been frozen along with red peppers.  There is a tray of leeks in the freezer as I type.  Tomorrow the vacuum sealer will be in high gear.  Thursday I made and froze marinara sauce to use in the coming months.  It felt great to finally feel one step ahead of the tomatoes, but that night was pick up at the CSA and now I have another 5 pounds.  I’m thinking salsa and ketchup for this batch.

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