Cauliflower Puree August 11, 2008

I love cauliflower. Always have. So I’ve been wanting to try making a cauliflower puree. I mixed together a few recipes and this is what I came up with.

Head of cauliflower (about 1.5 lbs)

2 garlic cloves

2-4 Tbps of vegetable broth

1.5 Tbps of heavy cream

salt, pepper, crushed red peppers to taste

 

I steamed the cauliflower and garlic until the cauliflower was soft enough for a knife to go through very easily (about 10 minutes).

I took the cauliflower out to a bowl, added the rest of the ingredients (adding the broth a little at a time) and used the immersion blender until it was creamy.

Yum!

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins August 5, 2008

So, I needed to use up the buttermilk I had in my fridge as well as the extra blueberries I had bought (why can’t I pass up blueberries??).

I made a few changes to the recipe (swapped out WW Pastry Flour, removed the cinnamon, and switched from orange to lemon zest).

While these weren’t bad, I think they could have used something. Maybe a little more salt next time? Or more zest? Maybe I’d even add a little agave nectar or honey to sweeten it up a little more. But really, these are pretty healthy so I’d like to try to tweak them a bit to see if I can make them taste a little better.

http://marthastewartliving.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=94ed9fb82b484110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=header_1&autonomy_kw=buttermilk+blueberry

Ingredients

Makes 12.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (MY CHANGE)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk, plus about 2 tablespoons for tops

2 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups blueberries (about 1/2 pound), picked over and rinsed

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse sanding sugar

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in center. Lightly coat a standard muffin tin with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and zest.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg yolks, and butter. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just blended. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until just stiff. Gently fold whites and blueberries into the batter until just combined.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup three-quarters full. Bake 12 minutes. Remove from oven; gently brush tops with buttermilk, and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired. Continue baking until tops are golden and a cake tester inserted in a muffin center comes out clean, 6 to 8 minutes more. Let muffins cool slightly, about 10 minutes, before turning out of tin.

Berry Layer Cake June 12, 2008

I made the berry layer cake in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. It was just like the asian style cakes and it was delicious. I used strawberries, whipped cream, and also pastry cream in the layers. This should be just like the geniose cakes in the Cake Bible, I think. The only thing was that my mixer was so full that I didn’t get all the way to the bottom when scraping so there were some hard floury bits. oops. I’ll have to try this with mangos sometime soon.

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies May 20, 2008

We’re looking for the perfect peanut butter cookie. Something with a fine texture — soft and crumbly. I also would like a ribbon of peanut butter or peanut butter chunks in it (I love Reese’s peanut butter chips but would rather have something with natural ingredients), although this is not necessary. Is there anything from the Martha Stewart cookie book that looks like it might work as a starting off point? 

Lemon Bars May 18, 2008

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_23697,00.html

Everyone at the BBQ really liked these lemon bars. I decreased the sugar in the filling to 2.5 cups because some of the comments said it was too sweet. I think I could have decreased it even more if I wanted to. Or maybe added a little more zest. I also did not cool the crust before pouring in the filling.

One annoying thing was that when I dusted them with powdered sugar, the sugar just soaked in. So they weren’t as pretty as I would have liked. Maybe next time I’ll do a glaze with the sugar and lemon juice instead.

Overall, definitely worth making again. Especially in the summer. Doesn’t hot weather just seem to go so well with lemon bars?

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Ina’s Lemon Bars

For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on. For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Baking Class #6 – Pate a Choux May 18, 2008

Today’s class was on pate a choux. My partner and I made garlic gougeres and swans. That’s right…swans! I think they were the fanciest things I’ve ever made. Some of them came out very pretty. And some not so much. But it was pretty cool to make! You just pipe out the pate a choux body shape and neck shape and use creme mousseline (pastry cream with whipped cream folded in) to stick in the wings and neck in. This is a prettier version of what they looked like: http://l.yimg.com/www.flickr.com/images/spaceball.gif.

I really liked the cheese puffs and want to have a party so I can make them as an appetizer!

All the creme puffs, éclairs, and everything else was really good. The thing I love about French pastries is that they aren’t too sweet. Very rich, but not overly sweet.

Cracked Wheat Loaf May 15, 2008

Page 290: The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

I love bread! How do I know this? Because there is nothing left of this loaf of bread. I made it on Sunday. I didn’t share. Yum! Instead of using regular WWF, I used White WWF. It made the bread look like it wasn’t wheat and probably gave it a more mellow taste. I will definitely try this again with the regular WWF. Yum!

Buttermilk Biscuits May 8, 2008

I’ve made the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook ones twice. The first time I did it with powdered buttermilk. The next time with real. Both came out good, but they rose up kind of rounded and weren’t as flaky as I’d like. Maybe the same recipe would be OK if I made them thicker, used a bigger biscuit cutter, and/or refrigerated them before baking…

My favorite cookies May 6, 2008

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_25046,00.html

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (If you have a scale they should each weigh 1 ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.

Cornbread May 6, 2008

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cheddar-cornbread?autonomy_kw=cornbread&rsc=header_5

We made this cornbread. It was good, but more cornmealy than what I’m looking for. I would rather have something with a softer texture that would taste good with honey butter. I saw Ina make cornbread today and she said that letting the batter sit for awhile made it more moist. Here’s her recipe…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37507,00.html

I also saw this on martha stewart. It has sour cream in it. I’m not sure if it would be too much…

http://www.marthastewart.com/mini-cornbread-puddings?autonomy_kw=cornbread&rsc=header_1