Tyler's Videos

Food Network has a series of holiday cooking videos done by Tyler Florence that you can view. It's actually pretty cool and his dishes look very yummy. I'm most especially interested in the chocolate mousse and chocolate bourbon pecan pie.

I didn't realize Tyler got a little chubby now. hah


Click here for the videos

Apple Crisp

Yesterday was very lame. I decided to make a peach cream pie (one of Nigella's of course) but I forgot to add in the beaten egg to the filling so the pie came out of the oven too watery. Then, I was wondering why the crust tasted so grainy and wheaty and then I looked at my pastry flour bag and discovered that it was whole grain pastry flour. No wonder the dough was a doll to work with. Blech.

So today it was apple crisp and I had been craving it for some time now. I got the recipe from About.com Southern Food section since I was too lazy to go through my books. It turned out quite well and now I'm going to eat it with some vanila ice cream. :P

Get your Apple Crisp!

P.S. Lovely new cooking forum has opened up at Violets :)

Rachael Ray Crowd

Unfortunately after the sauce hollandaise incident on Sunday morning (see last post), we got to the Rachael Ray book signing pretty late. It was supposed to start at 1pm but we got there around 1:30pm. It really didn't matter anyways because this is what we saw when we got there and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have made much difference getting there on time! Unfortunately, this picture does not really show you the enormity of the crowd -- this line basically wrapped around an entire block. Most of the crowd were young women and a lot of them were holding 5 or 6 copies Rachael Ray's newest book. It was pretty crazy.

Well since getting my book signed was pretty much out of the question at this point, we decided to venture into the store anyways to get my pizza peel (ended up getting a Mario Batali one.) The place was a zoo and there were police officers and store clerks all over the place navigating crowds and barking at customers who were shopping in blocked-off aisles. We managed to get a glimpse of Rachael Ray signing books -- it was pretty much an assembly-line work -- people would walk up the table, Rachael would sign the book and an officer would rush them along so the next person could come up. People were yelling "I love you, Rachael!" all over the place -- it was quite funny.

She was only signing until 3pm that day so I doubt everyone in the line got their book signed. What a zoo. hah

English Muffins and Sauce Hollandaise

I was surprised that these turned out pretty well. It was my first time making english muffins and so I was totally unsure as to how the dough was supposed to be during the entire time. It was very wet and pretty much batter-like up until cutting them out into circles. These were a bit of a pain since it required about 3 different waiting times but I do think they were well worth it. The muffins were very tender, soft, and chewy. They even looked like those Thomas English Muffins you buy at the supermarket! :)

Note: Try saving up your tuna cans and cutting both ends off to use as the muffin rings. They tend to spread a bit if you don't have the rings in place. Also, I used a baking stone instead of a baking sheet and this proved to make the crust extra crispy as I like them. I highly recommend getting a baking stone if you do a lot of baking.

I made eggs benedict this morning just for these muffins so please see recipe for sauce hollandaise at end.


English Muffins
(from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

11 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp instant yeast
1 cup warm water (about 110F)
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp nonfat dry milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling

Other Essentials:
Vegetable Oil for bowl, plastic wrap, parchment, and rings
Semolina flour, for pan
Anise seeds, for sprinkling (optional)
Unhulled sesame seeds, for sprinkling (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine 5 ounces (1 cup) all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, the warm water, and the honey; whisk vigorously until mixture is thick and slightly foamy, about 1 minute.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 6 ounces (1 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and the dry milk. Sprinkle over the wet flour mixture, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on medium-low speed until all dry ingredients have been incorporated into the dough, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and salt, and continue to mix on medium speed until combined (the dough should be smooth but slightly tack), about 5 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add a little room-temperature water, 1 teaspoon at a time; if the dough is too wet, add more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover bowl with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

With lightly oiled hands, gently knead dough in the bowl, covering all sides with oil. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into a flattened rectangle; wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour or overnight.

Line a baking sheet with parchment, brush with oil, and lightly dust with semolina flour. Lightly oil eight English muffin rings, and place on prepared sheet. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and roll out to 3/4 inch thick. using a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out right rounds; place each round in one of the oiled rings. (Dough can be rerolled in order to cut all eight muffins.) Set aside in a warm place until rounds have risen slightly, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F.

Sprinkle rounds with seeds or salt, as desired (about 1 teaspoon per muffin). In a large skillet over medium heat, melt enough additional butter to coat the bottom of the pan. When the butter is bubbling, carefully transfer rounds to the skillet with a wide spatula, leaving muffin rings in place. Do not crowd the pan; rounds should fit comfortably without touching. Cook muffins until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip them over, and cook until golden, about 4 minutes more. Return muffins to the baking sheet, and remove muffin rings. Bake until muffins are cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (They should reach and internal temperature of 190F.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Muffins can be eaten warm, or allowed to cool and then split open with a fork and toasted. The muffins can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.


Eggs Benedict

Did you know the McDonald's Egg McMuffin was modeled after Eggs Benedict? They replaced the hollandaise sauce with the piece of cheese though. The eggs benedict I made this morning tastes similar to the Egg McMuffin... not sure if that's a good thing but it was definitely yummy. :) Basically you just toast a split english muffin, add a poached egg and slice of canadian bacon (back bacon), and then spoon over the hollandaise sauce on top.

I have to say that it took me 5 tries to make the sauce (I wasted quite a bit of butter and eggs this morning lol.) You have to be really careful not heat the mixture too much or the sauce will curdle or separate. Some ideas for troubleshooting after recipe.

Sauce Hollandaise

2 sticks (1 cup) butter (Note: You may not use all of this)
3 egg yolks
juice of half lemon
salt and pepper to taste

First, clarify the butter (Note: I personally think this step is optional but I've read that the hollandaise sauce is a lot thinner if you don't.) Melt the butter on low medium heat in a small saucepan. Remove the white scum that has floated to the top and then strain the butter. Set aside.

Fill a medium saucepan half with water and bring to a simmer. Put the egg yolks into a heatproof bowl (stainless steel) and spoon about 3 tablespoons of the hot water into it. Start whisking immediately over the heat until the egg yolks turned into the consistency of thick cream (ribbon stage). Immediately take pan off the heat (Note: This is quite important. I didn't do this the first four tries and my sauce split.)

Slowly pour the clarified butter into the egg yolks. Do not put it in all at once nor pour too slowly. Your sauce should start becoming the consistency of mayonaise. You don't have to use all your butter and please be aware that if you add too much butter, the egg yolk-butter emulsion will no longer hold and it will curdle. Add your lemon juice, mix, and taste with salt and pepper.

Hollandaise sauce doesn't store very well so try and use it the same day.

Please see an excellent video of this recipe here.

Troubleshooting:
If your sauce curdles, try several of the following methods:

• If your sauce is too thin or has separated, try spooning a tablespoon of cold water into it. If that doesn't work, try the next tip.


• Take a teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the sauce and whisk together until thick. You'll have to pour the curdled sauce into this mixture slowly.


• I've read in one book that you can mix 1 egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and combine your mixture into that. I haven't tried it though.

Jam Doughnuts

I've been neglecting Gale's book because this next recipe should have been hers but I am always flipping through Nigella's books and all her recipes are all very warm and inviting so I couldn't help myself. :) They don't really taste like doughnuts but they are very yummy and rolling them in sugar gave it just the right touch. :)

Jam Doughnuts

(from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

1/2 cup milk

7 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups self-rising cake flour (substitute 1 cup cake flour with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt) Note: You can always use all-purpose flour here. I did at least and they came out still pretty tender.

1/3 cup superfine sugar

12 tsp strawberry jam (Note: Use any kind of jam. I used part Black Raspberry and part Red Raspberry)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 well greased or nonstick 12-cup mini-muffin pan

Note: I actually used a normal muffin pan and there was enough batter. Just be careful in dividing the batter up and leaving extra for the tops.

Preheat oven to 375F.

With a fork, beat the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir this into the flour and 1/3 cup sugar to combine (just): the lumps don't matter and if you overbeat the muffins will be tough. Spoon the mixture into each muffin cup so that it's just under a third full. Then with a teaspoon add a dollop of strawberry jam-- about the size of a fat lima bean -- then top with more muffin mix so that the cases are just about full.

Put them in the preheated oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until the tops feel springy and resistant and the muffins have puffed up into little toadstools.

Meanwhile, melt the butter slowly in a thick-bottoms pan, and lay the remaining sugar out in a wide, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffins are ready, remove them from their cups, dip them in the butter, and roll them in the sugar. Eat warm.

Makes 12.

Clean clean clean!

Sorry I just had to put this picture up. :)

Macaroons & Milk Bread

No, these two don't really go together well but they will be together here in light of not having posted in the last day or two due to school projects and work (Why must these things get in the way of my blogging? :) Like I mentioned in my last post I'll be going through Gale Gand's Chocolate & Vanilla book doing each recipe and recording my experiences with them here. So let's start with the macaroons.

Recipe #2: Chocolate "burgers" with White Chocolate Filling
(technically #2 since I have already made the hot chocolate pudding)

Actually this recipe isn't going to make it here because it essentially failed. Like I had mentioned earlier, the recipe called for 1 egg white and 3 cups of confectioners' sugar rendering my batter white and crumbly and most definitely not "soupy" like it was supposed to be. On impulse, I added some water to moisten up the batter but when I put them in the oven they exploded... not a pretty sight.

The recipe's only saving grace was the white chocolate filling. It's actually a cream cheese base with added white chocolate. I don't normally like white chocolate so much but this filling was indeed exceptional. And I do think it would work well as fillings for other types of baked goods like a filling for a sponge cake or another type of sandwich cookie (just be sure to double/triple the recipe as appropriate). Try it!

White Chocolate Filling
3 oz white chocolate
3 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave (or use the double boiler method) and let cool a bit before adding into the cream cheese/butter mixture. Whip until combined.

Nigella's Chocolate Macaroons

So I couldn't just have the filling and no macaroons now could I? My next attempt was Nigella's chocolate macaroon recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess. These tasted wonderful except that they spread into something very thin in the oven. I'm not sure why but the batter was definitely "soupy" and perhaps a little too soupy that they couldn't hold any shape. The recipe calls for 4 egg whites and about a cup of confectioners' sugar. (See! 4 egg whites versus 1 egg white with a lot less sugar). Even though they spread very thinly I still used them with the white chocolate filling and they tasted fabulous. But they still didn't look like macaroons, dammit.

Next try: Martha Stewart's French Macaroons recipe

I actually really love this baking handbook and had success with two other recipes that came out of this book. This macaroon recipe calls for less egg whites but has a lot more almond flour than the previous two recipes (incidently, I decided against making the chocolate variation again.) The batter was definitely better and their shape held up pretty well when I piped them... but then they fell flat again once baked. I actually think that it was my fault this time. I must have overwhipped the egg whites because they were perfectly round and domed when I piped them onto the baking sheet.

Anyways, I made the swiss meringue frosting that goes with these cookies and they tasted fabulous despite not being so "macaroon-looking". As with Nigella's cookies, they didn't come out nice and smooth but rather bumpy and discolored. I think I'll have to start paying attention more to my egg whites and making sure I don't overbeat them.

Recipe for Martha's French Macaroons here. On a good note, I had my boyfriend take these to work and they were gone in an hour. :)



The Milk Bread

There is an "English bread" that they sell at the local Andersen's Bakery that I absolutely adore. Its not quite like your normal white bread as it is a bit richer and tenderer(?) (almost like brioche.) This craving struck me the other day and I searched high and low on the internet for such a bread. I found a link on the BBC food site that had a recipe for Milk Bread. The neat thing about this bread is that there is hardly any kneading involved and you do come out with a very nice bread. Instead of the fresh yeast it called for, I used instant yeast and this greatly shortened my rising times. In fact, my second rise went too far and my bread collapsed upon itself. It still was a decent loaf, just didn't look very pretty. At any rate, I would probably try using the fresh yeast or normal active dry yeast next time to see if the flavor comes out a little stronger and/or more complex. But this is an absolutely wonderful recipe for beginning bread makers since you basically knead for about 30 seconds in the entire recipe.

Check for the recipe here.

Chocolate and Vanilla by Gale Gand

Chocolate and Vanilla

by Gale Gand and Lisa Weiss

This is a book review in a sense.. in the sense that I'll actually be trying each and every one of the recipes in this book and posting my experience and opinions about it. I've had some success with several of Gale Gand's recipes in the past and since I share her love for intensely sweet desserts I've picked her latest book as a beginning training ground. The recipes in this book are not particularly advanced except for a few of them... chocolate macaroons, ladyfingers... I'd say that most of them are pretty easy and straight-forward... vanilla malteds, fudgy brownies, etc. But its the holidays and good time for me to spread the "sweet" and since a lot of the recipes are pretty traditional, I figured it would be good. (I'm still making my gingerbread cookies though and snowman cake though!)

I've actually already tried a few recipes but I have to sadly report that they did not turn out well. The first one that I tried "Hot Chocolate Pudding" was just way too sweet that my boyfriend actually said it had a "burning sensation". It could have been because I used Ghiradelli 60% chocolate and the excess sugar in their chocolate might have been too much already.

The second recipe I tried was Chocolate "burgers" with white chocolate filling. To begin with, calling delicate french macaroon cookies "burgers" is a little bit of trashy usage for this type of cookie. When I think of burgers, I think easy and casual... not difficult and fancy which is what french macaroons really are. Anyhow, the recipe called for 1 egg white... 1 egg white with 3 cups of confectioners' sugar! The recipe then goes on to say that the resulting batter should be "soupy". Well mine was anything far from "soupy" or wet for that matter. It seemed kind of odd that 1 egg white (a mere 2 1/4 tablespoons of liquid) could make 3 cups of sugar "soupy" so I looked into more french macaroon recipes and found that a lot of them used at least 3 to 4 egg whites with a lot less confectioners sugar. I'm not sure if its a typo in the book or I am doing it completely wrong.

I tried out some other macaroon recipes and they turned out okay. I'll post more about this later.

Big Nose Princess

Nigella on Epicurious.com

I'm a huge fan of Nigella's and so I thought I would like to share Epicurious.com's little piece on her for Christmas. To be honest, I haven't bought this latest book yet (Feast: Food to Celebrate Life) but this article prints some of her recipes and tips out of that book. I have to say that most of the Nigella recipes have been quite successful and so I would recommend any of her books.

Note: I've been baking several recipes of macaroons lately and will post soon about it.

Edit: I noticed Nigella's Christmas show will be on Food Network starting December 9th. Can't wait!