Barefoot Bloggers Bonus: Cheese Danish

This month’s Barefoot Bloggers Bonus recipe was chosen by Val of More Than Burnt Toast and it gave me another opportunity to use the puff pastry that I had purchased from Trader Joe’s. This recipe makes preparing Danish a snap – why would you even consider buying it anymore when this is so easy and you can make whatever flavor combination you choose?

I made one small change in the basic recipe, substituting cottage cheese for the ricotta. I just couldn’t justify buying a carton of ricotta for one tablespoon of ingredient, when I figured cottage cheese, which I had on hand, was an acceptable substitute. While the filling was a bit on the runny side, it did firm up nicely when baked. I suspect this was due to the fact that I used one whole egg. One of the things about Ina’s recipes that puzzles me is her consistent use of extra large eggs. They aren’t easy to find here, and I always have several cartons of large eggs available anyway. It just seems crazy to me when large eggs are the standard.

In the end the Danishes turned out deliciously, and since they are so quick to prepare, I’ll make sure I have puff pastry dough in the freezer at all times. Visit the Barefoot Bloggers site to see what the other bakers did and what the upcoming recipes are going to be.

The recipe for Easy Cheese Danish can be found in Barefoot Contessa at Home.

World Day of Bread 2008

Back in September, Zorra (1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf) invited all breadbakers to participate in the 2008 World Day of Bread, which is October 16. The original World Bread Day was created by the UIB International Union of Bakers and Bakers-Confectioners. They wanted to provide an opportunity for anyone to learn and talk about all things bread – bread itself, the bakers, the history, and the importance of bread in our lives, past, present and future.

I learned to bake bread as a sophomore in high school, a long time ago. I haven’t stopped baking since that time, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that baking bread is my most favorite activity, especially yeast breads. There is something magical about the hand-to-dough physical contact and the satisfaction of taking a living entity and transforming it into a tangible, delicious product.

Early in 2007, I discovered a bread recipe that has become my all-time favorite. I’ve written about it before, but for this special event, I decided it was the perfect bread to make – Sourdough Rosemary Raisin bread. All I was given, originally, was a list of ingredients and their proportions, and it was up to me and my know-how to combine all those ingredients and produce a flavorful loaf of bread.

I have scaled down the original recipe – quartered it, actually. It is possible to double or even quadruple the amounts if you have a large-enough stand mixer. What follows is the recipe I was given.

14 ounces bread flour

4 ounces whole grain flour

1 teaspoon dry yeast (instant or active dry)

½ ounce Kosher salt

1 ounce honey

2 ounces olive oil

2 ounces raisins

1/16 cup chopped fresh rosemary

8 ounces water

8 ounces sourdough starter

That’s it. You may now go forth and make bread.

But, for those who might desire some further instruction, here’s what you do.

Place your stand mixer bowl on a scale and zero out the weight. Then begin adding the dry ingredients, one by one. You may need to zero out the scale from time to time. After the dry ingredients are in the bowl, add the wet ingredients.

Using the dough hook, mix at low speed until all the ingredients are moistened and combined. Turn off the mixer and let everything rest for about 10 minutes. Resume mixing with the dough hook until you have a smooth, satiny dough. This could take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place on a lightly floured board. Manually knead the dough for the last few minutes until it feels just right. That takes experience, but the dough really does feel satiny smooth. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double. The time will vary depending on how warm the day is.

When the dough has doubled, gently remove it, and divide it into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and let the dough rest for 5 minutes. At this point, you can shape it however you wish, into batards, boules, loaves, rolls, etc. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and let rise until nearly double. This will probably take less than an hour, maybe 45 minutes.

Because I have a regular oven, I usually bake the bread at 425°F for about 25 minutes, until the outside is brown and the interior temperature is 200°F. If you have a stone or a stone-lined oven, experiment with baking temperatures and times. The key factor is the interior temperature.

Remove from the oven when finished, let cool for about one hour, then slice and enjoy.

I believe that if everyone baked their own bread and celebrated World Bread Day, there would be peace on Earth. Thanks, Zorra, for sponsoring this event. Follow this link to see all the wonderful breads that were entered for 2008.

And check out Susan's tribute to weekly bread baking, YeastSpotting.

TWD: Biscotti Adventures

It's funny how a split second decision can make such a difference.

Consider this week's TWD challenge, Lenox Almond Biscotti, a recipe chosen by Gretchen Noelle of Canela & Comino. Now, I've made biscotti before, anise-flavored almond ones that hung around for over a year before the last one was consumed. A hardy bunch they were.

Reading the play around tips, I decided to customize my cookies. I made pistachio-cherry-lime biscotti, using a fresh lime from my tree and some lime oil in place of the almond extract. The dough turned out perfectly.



I then transformed it into a squarish log on the baking sheet, and was just about to slide it into the hot oven, when I decided to take its photograph.



A split second decision.

In the middle of snapping the photo, the power went out.

So, there I stood, in the dusk of the evening, staring at ready-to-bake cookie dough and an oven with no power.

I told myself that it could have been worse -- the cookies could have already been in the oven, partially baked. What then?

Quickly, I shoved the pan inside the dark refrigerator, then went in search of matches and candles, prepared for the long haul as darkness descended.

About an hour later, the power suddenly was restored. Of course, I had to re-heat the oven, but at least I wasn't dealing with half-baked cookies. Like most others, the first round of baking took longer than the 15 minutes stated. I added another 10 minutes to the time; the cookie log was just beginning to turn golden. After a 30 minute cooling time, I sliced them into 3/4" pieces, then popped them back into the oven for about 20 minutes. The biscotti firmed up nicely as they cooled.



I really liked the end result better than the previous recipe I had used. While hard, they weren't rock hard and the flavor combination was delicious. You'll have a chance to read about more flavor choices and baking adventures if you check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blog.

My Kitchen, My World: Morocco

I’m a bit late today with my post because I’m still battling a nasty head cold. I reached a point yesterday where I hit up the neighbor kid for codeine cough syrup. That stuff is wicked.

Anyway, this week, My Kitchen, My World, was my choice. With so many countries in the world, it wasn’t easy to select just one. Several years ago I had a most delicious meal at a Moroccan restaurant in Los Angeles (Dar Maghreb), so I decided that Morocco would be my choice. I love the combinations of spice and fruits and the use of couscous and phyllo, and Morocco, like many countries in the Mediterranean region create wonderful dishes with these ingredients.

I chose a recipe from a culinary textbook on international foods. I would like to say that it was a good recipe, but it wasn’t. The resulting food was fine, but the instructions were not the best, so I just sort of meddled with it, using the listed ingredients but cooking it my way. Like Natashya, I made a chicken tagine. Unlike Natashya, mine was totally different and I don’t have a wonderful-cool tagine cooker to use. I will have to remedy that.

In a nutshell, here is my version of chicken tagine, based loosely on the textbook’s version.

Take four boneless, skinless chicken breasts and brown them in olive oil. Set aside. Add two small onions, sliced, along with 2 cloves of minced garlic, ½ teaspoon each of cumin, turmeric, coriander, Kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon each of ginger and pepper. Sauté for 2-4 minutes to soften the onions and bring out the flavor of the spices. Return the chicken to the pan, add enough water to reach about ¾’s up the side of the chicken pieces; cover, simmer for about 10 minutes. Add ½ cup soft, dried apricots, sliced in half, if you wish, and a squeeze of lemon. Cover and simmer for an addition 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is done.

The original recipe used bone-in chicken, didn’t saute the onions., and used a total cooking time of one hour. Experimenting with this recipe would be a good thing.

There was another Moroccan recipe I thought about using. If I have time this week, I will give it a try and post the result. In the meantime, be sure to visit the other blogs participating in MKMW and say hello to Susan.

BB: Butternut Squash Risotto a la F. Krueger

The Barefoot Bloggers are kicking off the month of October with Butternut Squash Risotto, a lovely fall dish, chosen by Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook. With just a hint of saffron and an added touch of pancetta (or bacon), it is a hearty meal in itself. I love making risotto because of all the ways you can dress it up, and roasted squash is delicious mixed with the finished product.

Here’s a tip when preparing the butternut squash for this or any dish:

First, get into your best Freddy Krueger frame-of-mind.

Next, after you wash the squash, take a knife and stab poke it all over so the steam can escape. (You may drop the FK persona at this point.)

Place the squash directly on the rack in a 350°F oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Let cool until you can handle the squash. Then trim the ends, cut in half, remove the seeds, and slice or chop as desired.

The quick baking softens the outer layer of flesh and skin, making it much, much easier to cut and saving you from potential knife slips and loss of digits.

Be sure and visit the Barefoot Bloggers to see each individual rendition of this recipe, and stay tuned for more delicious treats in the coming weeks.

More Brandy

There’s a new challenge out in blogland, started by some of the fine baking ladies at Tuesdays with Dorie: You Want Pies With That? Now, who doesn’t love pie? It has to be my favorite dessert of all. (I’ve been known to bake pies rather than cakes for birthdays.)

Each month there will be a specific theme. For October, the theme is “I Love that Movie!” Well, there was no doubt in my mind which movie I would choose. Who can forget the infamous/famous Potzdorf pie fight in “The Great Race,” starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood? After Prince Hapnick is bombarded with pies, he pauses, gives the pie debris on his face a taste, then says, delightedly, “umm, brandy! Throw more brandy!”

So, in honor of Prince Hapnick, I made a Brandy Alexander Pie (actually two mini-pies) with a graham cracker crust. It’s great for a hot day since there is minimal cooking.

Brandy Alexander Pie

Filling for a 9 inch pie crust of your choice:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs separated
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup creme de cacao (I used dark creme de cacao)
• 1 cups heavy cream, whipped (whip another cup for garnish, if you wish)

Instructions:
Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a sauce pan. Add 1/3 cup sugar, salt and egg yolks. Stir to blend. Heat over low flame until sugar and gelatin dissolve. Remove from heat. Add liquor and chill until mixture starts to thicken. (Don't let it get too thick or the egg whites and whipped cream won't blend evenly.) Beat egg whites until stiff, adding 1/3 cup sugar. Fold into thickened mixture. Whip 1 cup cream until stiff. Fold into pie filling. Garnish with the other cup of whipped cream, if desired. Chill for several hours or overnight.

For the crust, I crushed enough graham crackers to make a generous 1/3 cup, then blended in 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 teaspoons butter. I pressed the crumbs into two tart dishes, then baked them for about 9 minutes at 375°F.

Rain check for TWD and other miscellany

This past weekend one of my best friends was visiting for several days. We met while living in New Mexico, and although we've both taken different paths since then, we still get together when we can. She is currently living in Reston, Virginia, and I'm out here in California. How far apart can we get?

As luck would have it, she needed to come to California for some job-related training, and since she had never been here, it was fortunate that she could add a few vacation days to her trip. Thursday night I cooked dinner -- Chicken Cacciatore with Crisp Polenta, from the October issue of Everyday Food. Delicious! We'll both be making that dish more than once, so I highly recommend it.

Friday we stayed local, eating breakfast and dinner out at two of my favorite restaurants and working in the yard. I have to say, she is the only visitor I've ever had who automatically knows where everything is, no asking required. That's a good thing.

Saturday we took a drive up through Santa Barbara to Solvang, an interesting town full of Danish treats. We stopped for lunch at the Summerland Beach Cafe, where I ordered my usual Bravo Avo Burger, loaded with avocado, sour cream, and green chili. Even the rain didn't stop us from having a good time.


(Really bad cell phone photo.)


Yesterday she flew back to DC. I'll try and get her out here again before too much time passes because there is still much to see and do.

This morning, I woke up with a head cold, the first in over a year. (Not enough green chili, I suspect.) Be that as it may, while my spirit was willing to cook the Caramel Peanut-topped Brownie Cake today, my body was not, and frankly, no one would be likely to share it with me either under these conditions. So, I will take a rain check and resume baking when I'm feeling healthier. Meanwhile, visit the other TWD blogs and read about their endeavors.