Potato Pizza

Yes, yet another pizza recipe.  What can I say?  I like bread and cheese.  However, this recipe has no cheese...  but don't worry, the creme fraiche makes up for it.  

After a few spicy meals in a row, RWT and I decided we wanted something a little calmer for dinner, so I decided on this recipe for Potato Pizza.  I made it as written with the exception of adding about a half cup more water to the dough.  Not only is a softer dough easier to spread out in the pan, it also has better crumb.  

Although not spicy, this pizza was very flavorful.  It was one of those things that you just want to keep eating because it tastes so good.  And it is actually light enough that it could be  cut into small pieces and served as an appetizer.  It's another keeper!

Goldilocks Kimchi

Finally...  I got it just right.  Take 1 was too salty.  Take 2 was not salty enough.   

For the second go-round, I tried the method of directly salting the chopped cabbage and that batch was lacking in salt.  Plus the cabbage was still really crunchy and it just tasted too "fresh".  

This last time, I soaked the cabbage as I did the first take, but paid careful attention to the time.  But even with the shorter brining time, it was still tasting rather salty after it was rinsed, so I soaked it overnight in un-salted water to see if I could pull a little more salt out of it.   And that did the trick -- the cabbage was softened, but the salt level was just right.    Yay!

Here are the amounts I used: 

1 large head Napa cabbage

1/2 cup kosher salt

1 cup water

Chop cabbage into large pieces and soak for 4-6 hours.  Rinse thoroughly in three changes of water and then soak another 4-6 hours (or overnight) is fresh water.  Drain and set aside.

1/4 cup rice flour

1 cup water

Mix together in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.   Then scrape into food processor and add:

1 head garlic, clove separated and peeled

1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped into large pieces

2" piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into thin slices

1/4 Asian pear, peeled and chopped into large pieces

Process the mixture until everything is finely chopped.

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoons shrimp paste

1 tablespoons dried red pepper, medium grind (I don't know if it was the pepper I got or what, but it is still plenty hot with just 1 tablespoon, you'll need to adjust this to your particular taste and pepper)

1 bunch green onions, chopped into 1/2" lengths

Mix the above with the ingredients from food processor, add the reserved, drained cabbage and mix well.  Refrigerate for at least a day for the flavors to meld.

Almond Puff Loaf

My dear Miss L. was recently tasked with bringing a pastry to a brunch, which got me started looking for an appropriate recipe for such an occasion...  and, boy, did I find one!   This Almond Puff Loaf recipe from King Arthur Flour is just the thing.

I was able to get it into the oven in less than 30 minutes and it was ready-to-eat in under 2 hours total.  Not too shabby for something that really does look and taste like it took much more work.  The recipe is a very traditional European pastry that consists of a layer of pie dough  (or tart dough) covered with choux paste and then baked. It is dressed up after baking and, in this case, it's spread with jam, sprinkled with toasted almonds and drizzled with a simple glaze. 

For mine, I spread one with raspberry jam and the other with blueberry jam.  The raspberry is definitely better to my tastes and I would imagine apricot would also go well with the almond flavor.  In the comments section on the King Arthur Flour site, I read that some people spread cream cheese between the two dough layers.  I also wonder how it would be with pastry cream (maybe spread on top after baking?).  

The recipe was made as written although I used about 1/4 of a teaspoon of almond extract instead of the vanilla in the glaze.  Also, the 4 tsp. of milk they call for in the glaze is way too much so just dribble in the milk gradually.  And, as with all choux paste-based pastries, be sure to bake these thoroughly or else they'll have a strong eggy flavor. 

So, Miss L., are you going to make them?!?

King Cake

As I've alluded to here and here, I've been working on perfecting my King Cake recipe.  The base recipe is this one from King Arthur Flour, but I've made some changes to it.

One change was to come up with a chocolate filling since it was requested for the King Cake I'm taking to a party on the 27th.  I searched for a pastry cream-type of chocolate filling, but decided to go with a chocolate cheesecake filling instead.  For the second test cake, when I added the melted chocolate to the cream cheese filling, the chocolate was not hot enough and the cream cheese too cold and it did not fully incorporate.  But that turned out to be a good thing -- having the little chocolate pieces made it taste much more chocolatey, so I've kept it that way.  Also, it is easier to put the filling together without having to melt the chocolate -- one less bowl to wash.

King Cake

One large cake, Serves 16 

Dough 
3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
2-1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup warm milk
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling 
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla 

OR

Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2.5 ounces (~1/3 cup unchopped chips) semi-sweet chocolate, very finely chopped 

OR

Pecan Filling

1 cup pecan halves, broken up slightly and roasted until fragrant
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
4 tablespoons corn syrup

OR

Strawberry Filling
2/3 cup strawberry preserves (I like to use seedless jam), stirred well

Egg Wash

1 egg white + 1 tablespoon water, mixed together

 

Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
~2 tablespoons milk

Topping
yellow, purple, and green fine sparkling sugars
 

Mix together 3 cups of flour and the rest of the dry ingredients for the dough, then add the warm milk and melted butter.  Mix for 30 seconds or so and then add the eggs and vanilla and mix until a dough forms.  Knead for 8 minutes, adding up to 1/2 cup flour.  In order to avoid a dry cake, you want this to be a very soft dough, so be careful not too add too much flour, especially if kneading by hand.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.

If using one of the cream cheese fillings:  While the dough is rising, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, flour and cocoa (if making chocolate filling) just until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly.  Add the chopped chocolate if making the chocolate filling. Try not to incorporate too much air into your filling while mixing it or you'll end up with air pockets in the finished cake.   Chill the filling while the dough rises so it will firm up and be easier to work with. 

If using the pecan filling:  Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface and pat and stretch it into a 24" x 4" rectangle. Spread the filling down the center of the dough. Then fold one edge of the dough over the filling, brush the top of that edge with the egg wash and fold the other edge of the dough on top. of that  Pinch the edges together to seal the filling inside as much as possible.  Also pinch the ends together

Place the roll of dough on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper (or lightly greased), seam down. Form into a circle and pinch the ends together. You will want a pretty big area in the center or else you won't have a hole in the middle once it bakes.  Cover and let rise for about an hour. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F while the dough rises.

Brush the risen loaf with the egg wash and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then tent the cake lightly with aluminum foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until it's a rich golden brown. Remove the cake from the oven and carefully transfer it from the baking sheet to a rack to cool.

Beat together all of the icing ingredients and dribble in additional milk to make the icing pourable but still thick. Pour the icing over the completely cooled cake and, while the icing is still sticky, sprinkle with alternating bands of yellow, purple, and green sugars. 

Although it hastens staling of any yeast-raised baked goods, you'll need to refrigerate this if not eating it within a few hours.  Bring to room temperature before serving and keep leftovers in the refrigerator.

Good thing I heat-tested a baby!  They will have to be inserted after baking.

Can You Guess What I'll Be Baking? More Hints!

First hint is here.  

 

I'll be taking this to a party on the 27th and this is the third practice one I've made over the last couple of weeks.  I think I finally have all the kinks worked out.

 

 I'll post the recipe next week.

Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese

For dinner tonight, I tried this recipe for Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese.  The good part -- it was really easy to put together.  The bad part -- it was rather blah (although it did taste better lukewarm than it did hot).  

RWT said it needed garlic.  Or bacon.  Or both.  It is probably not a recipe I'll be making again without some changes.  The idea of adding bacon is rarely a bad one, but I'd probably fry up a bit of pancetta instead.  However, that would not make it a quick and simple recipe.  Hmmm....  something to ponder.

Tandoori Turkey Fingers with Masala Ketchup

Confession:  I am not a big lover of turkey.  I usually only make it at Thanksgiving and, very occasionally, Christmas.  And by the time I clean the turkey, brine the turkey, cook the turkey and carve the turkey, I am well aware that it is a big, dead bird.  But when I saw a recipe for Tandoori Turkey Fingers with Masala Ketchup on this blog, I decided to give it a chance.

I made the recipe as written and it came together without many issues.  I used homemade breadcrumbs that were ground a little larger than what is shown in the pictures in the blog, so I did not have quite enough to cover all the turkey fingers.  Next time, I'll make sure my breadcrumbs are more finely chopped.  And I found a package of turkey cutlets, so I only had to cut them into fingers and pound them lightly.  Lastly, I did not have any limes, so I omitted the lime juice from the ketchup and did not miss it because I thought it was tart enough without it.

And the verdict?  They were very good.  And very healthy -- the only fat in the recipe is from the egg-wash, buttermilk and turkey.  They bake up really quickly (I put them on a rack on a baking sheet to make sure they were really crispy and that sped up the cooking even more), so there was a bit of a raw taste to the spices in the breading.  I know pan frying would solve that (there goes the low-fat!), but maybe spraying the the breaded fingers with a little olive oil before baking will have the same effect without adding too many additional calories.  And I guess I need to give turkey more chances.

Rice Crispy Treats

I had a bunch of rice crispies leftover from the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars recipe, so what did I make?  Yup, Rice Crispy Treats.  

But not your usual marshmallow-y ones, I used a recipe that calls for sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar and corn syrup.  They are not as sweet as the traditional ones and have a more caramel-y flavor.

Here is the recipe:

Terri's Rice Crispy Treats
Makes one 13”x9” pan

16 ounces puffed rice cereal

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1¾ cups corn syrup

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Place the rice cereal in a bowl and spray a 13”x9” pan with nonstick spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup and boil for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the sweetened condensed milk, then boil an additional 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour the syrup mixture over the rice cereal and mix well.

Fill the baking pan with the mixture and allow the mixture to cool, then cut into squares. Wrap the treats tightly in plastic wrap if not serving immediately.

[If they come out too soft and don't hold together, boil the mixture a little longer next time!]

Snow Delay

With all the snow we've had here over the last week, I've not tried quite as many new recipes as I'd planned.  Partially because I am limited to supplies I have on hand.  Partially because sitting around on the couch all day watching the snow fall does not really work up an appetite.  And partially because I'm still trying to perfect a few "old" recipes.

So until I get back into the swing of things, here are some snow pictures...

This hungry squirrel had ventured out to dig in the snow for the peanuts I'd put out for the birds.

Would anyone like a seat?

Buffalo Chicken Dip

As is appropriate for Super Bowl Sunday, I made Buffalo Chicken...  Dip.  Served it on sourdough toasts.  It was good, but something seemed to be missing.  I tried it cold when I first mixed it together and thought it tasted a little better (even though I abhor cold chicken), but it did not have the greatest  mouth-feel cold.  What I will probably do if I make this again is to stir some chopped celery leaves and possibly some cider vinegar into it since I think the flavors it is missing are "green" and tart.

I got the recipe from this blog, but ended up altering a few things.  I used three baked (with salt and pepper) boneless skinless chicken breasts (that I cooked at home) instead of the rotisserie chicken.  I shredded the chicken breasts and mixed them with Tabasco sauce, but nowhere near the 1/2 cup of hot sauce called for.  I just added it to taste until the chicken was sufficiently spicy.  And then I used Homemade Ranch Dressing  in place of the store-bought ranch and blue cheese dressing.  I mixed the ranch dressing with the cream cheese, then added the blue cheese, then added the chicken.  Also, I put it together earlier in the day and kept it in the refrigerator, so it was pretty well chilled and took nearly 40 minutes to heat through. 

I asked RWT what he thought would make it better and he suggested deconstructing it...  into spicy chicken, served with a blue cheese sauce.  Ha-ha.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Since I refuse to use store-bought ranch dressing because of all the junk they put in it, I needed to make my own for the Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.  There are zillions of recipes on the internet for ranch dressing and the one below is the combination of a few recipes.  I did not have any chives (dried or otherwise) on hand, so I omitted them this time, but I've left them in the recipe below since I think they'd be a good addition to the dressing.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried chives

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

pinch black pepper

pinch salt

Mix them all together and refrigerate for at least an hour for fthe lavors to meld.  Thin with more buttermilk if you'd like a thinner dressing.

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

The Condensed Milk Pound Cake recipe from The Sweet Spot did not disappoint.  In fact, it is the best pound cake I've ever eaten.  By far.  You probably now realize how I adore that lovely sweet dairy taste and this cake has it.  But don't worry, it is not overwhelming, simply a subtle goodness.  While this cake is delicious on its own, it would definitely play well with other accompaniments such as peaches or strawberries or...

I did not follow the recipe as written when it came to the mixing since my food processor bowl was in the dishwasher after making Kimchi, Take 2 (the not salty enough sequel to Kimchi, Take 1).  I used my stand mixer, increased the time for beating the butter/sugar, added the eggs (one at a time) and then added the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to incorporate the flour.  The cake baked up beautifully.  And was just the right amount of batter for my new 10-cup bundt pan.  The one thing I would do differently would be to knock the batter-filled pan a few more times on the counter before  baking to make sure all the nooks and crannies of the pan are filled with batter.

Previously, my favorite pound cake recipe came from Cook's Illustrated, but this recipe is now my go-to Pound Cake.  Great taste, great texture and easy to put together.