A bit of flour

I’ve tweaked the cookie recipe again. And I’m extremely pleased with it now.

As I was working with it, I thought the melted chocolate was too much trouble and that I should just omit it. But I discovered that warming the chocolate in the microwave worked just as well as warming it on the stove and it only took a few moments. Of course the chocolate had to be watched very closely, but again it only took about 30 seconds, with me stirring every 5-10 seconds.

Chocolate cookies

½ cup butter flavored crisco

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 oz melted chocolate

1½ cups flour

 ½ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

First I beat the crisco and sugar, at the medium setting, for about a minute. Then I added the rest of the ingredients and beat until everything was incorporated.

When the cookie dough was done, I put it into an oiled ziplock bag. Then I removed as much air as possible, and proceeded to roll the dough into a log. Once logged, the dough went into the freezer, while I cleaned up.

After I was done, the dough came out. It was stiffer and easier to cut. I placed the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baked them for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. They cooled for 5 minutes.

How did they taste?

Terrific!

They were soft but not too soft. They were rich and delicious and they sort of melted in my mouth. They were extremely chocolaty, having both melted chocolate and cocoa powder. I did choose to leave out the chocolate chunks called for in the original recipe, but they certainly could have been left in to deliver a triple chocolate whammy. Come to think of it, nuts would’ve been great too.

 Suffice it to say, they were very very good.

ps Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday

Posted on October 25th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

And I know just the one. The first step is to get everything mis en place.

I’ll need :

1 cup milk

¼ cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup butter

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup sugar

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons yeast

Usually I’d add everything to the bread machine in the order listed and select the dough cycle. However, that’s quite a bit of flour for my machine, so I’ll start off with 4 cups. Once that has been incorporated, I’ll add the last cup.

Next, the topping.

For that I’ll need:

1 cup butter

½ cup sugar

2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

I mix it all together and refrigerate until later.

When the dough is ready, I remove it and cut it into sections with my dough scrapper. Then I form the sections into balls, placing them on a cookie sheet as I go.

The next step is to decide how many to bake. A dozen sounds good. The rest of the dough will go in the freezer. Once frozen, it will get put in a Ziploc bag and then go back in the freezer.

After that’s done, its just a matter of putting everything together.

I start by lining my baking pan with parchment paper, this will make clean up very easy. Then I spoon enough of the topping into my baking pan to coat the bottom. Next I place the buns in the pan, making sure to leave enough space for them to double in size, and then I cover them.

When they’re ready, I bake them at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Then I turn them out onto a platter to cool; thanks to the parchment paper, the buns come out without incident.

Conclusion:  Success.

I was aiming for great tasting ‘now’ sticky buns. It took me about three hours to make and bake these.

And next time, I’ll use the buns in the freezer and it will only take me an hour and a half.

I’m very pleased.

Posted on October 15th, 2008 under Breakfast, General. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

        I think I’ll make two, one for me and one for the freezer. I’m so excited, though a tad bit apprehensive. You remember me telling you about the temperament of my pies. Here’s hoping the first pie won’t ask me to bake the other one, not today anyway.

Anywho, I start out by making the crust. I use a simple but wonderful recipe that I got from allrecipes.com. Be forewarned, the recipe has been tweaked.

French Pastry Pie Crust

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons white sugar

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 egg

some water

I mix it in the food processor. Putting everything in but the water, no particular order. Um, as for the water, I only add as much as I need, so it varies. I add just enough for the dough to come together.

When it does, it will start to bump around in the food processor. Then I remove it, gather it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until needed.

Next step is the filling. Another little “tweaked” something from allrecipes.com.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

½  cup water

I melt the butter, add the flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stirring, stirring, stirring. Next, I add the sugars. And that’s it for the filling.

As for the apples, I usually buy three bags of apples at a time. Then when I get home, I peel, slice and freeze them single layer on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a big Ziploc bag and put them back in the freezer. So, they’re all ready. I use about 3 to 4 cups.

A little note: I freeze the apples single layer because once I froze them all together and had a giant ball of apple slices. It took me a long time to chip away bits of apples to use in a pie. And so, after that pleasant little experience, I decided to freeze the apples single layer. It’s a lot easier to get the amount I need now.

Once everything is ready, its time to build the pies.

I’ll just tell you how I do one.

I divide the dough in half. Roll out one half, spray the pan with pam and fit the dough into the pie pan. Then I add the apples and pour the filling on top, remembering to reserve about 1/4 cup for later.

I roll out the other bit of dough and lay it on top. I crimp the edges together to seal the pie, and add the vents. Then I use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with the reserved filling.

Here’s where the two pies parted ways. One got wrapped and went in the freezer, the other went into my oven, which had been preheated to 350 degrees.

Then I baked the pie until bubbly, which took about 30-40 minutes, and allowed it to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Ahhh, yes! Fantastic!

It really is a terrific pie.

Absolutely delicious!

 I hope you like it too.

ps Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday

Posted on October 11th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

After all my sandwich making adventures, I was looking to do something different with the last of the French bread on my counter. French toast was an option but I wanted to do something special. Plus, I was thinking ‘snack,’ not so much ‘meal.’ I decided to slice and toast the loaf and apply a spread. But which one?

Hmm….

I wanted something exceptional.

Something rich and creamy, with great color and universal appeal.

I decided on the spinach and artichoke dip; it’s always a winner.

I used a recipe from allrecipes.com but with a few changes.

Spinach and Artichoke dip

1 package cream cheese

½ cup mayo

1 cup parmesan

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 can spinach — drained

1 can artichokes — drained (but reserve the liquid) and chopped

a bit of salt and pepper

Mix the first 4 ingredients till smooth

Add the spinach, the artichokes, and the salt and pepper

Then add ¾ of the liquid from the artichokes

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes

I toasted the bread during the last five minutes of the dip’s cooking time. That way they both came out at the same time. It made for quick assembly and immediate consumption. Very nice.

Posted on October 8th, 2008 under Snacks. Tags: Recipe. Comments: 4

But great tasting gravy doesn’t have to be a mystery. Anyone can make absolutely delicious gravy anytime using specific ingredients and one well kept secret.

We’ll look at the ingredients first then we’ll talk about the secret.

First you’ll need the fat and juices, which will hereafter be affectionately referred to as liquid gold, from your turkey. Second, you’ll need flour; I like ‘all purpose.’ Good now we can move on to the secret.

        “What?” You say. “That’s it, just two things?” Yep, that’s it. By using those two ingredients, you can make an amazingly good turkey gravy. One that you will be thrilled to eat and proud to serve.

And now the little known secret to making fabulous gravy:

You have to allow the flour to cook in your liquid gold long enough for it to lose its raw taste and become golden brown in appearance. This will take a few minutes but it makes a huge difference.

Once it has the right look, you are ready to add an additional 1-2 cups of the liquid gold. If you like a thinner gravy, add a bit more and you’re done.

I know this may not seem like enough, but if you treated your bird really well like I did in this post, you won’t need to add anything else to your gravy. It will be very delicious and far better than store bought.

The procedure start to finish:

1)    Add three tablespoons of turkey fat to your pan. (medium high heat)

2)    When it just starts to bubble, add an equal amount of flour.

3)    Mix vigorously so the flour does not clump

4)    Cook for 1-2 minutes

5)    Add two cups liquid gold

6)    Stir and cook until blended

7)   Add more liquid gold if needed and enjoy.

Posted on September 24th, 2008 under Dinners. Tags: Recipe. Comments: 3

Once the turkey has cooled, its time to remove a cup or two of meat and a couple of cups of the wonderful juices that are at the bottom of the roasting pan. The juices will be used to create a delicious sauce for the potpie.

The dough takes only moments to mix up. Then I wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge while I tidy up a bit.

After that’s done, I head over to the cabinet for the canned veggies, I like diced potatoes, sliced carrots, and sweet peas.

Then I get the dough, divide it in half and roll it out. Next, I fit one half into the pie pan.

Layering the filling makes construction fast and easy. First I add the chopped turkey, next the carrots, then peas, then potatoes, then sauce. Then I put the pie top in place and add vents. Finally, I bake it at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I allow it to cool a bit, then serve.

By this time you’re thinking that was a lot of work for a couple of cups of meat; but that’s not just any meat, it is really really good turkey. Plus a whole turkey can be used to make quite a few potpies. And with the difficult work of brining and baking the turkey behind you, you’ll have no excuse for not whipping up a great tasting homemade turkey potpie anytime, day or night.

Posted on September 23rd, 2008 under Dinners. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

          Such a wonderful and filling meal. And making it yourself means you can add any thing you like and as much of your filling as you like. Cups of turkey, spoonfuls of potatoes, ounces of peas, sprinkles of rice, handfuls of carrots and corn.

I use the same pie crust recipe I use for my apple pies but with half the sugar when I make a pot pie.

The first step: take care of the turkey. A really flavorful turkey pot pie depends on a properly seasoned turkey. And turkeys that want to be in my pies get very special treatment.

I start out by carefully selecting my bird. Yes that frozen one over there will do nicely. I let it defrost in the refrigerator nice and slow for 2 days. Then I remove the little goodies tucked inside and reserve them for later use.

Next, I place the bird in a very large pot, to which I add:

½ cup salt

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon chicken bouillon

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

After that, I fill the pot with enough water to cover the turkey and place the lid on the pot. Then back in the fridge it goes for another 24 hours.

Next day, I rinse it with water and pat it dry. And finally, I bake it until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees. Remembering that I must allow it to cool a bit before slicing.

Then and only then is it ready to be made into a pot pie.

And I’ll tell you exactly how I do that tomorrow.

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 under Dinners. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

Over the years, I’ve discarded pounds and pounds of what should have been cake. Try as I might, none of the zillions of cake recipes out there ever worked for me. Ok I didn’t try zillions, but I did give it ‘the old college try.’ One day I decided it was time for a break; it was just too disappointing.

        Then I found Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I read about her chocolate cake memories and felt so inspired. I started at once, very excited about the possibilities. But little by little doubt crept in and right before it was time to remove the cakes from the oven, only a trace amount of hope remained. I readied myself for yet another disappointment as I tested the cakes for doneness with a toothpick. The toothpick came out clean. That’s odd, I thought. Then I removed the cakes from the oven and allowed them to cool a bit before removing them from the pans. They looked like, well like cakes are supposed to look. It was beautiful. After removing them from the pans, and allowing them to cool completely, I frosted them with store bought frosting because I can not make homemade frosting, not yet anyways.

        So there it was, a delicious two layer chocolate cake, minus one slice, adorned my table.

It really was a beautiful thing.

Chocolate Cake

1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾  teaspoon baking soda
¾  teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ½  cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups warm water

My journey began with me trying to make a simple yellow cake and midway through I find that I’ve learned to create an elegant and super moist chocolate cake.

I’m pretty happy.

p.s. Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday.

Posted on September 13th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

     Remember waking up to the smell of pancakes when you were little. That sweet aroma could just about lift you out of bed, carry you down the hall, and seat you ever so gingerly at the kitchen table. No cold cereal today, no sirree bob. Mom was making a hot breakfast; and, pancakes were on the menu. Two please with extra butter and drown ’em in syrup. You stuffed your napkin in your jammies, thanked God and then you ‘went to town’ on those pancakes.    

       Afterwards, your stomach stuck out and you couldn’t eat another bite if you wanted to. You hugged mom and headed back down the hall, grateful for the little things in life. Ahh, if only we could recapture those days.

     Well, we can’t move back in with the folks; but, we can treat ourselves to great tasting flapjacks any time we like. Of course you could buy a box; but, homemade pancakes are so much better. They require only a few ingredients and can be made in no time at all.

        This recipe is my favorite. I got it from Allrecipes.com

Good old fashioned pancakes

 1 ½ cups flour

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (I use two)

1 ¼ cups milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg

     Do yourself a favor and double or triple the dry ingredient part of the recipe. Then remove only the amount you’ll need at that moment and put the rest in a container for next time.

 If you’ve never made homemade pancakes or if its been a while, treat yourself to some soon.

Posted on September 12th, 2008 under Breakfast. Tags: Recipe. Comments: 1