Sweet Request

Yesterday afternoon my grandmother asked if I was planning on making any desserts soon because she was craving something sweet. She doesn't really have a sweet tooth according to her but I guess everyone craves sweets every now and then. Because I have to feed the baby every couple of hours, I can't really get into anything too involved so I thought cookies would be good. I didn't want to take a trip to the supermarket and I because it was already the afternoon (today), I didn't want a recipe that required the butter to be at room temp.




With all those things in mind, I started browsing through a few books to get some ideas. I remembered a cookie I had been thinking about making for a while and as it turns out, required that the butter be chilled. Excellent! The cookies are called alfajores de dulce de leche and this specific recipe came from Martha Stewart's Cookies. The recipe for the dulce de leche itself takes forever (5 hours according to her) but I couldn't wait that long so I made it Cuban style, and really, the only style I have ever seen used by real people. You can use Martha's recipe but if you have a pressure cooker, my way is MUCH faster.




Alfajores de Dulce de Leche

4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 3/4 lbs) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup water
sanding sugar for dusting
Dulce de Leche

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour and confectioner's sugar. Pulse a few times to combine and aerate. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal about 20 seconds. With the machine running, pour the water in a slow, steady stream and process just until the dough comes together, about 20 seconds. Form the dough into two flattened disks and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat. Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a well floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a scant 1/4 inch thickness. Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds form the dough and transfer to the baking sheets. Repeat with the other disk of dough. Gather up the scraps from both batches, reroll and cut. Sprinkle half the rounds with the sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Before serving, spread about 1 1/2 tsp of dulce de leche on the bottoms of the unsugared cookies. Top with the sugared cookies to form a sandwich. Serve immediately.


Dulce de Leche

2 cans condensed milk, unopened and label peeled

Place both cans in a pressure cooker that will accommodate them. Cover and bring up to pressure over high heat. When the pressure cooker begins to hiss, lower the heat making sure it is still enough to maintain pressure and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cans from the pressure cooker when cool enough to handle and let cool completely before using.

If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook the cans in boiling water for one and a half hours, making sure not to let the pot boil dry.




The pressure cooker is my preferred method but I realize not every household has one. There is nothing wrong with using a plain pot if you have time. If you do use a pressure cooker and are not very familiar with it, please, please, please follow the manufacturer's instructions! Pressure cookers can be dangerous! That said, I have yet to witness a pressure cooker accident and I have seen them used my entire life. Heck, I don't even know anyone who has had an accident.

The cookies were a hit and grandma's sweet tooth has been appeased.

Easy. Breezy. Beautiful. No-Knead Bread

I first heard about no-knead bread last year when I started blogging. I kept coming across recipes and photos here and there and I really wanted to try it. The only reason I hadn't, aside from laziness, was the fact that the lid knob of my cast iron dutch oven (Le Creuset) is not rated for 500°F, the oven temperature called for in all the recipes. Sure, I had seen other people do it but I was a bit apprehensive about ruining a piece of cookware that costs hundreds of dollars. Of course, the knob could be replaced but what if it melted onto the lid???

Well, after reading about it on a magazine by a publisher who shall not be named, I figured it was OK. Still, it took me 7 more months to give it a shot. Eager to get back in the kitchen now that I am able to, I finally decided to give it a go last night. I was a bit apprehensive because even though every raves about the bread, I kept wondering how good it could really be when it was so hhmm...simple...for lack of a better term. There was no kneading (almost), nothing fancy, nothing that screamed GOOD BREAD. That's probably silly but that's what was going through my mind.




Easy it was indeed, tasty...definitely! I was actually very impressed and I LOVED the crust. I am a sucker for crusty bread (oh Italy...how I miss you!) and the crust on this bread is to die for. I was really satisfied with the result especially considering how uninvolved the recipe is. Of course, not everyone shared my enthusiasm. My husband didn't think it was anything special but was expecting something more like ciabatta. I don't really know why because I never, ever mentioned ciabatta when talking about the bread. He was setting himself up for disappointment by expecting something completely different to what was being made. Serves him right!




Almost No-Knead Bread

15 oz (3 cups) all purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the work surface
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp table salt
7 oz (same in weight and volume) water at room temperature
3 oz (1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) mild-flavored lager
1 tbsp white vinegar

Whisk the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the water, beer and vinegar. Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture, scrapping up the bottom of the bowl until a shaggy ball forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

Lay a large piece of parchment paper on a 10 inch skillet and spray with non-stick cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 10 or 15 times. Shape the dough into a ball by pulling the edges into the middle. Transfer the dough to the greased parchment paper lined skillet and spray or brush the surface with vegetable oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked, about 2 hours.

About 30 minutes before baking, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and, place a 6 to 8 quart cast iron dutch oven with a lid on the rack and heat the oven to 500°F. Lightly flour the top of the dough and u sing a razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6 inch long, 1/2 inch deep slit along the top of the dough. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and remove the lid. Pick up the dough with the parchment paper and lower it into the pot. Let any excess parchment paper hang over the edge of the pot. Cover the pot and place in the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 425°F and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking until the loaf is a deep brown, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Remove the bread from the pot and transfer to a wire rack. Cool to room temperature, approximately 2 hours.





It takes a long time but 99% percent hands off. It's so easy I really think my kid sister could make it. ANYONE can make artisan bread that is this straight-forward! I get the feeling I'll be making it again and will experiment with flavors.

I was worried over nothing, my precious Le Creuset pot survived :)

Yet More Pancakes

My quest for great pancakes seems never-ending. When I made the KAF Simple But Perfect Pancakes, I really thought I had nailed it. I have made them a few times since and the end product is incredibly inconsistent. They were perfect the first time but far from it every other time. I was bummed because like I said, I really thought that was THE recipe.




Since I got the waffle iron for my birthday, I haven't been making pancakes at all but we decided that we'd had enough waffles lately and that it was time to make pancakes again. I looked for another recipe, one that was easy but good. I used a recipe in a book by a publisher who shall not be named and modified it. The results were really good. Not quite as good as the first KAF pancakes but a million times better than the subsequent attempts. I hope this recipe is reliable and consistent because it is easy to make and pretty tasty.




Light and Fluffy Pancakes

1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 cups milk
2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
vegetable oil for greasing skillet/griddle

Whisk the vinegar and milk together in a large bowl or measuring cup. Set aside to thicken while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Whisk the flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl to combine.

Whisk the egg and melted butter into the milk until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk mixture and whisk gently until just combined. The mixture should still be slightly lumpy, do not overmix.

Heat a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. If using an electric griddle, heat it up according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the skillet or griddle is properly heated, grease with the oil using a brush to coat the bottom. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto separate spots on the skillet or griddle. Cook the pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear and the edges are dry. Flip them over using a thin, wide spatula and until golden brown on the second side. Serve immediately. Repeat with the remaining batter oiling the skillet or griddle as needed.

Makes approximately 12 pancakes




Obviously, the vanilla sugar isn't imperative but I used it because I had some and I wanted to see if it made a difference. Of course, to really know I'd have to make these very same pancakes using plain sugar. If you have buttermilk, just use 2 cups of it instead of the milk and vinegar mixture.




The pancakes were good and I had mine with good old Aunt Jemima syrup and some sliced strawberries. Matt had his with some pecan maple butter from Williams-Sonoma and butter pecan syrup. The possibilities are endless!

Daring Bakers: Lavash and Veganism

Has it really been almost a month already? It's Daring Bakers time again and I'm finding it hard to believe! Where has the last month a bit gone??? Well, it went into the diaper pail! There's a lovely image for you ;) But really, where has it gone? I really didn't think I would be able to complete this month's challenge and had it not been for some rather unfortunate circumstances, I wouldn't have been able to. We are all well, don't worry.

When I read that this moth's challenge was lavash from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice, I was ecstatic because I love that book and because it was something I had wanted to try for a while. Then I read there was a twist which I will admit I was NOT thrilled with. The dips/spreads for the crackers had to be vegan. I don't know anything about veganism, much less vegan cooking. I didn't even know know honey wasn't vegan although now that I know, it makes perfect sense. After a few days, I came to terms with the vegan part and started looking forward to making the dip, if I ever got around to it, and see how it turned out.




Since lavash is Middle Eastern flatbread, I wanted to make at least one dip that was Middle Eastern. I figured lots of DBs would make it too but that didn't deter me from making hummus. I had never made hummus before because I didn't really want to buy a whole jar of tahini just for a few tablespoons but I bit the bullet. It was an expensive bullet. Since I only completed the challenge 3 days ago, I was in a bit of a hurry so I didn't have time to shop around for the tahini. I ended up buying it at the health aisle of Publix for almost $7. Ouch, especially since I'm probably never going to use it again.

Now, I knew I wasn't crazy about hummus so I also wanted to make something I would eat more of. I'm a big fan of white bean dip and anything Italians make with white beans so that was my choice for the other dip. I remember my days in Italy and all the white bean topped bruschetta I had....those were the days. But I digress.




The hummus recipe came from a beautiful book called Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. If you've never seen this book (or Apples for Jam), you are missing out. Not only are the pictures beautiful, the binding perfect and the page maker a lovely shade of blue, the cover is actually textured. There is embossed shiny text over a matte picture background. The cover image is beautiful and the spine is covered in a beautiful pattern. Just beautiful and I admit that is why I bought both of those books but they turned out to be full of delicious sounding recipes too. Win-Win! The white bean dip recipe is a slight adaptation from the one found in Williams-Sonoma Mastering Hors d'Oeuvres. To make it vegan, I substituted the chicken stock for vegetable broth.




Hummus

1 (450g) can chickpeas
1 large garlic clove
3 tbsp tahini
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sweet paprika

Drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid. Crush the garlic with a little salt until it forms a puree. Put the chickpeas, tahini and garlic in a blender, puree a little and then season with salt. Add the lemon juice and continue pureeing until smooth. Scrape out into a bowl and thoroughly mix in the olive oil. If it's a bit too dry, add some of the reserved chickpea liquid. Check there is enough salt. Sprinkle with the paprika and drizzle a little more oil if you like. Hummus will keep in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.


White Bean Dip

1 cup (7oz, 220g) dried white beans such as Great Northern beans or cannellini beans
4 shallots, 3-4 oz (90-125g) total weight, finely diced
5 3/4 cups (46 fl oz, 1.4L) vegetable broth, water or a combination of the two
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch of fresh chives
2 or 3 sprigs of tarragon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tomato, deseeded and finely chopped

Place the beans in a large colander. Sort through the beans and discard any that are wrinkled or blemished, along with any pebbles or grit. Rinse the beans well under running cold water and transfer to a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover the beans by two inches. Let the beans soak in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to overnight. Discard any husks that float to the top. Drain the beans in a colander rinse the pan.

Return the beans to the saucepan. Add the vegetable broth, diced shallots and bay leaf. Place over high heat, cover, and bring the stock to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. As soon as you see bubbles start to form, reduce the heat to a level where small bubbles occasionally break the surface of the liquid. Partially cover the saucepan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the beans taste creamy in the center and are completely tender, 45 to 55 minutes but may be longer for older crop beans. While the beans are simmering, prepare the herbs. Mince the chives into small pieces. Remove the leaves from the tarragon and mince.

When the beans are cooked, drain them through a sieve set over a large bowl to reserve the cooking liquid. Discard the bay leaf. Transfer 2/3 cup ( 4 1/2 oz, 140 g) of the beans to a bowl and set aside. Transfer the remaining beans to a food processor. Using brief pulses, process the beans until they are coarsely pureed, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

With the food processor running, slowly pour 1/2 cup (4 fl oz, 125 ml) of the reserved cooking liquid through the feed tube. Stop the machine and check the puree, it should be light and thin, but thick enough to hold its shape. Add a little more of the liquid if necessary. Process the mixture 2 to 3 minutes longer, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until a fine puree forms. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil and the lemon juice through the feed tube. With a rubber spatula, scrape the pure into a bowl.

Add the reserved whole beans, the herbs, and salt to the puree. Stir well with the rubber spatula. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 5 hours or up to overnight to allow flavors to develop.

Stir 3/4 of the diced tomato into the bean dip. Taste the dip. It should primarily taste of the white beans, with accents of the herbs and lemon juice. If you feel it tasted dull, stir in a small amount of salt and lemon juice until you are happy with the flavor balance. You can also add a touch more minced herbs if you like a stronger herbal flavor.

Transfer the dip to a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining diced tomato. Serve right away.




As you can see, the hummus recipe is pretty simple and straight forward but the white bean dip....well, not so much. However, it's worth it.

As for the lavash, it was delicious. It was very easy to make and very quick too. I didn't do any hand kneading, that's what I have a work horse for, I mean, Kitchenaid Pro 600. As usual, I let the dough rise in the oven (turned off) with the oven light on. For toppings, I used sesame seeds, poppy seeds, cumin seeds and paprika. My favorite topping was definitely the cumin seeds. After I baked the lavash, I realized that once I had put the toppings on, I should have ran the rolling pin over it a couple of times just to press the seeds into the dough and prevent most of them from falling off later on.

For the lavash recipe, visit the hostess' blog Musings from the Fishbowl.