You all remember the tofu craze, don't you? We were eating it in EVERYTHING. Tofutti (YUCH), tofu ice cream (DOUBLE YUCH), tofu yogurt (oh, God help us all), and so on and so forth. Annalena once made a lemon cheesecake with tofu instead of cheese. You could have used it to play basketball. Problem is, none of us paid attention, and we tried to make tofu fill in for other things.
This, ragazzi, is almost never a good idea. Tofu has a long history as an important foodstuff, and it was NOT as a tofogurt, a toficecream, or so forth.
But that, of course, brings us back to a central dilemma: as an Eastern food, most of us Westerners (bai gwei as we would be called in China), don't have familiarity with it. And thus, it leads to stories and jokes. This is one of Annalena's favorites: a well dressed older gentleman is walking through a grocery store, and he sees a well dressed woman, "of certain years," with a container of tofu in her shopping cart. He stops her "Pardon me ma'am, but I see you have tofu in your cart. Would you mind sharing your recipe with me." She smiles "Certainly Sir. I bring it home, put it in the back of my refrigerator, and six weeks later when it gets moldy, I throw it out." He smiles "Thank you. That's my recipe too."
Sue will shake her head and smile and agree. Are the rest of you fessing up? Hmmmm. C'mon, you know who you are.
Annalena is one of you. No question about it. Learning how to cook tofu properly first means learning what the different kinds should be used for. Then, you have to learn how to treat it. It is not more difficult to cook tofu than anything else, but you do have to know how to do it.
This recipe, which Annalena took from the website of her CSA, does the trick. It takes a bit of time, but it's not terribly time consuming. It is very, VERY tasty, and you can do other things with it, like use different vegetables, or add other proteins, nuts, etc. But you do have to treat the tofu properly.
And let Annalena state something up front: tofu is NOT low calorie food, and if you use the firmer varieties, it is NOT low in fat. It has no cholesterol, and it does not have any animal products in it, so this may be important to some of you.
Let's start with the tofu here. Get a pound of the EXTRA FIRM variety. The first thing you will have to do, is get the water out of it somewhat. And here's how you do it. Your tofu will be in the form of one, solid block. Make two horizontal cuts through it, so you have three thin layers of bean curd. Now, make vertical cuts so that you've got big, half inch strips. And now, make cuts perpendicular to the first ones, so you have smaller strips. Move this, in a block, to a few layers of paper towels. And then put a few on top. Leave this for ten minutes. You'll be doing other things in that ten minutes, and when you come back, you'll be amazed at how much water left the tofu.
While the tofu drains (sounds like an Asian soap opera, doesn't it?). mix together two tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, a tablespoon of sesame oil, and a teaspoon or so of white vinegar . Use rice vinegar if you have it. Put it aside.
You've still got plenty of time. Chop up some Asian vegetables. Annalena used half of a medium sized Chinese cabbage and a small head of bok choy. Try to keep the pieces as uniform as possible, but this is one where the precision of a laser is not necessary. And you will have about 12 cups of veggies, which will shrink dramatically. Put them in a bowl, because now, we're going to cook our tofu. You need - you MUST use - for this - a nonstick skillet. Put 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. Heat it at a medium/high temperature until it's hot, and then add the bean curd, in one layer. Don't touch it, for three minutes. Check the bottom of one piece and see if it's brown. If it is, then flip the pieces, gently. If they are not brown, let them cook for longer until they are. Then flip them. When they're brown on that size, use a slotted spoon and move the tofu to a piece of foil. Annalena wondered why foil, and not paper, but it makes sense. You know brush and pour the sauce you made, over the tofu. At this point, the tofu is adsorbent, and it will pick up the sauce. Paper towel will pick it up faster, but foil will not adsorb it at all. So, you'll be flavoring your tofu (IF you can keep your hands off of it. It's tempting. And it's good).
Now, we're going to cook the veggies. You want to combine a tablespoon of vegetable oil, with a couple of teaspoons of sesame oil. Annalena does not recommend cooking with dark sesame oil by itself, because it has a low smoke point, and burns. That's why you've got both here. Add a few chopped scallions, if you have them, or some garlic scapes. Something in that family. Maybe some green garlic, or a leek, whatever. No more than say, a quarter cup. Add a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger or more of it if you like the flavor, and finally, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, or more scapes. Toss this around in the hot oil, for no more than half a minute. Now add a tablespoon and a half of the soy sauce (same type you used for the tofu), and then a tablespoon of the vinegar. Add your vegetables. You may not have room to put them all in at once, and that's ok. They are going to start collapsing almost immediately. And when you have more room, add more, until they wilt. All in all, this will take you less than five minutes. Put the tofu in the pan, stir everything together, and you're ready. Especially if you made a pot of rice, or some glass noodles.
If you are so inclined, you can vary this by adding hot peppers when you do the saute', or garnishing with peanuts or some other kind of nut, or even by adding cooked meat if you like.
Please do NOT treat this as a low fat, or even a low calorie dish, because it is neither. But if you are feeling as if you need a reprieve from meat, and/or that package of tofu in your fridge has been there for 5 weeks, get moving.
Did you pick up on the half a head of Chinese cabbage? Would Annalena leave you in the dark? Coming up next: chinese cabbage coleslaw. And it is GOOD
Monday, June 24, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Putting a little spice in your life: Moroccan chicken
In truth, ragazzi, Annalena has no idea if this dish is Moroccan. It didn't say so, and Annalena is no expert on such things; however, the flavors do remind her of other dishes, as they combine sweet, warm spices with hot, metallic ones. You'll see what she means.
Here is the story: Annalena had a menu last week that was very heavy, in very rich foods. So, she turned to one of her favorite "not so bad" dishes: chicken. And as you all know, given a choice between breasts and legs, Annalena will always cook and serve legs. ALWAYS. And so too, with this dish. In fact, while you could make this work with breasts, Annalena doubts it would be as good.
It's an easy dish to make, when you're trying to break out of the rut of your regular chicken dishes, although this could become one of your regulars, and then you may need Annalena to come in and break that rut, and so on, and so on, and so forth. But that's how it goes. And see, Annalena was in fact trying to break out of her rut with chicken. She scanned recipe after recipe: breasts, breasts, breasts, breasts breasts. Skinless, boneless thighs. Breasts, breasts, breasts breasts breasts.
GEEZ. When did people start deciding to make chicken NOT taste good? Many of us spent years trying to get flavorful chicken again, and now that we have it: no skin, no bones, all white meat.
Uh oh, she's started. But when you see how easy this one is to make, you may become a leg man yourself (or a leg woman).
You might have to do some shopping for this. Do so if you don't have these spices, or if you have them and they're not fresh. You determine that by smelling them. If they don't knock you over with their fragrance, then they're not fresh. Period. You are going to need chili powder. These days, you can get chili powder in about a zillion different varieties and at different heat levels. Get what you like. Annalena mixes a sweet one with a very hot one. Two teaspoons. Then add half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander, and black pepper. If you have the whole spices and you want to grind them yourself, do so, but remember that the coriander berry is big, and soft, and not easy to grind in a home machine. Now add a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon and a half of salt. Stir this all together. Smell.
It's gonna be good, isn't it? Now what you do is add three tablespoons of vegetable oil to this, and you make a paste. Turn up your oven to 450.
Get four chicken legs. Whole legs. Or four drumsticks and four thighs. Or eight of one. With the skin, and on the bone. You CAN brush the paste on them, but it's really a whole lot more fun if you get your hands into it (your CLEAN hands), and rub it all over the pieces. You should skimp at first, and then at the end, if you have extra, use it.
After you have the chicken covered with the spice rub paste, and you've washed your hands (always after handling chicken... of any type.. Annalena's boys will understand), get a really big frying pan, and put a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in it. Get it hot. REALLY hot. You'll smell the heat (Annalena promises), or you'll see it ripple. Put the chicken pieces in, skin side down, and sear for about 3 minutes. Now turn them over, and another three. Your kitchen will get overwhelmed with the wonderful smell, and then you will smell a toasting. That is when it's time to move these into the oven, pan and all, for 25 minutes.
And you're done.. Almost. If you like, move this chicken to a plate and off the heat, pour a half cup of water into the pan. Stir things up, and maybe reduce it a little. Pour that over the chicken. NOW you're done.
For those of you with larger broods, you can double, or triple the recipe. Just literally triple the ingredients. Keep in mind that 3 teaspoons is a tablespoon for mesuring purposes, and half a tablespoon is a teaspoon and a half, in case you have an odd set of spoons. If you double/triple this recipe, you will need to cook things in batches, which is fine. What you should do, is move the cooked chicken to a baking sheet, and move that into the oven. When they're done, take the pieces off, put the drippings back into the frying pan, and make a sauce, just like above.
Not too difficult, huh? Betcha the hardest thing you do is go out and get coriander. Keep it around for when you make pickles.
You DO make pickles don't you?
Coming up: a wonderful tofu stir fry, a new coleslaw that may knock regular cabbage out of your salad bowl, and an idea for a "master recipe of veggies for this time of year. Maybe all tomorrow. One never knows, do one?
Here is the story: Annalena had a menu last week that was very heavy, in very rich foods. So, she turned to one of her favorite "not so bad" dishes: chicken. And as you all know, given a choice between breasts and legs, Annalena will always cook and serve legs. ALWAYS. And so too, with this dish. In fact, while you could make this work with breasts, Annalena doubts it would be as good.
It's an easy dish to make, when you're trying to break out of the rut of your regular chicken dishes, although this could become one of your regulars, and then you may need Annalena to come in and break that rut, and so on, and so on, and so forth. But that's how it goes. And see, Annalena was in fact trying to break out of her rut with chicken. She scanned recipe after recipe: breasts, breasts, breasts, breasts breasts. Skinless, boneless thighs. Breasts, breasts, breasts breasts breasts.
GEEZ. When did people start deciding to make chicken NOT taste good? Many of us spent years trying to get flavorful chicken again, and now that we have it: no skin, no bones, all white meat.
Uh oh, she's started. But when you see how easy this one is to make, you may become a leg man yourself (or a leg woman).
You might have to do some shopping for this. Do so if you don't have these spices, or if you have them and they're not fresh. You determine that by smelling them. If they don't knock you over with their fragrance, then they're not fresh. Period. You are going to need chili powder. These days, you can get chili powder in about a zillion different varieties and at different heat levels. Get what you like. Annalena mixes a sweet one with a very hot one. Two teaspoons. Then add half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander, and black pepper. If you have the whole spices and you want to grind them yourself, do so, but remember that the coriander berry is big, and soft, and not easy to grind in a home machine. Now add a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon and a half of salt. Stir this all together. Smell.
It's gonna be good, isn't it? Now what you do is add three tablespoons of vegetable oil to this, and you make a paste. Turn up your oven to 450.
Get four chicken legs. Whole legs. Or four drumsticks and four thighs. Or eight of one. With the skin, and on the bone. You CAN brush the paste on them, but it's really a whole lot more fun if you get your hands into it (your CLEAN hands), and rub it all over the pieces. You should skimp at first, and then at the end, if you have extra, use it.
After you have the chicken covered with the spice rub paste, and you've washed your hands (always after handling chicken... of any type.. Annalena's boys will understand), get a really big frying pan, and put a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in it. Get it hot. REALLY hot. You'll smell the heat (Annalena promises), or you'll see it ripple. Put the chicken pieces in, skin side down, and sear for about 3 minutes. Now turn them over, and another three. Your kitchen will get overwhelmed with the wonderful smell, and then you will smell a toasting. That is when it's time to move these into the oven, pan and all, for 25 minutes.
And you're done.. Almost. If you like, move this chicken to a plate and off the heat, pour a half cup of water into the pan. Stir things up, and maybe reduce it a little. Pour that over the chicken. NOW you're done.
For those of you with larger broods, you can double, or triple the recipe. Just literally triple the ingredients. Keep in mind that 3 teaspoons is a tablespoon for mesuring purposes, and half a tablespoon is a teaspoon and a half, in case you have an odd set of spoons. If you double/triple this recipe, you will need to cook things in batches, which is fine. What you should do, is move the cooked chicken to a baking sheet, and move that into the oven. When they're done, take the pieces off, put the drippings back into the frying pan, and make a sauce, just like above.
Not too difficult, huh? Betcha the hardest thing you do is go out and get coriander. Keep it around for when you make pickles.
You DO make pickles don't you?
Coming up: a wonderful tofu stir fry, a new coleslaw that may knock regular cabbage out of your salad bowl, and an idea for a "master recipe of veggies for this time of year. Maybe all tomorrow. One never knows, do one?
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Saving the spring: rhubarb pickles
Ragazzi, you all probably know by now that Annalena loves her rhubarb. And let us face it: rhubarb is not that easy to love. Take a bite of it raw, and it almost bites you back. Cook it, and you'd better have a heavy hand with the sugar. And if you cook it, CAREFUL, because it will go from firm and solid to mush in about a nanosecond.
And yet... TRY to describe the taste of rhubarb without saying "rhubarb." Best Annalena can come up with is a combination of apples and lemons when it's raw, and sour cherries and peaches when it's cooked and sweetened. There is, truly, nothing else like it. And that's why you see so many rhubarb recipes on this page. It's fun. It's unusual. And let Annalena tell you: rhubarb jam is a mean glaze on lamb.
So when her CSA list came out, and rhubarb was on the list, she thought "ok, fine. What to do?" And the CSA provided a recipe for pickled rhubarb.
OK, Annalena will pickle anything, and probably has . But not rhubarb. So she read through this recipe. Ridiculously easy. So carini, if you love rhubarb, and you want to save some of it against the time when it's gone (which will be pretty soon), try this.
You need about 12 ounces of untrimmed rhubarb, because by the time you trim the ends, and remove stringy bits, you'll have a hefty half pound. That is in fact what you need: about 8-10 ounces, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Put these in a sieve and toss them with 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt (if you don't feel like measuring that exactly, use a teaspoon.
Now, make your brine. It's rhubarb, so this brine is heavy on sweet stuff. You combine a cup of sugar, a cup of apple cider vinegar (you could use white wine if you like), and then the juice and rind of an orange and a lemon (cut the rind into little pieces. Don't use the white spot). Now add a stick of cinnamon, three cloves, and two big teaspoons of yellow mustard seeds. Don't leave these out. make a trip and get some. Also add a few slices of ginger. You don't have to peel it. 2-3 are fine. And, finally, if you are so inclined, a hot pepper.
Start heating this until the sugar melts into the vinegar. Then lower the heat and steep this for fifteen minutes.
Get three 8 ounce jars ready. They need to be clean, but these are refrigerator pickles, so you don't have to worry about stuff that will seal. We're not "canning" here. No, no no. Stuff the rhubarb into the jars as well as you can. CRAM the suckers in. And when the liquid is lukewarm, spoon it into the jars, over the rhubarb. You toss the cinnamon, but you use the other solids
You may find that you are running out of brine, before you cover the third jar. If so, augment what's left with half water, and half vinegar. It will be fine. Cover the jars, let them come to room temperature, and refrigerate them.
Don't eat these for a couple of days, to let the rhubarb pick up the flavor. In the fridge, they are probably good for two months.
This will seem to make a very small amount to those of you who adore rhubarb. Well, double the recipe. Or triple it. And put some of them down the next time you roast some heavy duty meat. Annalena, because she is a lunatic, is making oxtails very soon. She thinks the pickle may be precisely the right thing that the dish needs. How will you use yours? Tell us all. SHARE!
And yet... TRY to describe the taste of rhubarb without saying "rhubarb." Best Annalena can come up with is a combination of apples and lemons when it's raw, and sour cherries and peaches when it's cooked and sweetened. There is, truly, nothing else like it. And that's why you see so many rhubarb recipes on this page. It's fun. It's unusual. And let Annalena tell you: rhubarb jam is a mean glaze on lamb.
So when her CSA list came out, and rhubarb was on the list, she thought "ok, fine. What to do?" And the CSA provided a recipe for pickled rhubarb.
OK, Annalena will pickle anything, and probably has . But not rhubarb. So she read through this recipe. Ridiculously easy. So carini, if you love rhubarb, and you want to save some of it against the time when it's gone (which will be pretty soon), try this.
You need about 12 ounces of untrimmed rhubarb, because by the time you trim the ends, and remove stringy bits, you'll have a hefty half pound. That is in fact what you need: about 8-10 ounces, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Put these in a sieve and toss them with 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt (if you don't feel like measuring that exactly, use a teaspoon.
Now, make your brine. It's rhubarb, so this brine is heavy on sweet stuff. You combine a cup of sugar, a cup of apple cider vinegar (you could use white wine if you like), and then the juice and rind of an orange and a lemon (cut the rind into little pieces. Don't use the white spot). Now add a stick of cinnamon, three cloves, and two big teaspoons of yellow mustard seeds. Don't leave these out. make a trip and get some. Also add a few slices of ginger. You don't have to peel it. 2-3 are fine. And, finally, if you are so inclined, a hot pepper.
Start heating this until the sugar melts into the vinegar. Then lower the heat and steep this for fifteen minutes.
Get three 8 ounce jars ready. They need to be clean, but these are refrigerator pickles, so you don't have to worry about stuff that will seal. We're not "canning" here. No, no no. Stuff the rhubarb into the jars as well as you can. CRAM the suckers in. And when the liquid is lukewarm, spoon it into the jars, over the rhubarb. You toss the cinnamon, but you use the other solids
You may find that you are running out of brine, before you cover the third jar. If so, augment what's left with half water, and half vinegar. It will be fine. Cover the jars, let them come to room temperature, and refrigerate them.
Don't eat these for a couple of days, to let the rhubarb pick up the flavor. In the fridge, they are probably good for two months.
This will seem to make a very small amount to those of you who adore rhubarb. Well, double the recipe. Or triple it. And put some of them down the next time you roast some heavy duty meat. Annalena, because she is a lunatic, is making oxtails very soon. She thinks the pickle may be precisely the right thing that the dish needs. How will you use yours? Tell us all. SHARE!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
A simpler way: strawberry sponge cake
Is there anyone reading this who does not love strawberry shortcake? Ok, now, how many of us can say that we've actually eaten AUTHENTIC strawberry shortcake.
Hmmmm. Had to think about that, didn't you? And you began thinking "well, what IS authentic strawberry shortcake," which of course brings up the question, "what is shortcake?"
For folks who bake, answering that question is tricky, because it's counter intuitive. We learn how to make short piecrust, which is essentially a crust that is so rich that it breaks into small, short flakes. In the good old days, one of the highest compliments you could pay to a baker was to say "my. This crust is SHORT!" It meant she (and it was always a she ragazzi), had mastered the art - and it's not an easy one.
Shortcake, however, has nothing to do with short pie crust. And try as she might, Annalena has not been able to come up with a coherent, rational explanation for the term, other than, PERHAPS, because it's cake baked in a short amount of time. Whatever the reason, when it's made right, it's GOOD.
Annalena's favorite shortcakes are ones that are made on the spot, and are still a bit warm when they're served. And that's where the problem comes in , ragazzi. Generally, you have to make it "a tempo," (on the spot, so to speak), which means your guests wait, you get frazzled, and generally, you wind up wondering "why did I do this?" Unquestionably, if you are in a position when you can do it right, do it. But for those of us who want a dessert and can't necessarily put everything down to make it, Annalena proffers this one to you.
The recipe as posted originally was called strawberry shortcake. This is NOT shortcake, carini. It is closer to a sponge, or a genoise. Anytime you see a recipe that calls for beating eggs to the "ribbon" stage, as this one does, you are working with genoise. It is easy to make - easier than shortcake biscuits - and you can walk around bragging about how you mastered a fancy cake called genoise. (incidentally, this is the cake that is used for those layers in petit fours. It is a really good basic recipe to have around, because it goes with everything). And it keeps.
So, we're going to make the cake, prep the berries, and then talk about the cream. This all sounds harder than it is. Annalena's recipe said it takes an hour and a half to make this. Annalena did it in forty minutes, and 30 of it was baking.
First, melt two tablespoons of butter, and have some more handy for when you grease the pan. Put that into a cup and add a third of a cup of whole milk. The hot butter should warm it, and then add a good dollop of vanilla extract. A tablespoon is not too much. Put that aside. Then, in a bowl, add a very generous cup of flour. You actually need 1.25 cups, and if you only have a one cup measuring cup, play with the margins. And add a heaping teaspoon of baking powder to it, and half a teaspoon of salt. Shake this all together.
Ok, now get your mixer out. Put in 2 large eggs, and an extra egg white. Have about 2 cups of granulated sugar ready. Use the whisk attachment to your mixer, and beat the egg mixture hard for about a minute. Then, very slowly, start adding the sugar. As you do this, the mixture will thicken, and get light, light yellow. Keep going for about five minutes. You're done when you can take the whisk out, and the batter drops back, sort of folding on itself like a big piece of christmas ribbon. If you don't see that in five, go for another three. Now, take the bowl and add the flour mixture, and use a spatula to fold it in, gently and completely. Dig to the bottom to make sure everything is incorporated. This is a slow process, but slow is necessary here. when it's all finished, add that milk/butter/vanilla mixture, and stir it all together.
Get a 9 inch pan, grease it, put down some parchment (don't leave this out), and grease the parchment. Then add the batter. Get it into the oven and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. No longer than that.
While it's baking, get your berries ready. Get the little greenies out, and if the berries are small, leave them alone. If they're slightly large, half them, and big ones get cut into quarters. You want a good heavy quart, maybe more, of these, and you want a mix of berries of different sizes. After you've got them cut up, get no more than a quarter cup of sugar, and stir it in , letting the berries macerate (ok, stop laughing at the word. It IS funny, the vision of macerating berries, but let's move on). Don't refrigerate them, even if you're not making the dessert for a few hours. Try not to prepare them more than about 3 hours before dessert time though. The sugar crystals will pull some of the juice out of the berries, but they will remain essentially integral.
Now, let's talk about the cream portion. You've probably had strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, or just thick sweetened cream, or maybe some ice cream. All good. But try this one: put a cup of creme fraiche into a bowl, and add a third of a cup of heavy cream, together with two tablespoons of sugar. Whip the stuff up together. The creme fraiche gives it some body, and as the cream whips, you will get some fluffiness. There is a tartness here that Annalena loves. If the tart aspect does not appeal to you, then you can switch to mascarpone instead, or just go with whipped cream. It's all good.
When you're ready to serve the cake, if you have some (left over, for example, from candying the stuff), use ginger syrup to brush on the cake. You do this by slicing it in half, horizontally. Do the best job you can, and use a serrated knife. It works best. Then brush the syrup on the cut sides. If you don't feel that ambitious, just pour some over the cake. It's porous, and it will accept it gladly.
Then cut the size slice you want (Annalena bets you cut a bigger slice than you can eat), put plenty of strawberries, and plenty of the whipped stuff of your choice on the plate, and dig in. And smile.
THIS, ragazzi, is SUMMERTIME in a bowl. Actually, let's call it EARLY summertime in a bowl, because later in summer, Annalena wants you to do the same thing, but with peaches. Or berries. Or, as summer is drawing to a close, with plums.
Lets get busy ragazzi. This sounds harder than it is. Make it for folks you love. Seriously. They will love you for it. And Annalena guarantees: you will NEVER have a plate of strawberry shortcake in a restaurant as good as this.
Hmmmm. Had to think about that, didn't you? And you began thinking "well, what IS authentic strawberry shortcake," which of course brings up the question, "what is shortcake?"
For folks who bake, answering that question is tricky, because it's counter intuitive. We learn how to make short piecrust, which is essentially a crust that is so rich that it breaks into small, short flakes. In the good old days, one of the highest compliments you could pay to a baker was to say "my. This crust is SHORT!" It meant she (and it was always a she ragazzi), had mastered the art - and it's not an easy one.
Shortcake, however, has nothing to do with short pie crust. And try as she might, Annalena has not been able to come up with a coherent, rational explanation for the term, other than, PERHAPS, because it's cake baked in a short amount of time. Whatever the reason, when it's made right, it's GOOD.
Annalena's favorite shortcakes are ones that are made on the spot, and are still a bit warm when they're served. And that's where the problem comes in , ragazzi. Generally, you have to make it "a tempo," (on the spot, so to speak), which means your guests wait, you get frazzled, and generally, you wind up wondering "why did I do this?" Unquestionably, if you are in a position when you can do it right, do it. But for those of us who want a dessert and can't necessarily put everything down to make it, Annalena proffers this one to you.
The recipe as posted originally was called strawberry shortcake. This is NOT shortcake, carini. It is closer to a sponge, or a genoise. Anytime you see a recipe that calls for beating eggs to the "ribbon" stage, as this one does, you are working with genoise. It is easy to make - easier than shortcake biscuits - and you can walk around bragging about how you mastered a fancy cake called genoise. (incidentally, this is the cake that is used for those layers in petit fours. It is a really good basic recipe to have around, because it goes with everything). And it keeps.
So, we're going to make the cake, prep the berries, and then talk about the cream. This all sounds harder than it is. Annalena's recipe said it takes an hour and a half to make this. Annalena did it in forty minutes, and 30 of it was baking.
First, melt two tablespoons of butter, and have some more handy for when you grease the pan. Put that into a cup and add a third of a cup of whole milk. The hot butter should warm it, and then add a good dollop of vanilla extract. A tablespoon is not too much. Put that aside. Then, in a bowl, add a very generous cup of flour. You actually need 1.25 cups, and if you only have a one cup measuring cup, play with the margins. And add a heaping teaspoon of baking powder to it, and half a teaspoon of salt. Shake this all together.
Ok, now get your mixer out. Put in 2 large eggs, and an extra egg white. Have about 2 cups of granulated sugar ready. Use the whisk attachment to your mixer, and beat the egg mixture hard for about a minute. Then, very slowly, start adding the sugar. As you do this, the mixture will thicken, and get light, light yellow. Keep going for about five minutes. You're done when you can take the whisk out, and the batter drops back, sort of folding on itself like a big piece of christmas ribbon. If you don't see that in five, go for another three. Now, take the bowl and add the flour mixture, and use a spatula to fold it in, gently and completely. Dig to the bottom to make sure everything is incorporated. This is a slow process, but slow is necessary here. when it's all finished, add that milk/butter/vanilla mixture, and stir it all together.
Get a 9 inch pan, grease it, put down some parchment (don't leave this out), and grease the parchment. Then add the batter. Get it into the oven and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. No longer than that.
While it's baking, get your berries ready. Get the little greenies out, and if the berries are small, leave them alone. If they're slightly large, half them, and big ones get cut into quarters. You want a good heavy quart, maybe more, of these, and you want a mix of berries of different sizes. After you've got them cut up, get no more than a quarter cup of sugar, and stir it in , letting the berries macerate (ok, stop laughing at the word. It IS funny, the vision of macerating berries, but let's move on). Don't refrigerate them, even if you're not making the dessert for a few hours. Try not to prepare them more than about 3 hours before dessert time though. The sugar crystals will pull some of the juice out of the berries, but they will remain essentially integral.
Now, let's talk about the cream portion. You've probably had strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, or just thick sweetened cream, or maybe some ice cream. All good. But try this one: put a cup of creme fraiche into a bowl, and add a third of a cup of heavy cream, together with two tablespoons of sugar. Whip the stuff up together. The creme fraiche gives it some body, and as the cream whips, you will get some fluffiness. There is a tartness here that Annalena loves. If the tart aspect does not appeal to you, then you can switch to mascarpone instead, or just go with whipped cream. It's all good.
When you're ready to serve the cake, if you have some (left over, for example, from candying the stuff), use ginger syrup to brush on the cake. You do this by slicing it in half, horizontally. Do the best job you can, and use a serrated knife. It works best. Then brush the syrup on the cut sides. If you don't feel that ambitious, just pour some over the cake. It's porous, and it will accept it gladly.
Then cut the size slice you want (Annalena bets you cut a bigger slice than you can eat), put plenty of strawberries, and plenty of the whipped stuff of your choice on the plate, and dig in. And smile.
THIS, ragazzi, is SUMMERTIME in a bowl. Actually, let's call it EARLY summertime in a bowl, because later in summer, Annalena wants you to do the same thing, but with peaches. Or berries. Or, as summer is drawing to a close, with plums.
Lets get busy ragazzi. This sounds harder than it is. Make it for folks you love. Seriously. They will love you for it. And Annalena guarantees: you will NEVER have a plate of strawberry shortcake in a restaurant as good as this.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Light, easy, vegan, seasonal, and all the good stuff: asparagus and cannelini bean salad.
Annalena has repeated this so often you all must be tired of hearing it: she looks for recipes and inspiration wherever she can find it. Also, she has said this so often that you must be tired of it, but it's important: If you see a recipe you like, but think you can make a change, know when you CAN make one, and when you can't, and try it, if you can.
For the first of these points, Annalena is an avid reader of Wednesday newspapers, because for reasons that probably no one can figure out, Wednesday is recipe and food day in just about every newspaper in the immediate world. Sometimes, she finds a good one, sometimes, she finds none. This week, she found three! And this is one of them, which also plays into where you CAN make a change (which Annalena did). Another one, which will follow, is one where you CAN'T make changes. The second one is a cake recipe, and changing that one will lead to disaster. Annalena guarantees that.
So, this recipe is something that is called a "salad," but is really better called a light, satisfying meal. The Guyman and Annalena ate it for their Sunday lunch, in advance of what will probably be a heavy dinner. It was surprisingly satisfying. And also, ridiculously easy. The way Annalena makes it, she assumes that you have been good children, and have cooked dry beans, and frozen quantities of them. If you haven't, even though the recipe says you can use canned beans, Annalena refuses to do so. Asparagus have such a light, pleasant taste, they deserve the freshness that comes from fresh cooked dried beans (indeed , if you are using a high quality product - Annalena uses Rancho Gordo), the beans will taste very fresh. And if you need a "refresher" in cooking dried beans, get in touch with Annalena. Send an email, give a return address, and she will explain.
Ok, on the assumption that you have them, you will need 2-3 cups of cooked cannelini, or other white beans. You can use whatever you have handy, but the colors here are such that the white ones really look beautiful. Put them aside, while you assemble the other ingredients.
You will need a pound of fresh asparagus. Cut the tough part off at the bottom (you will wind up with somewhere between 9 and 12 ounces of usable vegetable). Get a pot of salted water to the boil, and drop in the asparagus. Let them cook for - Annalena is not kidding here - 90 seconds. Pull em out, and let them drain and cool, while you make the dressing.
And here is where you can play, ragazzi. The original recipe called for half a cup of fresh tarragon. Annalena likes tarragon, to a degree. Indeed, she has made her peace with it. Half a cup? With asparagus? Didn't seem right. So Annalena switched out dill and upped the herbs: 3/4 cup of dill, and 3/4 cup of fresh parsley - the Italian varieity. This is a place where you can switch things around. To Annalena, the taste of dill, and the parsley, was such that they seemed to scream SPRING, so that's what she used.
Put them in a food processor, with the juice of a lemon (you could use a lime if you like, or some vinegar), and a bit of the lemon peel. Maybe 2-3 big strips. Also add either 2 cloves of dried garlic bulb, or half a bulb of a green garlic bulb, peeled (which is what Annalena did). Add a good pinch of salt , and note that you'll probably be adding more. Finally, have half a cup of your best quality olive oil handy. Again, you may very well shift here. Walnut oil works with asparagus, so does avocado oil, and if you are leery of your olive oil, you could do this with vegetable oil as well, given how many flavor elements you have. As the processor does its dirty work, start pouring in the oil. You'll get a thick, green colored emulsion. Taste it, and correct the salt if you need to (which you probably will. ). Pour all that dressing into a bowl, and add your white beans.
Get your asparagus out, and cut them , preferably on the diagonal, into half inch pieces. Toss those in too, and toss the whole thing around.
Trust Annalena on this: this "salad" is much more satisfying than you may think. But if you have your doubts, feel free to add some cooked baby potatoes, or some sharp cheese, or even shrimp/crab/scallops. For the scallops, you may want to experiment with ceviche.
Now, if you have your beans cooked, you can put this together in 20 minutes, and it's a worthy lunch. Go for it ragazzi. Asparagus are still here, but it's June, and they won't be for long. Enjoy em while you can.
And next time around: if it's spring, can strawberry shortcake be far behind? Well, yes, because we'll be making strawberry SPONGE cake.
Alla prossima
For the first of these points, Annalena is an avid reader of Wednesday newspapers, because for reasons that probably no one can figure out, Wednesday is recipe and food day in just about every newspaper in the immediate world. Sometimes, she finds a good one, sometimes, she finds none. This week, she found three! And this is one of them, which also plays into where you CAN make a change (which Annalena did). Another one, which will follow, is one where you CAN'T make changes. The second one is a cake recipe, and changing that one will lead to disaster. Annalena guarantees that.
So, this recipe is something that is called a "salad," but is really better called a light, satisfying meal. The Guyman and Annalena ate it for their Sunday lunch, in advance of what will probably be a heavy dinner. It was surprisingly satisfying. And also, ridiculously easy. The way Annalena makes it, she assumes that you have been good children, and have cooked dry beans, and frozen quantities of them. If you haven't, even though the recipe says you can use canned beans, Annalena refuses to do so. Asparagus have such a light, pleasant taste, they deserve the freshness that comes from fresh cooked dried beans (indeed , if you are using a high quality product - Annalena uses Rancho Gordo), the beans will taste very fresh. And if you need a "refresher" in cooking dried beans, get in touch with Annalena. Send an email, give a return address, and she will explain.
Ok, on the assumption that you have them, you will need 2-3 cups of cooked cannelini, or other white beans. You can use whatever you have handy, but the colors here are such that the white ones really look beautiful. Put them aside, while you assemble the other ingredients.
You will need a pound of fresh asparagus. Cut the tough part off at the bottom (you will wind up with somewhere between 9 and 12 ounces of usable vegetable). Get a pot of salted water to the boil, and drop in the asparagus. Let them cook for - Annalena is not kidding here - 90 seconds. Pull em out, and let them drain and cool, while you make the dressing.
And here is where you can play, ragazzi. The original recipe called for half a cup of fresh tarragon. Annalena likes tarragon, to a degree. Indeed, she has made her peace with it. Half a cup? With asparagus? Didn't seem right. So Annalena switched out dill and upped the herbs: 3/4 cup of dill, and 3/4 cup of fresh parsley - the Italian varieity. This is a place where you can switch things around. To Annalena, the taste of dill, and the parsley, was such that they seemed to scream SPRING, so that's what she used.
Put them in a food processor, with the juice of a lemon (you could use a lime if you like, or some vinegar), and a bit of the lemon peel. Maybe 2-3 big strips. Also add either 2 cloves of dried garlic bulb, or half a bulb of a green garlic bulb, peeled (which is what Annalena did). Add a good pinch of salt , and note that you'll probably be adding more. Finally, have half a cup of your best quality olive oil handy. Again, you may very well shift here. Walnut oil works with asparagus, so does avocado oil, and if you are leery of your olive oil, you could do this with vegetable oil as well, given how many flavor elements you have. As the processor does its dirty work, start pouring in the oil. You'll get a thick, green colored emulsion. Taste it, and correct the salt if you need to (which you probably will. ). Pour all that dressing into a bowl, and add your white beans.
Get your asparagus out, and cut them , preferably on the diagonal, into half inch pieces. Toss those in too, and toss the whole thing around.
Trust Annalena on this: this "salad" is much more satisfying than you may think. But if you have your doubts, feel free to add some cooked baby potatoes, or some sharp cheese, or even shrimp/crab/scallops. For the scallops, you may want to experiment with ceviche.
Now, if you have your beans cooked, you can put this together in 20 minutes, and it's a worthy lunch. Go for it ragazzi. Asparagus are still here, but it's June, and they won't be for long. Enjoy em while you can.
And next time around: if it's spring, can strawberry shortcake be far behind? Well, yes, because we'll be making strawberry SPONGE cake.
Alla prossima
Friday, June 7, 2013
Annalena goes Mexican: fish tacos with strawberry salsa
Carini, you know that we stick to the Mediterranean end of things here, be it southern French, Italian, or whatever we do. Yes, this is where Annalena's background and heart lie. But you have seen forays into Asian cooking and Spanish cooking, and occasionally, Mexican cooking. Well, we're going back to Mexico today, for a dish that turns out to be remarkably light in calories. It doesn't seem it, but it is. And strawberry salsa? Did you read that correctly? Yes, you did. And it's good. You should master it.
Annalena has a thing for fish tacos. And it's hard to get good ones. REALLY difficult. During her recent trip to San Francisco, she had a craving for them, and was all set to order the "halibut ceviche tacos" for dinner at Foreign Cinema, when Daddy P brought out a plate of them on the house.
Well, Annalena will not turn away from the blandishments of Daddy P, nor will she say "no thank you, I intended to buy them." Of course, she was somewhat reluctant to share them with the Guyman, but that's what marriage is about isn't it?
Let's leave that question hanging. So, with the thought of fish tacos in her mind as she came back, but with no clear vision toward making them, Annalena received what she takes as a sign. She was watching one of those "can this restaurant be saved?" type of shows, and the "star" dish of the kitchen was the fish taco. Well, apparently, its star did not burn bright, as the repair person (Tabitha), brought in one of Annalena's favorite people, Susan Feniger, to improve the recipe. Annalena watched very closely, and took from it, among other things, "season at every step."
Yes, ragazzi, memorize that phrase. If you make your dish and salt it at the end, you will get a dish that is both salty and underseasoned. Trust Annalena on this one, you must season each ingredient, and at each step.
Now , that was a digression, but a valuable one. Anyway, Annalena began looking for fish taco recipes. She found one, which used strawberry salsa, and this caught her eye. Strawberries and fish? Sounds odd. But it is good. And since, at least here in NYC, strawberries are "it" for local fruit, use em while you got em. Let's make these, and enjoy the fact that each taco has only about 120 calories in it. And you'll be able to make 9 with this recipe.
First, let's make the salsa, which you could easily use with something else. You will need a quart (2 pints) of ripe strawberries. Chop them, after you've taken the green thing off, and add a chopped jalapeno pepper. If you like things spicy, add more, or use the veins of the pepper. Annalena did this in her food processor, which saved a whole lot of time. Add a pinch of salt, a handful of chopped chives, and the juice of one lime (not a lemon, as the recipe says. Lime is more authentic). Taste this, and if you want to adjust the seasoning, go ahead. This is one that is open to interpretation.
Now, to our fish and tacos. Preheat your oven to 450. Your fish should be of the white type, skinless, or with edible skin. Annalena's recipe called for halibut. She had her favorite, black sea bass, which has an edible skin and that's what she used. You need a good pound and a quarter or so of fillets. Brush some olive oil on the baking sheet, and put your fish, skin side down (if it has skin), or smooth side down (if it doesn't), on the pan. Sprinkle salt, and about half a teaspoon of ground cumin over the fish. Again, you can vary the spice if you like. Want chili powder? Go ahead. Or maybe something else? Yours to call. Bake the fish for about fifteen minutes.
For the tortillas: you need the corn ones, the SMALL ones. Not the huge ones that look like small tables. If you want to cut your calories as much as you can, stack these tortillas, sprinkle some water on the one on the top, wrap them in foil, and let them steam as the fish bakes.
OR, as Annalena did, get a nonstick pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil, and just let the tortillas cook on each side, for less than a minute. All you are doing is warming them, really. To Annalena's taste, this little "fry" step is very authentic, and adds flavor. And as always, start with the best tortillas you can find (Annalena had brought some back from San Francisco, made by Rancho Gordo. Would that she could get them here...). Put them on paper towels to drain a bit.
Finally, chop up about two cups of some sturdy, light green leafy vegetable. That can be Chinese cabbage, or romaine, or something like that. You could also mix it your greens with watercress, or another cress, just as long as it's leafy, and soft.
By now, your fish is ready. Take it out of the oven, and get a fork. Just "scramble" it into pieces. And we're ready to assemble our tacos.
Put a tortilla on a plate, and add a handful of greens. Not that much. Remember: 9 tortillas, two cups of greens: if you've been generous with the greens, you'll have a quarter cup each. Then, a bit of the fish. If you do this one ingredient at a time, you can be skimpy with fish, and then if you have some left over, distribute it at the end. Finally, a nice spoonful of the salsa. You'll have extra. Put it at the side for those, like Annalena, who want more.
Take a look at that recipe, ragazzi. Where did we add fat? IF you do Annalena's frying step, you've added less than 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the finished dish. No fat in the fish, no fat in the salsa.
Pretty healthy, huh? Give it a try. Annalena's favorite Mexican chef Sue Torres gave this her thumbs up. What more can you ask for?
Annalena has a thing for fish tacos. And it's hard to get good ones. REALLY difficult. During her recent trip to San Francisco, she had a craving for them, and was all set to order the "halibut ceviche tacos" for dinner at Foreign Cinema, when Daddy P brought out a plate of them on the house.
Well, Annalena will not turn away from the blandishments of Daddy P, nor will she say "no thank you, I intended to buy them." Of course, she was somewhat reluctant to share them with the Guyman, but that's what marriage is about isn't it?
Let's leave that question hanging. So, with the thought of fish tacos in her mind as she came back, but with no clear vision toward making them, Annalena received what she takes as a sign. She was watching one of those "can this restaurant be saved?" type of shows, and the "star" dish of the kitchen was the fish taco. Well, apparently, its star did not burn bright, as the repair person (Tabitha), brought in one of Annalena's favorite people, Susan Feniger, to improve the recipe. Annalena watched very closely, and took from it, among other things, "season at every step."
Yes, ragazzi, memorize that phrase. If you make your dish and salt it at the end, you will get a dish that is both salty and underseasoned. Trust Annalena on this one, you must season each ingredient, and at each step.
Now , that was a digression, but a valuable one. Anyway, Annalena began looking for fish taco recipes. She found one, which used strawberry salsa, and this caught her eye. Strawberries and fish? Sounds odd. But it is good. And since, at least here in NYC, strawberries are "it" for local fruit, use em while you got em. Let's make these, and enjoy the fact that each taco has only about 120 calories in it. And you'll be able to make 9 with this recipe.
First, let's make the salsa, which you could easily use with something else. You will need a quart (2 pints) of ripe strawberries. Chop them, after you've taken the green thing off, and add a chopped jalapeno pepper. If you like things spicy, add more, or use the veins of the pepper. Annalena did this in her food processor, which saved a whole lot of time. Add a pinch of salt, a handful of chopped chives, and the juice of one lime (not a lemon, as the recipe says. Lime is more authentic). Taste this, and if you want to adjust the seasoning, go ahead. This is one that is open to interpretation.
Now, to our fish and tacos. Preheat your oven to 450. Your fish should be of the white type, skinless, or with edible skin. Annalena's recipe called for halibut. She had her favorite, black sea bass, which has an edible skin and that's what she used. You need a good pound and a quarter or so of fillets. Brush some olive oil on the baking sheet, and put your fish, skin side down (if it has skin), or smooth side down (if it doesn't), on the pan. Sprinkle salt, and about half a teaspoon of ground cumin over the fish. Again, you can vary the spice if you like. Want chili powder? Go ahead. Or maybe something else? Yours to call. Bake the fish for about fifteen minutes.
For the tortillas: you need the corn ones, the SMALL ones. Not the huge ones that look like small tables. If you want to cut your calories as much as you can, stack these tortillas, sprinkle some water on the one on the top, wrap them in foil, and let them steam as the fish bakes.
OR, as Annalena did, get a nonstick pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil, and just let the tortillas cook on each side, for less than a minute. All you are doing is warming them, really. To Annalena's taste, this little "fry" step is very authentic, and adds flavor. And as always, start with the best tortillas you can find (Annalena had brought some back from San Francisco, made by Rancho Gordo. Would that she could get them here...). Put them on paper towels to drain a bit.
Finally, chop up about two cups of some sturdy, light green leafy vegetable. That can be Chinese cabbage, or romaine, or something like that. You could also mix it your greens with watercress, or another cress, just as long as it's leafy, and soft.
By now, your fish is ready. Take it out of the oven, and get a fork. Just "scramble" it into pieces. And we're ready to assemble our tacos.
Put a tortilla on a plate, and add a handful of greens. Not that much. Remember: 9 tortillas, two cups of greens: if you've been generous with the greens, you'll have a quarter cup each. Then, a bit of the fish. If you do this one ingredient at a time, you can be skimpy with fish, and then if you have some left over, distribute it at the end. Finally, a nice spoonful of the salsa. You'll have extra. Put it at the side for those, like Annalena, who want more.
Take a look at that recipe, ragazzi. Where did we add fat? IF you do Annalena's frying step, you've added less than 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the finished dish. No fat in the fish, no fat in the salsa.
Pretty healthy, huh? Give it a try. Annalena's favorite Mexican chef Sue Torres gave this her thumbs up. What more can you ask for?
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Getting what you knead: oatmeal bread
Ragazzi, don't say that Annalena didn't warn you that we were going to be making bread. And indeed, we are. Because, carini, if you cannot make a decent loaf of bread, you cannot fairly call yourself a cook. PERIOD. There. She said it. You don't have to be able to turn out brioche that float, nor croissants that crackle under your teeth. Nor do you have to make sourdough to rival your favorite from San Francisco. But you DO have to be able to bake bread. And this is a good one. No, strike that. It's a REALLY good one. And it's very good for you. Also, as far as bread baking goes, it's easy, and you can take your time with it. In fact, you must. And so, we begin.
Some of you are big fans of oatmeal, and if you are, sometimes you will have leftover. You should save it for this. Or, make some extra, and then use it. The bottom line, is that you are going to need two cups of cooked oats. NOT the instant crap, not the microwaveable nonsense, but good, old fashioned, rolled oats. If you are like Annalena in that you do not eat oatmeal for breakfast (actually she does, but not without enough butter, nuts and raisins to turn it into a dessert pastry), take a cup of raw oats, and pour two cups of boiling water over it. Then, let it sit overnight. You don't need to refrigerate it this way, because all you need to do is get them cooked, and at room temperature.
When the oats are ready, put them in a bowl with an additional half cup of water. Add a tablespoon of yeast, and then a cup each of white flour and whole wheat flour. Stir this all up togther, and go away for a couple of hours. You're making sponge. You want this to be bubbling slightly, sort of like an oatmeal version of a volcanic lava flow.
When you're there, we finish up. You're all whole wheat now. You add a tablespoon of salt, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, three tablespoons of honey, and then at least 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Annalena does her bread in a mixer. If you use the big stand mixer, you will work this for eight minutes. If you are doing it by hand, then you're going to need closer to 12. In either case, have an extra cup of flour ready, in case things are too wet and too sticky (sometimes, things ARE too wet and too sticky, and other times...). As the bread dough sticks, add more flour, by sprinkles, or quarter cups. You really shouldn't need to add more than an additional half cup of flour.
Now let this rest for , oh, about another two, maybe three hours. At the end of that time, lightly oil two 8x4 inch baking pans. This bread really is too wet to use as a round loaf, so do use the pans, otherwise you will have oatmeal pancakes. Divide the dough, put it in the pans, and go away, again, for about an hour and a half. Sometime during that last wait, turn your oven to 375.
The dough will crest over the pans, and that's what you want. Put the pans into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. You can test the bread by putting a straw down the middle, if you don't mind the hole mark in your bread. The crumb here is moist, so some will adhere to the straw. Or just trust your sense of color and smell. The bread is ready when it SMELLS ready.
When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for five minutes, and then tip it out of the pan. If you used enough oil, or other grease, it will 'plop' right out. Then let it sit on a rack until it's cool. Seriously, don't eat this until it has completely cooled, because there's a lot of heat and water to get out of the bread.
Yes, this took a lot of time, but ultimately, it involved somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes worth of work. That's what bread baking is like, ragazzi. It is very rewarding. Annalena commends you to it. Go and make your staff of life, and you may never buy bread again.
Some of you are big fans of oatmeal, and if you are, sometimes you will have leftover. You should save it for this. Or, make some extra, and then use it. The bottom line, is that you are going to need two cups of cooked oats. NOT the instant crap, not the microwaveable nonsense, but good, old fashioned, rolled oats. If you are like Annalena in that you do not eat oatmeal for breakfast (actually she does, but not without enough butter, nuts and raisins to turn it into a dessert pastry), take a cup of raw oats, and pour two cups of boiling water over it. Then, let it sit overnight. You don't need to refrigerate it this way, because all you need to do is get them cooked, and at room temperature.
When the oats are ready, put them in a bowl with an additional half cup of water. Add a tablespoon of yeast, and then a cup each of white flour and whole wheat flour. Stir this all up togther, and go away for a couple of hours. You're making sponge. You want this to be bubbling slightly, sort of like an oatmeal version of a volcanic lava flow.
When you're there, we finish up. You're all whole wheat now. You add a tablespoon of salt, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, three tablespoons of honey, and then at least 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Annalena does her bread in a mixer. If you use the big stand mixer, you will work this for eight minutes. If you are doing it by hand, then you're going to need closer to 12. In either case, have an extra cup of flour ready, in case things are too wet and too sticky (sometimes, things ARE too wet and too sticky, and other times...). As the bread dough sticks, add more flour, by sprinkles, or quarter cups. You really shouldn't need to add more than an additional half cup of flour.
Now let this rest for , oh, about another two, maybe three hours. At the end of that time, lightly oil two 8x4 inch baking pans. This bread really is too wet to use as a round loaf, so do use the pans, otherwise you will have oatmeal pancakes. Divide the dough, put it in the pans, and go away, again, for about an hour and a half. Sometime during that last wait, turn your oven to 375.
The dough will crest over the pans, and that's what you want. Put the pans into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. You can test the bread by putting a straw down the middle, if you don't mind the hole mark in your bread. The crumb here is moist, so some will adhere to the straw. Or just trust your sense of color and smell. The bread is ready when it SMELLS ready.
When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for five minutes, and then tip it out of the pan. If you used enough oil, or other grease, it will 'plop' right out. Then let it sit on a rack until it's cool. Seriously, don't eat this until it has completely cooled, because there's a lot of heat and water to get out of the bread.
Yes, this took a lot of time, but ultimately, it involved somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes worth of work. That's what bread baking is like, ragazzi. It is very rewarding. Annalena commends you to it. Go and make your staff of life, and you may never buy bread again.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Have it your way: a sorbet or a smoothie: strawberry rhubarb
AH, now THAT title got your attention, didn't it? There are some of you out there who LOVE smoothies. Really, really do. For you, it's breakfast, dessert, a snack, etc.
Truth to be told, Annalena cannot stand them. That does not mean they are not good, not at all. They are simply not to her taste. At all. BUT... as she was making the basis for a spring sorbet (it is NOT summer yet ragazzi, even if it is 90 degrees. There are no field tomatoes, and everyone knows, THAT's when summer starts), she began thinking of her smoothie guzzling friends, and in fact, tasted the product on the way to sorbet and thought "yup, this could work." So here we go . It's seasonal, it's tasty, and while you will be using your food processor - and a pot - you will be making a LOT , and you'd be using your blender instead, so....
Nothing says spring to Annalena more than rhubarb and strawberry. She tries to use them as much as possible. This is not a problem with strawberries. Rhubarb is a little more challenging. Those of you who have tried it know of its extreme acidity. Even those of us who like very sour things, can find rhubarb "unabridged" a challenge. Annalena was planning to use some that she had, to make a savory chutney later this week, but... the sorbet bug bit her.
And indeed, she was thinking of smoothies also, because of the twisted way her mind works. See, the recipe she worked with called the dessert "sherbet." Annalena grew up learning, and confirmed, that sherbet has a dairy product in it. Sorbet does not. Her recipe had no dairy in it. It's a sorbet. But IF it had dairy, well.. and she thought real hard of putting in yogurt and turning it into smoothies. Maybe next time, but probably not. You smoothie drinkers/eaters, however, take note.
Ok, enough blather. Let's get to work. You need a healthy pound of fresh rhubarb. You'll want to cut off the gunky ends and leave as much good stuff as you can. Then, put the pound of it in the food processor with a quarter cup of water, and grind it up. It will go fine, but it will not go to juice. When you have that, put the ground rhubarb into a pot, cover it, and cook it, at LOW heat for fifteen minutes. More juice will come off of it.
While your rhubarb is cooking, hull about a quart of strawberries. It won't take all that long, and you don't have to cut them up. Put those in the unwashed food processor, and puree them. VERY easy.
Here's where you have to start making decisions, ragazzi. If you are making sorbet, there's no decision to make. Put two cups of sugar into the rhubarb, mix it all together, and put it in the food processor with the strawberries. Spin away, and taste. If your rhubarb was exceptionally tart, you'll need more, and now's the time . Always keep in mind that a frozen dessert will taste less sweet than an unfrozen one, so err on the side of sweet.
If, however, you've decided to go the smoothie route, now you have to be careful with the sugar, because two cups will be very, VERY sweet. Annalena suggests you start with one. Blend it into the fruit with a cup of yogurt (plain, of your preferred degree of fat content), and then taste it. While it's still warm, add sugar to your desired level of sweetness. A squirt of orange juice won't hurt.
It's warm at this point, and if you like a warm smoothie, go for it. Or, refrigerate it until you're ready to drink it down. You will get about two quarts of this with the yogurt, so you'll be drinking a bit of it, or sharing it. If you go the sorbet route, cool it, and then use your machine. You'll get about a quart and a half.
Yes, the sugar adds calories, for sure. But if you're making dessert.... DUH. If you're looking for a healthy, seasonal smoothie, you control your destiny here. So get to it. And let's hear from you. Did any of you make the smoothie? Did you like it? Tell us. All of us have inquiring minds.
Next time around, roll up your sleeves and get out the elbow grease, because we're going to bake some bread
Truth to be told, Annalena cannot stand them. That does not mean they are not good, not at all. They are simply not to her taste. At all. BUT... as she was making the basis for a spring sorbet (it is NOT summer yet ragazzi, even if it is 90 degrees. There are no field tomatoes, and everyone knows, THAT's when summer starts), she began thinking of her smoothie guzzling friends, and in fact, tasted the product on the way to sorbet and thought "yup, this could work." So here we go . It's seasonal, it's tasty, and while you will be using your food processor - and a pot - you will be making a LOT , and you'd be using your blender instead, so....
Nothing says spring to Annalena more than rhubarb and strawberry. She tries to use them as much as possible. This is not a problem with strawberries. Rhubarb is a little more challenging. Those of you who have tried it know of its extreme acidity. Even those of us who like very sour things, can find rhubarb "unabridged" a challenge. Annalena was planning to use some that she had, to make a savory chutney later this week, but... the sorbet bug bit her.
And indeed, she was thinking of smoothies also, because of the twisted way her mind works. See, the recipe she worked with called the dessert "sherbet." Annalena grew up learning, and confirmed, that sherbet has a dairy product in it. Sorbet does not. Her recipe had no dairy in it. It's a sorbet. But IF it had dairy, well.. and she thought real hard of putting in yogurt and turning it into smoothies. Maybe next time, but probably not. You smoothie drinkers/eaters, however, take note.
Ok, enough blather. Let's get to work. You need a healthy pound of fresh rhubarb. You'll want to cut off the gunky ends and leave as much good stuff as you can. Then, put the pound of it in the food processor with a quarter cup of water, and grind it up. It will go fine, but it will not go to juice. When you have that, put the ground rhubarb into a pot, cover it, and cook it, at LOW heat for fifteen minutes. More juice will come off of it.
While your rhubarb is cooking, hull about a quart of strawberries. It won't take all that long, and you don't have to cut them up. Put those in the unwashed food processor, and puree them. VERY easy.
Here's where you have to start making decisions, ragazzi. If you are making sorbet, there's no decision to make. Put two cups of sugar into the rhubarb, mix it all together, and put it in the food processor with the strawberries. Spin away, and taste. If your rhubarb was exceptionally tart, you'll need more, and now's the time . Always keep in mind that a frozen dessert will taste less sweet than an unfrozen one, so err on the side of sweet.
If, however, you've decided to go the smoothie route, now you have to be careful with the sugar, because two cups will be very, VERY sweet. Annalena suggests you start with one. Blend it into the fruit with a cup of yogurt (plain, of your preferred degree of fat content), and then taste it. While it's still warm, add sugar to your desired level of sweetness. A squirt of orange juice won't hurt.
It's warm at this point, and if you like a warm smoothie, go for it. Or, refrigerate it until you're ready to drink it down. You will get about two quarts of this with the yogurt, so you'll be drinking a bit of it, or sharing it. If you go the sorbet route, cool it, and then use your machine. You'll get about a quart and a half.
Yes, the sugar adds calories, for sure. But if you're making dessert.... DUH. If you're looking for a healthy, seasonal smoothie, you control your destiny here. So get to it. And let's hear from you. Did any of you make the smoothie? Did you like it? Tell us. All of us have inquiring minds.
Next time around, roll up your sleeves and get out the elbow grease, because we're going to bake some bread
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