A Player and a Baker

My How Things Have Changed

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:45:00 +0000

This blog was a fun project. It was pretty and concise and I slaved over it for a time. But these days I don't have the time or energy to keep up this format. So have fun exploring what I put up here, and if you like what you see, check out my new format over at tumblr.

It's still A Player and a Baker. I'm still playing and baking and capturing it for posterity. But now I'm doing it from my iphone.

Check it out here!

Forever Playing,

Meredith

Slow Cooked Polenta

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:57:00 +0000

I've done this before, but I just can't stop raving about the joy of this stuff. This is not quick cooking polenta. This is simply coarsly ground cornmeal that gets to soak up a lot of water.

Also, it goes perfectly with braised short ribs. So I had to write about it again, just so you could experience them together, as it should be.

Heat up a box of stock.

Add a box of water.

This isn't rocket science, people. The stock adds flavor, but we want to stretch out the cooking time with this one, which means we need more liquid. So we add water. I like to fill the empty stock vessel to retrieve any extra flavor that might still be hidden in there.

Get some good polenta.

Stone ground is best. Corn is essential here.

Now I'm just bein' silly.

When the liquids boil stir in one to two cups of polenta, depending on how many people you're feeding. And the size of your saucepan- you need some room to groove here. In the apartment, I'd definitely only do a cup. It expands a lot anyway.

Now, lower to a simmer, whisk occasionally, and add water when it gets thick.

Do this for a long time. Hours. You want those starchy grains to explode into soft globules of deliciousness. This takes a lot of patience.

What should you do while your polenta cooks?

Enjoy the lovely spring weather we're having:

Stop and smell the roses (you know what I mean):

(Thanks Sanne, they were lovely)

Eat some cheese and crackers:

That would be aged gouda with black pepper crackers and currant jelly. It did the trick.

I keep the polenta pretty loose until about thirty or forty minutes before I know we're going to eat. Then I crank the heat up a bit and start stirring more frequently. It's perfectly creamy when it's time to eat.

Which is now.

Enjoy.

Playing,
Meredith

Braised Short Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:30:00 +0000

This one is a Michael classic.

I've had it a few times, but never actually witnessed its creation. This weekend that was remedied.

It's really a simple idea. Brown the short ribs. Sauté some veggies. Cook everything with wine and stock. But it's nice to see it all broken down, right.

Here are the short ribs. They were cheap- 14 dollars for all that meat. It's a good thing.

The veggies:

Dust the ribs with a little flour, salt and pepper:

Brown on all sides.

I like to call that one "Meathenge".

Heehee.

Open a can of tomato sauce. You just need a bit.

After browning the meat, deglaze with some dry vermouth.

Add the veggies:

About half that little can of tomato sauce.

And when that's all reduced and thick add a cup or two of red wine.

Put the short ribs back in.

Michael got really excited about the design of this new stock box.

When you twist the cap it perforates the aluminum seal, so it's ready to go when you open it. No pesky pull tabs or anything.

Top the short ribs off with some stock:

And some herbs:

Pretty self explanitory...

Simmer for a long time. Simmer for hours and hours if you have the time. You want the meat to fall of the bones and to be incredibly tender.

When it's ready purée the veggies.

We used a food mill, but a blender or food processor would do.

Pour that goodness back into the pot and let it reduce into a nice thick sauce.

You might add a little butter to that, you know, for richness.

Our short ribs needed more time, but we were hungry, so we gave them a sear more like steak.

Serve over polenta, and possibly braised celery.

How do you make perfect polenta?

Well I'll tell you.

Tomorrow.

Playing,
Meredith

Instant Pancake Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:52:00 +0000

This stuff blows the box out of the water.

Not that there's anything wrong with buying a brand name pancake mix. Generally speaking, they don't have too many weird ingredients. The thing is, they taste pretty good. If you want fantastic pancakes, you're just going to have to think outside the box.

This recipe is awesome because you can throw the dry ingredients together in a few seconds, and then any day of the week fresh fabulous pancakes are at your fingertips. Just so you know this is another Alton Brown gem. I can't get enough of that guy lately.

I simply plopped all of the ingredients into this canister and gave it a good shake.

And what is in this mix I speak of?

Sugar, salt baking powder, baking soda, and a mixture of half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour. (The whole wheat flour would be my addition to this mix- I can't help making things just a little more wholesome.)

Once you've got your mix, you can get going on the wet ingredients.

In one bowl mix together 2 cups of buttermilk with 2 egg whites:

In a separate bowl (or coffee mug) mix together 4 tablespoons of melted butter with the two egg yolks:

Note the use of an Old South coffee cup. Old South is a famous pancake house in my hometown Fort Worth. These mugs are G's.

Mix the butter mixture with the buttermilk mixture:

Throw in 2 cups of your pancake mix.

Be careful not to over mix once you've added the flour mixture.

Now get your griddle nice and hot.

Give it a rub with the butter stick.

And scoop your mix, wait for those bubbles to form and give them a flip.

Note the bacon sizzling on the back burner. I can't have pancakes without some sort of breakfast meat.

Look at this fabulous stack.

The pancakes are hearty yet fluffy. You wouldn't know that there was any whole wheat flour in them if I didn't tell you. I don't think I told G. Do you think she knew?

Serve with melted butter and REAL maple syrup. It's the only way. Real maple syrup is an amazing unrefined sugar that people should eat much more of. It's so much better tasting and better for you than that flavored corn syrup or chemical-laden sugar free stuff.

Instant Pancake Mix
from Alton Brown, adapted by a Player

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour (Or 3 cups AP and 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake
to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

Ingredients

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:
2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.

Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)
Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 pancakes

Make your own pancake mix and become the king of breakfast. Or queen. Whichever you prefer.

I promise...

Playing,
Meredith

Pork with Cream Cheese Gravy

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:10:00 +0000

This is one from my childhood.

It's Brazilian. I know, you totally love it when my South American roots shine through.

First of all, this dish is supposed to be made with "lombo" which is portuguese for pork loin. But when I was at the old Union Square Farmer's Market something caught my eye that I couldn't resist. There is a farm museum in Queens aptly called the Queens Farm Museum. They have recently become an actual working farm and are selling their wares at the greenmarket! Queens is wonderfully amazingly local.

Can you believe that this exists in New York City? It's amazing. And when I saw a sign advertising pork fed with grains from the Brooklyn Brewery, I couldn't say no. So this is a new venture, and they don't have a lot going on. No pork loins, only loin chops. AND when I tried to buy two, which seemed like a reasonable amount, the price came out to over forty bucks. FORTY BUCKS! So I just bought one instead. I figured I'd sear that baby up, finish it in the oven, and slice it up. I mean, you just need a little meat, and since this meal was pork fest, we were getting extra protein with our salad.

Here's our chop:

There was a lot of fat. I cooked it with it on and carved most of it off later.

Here it is when I took it out of the oven:

It rested happily while I made the sauce.

Using the same pan I seared the pork in, I add some sliced mushrooms into the pan.

The pan was a little dry so I added some extra bacon fat from my bacon dressing. You can obviously use butter if you don't have bacon fat.

Add a bunch of sliced scallions and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour into the pan.

When that cooks out pour in water or stock. I used water, since I already had plenty of bacony porky flavor.

Throw in 8 oz. of cream cheese.

Let that melt:

Make sure to add the drippings from the resting meat. You won't regret it.

And serve over the sliced pork and rice.

This is an incredible easy dish. You really should give it a try, either with the traditional loin, or a chop.

I'll go ahead and give you the original recipe modified to my tastes.

Pork Loin with Cream Cheese Gravy
From What's Cooking in Rio, adapted by a Player

Ingredients:

2 lbs pork loin, or loin chops, 1 per 2 people
salt and pepper, and optional sage
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs flour
1 c. water or chicken stock
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (I prefer reduced fat)

Recipe

Rub loin/chops with salt pepper and optional sage. Give the chops or loin a sear and finish cooking in a 350˚ oven. (For the chops, it will be about 15 minutes. For the loin, more like 45 minutes.)

Using the pan drippings sauté the mushrooms until brown, and add the scallions, reserving the green tops for later. When they're soft add the flour and cook briefly. Whisk in the water or stock. Then stir in the cream cheese. Cook until just boiling. Serve over the sliced pork and rice.

Eat it.

Playing with more pork,
Meredith

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Um, what could be better?

This was part of a wonderful pork-filled meal James, G and I shared Saturday night. It's totally greenmarket-crazy! See! You can be local in March! You just have to eat a lot of pork...

In this particular dish, that would be bacon. They didn't have pre-sliced, so I got to chop it into nice big hunks, or lardons, as the French say.

Thinly sliced red onion:

A few button mushrooms:

Some hard boiled eggs:

Then you make a vinnaigrette with the bacon grease. It's amazing.

I got my inspiration from the fabulous Alton Brown over at Food Network. I highly recommend this salad.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
from Food Network

Ingredients

8 ounces young spinach
2 large eggs
8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large white mushrooms, sliced
3 ounces red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Directions

Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside.
While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.
Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.

Playing with pork,
Meredith

Cocktail Monday: Mead

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Well I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I know I did- and I have lot's to tell you about this week. But today, it's all about the cocktail. And well, it's not so much a cocktail as an interesting spirit. I read about this local mead company over at Serious Eats, and after doing a little research I found that Astor Wines carried it! Astor Wines is in my hood, so I knew I had to give it a try.

Mead is wine made out of honey. It tastes kind of like white wine, but it also tastes very uniquely mead-y. It might be impossible to accurately describe, so you'll probably have to go out and try some for yourself.

It tastes best extremely cold. In fact, I wouldn't hold it against you if you put an ice cube or two in your glass.

It actually tastes great with the addition of a frozen strawberry.

Mead is strange, but interesting. And local mead? Well, you know I couldn't say no.

Trying something new is always fun.

Playing,
Meredith

Peter Luger Vegetable Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Okay, it's really just regular vegetable soup, but I used some bones to add flavor, and those bones happened to be from Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn.

The Peter Luger experience is a quintessential New York one, but I have to say it was not worth the hype. The beefiness of the steak was amazing, but it was overly charred, and that kind of ruined things. The creamed spinach was fantastic though...

We took home the leftovers, including these two t-bones:

They'll definitely give this soup some umph.

The other players:

Veggies. Onion, potato, celery, carrot, and cabbage. (Of course, you can use any combination of veggies you like.)

Sautée the onion, carrot and celery.

I threw in some whole garlic cloves as well.

Add the potatoes and cabbage:

Those fabulous bones. If you don't have leftover steak bones, you could use bones you buy at the butcher counter- just brown them in a hot oven to give them extra flavor.

A splash of vino:

Water to cover:

A can of diced tomatoes:

Here's a nice tip:

Put your herbs and spices in a bit of cheese cloth so they're easier to remove later. I used peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme and parsley.

Tie it up like a little package:

And nestle it into the simmering soup.

Let your soup simmer on low as long as you can. If any scum floats up from those bones, skim it off.

I like to add noodles to my soup.

I cooked them seperately so they wouldn't get too soft.

Place your egg noodles in the bowl:

And top with the soup.

Or, of course, if you're too lazy to cook noodles, there's always sourdough bread.

Make some soup. It'll keep that cold snap at bay.

Playing,
Meredith

Cocktail Monday: Classic Martini

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:55:00 +0000

It's been a while since we've had a Cocktail Monday, and on this snowy day, what could be better than a nice movie and a cocktail.

The movie? The Thinman. A classic detective flick with Bill Powell.

The cocktail? A classic martini.

That's a gin martini, with much more than a spritz of dry vermouth, and orange bitters.

Old Raj is pretty good gin. It's also pretty pricey. Plymouth is a great martini gin as well. The dry vermouth should be Noilly Pratt or Boissiere. The bitters should be orange.

Check out these crazy glasses:

You put ice water in the bottom part and it continues to chill the martini as you sip. It's a little drippy, but fun.

The recipe:

2 ounces gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir, don't shake, and strain into your chilled martini glass.

We garnished with olives, but you might prefer a pickled onion, or perhaps a strip of lemon peel.

The movie? Ah yes, a fabulous cocktail flick. This movie makes the casual drinker look like a Baptist. Let's just say he drinks a whole lot.

Rent the whole movie, stir yourself up a martini, and enjoy.

Playing,
Meredith

Half Wheat Sourdough: The Finale

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:18:00 +0000

When last we met, the dough was mixed, kneaded and rising.

Now it's time to get serious.

When the dough has doubled in bulk, plop it onto a clean surface.

You'll want to stretch the dough into a big rectangle, but be careful not to rip the dough.

Now fold it in thirds like an envelope.

Cut that in half and form two rough balls.

Let those balls rest about 20 minutes.

Then you shape the balls into boules by turning them in your hands, stretching the dough to one point at the bottom.

When the ball is nice and tight give that bottom a pinch.

Repeat with the other ball. Place the two balls on parchment paper on seperate dinner plates. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, or after 8 hours, let your loaves rise until at least doubled in bulk (3-4 hours).

Make sure and get your oven screaming hot- 500˚ before your'e ready to bake.

Right before baking, give your loaves a slash with your handy dandy baker's razor. Or a sharp knife.

Note that these half wheat loaves aren't quite as springy as my other ones. We love them anyway.

Give the loaf a spray of H2O:

Pop her in the oven (on the parchment, preferably on a baking stone), and reduce the oven temp to 450˚. Give the loaves two more sprays within the first five minutes of baking.

After that, you can relax, at least for the next twenty minutes or so, until you test their temperature and they register about 210˚.

Let the loaves cool two hours. Or ten minutes, if your me.

Serve with something delicious, like this Peter Luger Vegetable Soup:

I'll tell you all about that another day.

The bread is honestly best eaten warm with lots of sweet butter. The whole wheat is good, but I long for the pure taste of white sourdough. So I'm making more...

Playing and Baking,
Meredith

Half Wheat Sourdough

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:31:00 +0000

This time around, I switched things up and used half whole wheat pastry flour and half bread flour. It has nothing to do with the fact that I ran out of bread flour. I swear. I planned it this way.

Fortuitous accident or planned event, what matters is that this bread is different than I've made before, and you know how I like to switch things up. I'm always growing, always evolving.

Or something like that...

So you've got your refreshed starter. Now it's time to make the sponge. Just so you know, this is the exact same recipe I've used before, with the addition of the whole wheat pastry flour. You can get the printable recipe here.

So you take 4 1/2 ounces or 1/2 cup of your starter. You'll notice I do a lot of weighing as opposed to measuring. Not only is it more accurate, but I don't have to wash as many dishes. It's a win-win situation.

When you weigh your ingredients you can use a coffee mug to warm up your 3-4 ounces of filtered water to 80˚.

5 ounces of flour:

The sponge supposed to resemble thick pancake batter. I ended up adding extra water to get the right consistency. Things are a little dry in New York City these days.

This is about right:

Let that do it's thing wrapped in plastic at room temp until it's doubled in bulk- this will take 2-3 hours.

Now it's dough time.

12 ounces filtered 70˚ water:

12 ounces of bread flour.

That's alll I had, but we made lemonade with these lemons and added 12 ounces of whole wheat pastry flour.

When not using a mixer to do your kneading it's best to add the salt at this stage, as it mixes into the dough a little easier.

Get everything incorporated. Hands are the best tool for this job.

I didn't say baking bread wasn't messy.

Form the dough into a ball and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Then you knead.

I don't know how long to tell you to knead if you're doing it by hand. I just knead until the dough becomes very springy.

And when you poke it

It springs back.

Using the whole wheat flour made the dough not quite as springy as 100% bread flour, but that's just fine.

Now check if your bread has a fever.

No really, if it's over 78˚ you need to place it in a cooler spot. If it's under 78˚ place it in a warmer spot.

My dough was warm, so back onto that cool window sill.

Make sure you spray it with nonstick cooking spray and cover it with plastic. Then let it rise until it doubles in bulk (3-5 hours).

When we meet again, we'll be redistributing the yeast, forming the boules, proofing, slashing, and baking.

Playing,
Meredith

It's Alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:02:00 +0000

My sourdough starter has been living in the bottom of my fridge undisturbed for something like 7 months.

This is not reccommended by the sourdough experts. You can keep your sourdough in your fridge if you feed it periodically. You can keep it in the freezer if you want to take a break. You are not supposed to let your starter sit unfed in your fridge for months on end. It just can't live under those conditions.

Or not.

I had to give it a try. I wanted to celebrate my blogaversary with sourdough. I figured if my starter was dead, I'd go out and buy some yeast and cheat.

And so, I ventured into the cold recesses of my fridge and fished out the tupperware coffin that contained my starter. Would it be moldy? Rotten? Covered in maggots?

Nope.

It was exactly as it should be. The doughy starter below with the "hootch" or alcoholic liquid floating on top. No off-smells. No horrific decay. Just sourdough starter.

Woohoo!

But it could still be dead. It hasn't had any new food in so long. Even though I'm pretty sure my fridge is cold enough to put the yeast into a suspended state, I can't be sure. There's nothing to do but give it a try.

And so, we feed.

Take a cup of the stirred up starter:

Get one cup of bottled or filtered water up to 80˚.

Mix that with your starter:

Get yourself some good bread flour. It's high in gluten, the protein that makes bread awesome.

Mix in a cup and a half of that.

Don't worry too much about lumps.

Set in a cool place.

You might think that the window isn't a cool place, but in New York in February, it's one of the coolest places in the apartment.

I say a cool place because of a conversation I had with a seasoned baker one night in Hudson. He said that sourdough gets the best flavor not in warmth but at about 50˚. I thought I'd heed his words of wisdom.

All I could do at that point was wait. Eight hours, to be exact.

Did it grow? Did it bubble? Has my starter awakened?

Indeed it has!

Glorious day! The sourdough lives. All is well. Repeat the feeding process two more times, and you're ready for the next step. Which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

Playing,
Meredith

Happy Blogaversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:13:00 +0000

It's been a year. Can you believe it?

Exactly 365 days ago I completed the process of creating a sourdough starter from scratch and I just couldn't keep it to myself. It's been a wonderful learning process. I've struggled with dedlines and photoshop. I've dropped my camera in cake batter and it lived to tell the tale. Mostly, I've had a wonderful time getting my unique perspective out into the world.

As a throwback to my roots, I've revived my sourdough for a little reunion of sorts. The loaves are proofing as I write this, so you'll get the whole story soon.

Meanwhile, item one on the agenda is the new layout. Do you like it? I thought it was high time for a change. Blue wasn't the ideal background for my photos. So there you go.

So stay tuned for a week full of fun here at a Player and a Baker!

Playing as always,
Meredith

When's Spring?

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:24:00 +0000

I'm ready for it now!

It was cold and rainy/snowy yesterday. Now the skies are beautiful and blue, but more mixed weather is on the way. I'm getting restless for the bounty of the spring and summer. I want to wear a skirt. I want to leave the house without a coat. But most of all, I want light fresh flavors.

Never fear, my friends. You can get light fresh flavors in the dead of winter, and you don't even have to bend the local rule too much if you're willing to read lots of labels.

This is a light couscous salad. The first time I had this was with my dear friend AC when I was visiting her back in college. It's a simple dish, but the flavors are light and fresh, which tastes really good after a whole lot of winter root veggies.

Chop up some veggies.

I like red onion, cherry tomatoes (grown in a greenhouse in Conneticut!) and not so local yellow bell pepper (nobody's perfect, but Mexico is closer than Isreal, so it could be worse).

Dress your veggies up with the juice of one lemon:

Good extra virgin olive oil:

And season with salt and pepper to taste, of course.

I added a can of chickpeas, drained, to bulk this up into a meal. It would also be a great side to grilled chicken or fish.

Make a cup of couscous according to the package instructions. I like to use whole wheat couscous because you really can't taste the difference.

When the couscous is done, I throw it in the freezer to quickly chill it. You can eat this salad warm if you like but I like it cool.

Mix the veggies with the cooled couscous, top with chopped fresh parsley, and enjoy.

A taste of spring in the dead of winter?

Absolutely.

Playing,
Meredith

A Valentines Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:03:00 +0000

A little late...

What can I say? I'm a lazy blogger. Or a busy blogger. Or an unmotivated blogger.

All of the above.

But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I promise, I will be a better blogger. I mean, I'm coming up on my one year aniversary and I've got all sorts of excitement planned, so I can't bow out now.

But enough of that. Let's get to the good stuff.

Michael and I aren't really Valentines Day people. It's just such a silly fake holiday geared towards buying drugstore chocolates and greeting cards. We don't completely scoff the holiday though. We'll eat a nice meal and Michael might get me a little something. I always make him something good: cookies or candy.

I like to make him something significant to my life. One year I made brigadeiros, a Brazilian chocolate. Sometimes I like to use an ingredient I know he loves, like pecans in the linzer cookies I made him last year. This year I combined both and made a confection of my childhood that happens to have pecans and caramel (a throwback to Michael's favorite pie, pecan).

Pecan pralines are a special Texan treat. In Tex-Mex restaurants, you might get a sopapilla, which is a delicious pillow of fried dough filled with honey. If you don't go that route, at the cashier, there is always a pile of these sugary delights.

This recipe is from my uncle's cookbook "From the Parson's Table." It's always a great resource for recipes of my childhood.

The players:

Butter, milk, corn syrup, sugar, salt and baking soda.

Bring these to a boil:

Chop up a cup of pecans.

Add them to the boiling mixture:

And try really hard not to let the mixture boil over in your too-small saucepan. Note to self: get a larger saucepan...

Heat until the mixture reaches 235˚. It took a long time for me because I had to stir so much, and keep the heat low to avoid boiling over. With an appropriately sized pot, it shouldn't take too long.

Off the heat, stir in the vanilla.

Spoon the mixture onto parchment or wax paper, and let cool.

Because of the humidity, my pralines didn't harden. In the end, I put them in the freezer for a few hours, and that did the trick.

They were delicious. Not exactly the pralines of my childhood, but still very tasty.

The Parson's Pralines

2 c. sugar
1 c. milk
2 Tbs butter (Uncle Dave says margarine, but that's not how we roll)
2 Tbs corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans

Mix all ingredients but the pecans and vanilla in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the pecans and continue to cook to 235˚. Remove from heat and beat in the vanilla as the mixture cools. Spoon out on wax or parchment paper to cool and harden.

By the way, this would be a fantastic end to a homemade Mexican meal. Even better crumbled up over vanilla icecream!

Enjoy!
Playing,
Meredith

Viva!

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:06:00 +0000

I hope you enjoyed my relatively thorough twittering on my Las Vegas trip. It was a fun little experiment, and a fun way to connect with you while I was gone. I'm sorry to say I wasn't as thorough with my photo-documenting. I never was sure if it was appropriate to take pictures of the gambling action, and I was afraid I might jinx the table, so a large part of the trip isn't documented. I do have some pics to show you, though.

Friday night the whole group went to Battista's Hole in the Wall- a kitchy old school Italian restaurant. It was a lot of fun, but not what you'd call a culinary experience. We did enjoy ourselves.

That was Holly with salami eyes. You can also catch a glimpse of the free house wine that comes with every meal. It's not good, but it's free. It's all part of the experience...

Here's one picture in a casino:

All of the casinos were celebrating the Chinese New Year, which made for some great displays. This one at the Bellagio had amazing topiaries including this one of an ox, as this is the year of the ox.

I had so much fun playing craps at a bunch of the casinos. It's my favorite game, because it has so much to do with the energy of the group you're playing with. There's a lot of camraderie.

We stayed at the Planet Hollywood and got upgraded to the "Get Shorty Suite". It was pretty rediculous, but a perfect place to stay when living the life in Vegas. I should have taken pictures, because all of the memerobelia was pretty rediculous, and we had a huge circular tub. But alas, you'll have to use your imagination.

One of the most fun things we did was go to Hofbrauhaus Vegas. There are only three of these in the world- the original in Munich, one in Cincinatti, and Vegas. It's basically a big beer hall with the big steins and music and excellent German food.

Like this awesome pretzel:

It came with 2 mustards and a delicious cheese sauce.

Here was the entertainment guy with this long horn. (You can definitely insert your innapropriate horn jokes here- I know he did.)

There were lot's of contests.

Bryan won the beer holding contest.

Brent and his good friend Steve sat back and enjoyed the show.

I ate sausage and kraut. Have I ever told you that I love sausage and cabbage? Oh, I have. Sorry.

The table full of beer and more delicious food.

Wait a sec. Who is that in the ladie's drinking competition?

That's right, folks. I'm hard core like that. Honestly I just took a look at the other ladies and they looked like sissies. I don't like to compete when I know I don't have a chance.

Oh look- it's Brent and Steve's time to shine in the men's drinking competition.

Ladies first:

Meredith first!

And for the gents:

Steve drank that beer faster than I've ever seen a beer drunk. It was quite a sight.

Soon after we were inspired to stand on the table and sing a song to which we didn't know the words. Those Germans have the amazing ability to inspire people to do things they never thought they'd do. It's a blessing and a curse.

Michael won the iphone beer drinking contest. Yes there's an app for that.

We had a fabulous time. After the Hofbrauhause we hit the casinos again and Michael's brother Steve (not beer drinker extrordinaire Steve) had an amazing streak of luck with the dice.

Vegas is fun, guys. I never thought I'd be the gambling type, and I'm still not one to take huge risks, but I really had a great time.

Playing,
Meredith

Leaving for Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:57:00 +0000

That's right, my friends. I have embarked on my maiden journey to Sin City.

Who knows what will happen?

You will, because I'll be twittering the whole shebang. Simply look right over there to your right to see what's going on in that dessert paradise that is Las Vegas.

In the meantime, watch this. Just pretend I'm Ann Margaret and Michael is Elvis, and that's exactly how this trip's gonna be. I promise...

Playing for keeps,
Meredith

Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Not the show, but the delicious sinful spicy greasy confection.

These wings are different. These wings are special. These wings aren't deep fried. They're baked.

Don't worry though. Baked wings can be good. I daresay they can be great. All you have to do is follow this method.

Cook's Illustrated published a recipe for extra crispy roast chicken about a year ago that caught my eye. You sprinkle a mixture of baking powder and salt on the skin to dry it out. Michael and I were inspired, and thought it would work well for an oven fried buffalo wing. We did it last Super Bowl with great results, so we decided to do it again.

We bought whole chicken wings and cut them into their respective pieces: drumettes and the wing, or flat 2 boned part. It's actually pretty easy to do this with a very sharp paring knife. Just cut off that little wing tip, then separate the two pieces at the joint. I didn't get a good picture of the butchering portion, as chicken juice was all over the place.

Michael mixed up the drying mixture.

The ratio is 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 teaspoon of baking powder. I'm pretty sure he doubled the recipe, as we were making a lot of wings.

Just toss the mixture with the wings:

And lay them out on a sheet pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Note: I think these wings were a little crowded, which meant that they weren't as dry as they could have been. Make sure your wings have enough room to really dry out.

Place your wings on a rack over your cookie sheet- this is another key. The wings will stick less and cook more evenly with the even air flow.

Bake the wings at 425˚ until they're brown and crispy, flipping halfway through cooking. It may take up to 45 minutes.

We were taking our wings to a party, so we transported them unsauced in an aluminum pan.

As for the sauce, we went with Cook's Illustrated.

Franks red hot is absolutely the way to go. We could only get extra hot, so we mixed that with some "Crystal" hot sauce, whose flavor was definitely sub par.

Cook's Illustrated's wing sauce also included some brown sugar.

Another note: we had the sauce simmering on low as the wings cooked. I think that was another mistake- the flavors concentrated and the sweetness was amplified resulting in wings that were a little too sweet. I didn't mind it actually but a certain someone called our wings "honey mustard" and that really hurt our feelings. SO don't let your sauce cook any longer than it takes to melt the butter and combine the ingredients, you'll be just fine.

When we got to the party we put the wings under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp them back up and tossed them with the sauce. I loved the really browned ones, so you might want to broil your wings for a minute or too also.

And now for some homemade blue cheese:

I'm pretty sure I was the only one who really enjoyed this, because Michael doesn't like blue cheese at all. He did say this was really good, despite the blue cheese, so it must be excellent blue cheese dressing. It certainly is 1000 times better than the bottled kind.

Mash 3 tablespoons of buttermilk with 2.5 ounces of crumbled blue cheese. They didn't specify, but I bought Danish, because it was on sale.

Mash that up with a fork until it looks like cottage cheese.

Add 3 tablespoons sour cream, 2 tablespoons mayo (must be Hellman's) 2 teaspoons vinegar, and stir to combine.

Serve with the ubiquitous celery and carrot sticks. We just did celery.

We served a little extra sauce on the side, just in case.

I loved these wings. Despite the fact that they weren't as crispy as they could have been and the sauce was a tad too sweet, they still were really great wings. And taking out the deep fat frying made it relatively easy, if not a bit healthier. I mean, just ignore the butter in the sauce, and the crispy chicken skin, and these are practically a health food. I kid. But they could be worse.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings
by a Player and her Playa (heheh)
(inspired by Cook's Illustrated)

For the Wings:

Chicken Wings (I'd say about 1 1/2 whole wing per person, or three pieces)
1-2 tablespoons salt (depending on how many wings)
1-2 teaspoons baking powder (see above...)

Toss the butchered and dried wings with the salt and baking powder and place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to over night.

Bake on a rack over a cookie sheet at 425˚ for about 40-45 minutes, turning once, until the wings are golden brown and crisp.

For the Sauce:

4	tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2	cup hot sauce , preferably Frank's Louisiana Hot Sauce
2	tablespoons Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce, plus more to taste
1	tablespoon dark brown sugar
2	teaspoons cider vinegar

Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in hot sauces, brown sugar, and vinegar until combined. Remove from heat and set aside.

When ready to serve, you can toss the wings with the sauce, or you could broil the wings to reheat them, then toss with the sauce.

Serve with
Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing:

2 1/2	ounces blue cheese , crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
3	tablespoons buttermilk
3	tablespoons sour cream
2	tablespoons mayonnaise
2	teaspoons vinegar

Mash blue cheese and buttermilk in small bowl with fork until mixture resembles cottage cheese with small curds. Stir in remaining ingredients (up to carrot and celery sticks). Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Can be covered and refrigerated up to 4 days.

Make some wings. They're good.

Playing,
Meredith

Boo.

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Hello my readers,

I should be writing a post about crispy baked chicken wings right now. Instead I've got to go to the bank because someone stole my checkcard on the train from DC yesterday. It really curdles my blood to be reminded that there are bad people in the world- essentially vultures. This bad person took 10 short cab rides and spent almost $4000 bucks at Bloomingdale's. Can you believe that???! Thankfully, I'm not responsible, since I don't have that kind of cash available. But alas, you're going to have to be patient and wait for the wings.

See you soon,
Meredith
(Player who got played)

Frito Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Not pie at all.

It's a delicious and savory combination of fritos and chili. It would be an absolutely perfect main event for your superbowl party, I might add.

This is a simple dish, but you know me. There was no opening a can of chili and plopping it on some chips. I made my chili from scratch. I suggest you do the same. I mean, it's so easy, and the result is delicious.

I went to one of my all time favorite recipe sources for this one: Cook's Illustrated. I even paid money to get the online membership. I think it's worth it. I mean, the recipes are always foolproof. You really can't go wrong.

It all starts with the spices:

Chili powder, crushed red pepper, cumin, cayenne, coriander and oregano.

And of course, the main event:

Oh, there's the beef... That would be 2 pounds of 85% lean beef. In this case, organic. 'Cause that's how I roll.

You sauté up some onion and garlic, add the spices to toast those up, then add half the beef. When that's good and brown you add the second pound of beef and let that get browned up.

Then you add two big cans of tomatoes.

Diced and puréed, to be exact.

Kidney beans, 2 cans, drained and rinsed.

Now, some people don't add beans to their chili. That's all well and good, but I love beans, so if I have the option to add them to any recipe, I'm going to do it.

Simmer for an hour covered, and another hour uncovered, stirring occasionally. If the chili starts to stick to the bottom you might want to add a little water. It wasn't necessary for me.

Here we have my chili fixins:

Chopped scallion, cheese, lime wedges and sour cream.

And the star of the event:

Fritos. No substitutions. No homemade chips here. Good old fashioned fritos.

My dad has told me that he used to buy frito pie at football games made directly in a sliced open bag of fritos. I think that's pretty cool, but we had a guest, so I tried to keep it a bit more high brow.

So all you do is pile some fritos in a bowl, and ladle a nice healthy serving of chili on top.

Garnish as desired, and dig in.

Our guest, Luigi brought us some fabulous canolli from Cafe Dante. The were to die for.

A perfect crunchy ending to a crunchy meal.

Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans

From Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

2	tablespoons vegetable oil or corn oil
2	medium onions , chopped fine (about 2 cups)
1	red bell pepper , cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6	medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4	cup chili powder
1	tablespoon ground cumin
2	teaspoons ground coriander
1	teaspoon red pepper flakes
1	teaspoon dried oregano
1/2	teaspoon cayenne pepper
2	pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
2	(15-ounce) cans red kidney beans , drained and rinsed
	1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes , with juice
	1 can (28 ounces) tomato puree
	Table salt
2	limes , cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add half the beef; cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining beef and cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Remove cover and continue to simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer), until beef is tender and chili is dark, rich, and slightly thickened. Adjust seasoning with additional salt.

Serve over fritos for a real treat.

Happy Superbowl!

Playing with pigskin (or not...)

Meredith

Superbowl Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Since my post earlier this week seemed to fit, I now pronounce this week Superbowl Week here at "Player and a Baker"

There. I said it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I may be a player, but I don't really like sports. I was born with the genetic inability to appreciate all sports. It's a shame my sport-lovin' dad has endured all these years. What I do like are all of the food and beverages that are associated with sports. I like junk food. I like burgers and wings and chips and beer. Who doesn't?

Don't answer that...

Anyway, that's why I don't mind going to sporting events, and it's also why I actually anticipate the great American tradition that is Superbowl Sunday.

None of these recipes were specifically designed for a superbowl party. I'm not that organized. It's just worked out that I made a bunch of superbowl-friendly dishes over the weekend. And guess what? You get to see them before the big day, so you can make them yourselves for your very own superbowl party. It's a nice change from the usual "after-the-fact" reporting I do on events like this.

And so, without further ado, I give you Superbowl Ideas:

Onion Dip:

I had a craving for this creamy concoction, but you know me. I wasn't about to buy a can of processed stuff. I like to make things from scratch. So I found this very easy recipe from Alton Brown.

I deviated from the recipe in that I sliced the onions instead of chopping. I would chop them next time- the thin potato chips can't hold up to the larger sliced onions.

I also added a sprig of thyme, because I love onions and thyme.

This isn't my usual fully detailed post. It's an overview. I'll post the recipes below.

Moving on.

To Pumpkin Fondue!!

Michael, Wenonah and I created this recipe before Thanksgiving, with inspiration from Gourmet Magazine and Animal Vegetable Miracle. Gourmet made almost a bread pudding inside a hollowed out pumpkin. Kingsolver made a soup baked inside a pumpkin. We wanted something thicker than soup and thinner than stuffing. We wanted cheesy pumpkin fondue. So we made it.

Carve the top of the pumpkin off:

Try not to cut off your fingers...

Scoop out the seeds so that you have a nice hollow cavity. Don't carve any eyes or a mouth. That would defeat the purpose of this lovely dish.

Salt the inside of the pumpkin. Then add some grated Gruyere and Emmentaller cheese, maybe 1/4 cup. Then place a few slices of good french bread. Then add more cheese. Then pour in some half and half or cream, depending on how crazy you're feeling. Then add more cheese. And more cream.

Cover with it's little lid and bake on a rimmed cookie sheet at 400˚ for about an hour. Then remove the top and continue to cook until the cheese is bubly and delicious.

Here's the onion dip. It was delicious, if a little difficult to eat.

Pumpkin Fondue:

When it's baked up, you scrape the sides of the pumpkin into the cheese to make it nice and pumpkinny. Serve with warm french bread. It's really good.

Here my dear friend James eats some roasted shrimp cocktail. I got that recipe from the Barefoot Contessa- you roast the shrimp at 400˚ for 6 minutes to ensure maximum flavor and minimum risk for overcooking. They were delish.

Lena dug right in to that onion dip.

So there you have it: four great ideas for Superbowl Week so far:

Sausage Balls
Onion Dip
Pumpkin Fondue
and Roasted Shrimp Cocktail.

And now, some recipes:

Onion Dip from Scratch
from Alton Brown at Good Eats

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onions
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

In a saute pan over medium heat add oil, heat and add onions and salt. Cook the onions until they are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add the cooled onions. Refrigerate and stir again before serving.

Pumpkin Fondue
A Player's Creation, with a little help from my friends.

Ingredients:

One pumpkin or squash, preferably large enough to fill with cheesy goodness.
1 cup grated Gruyere and Emmentaller cheese
1 cup half and half or heavy cream
chicken stock
1 crusty baguette

Preheat the oven to 400˚

Cut off the top of your pumpkin and remove it's seeds. Salt and pepper the cavity. Add about 1/4 cup of the cheese, followed by three slices of the baguette. Add the rest of the cheese, then pour in the cream. If you don't fill the pumpkin, add some chicken stock.

Bake the squash in a rimmed baking sheet, top on for about an hour until a knife easily slides into the flesh of the pumpkin. Remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly. Take a spoon and scrape some of the pumpkin flesh from the sides and incorporate with the cheese mixture. Serve with toasted baguette slices.

Make these dishes for any party, and everyone will love you.
Stay tuned for Frito Pie- the ultimate game food.

Playing,
Meredith

Sausage Balls

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:52:00 +0000

From scratch.

Sausage balls are a Southern tradition. Go to any cocktail party, and you're bound to discover this delicious treat. It's so simple. Just throw together some Jimmy Dean sausage, some Bisquick and some cheese, form into balls, bake and serve.

But what if you don't have access to Jimmy Dean or Bisquick? Are sausage balls possible? Do they become so complicated that they become a hassle?

Nope. They're still pretty easy.

I went to the farmer's market shopping for a little appetizer party I was shopping for. In New York City, even in the dead of winter, the farmer's market was relatively hopping. I stopped at Flying Pigs Farm to pick up some breakfast sausage. Only they didn't have any. But they had ground pork, and I happened to know that the Homesick Texan has her very own recipe for breakfast sausage that couldn't be simpler. It's just ground pork, with some herbs and spices mixed in. I mean, that's all bulk sausage is, anyway.

I already knew I didn't want to buy biscuit mix, so I googled "homemade bisquick" and found this recipe. I didn't want to make the full ammount, so I just made what I needed, about 1 1/2 cups.

I know this all sounds complicated, but truly, it isn't. I'll break it down.

First, make your biscuit mix. For about 22 balls, which would serve 4-5 people at a cocktail party, you'll want 1 1/2 cups. Here's what you do:

Mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cubed, and combine with your fingers or a pastry blender until the shortening is fully incorporated into the flour.

Now, for the sausage. You can go ahead and mix that in the same bowl that has your biscuit mix in it. It's all getting mixed up anyway.

To make about 1/2 pound of sausage you'll mix 1/2 pound of ground pork with 1 teaspoon of sage, 1 teaspoon marjoram (if you've got it- I didn't, so I just left it out) 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, a dash of cayenne pepper, a dash of sugar, salt, and a couple grinds of pepper.

Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese- we used gruyere and emmentaller that was left over from another recipe, but cheddar is traditional.

Form into 1 inch balls:

Bake at 375˚ for 18-20 minutes. I served them with a sauce that was equal parts spicy mustard and sour cream.

I couldn't even get a picture before everyone dug in.

A Player's Sausage Balls
with inspiration from Homesick Texan and Paula Dean

(If you want to serve more than 5, see their recipes for larger amounts.)

1 1/2 cups Bisquick OR
1 1/2 cups flour
1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cubed

1/2 pound breakfast sausage like Jimmy Dean OR
1/2 pound of ground pork
1 teaspoon of sage
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of brown sugar
dash of salt
a couple grinds of pepper

1/2 cup grated cheese (whatever you like- gruyere and emmentaler, cheddar, monterey jack...)

Preheat the oven to 375˚.

Combine the first three ingredients. Add the shortening and combine with your fingers or a pastry blender.

Add the sausage ingredients and cheese. Combine, and roll into one inch balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes, until browned and delicious.

Serve with a mixture of half mustard, half sour cream.

Hey- why don't you make these babies on Superbowl Sunday? Everyone will love you for it.

Playing,
Meredith

I Was There

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:11:00 +0000

I'm not there today, but I was in D.C. on Sunday, and I got to witness a little snippet of history.

Michael and I met our friend Jeanne for a little lunch at Oyamel, an awesome Mexican joint near Chinatown.

They serve small plates, but boy are they packed with flavor. The drinks are also excellent. I had a pomagranate margarita with José Andrés's signature concoction: salt foam:

Who knew that salt foam was the high end answer to a salted rim? It's subtly salty, unlike it's low-brow brother. I loved it. Michael and I will be topping our perfect margarita with it, when we get around to that particular installment of "Cocktail Monday".

Anyway, then we made our way to the Mall, and as close to the Lincoln Memorial we could get, which was a bit closer to the Washington Monument.

You know how I love meta photos of people taking photos. Here Jeanne takes a picture of Michael in front of the Washington Monument:

Porta Potties:

(Very important and plentiful, although we all luckily made it without trying these babies out.)

And here was our view of the Lincoln Memorial for the "We Are One" concert:

Check out my awesome zoom shot:

You can totally see the snipers on top of the building.

This is what was behind us:

We stood waiting a while, but finally the concert begun, with the prayer, and some celeberties speaking, and finally, the Boss:

And James Taylor (a personal favorite):

Other highlights: U2 rocked it so hard I couldn't even pause to get out my camera. Garth Brooks was surprisingly good with a little medley. And then, America's number one rock star:

Obama!

I have to say, I've never felt so patriotic in my life as I felt that day. Okay, that's possibly not counting today, but I'm sitting alone on my couch today, and on Sunday I was with 500,000+ people, every single one of them proud of their incoming president and this country. It was electric. It was exciting.

Yay America! So go, watch the inauguration, and participate in history. It's fun!

Playing with politics,
Meredith

Baba au Rhum

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:52:00 +0000

A quintissentially French confection.

I made this as a finale for the rich and delicious meal that was Cassoulet. Read about that here. And here, here and here (Liz over at Sour Cherry Farm is a blogging pro- you should all read her blog as religiously as you read mine.)

A baba au rhum is essentially a brioche-like cake that is soaked in rum syrup. How bad could that be? (As my muse Ina Garten might say.) I pretty much followed the Contessa's recipe word for word, but I took a tip from Mark Bittman, my favorite minimalist, and baked my baba in a loaf pan instead of buying a unitasking "kugelhopf mold". It turned out very well, if I do say so myself.

Heat 1/2 cup milk to 115˚ and pour it into the bowl of your mixer. If you don't have a thermometer you trust, 115˚ is hot to the touch but wouldn't burn your skin. Add your packet of yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar and let that sit for 5 minutes.

With your mixer on low, add 2 room temp eggs:

1 2/3 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 tablespoons of softened butter. Beat with your paddle attachment on medium high for five minutes.

Give that a good scrape, mix again, and then form into a ball-like blob.

Cover that with a damp towel and let it rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

This is when you stir in the 1/3 cup of currants you've been soaking in good dark rum. Did I forget to mention that part? Well, when you follow the recipe, it will tell you to do that. It will also tell you to drain the currants. Why in heaven's name would you want to waste that delicious flavor? I went ahead and threw that in. Call me crazy.

Here's my buttered loaf pan.

Get your dough in there and smooth the top. Then let that baba rise again for another hour. I put mine on the radiator because the Hudson kitchen is pretty cool as far as kitchens go. In Fort Worth I had to fill the washing machine with warm water and set the dough on that to get things to rise.

Hello, baba.

Goodbye, baba. And into the oven, at 375˚. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpic comes out clean.

Now, make your rum syrup, which is just simple syrup with rum. (The recipe is down there.)

Place your baba on a rack over a sheet pan and go ahead and pour your syrup all over the warm cake.

Slice it up:

And serve with whipped cream.

It's light, it's boozy, and it's delicious.

But most importantly, it's really easy.

Make it.

The Barefoot Contessa's Baba au Rhum

Ingredients

1/3 cup dried currants
1 tablespoon good dark rum
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Rum Syrup, recipe follows
3/4 cup apricot preserves
1 tablespoon water
Whipped Cream, recipe follows

Directions

Combine the currants and rum in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and brush a 5-cup (6 1/2 by 3 1/2-inch) tube pan or kugelhopf mold with the melted butter. Be sure to coat every crevice of the pan. Heat the milk to 115 degrees F and then pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir in the yeast and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, first add the eggs, then the flour, salt, and remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater to form the dough into a ball. It will be very soft. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Drain the currants, fold them into the dough with a spatula, and spoon into the prepared pan. Smooth the top, cover the pan with a damp towel, and allow to rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and make the rum syrup.
Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then tap it out of the cake pan onto a baking rack set over a sheet pan. Pour all of the rum syrup very slowly onto the warm cake, allowing it all to soak in thoroughly. Amazingly, the liquid will be absorbed into the cake, so be sure to use all of the syrup.

Heat the preserves with 1 tablespoon of water until runny, press it through a sieve, and brush it on the cake. Serve with whipped cream piped into the middle of the cake plus an extra bowl on the side.

Rum Syrup: 1 cup sugar
2/3 cup good dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place the sugar and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a 4-cup heat-proof measuring cup and allow to cool. Add the rum and vanilla and set aside.

Whipped Cream: 2 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don't overbeat, or you'll end up with butter!
Yield: 4 cups

(Just so you know, you don't have to make quite so much whipped cream. 1 cup would be just fine.)

Bake a baba. You won't regret it.

Playing,
Meredith

Jalapeño Thingies

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:58:00 +0000

These babies are good.

Today, we're taking a look back at a recipe I made for the Smart Christmas Party. I've got a bunch of material that I didn't get around to posting during the holiday, but I'd like to show it to you, so while I'll continue to post new stuff, we'll have some old stuff peppering the mix.

I read about these over at Pioneer Woman , and have used them a couple of times now. They are so simple, but so delicious.

You start with jalapeños. I like to use one chile per guest, which seems to work out. For this party we expected 60 people. That's a lot of spice. Slicing and seeding 60 jalapeños could literally burn you. I recommend using gloves, especially if your skin is sensitive to capsaicin like mine is. Believe me, it's worth it. My dad took the seeds and threw them in the yard, and his skin was still burning hours later.

My grandmom was around while I was making these, and she was a great help.

Here she grated the cotija cheese:

Here is my mountain of jalapeños:

I mix cotija into my cream cheese to add an extra salty bite. If you can't find cotija, ricotta salata would be a good substitute. I think I used 3 or 4 packages of cream cheese and 4 ounces of cotija.

Now it's a good time to have helpers. Lis, Grandmom and I set up an assembly line with the jalapeño halves, cheese mixture and bacon slices. PW thirds her bacon. I halved mine. The more bacon the better, I like to say.

Secure the bacon around the cheese filled jalapeño with a toothpic. Bake on a rack in a pan so the grease can escape at 375˚ for 20-25 minutes until the bacon is crisp.

These were spicy, but in a really good way. Even people who are spice shy will brave the heat for these babies. Just so you know, the smaller the pepper, the hotter it is.

Jalapeño Thingies are great party food. They'd be excellent for a Superbowl party, in case you were looking for ideas.

Playing,
Meredith