Home Baked

Change is good

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Hello, again, friends! I didn't mean to be away so long...but like anything else, blogging is a habit, and if you get out of the habit, every day it's more difficult to get back into it.

But here I am! And while I've been away, I've been thinking about making some changes to the site. The first is location. Blogger has been a great host so far, but for a couple of reasons (some of which I may reveal later...), I think it's a good time to move to Wordpress. If this means nothing to you, don't worry! All you need to know is that Home Baked has a new web address, and I would be thrilled if you'll follow me over there. I'll leave the existing pages over here at Blogger for a while, but all new posts will be at the new site: http://myhomebaked.wordpress.com. Never fear, the old posts are there, too, so once you make the switch, you'll still be able to search for old recipes.

The other change I've been contemplating is the focus of this blog. While I began strictly as a food blog, I've found the tight focus a little confining. I'd like to expand a little to encompass more of the "home" and not just the "baked"! We've got lots of DIY projects happening, projects with the kiddos, and family stuff to do around the neighborhood. I'll still bring you the best new recipes we find, as well as other food-related topics that sound interesting. I'm excited, and hope that with a wider range of topics, I'll be more inspired to post and you'll be more inspired to comment!

So don't forget--click on the link above, and check out Home Baked's new home. It's cleaner, more organized, and should be a great place to share all the things that make our house a home.

Fruit crumble

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:52:00 +0000

I like to bake cakes, but what I really like to eat is pie. And though I'd be the first to tell you that pie Isn't That Hard to Make, sometimes (just about any evening during a hot and sticky summer) you just want dessert with the smallest amount of effort possible. This is it. You don't need any special equipment, you don't need to wait until the ingredients are the perfect temperature. Just chop, mix, bake and eat. Come to think of it, this crumble is the perfect recipe for a vacation, when you're cooking in an unfamiliar and perhaps poorly equipped kitchen. It's also perfect when you have an eager helper whose enthusiasm eclipses his coordination. It's a great stand-in for pie because the crumble has the quality of short pastry rather than the fluffiness of a biscuit topping. One evening I threw it together with some overripe peaches just as we were getting dinner on the table, and it was ready by the time the plates were cleared.

The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef, and it's everything that's best about his recipes. It highlights fresh ingredients, it's simple, and it accommodates variation and experimentation. It's just a formula, and you plug in the variables. (Pardon my unlikely math analogies.) Try it--you can't go wrong.

As you can see, my helper and I used strawberries and rhubarb, and brown sugar on the fruit. I almost always substitute half the flour with oats. I've used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. Some fruits might welcome a bit of lemon juice or zest, or maybe a bit of ginger or cinnamon.

Fruit Crumble
from Jamie Oliver

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

1 lb. fruit, washed and prepared
3 T. sugar

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix up the crumble ingredients however you like--in a food processor, a mixer, with a spoon, or--my favorite--just rub the mixture between your fingers until the butter is evenly distributed. Put the fruit into a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the sugar. Spread the crumble over the fruit. (I like to squeeze the dough into little clumps, but that's just me.) Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbly.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream or yogurt (and call it breakfast).

After school brownie muffins: The Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:24:00 +0000

A commenter noticed that I never posted a recipe for these muffins that I posted about way back when I started this blog (not so long ago, really). When I started, I wasn't sure I was going to include a recipe in every post. But let's face it, that's what I want when I see something that looks good--gimme the recipe so I can try it for myself! So, without further ado, I'm sending you back to the original post, now new and improved, recipe included. Click on the link below!

After School Brownie Muffins

Sponge roll with chocolate glaze

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:41:00 +0000

Here's a cake I hadn't tried before, but will definitely make again. Looks so fancy and complicated, but it comes together very quickly. (A little hint: even if your squabbling "helpers" distract you and you forget to add the flour to the sponge cake batter, the final result will still be edible. Next time decline "help" until the decorating stage.) The sponge cake is really just a vehicle for the filling, something to spread the chocolate on. I've got some other flavor combinations swimming about in my brain...lemon sponge with berry jam and whipped cream, something with peaches and pecans....

Anyhow, there are a lot of directions here, but don't be discouraged. Just read them through a couple of times beforehand. It's actually quite a simple procedure once you try it. The kids helped with the decorating and it still turned out pretty professional looking, so you can do it, too! (Chocolate and powdered sugar look good in any form, right?)

Sponge cake:

1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
3 Tbsp. sifted all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
confectioner's sugar

Chocolate glaze:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
3 Tbsp. prepared coffee
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. rum
1 cup chocolate shavings (use a swivel vegetable peeler to shave curls off a bar of chocolate--any kind but unsweetened--work over a piece of wax paper and refrigerate the shavings until ready to use)
confectioner's sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly-roll pan (mine is 17"x11") with foil and grease it well with butter or baking spray.

With an electric mixer, beat 3 Tbsp. of sugar (reserve 1 Tbsp.) with the egg yolks at high speed until they are cream colored (about 5 minutes). Add the flour and beat on low, just until incorporated.

In a second bowl, with clean beaters (or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer), beat the egg whites and pinch of salt until they begin to thicken. Add the reserved tablespoon of sugar, and beat until the whites hold their shape, but are not yet stiff and dry.

Fold one-third of the whites into the yolk mixture, then another third, and then the final third. Do not mix more than necessary. Quickly and gently spread the batter into the jelly-roll pan and smooth it into the corners. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately sift confectioners sugar generously over the surface of the cake. Cover the cake with a long piece of wax paper, and then cover the wax paper with a cookie sheet. Holding them firmly together, flip the jelly-roll pan over onto the cookie sheet. Remove the pan and peel the foil off the bottom of the cake. Then roll the warm cake and the wax paper tightly together from the narrow end. Let the cake roll stand on the cookie sheet until cool.

While the cake is baking and cooling, make the glaze. Melt the chocolates and the coffee in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Add the butter and stir until it is melted and completely incorporated. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Let it cool to room temperature.

When the cake is cool, put the pan of glaze into a larger bowl of ice water and stir constantly until it thickens slightly. Reserve 1/3 cup of glaze for the top of the cake. Unroll the sponge and spread the glaze evenly to the edges of three sides of the cake; leave an inch or so unfrosted on one narrow end. Reroll the cake (without the wax paper inside this time!), and then spread the reserved glaze over the top and sides with a small spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings over the glaze (you will have to gently press them into the sides), and then refrigerate the roll for 30 minutes, or until the glaze is firm.

Remove roll from the refrigerator, transfer to a serving platter, and sift confectioner's sugar generously over the top. Serve at room temperature, birthday candles optional.

Blueberry pie

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:07:00 +0000

It was Father's Day, and the father of my children had wisely packed up his library book and taken the oldest two to the pool, while I stayed home with He-Who-Will-Not-Nap. It was humid and cloudy, and 80-some degrees, both in and outside the house. The air conditioning had died. And there I was in the kitchen, with all the windows open and the oven set to 400 degrees, baking a blueberry pie.

Despite the heat, there's something to be said for listening to the cardinals and sparrows calling from the backyard while rolling out a pie crust, as if time has stood still for fifty years or so. I could hear lawnmowers buzzing and a baby crying in the distance. My baby doesn't cry like that anymore--time does rush on. He was singing from his bed, with wooden trains, teddy bears, books and an assortment of dollhouse furniture scattered about him. And then he crept down the stairs, finally appearing in the kitchen to announce, "I waked up! And I need a snack."

That evening we celebrated with grilled steak, creamed spinach, and blueberry pie with ice cream. We ate our pie outside on the patio to catch the breeze. Mmmmm...summer. You're not going to get such a pie in any other season. The blueberries were juicy and jammy all at once, the crust buttery and flaky, but sturdy enough to stand up to the warm fruit filling.

I must confess to a small revelation: cutting the butter into the flour by hand (with a pastry blender) is infinitely superior to mixing it in the food processor. I seem to overmix in the food processor, and lose the flaky pockets of butter that you get from mixing more slowly with the pastry blender.

I first made this discovery a month or so ago, when I made a quiche for a weeknight dinner. The crust was puffed and layered, reminiscent of puff pastry, but without all the work. I hadn't done anything complicated or magical. I used cold butter, ice water, unbleached flour and a pinch of salt. I chilled the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. No time in the freezer, no vinegar or vodka or shortening in the recipe. Maybe you have more restraint than I do with the pulse button on the food processor. If not, try it by hand. I figure the time I spend mixing is saved by not having to wash all the nooks and crannies in the Cuisinart bowl!

Blueberry pie

2 pints fresh blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

All-butter pie crust (but abandon your food processor and mix it by hand!)
heavy cream

Prepare pie crust and chill the disks of dough for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and drain blueberries, then combine with sugar, flour, lemon juice and lemon peel. Crush a few blueberries with the back of a spoon and mix with the rest of the berries. Let stand for about 15 minutes.

Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 400 degrees. Roll out the chilled dough into two 12-inch rounds. Transfer one to a 9-inch glass pie dish. Spoon the filling into the crust. Cut the second round into 1/2-inch wide strips and arrange in a lattice on top of the filling. Press the strips into the edges of the bottom crust, trim the overhanging dough, and crimp the edges decoratively. Brush the crust lightly with heavy cream. Sprinkle on a little sparkling sugar, if desired.

Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. Cover the the edge of the crust with aluminum foil or a pie crust shield. Bake another 15-20 minutes, until the filling is bubbling in the center and the crust is golden on top and bottom. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

What dessert says summer to you?

Farmer's Market Blueberry Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Saturday morning we packed up the kids and went to our first farmer's market of the summer. I think it might have been the first time in eight years that we did not take a stroller. Another milestone. We came home with a bag of multi-colored fingerling potatoes, two big bunches of asparagus (some of which turned into this salad), and a pint of blueberries. After sampling a few (not a sour one in the bunch), I used the whole box in my favorite blueberry muffin recipe on Sunday morning.

The muffin batter is really just a means to bind the blueberries together, topped with a buttery crumb topping. These are not sturdy muffins that would survive a child's backpack; these are delicate and tender, best still warm from the oven and borne gently to the breakfast table in a basket. (I bet Dad wouldn't mind them, along with a cup of coffee and a handmade card, on his tray for Father's Day breakfast in bed.) Frozen berries will not do. Save this recipe for the best fresh blueberries you can find.

Blueberry muffins
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup light cream or half-n-half
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup flour
3 Tbsp. sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Melt butter in microwave or in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in milk, egg and vanilla until well combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add liquid mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.

Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl and rub together with your fingertips until it begins to crumble and clump together. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the muffin batter.

Bake until golden and crisp, and a wooden pick comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of each muffin and carefully remove from the cups. Serve warm.

Chocolate chip cookies: classic for a reason

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:31:00 +0000

I've never met a chocolate chip cookie I couldn't eat. One little circle that satisfies all your carb/sugar/chocolate cravings in a single bite. I do have preferences, though. I like them chewy and crispy. I prefer all butter. I love nuts, but haven't indulged lately, what with kid allergies and dislikes. (Perhaps I should rethink my strategy: add nuts, and the cookies would be mine...all mine....) My current favorite standard recipe is this one from (you guessed it) Smitten Kitchen. But on Sunday I received this:

So the first recipe I tried was the one for chocolate chip cookies, made with 100% whole wheat flour. It lends a subtle nuttiness, without screaming, "I'm healthy!" These definitely hit that crispy/chewy balance, and everyone loved their giant size. I made a couple adaptations to the recipe to fit my pantry (no quick runs to the store during nap time!), substituting light brown sugar for the dark, and semi-sweet chocolate chips for the bittersweet chunks. The result was excellent, but now I'm curious to taste the difference. Better quality chocolate can only be better, and I suspect that the dark brown sugar may lend a touch more moistness and depth of flavor. Today I was at the market, and made sure to pick up the missing ingredients. I guess I'll have to make them again and report back, if I don't get distracted by all the other fascinating recipes in this book. In the meantime, here's the straight-from-the-pantry version, because when you need cookies, there's no time to run to the store.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted slightly from Good to the Grain

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
8 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on low with the paddle attachment, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and blend on low just until combined. Scrape down the sides again, and add the chocolate chips. Mix on low for a few seconds more, then scrape the bowl one last time, making sure the chips are evenly distributed.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 Tbsp. in size on the the baking sheet, 6 cookies to a sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Remove the cookies and cool briefly on a wire rack. These are best the first day, but will keep in an airtight container for 3 days.

Wonderful note from the cookbook author: Don't chill this dough and then try to scoop it--it's too difficult. If you don't have time to bake the entire batch, scoop all the cookies and chill the extra balls of dough in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They'll keep for a week.

Sparkling sugar cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 28 May 2011 22:07:00 +0000

It's Memorial Day weekend, and I have the perfect cookie recipe for you, whether you're having a backyard BBQ, hitting the pool or beach for the first time this year, or just staying home doing laundry and watching the rain fall. (Yes, that last option is mine. But if the weather turns by Monday, we'll have some cookies to take to the pool!)

I know, I know...there are a million sugar cookie recipes. Why should you try this one? It's soft and chewy in the middle, with crispy edges and a crackled sugar top. It's not brittle or crumbly, so it's a perfect candidate for a picnic basket or a lunchbox. It does take three bowls, but you don't need a mixer. The recipe was developed by the test cooks at Cooks' Illustrated, so you know it's been engineered for success. I did adapt the instructions slightly, because my first batch did not turn out very pretty; the cookies all ran together and I had to cut them apart. By reducing the number of cookies on the baking sheet, they turned out perfectly round. And we loved the festive addition of crunchy sparkling sugar instead of regular sugar as a topping.

I was a little skeptical about the yield of this recipe--only two dozen? That's not going to last more than 48 hours in my house! But these cookies bake up into 3-inch rounds, so everyone was content with just one cookie at a time. We should have enough to get us through the weekend, whatever the weather, and maybe a couple left over for lunches on Tuesday.

Sparkling Sugar Cookies
adapted from Cooks' Illustrated

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
2 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

sparkling sugar for topping

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, add 1 1/2 cups sugar and cream cheese, and then pour the warm butter over and whisk to combine. Whisk in oil, and then add egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together.

Scoop the dough, about 2 tablespoons for each cookie, and roll into balls. (The dough will be very soft. Handle it quickly and gently, and don't worry about getting them perfectly round until after you've tossed them in the sugar.) Roll the balls in the reserved sugar, and place on baking tray in staggered rows, no more than 8 per tray. Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass until 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle tops with sparkling sugar.

Bake, one tray at a time, until edges are set and golden, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the tray after 7 minutes. Cool cookies on the tray 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate cake with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:42:00 +0000

Almost 11 years ago, I went and made my own wedding cake, and dug myself into a hole that I will never be able to climb out of. If I can make a wedding cake, what's my excuse for not making a cake for every other occasion? Every birthday, anniversary, baby shower, graduation and First Communion. Is a homemade cake better? Absolutely. Cheaper? Positively. And when I'm piping stars on a cake at 10 o'clock at night, I remind myself that this cake is made with love to celebrate another Very Important Family Milestone, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Still, things have changed in the Home Baked kitchen since I made that wedding cake. I can't remember the last time I made an Italian meringue buttercream or soaked my cake layers in simple syrup. My current favorite cake is anything from The Cake Bible that involves reverse creaming. You get a flavorful, tender cake with a fine crumb, but it's sturdy enough that you don't need to use extraordinary measures (cardboard rounds and sessions in the freezer) to assemble the cake without disaster. Quick buttercreams or cream cheese frostings are easy and foolproof, and don't require the candy thermometer or another dozen eggs.

This past weekend we celebrated Eight's First Communion with family and friends, so I made the Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake. I like that it's a cocoa cake--a whole lot cheaper than chocolate bars--and that even though it calls for cake flour, you can easily substitute all-purpose flour plus corn starch. I frosted it with White Chocolate Cream Cheese buttercream, which is rich, tangy, silky and very easy to make. I usually avoid anything with white chocolate--too sweet!--but mixed with cream cheese it achieves the perfect balance. I love the contrast of the tangy sweet buttercream with the chocolate cake, but it would be delicious on almost any cake I can imagine (mmm...carrot cake, I'm thinking of you).

I kept the decoration simple (and fast!), setting aside about a cup of buttercream to tint for piping. I used a small star tip to create the cross (which I first outlined with a toothpick so it would be centered), and continued with the same tip to make a shell border.

All-American Chocolate Butter Cake
from The Cake Bible

1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 cup boiling water
3 large eggs
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9-inch cake pans with wax or parchment paper, then grease and flour (or use baking spray).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa and boiling water. Cool to room temperature. In another bowl, combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture, and vanilla.

In the large bowl of the mixer, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low until moistened, and then beat on medium speed (high on a hand mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cakes on a rack for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small knife and inverting them onto the cooling rack. When the cake layers are completely cool, wrap them airtight in plastic wrap until you are ready to frost them.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

9 ounces white chocolate (bars, NOT chips, which do not have cocoa butter)
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler on low heat, stirring frequently, or in the microwave. (My microwave has a "Melt" setting, which works perfectly. Otherwise, use short bursts on low power and remove before all the chocolate is melted--just continue to stir it until it is completely smooth.) Let cool to room temperature.

In the mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the cooled chocolate, and then beat in the butter and lemon juice.

This buttercream becomes solid when chilled, so you can refrigerate it and use it later, but you will have to let it warm to room temperature and beat it smooth again. If it seems too warm to pipe, I prefer to set the bowl in another bowl of ice water and whisk until it stiffens slightly.

Best salted brown butter shortbread

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:27:00 +0000

I had a little shortbread craving the other day, but my brain linked "brown butter" to the shortbread idea, probably courtesy of this post from Smitten Kitchen. I almost made that shortbread recipe, but for the many comments from readers whose attempts were less than stellar. So I did some research, which led me down a path from Epicurious to King Arthur Flour, and finally to a Cooks' Illustrated recipe for Best Shortbread. Well, that's what I wanted, the BEST shortbread, but made with brown butter and sea salt. So I mixed the Smitten Kitchen recipe with the CI technique of reverse creaming the butter, and this mash up is the result. It's a recipe with a few more steps than I'm usually willing to take, but I found it more than worth the effort. As with many things in life, being the best takes a little more work.

Brown butter

The brown butter and brown sugar give this shortbread a caramel perfume and the sea salt is a delicate--and addictive--contrast. I've been hiding the cookie tin from the kids. How could I waste all that time, effort, subtle sophistication and butter on such undiscriminating palates?

A couple of notes: Don't leave your butter as it's browning. If you're a better planner than I am, you'll take 10 minutes to brown the butter the day before and chill it overnight. I just stick the bowl in the freezer. So be forewarned that you need to do that step at least an hour before you're ready to mix and bake. And before you start, set out a bowl to pour the butter in, and perhaps a fine mesh strainer to strain out the too-dark butter solids. Finally, stir, stir, stir.

Ground oats

12 Tbsp. butter

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. coarsely ground sea salt

Set out a medium bowl and a fine mesh strainer. Cut butter into chunks and heat in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, stir continually until the flecks on the bottom of the pan turn brown and the butter is the color of tea. Pour the brown butter through the strainer into the bowl. Chill until very firm, about two hours in the refrigerator.

Grind the oats in a coffee or spice grinder (or food processor) until they become a fine powder. Pour the ground oats and the rest of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for 30 seconds or until the dry ingredients are completely mixed. With a metal spoon, scoop the hardened butter into the mixing bowl. Mix on low for 5 minutes, or until the dough begins to come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Cold brown butter added to dry ingredients

Press the dough together on a sheet of wax or parchment paper and roll it into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll the log up in the paper and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. With a very sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2-in thick cookies and bake on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet for 5 minutes. Turn the oven down to 250 degrees and bake 6 minutes more, or until just golden around the edges. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and poke holes in each cookie with a skewer or a fork. Turn the oven off, but return the cookies to the oven and prop the door open with the handle of a wooden spoon. Leave in the oven for 30 minutes to dry out.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and cool the cookies completely on a wire rack. Yields 2 doz. cookies.

Ali Baa Baa sandwiches in homemade pita

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Friends, I am back! My poor laptop needed a new hard drive, the Easter Bunny has come and gone, and I've pledged to get back to a regular blogging schedule.

So I bring you a family favorite, a recipe invented by my father to use up leftover leg of lamb. (We always said he should submit the recipe to Gourmet magazine. Alas, Gourmet is no more, so I will give it its public debut here on Home Baked.) As this is the week after Easter, there was a big chunk of garlicky leg of lamb waiting in our fridge. Dice up the lamb, add some apples and onions, a scattering of Middle Eastern spices (hence, the name), a dollop of cool Greek yogurt--pile it all in a warm pita and serve with a salad. This is a wonderful quick weeknight meal, and the kids, who eyed the lamb suspiciously on Easter Sunday, ate it on its second appearance so quickly I had to slice some more lamb to add to the pan. No doubt my version is not exactly the same as the original (which may have included some curry powder), but this is one of those adaptable, use-what-you-have recipes.

But let's start with the pita. As I suspected, no-knead dough is ideal for pita, so I got out my trusty copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and fiddled slightly with the recipe. (But only very slightly.) I chose the whole wheat flour variation for depth of flavor, and, you know, as a nod to healthy eating. (Let's not talk about the mysterious disappearance of all the leftover Easter cupcakes.) I mixed up one batch of dough mid-morning, refrigerated it until late afternoon, and then scooped out about 1/3 of the cold dough to make 6 individual pitas. The entire rolling and baking process took about 20 minutes, and I managed it while supervising homework. Easy, easy. The results: "Just like storebought. And that's a compliment."

Pita
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 T. active dry yeast
1 T. Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Mix everything in a large lidded container until the flour is completely incorporated. You may need to use wet hands to mix in the last of the flour. Cover, but do not seal, the container and let rest on the counter for 2 hours. Transfer the container (still covered but unsealed) to the refrigerator until ready to use. Use the dough within 14 days.

Heat the oven with a baking stone inside to 500 degrees. For 4 individual pitas, dust 1/4 of the dough in the container with flour and scoop it out. Quickly shape into a ball by gently stretching the the surface and tucking it to the underside. Dust with a little more flour and cut the ball of dough into 4 equal pieces. On a floured surface, pat each piece into a round and roll into a circle about 1/8 inch thick.

Turn on the exhaust fan (some of the flour on the baking stone will burn and set off your smoke alarm--be prepared!) and slide two pitas onto the stone. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until puffed and starting to brown. Wrap the warm pita in a clean dish towel and let it cool on a rack. They will deflate slightly while cooling, but the pocket inside will remain. Bake the rest of the pitas, two at a time. An entire batch of dough should make 16 pitas; bake some now and some in the next 2 weeks, or bake them all now and store them in an airtight bag in the freezer. Warm frozen pita in the oven, wrapped in foil.

Ali Baa Baa Sandwiches

1 lb. cooked lamb, diced finely (if you're starting from scratch, you could use ground lamb, browned and drained--in that case, add some garlic)
1 apple, diced
1 medium onion, sliced
olive oil for the pan
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
salt and pepper
Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

Brown the onions in a little olive oil over medium-high heat. When they start to get translucent, add the diced apple. When the apple begins to brown and soften, add the diced lamb (or you can remove the apples and onions and set aside, so that picky eaters can have their meat all by itself). Add the spices to the lamb and heat until the meat is hot and begins to sizzle.

If you are serving this right away, go ahead and stir in a good spoonful or two of yogurt into the lamb mixture. But if everyone isn't gathered at the table all at once, leave the yogurt out and let each person add a dollop to their own sandwich. Cut warm pita in half, fill each half with the lamb and yogurt, and serve with a big salad. There shouldn't be any more leftovers!

Korean chicken wings

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:25:00 +0000

Sorry for the long radio silence, folks. Last week was Spring Break, and we drove all the way to New York to visit family and friends and see the sights. And eat. And eat, and eat some more. Nothing fancy, just the very best burger and fries EVER at the Shake Shack in NYC (I'm fairly certain the Shake Stack is the best thing I've ever eaten on a bun), lunch at a Japanese grocery in New Jersey, and some takeout wings from Bonchon. The wings were for the kids--the adults were having sushi--but we managed to snag a few from their greasy little hands. They are shatteringly crispy, sweet, salty, garlicky and completely addictive.

When we returned home, I found a giant bag (nearly seven pounds!) of chicken wings on sale and took it as a Sign from the Kitchen Gods. I cruised the internet for recipes, watched grainy YouTube videos of deep frying chicken, and took the plunge. To be fair, my attempt was not exactly the same as Bonchon, but it was still really, REALLY good. My taste testers asked if we could have "Momchon" wings every day. Um...no. The post-frying kitchen clean up is not on my daily to-do list. But I will certainly make them again soon (there must be four pounds of wings left in the freezer), experimenting once again with the sauce. I won't change the technique, though I'd like to try rice flour instead of the flour/cornstarch mixture. And next time I'll hunt down some of the special Korean bean paste that is the base for the spicy version of the sauce.

Momchon Chicken

Marinating wings

15 chicken wings, tips cut off, and cut in half at the joint (30 pieces)
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
salt and pepper

Sauce:

5 cloves garlic, chopped
2-inch piece peeled ginger, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. honey
1 T. Asian sesame oil

After the first fry

Grate or mince 1/2 an onion. Add 2 cloves garlic, minced, salt and pepper. Toss chicken wings in this mixture to coat; marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (I used a covered bowl, but a plastic freezer bag is also perfect.)

Mix up the sauce and bring it to a simmer in a small saucepan. Let it simmer gently for about 5 minutes. If you make it ahead, just warm it again as you're frying the wings.

Heat oil in a heavy, deep pot until it reaches 350 degrees.

Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a bowl or zippered freezer bag. Toss the marinated wings into the flour until completely coated. When the oil is at 350, add 1/3 of the wings to the pot and deep fry for about 5 minutes, until golden. Pay attention to the temperature and don't let it go above 350! Remove from the oil and let drain on a rack or paper towels. When the oil comes back up to temperature, fry the next batch. When all the wings have been fried once, bring the oil back up to temperature and fry them in batches again for 4-5 minutes. Drain on a rack or paper towels, and immediately brush with the warm sauce.

Deep dish apple pie

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:25:00 +0000

Things have been a little slow here at Home Baked lately. We haven't stopped cooking (or eating!), or even taking pictures, but sharing them with you has taken a back burner to meetings, projects, concerts, classes, laundry and various home and car repairs. Our garbage disposal literally fell out of the sink cabinet! How does that happen?

Deep Dish Apple Pie

So I dug into the photos piling up on my hard drive and remembered this pie I made for a Superbowl party. Somehow, after eating ridiculous amounts of nacho cheese dip and a bowl of chili, I still managed to consume a big bowl of this pie with ice cream. I found the recipe in an interesting cookbook, Sweet!, by Mani Niall. It's full of recipes using all sorts of natural sugars and sweeteners. Here, instead of sweetening the pie filling with sugar, you start with sweet apples and add apple juice concentrate. I added some butter to the filling and reduced the cinnamon, but nobody noticed the missing sugar. I can't wait to try this pie with some different fruit fillings, too. Another great thing about this pie is its portability. Instead of making two pies for a crowd, just make one big one in a 9x13 baking dish!

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 pieces
3/4 cup ice water, give or take

Filling:
8 large Fuji or Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. butter

Mix flour and salt, then cut the butter in with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. (You could use the food processor method, instead.) Gradually add the ice water and stir gently until the dough begins to hold together. Press the dough together, divide into 1/3 and 2/3 portions, shape into rectangles, and wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Toss the apples with the lemon juice. In another bowl, whisk together the apple juice concentrate, cornstarch and cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll out the larger piece of dough between two pieces of wax paper to a 15x18 inch rectangle. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread the apples into the crust and pour the apple juice mixture over them. Cut the butter into pats and scatter across the apples. Roll the smaller portion of dough into a 10x14 inch rectangle and place it on top of the apples. Tuck the edges of the top crust into the sides, pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts together, and crimp them decoratively. Cut several slits in the crust.

Bake about 2 hours, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature.

Persimmon bread

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:10:00 +0000

Last year some time I bought some persimmons, and by the time they were ripe, we were about to go on vacation. I gave them to my mother rather than let them spoil, and she pureed the pulp and put it in the freezer. Then when she was cleaning out her freezer before heading south for the winter, she gave me the container with exactly two cups of persimmon pulp. I let it languish in my freezer for several months, and this week finally decided to get it out and make something with it, come hell or high water. (The high water is an all too real possibility; between melting snow and March rain, our little castle has its very own moat.) Plus, we need some freezer space.

Persimmon pudding first came to mind, but as usual, I only had a little more than an hour, and Grandma's pudding recipe requires a few pauses for stirring. So I turned to this James Beard/David Lebovitz recipe. This one of those quick breads that ought to be called a cake, but for the fact that you bake it in a loaf pan. Though the batter starts out bright orange, as it bakes the bread turns a dark brown. The zing of the freshly ground nutmeg really stands out, pairing well with either chocolate or fruit and nuts (or all three--why not?). This would be a lovely alternative to fruit cake around the holidays.

My eight-year-old taste tester had no words, just a groan of satisfaction. Little Three just ate his up and asked for more. Miss Five denied that there was anything so strange as persimmon in her slice--she ate Just Chocolate Chip Bread. Whatever you call it, it's good. And the recipe makes two loaves, one to eat and one to put in the freezer. So much for gaining freezer space!

Persimmon Bread
adapted slightly from James Beard

3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups persimmon pulp
2/3 cup Cognac
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit (optional)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of two 9"x5" loaf pans with baking spray (or grease and flour them).

Whisk together the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the butter, eggs, persimmon pulp and Cognac, and beat until all the flour mixture is incorporated. If you want to make both loaves identical, stir in whatever combination of fruit, nuts or chocolate you prefer. If, as I did, you want to try different combinations, scrape half the batter into a second bowl and make your additions accordingly. Scrape the batter into the loaf pans and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If the top of the bread is browning too much during baking (check at about 45 minutes), cover it with a piece of foil. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then remove from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Orange upside-down gingerbread

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:43:00 +0000

Oranges and gingerbread: a sweet consolation for a long winter's day. Oranges have been on sale lately, so we've been eating a lot of them. I think Little Three has eaten at least half a dozen mandarin oranges in the past 24 hours! I keep hoping the infusion of citrus will beat down the colds we've all been battling.

Last weekend, I spent a few more minutes browsing through the tower of cookbooks I brought home from the library, searching for a dessert that wouldn't require an extra trip to the store. And in David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert, in a note at the bottom of another recipe, I found this variation for gingerbread made with oranges and cardamom.

Despite some issues with the batter overflowing the pan, this cake is spectacular. Both fancy and homey, with its beautiful rings of orange nestled in a gooey brown sugar topping, it is supported by a lovely moist gingerbread that might be worth baking all on its own. The cardamom and orange together set this cake apart from other gingerbreads.

(I was all set to take a shortcut and use already ground cardamom, but we didn't have any! We did have cardamom pods, so I ground a few up in the coffee grinder, sifting out the large bits.)

Orange Upside-Down Gingerbread

from David Lebovitz

Topping:

4 T. butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. freshly ground cardamom

4 navel oranges, peeled and sliced horizontally into 1/2" slices

Gingerbread:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 large eggs

1/4 cup half-and-half or whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the topping, put 4 T. butter in a 9-inch round cake pan or cast iron skillet. Make sure it is at least 2 inches deep. (My regular 1 1/2" pan was too shallow, and the pan overflowed during baking. Next time I'll use a 9" springform pan--it's quite a bit deeper.) Set the pan on the stovetop over low heat until the butter melts. Add the brown sugar and cardamom and stir well. Remove from heat. Arrange the orange slices over the brown sugar mixture, putting the prettiest sides down.

For the cake, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. In the mixer, beat together 1/2 cup butter and the sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses. Add the eggs one at time, beating after each. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture. Stir in the half-and-half, and then the rest of the flour mixture until just combined. Incorporate any flour stuck to the sides of the bowl with a few turns by hand with a rubber spatula.

Spread the batter on top of the fruit layer in the pan. Bake until a skewer in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool about 15 minutes, then loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin spatula or knife. Invert a serving plate over the pan and flip the cake over. Carefully lift off the pan.

Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream.

This cake is brought to you by your local library

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Thirty minutes alone in the library, and look what treasures I brought home! Our local library is a wonderful place, and never more so than on Tuesday mornings when they have "On Our Own" story time for three-year-olds. That means you slap a nametag on your child and hand him off to a smiling librarian to join in stories, singing and stickers while you dash downstairs to indulge in half an hour of quiet time ALONE in the adult section.

I haven't had a chance to crack all of these books yet, but I managed a couple chapters of Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life, and already found half a dozen recipes to try in Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. Without even getting through the table of contents, I stopped at "Whole Wheat Cinnamon Snacking Cake" and got to work. I confess, I may have had visions of cheerful, well-mannered children snacking on cake while willingly doing their homework. A good recipe is more than a set of instructions, after all. It's an attempt to turn an abstract vision into something concrete, something you can taste.

This recipe was true to its promise. Tempers were soothed, arguments forgotten, all at the mere mention of cake. And it provided enough fuel to draw pictures and write sentences (in our best kindergarten spelling!) about red-eyed tree frogs and mango-eating orangutans, and finish molding a peninsula out of floral foam for that second grade social studies project.

I am happy to eat a cake like this unadorned--the nutty whole wheat flavor and subtle cinnamon go nicely with a cup of tea--but the recipe also suggests a variation with streusel, turning it into more of a coffee cake. That sounds good, too, doesn't it?

The recipe calls for yogurt, but the cake is richer than other yogurt cakes I've tried, thanks to the addition of three eggs and some melted butter. I didn't make a single change to the recipe, so I don't feel comfortable copying it here outright. I suggest you request In the Kitchen with Good Appetite from your own library, and see what other recipes sound good to you. I already tried the Pan-Roasted Asparagus (topped with garlicky breadcrumbs and a fried egg)....mmmmmm. We had it for dinner, but wouldn't that be good for brunch?

(Due to a sinus infection that just won't quit--though I think the antibiotics are finally doing their job--I started this post over a week ago and only now managed to complete it! In the meantime, I've made several other tasty things I hope to share with you. Orange Upside-Down Gingerbread, anyone? You'll have to make it yourself--we ate it all up!)

Coconut chocolate pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:58:00 +0000

Sorry, Aunt Virginia, you'll just have to wait for the next recipe. This one's only for coconut lovers!

Here's what happened. Valentine's Day fell on a Monday, and I had not yet planned my week's menus. What to do, what to do? I had a bad cold and Little Three was flirting with a fever, so there wasn't going to be any dash out to the store to pick up some special ingredients. So I thought about chocolate pudding. Rich enough for Valentine's Day, comforting enough for a sick day. But all I had was skim milk, and I worried that the pudding wouldn't set well. After reading half a dozen recipes and consulting the pantry, I combined them all and came up with this version. I have to say, I think it was a stroke of genius. Both the chocolate and the coconut flavors come through, and the crunchy toasted coconut on top is a nice contrast to the creamy pudding. It's very rich, so next time I will serve it in smaller cups.

(In case you were wondering, I made chicken noodle soup for dinner. Not your standard Valentine's Day dinner, but hey, it made me feel warm inside!)

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 T. Dutch process cocoa
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1 cup milk
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
½ tsp. coconut extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt and cocoa together in a large, heavy saucepan. With the heat at medium-high, slowly pour in the milk and coconut milk, whisking thoroughly until smooth. Keep stirring frequently until the mixture begins to bubble. Turn the heat down to low, and keep stirring until the pudding has thickened (this only takes a minute or two). Stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth. Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut extract. Transfer the warm pudding to a serving bowl or individual cups or ramekins. Cover each with a circle of wax paper right on the surface of the pudding, then cover them all with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least an hour.

Spread the shredded coconut into a thin layer in a sheet pan and toast in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep an eye on it--it goes from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds! Garnish the pudding with a spoonful of toasted coconut.

Makes about 8 servings (1/2 cup each).

Mmmmm...meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Aside from the occasional brush with the Swedish variety, I didn't grow up eating meatballs very often. But then I had kids, and eventually discovered that the one way they will all eat meat is in meatball form. Needless to say, meatballs are now a regular feature at our dinner table. I used to buy frozen turkey meatballs, which are certainly fine in a pinch, but they're not as tender as homemade, and they can be expensive. And once I discovered a fuss-free method (no frying, flipping or scrubbing the stove!) for cooking the meatballs (inspired by Cooks' Illustrated), the little investment of time in making them was definitely worth it.

This is not so much a recipe as a method. For each pound of ground meat (beef, pork, veal, turkey, or any combination thereof), add one crumbled piece of sandwich bread soaked in 1/3 cup of milk or cream, and various seasonings. If you have some extra time, finely chop 1/2 an onion and a couple cloves of garlic, and sauté them in a bit of olive oil until soft before adding them to the meat. Otherwise, sprinkle in some garlic powder and onion powder. If you're going to serve your meatballs with marinara sauce, add some Italian seasoning (1 tsp.) and maybe a little fennel seed (1/2 tsp). If you're making a brown gravy, a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce are nice. For Swedish meatballs, add a pinch of nutmeg or mace, and a little dill.

Mix everything together well (get your hands in there!), and roll into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. You can certainly make bigger ones, but much smaller than that and they dry out. Put a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan (line it with foil for easier clean up) and spray the rack with nonstick spray (or brush it with vegetable oil). Line up the meatballs on the rack and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until browned. Transfer meatballs to a pot of the sauce of your choice and heat through.

This batch was for Eight's birthday dinner: meatball sub sandwiches. They have a little surprise inside: a cheesy center! I rolled them with 1/2-inch pieces of mozzarella tucked in the center. Three or four sticks of string cheese are perfect for this.

I like this meal for so many reasons. It's hard to find someone who doesn't enjoy it (vegetarian friends excepted, of course). It's great for a party or a busy weeknight or when you're expecting houseguests with an uncertain ETA. Just keep the meatballs simmering in their sauce in a deep pot on the stove, or better yet, the slow cooker. Make a salad, cook up some pasta, or set out a big basket of submarine rolls, and then pour a glass of wine and put your feet up until it's time for dinner. (I realize that's just a fantasy. But you can go scrub the bathroom or crack the homework whip or check your email without worrying about burning the food!)

Chicken tortilla casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:53:00 +0000

As you may have heard, we've been having a little bit of a snow day here in Chicago. It's been a full day's work just to shovel out the driveway (I only took one turn, and I'm not sure when my abdominal muscles will recover). If you're snowbound, too, you might have the ingredients for this 1980's style casserole on hand. Or maybe you can have chicken for dinner tonight and save the leftovers to make this tomorrow. We just got the call that school is canceled again, so it would be good to have another dinner already planned.

I know casseroles are impossibly old-fashioned, un-hip even. But let's just call the casserole "retro," and acknowledge that it has several things going for it: 1) You can make it ahead (freeze it, even!), bake it later; 2) It's a great way to recycle leftover chicken and the three bags of crumbled tortilla chips hiding in the pantry; and 3) The kids might eat it!

I eliminated the condensed cream of chicken soup from the original recipe and instead made a tasty white sauce as the base. The day before, I made a large roast chicken in the slow cooker (Fauxtisserie Chicken), and there were about 4 cups of diced chicken left after I picked the meat off the carcass. I put all the bones back into the slow cooker, covered it with water, and cooked it on high for 4 hours. (Usually I put it on low for 8 hours overnight.) Anyway, by the next day I had lots of chicken and chicken broth to use for this meal, and more for the freezer. I like to stretch my $4 chicken as far as possible.

I made our casserole very mild (the salsa said "medium," but it seemed mild even to me), but you could add some jalapeños or hot sauce if you like things spicy.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 cups chicken broth

3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk (skim works just fine)
2 cups diced cooked chicken
3/4 cup green salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used a 4-cheese Mexican blend, but cheddar or Jack are fine)
3/4 bag of tortilla chips

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan and add the chopped onion. When the onion starts to look soft and translucent, add the garlic. Stir for a minute, and then stir in the flour. Cook for another minute, and then whisk in 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of milk. Raise the heat to medium high and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce begins to bubble and thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat off and stir in the salsa and diced chicken.

In a large baking dish (9"x13" or something similar), put a layer of slightly crushed tortilla chips. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of broth over the chips. Spread 1/3 of the chicken and sauce mixture over the chips. Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded cheese on top. Repeat these layers twice more, ending with a final layer of cheese. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Refrigerate or freeze if you're assembling the casserole ahead of time.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour (perhaps longer if you've refrigerated the casserole). Keep the foil on for the first 45 minutes, and then remove it and bake until the cheese bubbles and the edges begin to brown.

Serve with rice (I made brown rice), and some extra salsa or sour cream if you like. The kids ate a little rice, but mostly scooped up the casserole with more tortilla chips, as if it were a hot dip. They were eating and not complaining, so I kept quiet and ate my dinner in peace.

Melting pot menus: quick posole

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Though I know many serious foodies (or foodies who take themselves too seriously) harbor a not-so-secret disdain for Rachael Ray, I admit to being a fan. Sure, she shouts at the camera, but I appreciate her approach: uncomplicated, home-cooked food that you can get on the table with maximum flavor and a minimum of fuss. No coordinated tablescapes, no canned frosting--just good food that brings your family together.

Here's a quick version of a traditional Mexican stew that was happily slurped up at our table. A certain eight-year-old even had seconds. It's comfort food for a cold winter night. If you like chicken noodle soup, it's not much of a stretch to try this hearty stew. I like the balance of the smoky pork and cumin flavors with the brightness of the tomatillo salsa and lime juice. And if you can believe it, I streamlined Rachael Ray's recipe (she makes her own salsa from fresh tomatillos, while I just use jarred salsa)!

The aforementioned eight-year-old is making a family coat of arms for a school project this week. All by himself, he decided our family motto should be: "Never underestimate the power of food!" It's reassuring to know that family values really are passed on at the dinner table.

Quick Posole
adapted from Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals

1 1/2 lbs boneless pork loin chops, diced in 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano (or fresh, if you have it)

1 tsp. dried thyme (again, fresh if you have it)

1 cup green salsa
1 large (28-oz.) can hominy, rinsed and drained
6 cups chicken broth
2 limes

Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, chopped scallions, broken tortilla chips or baked tortilla strips

In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the pork in a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the pork is mostly browned on all sides, add the onion and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin,oregano, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the salsa, hominy and broth. Bring the stew to a simmer and let it simmer gently for about 15 minutes (or more...just put the lid on the pot so the liquid doesn't all cook away). Just before serving, stir in the juice of one or two limes, to your taste.

Ladle the stew into bowls and let everyone choose their own toppings!

Melting pot menus: sesame noodles

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:46:00 +0000

As I veer off the baking path, I thought I'd share some recipes that are great weeknight meals. Inspired by the cuisines of other countries, these are certainly not authentic, but I think in their own way they are truly American. Where better to celebrate the melting pot of our nation than at the dinner table?

Today's Asian-inspired noodle dish can be a side dish or a meal in itself. I usually supplement it with steamed and salted edamame (the kids won't eat peas, but they'll eat a great bowlful of edamame!), and maybe some potstickers or other dumplings from the frozen food aisle (Trader Joe's has some decent ones, as does our local Asian market). Once we even served these noodles in little cardboard takeout containers for a party! They are best served at room temperature, so they're perfect for a buffet or a lunchbox (and for kids who don't like their food too hot or too cold). And once you stock your pantry with the basic ingredients, you can add this recipe to your repertoire of quick pantry meals that you rely on when you don't have a meal plan (or your plan falls apart, as often happens around here!). Adjust the proportions to your taste...spice it up with more chili oil, add more soy sauce or vinegar, or substitute soy nut butter if you have peanut allergies to contend with.

Sesame Noodles
adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

1 lb. soba (buckwheat) noodles
1/2 cup peanut butter (add 1 T. brown sugar if using natural peanut butter)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. chili oil
3 T. toasted sesame seeds
3 scallions, sliced

Optional: 1 cucumber, seeded and diced; 1 cup fresh bean sprouts; 1/2 cup shredded carrots

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles according to package directions (usually 5-6 minutes). Set aside 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water. Drain and rinse the noodles.

In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, tahini and hot water until smooth. Whisk in soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and chili oil. Add some of the reserved pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time, to thin the dressing. Add the cooked noodles to the bowl and toss gently until coated. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and scallions. Serve with cucumber, bean sprouts and carrots (I like to keep them separate, both for the picky eaters and because leftovers store better separately).

Coming soon: Quick Posole (Pork and hominy stew)

Brown sugar bars (with oatmeal and coconut)

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:03:00 +0000

Here's another one for the "I Need a Cookie and I Need it NOW" file. From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, it's a base recipe that invites endless variation. Today's version is Oatmeal Coconut Bars, but tomorrow's could be Chocolate Chip Walnut Bars, or Cherry Almond, or White Chocolate Macadamia, or Leftover Halloween Candy Bars, or all of the above. Use your imagination. It's like Mary Poppins' bottomless carpet bag: it will accommodate more than you think it will.

Another virtue of this recipe is that it only makes enough for an 8-inch square pan--just enough to eat up before they begin to get stale (or guilt sets in). On the other hand, it doubles nicely in a 9x13 pan, or even in a 10x15 sheet pan (cut them really small for a big party tray).

And just to gild the lily, you can make this in a single mixing bowl! Don't dirty the mixer--you'll want to dig right into these gooey bars and you don't need a sink full of dirty dishes to postpone your pleasure.

Brown Sugar Bars (or Blondies)
from How to Cook Everything

8 Tbsp. melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla (or almond extract)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Optional additions: 1/2-3/4 cup each of chocolate chips, oatmeal, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, dried fruits, etc.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Beat in brown sugar, egg, vanilla and salt with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add flour and stir until just incorporated. Stir in whichever additions you choose. Press dough into a greased 8x8 pan (my trick is to spray my fingers with nonstick spray and quickly press the dough flat) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and set in the middle.

Oven baked fries

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Another simple dinner: fish and chips. The fries are homemade, the fish is from a box (a fabulous deal from my recent foray into the crazy world of couponing). I hesitate to even call this a recipe. My prep time: 15 minutes. Baking time: 30 minutes.

I have made my own deep-fried fish, but let's face it, deep frying is pain. But making oven fries is easy, so that's one less bag of frozen food to resort to. And conveniently, the frozen fish and your homemade fries bake at the same temperature. Bring out the tartar sauce, ketchup or malt vinegar, and you've got yourself a fast, finger-friendly dinner.

These fries are soft, not crispy. I think I remember reading some technique in Cooks' Illustrated for getting crispy oven fries, but since the kids are not regular fast food fry eaters (we usually opt for the apples in those Happy Meals), they are content with soft fries. I like to use a waxy potato (in our stores, pretty much anything but a big baking potato) so that the fries hold their shape. I find that smaller potatoes are perfect. It doesn't take long to slice them into fries, and there's no need to peel their thin skins.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees (turn on the convection if you've got it). Rinse 4-6 medium potatoes. Cut them into 1/2-inch fries (I sliced these in quarters lengthwise, then sliced those into fries). They don't have to be perfect, but if they're roughly the same size, they'll all cook at the same rate.

I lined my baking sheet with a silicone mat, but you could use foil or nothing at all. I just find that they stick a little less on the mat. Drizzle the fries with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I also added some granulated garlic and paprika. (You know those curly fries at Arby's? I was thinking of those.) Toss the fries, oil and spices with your hands so everything is well distributed, and spread them out in a single even layer. Bake the fries for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender and golden brown.

Chocolate banana bread & simple cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:47:00 +0000

After the frenzy of cooking and baking around the holidays, we've been keeping it pretty simple for the month of January. I'm always trying to balance what we would like to eat with what the kids are likely to eat, which doesn't make for novel or exciting fare. What it does make for is repetition. As in most areas, kids seem to like repetition in food--until they get tired of it, that is. So I've baked a lot of buttermilk bread lately (since school started, we're back in the lunch packing routine), and we have pizza or tacos about once a week. Both are pretty frugal meals, often using ingredients left over from earlier meals. Chicken soft tacos always come a couple days after a roast chicken, and pizza is a popular choice for Friday night (I save any extra dabs of tomato sauce in the freezer--just enough for a pizza or two). Pasta with pesto and soba noodles with sesame peanut sauce are two more recurring players on our menu.

Which is all to say that I haven't tried many new recipes to share with you lately, aside from this yummy Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread from Our Best Bites. It's similar to the Coconut Lime Banana Bread--more yogurt, less butter, less sugar--but you add some melted chocolate to part of the batter and swirl the two together. I'll need to practice my swirling technique to more evenly distribute the chocolate, but it's yummy. I substituted white whole wheat flour for half of the white flour, which made it slightly drier, but that hasn't bothered anyone here (especially when it's toasted and buttered!). Right at home for breakfast, snack or dessert.

So here's my plea to you readers: What would you like to see more of on this blog? Should I expand and include recipes beyond baking? Is there an elusive recipe out there that you just can't conquer? Give me some ideas and we'll practice together!

Sandwich bread series: No-knead buttermilk bread

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:43:00 +0000

I have a confession to make. I frequently fall down on the job of keeping the kitchen stocked with freshly baked bread. I don't usually put bread on the grocery list because if we buy bread, then why would I bake more? But because I haven't gotten into a consistent baking routine, there are often days without any bread at all.

If I were into making New Year's resolutions, keeping up with the bread baking would be on the list. And this buttermilk bread recipe might bring me a step closer to achieving my goal. It's easy. I can mix it up in the time it takes for my morning cup of coffee to brew. Everybody likes it--it's a soft crusted white bread, ideal for toast and sandwiches--so we eat it up before it goes stale.

I have finally tweaked the recipe so that it works well for me. I'm learning that there's a getting-to-know-you period with every bread recipe. You need to meet several times and figure out a comfortable working relationship. With the buttermilk bread, I had to reduce the salt a little, use a little less flour, and get to know how much dough fits in my loaf pans. This is a recipe that's on its way to the easy predictability of an old friend.

Mixing in the flour

Buttermilk Bread
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes 2 large loaves

2 cups lukewarm water
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Dusting risen dough with flour in preparation for shaping

Mix the water, buttermilk, yeast, salt and sugar in a 5-quart bowl or lidded food storage container. Add the flour and stir until all the flour is incorporated. (I use a large silicone spatula, but a wooden spoon works fine, too.)

Cover the bowl or container (not airtight) and let rest at room temperature for about 2 hours.

At this point, you can use the dough immediately or keep it covered (still not airtight) in the refrigerator to use over the next 7 days. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and scoop out half. Dust the piece of dough with a little more flour and quickly and gently shape it into a ball. Stretch the ball into an oval and place in a greased 9x4x3 non-stick loaf pan. The pan should be a little more than half full.

Ready for the oven

Let the dough rest for 40 minutes (or 1 hour and 40 minutes for refrigerated dough). Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Dust the loaf with flour, and slash the top with the tip of a sharp knife. Brush the top with melted butter.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Keeps well in a sealed plastic bag for about 3 days.