KitchenLAB

Southern Appalachian Blackberry Dumplings

2010-06-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I heard about this book, "Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Southern Appalachian Cooking" and immediately checked it out at the library. My mother's family hails from Southern Appalachia (Appalachia with an 'a' like 'cat'), specifically Western North Carolina, so of course my interest was peaked.

I quickly whipped up a batch of "Bryson City Cathead Biscuits" because I'm a part of the Bryson clan. I also made the "Sylva-Style Potatoes" the same day as I made these utterly delicious blackberry dumplings. My friend, Talia, was joining me for a spur of the moment home-cooked meal, so what better way to treat her than with some Appalachian specialties? She brought her healthy and tasty Veggie (sort of) Chili to round out the feast.

After we finished our chili and potatoes, I got to work on the dumplings. The blackberries I had procured from the luscious Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer's Market amidst chef chatter and the unmistakable voice of Laura Avery. This market is so good for the soul!

This was probably one of the easiest desserts I've ever made. If you like cobbler, you'll love these dumplings as it's basically cobbler made on the stove top rather than in the oven.

Bessie’s Blackberry Dumplings from the Smithsonian Folklife Cook Book via “Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Southern Appalachian Cooking” by Joseph E. Dabney

1 quart blackberries

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 cups water

Dough:

3 to 4 cups self-rising flour

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup shortening

½ cup milk

To make dumplings, fill a large mixing bowl almost full with sifted flour and make a hole in the middle. Mix in buttermilk, milk and shortening. Knead dough, then tear off pieces. Bring blackberries, sugar and water to a boil. Drop in dumpling dough. Cover and simmer until dough is done.

*I cut this recipe in half because a quart of blackberries was too expensive.

I used one small tray of blackberries, 2/3 cup sugar, ½ cup shortening, ¼ cup milk, ¼ cup buttermilk, and 2 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour. I would venture to say that butter would be a delicious substitute for shortening if you don't have trans-fat free version handy.

Easter Lunch: Asparagus, Leek and Gruyere Quiche

2010-04-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to stop putting off making your own pie crust. Well, that's what I told myself a few days ago. The joys of working with all kinds of dough are quickly becoming apparent to me. I think the more I work with flour, water, yeast, salt, sometimes butter, sometimes lard, sometimes egg, the more fascinated I become with the all the crazy chemistry that's going on from one recipe to the next. I never considered myself much of a scientist but I have to face the fact that I am dabbling in a kind of alchemy that is more often than not, quite edible.

This quiche is perfect for spring, making brilliant use of two of my favorite vegetables - asparagus and leeks. The flavor is rich and satisfying. I think a mushroom variety of this recipe would work also work well.

Here's the recipe >

Ms. Stewart's pie crust recipe calls for only 4 tablespoons of ice water, but I had to add double that. I looked at other recipes that called for 1/4 cup. So use your discretion. When you think the dough is coming together nicely, stop adding water.

Drop Biscuits

2010-03-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

When I was home over Christmas, I went through my mother's old Betty Crocker red recipe box. I adore it. Its stuffed full with all kinds of recipes my mother has collected for lord knows how many years. The recipe cards that came with the box and in monthly installments have long since been thrown out, but the box remains.

In the recipe box, I found many biscuit recipes. One was a handwritten recipe, author unknown and humbly titled "Biscuits". The recipe was so simple and utterly different from the myriad of other biscuits recipes that I've tried. It didn't call for chilled butter (in fact, the butter is melted!) or folding methods or rising or rolling out of the dough. And...it only has 3 ingredients! This recipe exemplifies the 'drop biscuit', meaning you mix up the batter and dollop onto the baking pan. It is so stinking easy and delicious, that to be honest, who really needs chilled butter and rolling pins?

Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour (I used White Lily)
8 oz sour cream
1 stick of butter

Melt butter, stir in sour cream. Add flour. Mix thoroughly.
Drop into hot buttered muffin tins. (I used a warmed glass pie dish, as you can see)
Bake at 375 deg until golden.

White Lily Flour & Mexican Vanilla Bean Biscuits

2010-02-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Much ado has been made about this flour. It's been said that this is the only flour to use for biscuits, especially if you're a Southerner. However, Smuckers bought this company up a few years ago and some bakers swear they can tell the difference. Honestly, I wouldn't know having only just recently baked with it myself.

The difference between White Lily's all-purpose flour is apparent upon opening the bag. I thought, wow, this looks like confectioners sugar! When they decided to put 'white' in White Lily, they really meant it! I actually read the label again just to make sure I had the right product because it even clumps up the way powdered sugar does. I'm guessing this has something to do with the soft winter wheat that is used (also the bleaching) to make this flour. This is what the White Lily website has to say about it:
"Soft winter wheat is a variety of wheat that has a low protein content and low gluten content. It is the type of flour recommended for cakes, biscuits, and quick breads. White Lily flour is lower in protein content because the soft wheat is pure-- not blended with hard wheat. Hard wheat has a much higher protein content and gluten content."

I decided to remake the Angel Biscuits with White Lily all-purpose flour and add Mexican vanilla bean as the Lee Brothers suggested in their Southern Cookbook. I also experimented with using all lard instead of 1/2 lard, 1/2 butter.
These were like puffy, vanilla-flecked cookies. I didn't add as much sugar as was suggested in the Lee Bros. recipe. I bet if I had, these definitely would've passed as cookies. These would be lovely with a nice glaze. My cousin suggested eating these with strawberries and cream. I think that sounds delicious.
If you'd like to make vanilla biscuits, just scrape out the beans of one vanilla bean pod into the dry ingredients of whatever biscuit recipe you'd like to use. Mix together. If you want to add more sugar, go for it. The smell of vanilla will quickly fill up your kitchen.

The World's Ugliest Toaster Tarts

2010-01-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

I got this adorable little book awhile back called "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" by Karen Solomon. It contains all manner of goodies - recipes for Coconut Cream Pops, Marshmallows and Jamaican Ginger Beer. I have already made the Fruit & Nut Brandy that was a part of my post on Liqueurs. Delicious.

As a huge fan of Pop Tarts, (my favorites were the Brown Sugar and Strawberry varieties) I was excited to try the Toaster Tarts recipe, a grown-up version of dessert for breakfast. I was impressed that Ms. Solomon included lard in the recipe, as well as the encouragement to use homemade jam. Ha, of course, I didn't use my homemade jam, I used someone else's, but hey, we'll get to that a little later when strawberries are peaking. I also found this recipe to be a good excuse to try my first homemade pie dough. Since that's really what toaster tarts are - mini rectangular pies that are toaster-friendly!

I used Mosswood Farm Store's Wild Yellow Plum Jam that I purchased from them in a tizzy of delight as I had also acquired organic, acorn-finished lard from a local farmer. If you're ever in Micanopy, Florida you must stop by early Sunday afternoon when the farmer's market and bread-baking brick oven are fired up in the back yard. See photos at bottom of page.
But back to the tarts...I am not the neatest of people (see old architecture school models) so my tarts were not pretty, but they still tasted good, which is kinda the point.
The crust overwhelmed the filling which to me is the opposite of a Pop Tart where I always wanted to eat more and more of the crust and just a little of the filling. But this is a radically different crust than a Pop Tart. Very flaky and crumbly. I loved the flavor of the plum jam and thought I could probably get away with using more next time. This is one project where I don't have to worry about having leftovers that may or may not get eaten because they are so easily frozen and toasted for a breakfast treat. So my advice is this: don't worry about how the tarts look, focus on using good quality jam and practicing your pastry dough technique! What a great way to start the day out right!

Toaster Tarts from "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" by Karen Solomon
Ingredients

DOUGH
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup lard
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 /1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
5 tablespoons ice-cold water, or more as needed

ICING
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons water

TARTS
1 egg
5 tablespoons jam, apple butter, or lemon curd, or more as needed

Instructions:
To make the crust, chop the butter and lard into 1/2 inch cubes, and chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor, if you have one. If you don't, mix by hand in a chilled bowl. Add the cold butter and lard, and pulse until combined. If working by hand, quickly coat the butter and lard with the dry ingredients and, working with 2 knives, cut the butter and lard into the flour until it forms coarse crumbs. Add the vinegar and water and combine. If needed, keep adding water, 1 teaspoon at a a time, just until the dough holds together. (The key here is to use as little liquid as possible.
Bring the dough together on a floured surface, cut it in half, shape each piece into a flat rectangle about 1/2 inch thick, wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To make the icing, while the dough chills, stir together the confectioners' sugar and water.

To assemble the tarts, preheat the oven to 350 deg. and beat the egg in a small bowl. Have pastry brush near.
Remove the first dough rectangle from the refrigerator, unwrap, and roll it out on a floured surface using a floured rolling pan, keeping it in the best rectangle shape you can muster, about 1/8 inch thick. If the dough gets too soft to work with, chill for 20 minutes in the fridge or 5 minutes in the freezer.

Measure twice, cut once. Grab a tape measure or ruler and nick the edges of the crust to allow for as many 3 by 4 inch rectangles as possible. When you have the sizing right, cut out your rectangles with a pizza cutter, knife or scraper. From 1 dough rectangle, you will likely have 10 to 12 pieces, enough for 5 to 6 tarts. Brush each piece of dough with beaten egg.

Eyeball 2 similarly sized pieces. Spoon 1 scant teaspoon of jam into the center of 1 of the pieces of dough and smooth it over, leaving a 1/2 inch margin on all sides. Cover with its twin piece of dough, egg wash side down and gently flatten the 2 pieces together, squeezing out as much air as possible and being careful not to let the filling leak out on the sides.

With a dinner fork, press the edges of the tart together, and gently poke 3 or 4 sets of holes into the top of the tart. Brush with the icing. Don't worry too much if the icing doesn't go on evenly, as it will become transparent as it bakes. Using your scraper or a spatula, carefully transfer the tart to an ungreased baking sheet.

Assemble the remaining tarts. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or just until light brown. The theory here is that you'll finish baking them later in the toaster oven when you're ready to eat them. If you want to eat them all right away, bake for 10 minutes more, or until golden brown all over.
Repeat the above with the second dough rectangle.

How to Store It
Cooled, prebaked tarts can be kept in a sealable plastic bag in the freezer for 3 months. Toast in a toaster, toaster oven or oven when ready to eat.

Southern Living's Homemade Loaf Bread

2010-01-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

This bread is perfect for luscious grilled cheese sandwiches, for dipping in olive oil or pasta sauce or for simply slathering butter and jam on. A tight crumb, thin, crunchy crust and a mild flavor lend to its versatility. Not to mention how easy and fast it is for homemade bread--no long rise times or special equipment (other than a mixer with a dough hook).

Homemade Loaf Bread from Southern Living's 'Our Test Kitchen Secrets'
1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup warm water (100-110 deg)
2 to 3 cups bread flour
2 tblsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer; let stand 5 minutes. Add 2 cups flour, oil, and salt. Beat at low speed, using dough hook attachment, 1 minute. Gradually add additional flour (up to 1 cup) until dough begins to leave the sides of the bowl and pull together, becoming soft and smooth.
2. Increase speed to medium, and beat 5 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place (85 deg), free from drafts, 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
3. Preheat over to 400 deg. Punch dough down, and let stand 10 minutes.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; shape dough into a 12-inch loaf, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut 3 (1/4" deep) slits across top of dough with a sharp paring knife. (The slits release interior steam and prevent the loaf from splitting apart at the sides.) Spritz dough with water just until lightly coated.
5. Bake at 400 deg. for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Sister Schubert's Buttermilk Biscuits

2010-01-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

My obsession with biscuits continues. I know, you're probably totally bored by now. I apologize, but I can't say when my preoccupation with biscuits is going to end.

I had heard so much about Sister Schubert's frozen, par-baked biscuits that I had to try them. Of course, they're not sold in stores in California, so when I was home over the holidays I marched myself over to the freezer case at Publix and picked me up a pack.

I really wanted them to be god awful, but they weren't. They were pretty good. Darn it. But will I ever buy them again? Nope.

Because of one evil little word. Trans-fat. Yep, the famous Alabama biscuits made by the little church lady raising money for charity contain the dreaded partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

Here's the quote off the packaging:
"Sister says, "I use no preservatives and only the finest ingredients. You can taste the difference!"

Yeah, right! Another food product trying to come off as wholesome and natural only to find it's a big fat lie. I guess they're hoping that we won't actually read the ingredients or even know what partially hydrogenated soybean oil is. What a shame.

Biscuit FAIL.

2009-12-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is really embarrassing. I made this recipe 3 times.
Read this recipe, notice anything?
Overt HINT: self-rising flour.

Mama's Mayonnaise Biscuits from Bon Appetit, Y'all by Virginia Willis

1 tblsp. canola oil, for the tin
2 cups self-rising flour (Southern)
3 tblsp mayonnaise
1 c. whole milk
1 tsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. Brush a 12-cup medium muffin tin with oil.

Combine the flour, mayonnaise, milk and sugar in a bowl. Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, spoon dough into each muffin cup, filling about half full. Alternatively, drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, then invert the biscuits onto the rack to cool until warm. Serve warm.

In the notes for this recipe, Southern flour (White Lily or Martha White) is recommended. In order to accommodate this recommendation, I would have to order it online, but I thought I'd get all experimental-like and follow the suggestion that Virginia Willis makes for those of us who don't have easy access to Southern flour, which is to use 1 part all-purpose four and 1 part cake flour. However, I decided I'd take it up a notch and use half whole wheat flour and half cake flour. Mistake! I would absolutely not recommend using whole wheat flour for biscuits. Even if the package says it has the qualities of white flour. It really doesn't.

But that's not the half of it. From my very obvious hint that I gave you earlier, the recipe calls for self-rising flour. If you want to sub with all-purpose flour, then you have to add the baking powder and salt yourself. And here's the embarrassing part. I forgot to add the baking powder. Not once, but twice. I made the first batch and they turned into hardened dough. I thought it was the muffin tin I was using which was stoneware, not tin, and maybe you had to preheat it? So I start over and decide to use a baking sheet instead. Exact. Same. Result. omg. It hits me. You didn't add the baking powder!?#@$!!
Lord, help me.

Still, THE THIRD ATTEMPT looked nothing like the gorgeous photo in the cookbook. And that's because I used part whole wheat flour. The biscuits were edible at least, but tasty? No. Light and flaky, definitely not. I will not be using this recipe again unless I have acquired Southern flour. Maybe I'll buy some at Publix when I'm home over Christmas.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

See, I told you, hardened dough.

Liqueurs, Cordials, Digestifs....

2009-12-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot about them. They were the serene occupants of my kitchen counter, waiting patiently for their time to be up, letting the alcohol extrude all their fabulous fruit sugars. There was Super Sweet Strawberry, In Every Way Fall Fruit & Nut, Too Tart Olallieberry, Oh That's Not Good Pluot and Lime, and the Queen herself, A Hint of Spice Cherry Nectar, who was the oldest and the wisest.

Making liqueurs is so easy and so satisfying that for awhile there I was quite the addict. There is something so delightful about putting fruit in a jar with sugar, spices and alcohol, forgetting about it for awhile and then voila! You have this fragrant and potent cordial that will last indefinitely, that gets you tipsy with one sip, and can be the base for an array of cocktails.

As you can tell from the names of the liqueurs above, some were more successful than others. The Pluot (a cross between a plum and an apricot) was an experiment gone bad. I used what was handy, which was pluots, lime and vanilla. I know they sound like they would go well together, but take my word for it, they don't. I was disappointed that the Olallieberry didn't work out because the berries were a gift from local farmer, Alex Weiser. And because, well, they're olallieberries. It's not a berry that you hear about every day. An olallieberry is a cross between the loganberry and the youngberry, each of which is itself a cross between blackberry and another berry (raspberry and dewberry, respectively). Did you get that?

However, the Cherry turned out very well according to Jonathan (my roommate and best friend who has become a liqueur/cordial fan despite his general lack of interest in alcohol with the exception of wine). I had also bottled some up for my Thanksgiving host family (the ever-spicy Hamaoui's) for them to sample. It got rave reviews. Here's the recipe from an amazing book called "Preserving" that no one ever refers to, but really should. It's a part of the Time-Life Good Cook Series edited by Richard Olney.

Cerises á l'Eau de Vie or Cherry Nectar, adapted from Preserving.

2 lbs cherries, I believe I used Rainier cherries when they were in season. I have heard you can use whole frozen cherries, if you don't want to wait til cherry season in spring. But I would say wait til you get them fresh.
1 L brandy
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup sugar

Put the cherries in jars with cloves and cinnamon. Melt the sugar over low heat, and cook until this syrup reaches the hard-ball stage, 250 deg F on a candy thermometer. Cool the syrup slightly, then stir in the brandy. Mix well and let cool completely. Pour the syrup over the cherries. Seal the jars.

I shook the jars daily for a few maybe the first three months. Total sit time is 6 months. You can let this steep for much longer, if you prefer. When infusion is complete, strain the fruit from the alcohol. You can eat these brandy-drenched cherries, which are magnificent with vanilla ice cream.

Real Cajun's German Chocolate Cake

2009-11-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

My method for buying cookbooks goes something like this: First I check them out at the library. Then if there at 12 or 15 pages I've marked with those page keeper sticky things, then I know I should buy the cookbook. That's what happened with Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana.

And the first recipe I had to try was the German Chocolate Cake. The photos totally sold me. Sugary, oozy frosting dripping all over luscious layers of dark, dark chocolate cake. I couldn't imagine how this cake couldn't be anything but decadent and mouth-watering.

But I warn you, this cake is a project, not only in terms of making the cake, but for the sheer amount of ingredients. 17 eggs! 4-1/2 sticks of butter! 3 cups of condensed milk! I guess a lot of people would say this is a special occasion kind of cake, but as a friend of mine said, 'Every day is a special occasion in Brooke's kitchen". Seriously, why wait for a special occasion? Why doesn't an ordinary day deserve a great cake? The answer is, it absolutely does. So maybe this isn't a cake you make spur of the moment on a weeknight, but on a thoughtfully planned Saturday or Sunday. Ooh how about on Saturday and then you can serve it for Sunday lunch or dinner? Just make sure each guest has easy access to at least 2 glasses of milk because they're going to need it!

I also have to say that I will be making just the cake from the recipe and leaving off the frosting, the German bit. This cake reminds me so much of my Nana's chocolate cake. Unfortunately, like so many of her amazing dishes, she didn't leave behind the recipe. I can't remember the last time I had a slice of her cake but it's impossible for me to ever forget it. I have searched for years for a recipe that comes even close to the feel and flavor of hers. We knew it had to be butter that made it good, but how much? Also this cake is just as dark as hers. I used the pricey Valrhona cocoa powder for this cake. Look at the photos, you'll see what amazing color this cocoa has. Really unbelievable stuff. However, I recommend the Ghirardelli brand for cocoa if you don't feel like a splurge.

The Great Biscuit Experiment 04: The Winner! Angel Biscuits!

2009-11-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

*Method:
Yeast, freezing, lard and butter

Oh Lord, this biscuit is exactly what I was looking for. It does take more time to execute, but is it ever worth it! A little crunch on the outside gives way to a moist and tender interior. Light, fluffy, buttery, great for re-heating, you can add more butter or leave it as it is, you can use jam or nutella or cinnamon sugar. Whatever you like!
I found this recipe all over the web and the variety of amounts for the ingredients was all over the place, especially when it came to the amount of fat. I finally decided to go with King Arthur's version of the recipe because they provided a great step by step photo guide. They also suggested freezing the biscuits after they've had a chance to rise to let the butter and lard chill up again for extra rise. I was a little worried about putting frozen biscuits in the hot oven, but it worked like a charm.

Although, I'm fairly certain I won't find a better biscuit recipe, I am going to try another using a Southern flour to see if the softer wheat and lower gluten content does indeed live up to the biscuit-hype.

Angel Biscuits or Bride Biscuits adapted from the King Arthur website.

1/2 cup (4 ounces) lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup (1 5/8 ounces) lard
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup (4 ounces) buttermilk (room temp, well-shaken)

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the warm water, yeast and 1/4 cup of the flour. Set the mixture aside for 30 minutes. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, the sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in the shortening and the butter, mixing until everything's rough and crumbly. Add the milk to the yeast mixture, and pour this all at once into the dry ingredients. Fold together gently until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl and becomes cohesive. Sprinkle with an additional tablespoon of water only if necessary to make the dough hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat it gently into an 8 x 10-inch rectangle; it'll be about 3/4-inch thick. Cut the dough into fifteen 2-inch round biscuits. Gather, re-roll and cut the scraps, if desired; the resulting biscuits will probably be a bit tougher. Place the biscuits on an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover them lightly, and allow them to rise for 1 hour, or until they've increased in size by about a third. (The biscuits may be refrigerated for several hours or overnight at this point, or frozen for later use.)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Uncover the biscuits, and place the pan in the top third of the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The biscuits are done when golden brown on the top and bottom. Yield: about fifteen 2-inch biscuits.

The Great Biscuit Experiment 03: Using Lard, Cake Flour & the Fold-Over Method

2009-11-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, folks. I'm happy with the results of this experiment. How pretty are these? They're itty bitty biscuits, about 1 1/2" in diameter. I used the lard I made last week and I have to say, that was very, very satisfying. You don't get a pork taste at all. All you get is a lovely, layered rise! The only thing I'd change about these is the amount of sugar. They were a tad too sweet for even me, the Sweet Tooth Queen.
I think the fold-over method (patting the dough out and then folding the dough onto itself several times) is interesting, but I don't think it's necessary. I got about the same amount of rise in my first buttermilk recipe that simply called for rolling out the dough. Also, I could not perceive any difference between using Cake flour and All-Purpose flour, so save your money, and just use what you have. It would be interesting to see if there is any difference when using King Arthur Flour (widely available out here on the West Coast) and White Lily Flour, the traditional "Southern" flour. I would certainly do this experiment, but White Lily is not what it used to be after Smuckers bought them out, or so I hear.

The Lee Brothers, the authors of this recipe, give additional recipe tips for making Lemon, Herbed, and Vanilla Buttermilk Biscuits. They all sound so good! I think I'll have to do the Vanilla ones.

Lee Bros. Bird-head Buttermilk Biscuits

- makes about sixteen 2-inch round biscuits -

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour or 2 cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for your work surface and hands *I used King Arthur unbleached cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar *I would use less sugar next time, maybe half.

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into several pieces

2 tablespoons cold lard or vegetable shortening, cut into several pieces

3/4 cup cold whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole)

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients thoroughly with a fork. Transfer to a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add the butter and lard and pulse the mixture in 2-second increments until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces, about 5 pulses. (If you don't have a food processor, cut the fats into the dry ingredients in a bowl by mashing with a fork, a whisk, or a pastry blender; it will take about 3 minutes.)

3. Transfer the mixture back to the bowl, pour the buttermilk over it, and mix with the fork for about 1 minute, until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, knead with floured fingers once or twice, and pat it into a rectangle about 6 x 10 inches and 1 inch thick.

4. Fold the rightmost third of the rectangle over the center third and fold the left third on top. Turn the dough a quarter turn, pat it into a 6-x-10-inch rectangle, and fold it upon itself in thirds again. Repeat one more time, then pat the dough into a 6-x-10-inch rectangle about 1 inch thick.

5. Using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter (or an upside-down shot glass), cut the biscuits from the dough and place them about I'll inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops just begin to brown.

6. Serve the biscuits warm, with butter or eggs and bacon.

Rendering Lard

2009-10-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

It's a four-letter word. And yes, I'm gonna say it. LARD. (Here's your visual: Ralphie in A Christmas Story...."Fuuuuuuuuuddddddgggggge!!!")
It feels so bad. But it tastes so good!
Whilst in my pursuit of the perfect biscuit, I realized I just had to use lard. In the words of Ruhlman, "Lard is an exquisite cooking medium and ingredient". From what I've heard, it's the best fat to use in pie dough and for my beloved biscuits.
But before you get completely disgusted, take heart. Lard is good for you! I know, it's crazy, right?
Lard is a rich source of Vitamin D, second only to cod liver oil. Lard also has less saturated fat, more unsaturated fat, and less cholesterol than butter!
Can you believe it?!? And it has none of those pesky trans-fats!

But finding good quality lard is easier said than done. Not even Whole Foods had it. However, they would save me pork fat trimmings if I called them early enough in the morning. You can buy lard in a can at Mexican grocery stores, but they have to make it shelf stable, so what do they add? You guessed it. Trans-fats (partially hydrogenated soybean oil). However, on a spur of the moment trip to Surfas (a chef's supply store in Culver City), I happened to stumble across frozen leaf lard. And it was so cheap!

Leaf lard is considered to be the best lard. It's the fat that is procured from around the kidneys of the pig. However, you can't just slice off a piece and add it to your dough. It has to be rendered into a malleable product, much like shortening.

So render it I did. I followed the Homesick Texan's directions. Basically all you do is chop up the lard into small pieces, put the lard into a pot, add a little water and turn the heat to medium low. Wait about an hour and a half (stirring occasionally) and what you'll get are cracklin's floating in liquid fat.

At this point, you strain the cracklin's from the liquid, refrigerate the liquid, and voila, there's your lard! I can't wait to try it out!

Biscuit Experiment 02: Sweet Potato Biscuits

2009-10-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post this recipe because I was totally unimpressed. I know, I know, sweet potato biscuits have to be delicious, right?
I'm not saying they weren't good, they just didn't meet my standards. I want some lift, some fluffiness! And these didn't do it for me.

The reason I attempted this recipe was for a several reasons.
1. Sweet potatoes. yum.
2. The recipe required the butter to be frozen and then grated through a box grater. I thought this was an interesting twist to simply chilling the butter and then cutting into cubes. I wanted to see if this technique made any difference in the quality of the biscuits. It did not, as far as I could tell.
3. This recipe did NOT call for the piercing of the dough as the previous biscuit recipe did (Scott Peacock's recipe). I wanted to know if not perforating the dough would have an effect on the lightness of the biscuits. These biscuits were flat and didn't rise very much, but whether the perforation had anything to do with it, I have no idea.
In addition, I read a tip that said you should sift the flour on its own and then sift again with the other dry ingredients for more lift. Well, that didn't work.

I am wondering if I hadn't added the sweet potato, what kind of biscuit would this be?

This is my Great Biscuit Experiment and I definitely learned something from cooking these biscuits. But will I make these again? Nope.

Sweet Potato Biscuits featured on Chow.com by Kate Ramos

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup baked, mashed sweet potato about 1 medium potato
8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick, frozen
Heavy cream for brushing the tops

INSTRUCTIONS
1.  Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Combine all dry ingredients in a large
mixing bowl and set aside. In a separate large bowl, mix together milk and mashed sweet potato
until evenly combined.

2.  Grate frozen butter through the large holes of a box grater and toss with dry ingredients until
butter is coated. Add milk mixture and mix lightly until dough forms a shaggy mass.

3.  Turn out mixture onto a floured surface and knead just until it comes together. (The dough will not
be smooth.)

4.  Pat into a circle and use a floured rolling pin to roll dough to a thickness of about 3/4 inch.
Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or glass, cut the dough into rounds. Gather leftover
dough into a circle, reroll, and cut until you have 8 large biscuits.

5.  Place biscuits on a baking sheet, brush tops with heavy cream, and bake until golden, about 12 to
15 minutes.

My favorite recipe for Banana Bread

2009-10-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Oh my. This bread is good. Really good. It beat out 3 other recipes for the top spot.
I was beginning to wonder if I was going to find a recipe that met my expectations. Although this recipe called for the addition of poppy seeds and dates, I politely overlooked those and stuck to tradition. Sometimes you want to reinvent the wheel and I'm all for that, but this time, I wanted a recipe that I could feel confident about making my 'go-to' banana bread recipe. Not merely a decorative touch, is the application of sliced banana on top and the dusting of powdered sugar after cooling. Beautiful.

The author of this recipe is Zoe Nathan, pastry chef at Huckleberry and Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica. The LA Times publishes readers' requests for recipes for their favorite dishes at local restaurants. Thanks to Ms. Helen Chiu of Westchester we can all partake of this delicious bread.

Banana poppy seed loaf
Total time: 1 1/2 hours
Servings: 2 loaves (about 8 servings each)
This recipe requires 2 small (8 1/2 - by-4 1/2 -by 2 1/2 -inch) metal or glass loaf pans.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, plus extra for greasing the pans
1 1/2 cups (6.4 ounces) flour
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
3/4 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon, divided
3/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
5 very ripe bananas, plus 1 1/2 fresh bananas, divided
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup yogurt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dates
1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and line the bottoms of 2 (8 1/2 - by 4 1/2 - by 2 1/2 -inch) loaf pans with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, three-fourths cup sugar and salt until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.

4. In a medium bowl, mash the very ripe bananas. With the mixer running, add the mashed bananas and vanilla to the butter mixture until incorporated. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Gently fold in the yogurt and dates. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans.

5. Slice the remaining 1 1/2 bananas crosswise into one-eighth inch slices. Top the batter in each pan with the banana slices, arranged in rows. Sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of sugar evenly over the sliced bananas, then place in the center of the oven (leave a few inches between the loaf pans).

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 1 hour, rotating halfway through for even baking. Check the pans after 20 to 30 minutes and periodically after that to see that they do not darken too quickly; if they do, lightly cover the tops with aluminum foil and continue to bake.

7. Cool the pans and unmold the loaves. Sift the powdered sugar evenly over the 2 loaves. Cut the loaves into 1-inch slices and serve.

*As I mentioned, I removed the poppy seeds and dates from this recipe, however, I added 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts.

Baked Beans 01 : Cast-Iron Skillet

2009-10-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

When I was home in July, I bought a ceramic bean pot from the thrift store my mother kept telling me I really should visit. She was right. Of course. I had visions of beans sunning themselves in the blue glow of my brown gas oven in their matching brown bean pot. The bean pot did not make it home in one piece, unfortunately. So that dream was dashed, however, it did get me to thinking about baked beans and the fact that I have never cooked baked beans from scratch. They've always started out as a can of Bush's Baked Beans which have been subsequently doctored with brown sugar, ketchup and/or BBQ sauce. Oh yeah, and maybe some mustard.

Despite the demise of the cute bean pot, I pressed onward when I picked up the "Cast-Iron Skillet Cookbook" at my nearby Barnes & Noble. Jackpot!! I am such a sucker for any recipe that calls for a cast-iron skillet. I don't know what it is, do I think that the recipe automatically HAS to be great if it's cooked in an iron skillet? Do I think that somehow I have a window into the past by simply using this tool? It's definitely a bit of both. I also love the versatility of the iron skillet, easily cooking to perfection on either the stove top or in the oven.

However, it seems I cannot read a recipe. I thought the recipe said to add all the ingredients, but in reality it said to save the salt for last. Duh, I should've known this. Always salt at the last moment with beans or else they won't absorb the water. The other problem I had, and this was not my fault, was that the recipe said to only soak the beans for 1 hr. I questioned this, but I thought I would give the recipe writers the benefit of the doubt. I ended up having to cook these beans for over 5 hours when it was only supposed to take 3. I could've cooked them longer, but I really wanted to go to bed already. That having been said, I thought these beans were quite satisfactory considering my mistakes. It was exactly what you think of when you think baked beans. I love how the onions get cooked up in the leftover bacon grease--one ingredient lending something to the next. When making this recipe again, I will remember to add the salt last and soak the beans overnight to reduce cooking time. And have a bunch of people over because I am SO over baked beans right now.

The next Baked Beans recipe I'll attempt will be from the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook and is a vastly different recipe, quite nontraditional in its ingredients.

Best Baked Beans from The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pan in Your Kitchen by Sharon Kramis & Julie Kramis Hearne

Makes 12 Servings
8 cups cold water
2-3/4 cups (1 lb) dried Great Northern Beans
4 strips of bacon
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 cup beer, preferably pale ale
2 cups water
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 maple syrup
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tblsp light brown sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt

1. In a large stockpot, bring the cold water to a boil over high heat. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let soak for 1 hour. (This is what the recipe says, but I say just soak your beans in the water overnight.) Drain in a colander and rinse the beans.

2. Heat a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet (the larger the better) over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden, turning once. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel, pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

3. Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bacon, until golden brown. Add the beans, beer, water, molasses, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, dry mustard, and paprika. Coarsely chop the bacon and add it to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low (or place the skillet in a 250 deg oven) and cook, covered for 3 hours. Add water as needed to keep the beans covered. During the last half hour of cooking, remove the lid and don't add any additional water to the beans. When the beans are done, stir in the salt just before serving.

Review of the "New" Southern Living: A Missed Opportunity for the "New South"

2009-10-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mother mentioned to me that Southern Living had updated their look and some of their content in response to feedback they'd gotten from busy readers who wanted to cultivate their 'own Southern style'. Being my compulsive self when it comes to these things, I decided I needed to go out and get the new, 'font-tastic' October issue. Like right now. Who knows what treasures awaited!
I wish.

This issue, redesigned with 'great care and respect for our heritage', missed an amazing opportunity. Lately, I've been consumed with reading books on the history of Southern cooking as well as numerous Southern cookbooks. I miss home and this is my way of trying to stay connected. So when I picked up this magazine I mistakenly thought I would get a modern hit of these old and new cookbooks and guidebooks. I was expecting some fresh grits made with real cheddar cheese and instead I got instant grits that had been sitting in a food warmer all day. I feel like this issue was a half-hearted attempt at giving the modern Southern cook something to really sink her teeth into. To me, the South has a unique perspective on history and this issue barely gave it a nod. It was a one-liner, a cop-out, a mere shadow of an amazing culinary tradition that seems to erode day by day by separating us more and more from our food.

What I did appreciate about this issue is that they kept the Southern Living House Plans segment (which I loved as a teenager), the beautiful travel photography, gardening tips and the piece on the baptism traditions in the Mississippi Delta. That was truly lovely.

On the other hand, not a single recipe piqued my interest. And I was particularly horrified by the "Mama's Way or Your Way?" segment they introduced. They compared an apple dumpling recipe made by a "Mama" named Peggy that took a total of 40 min to make and the daughter, Anne's, 'quick' recipe that took 20 min. The mother's recipe included making the dough yourself, cutting up the apples, and measuring out all the spices. In the daughter's recipe 3 out of 6 ingredients were pre-packaged and/or processed. Granted, I have definitely used frozen pie shells, and I completely understand why a busy woman would want to spare herself the time of making dough, but seriously pre-spiced and chopped frozen apples?

Is this really how a Southern magazine 'updates' itself? Is this staying true to our Southern heritage? Does 'update' mean using as many processed foods as we can find? Does adhering to Southern ways mean feeding our children trans-fats and food dyes, propylene glycol and corn syrup just so we can save 20 minutes? Being the food purist and the believer in Southern foodways that I am, I think the answer is no. I thought being Southern was taking your time, respecting culinary traditions, and enjoying every second of it.

If anything, this issue took a step backward and certainly didn't push us forward. Nothing can be compared to the food we cook ourselves. Everything changes when we prepare a recipe from start to finish, when we know exactly what each ingredient is and how to pronounce it. I heard once that simply by starting to cook again, we take something back. We take something back unto ourselves and we become healthier for it. I think cooking from scratch reminds us of what it actually means to be a Southerner, represents everything that being a Southerner is.

If I was the editor of Southern Living, here are some of the stories I'd feature, based on the book by John Egerton, "Southern Food". What do you think?

1. Heirloom Recipes with a Modern Twist. Yes, you can really make that pie dough in no time at all. Here's how.
2. Charleston's Bessinger's Barbecue....reveals the decades old secret to its famous sauce!
3. Backyard Recipes: How to Grow, Harvest, and Cook Foods from your Fall Garden.
4. The History of Pork and Corn in the South.
4. The Top 25 'Down Home' Restaurants You Have to Try Before You Die.
5. The South's New Farmer's Market Scene.
6. The War Between the States: BBQ styles from Texas to North Carolina.

I am disappointed. There is nothing like a good magazine that takes you an entire Sunday afternoon to get through because it's packed full of interesting bits of information, nearly every page dog-eared because there's something you want to remember, learn about, cook, cut out and hang on your wall for inspiration, and most of all pass on.

This is just my opinion. If you happen to pick up this issue and have been a reader of Southern Living, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Flea Market Score!

2009-10-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Mugs from Cooperative Design: Bennington, Vermont
I got these beautiful mugs at the John Muir Art & Antique Market in Santa Monica yesterday.
For those of you who live in the Los Angeles area, this is a good market to go to when you don't want to make the trek to the Rose Bowl. I love this market because it's small and manageable for a Saturday morning trip. There is an interesting mix of vendors here - everything from clothes to estate jewelry to vintage cookware. There was even a vendor selling really beautiful Asian wares. And the prices vary as well, you can spend a lot or you can spend a little.
These mugs called my name from about 20 feet away. First, they're my favorite color, they have the cute double handle and they're tall for the days when a regular size cup of tea is just not going to do. I wish I knew more about the Cooperative Design but I could find very little information about them online. Any ideas?

Biscuit Experiment 01: Scott Peacock's Classic Buttermilk Biscuits

2009-10-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Great Biscuit Experiment

I think biscuits will do. They'll do for my very first post. You'll discover as this blog continues that I love to try all kinds of recipes for the same bread in order to find perfection. Right now, I have ongoing testings for Banana Bread, Sally Lunn Bread, No-Knead Bread, cornbread and biscuits, of course. I mean, who doesn't love biscuits? If you don't, well, maybe you should keep that to yourself. Nah, it's ok, I'll forgive you.

Where I'm from, the standard for biscuits is a light, fluffy, flaky version of gosh, I don't know, one of the best reasons for being alive? In LA, they seem to be more scone-like, more in the vein of hard pucks of lumpy bread. I think they should name them something else because those are not biscuits. Then again, I'm persnickety.

Unfortunately, there are few folks who still make homemade biscuits. You either get them from KFC, the Cracker Barrel (which I admit, I love) or you buy those cold tubes of pre-cut dough that explode when you hit them with a spoon. Seriously,what would your grandmother say if she saw you using those? She'd probably duck and run for cover. Smart lady. It's a shame because home-baked biscuits are a joy on so many levels.
Level 1: Frugality. You can now justify why you bought that long-neglected rolling pin that's been sitting in that kitchen drawer for how long now?
Level 2: Feeling like a kid again. Flour hands! Rolling out dough and using cute biscuit cutters! It's just like playing with playdough! But without the funny smell!
Level 3: Serious ego boost. Your guests will be mighty impressed. I guarantee it.
Level 4: Sensual gratification. Sense of taste? Check. Sense of smell. Absolutely. Sense of touch? Duh. Sense of sight? Are you blind? Sense of hearing? Ok, this one is a little bit harder to fulfill, but hey, at least you don't have to listen to the sound of that tube of biscuits exploding, right?

So let's get to cooking those biscuits.
Here's the first recipe I've tried that I feel is worth posting. These are from Scott Peacock who is the chef at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur, Georgia and is a Southern food expert. His book that he co-wrote with the venerable Edna Lewis, The Gift of Southern Cooking, is a must-have.

Scott Peacock's Classic Buttermilk Biscuits as posted by the NYTimes.com

1 tablespoon cream of tartar

1 ‌1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda

5 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed lard or unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

2 cups chilled cultured buttermilk, plus more as needed, *see note about making buttermilk.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted.

1. Set a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Sift together the cream of tartar and baking soda to make baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the lard or butter. Working quickly, rub it between your fingertips until half is coarsely blended and the remaining pieces are 3/4-inch thick.

2. Make a well in center of the flour. Add all the buttermilk and stir the mixture quickly, just until it has blended and a sticky dough forms. (If the dough appears dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons buttermilk.)

3. Immediately turn the dough onto a generously floured surface. Using floured hands, briskly knead about 10 times until a ball forms. Gently flatten the dough and, using a floured rolling pin, roll to 3/4-inch thick.

4. Using a fork dipped in flour, pierce the dough through at 1/2-inch intervals. Flour a 2 1/2- or 3-inch biscuit cutter. Stamp out rounds and arrange on a heavy, parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Remove and brush with melted butter. Serve hot.

Makes 12 to 16 biscuits. Adapted from Scott Peacock at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur, Ga.

*Note: Making your own buttermilk is unbelievably easy and is cheaper than buying a quart of buttermilk at the store. You can also make just as much as you need rather than buying a big carton and having it go bad on you because you only used a small amount for one recipe.

Making buttermilk:

Add 1 tblsp of vinegar or lemon juice for every cup of milk. Mix together and let sit for a few minutes. The acid of the vinegar or lemon juice will curdle the milk. Voila! There's your buttermilk.