I’m never out of garlic, and yet yesterday when I wondered about what would go in the potato leek soup we made for dinner, I found I had only the shriveled remnants of my normally plump reserve.  There were no shallots, and I couldn’t find an onion, either.  Cooking just isn’t the same for me without these flavors.  I roast garlic and smear it on crostini, flavor oil with it to drizzle over roasted vegetables, saute it with almost everything, smash it and sprinkle on some sea salt to make a paste, mince it, cook whole heads in their papery skin, and wince when I find I’m out.

Have you had your garlic today?

Related posts:

1. Nearly Wordless Wednesday When all else fails, we still take photos of our...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A friend of mine gave me a bag of small, crisp red apples the last time she came for dinner and somehow, I’d lost track of them.  I should have known they’d been sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to get around to making something with Fall written all over it.  Would it be apple nut muffins, a new take on a Waldorf salad, or perhaps an apple butternut squash soup?  I couldn’t decide until last weekend when I knew I’d be in the kitchen making macarons and decided to treat the menfolk to breakfast.  I’m not the one who normally makes breakfast on Sunday, so my offer was met with surprise and instant nods of, “Yes, please!”  Neither my husband or son would turn down pancakes even if they had a healthier twist than those my husband usually makes.  Besides, I knew I’d get to experiment a bit and it’s always fun to find out just how a particular recipe will end up.

If you have a jar of dulce de leche sitting around, it’s amazing what a little bit of it can do to a nice stack of hot ones on a cool Fall morning.  Initially, it was to have ended up filling the macarons, but it didn’t make it past the pancakes.

Who knew?

Apple Walnut Pancakes

1-1/4 c. buttermilk

2/3 rolled oats

1 lg. egg

3/4 c. grated apple, well squeezed

2 T brown sugar

1/2 c. stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 c. pastry flour

1 tsp. cardamom

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

3 T walnut oil

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

2 T mascarpone

dulce de leche to taste

Soak the rolled oats in the buttermilk while you’re preparing the batter and topping.  To make the topping, stir the room temperature mascarpone until soft, then add enough dulce de leche to lighten and flavor the cheese.  Set aside.

Grate the apple using a large grater.  Squeeze the grated apple to remove as much juice as possible.  In a large bowl, mix the egg, apple,  and brown sugar.  Then add the flours, cardamom, baking soda, salt and oil, mixing well before stirring in the buttermilk mixture and walnuts.

Spray a skillet with cooking oil and heat over medium high until a drop of water skittles across the bottom of the pan.  Ladle the batter into the hot pan and allow to cook until bubbles begin to appear.  Flip each pancake and continue cooking until the center has puffed up, about 2 minutes for each side.

To serve, spread a bit of the dulce de leche mascarpone spread on each pancake, drizzle with maple syrup if you wish and enjoy.

Notes:

• These pancakes are relatively low in fat until you add the mascarpone topping.
• I used reconstituted powdered buttermilk because I have a horrible time keeping it in my fridge.  I purchase a pint when I see a few recipes that call for it, and before I know it, I have to pour it down the drain.  I’d love to know who makes the decision about what size container to put it in because a cook may need a couple of cups at most, but rarely a pint and that’s the size I’m always forced to purchase.  If I was intelligent, I’d divide the pint into freezable containers…yadda, yadda, yadda.
• I adapted this recipe from a book I love called The Enlightened Eater’s Whole Foods Guide by Rosie Schwartz.  The recipes in the book are organized into sections following information about the benefit of phyto foods and are extremely healthy.  I’ve many of them several times — rare for me — and they’re always excellent.
• This recipe made about 9-10 4″ pancakes.
• The dulce de leche mascarpone spread is AMAZING on sliced apples when you’re trying to figure out what to fill macarons with.  Swoonworthy, actually.

Related posts:

1. Apple Pomegranate Crisp with Pistachios I love baked apples;  in pies, cobblers, cakes, — you...
2. Chunky Chocolate and Walnut Cookies I try not to post sweets two days in a...
3. Maple Oat Apple Crisp I think one of the nicest aspects of the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Even after I’d begun to realize that macarons were a fascination for many and saw them in every imaginable color and flavor, it wasn’t until a year ago that I tasted my first:  antique rose in color, delicately crisp, and oh so sweet, it tasted of rose as well.  For someone used to sinking her teeth into a nice bran muffin, I was a bit perplexed and beginning to understand what all the fuss was about.  There didn’t appear to be much to the tiny thing, and yet I knew it was quite the opposite.  A paradox.

I’ve wanted to make macarons for quite a while now, and yet I’ve procrastinated.  Instead of delving into the endless recipe variations, comparing quantities of ingredients, and analyzing techinque, I’ve gazed at the beautiful the colors and admired perfect the shapes.  Finally, I was forced to consider not only how a macaron is made, but to make them along with countless other bakers this month.  The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

After a few days of reading everything I could find about macarons and sifting through the forum comments and advice at The Daring Kitchen, I decided to devote a Sunday to the task.  Not a frilly person by nature, I skipped the gorgeous pinks and bright greens and headed straight for the sturdy, practical flavors of chocolate and peanut butter.

In a house full of men, what would you expect?

Chocolate with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Buttercream

Makes 12 filled macarons

3 egg whites
50 gr. granulated sugar
200 gr. powdered sugar (minus 2 T)
110 gr. ground almonds or almond meal
2 T unsweetened cocoa

The day before you plant to make the macarons, place the egg whites in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap letting them sit at room temperature for 24 hours.  If you prefer, you can do this in the fridge as well.  In fact, you may also use fresh egg whites if you put them in the microwave to dry them for about 15 seconds on 50% power.

Prepare 2 large baking pans with silicone liners and position the oven racks in the center of the oven.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the powdered sugar, ground almonds, and cocoa.  Pulse to mix well and set aside.

Put the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat them just until they’re foamy.  Gradually add the granulated sugar with the mixer running on high until the meringue is glossy.  Remove the bowl from the stand.

Add the almond mixture to the meringue and give it a quick fold to incorporate the dry ingredients.  Using no more than 50 strokes in total, working quickly and gradually slowing, carefully fold the mixture until it flows in a steady, thick ribbon from the spatula.  Make sure it is not over mixed.  To test the batter, drop a small spoon full onto a plate.  If it flattens out, then it’s ready.

Fill a bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe circles about 1-1/2″ in diameter onto the silicone lined baking pans.  Set on the counter to dry about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Bake the macarons about 15-16 minutes.  Remove carefully to baking racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Buttercream

12 oz. cream cheese at room temp
1-3/4 c. powdered sugar, divided
6 T unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. chunky peanut butter

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1-1/4 c. of the powdered sugar until creamy.  In a separate bowl, whip the cream to medium peaks, and gradually beat in the remaining powdered sugar.  With the mixer on medium high, add the cream to the butter mixture in three parts.  Finish by adding the peanut butter in several large dollops until well blended.  Chill for 1 hour before filling the completely cooled macarons.

To assemble the macarons, spread about 1 tablespoon on one macaron held in the palm of your hand.  Top with a second macaron and gently twist.  Refrigerate the macarons at least one day for best results.

Kelly’s Notes:

• The chocolate macaron recipe I used after much deliberation is one of Tartelette’s.  This would be called an infraction and I expect either Lis or Ivonne to incarcerate me momentarily.  I will say, however, that Helen’s recipe actually made me feel as if I knew what I was doing.  Call me a coward.
• I purchased a carton of egg whites for this challenge expecting to screw up several times and ended up using fresh egg whites instead.  Helen’s microwave technique to dry the egg whites works!  In the meantime, I am drying out egg whites to give the challenge recipe a go next weekend.
• Reading like a crazed woman about how to fold the macaron batter must have paid off.  They ended up looking like macarons.
• I read so many conflicting bits of advice regarding oven temperatures and settings, I decided to use convection since it’s what I most often use. Unfortunately, the baking time of 8-10 minutes suggested wasn’t nearly enough and I had to pop the macarons back into the oven twice.  I think in the long run, they still weren’t quite done.  Note the shriveled tops on a few as evidence as well as my fingernail pockmarks from handling them too much.  Poor things.
• The buttercream recipe was adapted from a recipe I found a Epicurious and I have tons left over.
• I refrigerated my macarons overnight before tasting them.
• The flavor verdict is good:  I’m not a big peanut butter fan, so I’m pleased to say the flavor is mellow and blends quite nicely with the chocolate.  Overall, it’s a good flavor.  The exterior of the macaron is crisp, provides a nice crunch, and becomes more chewy as you work through the center.  I know.  Not quite done, right?

• Claudia Fleming’s challenge recipe that all the “real” Daring Bakers made (instead of fudging like I did) is as follows:

Mandatory Challenge Items:
-Make Claudia Fleming’s recipe for macaroons
-Fill and sandwich the macaroons

Optional:
-Flavor variations and decoration
-If you have a nut allergy, find a good nutless meringue cookie recipe but you must make them into cookie sandwiches with some kind of filling

If you are vegan, I don’t know what you can use as an egg substitute. Suggestions are welcome.

Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.

Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami’s note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Related posts:

1. Blueberry Cupcakes and Berry Cream Cheese Ice Cream When Lis of Daring Baker fame asked me to...
2. Chocolate Valentino Cake with Strawberry Banana Ice Cream As the morning unfolds on this the day of...
3. Daring Bakers: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Brown Butter Frosting Here I am on a Saturday morning, writing the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You’re wondering what peposo is, right?  Or perhaps you know what peposo is and you’ve already wondered how it ended up in a sandwich.  If you’re like me, you may even just want to take a big bite of it right now because it’s dinnertime and it would be much easier to have a savory Italian sandwich magically appear instead of needing to make dinner.  Oh, how I wish that might be so tonight.

This sandwich has quite a long story behind it, so I’ll share it soon — along with the recipe for the peposo, the roasted pepper salad, and the focaccia.  But it’s Wednesday, and I’m supposed to be wordless — or nearly so.

Related posts:

1. Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Hazelnuts The weather here has been remarkable for the past few...
2. Roasted Chicken and Tomatoes with Cheese Grits Mark Twain is believed to have said that the coldest...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I enjoy my recipe searches because in the process I compare and contrast general quantities of ingredients, consider the variety of spices used and admire an unusual spin here and there.  It’s always nice to find a version that is healthy without taking away the satisfying aspect of the dish, too.   Every once in a while, I find a recipe that stuns me.  In my search for Shrimp and Corn Chowder, I found a recipe that seems to be making its rounds, finding it posted at several different sites.  Serving six, it calls for one quart of half-and-half, one quart of heavy cream, and one-half cup of margerine. Seriously.  I just about fell out of my chair wondering why on Earth it was necessary to put that much fat into a recipe that could easily do with much lighter ingredients and avoid classifying it as diet food.

Thankfully, I found a great recipe at Nook & Pantry, and although I didn’t follow it exactly as written, my version is not too far off.  Shrimp & Corn Chowder anyone?

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

4 ears sweet corn, kernels removed

6 oz. bacon

1 lg. shallot, chopped

3 lg. cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

2 celery ribs, trimmed and diced

3 T flour

1/4 tsp.  hot paprika

2 dashes cayenne

4 c. good vegetable stock

2 c. milk, 2%

1 lb. fingerlings, cubed, peelings on

1 lb. lg. shrimp, shells & tails removed

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in the bottom of a medium soup pot until brown, but not yet crispy.  Remove the bacon to some paper towels to drain and pour off all but 1 T of the bacon fat.  Add all the vegetables, stirring over medium heat, cooking until softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute stirring occasionally.

Stir in the flour and paprika, coating the vegetables with it and allowing it to cook for a minute or two.

Add the vegetable broth, stirring any flour bits from the bottom of the pot as you pour.  Add the milk, corn, and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 25 minutes.  Add the shrimp and cook just until they turn pink and are cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Notes:

• This is a hearty chowder with bits and chunks of vegetables or shrimp in every bite.
• The hot paprika is such a wonderful addition to this.  A little bit goes a long way, but if you’re someone who isn’t fond of heat don’t worry.  You’ll have just the slightest hint of warmth at the back of your throat and its quite pleasant.  The pimenton picante or hot paprika I use is made by Chiquilin and is a product of Spain.  If you can’t find it at your market, La Tienda is a great source for Spanish products like paprika and they sell quite a few varieties.
• This recipe makes enough for six good servings and since there are only three of us, we enjoyed it left over even though I worried about the texture of the shrimp with reheating.  Reheat low and slow and the shrimp manages just fine.
• In case you’re wondering about the recipe I mentioned at the beginning of this post, just the heavy cream and half-and-half alone in that recipe racks up almost 6,000 calories of saturated fat.  I’m still amazed!
• I’m thinking I’d like to put a southwest spin on this next time adding a few roasted poblanos and a bit of cilantro.

Related posts:

1. Cool Zucchini Soup with Lemon-Cumin Shrimp and Cilantro Creme I’d like to believe the weather we’ve been enjoying...
2. Spicy Shrimp Salad I’d love to say it’s salad weather here, but...
3. Jambalaya with Andouille Shrimp and Chicken I’d like to say I’ve been on vacation and that’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The best I can do is think about what to cook for the “occasion” knowing that I’ll have a small group of men interested in food when the action on the field isn’t going our way — and it often seems not to.  Although they’re often subjected to my routine experimentation, I do occasionally treat them to food that is more in line with what one may want on game day.

Like Buffalo Wings — or more accurately — Hot Wings.

My husband loves Gorgonzola, so guess what’s in the sauce?  And then there’s the crazy Asian hot sauce.  Mmmm….

Hot Wings with Gorgonzola Sauce

12 chicken wings, broken into parts

1 T olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1 c. flour

freshly ground pepper

1-1/2 T white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Sriracha*

pinch of salt

3 T ketchup

3 T garlic chili sauce*

4 T butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a large baking pan with parchment or spray with oil.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss wing parts with 1 T olive oil and salt.  In a gallon-sized zip lock plastic bag, add the flour and pepper and then drop the chicken pieces in.  Seal and shake the bag to coat the chicken pieces evenly.  Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then remove, turn the pieces over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, in a medium sauce pan, add the vinegar, cayenne, garlic salt, worcestershire sauce, Sriracha, salt, ketchup, garlic chili sauce, and butter.  Over low heat, stir to combine and allow to simmer, then remove from heat.  When the chicken is done, brush sauce liberally on all sides of the chicken and set aside.

Gorgonzola Sauce

1 T Dijon

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 lg. clove garlic, chopped

2/3 c. Gorgonzola

1 c. sour cream

1 T white wine vinegar

In a small bowl mix the mustard and vinegar with the garlic until well blended.  Add about half of the Gorgonzola and mix well.  Add the sour cream and white vinegar and mix before adding the remainder of the Gorgonzola making sure to leave chunks in the mix.  Taste to correct salt content.

Serve with the traditional celery sticks.

Notes:

• If you’d really like these to be hot wings, avoid adding the ketchup and double the amount of hot sauce.
• Speaking of hot sauce, I purchase the *chili garlic sauce* at my local Asian Grocer.  It’s pretty tasty!  If you don’t have this particular product, then use any hot sauce you like.
• Sriracha is an Asian hot sauce.  It can be found in the Asian section of your grocer and has a rooster printed on the label.  It’s a bit on the toasty side but oh, so good!  You can substitute Tabasco if you’d like, or Louisana Hot Sauce which I love.
• Honestly, I think these wing parts could be baked without the oil and flour.  Why add the calories?  Just bake them naked and then douse them in the sauce.  Nice.  That’s how I plan to do it next time.
• The Gorgonzola sauce is quite yummy.  Sure, it’s not the traditional blue cheese, but I’m all about trying new things and this was my spin on it.  Add more cheese for an extra special bite.
• The sequence is as follows:  bite of wing, dip the celery in the cheese, and crunch.  Nice.
• Definitely game food.  Seriously doesn’t matter whether your home boys can play ball or not.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.