Cafe Lynnylu

Honey and Yogurt Panna Cotta

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:35:00 +0000

Continuing the panna cotta theme, the tangy flavor of this variation comes from plain yogurt with a touch of honey to sweeten. A panna cotta is one of the easiest desserts to make for company as it can be made ahead, in fact, most have to be in order for the gelatin to set up. As the panna cotta doesn't need baking, you can use any food safe ramekin, cup or bowl in which to serve the dessert. So bring out your favorite dish to match the occasion. I have chosen a favorite piece in my pottery collection which holds exactly 4 cups and to me matches the rustic feel of the block of honeycomb.

Honey Yogurt Panna Cotta

Recipe from Kitchen Garden Cookbook

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold whole milk or 1/4 cup 2% and 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2% fat

1/4 cup honey, plus more for serving, if desired

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold milk and let stand for 10 minutes or until gelatin softens.

While the gelatin softens, in a bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and the yogurt of choice. Blend well. In a heavy saucepan, combine the remaining cream and honey and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Stir into the yogurt. Pour the mixture into a 4 cup glass or bowl or in individual bowls. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Drizzle on the extra honey or top with seasonal fruit. Serves 4.

Honeycomb

The above iPhone photo is my contribution to Black and White Wednesday #83, hosted this week by Shruthi of Food and Clicks. Special thanks to Cinzia of Cindy Star Blog our lovely admin having been chosen by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, BWW's lovely brainchild.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Cinnamon Basil Panna Cotta with Berries

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sat, 04 May 2013 20:01:00 +0000

The potted herb garden is beginning to thrive now after a few snaps of cold weather and the four citrus trees are also beginning to show signs of blooming. I love planting herbs in a garden, but where I live the deer roam and eat nearly everything young and tender, even thorny stems of a citrus tree.

Of all the basil varieties, one of my favorites is the cinnamon basil plant. Cinnamon basil has the same chemical as cinnamon bark, hence the name. A bit cold sensitive, this herb is best started indoors. Cinnamon basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes as it keeps aphids and mites away. I can't wait to see the herb produce lovely purplish-pink flowers which look lovely in an herbal bouquet as well as using the leaves to make a cinnamon basil syrup. The syrup is not only used to macerate the berries, but a couple of tablespoons are used to soften the unflavored gelatin for the panna cotta.

Since this panna cotta is not baked as in a creme brûlée or a flan, I was excited that I could use part of my collection of cups and saucers that I pick up at estate sales or thrift shops. I have a few matching cups and saucers, but I like to mix and match only similar colors and different shape cups when I use them in my food photography or still life projects. Some are chipped or cracked, but as long as they are intact and food safe, I have no problem with the slight imperfections. It means they were lovingly used.

Cinnamon Basil Panna Cotta
with Blackberries and Raspberries
(Serves 6)

For the Panna Cotta-

2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2 tablespoons cinnamon basil syrup (recipe follows)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half and half
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

For Berries-

1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
Cinnamon basil syrup to taste
1/2 lime, juiced
Cinnamon basil leaves for garnish

Preparation

Combine unflavored gelatin and cinnamon basil syrup. Let sit about 10 minutes until softened. In a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, half and half and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Heat until small bubbles appear around the sides of the pan. Remove from heat-add softened gelatin. Stir until gelatin has been incorporated into the cream.

Evenly distribute between vessels of choice. Refrigerate at least four hours or overnight. Top with berries in syrup, as desired.

Cinnamon Basil Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

5 sprigs cinnamon basil, gently rinsed and dried

Bring water and sugar to boil over high heat. Whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add cinnamon basil-boil for 60 seconds. Remove from heat and let steep for about 30 minutes. Remove herbs from syrup. Strain into a bottle. Store covered in the refrigerator. Keeps almost indefinitely!

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging #382, hosted this week by Elena of Zibaldone Culinario Weekend Herb Blogging is now managed by Haalo of Cook ( Almost) Anything Once having taken over the reins from its creator, Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Black and White Wednesday #81-The Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:31:00 +0000

Welcome to the 81st edition of Black and White Wednesday. As always, I am thrilled to host this monochromatic gallery of culinary images photographed by ardent photographers in the world of food blogging. If you need more information about this blog event and would like to join in, please read this post. Our gallery grows every week!

Turbaned Onions
Priya-The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen

Green Peas
Shilpa-Yummilicious Food

A Good Cuppa and a Good Book
Rosa-Rosa's Yummy Yums

Scallion and Red Bell Pepper Paratha
Usha-Sizzling Indian Recipes

Green Onion and Red Bell Pepper Paratha
Usha-Sizzling Indian Recipes

Ready to Eat
Shruti-Part Time Chef

Homemade Bread

Cinzia-Cindy Star Blog

Multi-Seed Buttermilk Rolls

Aparna-My Diverse Kitchen

Filter Coffee

Tanusree-Ma Niche

Sage

Haalo-Cook Almost Anything

Lorighittas (Traditional Pasta from Sardinia)

Simona-Briciole

Baking Experiments

Meena-Encourage Spice

HEY!

Elizabeth-Blog From Our Kitchen

Herb Garden in Pots

Lynne-Cafe Lynnylu

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Black and White Wednesday #81 Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:04:00 +0000

The month of May is nearly here and I have the pleasure of hosting BWW #81 on the first day of the month! I would love to have your black and white images of culinary nature to show in my gallery on Wednesday. If you are new to this very cool event, below is an excerpt from our lovely and talented admin, Cinzia of CindyStar Blog. Thanks to the also lovely and talented Susan who created this group back in 2011.

"Rules are simple and unchanged:

- Your clicks have to be anything of a culinary nature or show anything related to food: an ingredient, a kitchentool, something in your kitchen or in a restaurant, anything about food preparation/presentation/consumption, whatever your eyes can catch as a food speach.

- You can shoot either in b/w mode or in color, then process in b/w. You can use any effect you like but keeping the image in a monochrome/grayscale, with Sepia and Cyanotype tones allowed. No color details allowed.

- Approximate sizes of your pictures shoud be portrait/500 wide & 700 long - landscape/700 wide & 500 long - or 600 square.

- No need of a recipe, nor a story nor a location (but they are welcome if you like), simply a title for the picture is required.

- You have to post your photograph within the Tuesday of the week going on, so the hostess will be ready to blog about the Gallery on Wednesday (but latecomers might be accepted to the hostess' discretion). For those who use Twitter, Susan created a hashtag (#BWFood) to make it easier to find related conversations.

- You have to mention Black and White Wednesday in your post and link to this announcement and to the hostess' blog. Use of the logo is optional.

- We also have a group on Flickr if you'd like to join and share your pics."

Herb Garden in Pot

Please send an email with your image sized as stated above along with the link to your post and to this announcement to lynnylu AT gmail DOT com by 8 am Wednesday, May 1, 2013. I will post the gallery later that day. Thanks and looking forward to seeing all your wonderful images!

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Torcettini di St Vincent-We Knead to Bake

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:10:00 +0000

Although these puffy sugar coated yeasted cookies would be delicious with the espresso shown in the photo below, I would love to make them again and serve an Italian dessert wine such as bubbly Asti or a Moscato. In fact, when I go to Italy this summer, I will remember to stop at a cafe and do just that! It is said the cookie origin came about by accident when a grissini baker had some dough left over to which he added butter. Instead of shaping them as long slender sticks, he rolled them in sugar and shaped them in a loop.

Torcettini was the baking challenge for April in our Facebook group, We Knead to Bake. Aparna, creator and admin of the group chose Torcettini di St. Vincent, a diversion from the yeasted breads we have been making for the last four months. Aparna gives step-by-step instructions with photos along with the recipe on the above link. The cookies were fun to make, but are best eaten the day they are made as if covered overnight, the cookies soften. I would consider either trying to halve this recipe or invite your friends over for coffee, tea or wine and making a party of it. To learn more about shaping the torcettini, this video is helpful.Torcettini di St Vincent

Torcettini di St Vincent
Original Recipe from A Baker's Tour

1/2 cup warm water, about 110° F
1-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 1 teaspoon instant yeast)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (if making chocolate torcettini)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime/lemon zest (replace with orange zest for the chocolate version) I used lemon zest and a few drops of lemon bitters for the white version and 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder for the chocolate version
40 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
about 1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside.
Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor (or a large bowl if kneading by hand).Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is well-mixed and the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.
If making the chocolate torcettini, remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and add the cocoa powder. Omit the lemon zest/anise and add the optional 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder with the flour.
Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse until it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead. Place the ball of dough in an oiled bowl, turning it so it is well-coated with the oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise quite a bit. The dough does not really double in volume, but it should look puffy after about an hour or so. When you pinch off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. Press down the dough and deflate it, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24.
When read to make the cookies, take the dough out an dlightly roll it out into approximately 6-inch squares. If the dough feels sticky, scatter a little sugar on it. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into four strips of equal width. Cut each strip into 6 equal pieces by cutting across, maing a total of 24 equal pieces. It's easier to have 24 equal pieces rather than trying to pinch off bits of dough.
Roll each piece into a pencil thick rope about 5 inches long. Sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll the rope in it so the sugar crusts the dough uniformly. Form the rope into sloop crossing it over before the ends
Place the torcettini on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 1-1/2 inches between them. Leave them to slightly rise/puff for about 20 minutes.
Bake them at 325°F for about 25 minutes until they are a nice golden brown. Cool completely on a rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Plum Berry Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:16:00 +0000

If there's one thing I love more than photographing plums, it's finding various ways of preparing this luscious purple stone fruit. Purple often signifies royalty and is the color frequently worn by kings and queens. The plums I bought may be the red amber variety or there could have been a mix of varieties as they were bought in bulk. Not only do we love plums, but fresh berries are always in my refrigerator to top yogurt, ice cream and to use in cobblers as they were in this recipe. The original recipe comes from the 1990 dessert cookbook, The Wooden Spoon Dessert Book. Using plums, but substituting an equal amount of raspberries and blueberries for the peaches, I had a great flavor combo going on. I was pleased with the short crust pie dough that covered the cobbler. Many pie dough recipes use either all butter, a mix of butter and shortening or for a very flaky and crisp pie dough, all shortening.

When I make this cobbler again, I will add a dollop of whipped cream, pour over a creme anglaise or top with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I think even plain yogurt would be delicious and would cut down on the sweet taste of the cobbler.

Plum Berry Cobbler
Makes about 8 servings

3 cups pitted, sliced plums
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 recipe pie dough (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon butter for dotting on the cobbler before baking
cinnamon sugar, if desired

In a large bowl, combine the plums and berries. In a small bowl mix together the sugar, flour, salt and ground cinnamon. Add to fruit and toss gently. Place in a 2 quart ovenproof casserole. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400° F.
Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough to fit the top of the casserole. Cut several vents in the dough. Place over the fruit. Do not seal to the edges of the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling hot and the crust is golden brown.

Short Crust Pie Dough

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) shortening, very cold and cut into pieces
3-4 tablespoon ice cold water

In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour and salt. Pulse briefly to combine. Sprinkle the cold shortening around the flour. Using short pulses, incorporate into the flour. The texture should look like that of coarse cornmeal, but there will be some larger pieces throughout.
Add a tablespoon of ice cold water and pulse, then adding more tablespoons of water. Use only enough water to bring the dough together.
Remove dough from machine. Shape the dough into a ball and flatter slightly. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about an hour, or up 1 day. If very cold, let sit a few minutes before rolling it out. Follow instructions above for rolling out the dough to fit the casserole.

The above black and white image is my contribution to Black and White Wednesday #80, this week hosted by Anusha of Tomato Blues. As most of us who contribute to Black and White Wednesday know the history, for those of you who are reading this for the first time, BWW was created by the very talented food and lifestyle photographer, Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. This very popular blog event is now being managed by also very talented food and lifestyle photographer, Cinzia of CindyStar Blog .

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Marinated Goat Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Original Recipe-Saveur

Creamy goat cheese bathed in olive oil and flavored with fresh thyme, bay leaves, garlic and mixed peppercorns turns a crusty piece of country wheat bread into an elegant appetizer perfect with a glass of crisp white wine or a young red wine. This tangy cheese reminds me of cream cheese, has a lower fat content, but still the silky feel of a higher fat soft cheese. Goat cheese has been made for centuries in the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and African countries where goats survive far better than cows in mountainous and harsh terrains. When we think of goat cheese, (or is it goats cheese, goat's cheese or goats' cheese?), we usually think of France, in fact the French word for goat is Chèvre and has become a generic term for goat cheese.

And it's to France we go on our culinary journey through the European Community Culinary ABC. E is for Escargot and E is also for Elena of Zibaldone Culinario who prepares for us an Escargot Bourguignon and a lovely tour of France with beautiful photos. However, Elena cooks not only the escargot dish, but numerous other French dishes well worth a look.

Slices of Crusty Wheat Bread Slathered with Creamy Marinated Goat Cheese

Marinated Goat Cheese Logs

This recipe is so simple, you will wonder why you have never made it before. Not only can you use the marinated goat cheese as a spread for bread, but it can be crumbled over salads, made into a salad dressing, as a pizza topping, or incorporated into a pasta dish.

Marinated Goat Cheese

4-2 ounce fresh goat cheese logs, or 4-ounce logs, cut in half
Extra virgin olive oil
3 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons mixed peppercorns

In a sterilized wide mouth jar, carefully place the goat cheese logs. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the logs completely. Tuck in the bay leaves, bay leaves, fresh thyme and peppercorns. Cover the jar.

Cover and marinate the cheese logs in the refrigerator for 2 days or up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving. Serves 2-4 generously.

A few summers ago, I had the opportunity to visit Aix-en-Provence and stayed in a lovely French Country private home. Below are some iPhone photos of the house and its environs. While there, we shopped the markets for fresh vegetables, meats and seafood as well as flowers, crafts and other things French. We decided to use train travel as our main means of traveling from one city or village to another. It was a lovely experience that I would love to do again.

Holiday House in Aix-en-Provence

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Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Easy Radish and Cilantro Salad with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:50:00 +0000

Until I joined my local CSA, I never knew how flavorful, crisp, just out of the ground radishes tasted. When I was growing up, there was never much of a Spring garden opting for the warm weather vegetables like tomatoes, corn, okra, green beans and watermelons. Just recently in my basket of lettuces and various greens, Scarlet red turnips and carrots was a bunch of Easter egg radishes and cilantro. Such beauties with varying colors of red, light purple and white, just like a basket of Easter eggs! A simple salad of radishes and cilantro with a favorite lemon mustard vinaigrette came to mind.

I rarely buy prepared salad dressings as it's so easy to whip up one and I usually have lemons, extra virgin olive oil and Dijon mustard on hand. Seasoning the vinaigrette with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper completes the dressing, but sometimes I'll add a minced garlic clove and or honey for variety. However, I didn't think these radishes needed the garlic, but the honey would add a little sweet touch to the vinaigrette.

The name radish comes from the Latin word for "root" belonging to the mustard family as does horseradish, a spicy cousin of the radish. Radishes can be many colors inside and out-reds, pinks, whites and even black. Shapes and sizes vary with the radish-some are small and elongated or round and fat or huge like the Daikon radish. Radishes should be bought with their green tops and roots still attached. The greens are edible and can be part of a Spring mix of salad greens. Radishes are best eaten raw, but I have seen some recipes for cooked ones.

Radish and Cilantro Salad with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

For the Salad
Serves 2

1 bunch fresh radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
Optional-thinly sliced scallions

Gently toss the sliced radishes and cilantro leaves together. Place in salad bowl. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette (recipe below). Serve immediately.

For the Dressing

Makes 3/4 cup

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon country style mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional- 1 teaspoon honey, 1 small clove garlic, minced

Combine lemon juice and mustard. Add olive oil in a slow stream, whisking to emulsify. Add salt and pepper. Stir again before using. Keeps about 1 week in refrigerator. Shake or stir before using.

The black and white image above is my contribution to BWW #78 created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now managed by Cinzia who blogs at Cindystar.

Sharing also with WHB#379, hosted by Cristina of La Cucina di Cristina. Weekend Herb Blogging is managed by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything Once and whose blog you can find out all the details on submitting and hosting.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU
Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Vanlla Ice Cream Topped with Mixed Berries in Red Wine Syrup

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:46:00 +0000

A dessert that comes together quickly and will awe your dinner guests. A bottle of fruity red wine, some sugar, the mixture reduced by half, then flavored with vanilla bean paste makes a perfect heady syrup to which is added loads of blueberries and raspberries. The ruby red syrup and berries drizzled over vanilla ice cream has been one of my dessert favorites for a long time so I wanted to share it with you.

Mixed Berries in Red Wine Syrup

1 bottle (750ml) fruity red wine
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 cup (8 ounces) fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 cup (8 ounces) fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained

In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine wine and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring syrup to a boil and cook until reduced by half, about 15 minutes, taking care that it doesn't boil over. Remove from heat and add vanilla bean paste. Let cool.
Place the blueberries and raspberries in a bowl. Pour the red wine syrup over the berries. Refrigerate covered tightly at least two hours. Serve over vanilla ice cream or ice cream of choice.

That's it! So Easy

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Cozonac-Romanian Easter Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:07:00 +0000

We continue our journey through abbecedario culinario della comunita, the European Community Culinary ABC, with the country of Romania and the letter "D" for Drob, a traditional Romanian dish similar to the Scottish speciality, haggis. La Cucina di Cristina entertains us with lovely photos of Romania and some facts about the country itself, plus her version of Drob. I hope to put Romania on my list of must see countries.

The Romanians have a rich culinary history predominately the Ottoman Empire which ruled the country for 276 years. The Turkish cuisine greatly influenced the Romanian cuisine adding spicy meat dishes, vegetable appetizers of eggplant, peppers along with other vegetables and sweets containing nuts, and honey in cakes and pastries. Since Easter is upon us, I decided on Cozonac, a rich yeast bread swirled with a ground nut mixture. I found dozens of variations on Cozonac, some had nut fillings, some had ricotta cheese filling, some had raisins in the bread dough, some were braided-the variations seemed endless. Finally, I chose a moderately simple recipe.

Cozonac
Makes 3 Loaves (9x5x3)

Rich Yeast Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons warm milk (105°-115°F)
1 cup sugar
Zest from 2 lemons
2 cups warm milk (105°-115°F)
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup or 8 ounces), melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 egg yolks, whisked until combined
7-7 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt

In a small bowl, combine yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and 4 tablespoons milk. Let sit for about 10 minutes, or until creamy.
In a large bowl or measuring cup, mix together the sugar and the lemon zest with your fingers until fragrant.
Stir in the warm milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract and egg yolks.
Place half the flour in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, add half the liquid mixture. Mix on low speed until mixed well. Add more liquid and flour in increments until well mixed. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for 7 minutes. The dough will be slightly sticky, so don't add more flour unless necessary.
Grease a large bowl. Turn dough into bowl, then flip over greased side up. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled-1-2 hours.
Meanwhile, make the nut filling.

Nut Filling

1 pound pecans, or nut of choice (walnuts, hazelnuts, etc
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, whisked together
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of a food processor, grind together nuts, sugar and butter until finely ground, about 30 seconds or less, in short pulses. Remove to a large bowl.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mix well. Store covered in the refrigerator until dough rises. If making ahead more than 3-4 hours, bring nuts to room temperature.

To complete the Breads

Butter or oil your loaf pans. After the dough has risen, remove to a lightly floured surface. Divide into 3 equal pieces. Using one ball of dough, roll out in a large rectangle the width of your baking pan. Spread with 1/3 of the nut mixture. Beginning with the short side of the rectangle, roll dough over filling jelly roll style. Pinch ends and seams. Place in baking pan.
Repeat procedure for the remaining two balls of dough. Cover pans lightly with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a moderately warm place until doubled in size. Mine rose just to the edge of the pan. Brush tops with an egg wash (1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water, mixed together) and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 35-45 minutes and golden brown. Bread is done when tapped lightly sounds hollow, or until a thermometer inserted in the middle of the bread reads about 200°F. Remove from oven. Let cool 5 minutes, then turn out on to a rack to cool to room temperature.

European Culinary ABC

Hosting Blog-Romania-the letter D

Submitted to Yeastspotting

Spicy Sausage Bread Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:20:00 +0000

These rolls came together totally by accident. The dough began its life as hamburger rolls, but while it was resting in the refrigerator, I ran to the grocery store for a few things. Always interested in different sausages, fresh or smoked, I came upon a flavor I had not seen before-a cracked pepper smoked sausage! What if I wrapped the dough around thin slices of the this fully cooked peppery sausage! It was a great idea! The finished product was a success and will a little spicy mustard to pep it up, I had a great picnic bread or buns for hamburgers, hotdogs or other sandwiches.

Bread Dough

(Bread Machine)

3 cups bread flour

1/2 plain yogurt

1/2-1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

Sausage Filling
4-6 ounces thinly sliced fully cooked smoked sausage of choice (I used a cracked pepper smoked sausage)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

Place ingredients in the bread pan of a bread machine and process on the dough cycle according to the manufacturer's instructions for your bread machine. Check the machine and either add more water or more flour for a well-mixed dough.When cycle has completed, remove dough from pan and place on a lightly floured surface. Let rest 5-10 minutes.

Divide dough into 9 or 12 pieces depending upon what size you wanted your finished roll. To fill the rolls, take a ball of dough and wrap it around 3-4 slices of the smoked sausage. Pinch to seal completely. Place rolls on a parchment lined baking pan. Let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix egg yolk with the 1 teaspoon water. Brush the mixture on the rolls. Bake 25-30 minutes or until rolls are golden browned. Serve warm or at room temperature. They freeze well.

Spicy Sausage Bread Rolls

The black and white image is my contribution to BWW #76 hosted by its creator, Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook . Black and White Wednesday is organized by Cinzia of CindyStar Rules and host line-up can be found Cinzia's blog.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Hokkaido Milk Bread-Tangzhong -- We Knead to Bake #3

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:17:00 +0000

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island. It is located at the North end of Japan close to Russia, an island very earthquake prone, the last major one in 2012. It is also the name of this fluffy, puffy bread chosen by Aparna for We Knead to Bake #3. Tangzhong is a water, sometimes milk and flour-based roux championed by Yvonne Chen who wrote the Taiwanese cookbook which translates as "65° C Bread Doctor". The roux is touted to be the secret ingredient in baking soft and airy breads which stay fresher longer than breads baked without the roux. The Tangzhong, a mixture of 1 part to 5 parts water is cooked in a skillet to a temperature of 65°, which activates it leavening abilities, cooled to room temperature for several hours, then incorporated into the flour mixture.

I hadn't heard of this method of preparing bread dough, but I am definitely going to use the Tzanghong method on my future bread baking adventures. The recipe Aparna gave the group is not a difficult dough and quite versatile. It can be shaped into animal characters as well as a filled bread, sweet or savory. My interpretation of the Hokkaido Milk Bread has a cinnamon sugar and mini-chocolate chips swirled throughout the dough and baked in 4 by 6-inch loaf pans.

Hokkaido Milk Bread with Tangzhong

Original recipe from 65 Degrees Tangzhong "65C Bread Doctor" by Yvonne Chen and adapted

from Kirbie's Cravings. There is also a video available which might be helpful on making the Tangzhong.

Ingredients

For the Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

For the Dough

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons powdered milk

2 teaspoons instant dried yeast

1/2 cup milk( and a little more, if needed)

1/8 cup (2 tablespoons ) cream (25% fat)

1/3 cup tangzhong (use HALF) of the tangzhong from above recipe

25 grams unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

1/2 to 3/4 cup mini-chocolate chips if making the chocolate chip rolls ( I used the chocolate along with 3-4 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Method

The Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux):

Whisk together lightly the flour, water and milk in a saucepan until smooth and there are no lumps. Place the saucepan on the stove, and over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening. Keep stirring/whisking constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth.

If you have a thermometer, cook the roux/tangzhong until it reaches 65° C (150°F) and take it off the heat. If you don't have a thermometer, watch the roux/tangzhong until you see lines forming in the roux/tangzhong as you whisk it. Take the pan off the heat at this point.

Let the roux/tangzhong cool completely and rest for about 2-3 hours at least. It will have the consistency of a soft and creamy creme patisserie. If not using immediately, transfer the roux to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. It can be stored in the refrigerator for about a day. Discard the tangzhong after that.

The Bread Dough:

Aparna made her dough in the food processor. The dough can be made by hand, but the dough is sticky and can take some time and effort to knead by hand. I used my bread machine with great success, so I suggest you either use the food processor or the dough cycle of a bread machine and process according the the manufacturer's instructions for your machine.

My instructions for the dough will be written for processing on the dough cycle of the bread machine. Place ingredients with the exception of the mini-chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar in the pan of your bread machine and process accordingly.

When the cycle has completed, remove the dough to a lightly floured surface. For four mini-loaves, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, then each piece into 3 equal pieces. You should have 12 small pieces of dough. Roll each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape about 1/8-inch thick. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar over the oval, then some mini-chocolate chips-don't make the filling too thick or it will run out. Take one end of the dough from the shorter side of the oval and fold it to the middle of the oval-or roll jelly roll style. Pinch to to seal the edge. Place three rolls side by side in a greased mini-loaf pan. Repeat for 3 more loaves. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. When loaves have risen, carefully brush the tops of the loaves with milk or cream and bake them for about 20-30 minutes until they are done ( if you tap them they will sound hollow) and beautifully browned on top. Let them cool in the tins for about 5 minutes and then turn them out and transfer to a rack to cool.

Serve or store in a bread bin. This bread stays soft and delicious even the next day. If you are interested in making the animals, read Aparna's excellent post on how to shape the animals.

Submitted to yeastspotting.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Black and White Wednesday #75-The Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:31:00 +0000

Welcome to a lovely gallery of black and white culinary images. This week was a productive week with fifteen images to display on the gallery! Thanks to a very talented group of photographers for submitting to BWW #75.

Plum Cake alla Zucca
Sandra-Dolce Forno

Dry Ginger Coffee
Princy-Reflections

Fingerprints

Simona-Briciole

Spring Onion Bulb
Nandita-Pakka Shale

Deep Red Bardolino
Cinzia- CindyStar

Lovely Fruity Chiaretto
Cinzia-CindyStar

Jamaican Banana Fritters
Tanusree-Ma Niche

A Day in a Butcher's Life
Jehanne-The Cooking Doctor

Farm Chalet, Berner Oberland
Rosa-Rosa's Yummy Yums

Frittelle di Riso
Sandra-Indovina Chi Viene a Cena (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)

Summer Stillness
Priya-The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen

Shallots
Meena-Encourage Spice

Pain de Seigle aux Pavots
Julie-Stregatto Cuciniero

Tomato Still Life
Lynne-Cafe Lynnylu

If I have missed anyone or made any errors in links, etc., please let me know.

Susan, of The Well-Seasoned Cook will be hosting BWW#76 on March 27. Interested in hosting or participating, the rules and hosts line-up can be found here.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Black and White Wednesday #75 Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:58:00 +0000

Black and White Wednesday #75 is being hosted here on Cafe Lynnylu. Hope to see all your lovely culinary black and white images in my inbox. The rules are very simple and are posted here. To whet your monochromatic appetite---

I will be posting the gallery on Wednesday, March 20 and will be accepting your images up to 8:00 AM, New York time on that day. In your post, please link back to this announcement as well as the rules link mentioned above. Please send an email to lynnylu AT gmail DOT com with your attached photo and link to your post. Use of the below logo is optional, but appreciated.

Also, sharing tomato photo to Texture Tuesday whose theme this week is the word e-dition.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Still Life Images-Black and White Wednesday #74

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:02:00 +0000

"In a still photograph you basically have two variables, where you stand when you press the shutter. That's all you have". ~Henry Wesse

Morning

"Let the subject generate its own photographs.Become a camera." ~Minor White

Classic

"Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. but above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography." ~George Eastman

These two photos are my contribution to BWW #74, this week hosted by the lovely Cinzia, of CindyStar Blog who now manages this culinary black and white images blog event having taken over for the lovely Susan, creator of BWW. Rules and host line-up can be found here.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Shrimp Creole With Pan-Fried Polenta

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:42:00 +0000

Today I'm pleased to reveal my adaptation of Shrimp Creole from Emily's blog, It Bakes Me Happy. Being a member of the Secret Recipe Club has given me the chance to read and cook from so many wonderful food blogs. Emily's blog is full of not only tantalizing recipes, but also evident is her vivacious personality and love for her family and blogger friends. We love shrimp in our family and live on the coast where fresh shrimp is abundant, so it was an easy decision choosing the shrimp creole.

Louisiana Creole cooking is a melting pot of cuisines-French, African, Portuguese, Italian, Native American and Spanish with a little Southern thrown in the pot. Traditional ingredients in shrimp creole are diced tomatoes, the holy trinity-onion, green bell pepper and celery-and a hot sauce. Creole dishes are thicker and spicier than a gumbo which is also served over rice, but is made without a roux. The foundation of creole, gumbo and jambalaya (rice is incorporated in the cooking process) dishes is the holy trinity. My adaptation is called "holier than thou trinity" as I substituted canned green chiles for the bell pepper that accidentally ended up in a soup the day before. I liked the idea of sauteing this mirepoix in a small amount of bacon fat and adding the cooked diced bacon to the final dish which I served over fried polenta. And since we like spicy food, ancho chile powder, Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce made its way into the shrimp creole. If making your own fried polenta seems a daunting task, pre-made polenta in a tube can be found most supermarkets.

Shrimp Creole

3 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, diced
2 whole canned green chiles, chopped
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1-2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce, or hot sauce of choice
2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sliced green onions, for garnish

In a heavy saucepan, preferably cast-iron, over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside. Pour off some of the bacon fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the onion, celery and green chiles to the pan. Saute until softened. Add the chile powder and minced garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces. Bring this to a boil, lower heat and cook about 20 minutes. Add shrimp, cook until pink and opaque, about 5 minutes. Add reserved bacon or top finished dish with bacon and chopped green onions. Serve over fried polenta (recipe follows) or cooked white rice.

Fried Polenta

3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup coarse ground polenta- Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits-Polenta

In a heavy saucepan, add the water, salt, and butter. Bring to a boil. Add the polenta, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent the polenta from sticking to the saucepan. A diffuser plate works well with this type of cooking. Cook about 20-30 minutes or until mixture is very thick.
Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Pour in the polenta, smoothing the surface with a greased spatula. Cool, then refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours or overnight. Next day, cut the polenta in triangles.
In a large heavy skillet, preferable cast-iron, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Fry the triangles of polenta until crisp and brown on each side.

To serve-place 1-2 triangles of fried polenta on a plate. Top with shrimp creole, bacon and chopped green onions.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Smoked Turkey Red Beans, Spicy Sausage and Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:20:00 +0000

It's still winter where I live and this Smoked Turkey Red Beans and Rice is the perfect dish to serve on cold days. It's not a difficult dish and made easily in the slow cooker, but there are several stages of preparation, so it's best to start a few days ahead of time. First, the smoked turkey parts are roasted in the oven along with onions, carrots and celery, then the pan is deglazed with wine, water added and slow cooked for eight hours. After stripping the meat and skimming fat, the resulting stock is cooled and chilled. Next day, the pre-soaked beans, vegetables and aromatics are combined with the smoked turkey stock, reserved meat, then slow-cooked for 6-8 hours. Lastly, some of the beans are pureed to thicken the stew which is then served over rice. I have made it probably four times in the last few months and it always get rave reviews. A big hunk of hot crusty cornbread completes this satisfying version of red beans and rice.

Smoky Turkey Stock

2 packages smoked Turkey drumsticks or combo wings and drumstick
1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, scrubbed and halved
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon olive oil for brushing
1 cup white wine or water
7 cups water
3 cloves garlic
10 black peppercorns

Preheat oven to 400° F. Brush turkey drumsticks and vegetables with the olive oil. Place in a roasting pan. Roast for about 20 minutes until turkey parts and vegetables brown. Remove from the oven and place roasting pan over two burners. Deglaze pan with the wine or water.
Place turkey parts and vegetables in slow cooker. Add the 7 cups water, garlic cloves and black peppercorns. Cook on high heat for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Remove turkey parts after 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. Cool to touch, strip meat from bones and reserve.
When stock is done, strain, discard vegetables and reserve. Cool, then refrigerate for several hours or until cold. Before using in recipe, skim fat solids from surface. Makes about 8 cups stock. You will need about 4 cups for the red beans and rice.

Smoked Turkey Red Beans

1 pound package dried red beans or pinto beans, soaked. I put my beans in a pot of enough cold water to allow the beans to triple when soaked. Bring this to a boil, remove from heat; cover and allow to soak 1-2 hours. Drain, discard soaking water.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
smoked turkey stock
reserved turkey meat
1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced 3/4-inch thick- Johnsonville, Ragin' Cajun (very hot) or Aidell's-just to name a few
2-3 tablespoons Creole Seasoning-purchased or homemade (recipe below)

Place the oil in a large saucepan. Over medium heat, sauté onions, celery and green pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic after 4 minutes of sautéing. Place in slow cooker with the bay leaves, thyme, smoked turkey stock, pre-soaked beans, reserved turkey meat, spicy sausage and 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Check beans for tenderness after 4-5 hours. Add Creole seasoning, if desired, plus salt and pepper to taste.
If desired remove one cup of beans, puree and return to slow cooker. Serve smoked turkey red beans over rice. Garnish with thyme, thinly sliced green onions and sliced jalapeños, if desired. Serves 6-8.

My Creole Seasoning

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablesspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1/2 tablespoon cayenne

1/2 tablespoon ground chipotle powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients. Cover and use within 3 months.

Smoked Turkey Red Beans with Spicy Sausage

Pinto Beans

The two black and white photos above are my contribution to BWW #73 hosted this week by Zorra of Kochtopf. Black and White Wednesday was created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and is now managed by Cinzia of Cindy Star Blog. Rules and host line-up here.

ALL CONTENT © CAFE LYNNYLU

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Black and White Wednesday # 72-A Lovely Space for Creating Food Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:38:00 +0000

I'm spending the week taking care of the grandchildren while my daughter travels and son-in-law is working. While the 3 year old napped, I used my iPhone to shoot some sepia photos of their lovely kitchen, dining room, collection of cookbooks and super espresso machine. These images were shot with the Camera +, a sepia filter added in Pro HDR, and finally a diptych made in Diptic.

These images are my contribution to BWW #72, this week hosted by Simona of Briciole. Created by Susan, of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now managed by Cinzia from CindyStar Blog, BWW is great event to share one's black and white culinary images.

Classic Croissants-We Knead to Bake #2

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:55:00 +0000

Within walking distance of our holiday apartment in Bruges was a small bakkerij which usually sold out of croissants before 9am and as I was the early bird in the group, I had the delightful job of buying the croissants for our breakfast. Traditional croissants, chocolate-filled, almond paste filled, savory croissants-they were all wonderful! I have many memories of my travels, but the croissants in Bruges stay firmly planted in my foodie brain. They were beyond my talents to make, I thought, until Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen chose Classic Croissants for---

Although having never made them before, the step-by-step directions along with Aparna's photos guided me through process with confidence. Aparna tweaked and fine-tuned the original recipe from Jeffrey Hammelman's recipe at Fine Cooking and I have to say her adaptation is brilliant. Success with croissants comes with patience and time as the croissants take three days to complete, however, most of that time, with the exception of a lot of dough rolling, is spent either in the refrigerator or the shaped croissants proofing in the pan. I have no step-by-step instructions since my kitchen is in an upheaval as I am going out of town, but I've included Aparna's recipe and a few of her tips. You might also find this video-Making and Baking Classic Croissants very helpful. My second batch of croissants were filled with a Biscoff spread which you might know of as Speculoos spread. More filling ideas here

Some tips that might help:

1. Ensure that your butter is cold – cold enough that it is pliable enough to smoothly roll out; not hard (or it will break) or soft (it will melt). If the butter is too hard and breaks while rolling out the dough, you will not get the layers in the croissants.

2. Do not over-knead / develop the dough too much, too much gluten will not help during the lamination process. The lamination process itself is a kind of stretch and fold anyway and will strengthen the dough. So keep to the 3 minutes the recipe says. You want a soft dough, not an elastic one.

3. When you cover the butter square with the dough, make sure you seal the dough well, otherwise the butter will leak out when you roll out the dough, and there’s no way you can manage to put the butter back in. You will also end up with butter leaking during the baking.

4. Always, always make sure your dough and butter inside it are cold. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Once the butter has melted, it is difficult to get the dough to produce layers because the dough tends to absorb the butter and will make greasy croissants. So, while working with the dough, or when rolling it out, if at any point you feel the dough becoming warm and soft, put it back in the fridge immediately. Also work as quickly as you can so the butter stays cold.

5. During the lamination of the dough (rolling and folding repeatedly), chill the dough in the freezer and NOT the fridge. The overnight refrigeration is to be done in the fridge NOT in the freezer. Resting the dough is an important part of the croissant making process.

6. Plan ahead and make sure you do all this when you have the time for it. You will need more time than you think you, believe me. You cannot leave this and attend to something else, unless you want to set yourself for failure!

7. You also need a lot of patience to keep rolling out the dough with just enough pressure to stretch it. The rolled out dough before shaping should be somewhere between 1/4” and 1/8” thick.

8. Make sure your dough is shaped with straight lines and square-ish corners. All the time you are rolling your dough out, keep this in mind. This way you will minimise waste of dough. More importantly, the edges where there is no butter would get folded in during lamination and affect your layers. So trim off those bits if you have any of them.

9. Keep lightly flouring your work surface (not too much), just enough to keep working smoothly without tearing the dough. However, dust with a light hand or you could end up adding more flour than desirable.

10. Do not be tempted to fold more than three times. A fourth fold will give you more layers, but thinner butter layers between them, and your croissants will not puff of as much as you would like them to.

11. And most important, as funny as it sounds. If you like to and do wear rings on your fingers like I do, take them off while working with this dough and the dough will thank you! Rings have a habit of inadvertently tearing the dough. If the butter comes out, patching it up by dusting a little flour can help but doesn’t always work.

Classic Croissants

(Adapted from Jeffrey Hammelman’s recipe at Fine Cooking)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

4 cups all-purpose flour, and a little more for dusting/ rolling out dough

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold water

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold milk (I used 2%)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

40gm soft unsalted butter

1 tbsp plus scant 1/2 tsp instant yeast

2 tsp salt

For the butter layer:

250 gm cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup of cold milk (or 1/8 cup of cream + 1/8 cup cream) to brush the dough

Or 1 egg for egg wash

Day 1:

Make the dough (and refrigerate overnight)

Combine all the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. You can also use a food processor with the plastic blade, or do this by hand.

Mix everything on low speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl once if necessary. Then mix further on medium speed for 3 minutes. Lightly flour a 10-inch pie pan or a dinner plate. And place the ball of dough on this.

Gently shape the dough into a flat ball by pressing it down before storing it in the fridge, this makes rolling out next morning easier. Making a tight ball will strengthen the gluten which you do not need. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and wrap well with plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:
Make the butter layer
The next day, cut out 2 pieces of parchment or waxed paper into 10” squares each. Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Place these pieces on one piece of parchment/ waxed paper so they form a 5- to 6-inch square. Cut the butter further into pieces as required to fit the square. Top with the other piece of parchment/ waxed paper.
Using a rolling pin, pound the butter with light, even strokes. As the pieces begin to stick together, use more force. Pound the butter until it flattens out evenly into a square that’s approximately 7-1/2”. Trim the edges of the butter to make a neat square. Put the trimmings on top of the square and pound them in lightly with the rolling pin. Refrigerate this while you roll out the dough.

Laminate the dough
Unwrap and lay the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to a 10-1/2-inch square, and brush off the excess flour. Take the butter out from the refrigerator —it should be cold but pliable. If it isn’t refrigerate it till it is. This so that when you roll out the dough with the butter in ti, neither should it be soft enough to melt, or hard enough to break. Unwrap the butter and place it on the square of dough in the centre, so that it forms a “diamond” shape on the dough.

Fold one flap of dough over the butter toward you, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the middle of the butter square. Bring the opposite flap to the middle, slightly overlapping the previous one. Similarly repeat with the other two so that the dough forms an envelope around the butter. Lightly press the edges together to completely seal the butter inside the dough to ensure the butter doesn’t escape when you roll out the dough later.

Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. With the rolling pin, firmly press along the dough uniformly to elongate it slightly. Now begin rolling instead of pressing, focusing on lengthening rather than widening the dough and keeping the edges straight.

Roll the dough into an 8” by 24” rectangle. If the ends lose their square shape, gently reshape the corners with your hands. Brush off the excess flour. Mark the dough lightly equally into three along the long side. Using this as a guideline, pick up one short end of the dough and fold 1/3rd of it back over the dough, so that 1/3rd of the other end of dough is exposed. Now fold the 1/3rd exposed dough over the folded side. Basically, the dough is folded like 3-fold letter before it goes into an envelope (letter fold). Put the folded dough on a floured baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes to relax and chill the dough.

Repeat the rolling and folding, this time rolling in the direction of the two open ends (from the shorter sides to lengthen the longer sides) until the dough is about 8” by 24”. Once again fold the dough in thirds, brushing off excess flour and turning under any rounded edges or short ends with exposed or smeared layers. Cover once again with plastic wrap and freeze for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Roll and fold the dough exactly in the same way for the third time and put it baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, tucking the plastic under all four sides and refrigerate overnight.

Day 3:
Divide the dough
The next day, unwrap and lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. Cut the dough along the longer side into halves. Cover one half with plastic wrap and refrigerate it while working on the other half.

“Wake up the dough up” by pressing firmly along its length with the rolling pin. Don’t widen the dough but simply begin to lengthen it with these first strokes. Slowly roll the dough into a long and narrow strip, approximately 8” by 22”. If the dough sticks as you roll, sprinkle with flour.
Once the dough is about half to two-thirds of its final length, it may start to resist rolling and even shrink back. If this happens, fold the dough in thirds, cover, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes; then unfold the dough and finish rolling.

Lift the dough an inch or so off the table at its midpoint and allow it to shrink from both sides and prevent the dough from shrinking when it’s cut. Check that there’s enough excess dough on either end so that when you trim the edges to straighten them, you have a strip of dough that is 20’ inches long. Now trim the edges so they’re straight.

If you’re good at “eyeballing” and cutting the dough into triangles, then forget the measuring rule, marking and cutting instructions. Otherwise, lay a measuring rule or tape measure lengthwise along the top length of the dough. With a knife, mark the top of the dough at 5-inch intervals along the length (there will be 3 marks in all). Now place the rule or tape measure along the bottom length of the dough. Make a mark 2-1/2 inches in from the end of the dough. Make marks at 5-inch intervals from this point all along the bottom of the dough. You’ll have 4 marks that fall halfway between the marks at the top.
Make diagonal cuts by positioning the yardstick at the top corner and the first bottom mark. Use a pizza wheel/ pie wheel or a bench scraper and cut the dough along this line which connects each top mark to the next bottom mark and then back to the next top mark and so on. This way you will have 7 triangles and a scrap of dough at each end.

Shape the croissants

Now work with one piece of triangular dough at a time. Using your rolling pin, very lightly roll (do not make it thin but only stretch it slightly) the triangle to stretch it a little, until it is about 10” long. This will give your croissants height and layers. You can stretch it by hand too, but if you don’t have the practise, your stretching could be uneven.

Using a sharp small knife, make a 1/2- to 3/4-inch-long notch in the centre of the short side of each triangle. The notch helps the rolled croissant curl into a crescent.

Place the triangle on the work surface with the notched side closest to you. With one hand on each side of the notch, begin to roll the dough away from you, towards the pointed end.
Flare your hands outward as you roll so that the notched “legs” become longer. Roll the triangle tight enough but not too tight to compress it, until you reach the “pointy” end which should be under the croissant.

Now bend the two legs towards you to form a tight crescent shape and gently press the tips of the legs together (they’ll come apart while proofing but keep their crescent shape).
Shape all the triangles like this into croissants and place them on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet leaving as much space between them as they will rise quite a bit.

Proof the croissants

Brush the croissants with milk (or a mix of milk and cream). If you use eggs, make an egg wash by whisking one egg with 1 tsp water in a small bowl until very smooth. Lightly brush this on each croissant.
Refrigerate the remaining milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) for brushing the croissants again later. Place the croissants in a cool and draft-free place (the butter should not melt) for proofing/ rising for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. They might need longer than 2 hours to proof, maybe as much as 3 hours, so make sure to let croissants take the time to proof. The croissants will be distinctly larger but not doubled in size. They’re ready if you can see the layers of dough from the side, and if you lightly shake the sheets, the croissants will wiggle.

Bake the croissants

Just before the croissants are fully proofed, pre-heat your oven to 200C (400F) in a convection oven or 220C (425F) in a regular oven. Brush the croissants with milk/ milk+cream (or egg wash) a second time, and place your baking sheets on the top and lower thirds of your oven (if regular) or bake one tray at a time in the convection oven.
Bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes till they’re done and golden brown on top and just beginning to brown at the sides. In a regular oven, remember to turn your baking sheets halfway through. If they seem to be darkening too quickly during baking, lower the oven temperature by 10C (25F). Cool the croissants on the baking sheets on racks.

Serve warm. This recipe makes 15 croissants.

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Lemon Biscotti-Biscotti al Limone

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:16:00 +0000

Although my lemons did not come from Sicily where lemons have been grown since the 10th century, this recipe for lemon biscotti did. There is a saying that lemons are not real lemons unless they are from Sicily, however this crunchy biscotti is nevertheless very fragrant using just plain supermarket lemons. Loaded with grated lemon zest and lemon bitters, the lemon flavor is in every bite as well as in the lemon icing drizzled over the flat sides of the biscotti. Another recipe from one of my favorite Italian cookbooks, Italian Country Cooking-The Secrets of Cucina Povera which I am slowly working my way through. I would serve these biscotti with lemon ice cream for a dessert, as a teacake for afternoon tea or with a glass of Vin Santo.

Lemon Biscotti

Ingredients for the Biscotti:

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature, plus 1 extra for wash

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup light olive oil

peeled zest of 3 large lemons, finely chopped

1/2 cup milk

4-8 drops lemon bitters

To Make the Biscotti:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking and salt and sift into a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the 2 eggs until foamy. Gradually add sugar, blending constantly, until the mixture is very thick and very pale yellow, about 3-4 minutes. Blend in the oil and then lemon zest.

Add the lemon bitters to the milk.To the bowl of the mixer, add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and ending with the flour. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and divide into 4 equal parts. Shape them into logs, about 1-1/4-inch thick. Place the logs 2-inches apart on one of the baking sheets. Mix the extra egg with 2 teaspoons water and brush over the logs. Bake until they are golden and firm, about 25-30 minutes, turning the baking sheet back to front halfway through the baking time.

Remove from oven and cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Leave the oven on. Using a bread knife, cut the logs diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Lay the slices on the baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake another 15 minutes, or until golden on both sides. Cool on wire racks before icing. Makes about 48.

Ingredients for the Icing:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4-1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

4 drops lemon bitters

To Make the Icing:

Combine all the ingredients. Drizzle over biscotti. Store in airtight container.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lemons

The black and white lemon photos above are my contribution to
BWW #71 hosted this week by Shruthi of Food and Clicks. Black and White Wednesday was created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and is now managed by Cinzia of Cindy Star Blog.

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Mushroom Soup (Hubová Polievka) with Rye Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:22:00 +0000

A combination of cremini mushrooms, potatoes and smoked bacon makes a hearty, yet light enough to serve as a first course. Adding a jolt of flavor to the soup is shiitake mushroom powder quickly made in a coffee grinder. This mushroom powder elevates this humble soup to the sublime. Top the soup with a dollop of sour cream and serve with homemade rye bread. Although the cremini mushrooms are flavorful, this soup needed more mushroom flavor which you get from dried mushrooms. In fact, the original mushroom soup recipe uses only dried shiitakes to make the soup.

Our culinary journey of the countries of the European Union continues with Slovakia, a totally landlocked country surrounded by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. Slovakia is indeed a melting pot of culinary flavors. As there is no real Slovakian cuisine as the food varies from region to region and is based on traditional customs and peasant or provincial cooking. Pork is the most popular meat followed by poultry products. Cabbage and potatoes rank high of the list of vegetables consumed as well as eggs and dairy products. The national dish may well be bryndzové halusky, little potato dumplings with bacon and Bryndza, a soft sheep milk cheese . With this recipe Terry from Crumpets and Co leads us through Slovakia as our "B" month in the European Union Culinary ABC.

Mushroom Soup (Hubová Polievka)
Recipe Adapted From Slovak Cooking

1/4 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed and dried
1 ounce dried mushrooms, rinsed or 8 ounces fresh, rinsed and patted dry, sliced
5 cups salted water
3 large white potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 slices, smoked bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sour cream

Grind the dried shiitake mushrooms in a spice grinder until finely ground. You should have about 3 tablespoons. Set aside while preparing soup.

Add water to a large soup pot, add mushrooms and potatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer. Meanwhile fry the bacon until crisp. When done, remove the bacon to a plate. Pour off most of the fat, add the flour, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add to the pot along with the cooked bacon. Simmer until potatoes and mushrooms are soft. Add 1-3 tablespoons of the mushroom powder. Stir in sour cream, if desired: Stir to combine. Adjust seasoning. To serve, pour into soup bowls, top with sour cream and chopped green onions.

Eastern European Potato-Rye Bread

Recipe From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes four-1-pound loaves, easily halved or doubled

3 cups lukewarm water

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1-1/2 packets)

1-1/2 tablespoons salt

1 cup mashed potato

1-1/2 tablespoons caraway seed, plus additional for sprinkling on the top crust

1 cup rye flour

5-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Cornmeal for pizza peel

Cornstarch wash (recipe follows)

I halved the recipe and prepared the dough in a bread machine. Add ingredients to the bread machine pan according to manufacturer's instructions for your machine. Process on the dough cycle. When the cycle has completed, remove dough to a floured surface. Divide in half.Let rest 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 40 minutes.
Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler pan tray on a lower shelf.
Using a pastry brush, paint the top crust with the cornstarch wash and then sprinkle with additional caraway seeds. Slash the loaf with deep parallel cuts across the loaf.
Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until browned and firm. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Cornstarch Wash

Blend 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch with a small amount of water to form a paste. Add 1/2 cup water and whisk well with a fork. Microwave or boil until mixture appears glassy, about 30-60 seconds on high. The wash will keep refrigerated for two weeks. Discard if it has an off smell.

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Easy Crispy Homemade Hash Browns

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:33:00 +0000

My hash browns are not as easy as opening a package of frozen ones, but if you make these, you will most likely never buy the supermarket frozen ones again. There's hardly a recipe for them as I have made them for years. Unadorned except for salt, pepper and chopped chives, they fry up in less than 10 minutes if you have baked the russet potatoes ahead of time, cooled and then refrigerated them until ready to grate. Even the peel is grated along with the potato adding to its nutritional value. One medium potato along with the skin has about 110 calories-no fat, no sodium or cholesterol. More information here.

Hash Browns
Serves 4

4 medium baked potatoes, grated skin included
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large non-stick skillet
Chopped chives to garnish

Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add potatoes in one layer. Let cook 3-5 minutes, turn and cook, turning occasionally until most all of the potatoes are golden brown. Don't turn too often and they will become mushy instead of crisp.

Add In's-diced onions, sautéed, diced ham, shredded cheddar or favorite cheese.

More recipes for hash browns:

Southwestern Hash Browns
Sweet Potato Hash Browns
Crispy Hash Browns

Please do not use images or text without my permission. Crispy Hash Browns

Company Cinnamon Toast

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Heavy cream makes these crunchy, baked cinnamon-sugared toasts a special treat for teatime or for breakfast or brunch. This is the second recipe (first one here) I've posted from the 40 year old cookbook, "Informal Entertaining Country Style" by the food editors of Farm Journal Magazine, first published in 1877 and still in print today. Not only was the magazine a prime source of information for farmers, but back when I was growing up on our farm, the magazine had a wealth of recipes for entertaining using many of the foods grown in our large vegetable gardens. This particular recipe was designed for friends who drop by unexpectedly, (which many did as it was the custom in a farming community). In just a few minutes, a guest could enjoy these toasts hot from the oven along with a cup of hot tea, especially welcome in the winter.

Simple Afternoon Tea

Company Cinnamon Toast

6 slices good bread, 1" thick

6 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (in retrospect, I would decrease this to 1 tablespoon)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Trim crust from bread and cut each slice into 3 strips. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a shallow dish. Pour the cream in another shallow dish. Dip the bread strips in cream to coat both sides. Brush strip tops with butter; sprinkle all sides with the sugar/cinnamon mixture to make a thick covering.

Place the bread strips on a rack in a shallow baking pan (this keeps them from sticking to the pan). Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 18 strips.

Cinnamon Toast and Tea

The two monochrome images here are for Black and White Wednesday #70, hosted this week by Alex from Food4Thought. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, you can read about it on Susan's blog, The Well-Seasoned Cook. Susan, BWW's creator has since handed the management over to Cinzia of CindyStar Blog. Both Susan and Cinzia are highly talented photographers and exceptional cooks.

Banana Ginger Cake with Brown Butter Frosting-Secret Recipe Club

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:00:00 +0000

There are many recipes for banana bars, cakes and the like, but the brown butter frosting on the banana bars piqued my interest while I browsed Julie's lovely blog, A Little Bit of Everything. The browned butter enhanced the flavor of the confectioners sugar frosting and was a perfect embellishment for the delicious banana cake. It's group B's reveal day for The Secret Recipe Club. I was given Julie's blog to choose a recipe to make for this day and you can imagine how hard it was to choose a recipe from a blog entitled "A Little Bit of Everything". I was amazed not only at the collection of dishes that Julie has posted, but at her impressive My50 list of recipes she intended on preparing on her blog.

There wasn't anything I could do to change the banana bar recipe as it was too delicious to fool with. Ginger and bananas have a special affinity, so ground ginger was added to the batter and chopped crystallized ginger decorated each cake square. I give you Julie's tantalizing banana cake-

Banana Ginger Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1-3/4 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting

1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
Chopped crystallized ginger, optional

For the Cake:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 15x10 jelly roll pan( I used a 9x12). In a large bowl with a mixer, cream sugar and butter until smooth. Add eggs one at at time, mixing well before each addition. Add sour cream, mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt and ginger. Mix just until flour is incorporated. Stir in walnuts, if using.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes (35-40 minutes with a 9x12), or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

For the Brown Butter Frosting:
Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil, swirling occasionally. Allow the butter to turn a delicate shade of brown. Remove from heat.

Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth. It should be thicker than a glaze, but thinner than a frosting. Spread the frosting over the warm bars. Yield 2 dozen (15x10) bars. Sprinkle chopped crystallized ginger over each square, if desired.

Please do not use images or text without my permission.

Weekend Herb Blogging #370 Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne Daley) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:03:00 +0000

If you are looking for recipes to celebrate Valentine's Day, look no further! In this Weekend Herb Blogging #370 roundup, a full meal or a dessert social awaits you. A breakfast roasted applesauce lassi, three tantalizing desserts-two rich and lovely chocolate desserts along with a crispy sweet fried Italian pastry, a tangy blood orange salad dressing and a spice rubbed roasted chicken. Read on for a glimpse into the world of these talented cooks and photographers.

It's always a pleasure to participate and host WHB. Thanks goes to Kalyn for creating this very popular seven year long event and to Haalo for expert management.

Angel Wings
Cinzia-CindyStar Blog
Italy

"It's Carnival time and as usual, we always delight us with some typical sweet Italian pastry that's specially made for this occasion-sweet deep-fried pastry"..... And I love to share it with friends as well, it's almost a tradition for us to gather and enjoy a day of frying and chatting, making huge baskets of galani to bring home and make the family happy---."

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
Janet-The Taste Space
Toronto, Canada

"It might be comforting to know that there are no sweets in the house. However, I know that isn't true. I just need to be more creative. There are sweets that just need to be discovered. -----A super simple recipe---rich and fudgy, these bites delivered. I loved that it made a small batch and each piece was satisfying."

Applesauce Lassi
Simona-Briciole
California

"I've been making kefir at home for 13 months now. I prepare it in various ways, in particular to prepare lassi for my husband's breakfast (colazione), strawberry or peach lassi.------ One day that I had no suitable fruit available, I decided to use roasted applesauce. The result was applauded and therefore, this has become the classic winter lassi."

Raspberry Brownies

Haalo-Cook (Almost) Anything Once

"---with Valentine's Day occurring next week, something a bit sweet and decadent seems to be in order. For me, I've found the answer in these gooey raspberry brownies."

Creamy Blood Orange Salad Dressing with Honey and Mint
Susan-The Well-Seasoned Cook

"The magenta-maroon juice, made pale with cream, sparked with surprising distinction, holding its own against the bold vinegar, mustard and raw alliums. That the recipe pulled together in a matter of minutes, made it all the more attractive. Blood simple, I call it."

Baharat Roast Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
Lynne-Cafe Lynnylu

"An exotic rub permeates this plump, juicy roasted chicken served on a bed of cumin-spiced rice with sautéed Brussels sprouts, carrots and golden raisins. Freshly ground black pepper and sweet paprika form the base of the Baharat rub with cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom rounding out the flavors."

Please do not use images or text without my permission.