Rainy Day Baking Extravaganza

 

It's been a weird day weather-wise: gusting winds, driving rain, resulting in several ferry cancellations.  One tree even blew down in our yard this morning!  Whole tree, not just a limb!  After being awake for quite some time listening to the wind while I lay in bed this morning, I rolled out at 6 like I usually do, and started getting ready for work.  About 5 minutes before I had to head out the door work was postponed til 8, then 10, giving me an awkward chunk of time to fill.  I started packing a few boxes of kitchen stuff and books (I'm moving in a week...ugh), then decided to make the banana bread that I had been putting off.  (For picture, see banner, for recipe see here).

After about 2 hours of work, which left me soaked and chilled, I came home again and decided to tackle a loaf of sandwich bread featured on Orangette a few weeks ago.  It was a good afternoon project, because although it it a fairly easy recipe, it involves several hours of resting, rising, etc.  I think it's a pretty good recipe, although I'll have to try it again because I had a few flubs.  First, I forgot to incorporate the salt, so the resulting loaf is a tiny bit bland.  Second, I dozed off during the second rise, and I let it rise about 15 minutes too long, which resulted in a partial collapse--somewhat reminiscent of a French chef's hat?

            =

I'm going to go ahead and post the recipe for the bread, because I have a hunch that, if salt was remembered and rising time was adhered to, this would in fact be a very tasty toast & sandwich bread. 

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (From Orangette)

* 1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast

* 3 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses

* 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

* 2 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading

* 1 cup rolled oats

* 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

* 2 ¼ teaspoons table salt, or to taste

Grease a large bowl and a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, (or in the bowl of a stand mixer, if you have one), combine 2 cups warm water, the yeast, and molasses. Stir briefly, and then allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. Add the flours, oats, and butter, and stir to mix. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Cover with a towel, and let stand for 30 minutes. [This rest allows the dry ingredients to absorb the liquids, making for a dough that’s easy to work with and even-crumbed.]

Now, if you are kneading by hand, turn the dough out onto a large board or counter sprinkled with more bread flour.  Sprinkle the dough with the salt, then knead for about 15 minutes, adding flour as needed.  I think I added at least 1/2 a cup of flour while I kneaded.  If you are fortunate enough to have a stand mixer, attach the bowl and the bread hook to the mixer. Add the salt, and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should come together around the hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon or two of bread flour, sprinkling it down between the dough and the sides of the bowl.  The dough should be soft and supple and slightly sticky.

If you kneaded by hand, form your dough into a ball and pop in in your greased bowl.  If you're a stand mixer type, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it a few times, and then pop it in the greased bowl.  Cover the bowl with a towel and then let it rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.  To see if it’s ready, gently push a floured finger into it. If the dough springs back, it needs more time; if the dimple remains, it’s ready for the next step.

Next step is shaping: scrape the dough onto your floured surface. Press down on it, working it into a square shape, making sure to squeeze out any bubbles.  Fold the top and bottom edges of the dough so that they meet in the middle, then take the newly formed top and bottom edges and pinch them together; pinch the seam to seal. Pinch the sides together, and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping it so that it’s evenly formed and about the length of the pan. Place the dough in the greased pan with the seam side down, and press it gently into the corners of the pan.

Now, the bread rises again: cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough rises to half again its size. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F--don't wait too long to preheat your oven, or your dough will rise too much, and as I discovered, that is not a good thing!

When the dough has finished its second rise, bake for about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The loaf is ready when the top crust and bottom crusts are nicely browned. To test done-ness, tap the top of the loaf a thump with your hand.  A hollow sound means that the bread is ready, if not, bake for a few additional minutes.  Remove the finished loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.  Allow the bread to cool fully--this helps the crumb set and the flavor to develop.  If you're a sucker for hot bread, like me, you can always reheat it in the microwave!

This bread will keep for 4 or 5 days at room temperature, if you don't eat it all first.  Just keep in in a plastic grocery or produce bag and enjoy!

Stay tuned for the finale of the rainy day baking extravaganza...I've run out of energy on this post!

Rhubarb "Jam"

 
UPDATE: I've already made this twice!  It is heavenly stirred into plain yogurt, and I actually wish I had some vanilla ice cream, because I know it would be amazing on top.  Sadly, I just have mint chocolate chip (okay, not just, but there's no vanilla in there!)  I actually made the full recipe today (a whole 2 lbs of rhubarb!) but I used 14 oz of sugar instead of the 16 that Martha recommended, which I thought was just perfect.  I'm already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!

---

Are you ready for a super fast, super easy, and somehow super-addictive recipe?  Hopefully the answer is yes, because that's what I have. 

I swore up and down that I would take advantage of rhubarb season this year, and so I bought four stalks...a while ago....and they've just been sitting, sitting, sitting in my fridge for a very, very long time.  Three of them still looked decent, despite somewhat shriveled ends (but who can blame them--if I sat in my fridge that long, I'd be shriveled, too!)  I have been hesitant to bake something, because baking for myself is just dangerous--either I eat the whole thing, and then it's bad news, or I don't eat the whole thing, and half of it goes bad.  So I was excited when I came across this ridiculously easy recipe in this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living.  It's really just your basic stewed rhubarb, but calling it "jam" opens a world of possibilities: stir it into plain yogurt, use it like a sauce on vanilla ice cream, spread it on toast or a scone, the list goes on....  Or, you can just do what I'm doing, and eat it piping hot out of the sauce pan, because it is just THAT GOOD. 

Martha's recipe calls for 2 pounds of rhubarb, which is kind of a lot.  However, the proportions in this recipe are super simple, 2 parts rhubarb to 1 part sugar, BY WEIGHT.  So this is a good recipe to do using a kitchen scale, and you can easily adjust it for whatever amount you want.  I washed and sliced my rhubarb, then popped in on the scale, discovered I had exactly a pound, tared the scale, then added half a pound of sugar right into the pot.  However, I found the end result just a tad sweet--if I were to do this again (which I probably will, since I just noticed the other day that rhubarb is still in the grocery store--I guess seasons don't apply on this one), I would reduce the sugar by a few tablespoons or so.  Once it had cooked, I added a few tablespoons of lemon juice to amp up the sweet-tart flavor, and so far I've already eaten about half the pot...oh well.  I just hid my spoon so I can save at least a little for my yogurt tomorrow morning.

Rhubarb Jam (Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, August 2010)
Makes about 2 cups

* 1 pound of rhubarb, rinsed, trimmed, and cut crosswise into 1/2 inch lengths (about 3 cups)

* a scant 1/2 pound of sugar (about 1 cup)

* Pinch of salt

* Lemon juice, to taste (optional)

In a saucepan combine rhubarb, sugar, and salt.   Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Cook, continuing to stir frequently, until the bubbles slow, foam subsides, and the jam is a nice, thick consistency that sticks the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice, to taste, and allow to cool for 1 hour.  Refrigerate overnight, and up to 1 week.

This is what it looks like when it's done.  
Insert spoon, eat, and repeat over and over.

Summer Squash Pasta & Grilled Garlic Bread

When things get crazy busy in the summer and I barely have time to cook anything, let alone find good recipes that are actually worth taking pictures of and sharing with you (since I doubt you'd be interested to hear about how I made burgers...again...or any other comparable summer meal), I can thank my dad for finding good things and sending them my way.  Ahh, retirement must be great!  Anyway, over the 4th of July weekend my dad found an article about Mario Batali in the Wall Street Journal and saved it for me.  I already threw out the article, and my short term memory is failing me, so I can't remember what it was about, but the recipe featured alongside the article was for pasta with summer squash.  Seasonal, no?  Batali's trick on this pasta is to undercook the pasta and the squash just slightly, then steam them together at the end, which apparently infuses the pasta with the squash flavor.  Batali's version calls for penne, although Erik got excited over fresh spinach pasta at the store, so we ended up using that instead.  Although I used Batali's technique, I think the spinach pasta was so flavorful on its own that it didn't pick up too much additional squash flavor, though the two did work well together.  We also used basil instead of the recommended mint, although I intend to try it again with mint, because I'm sure it would be equally delicious.  Whatever kind of pasta and herb you choose, this dish is fast, easy, and perfect for summer.  This meal rounds out nicely with grilled herb and garlic bread.

Pasta with Summer Squash and Ricotta (From Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking by Mario Batali)

* Kosher Salt

* 1 cup fresh ricotta (go whole or low-fat, definitely not fat free)

* 6 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmiganio-Reggiano, plus extra for serving

* 2-3 tablespoons warm water

* 1 pound summer squash or zucchini, or a combo, cut lengthwise in half and sliced into 1/3-inch-thick half-moons

* Fancy sea salt (like Maldon), or kosher if that's all you have

* 1 pound of pasta

* 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint or basil

* Freshly ground fresh pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 3 tablespoons of kosher salt.

2. While the pasta water heats, whisk together the ricotta, Parmigano-Reggiano, and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small bowl.  Whisk in 2 tablespoons of warm water to loosen the consistency; add the 3rd tablespoon if it's still too thick.

3. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep-ish skillet (that has a lid) over medium heat.  Add the squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's just tender and golden, 4-5 minutes.  Season with your fancy salt, and remove from the heat.

4. Cook your pasta until it's barely al-dente.  Drain the pasta, reserving 1/3 of a cup of the pasta water.

5. Add the pasta and the reserved water to the squash, stirring and tossing over medium heat to mix well.  Pop a lid on and reduce the heat to low, and allow the pasta and squash to steam together for 2 minutes.

6. Stir in the mint (or basil), and season with additional salt, if necessary.  Dish up the pasta and top with a dollop of the ricotta mixture.  Garnish with additional chopped mint (or basil), and serve with extra grated Parm.

Enjoy!

Champagne makes anything fancy.  Even this easy dinner.

Erik's Garlic Thyme Bread.

Slice a baguette or a ciabatta loaf some other good bread.  Melt a few tablespoons of butter.  Stir in a tablespoon or so of chopped thyme.  Brush both sides of the bread slices with the butter/ thyme mixture and then grill them for a 1-2 minutes per side, or until golden brown.  Watch the bread carefully, because it can burn quickly.  Remove from the grill.  Peel a large clove of garlic and rub the garlic onto both sides of the bread.  Serve immediately.  (PS, if you don't have a grill, you can do this on a cookie sheet under the broiler, just watch the bread closely!)

The Perfect Antidote to Summer Heat

  

I've been on a bit of a lemonade kick recently.  I gave up soda (for the most part) a couple of years ago, so lemonade is becoming my go-to drink when I want something more exciting than water--plus, it's the quintessential summertime drink.

I keep everything I need for it on hand, so it's a cinch to whip up whenever I'm in the mood.  Like now. 

Here's what you need: lemon juice (confession, I use bottled.  It's just easier), simple syrup (recipe follows), and water.  I like sparkling water--the little tingle it leaves on my tongue makes it just that much more refreshing. 

Here's what you do:  Mix equal parts simple syrup (recipe follows) and lemon juice in a glass--for a decently sized glass, (think something in the neighborhood of a pint glass), 2-3 tablespoons of each.  Add ice and top of with sparkling water (or tap, if that's all you have).  Stir, taste, and adjust lemon juice & simple syrup if necessary. 

Enjoy the taste of summer...

If you're making lemonade for a crowd, use these proportions instead:

1 cup of lemon juice,

1 cup of simple syrup (made with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water),

Top off with 3-4 cups of sparkling or tap water, depending on desired strength. 

Simple Syrup:

It's really simple.  You can buy it in the baking aisle sometimes, but honestly, why bother?  Just heat equal parts white sugar and water in a sauce pan until the sugar is dissolved.  Cool to room temperature, and store in a glass jar in the fridge.  I keep mine in a cleaned out peanut butter jar--it holds about 1 1/2 cups of simple syrup.  It's useful to have on hand for lemonade (or limeade), or making iced coffee and iced tea, all those good summer things...

The BEST Blueberry Muffins

 

I apologize.  Over a year has gone by, and I have never posted about my favorite blueberry muffins.  Probably, although they are my favorites, I don't think I've made them since 2006.  2006?!?  That was a while ago, even though I keep pretending it was last summer.  

What happened in 2006 is that I graduated from college and moved to Nantucket.  That summer I lived with three lovely Wellesley graduates.  Now, I don't want to generalize about Wellesley women, because I've only lived with a handful, but the ones I know (and lived with), are very domestic.  My first day on Nantucket I bought milk and Cheerios, which I proceeded to eat for dinner.  Then my roommate Christiana served me some delicious risotto and explained that they cooked and ate together every night.  They were very gracious about easing me into the cooking rotation, but I was still intimidated: I had to cook not only for myself, but my three very domesticated housemates?  Cheerios for dinner doesn't count?  Needless to say, my cooking has come a long way since then, but summer of 2006 was my first real foray into cooking and eating like a real adult.  

Along with cooking for my housemates and occasional dinner guests (namely Erik, whose housemates, not being Wellesley women, were not nearly as domesticated as mine), I did lots of baking, and one of my favorite sources for recipes, since I didn't own any cookbooks at the time (a mind boggling thought, now!), was the Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody, which my lovely housemate Erin owned.  By instituting Sunday Morning Brunch and Mimosas we managed to cook and bake our way through nearly everything in the cookbook's Breakfast section, but my favorite recipe remains the one for blueberry muffins.  So much so that when Erin left for law school I bought my own copy of the book on eBay.  While I have handed out the recipe to friends,  for some reason I never made them again myself, but today, that has been remedied.

These muffins are incredibly moist and tender--not like those crumbly muffins that you bite into and all of a sudden you're wearing half of it on your shirt.  Because I've had muffins like those, and they're no good. They are absolutely jam packed with berries--you smash some and mix more in whole, so the blueberry flavor absolutely permeates the muffins.  Citrus zest (officially orange, but lemon works just as well), adds another dimension of flavor.  And, just as a practical matter, the recipe is for 12 regular sized muffins, which is perfect, because 12 fit in one muffin tin.  So grab a couple of pints of blueberries before the season is over whip these up.  Best blueberry muffins, I promise.

The BEST Blueberry Muffins Ever (From The Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody)

6 jumbo muffins or 12-14 regular muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

* 2 cups of all-purpose flour

* 1 cup of granulated sugar

* 2 teaspoons of baking powder

* ½ teaspoon of salt

* 2 ½ cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed and shaken dry, or 2 ½ cups of slightly thawed frozen blueberries

* 2 extra large eggs

* ½ cup of milk

* ½ cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

* 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

* Finely grated zest of a medium orange (or lemon)

For the topping:

* 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

* ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

* ½ cup of finely chopped walnuts

1.  Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack in the center position.  Line the muffin tins of your choice with paper muffin cups or coat the cups and flat part of the tins generously with butter or cooking spray.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl.

 3. Place 1 cup of the blueberries in a small bowl and use a fork to mash them roughly.

4. In another medium mixing bowl, melt the butter.  (If you're using the microwave, beware of butter explosions!  Stop the microwave several times while you're melting the butter, or you will end up with a well buttered microwave!)   When the butter is cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), whisk in the eggs, milk, vanilla, and citrus zest.  Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold in the mashed berries.

5. Fold the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine.  There should be some dry lumps showing.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to combine all the dry ingredients.  Gently, fold in the whole berries.  
 

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans without smoothing the tops, filling them slightly more than half way. 
 

 Obviously I'm not good at following directions.  These

should be less full, and covered with topping.  Oops.
 

7. Make the topping by mixing the sugar, cinnamon, and nut together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle generously over the batter.  Bake the regular-sized muffins for 18 to 20 minutes and the jumbo muffins for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so before devouring. 
 

Enjoy!

A Birthday Blog

Happy almost 1-year anniversary, blog.  I just went back and read the first post that I wrote shortly after my 25th birthday.  It's funny to read the things you wrote a year ago, it's like a snapshot into a past state of mind.  But for all that has happened in the past year, it seems like a lot has remained the same, except now I am 26 and my grandfather is 98.  But I'm still on Nantucket, still gardening, and still cooking as much as my crazy work schedule allows.  I do intend to leave the island in December though, so that is kind of like a next step.  Perhaps I will get a bakery job when I move, start learning the "biz."  We shall see, who knows...

In any case, it's been a fun (almost) year, and I'm glad that all of you who are read my occasional musing do so, because I enjoy sharing what I'm up to, even when I can't share it in person (although that's always the best--I love cooking for people).  Please keep commenting, because I like to know what you like (and what you don't), and if you've tried any of the recipes. 

I have a few things to write about, but at this moment I want to itch my legs off (poison ivy, the likes of which I've never had before in my life), so I need to find some calamine, and then I need to go to bed, because my eyes are drooping and I feel like I'm writing nonsense.

Goodnight for now, and thanks again for reading!

Luscious Lemon Bars

 

May I, just for a moment, sing the praises of the lemon bar?  Gosh, I love those things.  Breakfast, snack, dessert, whenever.  I will never tire of them.  I love all sorts of lemon desserts, but I think the humble yet delicious lemon bar is my favorite.  

I had occasion to ponder these bars of wonder last weekend, for the final Armchair Theatre of the season.  I can't remember if I've written about Armchair on this blog before or not, and I'm entirely too lazy to look through the archives, so I may be repeating myself.  Feel free to skip ahead if I am.  Armchair Theatre is organized under the auspices of Nantucket Theatre Workshop.  Once a month from January to June a kind person volunteers their home for a play reading, done from chairs, hence the "armchair" part of the theatre.  Anyone who wants to attend may do so, the only entrance "fee" is a dish for the potluck that precedes the play reading.  Inevitably there is too much of one kind of food at the potluck, and it will switch from month to month.  In February the AT fell on Valentine's Day, and about half the the attendees brought brownies, in heart shapes or otherwise.  May also had lots of dessert, so I knew June would be lacking in the dessert department.  I also knew I didn't want to go to the store, so I had to make a dessert that could be thrown together from things I already had around.  Luckily, lemon bars fit the bill.  All you need is one real lemon, which I had, and then you can use bottled lemon juice for the rest, which I always have on hand.  And it was a good thing I did: only one other person brought dessert, just as I guessed.  Needless to say, the squares were a big success!

Before making lemon bars for the first time I assumed that they were complicated, that achieving that perfect sweet-sour lemony filling on top of the crumbly, buttery crust was difficult.  As it turns out, it's not one bit difficult.  These bars have what I consider to be the optimal crust to filling ratio, about 1:2.  I know this is a matter of personal preference, but I think these are pretty darn perfect.  Before I had a lasagna pan I tried fussing with the quantities so that it would fit other sized pans, but I never quite got it right.  This recipe is perfectly suited for the lasagna pan, so if you have one, use it, and if not, it is a worthwhile purchase, if only so you can have perfect lemon bars every time.

Lemon Bars (From the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Makes about 30 bars

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

* 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into squares (1 1/2 sticks)

* 4 eggs, slightly beaten

* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

* 3 Tablespoons flour

* 3/4 cup of lemon juice

* Zest of 1 lemon

* 1/4 cup milk, cream, or half & half

* Additional powdered sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a lasagna pan (9" x 13") with foil, then grease the foil.

2. Combine the 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Add butter pieces, and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  

This is what the crust will look like when the butter is sufficiently incorporated

3. Pour the mixture into the baking pan and press the crumbs evenly around the pan with your fingertips.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

3. While the crust bakes, make the filling.  Combine the eggs, granulated sugar, 3 TBS flour, lemon juice, lemon zest, and milk in a bowl.  Pour the filling over the hot crust and put it back in the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the center is set.  

 The foil makes the bars easy to lift out and cut

4.  Cool on a wire rack.  Dust the top with additional powdered sugar and cut into bars.  If any of the edges are particularly uneven or over-browned, cut them off (and sneak them while no one is looking :)  Store in fridge until ready to serve. 

 Serving them in cupcake papers makes for a nice & neat presentation

Enjoy!!