You may be shocked when I tell you this, but I can get lazy sometimes. Yes, it's true, lazy to the point where there is nothing delicious to eat on a Saturday or Sunday morning. On those two days I like to sleep a little past the 5:50 a.m. alarm that wakes me every morning of the school / work week. On those mornings I get downstairs as quickly as possible to feed my French Bulldog (who will whack me relentlessly with her paw until there is food in her dish), get my daughter breakfast (which I take up to her bedroom), and make my husband and myself a cappuccino. Saturday and Sunday mornings I should be in my kitchen whipping up breakfasts so filling you have no desire to eat another meal until late in the day. But instead, those are the mornings I like to sit in a peaceful, so-quiet-you-can-hear-a-pin-drop house with my cappuccino and stack of newspapers, and do nothing else but read. (ah... doesn't that sound wonderful?) But I still want to wake up to something delicious to go along with that cappuccino. Everyone in this house likes finding these Apple-Cranberry Muffins on the kitchen table in the morning. I rarely have fresh cranberries available, but there are always dried in my pantry. *Pour boiling water over 1 cup of dried cranberries to re-hydrate; after 5 minutes, pour off remaining water and continue with the recipe. … Apple and Cranberry Muffins … adapted from Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau • Unsalted butter or vegetable oil spray for greasing the muffin tins • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 2 large eggs • 1 cup sugar • 3/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 medium-size tart apple, cored (not peeled), and cut into 1/2-inch cubes • 1 cup re-hydrated dried cranberries 1. Preheat oven to 400˚F and grease 12 muffin cups. 2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. 3. In a separate, large bowl, whisk the eggs briefly. Still whisking with one hand, pour in the sugar with the other hand. Continue whisking for a few minutes, until the eggs begin to pale in color. Use the whisk to stir in the oil and vanilla. 4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring gently with a spoon until flour is practically incorporated. Add the apple and cranberries, and stir gently until there is no signs of flour left. 5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin cups, dividing evenly between the 12 cups. 6. Place the muffin tin on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 7. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes in the tin. Remove muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
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I've just rediscovered a book I bought back in the mid-1970's. The Cooks' Catalogue is a compilation of photos, descriptions, and prices (very dated prices) of 4,000 pieces of kitchen equipment and utensils, along with 200 recipes. This comprehensive guide is "a critical selection of the best, the necessary and the special", according to its contributors including James Beard, Barbara Poses Kafka, Elizabeth David, and Florence Fabricant, just to name a very few of the hundreds that were involved in the publication of this book many years ago. I could spend hours pouring over the extensive descriptions of the featured items, and after doing so, know exactly what I need for a specific job in my kitchen. After reading 133 words alone on the French Pop-Up Sponge where I am told, " You may think that we are being insanely francophile, telling you to import your sponge from Europe, but this is in truth better than the synthetic sponges in the supermarket, as it has tiny holes which release the water very slowly", I now have all of the knowledge (and more) I need when searching for a new sponge! And what you will notice if you find a copy of this book, are the insanely cheap prices of these items. Yes, they are certainly 1970's prices. Those were the days, and many of these beautiful pieces of kitchen equipment and utensils aren't out there any more; surely the casualty of high production costs, companies that have folded over the years, etc., etc. Whether or not you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces shown in this book, it will give you an encyclopedic knowledge of just about anything and everything of usefulness in your kitchen. And in addition, there are the 200 included recipes. Having just purchased a bag of pistachios, this recipe for Pistachio Bread by James Beard caught my eye. And you may wonder, is it any good? Well... no one in this house has been able to walk past it without cutting a slice, and that includes my husband who does not care for nuts and tries to limit his bread consumption. So yes, it is good! * The one thing I strongly caution you on is the baking time. The recipe calls for 30 to 35 minutes. I believe my bread was in the oven about 25 minutes, or slightly less than that and it was dark. Also, a heavy hand in brushing on the beaten egg before baking causes the bread to darken up much more. It's an easy dough to mix and assemble and I'm certain I'll be making this often -- hey, my husband loves it! • Pistachio Bread • from Beard on Bread by James Beard and reprinted in The Cooks' Catalogue • 1 package active dry yeast • Granulated sugar • 1/4 cup warm water (100˚ to 115˚, approximately) • 1 cup warm milk • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) softened butter • 2 teaspoons salt • 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour • 1/4 cup melted butter • 1 cup shelled, salted pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped 1. Combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and water in a large mixing bowl, and allow to proof. Then add the milk, the softened butter, the salt and 1/2 cup sugar to the yeast mixture. Add the flour, cup by cup, beating well after each addition. (This dough is easy to handle but will be a little sticky at this stage.) Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead for a good 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. ( I had another cup or so of flour that I kept dusting onto the dough and work surface to keep the dough from sticking. Add sparingly what you must, a little bit at a time, until the dough kneads easily and is elastic.) Form into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, an turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free spot to double in bulk. 2. Punch the dough down and turn out on a floured board. Let rest for a few minutes, then roll into a rectangle about 18-inches-by-12-inches. Brush the surface with melted butter and sprinkle with 1/3 cup additional sugar and the coarsely chopped pistachio nuts. Beginning with the long edge of the rectangle, roll up the dough like a jelly roll, pressing each seam as you do so. Join the ends of the roll and pinch together to form a ring. Place the ring carefully on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Slice two-thirds of the way down into the ring, at 3/4-inch intervals. Twist each slice to the right so that the interior of the slice is now facing upwards. Let the ring rise in a warm draft-free place until almost doubled in size. Brush the entire surface with beaten egg, then bake in a preheated 375˚F oven for 30 to 35 minutes * -- SEE COMMENT ABOVE ON MY BAKING TIME -- until the bread is nicely browned. Cool on a rack before serving. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: My Sunday morning routine.... Cappuccino, the New York Times and Apple-Buttermilk Muffins. Apple-Buttermilk Muffins with Walnuts • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 cup buttermilk • 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1 large egg • 2 cups peeled, cored and diced apples • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped • 1 tablespoon sugar • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Grease 12 muffin pan cups, or line with paper muffin cups. 2. In a large bowl, mix first 5 ingredients. In a small bowl, beat buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, and egg until blended; stir into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Fold in apples. 3. In a small dish, mix sugar and cinnamon. Spoon batter into muffin cups; sprinkle batter evenly with chopped walnuts, followed by the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Immediately remove from the pan. Serve warm or cool muffins on a wire rack. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: I met two friends at my favorite coffee shop this past week. Kopplin's is the only place I'll go in Saint Paul to drink a cappuccino if I'm not making myself one at home. Kopplin's cappuccinos are what I use as a benchmark when I make espresso and steamed milk every morning at 6 a.m. And when I'm at Kopplin's, I'm probably also enjoying a pastry from Rustica, a bakery in Minneapolis that supplies Kopplin's with all of its delicious treats. This week I purchased a Chocolate and Ginger Scone that I ate long before my cappuccino was ready for pick-up at the counter. You could say I "wolfed-it-down" in lighting speed. This scone was so good it had me thinking about Chocolate and Ginger Scones all week. When I found this recipe by Nancy Silverton, I knew the scones I'd make would rival the one I had eaten from Rustica Bakery. In fact, right now my husband is having his morning cappuccino with one of the Chocolate Ginger Scones and said, "these are too good ". He never raves about anything he's eating while drinking coffee and attempting to wake-up. A comment like that is rare indeed. That alone, tells you how good these scones taste. I've made a few changes to the original recipe, reducing slightly the amount of crystallized ginger and adding chocolate chips. Also, the dough seemed a bit dry to me after adding the 3/4 cup whipping cream so I added an additional 1 tablespoon cream. The crystallized ginger was purchased at Whole Foods and I chopped it into a fine dice, then tossed with a sprinkling of sugar to help avoid clumping of the moist, sticky ginger before adding to the dough. • Chocolate AndGingerScones • adapted from a recipe by Nancy Silverton Bon Appétit | January 2000 Yield: Makes 12 Scones • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour • 1/3 cup sugar • 1 tablespoon baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel • 11 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whipping (heavy) cream • 1/2 cup finely diced crystallized ginger • 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips • 2 tablespoons whipping (heavy) cream, additional for brushing on top of scones before baking 1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. 2. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon peel in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Make well in the center; add the 3/4 cup cream. Using a fork, stir until just moist. If the dough seems dry, add the additional 1 tablespoon whipping cream. Mix in the crystallized ginger and chocolate chips. Gather the dough together and gently knead until smooth. About 8 turns. Divide dough in half; pat each portion into a 3/4-inch-think round. Cut each round into 6 wedges and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons cream. 3. Bake scones until light brown, about 18 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Rewarm in 350˚F oven before serving.) Get yourself a stack of newspapers, brew a pot of coffee and make these muffins. + Tropical Bran Muffins + • 1/2 cup bran cereal • 1/2 freshly-squeezed orange juice • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened • 1/2 cup sugar • 1 large egg • 1/4 cup milk • 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained • 1 3/4 cup unbleached flour, sifted • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon salt 1. Mix cereal and orange juice and let stand. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Combine the cereal mixture with milk and pineapple. Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed butter alternately with cereal mixture, blending well and ending with dry ingredients. Fill buttered muffin pans or muffin pans lined with paper baking cups, with the batter. Bake at 400˚F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. This is one delicious scone recipe from King Arthur Flour. It calls for fresh blueberries but I substituted dried and I can't imagine making them any other way. The sweet, intense taste of the dried blueberry paired with the lemon zest are a great combination. I sprinkled the tops of my scones with Hagel Zucker (coarse sugar) from Germany, but sliced almonds would be equally delicous. Bake some scones this week and invite a friend for coffee! DriedBlueberryScones adapted from a recipe by King Arthur Flour • 2 cups unbleached flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/4 cup granulated sugar • 1 tablespoon baking powder • 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces • 1 cup dried blueberries • 2 large eggs, beaten • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (I like Cultural Revolution Organic Vanilla Yogurt) • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 tablespoon grated organic lemon zest • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract • 2 tablespoons coarse sugar, for sprinkling on top 1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. 2. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon zest and almond extract. Set aside. 3. Whisk the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until coarse and crumbly. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the moist ingredients and add the dried blueberries. Stir very gently, just until combined. The dough will be moist. With floured hands, knead the dough in the bowl 4 or 5 times. 4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and with a large knife, divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a flattened, round disc and with a floured knife cut each disc into 8 wedges. Carefully transfer each wedge onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle each scone with coarse sugar, pressing lightly on the sugar if necessary to adhere to the scones. 5. Bake the scones for 20 to 24 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven, and cool briefly on a cooling rack. Serve warm. I was hungry, but wanted something simple; something that didn't take a lot of time but left me feeling satisfied. This is my go-to recipe when I don't feel like melting butter or whipping egg whites to fold into a batter, like so many waffle recipes require. This recipe for cornmeal waffles couldn't be easier -- the ingredients are thrown into a blender, whipped and poured onto a hot waffle iron. As you can see, we ate our waffles sprinkled with fresh raspberries, but this savory cornmeal waffle would also be great topped with creamed chicken for lunch. (I have a great recipe for that which I will share with you some time.)
Blender Cornmeal Waffles • 1 egg • 3/4 cup milk • 1/4 cup canola oil • 1 cup unbleached flour • 2 tablespoons cornmeal • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 2 teaspoons sugar • 1/4 teaspoon salt Preheat the waffle iron. Put all of the ingredients into the blender container; cover and process until dry ingredients are moistened. You may need to clean down the sides of the container with a rubber spatula. Do not over-process. Pour batter onto waffle iron grid and bake until golden, about 3 minutes. Fortunately, I have a daughter who reminds me that, just because I like something it doesn't mean others will. We invited people this past weekend for Sunday brunch. We did not know the people. We all had a connection to the "French Boy" that was still visiting this past weekend. In August, the majority of my cooking is dictated by what's growing in my garden. Right now I have beautiful lettuces; the result of a very cool summer. And look at these beets! The bright red are Chioga; the darker ones, Detroit Red. I roasted the beets, then diced the dark red and sliced the Chioga. Could there be anything more magnificent? This platter is awaiting a drizzle of a vinaigrette and a sprinkling of Maytag Blue cheese and toasted walnuts (get my recipe here). I also assembled and baked two tomato tarts. We dined on the patio. Luckily, the night before the brunch my daughter told me I had to have something to eat besides the tomato tarts and the beet salad. Even tho' I would be perfectly happy eating that, others may not like it. She was right... our guests were obviously not tomato and beet lovers (go figure!). They did, however, devour the Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast. Baked Blueberry-Pecan French Toast with Blueberry Syrup Gourmet Magazine | June 1999 • a 24-inch baguette • 6 large eggs • 3 cups whole milk • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg • 1 teaspoon vanilla • 1 cup packed brown sugar • 1 cup pecans • 1/2 stick ( 1/4 cup ) plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 2 cups blueberries For syrup • 1 cup blueberries • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1. Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Cut twenty 1-inch slices from baguette and arrange in one layer in baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 3/4 cup brown sugar and pour evenly over bread. Chill mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by bread, at least 8 hours, and up to 1 day. 2. Preheat oven to 350˚F. 3. In a shallow baking pan spread pecans evenly and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Toss pecans in pan with 1 teaspoon butter and salt. 4. Increase temperature to 400˚F. 5. Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut 1/2 stick butter into pieces and in a small saucepan, heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, stirring, until butter is melted. Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture 20 minutes, or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling. 6. Make syrup while French toast is baking: In a small saucepan cook blueberries and maple syrup over moderate heat until berries have burst, about 3 minutes. Pour syrup through a sieve into a heat-proof pitcher, pressing on solids, and stir in lemon juice. Syrup may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat syrup before serving. BLUEBERRY GRIDDLECAKES My Sunday morning breakfast utilized another ingredient from Epicurious' list of 10 money-savings foods. This time I used APPLES, and there are endless varieties ranging from tart to sweet. Sautéed in butter and sprinkled with sugar while cooking and a bit of cinnamon upon finishing, apples are a classic addition to a German pancake. |
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