Grandma's Kitchen Table

BBA: Portuguese Sweet Bread

      The twenty-seventh Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Portuguese Sweet Bread, and is found on pages 215-218.   

      This is a one-day dough: a small amount of time to make the sponge and let it rise for an hour and then it gets mixed with sugar, salt, powdered milk, butter, shortening, eggs, lemon extract, orange extract, vanilla extract, bread flour, and water. 

      From there it gets kneaded for about ten minutes, rises for about two hours, formed into a boule and placed into a pie tin to rise for another two to three hours, and then baked for nearly an hour.   Mine baked slightly less, about 50 minutes until it tested done.  All fairly easy actually, although it took a good bit of a day, it was mostly just letting it rise for the three rises.        The recipe makes two one pound loaves, but I just made one as I wanted to use it for French Toast on Sunday morning.  The bread itself is crusty on the outside and very light on the inside, good for soaking up the egg mixture.  The fruity taste in the bread makes excellent tasting French Toast. 

      This was a great recipe and one that I will make again for French Toast...not too sure we would like it as sandwich bread due to the fruity taste, except for ham sandwiches as I think it would be lovely with ham and cheese, but most other things, I think not so much.  Yes, it's one worthy of a repeat.

  

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  I'm getting there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Potato Rosemary Bread, found on pages 219-221.

 

Modern Baker: Focaccia alla Barese

      The fourth recipe I made from the Yeast-Risen Breads of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Focaccia alla Barese, which is basically focaccia topped with onions, anchovies, and olives, on pages 116-117.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      The ingredient list is not long:  all-purpose flour, salt, yeast, water, olive oil for the dough, and onion, salt, olives (I used Kalamata, lots of them), and olive oil for the topping.  I neglected, on purpose, adding on the anchovies because, well, just because we are not anchovy people, no matter what you all say, WE CAN TASTE FISHINESS.  Fishiness on things like pizza is not a plus around here.  Believe me, this was perfectly delicious and wonderful with the onions and olives.  Okay, Matt and Alex don't like olives, but Mark and I enjoyed this very much.
      Definitely a repeat as it is easy to make, makes wonderful ballgame-watching food all on its own, and having another excuse to eat olives is just plain nice.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Nonna's Pizza

      The third recipe I made from the Yeast-Risen Breads of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Nonna's Pizza, on page 118.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).    

      The ingredient list is not long:  all-purpose flour, salt, yeast, water, olive oil for the dough, and tomatoes, mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, garlic, oregano, and a little more olive oil for the topping.  I added some pepperoni because, unless I wanted to eat an entire pizza myself, the guys are into pepperoni on their pizza...meaning:  if there is no pepperoni, it's not really pizza and they aren't interested. 

      The dough went together easily, didn't take very long, and the taste was just wonderful, we all agreed on that part for sure. 

      We are more fond of pizza sauce rather than just tomatoes on the dough, so while interesting, probably going to go with pizza sauce next time.  I also found that the cheese browned way too quickly in my oven at that temperature for that amount of time, so next time I will add the cheese further along in the baking time to keep it from browning so much.  Despite all that, this was a great pizza and there wasn't a crumb left to indicate there had even been a pizza for lunch. Definitely a repeat, definitely a very nice tasting crust.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

 

French Fridays with Dorie: Hachis Parmentier

       The third recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Hachis Parmentier, found on pages 257-259, which is really just a fancy French way of saying Shepherd's Beef Pie. 

        Ingredients include:  Boneless beef chuck, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, salt, peppercorns, water, beef bouillon cube for the making the beef.  For the filling:  olive oil, sausage, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  For the topping:   potatoes, milk, cream, unsalted butter, salt, pepper, and grated cheeses. 

       Although the recipe instructions took two entire pages of the book, it was easy to make following Dorie's step-by-step instructions.  Dorie has a way of making all recipes user-friendly.  It seems a bit fussy, in the French way, just to make a beef pie, but trust me, the extra fussiness is what makes the depth of flavor, something the French are very good at with their cooking. 

       I followed the recipe exactly, had wonderful results, and the guys voted it a definite return, Mark even setting aside a portion to take in his lunch the next day.   

       If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here.  Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially.  The group posts on Fridays.

CEiMB: Spaghetti Frittata with Salad Presto

     The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, was selected by Marthe at Culinary Delights  and is Spaghetti Frittata with Salad Presto.  It can be found on pages 100-101 and also here.  

     We like spaghetti.  We like egg dishes.  We just don't really care for the spaghetti and the eggs all in one dish mixed together and touching.  I know what you are thinking, and it was not just me, it was the overall assessment here.  Nothing at all wrong with the recipe, just personal tastes. 

     From the title of "Salad Presto," I am not sure what I was expecting, but the recipe is just basically a salad with a light dressing.  It was good, we liked that part very much. 

     Repeats?  Probably not, but good to try things once. 

Next week's hostess is Joanne of Apple Crumbles.  She has selected the Mushroom, Onion, and Basil Pizza on pages 176 of  The Food You Crave.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: All-American All-Delicious Apple Pie

Thanks to Emily of Sandmuffin for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of All-American All-Delicious Apple Pie, found on pages 300-302 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  You can also find the recipe on Emily's site here. 

We are big fans of the apple pie around here.  It has to be a really good apple pie to get some recognition because I make a pretty good apple pie just on my own.  It was the one thing I could make decently before joining TWD to learn how to bake.
How does this one compare?  Wow, this one is very very good as well.  It's a toss up for me because I really like the lemon in Dorie's recipe.  Mark, however, says my original apple pie is better and he prefers that to this one.  Is it a repeat?   Definitely a repeat for me, Dorie makes a great apple pie.   

 Next week:  Nicole from Bakeologie has chosen Peanuttiest Blondies, found on page 119. TWD blogroll found here.

 

Bake! Orange Almond Scones

Nick Malgieri has a new baking book out this year entitled, Bake!  I happen to have been gifted the book from Nick Malgieri himself, it's true.  I figure you are all surprised that I would be so lucky to have a new book sent to me personally in the mail with a nice little note and his autograph in the front.  I was surprised myself.  Very surprised.

Nick is the author of the Modern Baker book that we are using in the blog-along Modern Baker Challenge, started up by fellow BBA blog-along baker, Phyl.  We started baking from Modern Baker in April, the book itself being a birthday gift from my guys, who are always very eager to be the recipient of the food that follows said sort of gifts.  So far we have finished the first two sections, Quick Breads and Yeast Breads, and are working on the third section now through December.  I have managed to make 29 of the 30 recipes in the first two sections, and count myself a definite fan of Mr. Malgieri's recipes.  Great stuff. 

Recently NM was holding a baking class in Ohio, just but one state away.  Phyl signed up immediately and encouraged all of us to do so as well.  I was very tempted to toss everything in the car and head east for the class but knew that commitments here wouldn't support me going at that time. 

Phyl had the luck to get to go out for cocktails with NM the night before the classes and mentioned to him that I had wanted to come but family commitments had kept me away.  NM asked for my address saying that he would send me something and Phyl gave it to him, with my permission, of course, Phyl being the legal guy that he is and all.  I figured it would be a copy of NM's tour schedule or a recipe or an autographed photo or something.  I had no idea, nor did Phyl, that it would be his new book!  Wow. 

Mark came in with the mail and said, "You have a package. It feels like a book. From Nick Malgieri."  I said, "Oh, yeah, sure I do.  Nick and I are old friends and he sends me things all the time, it must be his new book," joking around.  Sure enough, it was his new book and it really was from Nick Malgieri.  I emailed Phyl asking him what he knew about this, figuring Phyl would know all about it and had a hand in it, might even have sent the book himself, but Phyl didn't know anything about it and was as surprised and delighted as I was.  Thanks, Phyl, it helps to have well-placed friends! 

The book is wonderful, I have looked through it countless times and today Phyl and I baked together on Twitter the first recipe I wanted to make from the book, Orange and Almond Scones, on page 184.
I don't want to publish his recipes here, so I'll just give you the ingredient list so that you can run out and buy the ingredients when you pick up a copy of the book at the bookstore. 

Ingredients are:  flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almond paste, unsalted butter, egg, milk, orange zest, and almonds.  Easy, simple, absolutely delicious, a definite repeat.  I'm thinking these are appearing both Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas weekend.

Thanks, Nick, and thanks, Phyl!  What a treat.

CEiMB: Chicken Pot Pies with Phyllo Crust

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, was selected by Shandy at Pastry Heaven and is Chicken Pot Pie with Phyllo Crust.  It can be found on pages 202-203 and also here.  Thanks, Shandy, I will be making this one again, it was delicious, healthy, and a great dish for cooler weather. 

I followed the recipe as written with one exception:  I switched out the green beans for carrots as my family is a big fan of carrots in pot pies.  It was a great switch, the carrots look pretty and tasted nice with the combination of other flavors. 

The phyllo dough top crust (there is no bottom crust to get soggy) is interesting in that it is not as rich as a pie crust, so lacking a little in flavor in that regard, but nice in that it is much more calorie-friendly and it develops a nice crunchy crust which is fun to break into when eating.  The parmesan cheese on the top adds some of the flavor back in, so missing the butter/lard crust isn't all that bad.  It was all very good, definitely a repeat.

Next week's hostess is Marthe of Culinary Delights.  She has selected the Spaghetti Frittata with Salad Pesto on pages 100-101 of  So Easy.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

French Fridays with Dorie: Gerard's Mustard Tart

The second recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Gerard's Mustard Tart, found on pages 154-156. 

Ingredients include:  Leeks, carrots, rosemary, eggs, mustard, salt, pepper, cream, and a tart shell made from the recipe on page 498 (flour, salt, egg, sugar, butter, and ice water).

The tart shell was easy enough, but for some reason, it didn't hold its shape while baking, so I must have goofed something up.  It tasted just fine, however. The filling was quick and it all cooked in the pre-baked shell for about 25 minutes.  We all like mustard, so I figured this would have a nice flavor, I just didn't expect to like it quite as much as I did.  Mark ate almost half of it, he liked it that much.  Absolutely delicious.   Definitely a repeat.

If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here.  Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially.

For the first month only, Dorie graciously picked the first five recipes and included the recipes for them on the FFwD site here.   You can try it before committing to book or blog.  We post weekly on Fridays. 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

Thanks to Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Caramel Pumpkin Pie, found on pages 322-323 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  You can also find the recipe on Janell's site here. 

I am not a pumpkin fan, but Mark is definitely a pumpkin pie fan.  He looks forward to Thanksgiving each year because he knows he will get pumpkin pie.  Left to me, he would be pumpkin pie-less all year round, but his mother and sister take care to see that there is plenty of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. 

Since I figured Mark was going to be the only one eating this, I set out to make a mini version.  Tracey was all for encouraging me to do that and "just get it done alright already."  (Okay, she didn't say it in those words, but she was probably thinking it as I had been putting off making this pie for a couple of weeks.)  Half-way through I decided that I would just go for the full version, not sure why. 

For the pie you need to make caramel from scratch...I love making caramel from scratch, so I figured I would do that much, let it cool as instructed, and then hopefully talk someone else into mixing up the pumpkin bit and putting it in the pie shell as the smell of pumpkin to me is sort of like the smell of chocolate to me, i.e. not a good thing. 

Turns out, this is not all that bad, it went together quick, I kept smelling the caramel more than the pumpkin, and after it baked, it still smelled caramel-like.  I tasted it, and it was good.  Very caramel-like and not so much pumpkin-like, oh, and the rum in it gave it a flavor kick as well. 

When Nancy said that her friends who didn't like pumpkin liked this, I was skeptical.  Skeptical no more, they were right, this is good, even to someone who doesn't care for pumpkin all that much.  The whipped cream didn't hurt either.  Is it a repeat?  Definitely a repeat. 

Next week:  Emily from Sandmuffin has chosen All-American All-Delicious Apple Pie, found on page 300-302. TWD blogroll found here.

Modern Baker: Grissini

The second recipe I made from the third section entitled Yeast-Risen Breads of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Grissini (long thin breadsticks), on page 112.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).     

The ingredient list is not long:  all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water. The recipe makes 24 thin bread sticks. 

I made a half recipe as I have made Grissini before and I wasn't sure this recipe could match that one.  Oh, yes, it matches and surpasses in my opinion, I should have made a full two dozen. 

The dough goes together nicely, rises for an hour, gets a rest in the refrigerator, to be brought out, formed, shaped into long thin breadsticks, and baked within a short amount of time, no further rise is needed.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this recipe, for ease and for taste.  This is now my go-to Grissini recipe,   definitely a repeat. 

And, in case you are wondering about the lovely display mug for the Grissini and the Cream and Crimson theme today, oh, yes indeed, Matt has committed to IU for college swimming.  You didn't hear the shouts of joy and feel the jumping up and down?  Oh, well, you must have been in a deep sleep...we are so very happy he's going to be only 90 minutes away for college and that we can watch him swim.   Go Hoosiers!

I need to hurry up and get this posted while Phyl is at the Notre Dame football game or he will beat me to it when he returns.  Oh, yes, he will!  Go, Irish!

 If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here. 

French Fridays with Dorie: Gougeres

A new blog-along group formed at the beginning of the month, called French Fridays with Dorie, Dorie, of course, being Dorie Greenspan, who is the author of the first blog-along I joined, Tuesdays with Dorie, using Dorie's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook. 

Dorie recently published a new book called Around My French Table, which features both savory and sweet French cuisine recipes.  Laurie, who started the TWD blog-along group, was quick to seize the opportunity to start up a new blog-along group which will be cooking/baking from this book, one recipe at a time, through the entire book.  If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here.  Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially.

For the first month only, Dorie graciously picked the first five recipes and included the recipes for them on the FFwD site here.   You can try it before committing to book or blog.  We post weekly on Fridays.  Okay, I know what you are thinking, and yes, you are right, I'm a bit behind, but have no fear, this is a loose group and I can follow along as fits in my schedule. 

The first recipe Dorie chose for us is Gougeres and can be found at the site link or on pages 4-6 of the book.  It is, in fact, the very first recipe in the book. 

Gougeres are little cheesey pillows of goodness.  My choice of cheese was a sharp cheddar as it was readily available. The recipe came together quickly and easily, baked nicely, and tasted nice warm or at room temperature.  (I had to test both for you, right?)  Delicious.  Definitely a repeat.

Friday's Favorites Fare (on Saturday)

Matt and fellow CSC swimmer, Lauren J, during half-time at IU Homecoming football game today.  No, not a date, just good friends, Matt was at game, Lauren was down at IU on swim recruit visit, and the two had a great time at the game with others. 

READING:  The Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather (Quebec 1697-1698) and One of Ours by Willa Cather (WWI 1914-1920).  These are the last two novels of Cathers that our library didn't have available before when I was reading the rest.  I'd read them both in high school, so it was good to revisit them as an adult. 

LISTENING TO:  ...and watching the IU/Arkansas State football game on television, getting ready to watch the Iowa Hawk/Michigan game next.   

COOKING BYTES:  The season is changing...welcoming soup week straight ahead.  I love soup, could exist on that and salad and never be bored.  It's a simple thing, I am a simple person at heart.

FAV NEW FIND:  The changing leaves, the cooler weather, the return of Orion in the night's sky.   

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  We have had a wonderful week enjoying Matt's decision to commit to Indiana University for college swimming.  We tried very carefully not to express our preferences so that it was his decision and not ours.  That was incredibly hard as we are such IU fans.  You would have been proud, and astonished at our ability to display impartiality.  He flew all over the country for recruiting trips, looking at this college and that, getting offers from here and there, but in the end, it was IU who had his heart.  He got off the plane one Sunday and said, "I'm done with recruiting trips, etc. I just want to go to IU and swim there."  Absolutely music to our ears!  He will be going to college 90 minutes away from here and swimming where we can go and watch the meets.  Don't think we aren't excited.  IU's business school is ranked 10th in the nation, he loves the campus, the coaching staff (one of the coaches was coaching at CSC when Matt was 10-11), the team, and the city of Bloomington.  So excited!!!  You will all appreciate this.  We said, "Are you sure?  We want this to be your decision and not ours."  He responded with, "Yes, I'm sure...I tried to have it NOT be IU, I tried to NOT want to go in-state, I tried to have it be somewhere else, but it didn't work, I just love IU and want to go there."  This is the swimmer who won state last year with a swim he didn't want to swim and was determined to go to college out of state like most of his best friends, but in the end, home is where the heart is in this case, and about that swim, coaches can see further down the line than swimmers...we do what we need to do!  He has been just delighted since the decision and we are all looking forward to him being a Hoo down in Hooville.

GOING TO:  October 15th marks the day that NCAA college basketball teams can commence formal practice so Matt and Mark went down to Bloomington for the opening tip of practice, etc. (along with over 13,000 other people who attended) on Friday night, they stayed over for the homecoming game and festivities today, also taking in a swim meet at the IU pool, Matt hanging out with the swimmers and enjoying some friends who are down there this weekend on swimming recruit visits of their own. Besides that, there is choir rehearsal, etc. for Matt and some time for catching up around here with things that need to be done and enjoyed during fall. 

PRAYING FOR:  Please join me in praying for Bill, Margaret's husband, newly diagnosed with cancer who is undergoing all sorts of procedures and treatments now.

MSC: Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

It's time for another cupcake adventure this month from the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book.  This one, Snickerdoodle Cupcakes, is found on pages 64 of the book, and was chosen by Katie of Katie's Cakes.  You can also find the recipe here. 

These were delicious cupcakes, and they did, they tasted like Snickerdoodle cookies.  I liked the cupcake straight up with no icing, but the guys are a fan of icing, so I iced them with my Buttercream Icing as the guys are not that fond of 7-Minute Icing (calling it "chick icing") that was recommended in the book.  No swirling, no fancy decorator tips, just slathered it on and sprinkled the tops with cinnamon sugar.  We all loved them, definitely a repeat.  Soon.
 

Next month's recipe selection has not been chosen yet, but you can check the blogroll from time to time to find out what we are posting November 15th if you would like to bake along.   Blogroll and Schedule found here.

CEiMB: Apple Brown Betty

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, was selected by Jessica at Learning to Love Vegetables and is Apple Brown Betty.  It can be found on pages 240-241 and also here.  Thanks, Jessica, this will be a frequent guest at our house as Matt's favorite warm dessert is Apple Crisp.  This is a great version of it.

 

 The ingredient list:  Apples (I used Honey Crisp), apple cider, brown sugar, vanilla, butter, whole wheat bread, and walnuts (I left out the nuts).  The recipe was easy to prepare, much like any other Crisp/Brown Betty recipe I have ever made, with the exception that this recipe calls for cooking the apples on the stovetop a bit before assembling it in the baking dish.  They are baked with a cup of apple cider and I thought there would be too much liquid as I was ladling it into the dish, but somehow the liquid all gets absorbed during the baking as it was not present in the finished product.  It was all just perfect.  Definitely a keeper.
 

Next week's hostess is Shandy of Pastry Heaven.  She has selected the Chicken Pot Pies on pages 202-203 of The Food You Crave.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Pita Bread

The fifteenth recipe I made from the Breads Section of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Pita Bread , on pages 72-73.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

   

The recipe makes 12 seven-inch size pita breads.  Ingredients were:  All-purpose flour, salt, yeast, water, and olive oil. 

This recipe seemed to be the one that gave the group the most trouble, but even at that, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again..."  I was eager to see if I could get them to rise, expand properly, and have the pocket in the bread at the end of the day.

 

Eventually I did.  I had one pita with one pocket.  The air pocket never deflated, it just stayed like that until I slit it for a traditional pita pocket.  The rest all looked like this:
I have never made pitas before, so I might try another recipe for them to see if I can figure out what makes them rise and pocket properly every time.  The flavor on these is really good.   

I'm not really counting it as a big failure, because even without the proper pocket, it makes a great pita chip and it is nice just eating it like a cracker.  So, all in all, not a total loss.  In fact it is so good that way, I might just use the recipe for that instead of pita pockets.

This was the final recipe from the Yeast Breads section of the book, so I am happy to say that I made all the breads in that section and am already moving on with the rest of the group to the next section, which is Yeast-Risen Specialties, and includes 16 recipes.  We will be on this section from now until the New Year.   

 

If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Fold-over Pear Torte

Thanks to Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Fold-over Pear Torte, found on pages 348-340 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  You can also find the recipe on Cakelaw's site here. 

Sunday afternoon found myself and a half dozen or so of my Twitter baking/cooking pals all making this together over Twitter, each in our own kitchens, but coordinating times and baking along together.  Always a lot of fun to have company in the kitchen while one is baking.  It will be interesting to see what all the tortes look like this week as we were sharing Twitpics back and forth and none of ours looked the same.  This often happens.
The torte was absolutely delicious!  It is made in a springform pan using Dorie's pie crust (page 442), which is a very nice dough to work with and roll out. 

The filling of fruit consisted of diced fresh pears, diced dried apricots, and walnuts and was placed into the pie crust lined pan.  The batter was flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, rum, vanilla, almond extract, eggs, butter, and cream (a sort of custardy thing).  After you pour the batter over the fruit, you fold about a couple of inches of dough over the top, leaving the center exposed. 

It bakes for an hour, until it is nicely browned and the custard is set, and then cools in the pan on a cooling rack until you unmold it, dust it with powdered sugar, and slice it up for serving.  Anything served in a slice around here, according to the guys in residence, needs whipped cream as a finishing touch.  It takes so little to please them, I am happy to comply.
Definitely a repeat.  The next time I would leave out the nuts as it felt a little strange to have a custard with nuts in it...not a flaw in the recipe, just personal preference. 

Next week:  Janell from Mortensen Family Memoirs has chosen Caramel Pumpkin Pie, found on page 322-323. TWD blogroll found here.

Modern Baker: Cornmeal Buttermilk Waffles

The first recipe I made from the third section entitled Yeast-Risen Breads of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Cornmeal Buttermilk Waffles, on page 113.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).    

The recipe makes 8-10 waffles (6-7" size).  I made Belgian Waffles with it, so it makes about 6 of those.  Ingredients were:  All-purpose flour, salt, yeast, whole milk, buttermilk, butter, sugar, cornmeal, baking soda and eggs.  The ingredients get all mixed up and put into a covered bowl where it all rests in the refrigerator overnight until you are ready to make the waffles the next morning. 

The next morning you just have to prepare the waffle iron and bake the waffles.  (I always love a recipe that you can mix up the night before, park it in the refrigerator overnight, and look like a kitchen magician in the morning by producing waffles in no time at all.)
The author suggests serving the waffles with maple syrup, but he also includes a blueberry sauce recipe with it.  Matt loves fruit with waffles, so I mixed up a fresh raspberry sauce for him using the directions in the book for the blueberry sauce.  (You can also make the sauce the night before and reheat it in the morning if you like.)  And, just for the record, no one specified any whipped cream anywhere in the recipe, but Matt thought it sounded like an extra-fine idea, so I added that for him as well.

I made the batter recipe exactly as written and it turned out delicious.  The buttermilk adds a nice little depth and tang to the taste that I just love.  The cornmeal adds a little yellowish color to the waffle, a taste that was subtle yet tasty, definitely a repeat.
  

 

If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

IHCC: Giada's Pecorino Crackers

A blogging friend, Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, manages a blog-along called I Heart Cooking Clubs and so far I have resisted the urge to join yet another group, even just to check it out.  I have cooked and baked with Natashya in, at the very least, Whisk Wednesdays, Tuesdays with Dorie, Bread Baker's Apprentice, and maybe one or two more.  Natashya is also one of my 30 Twitter pals who bake/cook together on any given day whenever anyone is so inspired to do so. 

In I Heart Cooking Clubs the cookbook chef/author changes every six months.  When one period is coming to a close, there is a voting to see who will be the next chosen chef/cookbook author, they alternate one month a man, the next a woman.  Giada was included in the voting last month and Natashya was encouraging me just so sweetly to go over, vote, and if it turned out to be that Giada was the chosen chef, join. 

Why is that you ask?  Because I cook Giada's food here anyway, I might as well join in the fun.  I love Giada's recipes, have all five of her books, and we have enjoyed every single recipe I have ever made from them. 

In this blog-along each person selects her/his own choices for the recipe(s) to post that week, and there is no posting requirement (one just leaves a link at the site if one posts).  Enough said.  I Heart Cooking Clubs, I am in. 

The theme this week was Party Foods, so I chose Giada's Pecorino Crackers recipe from her Giada's Kitchen cookbook, page 34-35.  You can also find the recipe here.  They look like little cheese cookies and are a big hit here, easy to make, simple ingredients, and I dare you to try and eat just one, it can't be done. 

Next week's theme is "Served Family Style," come join in, just leave your link at the I Heart Cooking Clubs site.

Some Traditions One Never Outgrows

Each October we take a little trip to a pumpkin patch/orchard to enjoy the lovely fall weather, to have a chance to be outside the city, and, of course, to score some pumpkins, apples, and fresh cider.  Usually we go along with or meet friends there...whoever is available on that day when the spirit moves. 

Saturday morning my friend Tina and I decided it was the day and after a little back and forth, decided on the time and orchard/pumpkin farm.  Tina has six children of varying ages, all of them more or less ages to really enjoy a trip to the pumpkin farm, to ride on the hayride, go through the corn maze, play on the playground, climb the giant haystack, and accompany wagons to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins to take home.  She expressed concern about Matt being "too old" to enjoy going along, but I assured her that Matt would enjoy the outing as well, could use some family time, and just needed to relax and enjoy part of the day after taking the SAT in the morning. 

I was right, he had a great time, picked out our four pumpkins, took the youngest child, Ben (5), through the corn maze with him, and on the way home we discussed that this was the last pumpkin farm trip together before he heads off to college next year.  We had fun remembering all the Octobers past and I think next year there still may be a trip to the pumpkin patch come October, some traditions are just too much fun to abandon. 

Photo is thanks to Tina who said, "I didn't take any photos!  I don't have a single shot of them, I will get Matt and Caitlin to pose before you leave!"  And, thanks to Tina, here's a photo of Matt and Caitlin resting on the car trunk after picking pumpkins...friends that go back years and years to when they were both little tykes on just such field trips of days past, both high school students now...my how quickly the time passes.

Nancy's Notions: Sour Cream Sandwich Bread

 

It's been awhile since Nancy and I have had a chance to Twitter bake together but we found occasion last week when she proposed making Dan Lepard's Sour Cream Sandwich Bread together. 

Dan Lepard is the author of our much beloved and much baked Milk Loaf Bread, of which I must be entitled to some sort of award by now for making it the most of anyone other than possibly Dan Lepard himself.  What can I say, it's a hit around here for sandwiches, toast, and grilled cheese.  We never tire of it. 

When Nancy came upon this new recipe, and blogging/Twitter friend Ulrike also was making it last week, I decided that I needed to give it a shot as well.  This is one HUGE loaf of bread. 

I made a double batch and baked it in two 5x7" pans as I did not have the exact pan he specifies in the recipe.  It worked out well, but too tall for my toaster.
It's just wonderful, we all liked it.  Will it replace the beloved Milk Loaf for sandwiches, toast, and grilled cheese?  No, it's a little softer than we like for those items.  That said, I think it would make delicious dinner rolls, so I am going to try making those with the dough very soon.  I must find something to use it for, it's just too good to pass it by.  I'll keep you posted.

Here's the link to the bread recipe so you can give it a try in your kitchen.

CEiMB: Tomato-Tortilla Soup

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, was selected by Mary at Popsicles and Sandy Feet and is Tomato-Tortilla Soup.  It can be found on page 76 and also here.  Thanks, Mary, it comes just in time to put it into regular rotation of soups that we enjoy during the cooler weather. 

The ingredient list:  Tortillas, Canola Oil, Salt, Onion, Garlic, Cumin, Chicken Broth, Diced Tomatoes, Jalapeno, Oregano, Lime Juice, Sour Cream, and Cilantro (I subbed in Chives as we do not care for Cilantro). 

The soup was easy to make, tasted great the first day and even better the second.  The only thing I would do differently the next time is that I would increase the number of Jalapeno Peppers I use as the guys thought it needed a more aggressive taste from those.  It's a wonderful recipe, full of all sorts of healthy ingredients, and what is not to love about a bowl of soup on a cold day?  Definitely a keeper.  

Next week's hostess is Jessica of Learning to Love Vegetables.  She has selected the Apple Brown Betty on page 241 of So Easy.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Double Apple Bundt Cake(s)

Thanks to Lynne of Honey Muffin for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Double Apple Bundt Cake, found on pages 184-185 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  You can also find the recipe on Lynne's site here.  Thanks Lynne, the cake was absolutely delicious! 

The cake batter divided in half was enough to fill six little mini-bundts, just the right size for the guys to eat a whole one, which they love, having a whole one to oneself is appreciated around here.  I didn't put any frosting or glaze on them as they were sweet and just a sprinkling of powdered sugar was all that was called for...a couple of them didn't even have that and no one commented on needing it.
Definitely another repeat on these, wouldn't change a thing. 

  Next week:  Cakelaw from Laws of the Kitchen has chosen Fold-over Pear Torte, found on page 348-349. TWD blogroll found here.

My Kitchen, My World: Morocco

The world cuisine chosen for September's My Kitchen, My World was from the country of Morocco.  At the beginning of the month, I didn't know anything Moroccan besides couscous.  Our library had several cookbooks featuring Moroccan cuisine and after I browsed through a few, I decided that they all pretty much had the same types of recipes and I settled on Cafe Morocco by Anissa Helou as I didn't see a single recipe in the entire 128 pages that I would not want to make or eat. 

The dinner plate of food in the photo features several of the recipes in the book.  Around the plate: Kseksu (Couscous), Shlada Dial Matecha (Tomato and Onion Salad), Qotobane del Hut (Swordfish Brochettes), Armenian Bread from Modern Baker, Fassulya Kdra (Cannellini Beans with Saffron), Khizu Mehquq (Sweet Grated Carrot Salad), and Besla M'assala (Spicy Onions with Honey). 

The Couscous I just made with the instructions from the box and then added caramelized onions, parsley, and pine nuts to it as we like it like that.

Tomato and Onion Salad (Seves 3)

1.5 pounds firm vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
1 medium size red onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Juice of 1 lemon
2.5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper to taste
Combine everything in a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature.

Swordfish Brochettes (Serves 3-4)

1 pound swordfish, cut into 1" cubes
1/2 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon dried hot chili pepper powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground paprika
Sea salt to taste
Put cubes of swordfish into a mixing bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.
Thread swordfish cubes onto skewers.
Grill 2-3 minutes on each side.

Cannellini Beans with Saffron (Serves 3-4)

One 15 oz can of Cannellini Beans
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 pinch of saffron threads
2 Tablespoons of butter
1/4 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
Sea Salt & Freshly Groud Pepper to taste
Combine all in a saucepan and cook on low 10 minutes or so until heated through.

Sweet Grated Carrot Salad (Serves 4-6)

4-6 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 Tablespoons of confectioner's sugar
juice of 2 oranges
1-3/4 pounds carrots, grated
3 ounces minced dried dates
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
Mix everything in a bowl, chill slightly.

Spiced Onions with Honey (serves 4)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 medium sized onions, thinly sliced (about 2 pounds)
1 1/2 teaspoons ras el hanout seasoning
Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons of good honey
Saute onions in pan with the olive oil and add 1-1/2 cups water.
Stir in the ras el hanout  and salt.
Bring to a boil, cover, and boil 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring regularly 20-30 minutes.
Onions will be mushy.
Uncover pan, increase heat to reduce liquid, about 5 minutes.
Add honey, heat through, adjust seasonings.  Serve hot.