Easter Mor'n...

Well they weren't ideal, so I'll keep at it, but I whipped together a batch of Chelsea Buns with Blueberry filling for easter breakfast last weekend (and today, some much better but more normal sourdough cakes). I got my inspiration from Seitan is my Motor and followed the recipe from my cookbook Low Fat, which has quite a selection of baked goods and many good pescetarian-friendly ideas.

Me being me, I decided to combine Buckwheat, Light Whole Wheat, and Gluten for my flour mixture and consequently the buns were very dense. That said, they were still very good warm but I would have liked lighter rolls and suspect that next time I'll be forced to succumb to a less healthy rendition of the recipe.

All that jam... I love jam...

When they're perfect, I'll put up the recipe. But until then, let me say that Sourdough Pancakes are terrific and it's a shame I didn't make those last weekend.

C'est la vie! I do like food however it comes...

Kosher...

It was delicious and I can't wait to eat more of it. It was Passover dinner at a friend's home. I'm not religious in the slightest; a born-again agnostic with little more knowledge of the Jewish faith than what I've gathered from the yearly family friends' Hanukkah party. When I was invited I decided I'd undertake the development of a recipe I found on NPR's Kitchen Window Blog, Matzo Pie. I made the asparagus-leek pie subbing mashed sweet potatoes with the cottage cheese for those with lactose allergies. It was good and everyone seemed to like it. That's not what this post is about however.

Pies and casseroles...

This post is about the terrific cuisine which is Jewish (and or Kosher) cooking. I had never had haroseth. I had never eaten Mazto Ball soup (which, by the way, is my new long-sought alternative to Chicken Noodle). I had never had Gefilte Fish which brings me back to the wonderful fish cakes my mum used to make when I was much younger. Combined with a wide selection of vegetables, a wonderful greens pie/quiche, and Kugel made for arguably the best meal of a religious celebration enjoyed in some time. Desert was great too, with a chocolate torte with just a tint of orange liqueur or something similar, delicious nut cake, and a great biscotti-like bread a friend of mine needs to share his recipe for.

I really didn't expect to like it this much...

I'm thinking Kimchee, Gefilte Fish, and goat cheese toasted; call me mad...

I guess I just wanted to say that I loved the food of Passover but even more so that I am truly grateful that my friends would invite me over for such an experience - beyond the dinner. It's an unusual thing when I can say that I see the good in religion but I really feel like I saw a new side of Judaism this passover. What little I learned showed me a renewed importance of perseverance and community. It's a wonderful thing to share a meal with friends...

Nouveau Gateaux...

It was my mum's birthday and the two requests she made were to make dinner and a birthday cake. The former, a precarious undertaking, the latter more enjoyable.

Dinner was molasses and cornmeal coated salmon, pan seared and finished in parchment, baked. The cake, small, vanilla, layered with raspberries and a lightly sweet-tart lemon buttercream. Despite terrible difficulties in baking at first (Cake Mk. 1 was quickly thrown away) the finished product came out terrifically, if I might say so.

Hidden in the frosting is a great light-yellow speckling

The cake itself came from Joy the Baker's Vanilla Cupcake recipe and the frosting from memory and 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes. It was:

• about 2 cups confectioners Sugar
• 8 tbsp butter, softened (unsalted)
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 lemon's zest
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbsp milk

There was about 1/4 yield left over, some people enjoy that solo, but you can scale the recipe if need be, apparently, depending on your cake's proportions.

I simply studded the cake batter with some raspberries and sliced it in half, making 2 thin layers, spreading a healthy dose of frosting beneath and atop a dense layer of fresh raspberries. Further frosting the outside, I finished it off with a few fresh raspberries.

Dense but that really isn't always a bad thing... This is not a "boxed" cake after all!

It was dense, sweet but not too much so, tartly refreshing from bite to bite, and brought each of the cakes many flavors together wonderfully. Best of all, it was liked as a birthday gift (thank you baked goods for making shopping less stressful).

Relaxing with Brownies?...

Well, not in that way, but it's been a very long Tuesday (and week for that matter) so what better way to let it all go than to bake something good. It's not even a healthy recipe I made so it has to be even more relaxing than usual (it is still whole grain, so we're ok).

They were supposed to be S'mores brownies but I lacked Graham crackers so I substituted pretzel bits. Hoorah!

Yes to the relaxing effects of Cacao...

S'more Brownies of Mine

Courtesy of Joy the Baker and with inspirational pictures from Half Baked Baker

1 1/2 cups flour (white whole wheat, of course)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter + 1/2 cup canola oil

6 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate, chopped

5 large eggs

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup cane sugar (white sugar)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup broken graham crackers *But, I subbed about 1 cup of broken up pretzel bits

12-20 large marshmallows, broken in half, to coat the top of the batter

So many elements to savor...

Combine the butter and chopped chocolate in a small bowl over a simmering double boiler configuration, stirring to melt and combine each. Combine oil, eggs, and sugar in a medium bowl. Combine these two mixtures, adding the vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients (sift...) and add slowly to the wet mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 and empty batter into 13x9 or so inch pan, preferably lined with parchment, and top with crumbled pretzels. If you prefer, combine the pretzel bits with the batter prior to pouring, or swirl it in, layering slightly. Top with torn marshmallow bits, side by side.

Bake for about 30 minutes, but check, as they can easily be overcooked! Mine were a bit dry and cake-like (which may have been due to the fact that I first read teaspoons of baking powder as tablespoons, which I did correct, but...). They had nice flavor and texture nonetheless and were very well received. Oh, chocolate you are man's friend...

Chhhallahhh...

I can't roll letters but I can roll dough. Interestingly Challah is braided here so no rolling of loaves required (notice how I so cleverly worked in that comment on my notoriously poor pronunciation of words?).

Look at my poor braiding skills...

I followed the recipe from my Bread Bible cookbook (which continues to grow on me still) and it came out wonderfully. Despite my poor braiding skills, this one (whereas Challah attempt numero uno was a literal rock because my yeast was uncooperative) is light, very egg-y, and terrifically aromatic. I, as always, substituted light whole wheat flour for the all-purpose variety and even threw in a bit of vanilla extract and wheat bran for a change. I wish it were sweeter - I have a fond memory of the perfect Challah from years past at a family friend's Hanukkah party that I'm yet to replicate. Nonetheless, I think this would make a great soup soaking-French Toasting-Jam spreading bread as it is.

Love that Loaf Pan

Cookays....!

Yes, cookies on this fine, cold, soon to be snowy March day. So it hasn't been the best of days, yes, but I did bake some cookies. They're nothing to brag about but they are unusual. I wanted something like, say, key lime pie in a smaller form but haven't had the time to bake a pie or pocket pies. I found a recipe while sifting through my extensive Google Reader account of food blogs for Key Lime Meltaways from Every Last Cookie - a great blog, I really recommend it.

As I didn't actually have limes in the house - I was using bottled Key Lime Juice - I decided to try something I picked up from the Cupcake Project, another blog gracing my Reader account. I infused the butter with green tea; a relatively wasteful but potentially invaluable technique. They more closely resemble shortbread or sugar cookies than anything else, in case you were wondering. So here it is:

I realize now that I really didn't make what was outlined in the original recipe I found, but look at that plate despite...

Key Lime-Green Tea Cookies!

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour

2 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot)

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp lime juice

1 stick butter

2 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp green tea

water

First melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix in the green tea upon the butter's melting and stir over low heat for about 5 minutes. Strain the butter from the tea leaves using, say, a cheese cloth, coffee filter, or as I used paper tea bags (the sort for bagging your own). Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients and, separately, the wet ones. Add wet to dry ingredients (in preferably an electric mixer) until just combined, adding water until the dough resembles a stiff but malleable and not crumbling (as mine initially did).

Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.

What also works well is to pour the batter onto parchment paper and carefully rolling into a dense log, chilling for roughly an hour, and slicing so as to produce small, disk-shaped petit-gateaux.

Honestly, I have a terrible cold (Darn you March!) so I can't taste anything, but they seem good to my reduced palate and I've been told they have a nice, mild flavor.

Enjoy them with a cup of hot tea, perhaps?

Oh, and heres a bonus picture from some peanut butter cookie cups I made a few weeks ago, per request of my better half:

More Cookais!...

3.1415 Apples....

It's too bad it isn't 2015 yet, then people could really go wild...

Monday is 3-14-(11) so in a few short years were staring at 3-14-15...

It's Pi Day! For goodness sake, at least recognize it's a day to eat pie with a good excuse!

Pi(e) Day

Well, my math teacher passingly mentioned that he would give extra credit to a student who brings in a pie on March 14, so I decided I'd let off some steam by doing just that. Pushing the envelope however, this pie is in the shape of Pi. Man I love Greek things... they have great vegetarian food too! (Well, besides all of the lamb...)

So here it is, the special edition Pi-Day Pie (as photographed by my new Lumix ZS7 with a scene mode for food! Hoorah, I love the 21st century).

The filling is mildly sweet with the earthiness of the molasses and tartness from the apples (still retaining some nice texture after cooking for about 40 minutes). The crust is light, sweet, not too buttery, and chewy enough to hold the excessive filling in. Not the flaky, fatty crust from the store! I'm a bit particular about my crusts...

Apple Pie (for a special day)

6 medium apples

water

Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cardamom

1 tbsp Blackstrap Molasses

2 tbsp Agave Nectar and 1/8 cup sugar

1/8-1/4 cup raisins

So much Pi filling...

Crust (From Whole Foods Recipes)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 7 tablespoons very cold butter

Peel and slice apples, combining with spices, several tablespoons of water, sugar, molasses, raisins, and agave nectar over low heat. Cover and occasionally stir, cooking until a consistency of your liking is reached (careful not to overcook the apples into a sauce or remove all of their juice).

For the pastry:Mix flour with salt in a medium bowl or food processor. Add cold butter and cut in using a pastry blender, or pulse in food processor. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms into a ball. Gather up and pat into a disc. If possible, cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out.

It's hard to give good directions for making this Pi Day concoction. Basically, I cut the pie crust after rolling it out on Parchment Paper, into the shape of Pi. Then, loading (perhaps a bit too much) filling on, leaving some crust on the edges, I cut more and patched it together across the pie's top. It's more of a series of pocket pies than a classic pie, but It is still an attractive desert deserving of many a math classroom (and plates for the less mathematically inclined among us - exhibit A right here).

There it is. Even if you prefer a round pie, you can justify it with math...

12^2(pi)...

Baked for about 20 minutes at 350, it seemed to come out of the oven a satisfactory tan.