Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs {FFwD}

May 5, 2013 at 8:37 pm (Around My French Table, Dorie Greenspan, Family, French Fridays With Dorie, Mise en place, Techniques)
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AMFT Cover

Although I haven’t been participating in French Fridays with Dorie (or any other bake- or cook-along group) recently, I happened by the website the other day, and this recipe was enough to pull me back in. Mushrooms, cream, and poached eggs (singing: these are a few of my favorite things) on top of toasted brioche — I mean, what’s not to love?

This recipe was as simple as it was delicious. Cleaning the mushroom caps and chopping the mushrooms, shallot, rosemary, and mint were the most time-consuming parts of the whole process. After that, it was just a matter of adding everything to the pan in the right order while Mom poached some eggs.

Once I had my mise en place, I began by heating olive oil and melting butter in a sauté pan. I dropped in the shallot and sautéed it for a few minutes, then added the mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Once the mushrooms had given up their liquid and begun to soften, I added cream and let it simmer away for a few minutes while I sliced up the brioche and started toasting it. Finally, I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in rosemary and mint.

By that time, Mom was finished poaching the eggs (perfectly, I might add), and we plated everything. We put a slice of brioche on the plate, topped it with a nice spoonful of mushrooms and the poached egg, and then finished it off by spooning the mushroom cream over the top.

Everyone agreed that this was a perfect Sunday supper — simple, homey, filling, and insanely delicious.

I’m glad to be back cooking with my friends for French Fridays. I can’t say for sure how many recipes I will make, or if I’ll post many or any of them. But I have already made next week’s Coupetade. And I love both asparagus and avocado. So there’s a good chance I’ll be around at least for the month of May.

Bon appetite!

22 Comments

Hummus {FFwD}

October 5, 2012 at 7:53 am (Around My French Table, Bread Baking, Dorie Greenspan, Flatbreads, French Fridays With Dorie)
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Part of what I enjoy about French Fridays with Dorie is making something completely new and unfamiliar to me, like last week’s Endive, Apples, and Grapes. It’s fun exploring new flavors, trying new ingredients, and learning new techniques.

But there’s also something enjoyable about a trying a recipe that’s a new version of an old favorite. And that’s what this week’s offering was for me.

I love hummus, and I never go to a Middle Eastern restaurant without trying the house version. And I’ve made lots of hummus over the years. One of my favorite recipes is from the Moosewood Cookbook, but I’m always game to try a new one.

This was a good, solid hummus. Not remarkable in any way. But quite tasty. And it was especially good served on flatbread that I made with this recipe from King Arthur Flour.

I don’t know if I’ll make Dorie’s version of hummus again, but I’ll definitely make the KAF flatbread to use as a base for hummus and other dips and spreads.

17 Comments

Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Loaf {TWD-BWJ}

October 2, 2012 at 7:53 am (Baking with Julia, Bread Baking, Dorie Greenspan, Holiday Baking, Tuesdays with Dorie)
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I can’t tell you how excited I was about this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie – Baking with Julia recipe. After all, it features one of my favorite ingredients: pumpkin! To say I love pumpkin doesn’t really do justice to how I feel about this ingredient. Obsessed might be a better word.

Anyway, I was really looking forward to this bread. And it did not disappoint!

Now, this is not what you probably think of when you hear “pumpkin bread”. It’s a yeast bread, not a quick bread. And it’s not overly sweet. It’s more like raisin bread. Except with pumpkin. And walnuts. And whole cranberries.

Isn’t that beautiful? And you should have seen the bread!

Here are my observations:

  • As mentioned, this isn’t a sweet bread. It’s actually a bit on the savory side, with the tangy cranberries, walnuts, and even the pumpkin, which is, after all, a squash.
  • Speaking of the pumpkin, it adds a beautiful color to the dough, but not a distinct flavor. If you tasted it with your eyes closed, you probably wouldn’t guess that it had pumpkin in it.
  • As I often do with pumpkin-based recipes, I switched out the spices called for in the recipe with five-spice powder.
  • A number of bakers reported that their dough didn’t rise well. Mine rose fine, but when it came out of the fridge after an overnight rest, it was really sluggish. It’s a really rich dough, so I would probably recommend using SAF Gold yeast if you have any.
  • I baked my loaf in one pan, and it took significantly longer than the recipe called for. The finished loaf was moist, somewhat dense, and delicious.
  • This bread is great as toast with butter. But with Speculoos butter, it is sublime.
  • This would be the perfect bread for making toast on Thanksgiving morning. It wouldn’t be too filling, but it would wake your mouth up to the flavors to come later in the day.
  • I wonder how this bread would be as bread pudding? I don’t think the current loaf is going to last long enough to find out, but it would be worth making again for that purpose.

So, in summary, I loved this bread! And not just because it had pumpkin in it. Although, that certainly didn’t hurt.

6 Comments

Devil’s Food Cake with Fluffy White Icing {ModBak}

October 1, 2012 at 8:04 am (Cake, Modern Baker Challenge, Nick Malgieri, The Modern Baker)
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This week’s Modern Baker Challenge recipe is the Devil’s Food Cake from the cover of the book. And I suspect that, like my friend Renee, a lot of people bought the book largely for the promise of this cake.

First things first, there is an erratum in this recipe in the original hardback version of the book. The fluffy white icing requires 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, rather than the 1 cup called for in the recipe. This error was corrected in the paperback version of the book.

This cake derives its characteristic moist, chocolatey crumb from a combination of dark brown sugar and unsweetened chocolate. And it’s a good cake. Really good. But for me, what sets this cake apart is the frosting.

Nick calls this “fluffy white icing”, and I was expecting it to be like a white buttercream. But with the combination of egg whites, sugar, and corn syrup, all of which are heated then whipped, it was more like marshmallow. Marshmallow creme, to be exact. And who doesn’t love that?

This was a great cake, one I’m sure I’ll make again. Definitely worth the price of the book. And I think that, like Renee, anyone who bought the book for this cake won’t be disappointed.

3 Comments

Endive, Apples, and Grapes {FFwD}

September 28, 2012 at 7:28 am (Around My French Table, Dorie Greenspan, French Fridays With Dorie)
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Do you remember when you made Spiced Squash, Fennel, and Pear Soup for French Fridays with Dorie? You can be forgiven if you don’t; it was almost a year ago. It was also the last FFwD recipe that I made before I dropped out of sight.

Well, I”M BAAAAAAACK!!!!

I was going to restart French Fridays in October. In fact, I read through the recipes and have already started buying the ingredients. But when I saw this week’s pick, I decided to jump in a week ahead of schedule.

I love sautéed apples, but I had never had grapes or endive cooked in butter before. OK, truth be told, I don’t think I’ve ever had endive at all. But slow cooked with fruit and butter — how bad could it be?

This was a really simple recipe. Other than the fruit, butter, and endive, it contained only rosemary, salt, and pepper, all of which I tucked into a cast iron skillet over low heat.

After 20 minutes, I turned everything over to cook some more.

Another 20 minutes, and it was done.

I put everything on a plate, scraped up the buttery bits in the bottom of the pan, and poured that over the top.

I sprinkled on a little salt and pepper, and tucked into this delightful little dish. The apples and grapes were amazing. (If you’ve never had a grape cooked in butter, you don’t know what you’re missing.)

As far as the endive goes, I enjoyed it with bites of fruit, but it was too bitter to eat just by itself. I think if I were to make this dish again, I’d try to come up with something to use in place of the endive. Having a savory component to the dish is a great idea. But I wish I could think of something less bitter and with a bit more flavor on its own.

In any case, it’s good to be back doing French Fridays again. I’m not going to try to make every recipe — that’s how I got burned out last time. And some of my posts may be short and sweet, been-there-made-that kind of affairs. But at least I’ll be making recipes from Around My French Table again.

And after all that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

34 Comments

Triple Chocolate Cake {ModBak}

September 26, 2012 at 8:12 am (Cake, Dessert, Modern Baker Challenge, Nick Malgieri, The Modern Baker, Uncategorized)
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A few weeks ago, I wrote about making this wonderful light and airy Cocoa Génoise.

Today’s Modern Baker Challenge post is about what I made with the génoise layer. As the name implies, this cake is chocolate on chocolate covered with chocolate. In addition to the chocolate cake, there are two versions of chocolate ganache — one used to frost the cake and the other a glaze that goes over the whole thing.

With my génoise at the ready, I began by making a moistening syrup, which consisted of water, sugar, and raspberry liqueur.

I set the syrup aside to cool while I made the ganaches.

First, the ganache for filling and spreading. While I heated cream and corn syrup on the stove, I melted bittersweet chocolate in a bowl.

I poured the cream mixture over the chocolate, mixed well, then whisked in softened butter.

Next, I made the ganache glaze, which was also made with cream, corn syrup, and chocolate, although not as much chocolate as the filling. And there was no butter in the glaze. And rather than melting the chocolate, I poured the cream mixture over the chocolate and let the heat from the cream melt the chocolate.

To assemble the cake, I cut the génoise into three layers. I put the bottom layer on a tart pan bottom and brushed it with 1/3 of the moistening syrup. I topped this with about 1/3 of the ganache filling and spread it to the edge of the cake. I repeated the layers two more times, then spread ganache frosting over the entire cake.

I refrigerated the cake for a while, then poured the ganache glaze over the top and smoothed it over the sides.

This cake was beautiful. The glaze gave it a smooth, perfectly finished look. The kind you see in a bakery and wonder, “How do they do that?”

I made this cake before my parents came for a visit so they could enjoy it with us.

This cake was amazing! It may be the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. And my parents, with over 140 years of cake-eating experience between them, agreed that this was by far the best chocolate frosting they’ve ever tasted.

As Nick points out in the notes, this is a cake for a milestone birthday or other very special occasion. It has enough flavor and visual appeal to match up to any celebration. And even though it’s a bit of work to put together, the accolades you’ll receive make it well worth the effort.

12 Comments

Banana Rum Coconut Layer Cake {ModBak}

September 24, 2012 at 8:22 am (Cake, Dessert, Family, Holiday Baking, Modern Baker Challenge, Nick Malgieri, The Modern Baker)
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This week’s Modern Baker Challenge cake features one of my favorite flavors. No, I don’t mean dark rum (although I’m certainly not opposed to rum). I’m talking about bananas. Regular readers of my blog know about my obsession with all things pumpkin, as well as my love of apples. But I am equally enamored with bananas.

Now, that doesn’t mean I’ll eat anything that’s banana flavored. In fact, like strawberries, while I love real bananas, I really dislike “banana flavored” foods. But give me a fresh banana, or better yet a baked good made with ripe bananas, and I’m a happy man.

So this cake was right up my alley. It combines ripe bananas with rum and coconut for a delicious tropical flavor baked into a homey layer cake.

To make the cake layers, I beat butter, granulated and dark brown sugars, and vanilla until fluffy, then added eggs. I mixed flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl and mashed bananas, milk, and dark rum in another. I alternated adding these to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

I beat the batter for several minutes to lighten it, then divided it between two 9-inch pans. I baked the cake layers in a 350°F oven for about 25 minutes, until the cake was well risen, golden, and firm in the center.

This cake smelled good enough to eat right out of the oven. But I resisted and cooled the layers while I made the frosting.

As I’ve baked my way through the Cakes section of  The Modern Baker, I have really come to appreciate the simplicity, lightness, and wonderful flavor of whipped cream as cake frosting. And when you add rum to the whipped cream, well, things can only get better.

Having cooled the layers and made the frosting, which consisted of whipping cream, sugar, and dark rum, I was ready to assemble the cake. I placed the first layer on a cake plate, sprinkled it with about a tablespoon of dark rum, and spread the top with whipped cream. I inverted the second layer on top of the first and topped it with rum and whipped cream. I spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake, then pressed coconut into the frosting.

We enjoyed this cake for dessert, and everyone asked for seconds.

This cake was delicious, with the tropical flavors of banana and coconut shining through. And even though it had dark rum in the batter and frosting, it wasn’t at all boozy tasting.

This is another celebration cake: one that’s simple enough to make for any gathering, but impressive enough to commemorate those special occasions.

6 Comments

Backyard Mint Ice Cream {Ice Cream Sunday}

September 23, 2012 at 8:37 am (Ice cream, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream)
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For my second Ice Cream Sunday post, I decided to make Backyard Mint Ice Cream. This recipe is Jeni’s basic recipe with “a large handful” of hand-torn mint added just before the base is chilled.

If you aren’t familiar with the base recipe, check out my Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream post and leave out the corn and blackberry sauce. You can also find the Backyard Mint recipe here.

Phyl’s notes:

  • The recipe says to add the torn mint to the ice cream base, chill for 4 to 12 hours, then strain out the mint. Several of the Jeni ice cream bases I’ve made have been quite thick, almost the consistency of set pudding, and I was afraid I might have trouble getting the base through the strainer. To avoid this issue, I tied the mint in a double layer of cheesecloth, as I figured this would impart the mint flavor without having to strain it. What I didn’t count on was how much of the base the cheesecloth would absorb. I ended up with about a pint of ice cream, rather than the quart it should have made.
  • I skipped the ice bath, as the base had to chill with the mint in it anyway.
  • This ice cream would be great with mini chocolate chips or small chocolate pieces added at the end of churning.

We really enjoyed this ice cream, and all wished we had more. Luckily, this is a really easy recipe to make. And I have plenty of mint in the backyard.

7 Comments

Whole Wheat Loaves {TWD-BWJ}

September 18, 2012 at 7:42 am (Baking with Julia, Bread Baking, Breads, Dorie Greenspan, Tuesdays with Dorie)
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Many of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes from Baking with Julia have been new to me, either in ingredients, technique, or finished product. Not so these hearty whole wheat loaves. I’ve been baking bread for over 30 years, so there was nothing new here. Classic ingredients, standard techniques, nothing fancy.

But don’t take that to mean this was a ho-hum recipe. Far from it. While everything about this recipe was comfortably familiar to me, the finished loaves were nothing like the dense, crumbly whole wheat loaves so many recipes produce. No, these were light, airy, slightly sweet loaves that rose well over the pan and far beyond my expectations.

The ingredients list for the loaves was simple: water, yeast, honey, bread and whole wheat flours, canola oil, malt extract, and salt. It’s the honey and malt that give these loaves their earthy sweetness. And the combination of flours resulted in a hearty, yet tender, crumb.

The dough was wonderful to work with: firm, tacky but not sticky, and quite supple.

Here it is before bulk fermenting:

And here’s what it looked like 1 1/2 hours later:

I divided the dough (not too evenly, as it turns out), shaped the loaves, and put them in pans to proof.

After an hour of proofing, the loaves were well-risen and ready to bake.

This, boys and girls, is why you should always scale your dough.

I baked the loaves, cooled them, then put one in the freezer and kept the other out to use for toast and sandwiches.

This is a delicious bread, and easy enough to make a bread baker out of anyone!

Our host for this week are Michele of Veggie Num Nums and Teresa of The Family That Bakes Together. Check out their posts for the recipe and to see what they thought of this bread.

41 Comments

Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream {Ice Cream Sunday} {Recipe}

September 16, 2012 at 12:47 pm (Ice cream, Ice Cream Week, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, Recipes)
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I recently bought myself two presents: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer and The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. And since I knew I would be trying lots of ice cream recipes, I decided to declare the beginning of the week “Ice Cream Sunday”. I probably won’t post every week, and I’m sure I won’t write about all the recipes I try. But I do want a place to record my adventures so I can keep track of what I liked, what I didn’t, and what I might do differently next time.

It all started when I decided to host Ice Cream Week earlier this Summer. A full week of ice cream recipes — how bad could that be? I had picked my recipes, made all five of them, and written the blog posts., Then I discovered this recipe.

Sweet Corn Blackberry Ice Cream
Picture from saveur.com

A lot of my friends had made Jeni’s recipes, and they all raved about how good they were. So even though my Ice Cream Week recipes were in the bag, I decided to try a Jeni recipe. Saveur had a bunch of them on its website, and I pinned several to my Ice Cream board. Although they all looked good, I quickly settled on this recipe. Not only do I love black raspberries, the idea of making ice cream with sweet corn was just too strange and intriguing to pass up.

I generally don’t post recipes when I’m making them from a published cookbook, but this one is readily available online, so I’ll share it here.

Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream (from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup black raspberries or blackberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for black raspberry sauce)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz.) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 ear sweet corn, husked
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar (for ice cream)
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions

  1. To make raspberry sauce, bring black raspberries and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 8 minutes; strain and chill.
  2. To make ice cream, in a small prep bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of the milk and the cornstarch to make a slurry. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk cream cheese and salt until smooth. Set aside.
  4. Cut kernels off cob of corn and cut cob into large chunks; reserve kernels and cob together. In a 4-quart saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, and corn syrup; add corn kernels and cob and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in slurry. Return to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl and discard corn solids.
  5. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into cream cheese until smooth.
  6. Cover bowl and refrigerate mixture until well chilled, preferably overnight. Or to quick chill, pour mixture into a gallon-size zipper seal bag and submerge in ice water for about 30 minutes.
  7. Churn base in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  8. Layer ice cream and black raspberry sauce in storage container. Press a piece of parchment or wax paper against surface of ice cream and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes 1 quart

This ice cream is insanely good. The sweet corn gives it a silky texture and an almost vanilla-like flavor. And the blackberry sauce adds visual appeal and a nice sweet-tart finish.

I can’t wait to try more of Jeni’s ice creams. And I haven’t even cracked open David’s book yet.

Stay tuned.

10 Comments

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