Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Gingersnaps
December 17, 2013 at 10:58 am | Posted in BWJ, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 13 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, dessert
Last week I was in paradise, now I’m back to reality. I’m trying to brighten up the Brooklyn dreariness with a tree and some holiday-spiced cookies. How convenient that David Blom’s Gingersnaps are up for TWD this week. Cutout cookies are fun, I think. Sticky doughs can be tricky to work with and get soft quickly, but I’ve found that rolling out dough on parchment and then chilling the rolled sheet for 10 or so minutes before punching out shapes makes the process a lot easier.
I heard that these cookies tasted more like molasses than ginger, so I doubled the spices in my batch. I also reduced the water called for in the recipe to just 1 tablespoon, as I didn’t think the dough needed so much extra moisture. Since I was trying to boost the spiciness, I skipped the molasses glaze and sprinkled my stars with sanding sugar instead. While I baked these a few minutes longer than the recipe called for, they were still a little more chewy than snappy. They never quite dried out in the center.
These may not be my ideal gingersnaps (those are from Miette, although I’ve only had them in the shop and have not tried their recipe in my own kitchen), but they were tasty enough and the recipe was small enough that I don’t mind too much. They were good with tea.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here). Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Double Chocolate Cookies
November 19, 2013 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWJ, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 18 CommentsTags: baking, chocolate, cookies, dessert
Rick Katz’s Double Chocolate Cookies came along at just the right time…I have been majorly craving chocolate lately. I’ve hardly touched the stuff in the last six months, and that’s just plain unnatural!
I knew exactly what these cookies would be like. I’ve worked in two places where we made cookies very similar to this, method and everything (just in way bigger batches). In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if my two former chefs started with this recipe originally. These are rich– a dark chocolate batter with extra chocolate bits mixed in (preferably a high percentage bittersweet)– and exactly the fix I was looking for. The recipe intro calls them something like “half cookie, half brownie,” and that about sums it up. You have to whip the heck out of the eggs and sugar when you make these, so they get that awesome brownie-like crackle shell, but they’re really soft inside. As soon as they cool from baking, they’re pretty gooey. But give them the better part of a day, or even overnight, and they become chewy. So good.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also all over the Interwebs). Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Pumpernickel Loaves
November 5, 2013 at 12:12 pm | Posted in BWJ, groups, savory things, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 11 CommentsTags: baking, bread
I really thought about skipping Lauren Groveman’s Pumpernickel Loaves. I was annoyed at the thought of having to make prune butter first. I didn’t have any caraways seeds. And then there was some crazy stuff about S-hooks and slings. I sucked it up and went to the store, made the prune butter (using the lekvar recipe that’s in the book) and thought about a way to form the bread that didn’t involve a sling.
I made half a recipe for one big loaf. Since I had a smaller batch, I mixed it in my KitchenAid. I found that I didn’t need quite the full amount of flour to get a nice dough. This pumpernickel gets its color (and a lot of flavor) from dark things like chocolate, espresso powder, molasses and, of course, that prune butter. Who knew that stuff was in there? After giving the dough two rests in a bowl, I shaped it and put it in a 9.5″x4.5″ loaf pan for its final rise (I sprayed and dusted the pan with cornmeal first).
I actually was expecting it to look darker than it turned out to be…I’ve had store-bought pumps that were almost black. The flavor from the caraway seeds is lovely and the crust is great.
There’s an accompanying recipe for Reuben sandwiches in the book, and I made those for dinner the other night. Yesterday I just had a plain turkey and cheese for lunch. Both were totes yum, and my husband was extremely excited about having homemade pumpernickel. I have this problem with slicing whole sandwich loaves, though. I can never get a straight slice, so my sandwiches are always lopsided (I tried to disguise that in this picture)!
For the bread recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here, and there’s even a video of Lauren and Julia making pumpernickel together. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Danish Braid (& Pinwheel)
October 15, 2013 at 9:32 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWJ, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 18 CommentsTags: baking, bread, breakfast
I’ve just started working out with a trainer to get my sorry self in shape. Let’s celebrate that with a big slice of Beatrice Ojakangas’s Danish! This may not go so well…
I made a Danish braid here once before. That recipe used what I think is a more traditional method for making Danish dough…there was a separate butter block and lots of chilling between folds (like when we made our croissants). This one uses a “quick” method, employing the food processor to break down the butter into chunks in the flour. The rough dough does need to rest in the fridge overnight, but after that, all of the lamination work is done at once, without any waiting in between the turns and folds. Pretty easy. I was surprised at how good the results were– crisp and flaky. If you are wondering how the dough becomes a braid, this video explains all very clearly.
I don’t like to ask too much of myself on a weekend morning, so I cheated a little on the fillings. Rather than fiddle with homemade pastry cream and fruit spreads, I just whizzed up a quickie sweetened cream cheese filling and combined it with some store-bought apricot jam. I was pretty jazzed to have a use for the pearl sugar I found at an IKEA ages ago.
When we do a recipe that has several variations, I’m never quite sure if we’ll revisit it later to try out those variations, so I took this opportunity to make my favorite Danish shape with some extra dough–the pinwheel! This one had the same cream cheese filling as the braid, but with blueberry jam instead of apricot.
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here, and there’s even a video of Beatrice and Julia making Danish together. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: X Cookies
October 1, 2013 at 12:26 am | Posted in BWJ, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 9 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Finally–Nick Malgieri’s X Cookies! I’ve had a little hunk of pasta frolla in the freezer waiting for these guys ever since we made pizza rustica. What’s that you say? That means it’s been in the freezer for almost a year and a half? Details, details…
X cookies are a take on a traditional Sicilian cookie called cucidati…a sweet dough filled with a paste of dried figs, raisins, orange, nuts, rum, spices, etc. Think of a more grown-up Fig Newton and you’re on the right track. Truth be told, I’m not the biggest fan of darkly flavored dried fruit and spice stuff like this. I probably would have skipped this recipe, but the process looked fun, and my husband’s half Sicilian, so I thought he might like them. Of course I tried them, too. And while they aren’t my favorite (although, as predicted, my husband likes them quite a lot), I can see their appeal when dunked in hot coffee or eaten with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.
The instructions for forming the Xs were very clear. It could have been a long process if I’d made a full batch, but I sure don’t need five dozen of them hanging around. I did just a quarter batch for fifteen cookies. I didn’t have any dried orange peel, so I improvised by using Grand Marnier instead of rum.
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here, and there’s even a video of Nick and Julia making the cookies together. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Espresso Profiteroles
September 17, 2013 at 12:18 pm | Posted in BWJ, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 12 CommentsTags: baking, choux, dessert
Choux paste treats have been well-covered here. Gougères, éclairs, cream puffs and even crullers–wait, something’s missing. How could I forget profiteroles, one of my most favorite desserts? I’ll take care of that one now with Norman Love’s Espresso Profiteroles.
Despite my love of profiteroles, I admit that I didn’t have high hopes for these. Quite frankly, I thought the picture in the book looked terrible (the choux looked bready, not light). I’m happy to report that they turned out better than expected. I’m not sure how much flavor was really contributed by adding coffee to the choux puffs themselves, but they puffed and hollowed nicely. I used espresso ice cream (instead of cinnamon) and boozed up the chocolate sauce with Kahlua (instead of Grand Marnier), so that took care of the missing coffee flavors.
These are best cut and filled right before serving, when the puffs are crisp and the ice cream is just beginning to soften. Pre-scooped and frozen is a profiterole no-no for me. And the sauce should be warm. Mmmmm…sauce…
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Blueberry Muffins
September 3, 2013 at 12:01 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWJ, groups, muffins/quick breads, tuesdays with dorie | 14 CommentsTags: baking, breakfast, fruit, muffins
Yesterday was the first Labor Day in many years where I myself did not have to labor. Any holiday is typically an extra busy, extra intense day for those who work in the food biz. It was sort of odd then that I chose to celebrate by getting up a little early to make Rick Katz’s Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. Baked goods for breakfast are a bit of a treat around here, as they should be, I guess. Not only are they an indulgence, but OMG, the wait for prep, baking and cool down is almost too much!
Really, though, blueberry muffins are no big deal (they’re not like sticky buns, or anything), and I’ve made them here before. This particular recipe is unusual in that it uses cake flour and calls for creaming the butter and sugar (instead of the “muffin-method’s” usual melted butter or oil). The results are more like little tea cakes than sturdy coffee shop muffins. They aren’t too sweet and they are loaded with the last-of-season blueberries. They look sort of dainty and unassuming from the outside, but inside they are basically blueberry jam!
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Johnnycake Cobbler
August 20, 2013 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWJ, cobbler/crisp/shorties, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 24 CommentsTags: baking, cobbler, dessert, fruit
I made Johanne Killeen’s Johnnycake Cobbler twice, both times with peaches and red currants. The first time, I thought the biscuit layer was too thick and the fruit was getting lost underneath all that cornmeal topping. So I tried again, reducing the topping ingredients by a third. Now the cobbler to fruit ratio was in much better proportion. Even with less biscuit on top, in order to get it cooked through, I still had to bake the cobbler for several minutes longer than the recipe stated.
I should warn you that the johnnycake topping uses lots of cream. Like lots. I just couldn’t do it– both times, I used a combo of milk and sour cream to replace it (essentially making a higher fat buttermilk-type liquid). I’m sure it was less rich than the original, but at least I could justify having a little scoop of ice cream alongside.
I’ve been seeing plums at the market, so I’ll probably be giving this a third try soon!
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. There’s also a video of Nancy and Johanne making the cobbler together. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas (& Pitas)
August 6, 2013 at 3:39 pm | Posted in BWJ, groups, savory things, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 9 CommentsTags: baking, bread, savory
Lord knows I’m not above making a pita pizza from time to time, but usually it’s out of sheer convenience (and sometimes out of desperation). Before Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas, I certainly wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of making my own pita dough for one. Not that it was a hard dough to make or anything, but like any yeast bread, it does take time.
The topping for these pizzas is lamb (although I used ground turkey) sautéed with onions and garlic, tomatoes and pine nuts. Mine wound up a little on the dry side, probably because I used cherry tomatoes, which didn’t give off much juice. I tried to jazz up my finished pizza with some feta and chopped scallions, but if I make it again, I’ll make sure the topping has just a touch of sauciness to coat the meat.
The bread dough has a fair amount of whole wheat flour in it, which gives it a slightly nutty taste. The recipe calls for baking individual pizzas, but I made a double-sized one instead and baked it on my pizza stone.
Since I had to make pita dough before I could make the base of my pizza, I went ahead and made some actual pita breads with it as well. And then we had warm pita and hummus snack. I was quite pleased that my pitas puffed enough to get a pocket– my husband initially didn’t believe that I made these, as I always get my pitas at the great Damascus Bakery here in Brooklyn. The next morning, I took my last homemade pita, opened its pocket, and made a fried egg sandwich out of it. Tasty!
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. There’s also a video of Jeffery and Naomi making the dough and pizzas with Julia. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Summer Vegetable Tart
July 16, 2013 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWJ, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie, veggies | 14 CommentsTags: baking, savory
Gale Gand’s Summer Vegetable Tart at first sounded so promising. My CSA is throwing all kinds of vegetables my way, and it can be a challenge (a fun challenge) to get them taken care of before the next week’s batch takes over my fridge. I was kind of surprised, then, to see that the “summer vegetables” in the recipe are just garlic, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Those are more like “whenever vegetables,” so I took some creative license and added zucchini and summer squash to the mix.
The tart is simple enough– the shell is just layers of butter-brushed phyllo baked till golden. The veggies are sautéed separately and then loaded into the baked shell along with some cheese. That’s it, all done and ready to serve. It’s okay. It certainly isn’t bad, just a little dull, even though I tried to pep mine up with some hot pepper flakes and fresh parsley. The phyllo shell gets soggy in a hurry, and because the filling is never baked, it stays loose and messy. I prefer the Cheese and Tomato Galette we did last month, and I think a riff on that will be my next attempt at a summer veggie tart.
We’re going without hosts now for TWD, so for the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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