08.31.08
Posted in Chocolate, Cuisines, Dairy, Dessert, Foodblog Events, French at 12:15 am by julie
I’ve just been waiting for another Daring Bakers challenge to feature pate a choux, ever since the remarkable gateaux St. Honore that inspired me to apply for membership last year. So when this month’s challenge was announced to be Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs, I couldn’t be happier: my first pate a choux, my first pastry cream, and actually my first éclairs period. In view of all these firsts, I decided to stick with the recipe, despite the creative leeway permitted by our hosts, Tony Tahhan and MeetaK, and make both chocolate glaze and pastry cream.
I’m still not sure what happened to August, but before I knew it, the challenge posting date was looming, so I stocked up on whole milk, eggs and bittersweet chocolate, and looked for an open time slot in the baby’s schedule. Jeremy sat down to watch a Red Sox game with Nolan a few days ago, so I pounced on the opportunity and set to it.
Chocolate sauce: check. (I still don’t quite understand why this step was necessary, but oh well.) I cut the sauce recipe in half and still had too much. Next came the pate a choux. I wasn’t sure how long to cook the dough to dry it out, but it came together really quickly without incident. I stuffed the resulting dough into my pastry bag with no tip attached, and piped my éclair shells. They seemed really small. I was tempted to try different shapes or sizes, but worried about differing bake times, so I restrained myself.
Into the oven they went, and I fastidiously followed the instructions about rotating and switching the pans, and cracking the oven door. After 20 minutes, as called for, I proudly pulled my beautifully golden, puffy éclair shells from the oven—and watched them turn into sad little pancakes. I recalled having read some comments that this could be caused by underbaking, so they went back in the oven for several more minutes, with another tray switch to keep them from cooking unevenly. They puffed up again, felt hard and sounded hollow, but flattened again after a minute or two out of the oven. I was worried about overbaking them, so I ended up just calling it good enough, and moving on to the pastry cream.
By this point, Nolan was sleeping like a little angel on Jeremy’s chest. The pastry cream turned out to be oddly familiar. Am I crazy, or is it basically just pudding? I think I made pretty much this same stuff for a chocolate cream pie a week or two back. Anyway, it tasted good, but never got quite as smooth as I would have liked, despite sieving it. It was also still a tad loose for piping after its ice bath, but would have firmed up a little better with some fridge time.
I started making the chocolate glaze and slicing my shells, finding the end in sight and optimistically thinking I could finish the whole project before the baby woke up again. Then Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam, Jeremy yelled excitedly, and Nolan instantly woke and started crying. Sigh. The rest of the assembly was a blur: I frantically sliced through the impossibly thin shells, then dipped their top halves into the runny glaze, a messy proposition because it dripped everywhere and took its sweet time setting up. I then shoveled cream into my pastry bag with the star tip, hurriedly piped out the filling, sandwiched everything together, and gave two to my husband for sampling while I calmed Nolan down. The rest went in the fridge, where I hoped the glaze would set up a little more firmly.
It was the first time since I joined the Daring Bakers that I have completed a challenge with a sense more of frustration than accomplishment. My pate a choux shells were nothing like what they should have been. My pastry cream was essentially chocolate pudding. The chocolate glaze had the seemingly extraneous step of making chocolate sauce first, leaving me with tons of leftover sauce, glaze, and pastry cream—and 4 stranded egg whites as well. The glaze was too runny to spread with an icing spatula, and dipping them made a mess. For that matter, I managed to dirty half the dishes in my kitchen making this recipe, partly because I was rushing to get through it and didn’t have time for my usual practice of washing up as I went. All I got for my trouble was a trayful of small, flat, sloppy éclairs, and my husband ate the two I brought him with a fork and a shrug, and said they tasted right but éclairs aren’t really his thing.
Once I got Nolan fed and napping again, I went back to the kitchen and tried one of my éclairs from the refrigerator. The glaze had set, and the pastry cream firmed up as well, melding together the halves of the shell so they no longer slipped to and fro. The flavor was good, the pastry tasted properly cooked, and the cream filling was delicious. They still weren’t pretty, but at least each éclair appeared as a single unit. I ate another one, and another, and my frustration faded. Jeremy decided they were much better cold as well, and I caught him standing behind the refrigerator door eating éclairs surreptitiously later that day.
So thanks to Meeta and Tony for choosing this recipe. It was an excellent learning experience, if not an out-and-out success, and that’s what the Daring Bakers are all about. I don’t know that I would make this particular recipe again, but I definitely still want to master pate a choux, so I’ll continue playing with it in the future. At least now I have a baseline to start from. Next time I need to do a chocolate glaze, though, I’ll go back to Alton Brown’s no-fuss recipe, which has worked beautifully for me. Now please go check out the Daring Bakers blogroll to see some fantastically puffed and stuffed éclairs in every possible flavor combination.
I am a member of the Theta Class of Daring Bakers, inducted in July 2007. Below is a list of previous challenges:
Strawberry Mirror Cake – July 2007
Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart – August 2007
Cinnamon Rolls and Sticky Buns – September 2007
Bostini Cream Pies – October 2007
Tender Potato Bread – November 2007
Traditional Buche de Noel – December 2007
Lemon Meringue Pie – January 2008
French Bread – February 2008
Perfect Party Cake – March 2008
Opéra Cake – May 2008
Danish Braid – June 2008
Filbert Gateau – July 2008
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08.23.08
Posted in Dinner, Lamb, Meats, Nuts, Grains & Legumes, Sides, Veggies at 11:57 am by julie
I haven’t had much inclination to cook anything interesting for a while—or the energy to write about it when some free time presents itself. We’re trying to transition Nolan from co-sleeping in our bedroom to sleeping in his very own crib in his very own room. That has been upsetting everyone’s sleep patterns, so I feel zombie-fied half the day, and am getting behind even in finishing off posts that were already photographed and half-written. I’m tired of seeing them in the Draft queue, though, so that’s my goal for the week.
To start things off, here is a quick recipe for lamb chops. I chose it to use up the last of my apricot preserves from last month’s filbert gateau, but it was so easy and flavorful that I think I’m going to go buy more preserves, especially since I have an inkling that the glaze would also beautifully suit pork chops or even a larger loin roast or leg of lamb. Heck, even using chicken might work. I served these chops with Jaden’s saffron rice and some green beans on a day that topped 101F degrees, and it didn’t even overheat the kitchen too much.
The original recipe called for 1/2 C of apricot preserves, but I had just over 1/4 C in the jar and wasn’t about to go buy more. The finished chops were certainly sweet and fruity enough, so I would caution against using the full 1/2 C unless you really love apricots. I’m not huge on the whole meat-fruit pairing, and I thought my version was just about right. I also cooked the lamb in a large cast-iron skillet. Because I was concerned about the apricot glaze burning and ruining the pan’s seasoning, I warmed it in the microwave separately and brushed it on both sides of the chops after they were done cooking—then promptly got paranoid about having undercooked the chops and put them right back in the hot skillet (with the burner off) for another minute or two. The skillet survived to fry another day. 
Apricot Lamb Chops
1/4 C apricot preserves
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 (4-ounce) lamb loin chops, trimmed
Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Combine salt, cinnamon, and pepper, and sprinkle over both sides of lamb. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add lamb to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove skillet from heat; add apricot mixture, turning lamb to coat. Place 2 chops on each of 4 dinner plates; spoon remaining apricot mixture evenly over chops.
Source: Slightly adapted from Cooking Light
Zesty White Wine Green Beans
I just use this recipe as a guideline. I generally use frozen green beans for this because I have stopped buying canned ones; I thaw them in some hot water first. For two servings, I use closer to 1/3 C of wine, and I let it reduce almost entirely.
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 (14.5 ounce) cans French-style green beans, drained
1 C white wine
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat; brown the garlic in the oil; season with salt and pepper. Add the green beans and toss to coat. Pour the white wine over the green beans; simmer until the wine reduces in volume by half, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Source: Allrecipes.
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08.18.08
Posted in Dairy, Dessert, Fruits, Ice Cream at 10:40 am by julie
Since we had to suffer through several straight days of 100F+ weather, I was determined to make a batch of ice cream to combat the heat. The Orange Popsicle ice cream from The Perfect Scoop was the perfect candidate for several reasons: It gave me a means to use up a big bag of sweet little clementines I’ve been trying to eat singlehandedly for several weeks; it called for half-and-half and sour cream, both of which I was able to run to our little corner market and pick up in a matter of minutes (they don’t carry whipping cream); it is a blender recipe, which is awfully convenient for chilling and later pouring into the running ice cream machine; and most importantly, it isn’t a custard-based recipe, which means no heat required!
I was a fan of orange creamsicles growing up, and with my addition of vanilla extract (the original calls for orange liqueur, which is not my thing), this recipe matches that flavor beautifully, with a creamy texture and refreshing hit of citrus. I predict that this ice cream won’t last the weekend in our fridge. But I have to admit that I actually liked the textural contrast of crunchy orange popsicle and creamy vanilla ice cream in the original treat, so I’m also tempted to make plain vanilla ice cream sometime and top it with orange granita to get that citrus crunch.
Creamsicle Ice Cream
2/3 C sugar
Grated zest of 5 clementines
1 1/4 C freshly squeezed clementine juice
1 C sour cream
1/2 C half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a blender, pulverize the sugar together with the zest until very finely ground. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator before churning in your handy-dandy ice cream maker.
Source: Slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop
, by David Lebovitz (p. 50).
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08.16.08
Posted in Breakfast at 6:14 pm by julie
What you see here may not look like much, but it is the best waffle I’ve ever made, pitiful home waffle iron be damned. I’ve been trying waffle recipes for years trying to find a gold-standard recipe, one that makes perfect waffles every time: light and sweet, but still crisp, and sturdy enough not to tear coming off the iron or during the application of butter. You can see a few of my attempts here, here, and here, but I have tried several others over the past year that didn’t make the blog: to name a few, the Old Fashioned Buttermilk Waffles from the Macrina Bakery Cookbook (rejected almost out of hand by Jeremy because they contained both semolina flour and cornmeal, and I wasn’t impressed by the texture or flavor either), the Teff Waffles from The Splendid Grain (alright, but didn’t live up to the effusive praise in the cookbook’s description), and the Banana-Cinnamon Waffles from Cooking Light May 2005 (these we’ve made several times when I have extra bananas, but they don’t have that classic waffle flavor).
Well, my waffle quest comes to an end here. Carrie Levin’s Belgian waffles are everything I want in a waffle, and I’ve already made them twice this month, so I know the first batch wasn’t a fluke. But then, Carrie grew up in Belgium, and her restaurant, Good Enough to Eat, was Jeremy’s favorite breakfast place in NYC, so I guess she knows her waffles. Of course, this won’t stop me from trying out new waffle recipes whenever they pique my interest, but it’s still good to have a reliable one to turn to.
Belgian Waffles
1 1/2 C AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp plus 2 T sugar
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
6 T butter, melted
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and 2 tsp of sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat together the milk, vanilla and egg yolks, then pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork until just blended. Cut in the melted butter.
Preheat the waffle iron. Meanwhile, in a third bowl, whisk together the egg whites with the 2 T of sugar until they form soft peaks. Stir a heaping tablespoon of these through the batter with a fork to lighten it, then dump all of the rest onto the batter and use a spatula and a figure-8 motion to fold them in gently. Try to mix the whites in thoroughly without deflating the batter. Now make waffles as you normally would in your iron. (I use canola oil spray on the hot iron and scoop out the batter in heaping half-cup portions, which fits my iron just about right without much spillage.) Carrie recommends serving with powdered sugar, fresh berries and a dollop of creme fraiche; they’re also good with butter and real maple syrup. This recipe makes about 6 waffles in my iron, and you can freeze leftovers to reheat in your toaster.
Source: The Good Enough to Eat Breakfast Cookbook, by Carrie Levin (p. 58-59).
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08.14.08
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Italian, Leftovers, Pastas, Persnickety Bits, Veggies at 5:25 pm by julie
Oh lordy, it is 100F outside and close to 90F indoors—way too hot to think about cooking! But the house has been cleaned up and the baby is still asleep, so I’ve got time to revisit an old post I meant to write way back in early June, when the weather was still mild and reasonable—seems like ages ago. My mom came for a visit the second week of June, to keep Nolan and me company while Jeremy was away at a training for work. While she was here, we were incredibly busy remodeling our back room to make it fit for a home theater room (our previous HT room was a bedroom that had to be sacrificed for Nolan’s nursery; both are still works in progress at this point). Over the course of five days, we emptied, cleaned and repainted the room, purchased Roman shades and an area rug, and started putting together a new TV stand. We also had a drawing of Jeremy’s framed, got the dog’s toenails clipped, and—the point of this post—visited the Salem Wednesday farmer’s market.
Among other things, we came home from the market with Hood strawberries for ice cream, a bouquet of curly garlic scapes, and a huge bagful of fava beans. While Nolan napped after all the excitement and my mom worked on painting the baseboards, I macerated berries, buzzed up an easy recipe for garlic scape pesto, and got the favas shelled, blanched and peeled. When dinnertime rolled around, all I had to do was cook pasta and toss it together with the favas—quickly sauteed in olive oil—the pesto, and a splash of cream. The pesto turned out to have an intense garlicky heat, much more powerful than I had anticipated. A little went a very long way, so we had lots left over. (I mixed some of it into scrambled eggs, which helped tame the flavor but produced some awfully unphotogenic beige eggs, a disappointment since the pesto itself was such a sprightly spring green.)
As for the room, I keep trying to take photos that actually show what it looks like now. (You can see, a bit, its previous state in this photo, which was taken from nearly the same stance.) Alas, the problem is that I can’t back up enough with our camera’s lens to capture more than a corner of the room at one time. But this should at least give you the gist of it, complete with ugly purple couch and pretty German shepherd pup. What you can’t quite see to the left is the TV, and to the right is a built-in bookshelf, the stairs to the basement, another big window, and three hanging pots containing herbs that keep dying (I think it is just too hot back there now—currently wilting are sage, lemon thyme and basil plants). We still need to get some speakers and other equipment set up, and take care of a few finishing touches like more artwork, but I’m pretty happy with the result, considering our limited options.
My laptop is about to fuse to my knees, so I’m going to give it a chance to cool off. Man, that strawberry ice cream sounds really good about now… time to make a fresh batch of something cool and refreshing, I dare say.
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08.10.08
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Nuts, Grains & Legumes, Soups at 10:35 pm by julie
I swear I’m not crazy. Last week, when we had unseasonal temperatures in the 60’s and overcast skies, this lentil soup was just the ticket. More recently, with temperatures back in the mid-90’s, I’m overheating just thinking about soup. So this post will be brief.
I was mostly looking for something I could make from pantry staples to use up some freshly made chicken stock. Jeremy picked lentils out of the options I ticked off, and I wanted to track down something a bit out of the ordinary. The soup itself is pretty basic: the smoked paprika and even the carrots were additions of mine. The thing that makes it special is the walnut cream garnish, which adds depth and richness. The walnut cream is also very similar to the salsa di noci we like on rotini, and I used some of the extra for just that the next day.
Lentil Soup With Pounded Walnuts and Cream
2 C brown lentils
2 to 4 T butter
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, cut into small dice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp smoked paprika
6 C vegetable or chicken stock (or water)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large garlic cloves, pan-roasted*
2/3 C lightly toasted walnuts
½ C ricotta
2 T heavy cream
Flax oil for garnish, optional
Soak the lentils in water for 2 hours, then drain.
Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion, carrot, and bay leaf. Sauté over medium-high heat until onion is translucent and carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add lentils, stock, smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Using a food processor, grind together the garlic with the walnuts and a large pinch of salt. Add the cream and ricotta, and process until a smooth paste is formed.
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a large spoonful of walnut cream, a sprinkle of smoked paprika and, if desired, a drizzle of flax oil. Serves 4 to 6.
Source: Adapted from New York Times; originally from “Vegetable Soups,” by Deborah Madison.
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08.05.08
Posted in Dinner, Lamb, Meats at 11:02 pm by julie
Jeremy’s parents were here recently to visit us for the first time since they moved across the country in 2004. They wanted to meet their new grandson or something—go figure. Anyway, they were only here for a few days, but I wanted to make sure to cook them at least one nice meal, because I haven’t had the opportunity to do so since long before I knew my way around the kitchen.
I was already planning to make my July Daring Bakers challenge for them, but asked for Jeremy’s input as to what they might like for dinner, and his response was lamb. His response is almost always lamb, parents or no parents, so I’m always on the lookout for a new recipe. I decided to try out the grilled stuffed leg of lamb in the August Bon Appetit, which is served with caramelized lemon jus, and Jeremy brought home an appropriately boneless hunk of meat for me to pound into oblivion. After stuffing and trussing the lamb, I gave it an hour or so to marinate in lemon juice and olive oil while making the lemon jus. Jeremy’s mom was good enough to entertain Nolan while I worked, and then watched over the grilling lamb when I had to go pump.
It took longer to cook on our cast iron grill pan than I anticipated, despite my efforts to keep the stuffed lamb on the flat side. I had more than enough time to prep some rainbow chard for a side, blanching the leaves separately from the stems. The recipe didn’t mention whether or not to strain the jus, so I went ahead with it. I think my decision to make the jus in advance and keep it warm on a back burner contributed to a bitter overtone, as it contains whole grilled lemon slices, pith and all. A pinch of extra sugar tweaked its flavor just enough to offset the bitterness, though, and the acidity of the jus paired up nicely with both the meat and the simply sauteed chard.
Grilled Leg of Lamb with Caramelized Lemon Jus
1 well-trimmed 4 to 4-1/2 pound boneless leg of lamb with shank end removed
4 large garlic cloves; 3 chopped, 1 sliced
2 tsp finely grated lemon peel
20 fresh sage leaves (about), divided
4 oz thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon)
3 T fresh lemon juice
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
Open lamb, boned side up, like book. Trim most sinew and fat, being careful not to cut any holes in meat. Make one 3/4- to 1-inch-deep full-length cut in each thick portion of lamb (do not cut through to work surface). Cover lamb with sheet of plastic wrap. Using rolling pin, pound to even 1- to 1 1/2-inch thickness (lamb will be about 8×19 inches).
Peel off plastic wrap. Sprinkle lamb evenly with salt and pepper, chopped garlic, and lemon peel. Top with 15 sage leaves, spaced evenly apart. Cover with pancetta. Starting at 1 long side, fold lamb in half. Tie lamb tightly at 2-inch intervals into long roll. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Whisk lemon juice and oil in medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Brush mixture all over lamb and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Place lamb on grill and sear on all sides. Continue to grill until thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 130°F for rare, turning and brushing occasionally with lemon juice mixture, about 45 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Let rest 10 minutes. Cut lamb into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve with Caramelized Lemon Jus.
Caramelized Lemon Jus
1 large lemon, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
10 large fresh sage leaves
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
3 T sugar
2/3 C dry white wine
2 C beef broth
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill lemon slices until charred, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate; chop coarsely.
Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add sage leaves, garlic, and grilled lemon pieces with any juices, then sugar. Cook until shallots start to color, about 5 minutes. Add wine, and simmer until liquid has mostly reduced. Add beef broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until jus is reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Source: Bon Appetit, August 2008
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08.04.08
Posted in Dairy, Dessert, Foodblog Events, Nuts, Grains & Legumes at 5:53 pm by julie
The first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week, an event designed, as the name implies, to promote breastfeeding on a global scale. As you may have noticed from my previous posts, breastfeeding is a big part of my life right now, even though I have to come at it a little sideways. Nolan has had latching issues from Day One, so I’ve been exclusively pumping for him since Day Two. It is a huge time investment—I just did some quick math, and estimate that I’ve spent at least 360 hours attached to that pump since Nolan’s birth 19 weeks ago (that is a conservative estimate, based on 8 20-minute sessions per day… it sometimes takes 30 minutes per session, and I pumped 9-10 times per day the first month or two, while establishing my supply). With all that effort, I produce just barely enough for Nolan on a daily basis, with perhaps a few ounces to store in the freezer against future need. But it is such a worthwhile investment, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have both the supply and the time to pump for my son.
I realize that breastfeeding may not be an option for every family, but it is so incredibly beneficial for both mother and baby that it is certainly worth attempting, even for a short period of time. I am bound and determined to at least reach 6 months, and a year or more if possible.
In case you were wondering what set off this little discourse on my foodblog, you can thank Linda at Make Life Sweeter! for hosting an event called Got Milk? in honor of World Breastfeeding Week, for which this post is my entry. Anyway, off the soap box and on with the food.
I had some praline paste leftover from the filbert gateau even after whipping up a batch of praline ricotta pancakes. It didn’t amount to much, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out, so I used it to flavor some vanilla pudding instead. I adapted a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours, using 1% milk rather than whole milk. It worked out alright, but I imagine the texture would be a bit creamer and less gloppy with a higher fat content. I’m not convinced that her method of using the food processor to make the pudding was worth the extra dishes, however; the stove-top tempering method has always worked just fine for me.
Praline Pudding
2 1/4 C 1% or whole milk
6 T sugar
3 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
2 T butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C praline paste/powder
Bring 2 cups of milk and 3 T sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, blend remaining 3 T sugar and egg yolks for 1 minute. Add remaining 1/4 cup milk and pulse just to mix. Then add cornstarch and salt and pulse a few more times.
With the machine still running, very slowly add hot milk mixture. Process for a few seconds more, then pour everything back into the saucepan. Whisk without stopping over medium heat until the pudding thickens and some bubbles pop on the surface. Do not let it boil completely, so if it hasn’t thickened yet, turn down the heat. Scrape the pudding back into the machine (avoiding any scorched spots) and pulse a few more times. Add butter, vanilla, and 3 T praline paste, and pulse until evenly blended.
Pour the pudding evenly into 6 4-oz ramekins or cups. Press a piece of plastic wrap over each surface. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with a sprinkle of praline powder or some caramelized nuts.
Source: Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (p. 384).
Praline Paste
1 C (4 ½ oz.) hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 C sugar
Line a jelly roll pan with a silpat, or lightly buttered parchment.
Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. Remember – this is an extremely hot mixture. Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several more minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.
Source: Great Cakes by Carol Walter
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08.03.08
Posted in American, Chocolate, Cookies & Candies, Cuisines, Dessert at 2:12 pm by julie
I don’t often follow, or even really notice, food fads. For instance, I completely missed out on that whole molten chocolate cake craze until this past June. I made a batch of Dorie Greenspan’s Korova cookies for Christmas in 2005, without a clue that they would become popular enough to rename World Peace Cookies in her Baking book of 2006—maybe I was actually ahead of the curve on that one. And I’ve never yet made a loaf of no-knead bread, popularized by the New York Times article, though I do mean to try it at some point.
The current foodblog fashion trend was also set by the Times, and this was one I couldn’t resist for long: big, chewy, golden brown chocolate chip cookies adapted from a recipe by Jacques Torres. Even though my heart will always lie with David Lebovitz’s low-and-slow recipe, I can’t help but try out other variations.
The Torres cookies are good ones indeed, and I can see what all the fuss is about. They have that classic flavor, with tons of bittersweet chocolate and just the right balance of buttery crunch and chewy innards. I divided my dough between two baking days (after about 24 and 72 hours, respectively), some plain and some sprinkled with fleur de sel. I didn’t have quite enough cake flour, so about an ounce of that was subbed with all-purpose. I used a 1/3 cup measure for a total of 2 dozen cookies, and baked some for 19 minutes, the rest for 16.
What we thought: While warm, all I could taste was chocolate (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chips). Once they had cooled, all the cookies stayed soft in the center, though we both preferred the texture of the 16-minute cookies, which looked very underdone coming out of the oven. I liked the salt-sprinkled cookies more than Jeremy did, since he isn’t a huge salt fan, but since I also like dipping my cookies in milk, and salt + milk = yuck, I ended up leaving the salt off all the 72-hour cookies for that purpose.
I like the advance prep aspect of this recipe, since I could make the dough while Nolan was napping and then bake at my next opportunity, but the cold dough was a pain to work with. If I use this recipe again, I’m going to portion the dough before chilling it, and then let it rest as 1/3-cup pucks, stacked in a container between sheets of waxed paper. I’m still not entirely convinced they were worth the extra trouble of waiting for the dough to rest 36 hours, however; a more scientific comparison might be in order, baking off both freshly made and well-rested batches of dough. Either way, you can hardly go wrong with fresh chocolate chip cookies, so I understand the wave of popularity!
Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 C minus 2 T (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 C (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 C) unsalted butter
1 1/4 C (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 C plus 2 T (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 lb bittersweet chocolate disks or chips, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt
Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate in and incorporate gently. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin, or cooled, with a big glass of milk. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.
Source: New York Times
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