Edible Arrangement

This was my first edible arrangement. If you want to learn how to make this, visit this page.

Orange Rolls

Ingredients:

- For the dough
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
2 Tbl. sugar
3 1/2 oz. pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup butter (melted)
2 eggs
1 teas. salt
6 cups flour

- For the Filling:
1 1/2 sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Zest of 2 Oranges
2 sticks soft butter


- For the Orange Glaze:
Orange Juice
3 cups confectioner's sugar


Directions:

In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend.

Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down dough and let rise again. Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size. Take the soft butter and spread over surface.

In bowl, mix the sugars and orange zest. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly. With knife, put a notch every 2". Cut with thread or knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart. Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.

Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 15−20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE.

Frost warm rolls with Orange Glaze.

(*) To make the glaze, mix all ingredients until smooth.

Simply Vanilla Waffles

Every Saturday or Sunday morning we like to have some especial breakfast treat. This Saturday we decided to dress up those simply vanilla waffles with some pine nuts and fresh strawberries, and this is how we did it:


Ingredients:

- For the Vanilla Waffles:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 tspn. baking powder
3/4 tspn. baking soda
3/4 tspn. salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 large egg
3 Tbspn. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tspn. Vanilla extract

- For garnish:

1/2 cup Pine Nuts
2 cups fresh strawberries sliced
Butter
Maple syrup (or the kind you normally use for your hot cakes or waffles)
Whipping Cream


Directions:

Preheat your waffle maker and your stove oven to 200ºF. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract to blend. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.

Ladle about 1/2 cup of the waffle batter onto your waffle maker (this may vary depending on your waffle maker size and shape). Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until your green light is on, or until the waffle is golden and crisp on the outside and cooked through. Transfer the waffles to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while cooking the remaining waffles.

To assemble the plate: Layer one waffle on the bottom, spread some butter, maple syrup, a few pine nuts and few strawberries. Put another waffle on top and repeat the process. Add a dullop of whipping cream and some more maple syrup.

Source: Adapted from "Relaxed cooking with Curtis Stone"

Bakewell Tart - Daring Bakers' June Challenge

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.




Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin


Ingredients:

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds


Directions:

- Assembling the tart:

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam(*) onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

- Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

- Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.




(*) The first bakewell tart I used cream of lemon instead of jam and on the second I used Dulce de leche and chocolate chips.

Cream of Lemon: Mix together in one bowl: 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice, zest from 2 lemons and 4 egg yolks.

Dulce de Leche: After you get your tart shell out of the freezer, spread 1 can of Dulce de Leche and cover it with semi sweet chocolate chips, then add the frangipane.

Grilled Jerk Pork Tenderloins

I decided to try this recipe from Emeril Lagasse (2007) and we absolutely loved it. (We did a little twist though)


Ingredients:


2 cups chopped green onions
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
4 jalapeno chilies, stemmed and seeded
2 splashes of soy sauce
2 pounds pork tenderloin (usually 2 small tenderloins)


Directions:

Place all ingredients except the pork into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Place the pork tenderloins into a resealable plastic bag, add the marinade and seal, making sure that the tenderloins are evenly coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours; the longer the meat marinates the better.

Preheat a grill to high. Remove the pork from the marinade and discard the marinade.

Grill the pork for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until slightly charred on the outside and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the thickest part of the meat registers 145 degrees F. Remove the meat from the grill and set aside to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing. When ready to serve, slice the pork against the grain into thin slices and serve immediately


Source: Adapted from Food Network - Emeril Lagasse

Portobello mushrooms with ricotta, tomatoes and basil

This is a very quick and simple recipe. As Curtis Stone defines it: It's robust enough to serve as an entree, but it also goes very nicely indeed with a few slabs of bacon and a fired or scrambled egg.

Ingredients:

3 medium heirloom tomatoes (about 1 pound total), halved and cored. (I used homemade sun-dried tomatoes)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 or 4 fresh thyme sprigs
4 portobello mushrooms, stems removed
4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) fresh ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp. small fresh basil leaves


Directions:

Position an oven rack about 8 inches below the heating element and preheat the broiler to low heat. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up on a large heavy baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over the tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the thyme. Broil the tomatoes fro 5 to 7 minutes.

Arrange the mushrooms, gill side up, on the same baking sheet with the tomatoes, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over them. Turn the mushrooms over and brush the tops with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Broil the mushrooms and tomatoes for 5 minutes.

Turn the mushrooms gill side up, and spoon the ricotta onto the mushrooms. Continue broiling for a further 5 minutes, or until the ricotta is heated through and beginning to brown on top. At this point, the mushrooms and tomatoes should be just tender and the tomatoes should be slightly browned on top. Transfer them to a platter, sprinkle with the basil, and serve.


Source: Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone

Meatloaf

This is a very comforting and delicious recipe. I saw this "Meatloaf Throughdown" of Bobby Flay and decided to give it a try. The flavor is really good. I made a little variations for our family. So here is the complete recipe:

Ingredients:

Salad oil
1 carrot, small to medium dice
2 stalks celery, small to medium dice
1 medium onion, small to medium dice
1 garlic clove, minced (*)
2 pounds ground turkey (*)
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dash hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash Balsamic Vinegar (*)
3 slices bread
1/2 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
Ketchup


Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. (Original recipe calls for 375 degrees F)

In a medium-sized saute pan, put 2 dribbles of salad oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and onions and saute, about 5 minutes. Put aside and let cool.

In large bowl put the carrot mixture, ground turkey and remaining ingredients, except for the bread, the bread crumbs and ketchup. Soak the bread in cold milk, then squeeze milk out (like a sponge) and drain it. Add to the ground beef and mix. (A stand mixer may help make it easier). Add the bread crumbs and mix. Roll into firm loaf, spread ketchup over the top, and place into preheated oven for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, or until cooked through. Take out and serve hot.

(*) Those ingredients I added to the recipe. I also substituted ground turkey for ground beef.


Source: Food Network --Courtesy of Collucci Bros.