Jenna's Bake-ventures

A few pictures..

2010-06-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

(top to bottom) My Black Forest Cake! It was my test for the Cakes station. It's layers of Chocolate Chiffon Cake, Chocolate Buttercream, Kirsch Simple Syrup, Cherries and Chantilly Cream. YUM! | My Chef demonstrating how to assemble and decorate a Black Forest Cake. | My friends Rosie and Ian always make me laugh. | A tempering machine, keeping this milk chocolate at the perfect temperature to coat chocolates.

2010-06-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

(top to bottom) Fruit Tart | Dacquoise: layers of Japonaise (meringue with ground hazelnuts) and chocolate buttercream | Torching a Lemon Raspberry Meringue Cake | A finished Lemon Raspberry Meringue Cake | Mousse Bombes

2010-06-15T17:06:00.001-07:00

My perfectly frosted cake for my test (turned into a Black Forest Cake) | Marzipan Roses and leaves

Butterfinger Pictures

2010-06-15T16:40:00.009-07:00

(left) My Butterfingers were a tad crumbly; maybe from overmixing? They were still delicious! And even more so when dipped in milk chocolate! (below)

Walnut Biscotti

2010-06-15T16:15:00.009-07:00

These twice-baked cookies are a favorite of mine because they are great by themselves, dipped in coffee, or halfway dipped in milk chocolate like I tried tonight! An extra benefit: they are only 70 calories per cookie! (Top picture: 1 rectangle of biscotti dough before being baked. Middle picture: After baking biscotti for 10 minutes, slice biscotti into 1/2" wide pieces. Bottom picture: Biscotti laid out on a baking sheet, ready for it's second bake.)

Walnut Biscotti

(Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies)

¾ cup walnut halves, toasted

1 cup flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 egg whites

Heat oven to 350.

Pulse walnuts in a food processor until walnuts are the consistency of coarse meal. Mix ½ cup of the ground walnuts and the remaining ingredients except the egg whites in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites thoroughly until stiff dough forms.

Sprinkle remaining ground walnuts on a cutting board or waxed paper. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 7x3 inch rectangle on top of walnuts. Carefully transfer rectangles onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes.

Transfer each rectangle onto a cutting board and cut into ½ inch slices. Put slices back on cookie sheet, cut sides down.

Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crisped and browned. Remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack until completely cooled. Store tightly covered.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

2010-06-11T15:03:00.002-07:00

This light, airy sponge cake is used for many different delicious things in my school bakery. Mousse Bombes and Black Forest Cake are my favorites. The recipe for Black Forest Cake will be up soon!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Makes approx 5 8-in rounds (or one full sheet pan)

Ingredients:

10 oz cake flour

8 oz granulated sugar

0.25 oz salt

0.5 oz baking powder

2 oz cocoa

5 oz vegetable oil

6 oz egg yolks

9 oz water

0.25 oz vanilla extract

10 oz egg whites

5 oz granulated sugar

0.05 oz cream of tartar

Sift the first 5 ingredients together into a mixing bowl.

Using the paddle attachment, turn mixer on low. With mixer running, pour oil into bowl, trying not let the oil touch the side of the bowl or the paddle. Mix until the dry and oil form a crumb-like texture. Stop the mixer; scrape the bowl.

Add the yolks all at once and mix. It should now look like fudge. Stop the mixer; scrape the bowl.

Add the water in thirds, scraping thoroughly after 2nd addition. When all the water is added, mix for 2 mins. Scrape the bowl and mix for another minute. It should be a very smooth batter.

Stir in the vanilla. Pour batter into a big, wide bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites, 5 oz sugar and cream of tartar until medium peaks form.

In thirds, carefully fold whipped egg whites into batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour into ungreased, paper-lined, 8-in round cake pans (or one full sheet pan – ungreased and paper-lined). To cook evenly, they should all weigh 12 oz. In the bakery, this is 4 pans with a full 12 oz, and one with the leftover few ounces (we don’t waste anything!). At home if you do not have a scale, measure out 1 ½ cups per pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Because this is a sponge cake, a toothpick test will not work. Test doneness by pushing lightly in the center of the pan. If it gently springs back, it is done. If your fingerprint stays, let it bake for a minute or two more.

Extra info:

As I said in an earlier post, it is SO easy to overdevelop the gluten – even in moist cakes! However, chiffon cake is a special because it has oil in the recipe. When you add the oil to the dry ingredients, the oil encapsulates the flour and prevents gluten development. So you can’t really overdevelop the gluten in this recipe. Sweet! =)

The purpose of the cream of tartar with the egg whites and sugar is to stabilize the egg whites. As we saw in class when the cream of tartar was accidentally forgotten in one batch, it helps with the volume of the batter and finished cakes, and helps them to set up more. The acidity of the cream of tartar is what does this, so in other recipes you may see lemon juice or another acid to be whipped in with the egg whites, serving the same purpose.

Butterfingers

2010-06-10T09:02:00.003-07:00

My chef made these yesterday in class - yummy! They're not as airy and crumbly as Butterfinger candies you buy, but I think I like them better that way. He has so many tools I don't have, as he makes chocolates every day. So the metal bars I mention are long 1-in square metal bars used to enclose a candy when it is in liquid form, until it cools. Then you take the bars away and cut the candy into a set size. I will improvise with what I have on hand when I make these. Have fun =)

Butterfingers – Ian Titterton

10 oz peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

7 ½ oz granulated sugar

4 ½ oz corn syrup

3 ½ oz water

Milk chocolate, melted (optional)

Over a double boiler, heat the peanut butter and vanilla. Keep warm.

Boil the sugar, corn syrup and water to 290 degrees.

Quickly stir into the hot peanut butter, just until combined. Do not over mix, or it will become crumbly.

Immediately spread onto a Silpat or buttered half sheet pan. (to make even squares, pour onto Silpat, with 1" high metal bars set around edges to create a rectangle – set to whatever thickness you want). Cut as soon as cool into 1" squares (or.

If desired, dip completely into melted milk chocolate.

Highlights of what I have learned so far...

2010-06-08T08:17:00.002-07:00

First of all, I want to tell you all how much I love what I’m doing. I am learning pastry arts at Clark College in Vancouver, Wa. I am getting answers to questions I always wondered about baking/cooking, and I am gaining knowledge and confidence in an area I have dubbed very important in life (well, in mine anyways). Food and the science of it is very interesting to me. While I cannot be bothered with much in the way of science, the way ingredients work together to create something delicious (or not so) fascinates me. What happens if I put too much baking powder in this? At what temperature does Italian meringue burn? Why must we whip egg whites to medium peaks for a chiffon cake? I love learning these things – in books and by example! I love to be a food scientist, experimenting with things I think will work well together, or just trying things I have always wanted to.

So as I would have appreciated these tidbits of information before I became a student of baking, I wanted to share these things with you. Here we go!

1. It is SO easy to overdevelop the gluten!

In my Breads station, the thing I heard the most was “do not overdevelop the gluten”! Um, the what? I barely knew what gluten was (only that my sister could not eat it, so I just summed that up to all things bread), let alone how tricky it could be. Sure, you can stir flour all you want, but once you add liquid to it, STOP. Well, don’t stop, but don’t just let a mixer beat away. You must must must be careful. At the end of a cookie recipe when it says “mix in flour by hand”, they don’t mean ‘if you want to because you have all the time in the world and you want to feel like you’re roughing it’ (my mistake). They say that for a reason. Once you add liquid to flour, gluten strands start to develop. These are what we love about bread. The binding cells in a bread’s structure that break apart when you tear at a slice of bread. These are what bind the delicious sugars and butter in a cookie. These strands, when tender, are what make a cake so satisfying. Have you, however, tasted bread that seemed to have no air pockets in it, but was one lump of tough wheat? A bagel you couldn’t tear with your teeth? Or tasted a cake that wasn’t quite so delicate? This is probably because of the common, easy mistake of over-developed gluten.

Therefore, be careful when mixing a dough of any kind. Hand-mixing is always better, and mixing something just until the wet and dry ingredients come together (does not need to be smooth and look all uniformly mixed) is sufficient. As a dough is baked, the leavener (chemical or natural – more on this later) will do it’s job to bind everything together, as well as puff it up into a delicious, airy, tender treat.

2. Measurements are important!

If you are like my mom and follow recipes to the T, you don’t need to pay as much attention to this section. I, however, have learned that baking is more scientific than cooking. I love to just throw things together and see how they come out. While this is fine for a home baker with lots of extra money to waste on hard cookies and collapsed bread experiments, it will not fly in any money making bakery.

At school, we weigh EVERYTHING. 3 lbs flour, 2 oz yeast, 2 lbs sugar, etc. Even the eggs are weighed. This is to get precisely the desired texture, amount, and taste of a product. Once you find what you want to make and sell in a bakery, you need consistency. Customers are people of habit (I know this all too well from Starbucks, where we know everyone by what they drink every single day) and expect things to taste the same every time. And the best way to get this consistency of a great product (well, the first step!) is proper measurement. And in large-scale bakeries, weight measurements keep things efficient.

When dealing with breads, everything is based on the weight of the flour. Flour is always 100%, and everything else has a percentage assigned to it. This is called Baker’s Percentages. If the flour is 4 lbs, and the water is set at 50% (every ingredient varies per recipe), you can easily deduce that the water should weigh 2 lbs. This makes it easy if you are doubling, tripling, or making any percentage of a recipe.

3. Lard is better for you than shortening.

I think some people disagree on this (definitely vegans), but I was taught that lard is better for you than hydrogenated shortening. Non-hydrogenated shortening is better for you than hydrogenated shortening, but is more expensive and large bakeries often won’t put up the cash (think Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, and some large grocery stores) for this benefit that most people do not know exists. So between the cost-effective lard and hydrogenated shortening, the latter gets picked first. Lard is made from animal fat, and while that sounded gross to me at first, it is natural. It is great for pie doughs, but keep in mind that it does not cream well (cookies) because it is very dense. Hydrogenated shortening, on the other hand, is not natural (it’s an evil trans fat!), and stays packed in your body once you eat it, as your poor body doesn’t know what to do with it. Think of it as an extra lining/coating inside of your stomach and arteries. Hmmm, and why is America so overweight? So next time you cannot use butter (the obvious choice for the best flavor and texture and the fact that it leaves your body after you eat it), choose lard! Ha, never thought I would say that.

P.S. Did you know gelatin is made from horse hoof connective tissue?? Why do we use so many gross parts of animals (think sausage casings...) as ingredients in food? That's enough to make me become a vegetarian right there!

4. All about leaveners

Baking soda, baking powder, air & steam. These are the three most common leaveners in baked goods. A leavener is something that helps the mixture to rise and create a delicate cell structure. I knew about baking soda and baking powder, but air & steam – natural, free ingredients – as leaveners were new to me. The best illustration I can think of for these is when you are baking a Foam Cake (Genoise, Angel Food, Sponge, Chiffon). The batters for these cakes are so light and fluffy. When you put the batter into the hot oven, all the air you worked so hard to whip into the batter instantly turns to steam, causing it to rise. Often when baking a foam cake, you will need to turn the temperature down halfway through or so, so that you can bake it evenly. The high temperature at the beginning, though, is definitely important to your cake’s light and fluffy texture.

Okay wow. That was a lot of information! Or, mostly I got carried away and wrote too much on each subject. I hope you learned something. =) I will learn much much more and will try to keep sharing useful knowledge with you. I will also try to post yummy recipes from my classes on here. The problem with them, though, is they produce so much! For instance, I have a recipe for French bread I wanted to share, but it makes 35 lbs of dough! I will try to pare it down just a tad. Baker’s Percentages will help, right?

Happy baking everyone!

Kentucky Butter Cake with Whiskey Sauce

2009-10-29T15:19:00.005-07:00

This is my FAVORITE cake of all time. One spring my Mom took my sister and I to visit our older sister who was attending college in Chicago. She worked at Bloomingdales at the time, and we sat in on a cooking demonstration (Actually my mom and older sister did. I wasn't interested in cooking at the time - only shopping!) and got some of our favorite recipes from there. They made this cake and once we tasted it, we knew we had to make it once we got home. It has a wonderful, rich delicious flavor. Buttery, crunchy, sweet, creamy from the sauce. Ah! My birthday is coming up soon, by the way, so if anyone feels like making me a cake.... =)

P.S. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished product! The next time I make it, I'll add pictures, I promise. But you do get to see my beautiful mother preparing the cake in her new kitchen. =)

Kentucky Butter Cake

Serves 12 to 16

Cake:

3 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

2 c sugar

1 c butter, softened

4 large eggs

1 c buttermilk or sour cream

2 T vanilla extract

Sauce:

1 c sugar

1/2 c butter

¼ c water

1 T vanilla extract

Confectioner’s sugar

Heat oven to 325°F. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat sugar and butter in bowl of electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine buttermilk (or sour cream) with vanilla. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture to the mixing bowl, beat well. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat well. Repeat with buttermilk mixture and flour mixture 2 more times, beating well after each addition.

Spoon batter into a bundt pan. Bake until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 ¼ hours.

Meanwhile, for sauce, heat sugar, butter, water and vanilla in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and butter has melted, about 10 minutes. Do not boil.

Remove cake from oven and immediately prick all over with a long wooden stick or skewer. Pour hot sauce over cake; let stand until completely cool. Shake cake sideways in pan to loosen it from the edges. Invert cake onto serving plate; sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar. Slice and serve with Whiskey Sauce, below.

Whiskey Sauce

Makes 1 ½ cups (enough for 1 cake)

½ tsp cornstarch

1 c heavy cream

½ c sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1 T unsalted butter

1 T bourbon or other whiskey

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in ¼ c of water.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon.

NOTE: Must use heavy cream as milk or half & half aren’t thick enough.

Cashew Caramel Cookies

2009-10-28T15:11:00.001-07:00

Cashew Caramel Cookies

-Martha Stewart (picture taken from marthastewart.com)

1 2/3 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 c roasted, salted cashews (divided)

2 T plus 1 tsp canola oil

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c packed light brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

24 soft caramel candy cubes (7 oz)

1/4 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour and salt together. Coarsely chop 1 c cashews; set aside. Process remaining 1 1/2 c cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. Pour in oil. Process until mixture is creamy, about 2 mins.

Put cashew mixture butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 mins. Mix in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually add flour mixture. Mix in reserved chopped cashews.

Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls; space apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 6 mins; gently flatten with spatula. Bake until bottoms are just golden, 6-7 mins more. Let cool completely.

Melt caramels with cream in small saucepan over low heat, stirring. Let cool. Drizzle caramel over cookies; let set.

Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-10-28T14:49:00.019-07:00

For Canadian Thanksgiving this year, I traveled to London, Ontario to spend time with my sister and her husband's family. My sister's mother-in-law, Shelley Bulckaert, is a very talented cook, having lived in France for 4 years and learning techniques from her French friends there. She made us an amazing multi-course dinner, and I just had to share some of my favorite dishes with you all!

Fig and Walnut Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese

London Free Press, July 2003

Makes 4 servings

I loved this salad! This was my first delicious taste of fresh figs, and I adored them! I suggest quartering the figs, as halves are a bit too big to include other bits in a biteful. Also, Shelley doesn't care for gorgonzola (nor do I), so she substituted a delicious creamy French cheese. I don't know what kind it was, but any hard cheese with a bite will blend well with these flavors.

1 ¾ c walnuts (or pecans)

1 lb arugula or mesclun mix

6 Mission figs, halved lengthwise (or quartered)

½ lb gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or other

cheese)

1 cup port wine

1 T sugar

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread walnuts out on baking pan and roast until lightly browned, about eight minutes. Coarsely chop and transfer to small bowl. Set aside.

Remove and discard stems from arugula; rinse, drain and spin dry. Divide arugula among four salad plates. Arrange three fig halves on each plate; sprinkle with gorgonzola and walnuts. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce port wine by half. Add sugar and stir to dissolve; remove from heat. Add balsamic vinegar. Slowly whisk in olive oil, until emulsified. While warm, drizzle over each salad. If desired, lightly season with pepper.

Butternut Squash-Tangerine Soup with Pistachio Gremolata

Cuisine at Home, December 2008

Makes 7 Servings (7 cups)

Soup:

1 lb peeled, cubed butternut squash (4 cups)

2 T chopped fresh ginger

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 garlic cloves

Pinch of saffron threads, optional

2 T unsalted butter

5 cups water

1 ½ cups fresh tangerine juice or orange juice

¼ cup dried apricots

2 T honey

Gremolata:

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 T chopped pistachios

1 T minced tangerine or orange zest

¼ cup plain yogurt

Saute squash, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, and saffron for the soup in butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook until squash browns, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add water, tangerine juice, apricots, and honey. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered until squash is tender, about 40 minutes. Let soup stand off heat for 10 minutes, then puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Return soup to pot and heat until warmed through.

Toss parsley, pistachios, and zest for gremolata together in a bowl. Spoon yogurt on each serving of soup, then garnish with parsley mixture.

Cranberry Port Sauce

Makes 2 cups

From Shelley Bulckaert

3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup Port

½ cup orange juice

1 T grated orange peel

Combine cranberries with brown sugar, Port, orange juice and grated peel in a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 to 10 minutes until cranberries pop and sauce thickens a little. Cool.

Pour sauce into a bowl and chill. Serve cold.

Honey Green Beans with Pecans and Cranberries

“Vegetables and Side Dishes” – from Shelley Bulckaert

2 lb green beans, trimmed and halved on diagonal

2 T honey or maple syrup

2 T butter

1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted

½ cup dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange zest

salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook beans in a large pot of boiling, salted water until tender. Drain. Melt honey and butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add beans, pecans, cranberries and orange zest, tossing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sesame-Sauteed Purple Carrots

Serves 4 - 6

Food & Drink, Autumn 2009

“Yellow, white, red and purple carrots were common up to the 17^th century. Since then those colors have given way to the standard orange that we are most familiar with. Now considered exotic, these heirloom varieties thankfully survived in some parts of the world and are making a comeback here in Ontario along with some new hybrid purple varieties. Purple carrots have just a thin layer of purple pigment on the outside with a conventional orange or a yellow interior (and sometimes orange AND yellow), so don’t peel them! The flavor is surprisingly like orange carrots but with more depth and true carrot flavor. Some varieties do lost their purple color when cooked so a light sauté is a good way to get the most of their unusual look.” – F&D

1 lb purple carrots (about 5 medium or 10 small)

2 tsp canola oil

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 T sesame seeds

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp honey

salt and freshly ground pepper

Trim off ends of carrots. Gently scrub under running water to remove any sand and grit. Cut crosswise on a diagonal into 1/8 in slices.

In a large skillet or wok, heat canola and sesame oil over high heat. Add carrots and sesame seeds and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until just starting to wilt. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with lemon juice and honey; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Caramel Apples

Makes 1 cheese cake: 12 – 16 servings.

Canadian Living, October 2009

Crust:

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup salted butter, melted

Cheesecake:

¾ cup packed brown sugar

3 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

Topping:

6 apples

3 T lemon juice

2 T unsalted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 T amber rum

1 tsp cornstarch

Grease and line side of 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Place pan on center of large square of foil. Bring foil up and press to side of pan.

Crust: In bowl, stir together crumbs, walnuts and butter until moistened; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake in 350 F oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool on rack.

Cheesecake: Into small bowl, sift sugar to remove any lumps. In stand mixer with paddle or in bowl with hand mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar at high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down bowl. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla and cinnamon. Beat in sour cream. Pour over crust.

Set springform pan in larger pan; pour in enough hot water to come 1 inch up side of pan. Bake in 325 F oven until set but center still jiggles slightly, about 1 ¼ hours.

Transfer springform pan to rack and remove foil; let cool. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.

Topping: Peel, core and thinly slice apples; toss with lemon juice. Set aside.

In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; stir in sugar and cook until melted and golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add apples, cinnamon and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk rum with cornstarch; stir into apples and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. (If making ahead, store in an air-tight container up to 24 hours, then rewarm before serving). Serve with cheesecake.

Wine Tasting!

Also on this trip, I went wine tasting for the first time. I loved it! It was in my favorite Canadian city, Niagra-on-the-Lake. I'm definitely taking the culinary approach to wine.. what flavors are in this? What dishes would this go well with? It's so fun! =) I'm still very new to the depths of flavors, but I feel I've begun a life-long journey of wine appreciation. Right now, though, I still love the sweet white wines - yum!

Check out some of the beautiful wineries we went to:

Peller Estates Winery

Jackson-Triggs Winery

Inniskillin Niagra

And read all about the Icewines that are original to the Niagra region! Only a few places in the world make Icewine. They are so sweet and almost syrup-y. So good but you can only drink a wee bit! And the bottles (around 12 ounces) are at least $50 each! It was definitely a treat to taste and experience.

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

2009-08-26T19:28:00.002-07:00

These flaky, savory biscuits are so delicious! My favorite part about them is how you can pull them apart, layer by layer by layer - all the while knowing YOU were the one who put those layers there. It didn't come from a can! Seriously, you'll be very proud of yourself after baking these goodies, just as I was. =)

The recipe says "The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix." Okay, my dough was VERY sticky. I reread the recipe a couple times to make sure I didn't forget any dry ingredients. I hadn't. I didn't want to add too much flour, but I couldn't even roll it out or fold it, so I added enough until I could work with it. I was worried it would change the flakiness, but it didn't. They were still great!

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

Makes 1 dozen

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 T sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

4 ounces cream cheese, cold, cut into pieces

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and chives. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.

Pour in the buttermilk; using a fork, mix in buttermilk until incorporated and the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently knead about four times, until all the crumbs are incorporated and the dough is smooth. With a lightly floured rolling pin, gently roll out the dough to an 11 x 8 inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Using a bench scraper or long offset spatula to lift the ends of the dough, fold the rectangle into thirds (like a business letter). Give the dough a quarter turn. Roll out the dough again (to the same dimensions), and repeat the folding process. Wrap with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Return the dough to the work surface. Roll out as before, and repeat the folding process. Give the dough another quarter turn; roll out the dough one more time, again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, trim and discard 1/4 inch from all sides; divide the rectangle into 12 equal squares or rectangles. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 1 hour.*

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

*You can freeze the unbaked biscutes on a baking sheet, then store in a resealable plastic bag for up to three weeks. When ready to serve, bake them (without thawing) on a parchment-lined sheet (the baking time will be the same).

I made the Peaches & Semifreddo!

2009-08-25T19:58:00.011-07:00

Since I posted the Vanilla-Roasted Peaches, and the Mocha Semifreddo recipes, I actually made them and LOVED them!

The Semifreddo was made at home for me and my boyfriend. I work at Starbucks, so am just a bit addicted to coffee =) - and my boyfriend loves the flavors as well. So this Mocha Semifreddo connected my loves of ice cream and coffee perfectly and we both enjoyed the smooth creaminess that resulted. Beware, this is NOT a light dessert. It's VERY heavy and rich. But oh-so-good!

As I didn't have chocolate-covered espresso beans, I tried to make them. They didn't turn out. So, to give it a crunch, I added crushed Oreo cookies on top of the chocolate drizzle. They were a great addition, although after eating it slowly over a week, the oreos got a bit soggy and lost their crunch. Luckily, I had extras so I kept adding them fresh and it was perfect!

The peaches were made at home in Turlock with all my family - and more guests. We doubled the recipe (but I was unwilling to part with two vanilla beans, so used 1 vanilla bean and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract), but really we could have been fine with one recipe for 8 people! One peach half and just a few raspberries were all that one person needed. With that scoop of ice cream on top, it was a perfect combination =) Any extra peaches would be great on top of yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, etc. Also, leave the skin on when baking. It gets so soft you barely even know it's there!

Lemontastic Chicken! (formerly known as Lemon Chicken

2009-08-25T19:13:00.004-07:00

I had to spice up the name of this main course. It's just too good to have a simple title! I knew I wanted to make a whole chicken, and when I started searching recipes, this was the first one I came upon - and I knew it was the one! There's lemon infused in the whole thing, which makes it into a tender, buttery, moist chicken, with a tang of lemon. Yum! We served this with Cream Cheese-Chive Biscuits (recipe to follow), Steamed Artichokes, and fresh fruit (grapes and melon). It was a delicious, balanced meal!

Lemontastic Chicken

1/3 c coarse salt

3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

1 5lb roasting chicken

Gremolata (recipe below)

6 T unsalted butter, softened

8 fresh or dried basil leaves

4 lemons, quartered lengthwise

Gremolata: Chop all ingredients until well combined.

Zest of 6 lemons, grated or finely chopped

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsely

2 T chopped shallots (about 2 medium shallots)

**Gremolata best when used immediately. Makes 2/3 cup.

1. In a small bowl, combine salt and lemon juice. Loosen the skin of the chicken from the flesh. Rub mixture under the skin and in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag (we used "jumbo"); chill at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours, turning occasionally.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse all of the salt off the chicken with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine gremolata mixture and softened butter. Rub two-thirds of the mixture under the chicken's skin; rub the rest on the outside. Stuff the cavity with the bay leaves and the quartered lemons.

4. Place chicken in a large roasting pan, breast side up. Tuck the tips of the wings under the bottom of the bird. Transfer pan to oven. After 40 minutes, baste. Cover pan with foil; reduce heat to 375 degrees.

5. Cook, basting occasionally, until the skin is crisp and golden, 40 to 45 minutes more. The juices should run clear when the chicken is pierced; an instant-read thermometer should register 170 degrees in the deepest part of the thigh when done. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*We used only 6 lemons total, as the quartered lemons we stuck in the cavity were the ones we had zested for the gremolata. The flavor was delicious, but you can use separate lemons for the quarters if you want it to be prettier. Also, as you can tell in the picture, my skin didn't brown as it says it should (and mine wasn't very pretty). It still tasted great, though! It just wasn't crispy. Overall, this was pretty easy, and DELICIOUS! =)

More to come soon!

2009-08-18T20:57:00.002-07:00

I am currently home in Turlock, Ca with my family - yay so exciting! And a big bonus to getting all the Allard girls together: GOOD FOOD! Tonight we had Coq Au Vin, Grandma's Rice (white rice, garlic, and chicken broth), French Bread, and Jane Smith's Salad (greens, dried cranberries, caramelized pecans, tangy vinaigrette). What a welcome home meal, thanks Mom! =)

I'll definitely post the menus at least, and hopefully many recipes and pictures. It's bound to be a delicious food-filled week, and I'm prepared to gain an inch or two on my waistline... I'll keep you updated!

Sorry for the delay...

2009-07-24T11:03:00.002-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in so long! It's often been on my mind to update my blog, but I'm not really using recipes lately. I just buy all the produce I can from stores and stands, and try to create yummy meals from them. I also have been big into barbequeing this summer. As my Dad has always been the expert, the closest I'd come to grilling is bringing the uncooked food out on a platter to him. As I've ventured out this summer, I've come to really enjoy ANYTHING grilled! Corn, burgers, chicken, hot dogs, peaches, vegetables, bread. I would love to get cedar planks and try fish that way, but my budget doesn't allow splurges of that nature just yet. =) I also really want to try grilled pizza - maybe this week sometime?

So in order to have something new on here, I'm going to put up a few recipes that I have not tried yet, but look amazing and I will be making them soon. So I haven't made any changes to the recipes, and I have no advice or tips. But they looks so good I hope you'll want to try them too! Good luck! =)

**Oops, I just noticed they're all desserts.. and not very diet friendly! Well, all in moderation, right? Sorry swimsuit-ready bodies... =) And Steph, the Mocha Semifreddo is especially for you! Yum!

Mocha Semifreddo

Serves 8

Nonstick cooking spray

1 c sugar

6 large egg yolks

1 T instant espresso powder

2 ½ c heavy cream

½ oz semisweet chocolate, shaved with a vegetable peeler

¼ c chocolate-covered espresso beans

On the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, center a piece of waxed paper slightly larger than the bottom (so it sticks out a bit). Assemble pan, keeping paper in place. Spray side of pan with nonstick spray; line with one long strip of waxed paper. Set aside.

In a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine ¾ c sugar with egg yolks and espresso powder. Whisking constantly, cook mixture until pale, thickened, and nearly doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside to cool, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream with remaining ¼ c sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/3 whipped cream into cooled egg-yolk mixture; with a rubber spatula, fold in remaining whipped cream. Transfer mixture to prepared springform pan. Freeze until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 1 week.

Using a thin metal spatula, loosen semifreddo from paper, and carefully slide from pan to a chilled serving platter. Return to freezer until ready to serve. Just before serving, garnish with chocolate shavings and espresso beans.

Rocky Road Brownies

Makes 16

½ c (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan

1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

½ c granulated sugar

½ c packed light-brown sugar

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs

¾ c all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 c miniature marshmallows

½ c chopped nuts, such as cashews, pecans, or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper.

In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine butter and 1 c chocolate chips. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove mixture from heat; stir in sugars and salt, then eggs, and finally flour, stirring just until combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips, then marshmallows and nuts. Bake until chocolate is shiny and marshmallows are puffed, about 5 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using paper overhand, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares. (To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.)

Vanilla-Roasted Peaches with Raspberries

Serves 4

2 T unsalted butter, melted

2 T fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

2 T sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and scraped, or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

4 firm, ripe peaches (1 to 1 ½ pounds total), halved and pitted

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 package (5 to 6 ounces) raspberries

Preheat oven to 400. In a large, shallow baking dish, combine butter, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla bean (seeds and pod). Add peaches, and turn to coat with butter mixture; arrange, cut side down, in a single layer.

Roast until peaches are tender and cooking liquid is syrupy, 15 to 25 minutes, brushing with cooking liquid halfway through. Serve peaches (warm or a t room temperature) with ice cream and raspberries, drizzle with cooking liquid.

**If the liquid in the bottom of the baking dish is too thick to drizzle, simply whisk in 1 to 2 T warm water.

Rocky Road

2009-05-13T15:26:00.002-07:00

This is a Christmas must for our family! My 90-year old Grammy has been making this fudge-like treat for years. The recipe is from her mother, my great-grandma, so it's a pretty old-fashioned way to make fudge. The picture is of her on her birthday - isn't she so cute? =)

Rocky Road

-Katherine Nicolai

Ingredients:

1# semi-sweet chocolate

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

22-30 large marshmallows, cut into quarters

1 c chopped nuts (we mostly use walnuts)

Melt butter and chocolate and stir together. Distribute nuts and marshmallows into buttered 13x9 (or smaller) pan. Pour chocolate over and mix lightly to combine. Chill. Cut into squares and serve.

Chicken Chilaquiles

2009-05-13T14:50:00.002-07:00

Great way to use up leftover chicken - or just buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it. The feta was a surprisingly good topping for this. Yum!

Chicken Chilaquiles

-Everyday Food

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes in puree

2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, finely chopped (1 big T), plus 1 T adobo sauce (from same can)

coarse salt

4 c cooked and shredded chicken

1/2 c lightly packed cilantro leaves, chopped (reserve some for garnish)

4 c (3 oz) tortilla chips

1/4 c sour cream

1.75 oz (about 1/4 c) feta cheese, crumbled

Combine oil and garlic in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 1 - 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes with their puree (breaking tomatoes up), chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, and 1 c water. Bring all to a boil; season with salt. Reduce heat and simmer rapidly until lightly thickened, 6-8 minutes.

Add chicken and cook, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in chopped cilantro.

Divide chips among four shallow bowls; top with chicken mixture and sauce. Garnish with cilantro, sour cream and feta.

Grandma's Pancakes and Homemade Syrup

2009-05-13T14:11:00.003-07:00

My Grandma would wake up early every single morning and make her husband and kids a different hot breakfast. These delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes were just one of her specialties!

Grandma's Buttermilk Pancakes

-Betty Allard

Ingredients:

1 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 c buttermilk

Sift together flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt into bowl.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Mix egg yolks and buttermilk together in big bowl, then slowly add dry ingredients. Carefully fold in beaten egg whites.

Fry on griddle on medium heat in size of sand dollars. Serve with Homemade Syrup (below).

Homemade Syrup

Ingredients:

1 c white sugar

1 c brown sugar

1 c water

1/2 tsp mapeline

Boil all ingredients together, stirring occasionally.

Mom's Banana Bread

2009-05-13T13:07:00.007-07:00

So moist and yummy! =) My lovely mother is in the middle in the picture.

Mom's Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

3 1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 c mashed, ripe bananas

2 T lemon juice

3/4 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

3/4 c milk

1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Combine bananas and lemon juice; mix well.

Cream together shortening and sugar in bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs and beat thoroughly until very light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk; fold in bananas and nuts. Beat after each addition.

Pour into 2 greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks. Wrap in foil/plastic wrap. Makes 2 loaves.

Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

2009-05-13T11:58:00.002-07:00

I have to admit, this is the only gumbo recipe I've tried. But it's so good, I'm afraid to waste all this effort on a new one! It's delicious and so hearty. It takes a little time and work (do all the prep before you start!), but it's so worth it. People are always impressed with the end result. Have fun!

P.S. You can substitute cubed chicken for the shrimp, if desired. Add it in with the sausage.

Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c all-purpose flour

4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

2 tsp salt

2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

5 8-ounce bottles clam juice (when I'm serving people who aren't big seafood fans, I split the 40 ounces between clam juice and chicken broth)

1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes

1 lb smoked andouille or kielbasa sausage, halved lengthwise, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 lb okra, trimmed, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch-thick slices

2 lbs uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined

Freshly cooked long-grain rice

2 tomatoes, seeded, diced

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until almost smoking. Add flour and stir until dark red-brown, about 8 minutes. (If this is your first time making a roux, don't get scared with this step! My first time I made this, I didn't let the roux get dark enough because I thought it would taste burnt. The second time I was more adventurous and my darker roux noticeably deepened the flavor of the gumbo!)

Immediately add celery, onions, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of pan often. Mix in bay leaves, salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Add clam juice, chicken broth if using, canned tomatoes and sausage. Boil 15 minutes.

Add okra, reduce heat and simmer until okra is tender, about 15 minutes. (This can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Add shrimp to gumbo and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Mound cooked rice in soup bowls. Ladle gumbo over. Sprinkle with tomatoes.

Vegetable Burritos

2009-05-12T18:22:00.003-07:00

I love this recipe! There's a slight crunch and sweetness from the roasted veggies, a perfect spice from the adobo in the rice, and the Monterey Jack cheese blends in perfectly with everything. I also often make this rice alone, as I always have adobo on hand. I buy a small can and keep the leftovers in a small glass jar I have. It lasts a long time!

Vegetable Burritos

-Everyday Food

Serves 4

Ingredients:

coarse salt and ground pepper

1/2 c brown rice

1 1/2 tsp minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo

4 bell peppers (red and yellow), ribs and seeds removed, cut into 1 inch thick strips

4 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise

1 T olive oil

1 T chili powder

6 oz baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced

4 tortillas (10 in)

3/4 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese (3oz)

1/2 c prepared salsa

Preheat oven to 450. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/3 c water and 1 tsp salt to a boil. Stir in rice and chipotle. Return to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer. Cover; cook until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, until dry, about 15 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Meanwhile, in a roasting pan, toss bell peppers and carrots with oil and chili powder. Season with salt and pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are fork-tender and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven; toss with spinach to wilt.

Warm tortillas. Wrap burritos, dividing rice, cheese and veggies equally among tortillas. Serve with salsa.

Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins

2009-05-12T17:50:00.002-07:00

I go in "only healthy food" phases. Then I binge on my weaknesses, chips and ice cream. I tried this recipe during a health food phase, and they have now become a regular friend - healthy on purpose or not!

Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins

-Everyday Food, Jan/Feb '09

Ingredients:

1 c whole-wheat flour

3/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 c granulated sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 ripe bananas (approx. 1 lb)

1/3 c 2% milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 c frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 c); stir in milk and vanilla.

With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 25-28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 mins, then transfer to a rack and cool another 10 minutes.

Creamy Pesto Rotelle Chicken Salad

2009-05-12T17:43:00.005-07:00

This makes me think of summer and home. Good as a light meal on its own, or accompanied by anything grilled. Sometimes we omit the chicken in the salad and have grilled chicken alongside. Delicious!

*Credit to my sister, Stephanie, at right, for getting us this recipe =)

Creamy Pesto Rotelle Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast, cooked and cubed

1 basket cherry tomatoes, halved

3 green onions, chopped

1/3 c toasted pine nuts

1 lb rotelle pasta, cooked until al dente and rinsed under cold water to stop cooking

Dressing:

3/4 c mayo

1/2 c water

1/2 c pesto (store-bought or homemade)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix dressing ingredients together in a large bowl until creamy and well blended. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add all other ingredients and mix well until everything is coated evenly.

Paella

2009-05-12T10:27:00.006-07:00

Paella is a wonderful rice dish, often made with seafood. My uncle is Spanish and he and his family live in Madrid. Many a family gathering here in the states (and in Spain!) are accompanied - or centered around - this delicious dish. In Spain, my aunt often uses rabbit as the protein. While delicious, it is hard for me to find here in the States, so I use chicken. Here is her very authentic, tried and true paella recipe.

Paella (chicken)

-Gayle Bolorinos-Allard

9 cups water

olive oil (1 cup plus 3T at most)

1 small onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

whole head garlic, each clove peeled

1 bunch parsley

whole chicken, about 5 lbs, cut up into legs, thighs, breasts

4 cups pearl (arborio) rice

2 packets paella spice mix*

1 red bell pepper, prepared for garnish**

Boil 9 cups water in big pot.

While water is heating up, fry onion, green pepper, tomato and garlic in 1 cup oil (I use less) in large frying pan. When garlic is soft almost all the way through, transfer vegetables to pot of water, reserving as much oil as possible in pan. Add parsley to water.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken in remaining oil. Do not cook through. Transfer to boiling water. Boil vegetables and chicken for 15 minutes.

While broth is boiling, heat barbeque (both gas and charcoal grills work) to med-high heat.

In paella pan on grill, add the rice and 2T oil. Brown rice, but DO NOT burn. The rice is the most important part of paella, so be patient, stir often, and watch carefully.

When rice is browned, add spice packets and stir so the rice is coated. Carefully add all the broth from the pot. Next place chicken around the pan on top of the rice. Sprinkle 1 T salt over everything. Bring to a boil. Cook 15 minutes. Watch it carefully and redistribute liquid so the rice cooks evenly. Add minimal water if necessary.

After 15 minutes, remove pan from heat. Place prepared red pepper in a star (or any design you want - get creative!). Cover with kitchen towels and let sit for another 15 minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges.

*My aunt gives me these packets directly from Spain, and I don't know an equivalent for them. They are called "Paella valenciana con Azafran". I have two brands: Ducros and Carmencita. The ingredients translate in order as: turmeric, pimenton, garlic, laurel, Jamaican pepper, cilantro, saffron, [clavo] (translates as "nail" so I don't know what this ingredient is), black pepper.

**Prepared red pepper: Fry 1 sliced red pepper in 1T oil. Set aside for later.

My dad always helps me make paella. Thanks Daddy =)