Is This Thing On?

Wow. It's been a long time, hasn't it? I apologize. Things have been out-of-control crazy around here for the last few weeks, and if you know me personally, you know how much I detest it when things are out of control. Things are mostly back to normal now, which means I can get back to cooking real meals and posting! Hooray! First, though, there's quite a backlog to get through. There were a lot of fast meals there for awhile, but I still occasionally managed to take a photo and make something semi-worthwhile. 

Let's rewind the clock a few weeks, to mid-April. 

It was Hubband's birthday! 

He didn't want a big party and all the attention, but did want to spend time with friends and neighbors, so he decided on a dessert buffet. We invited a few folks without telling them the occasion, and just enjoyed their company and some sweets on a Sunday evening. 

Above (on the beautiful etagere Hubbs gave me for Christmas!) we have buckeyes, bite-size smores, and jammie bodgers. Jammie Bodgers are a sweet, crumbly cookie, almost like a shortbread, but more buttery, that are filled with buttercream and jam. They are also Hubband's favorite cookie. We also served Mud Pie and our favorite homemade strawberry balsamic ice cream, made from strawberries we picked a few months ago. I roasted the strawberries back then and poured them into a vacuum-sealer bag with all their juices, (they were a tad too much for pint jars, so I couldn't go with the original idea of canning) sealed them, and froze them until required. It worked perfectly! 

We had a great night with our neighbors, although as usual I made too much and there were too many leftovers. The next day was Hubband's actual birthday, which he took off from work. He did request a menu, which began with his favorite biscuits: sweet potato. He wanted them topped with another of his favorite things, but one that I've never made before and he doesn't get very often: sausage gravy. As it was all an experiment anyway, I made it with spicy italian sausage instead of the usual mild or breakfast variety. I made a double batch of biscuits, but cut the usual number to get thicker, double-height biscuits to stand up to that rich and heavy gravy. Served with an egg over easy, they made Hubband smile and proclaim 'Best Sausage Gravy & Biscuits Ever', so I guess they turned out just fine. And yes, because he didn't let me make him a traditional birthday cake, or anything remotely close, I stuck a candle in his biscuits. On second thought, that sounds like some sort of family-unfriendly innuendo. I'm leaving it anyway. 
I know sausage gravy isn't very photogenic. I should have used Michelle's trick, and topped it with a chive. 

Lunch was another of his favorites, homemade wheat bread with raisins and a cinnamon sugar swirl, made into a chicken salad sandwich. We went out for dinner. This birthday baking frenzy came soon on the heels of Easter, which I already mentioned was hampered by my lack of an oven. Fortunately the oven was fixed just in time to complete most of this, although a few early pieces were done at Mom's house. 

Spicy Sausage Gravy

This was all done by sight, and isn't very hard, so these amounts are going to be approximate. If you want exact measurements, I'm sorry, but look at the bright side: this way you can make as much or as little as you want! 

Spicy Italian sausage (I used 3 large links)

Olive oil

All-purpose flour

Milk or cream (I used skim milk with a little half & half for richness)

Dried thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt 

Red Chili Flakes (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage and crumble into skillet. Add about 1 Tb of olive oil to get things going. Cook sausage until it is browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally and using your spoon to break the sausage into small chunks. When browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage, leaving the fat in the pan. Add an approximately equal amount of flour (i.e. 3 Tb fat in the pan, add 3 Tb flour) and whisk together to make a roux. Let the roux cook for 1-2 minutes to remove the raw flour flavor, then gradually begin whisking in your chosen dairy product. Continue adding dairy until the gravy is a bit thinner than you want the finished product to be. Let the gravy come to a boil so the flour fully thickens, and add a little more milk if necessary to make your desired consistency. Add salt and lots of pepper, as well as dried thyme. (Dried thyme is powerful, so unless you're making a huge batch, you probably only want a pinch. Crumble it between your fingers before sprinkling it in.) Taste for seasonings, and add more salt and pepper as you see fit. If it's not spicy enough, add a pinch of red chili flakes. Add the sausage back into the pan, stir to combine, and simmer for a few minutes to meld the flavors. 

Serve hot, over biscuits. 

Ooey-Gooey Sticky-Delicious

I tend to get my best ideas as I'm falling asleep. I may remember things that need to get done that I had completely forgotten about, I may suddenly know exactly what gift that person would like, and when I was still in school, just the right topic for a paper would float into my head. A few months ago, I had one of these sleepy brainwaves, and it said "Self-contained s'mores". The next morning, I decided that July 4th would be the perfect occasion to put this concept into action, especially considering that Florida in July is a rather hot place to build a campfire for traditional s'mores. 

I have made my own marshmallows before, so I already had that recipe tested and ready. I knew that I wanted a graham crust, but I wanted it to be a crumb crust, not just a layer of crackers that might shatter when cut. As for the chocolate component, I know that Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars are the standard, but a homemade marshmallow is, to me, much sweeter and nicer than a Jet-Puffed, and dark chocolate would provide a better balance of flavor. With all of this in mind, I began my experiment on July 3rd. I made up a crumb crust and baked it in a greased 13" x 9" pan. After it cooled, I sprayed the sides of the pan with more nonstick spray and dusted them with a 50/50 mix of confectioners' sugar and cornstarch to prevent the marshmallow from sticking to the pan for the rest of time. I then poured the warm magma-like marshmallow on top of the crust, dusted the top with more of the 50/50 mix, and set it aside to cool for about 5 hours. After removing the marshmallows from the pan, with graham crust wonderfully adhered, I used a pastry brush to remove as much 50/50 mix as possible, then employed my sous chef (aka Hubband) to chop and melt the dark chocolate (Valrhona 70% cacao) in a double boiler. I cut the marshmallows into large squares (a little too large, as these are so rich) and quickly and carefully dipped them in the chocolate. I set them aside to drip and cool on a wire rack set over a half sheet pan.  I also experimented with some Wilton Candy Melts and squeeze bottles to make some decorations. I'd say I need to keep working on that technique. 

Here is a shot in cross-section of the two varieties. My brother-in-law always puts peanut butter on his s'mores, so I made sure 6 of the squares had a layer of peanut butter included. The one on the right is obviously the one with the peanut butter layer, which made for a messy cut. Not particularly photogenic, but very delicious. 

Now a few weeks ago, I posted (bragged) about some lovely gifts that Hubband had surprised me with, but I held one back. I wanted to keep it for a post where it would really matter, and this is it, because you can't make marshmallows without a stand mixer. The mixer itself was a wedding gift, but Hubband took it to a whole new level:
He flamed out my mixer! I love it! 

Homemade Marshmallows

adapted from Alton Brown

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 C ice-cold water

12 oz granulated sugar

1 C light corn syrup

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 C confectioners' sugar

1/2 C cornstarch

Nonstick spray

Place the whisk attachment on your stand mixer. In the bowl of the stand mixer, pour the gelatin and 1/2 c of the cold water. In a saucepan, mix the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 C cold water. Turn the burner to medium-high and cover for 4 minutes. Remove the lid and clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Be sure the probe end of the thermometer is not touching the bottom or side of the saucepan. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, about 8 minutes or so. Remember that the mixture will continue to cook off the heat, so I pull it off the burner at about 238F. It gets to 240 as I walk over to my mixer. Turn the mixer on low speed, and CAREFULLY and SLOWLY pour the hot syrup down the side of the mixer bowl into the gelatin and water, with the machine running. Once all of the syrup is in, increase the mixer speed to high. Whip until thick, glossy, and lukewarm, about 13 minutes. Add vanilla and whip 1 more minute. 

While the mixture is whipping, prepare a 13"x9" pan by spraying the bottom and sides with nonstick spray. Mix the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch, and dust over the sprayed pan. This is a messy step, so I do it over the sink. Tilt the pan around to ensure an even coating of 50/50 mix all over. Reserve some of the 50/50 mix. When the marshmallow has finished whipping, pour it into the prepared pan. Lightly spray a spatula and use it to smooth out the marshmallow. Dust the top with more of the 50/50 mix. Set aside, uncovered, to cool for at least 4 hours. Turn out of the pan onto a cutting board and use a pizza cutter wheel to slice into cubes. Toss lightly with more 50/50 to prevent sticking.