Back in the Saddle

Yes, this post is overdue. Can anyone say they were really on the edge of their seat? I thought not. 

Easter, to me, is all about breakfast. Sure, I like Easter dinner; when I was a child it always included ham and green bean casserole, and this year we were hosted by some wonderful neighbors who fed us delicious grilled salmon. But the breakfast...Easter breakfast should always include something sweet, to my mind, and so it is an excellent day for making cinnamon buns or french toast. This year, I set my mind on having homemade danish to accompany our shirred eggs, home-smoked bacon, oven-roasted onion potatoes, and Bellinis. I've made the danish recipe once before; it's by pro pastry chef Sherry Yard and was a feature for The Daring Bakers, which is how I heard about it. It's a nice dough, subtly scented with orange and cardamom, smooth and silky to the touch. It's fairly easy to work with, provided you allot yourself enough time: from start to finish, flour to baked good, this takes 11 hours. Unfortunately for both Mom and me, my oven stopped working two days before Easter, and so I hauled lots of groceries to her house to get things done. I called her at 9:30pm the night before Easter, asked her to preheat her oven, and said I'd be there in a bit. I showed up around 10, popped the danish in the oven, and we stuffed glassine bags with Easter cookies and drank wine until the danish were golden brown and puffed. I wasn't too sad that my oven had stopped working. 

The danish recipe makes enough dough for two braids, but I like to do one braid and one set of individual danish. The individuals were shaped into 'spandau', or envelopes, and filled with sweetened cream cheese and a rhubarb-vanilla compote. 

The big braid was filled using Sherry Yard's recipe for spiced apples, as well as my personal addition of frangipane. Hubband loves the almond flavor, and I think it compliments the apples perfectly. 

We brought dessert over to our neighbors, as they were providing dinner. With Hubband's invaluable help I settled on making my good old carrot cake recipe, as it's simple, delicious, and fitting for the season. (Rabbits like carrots.) The cake was baked, just like the danish, the night before at 10pm in Mom's oven, then blanketed in cream cheese icing on Sunday afternoon. I had leftover fondant at home from a project that never got off the ground, and decided to try my hand at a little cake decorating. Some grass, flowers, a rabbit, and a bee were all I could muster in the time I had. Each got attached to the cake and brushed with a little luster dust, and off we went!

The carrot cake didn't fail me. As always, it was soft and super-moist, and I was pretty pleased with the decorations considering they were only my second time playing with fondant. 

A Weeknight Dinner

I've gradually gotten back into cooking, first in my trusty office chair, then standing on one leg, and now, finally, I'm back on my two feet! Hubband and I worked together to make this a few weeks ago, while I was still on one leg. He made it possible for us to eat outside in the garden, which was a huge treat for me, having been stuck in the house so long! 

We shared one of the thick NY Strips that I butchered up and individually froze; Hubband grilled it after we concocted a dry rub of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, clove, chili powder, and cayenne. The rub turned into a flavorful crust after a meeting with the grill, and I sliced it and laid it alongside some simply roasted Brussels sprouts (olive oil, salt, and pepper) and our surprise side of the night. I don't even know what to call it, but it really ended up being the star of the dinner! I thinly sliced a yellow onion and caramelized it along with two zucchini that needed to be used up. When they were soft and browned, I added a minced garlic clove, a tiny minced jalapeno from our garden, fresh thyme, and a half can of creamed corn leftover from corn muffins, then finished with a little butter and pepper. The corn added wonderful sweetness that played with the caramelized vegetables, but the little hint of garlic and spice kept a great balance.

It was a great weeknight dinner!

Zucchini-Onion Side Dish

Not only does this dish lack a snazzy name, I don't have an exact recipe, as this was yet another case of me making something up on the fly with whatever I had. This should be close enough. 

1 med. yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 med. zucchini, thinly sliced width-wise

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced jalapeno, seeds and rib removed

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 can of creamed corn

1 Tb butter, unsalted

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

Place a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, spray with a little nonstick spray or add about 1 Tb olive oil, and add onions. When they are translucent and beginning to brown around the edges, add the zucchini slices. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until onions and zucchini are both deeply browned and limp. Add garlic, jalapeno, and thyme leaves and stir until fragrant. Add creamed corn and heat through, then stir in butter to finish. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Tea for Two (or Three, or Four...)

Another one from the archives: Welsh Tea Cakes! I made these about a month ago, just before my ankle surgery. I had a very busy week scheduled, after a very busy week before that, and realized that I finally had one day when nothing was going on. I pledged to do whatever I felt like that day (plus a load of laundry and tidying whatever mess I made), and decided that I felt like baking. I pulled out a recipe that I've had for years, and peeked in the pantry for a way to enhance it. The recipe was for a Welsh Tea Loaf, molasses-flavored and raisin-studded. Normally molasses and raisins are two big hints that something will be delicious, at least to my mind, which is I'm sure why I saved the recipe in the first place, but when I have made it in the past, the flavor was lacking. It was good, but muted; it needed some tweaking. I wanted the molasses flavor to be much stronger, but without the hint of bitterness that lots of molasses can sometimes impart. I also didn't want to drastically alter the texture of the loaf by adding so much extra liquid. Moistness is nice, but I didn't want a sog-fest. A rummage through the pantry revealed a small bag of dark muscovado sugar left over from gingerbread baking last Christmas. Muscovado has big molasses flavor without so much of the moisture, so it was exactly what I wanted. I replaced two thirds of the white sugar in the recipe with the muscovado, and baked it in muffin tins instead of an 8x8" square. 

The little tea cakes came out perfectly! Moist, with rich molasses flavor, they were just what I had been hoping for. Hubband didn't like the original recipe when I made it for him way back when, but he just couldn't get enough of this more flavorful version. Who knows if this cake is authentically Welsh or not, but it certainly goes wonderfully with tea, or coffee for that matter. They were even better when eaten outside in the garden, slathered with homemade strawberry preserves. 

Homemade strawberry preserves? Yes, a few months ago Hubband and I ventured south a little bit and found a hydroponic strawberry farm, where we picked about 15 lbs. Mom came over a few nights later when Hubband was out and we washed, hulled, diced, simmered, and canned all fifteen pounds (with a few set aside to roast in balsamic for ease of future ice cream batches). It was my first time canning, and pressure-canning at that. Each jar sealed tightly, and after dividing them up with Mom, using them on pancakes and toast, and on these tea-cakes, we still have some to spare. I think we'll certainly be doing that again. Especially when you do it like this:
with a strawberry-basil-lemonade cocktail on the side! 

Welsh Tea Cakes

adapted from goodness-knows-where

I kept it simple for this first time, but I think adding cardamom, cloves, and/or a bit of nutmeg would be really nice as well!

2 2/3 C water

12 oz raisins

4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 C butter, softened

1 C dark muscovado sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 Tbs unsulphured molasses

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

4 C AP flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine water and raisins in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer for 2 minutes, to plump the raisins slightly. After two minutes, remove from the heat and add the baking soda. Set aside to cool. Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. When incorporated, add the cooled raisins, cooking liquid, molasses, salt, and vanilla. Mix, then add the flour and mix until incorporated. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan or divide among 24 greased muffin cups. Bake 50-60 minutes for 8x8, 30-35 for muffin tins. Once baked, let cool in pan (8x8) or turn out onto wire racks (muffin tin). 

A Little Something Sweet

This past weekend we celebrated my niece's second birthday. Continuing the tradition we started on her first birthday, Mom and I go over to my sister's a few hours early to help decorate the house and work on the cake. Because of my ankle, I didn't help with the house decorating, but when it comes to the cake it's a group effort: my sister baked the cakes, whipped up the frosting, and tinted it to her heart's content, I did the piping on the two large character cakes, and Mom did some piping (her first time!) on some small character cakes and kept the baby quiet and content (most important job of all). My sister also frosted and piped a small round cake with one of Mom's even smaller character cakes on it, specifically for the birthday girl to get into as deeply and messily as she wanted. The big character cakes took a bit of time as most of the surface area was covered with a star tip; I need to work on my speed, because I think I caused my poor sister a little bit of stress! The birthday girl has recently discovered a deep love of SpongeBob Squarepants, so that was the theme. Here is one of the two large character cakes that I did:

Here is the small round for our birthday girl, frosted and piped by my sister, with a small character cake on top by Mom. 

There was also a 3 1/2 year old at the party, my niece's cousin, and he was entranced by the sight of these cakes. He insisted on being able to smell them! "I'm not gonna touch Mommy, wanna smell! [SNIFF] Mmmm." Both he and my niece were prepared to eat cake the moment the party started, and it was with some difficulty we persuaded them to wait a little while and participate in activities other than staring at cake. 

It was a great party, everything turned out really well, and eventually we all got some cake. Can you ask for a better day than that? 

Simple Vanilla Buttercream

This is the recipe we used for our frosting. It is stiff enough to hold intricate piping designs, but will eventually soften in your hands as you work the bag, so plan accordingly. It's not too sweet, and has great vanilla flavor thanks to the bean paste. I'm posting it in its most simplistic state, and it really couldn't be easier to scale up for bigger projects like this one was. 

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 C confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

a sprinkle of salt

Whip together with electric beaters or a stand mixer in whatever multiple amount you need! 

As Promised

As promised, here's a (not very good) photo of the pizza I mentioned last week. It was inspired by a recipe I have for a pizza with Sicilian flavors: Spicy Italian pork sausage, pine nuts, and raisins. I used that recipe as a jumping off point and removed the pine nuts (Hubband isn't a fan) and added onions that I first caramelized in some rendered homemade-bacon fat, upped the amount of raisins, and sprinkled on a hint of red chile flakes. Topped with fresh mozzarella, and chopped scallions after coming out of the oven, it's quickly become one of our favorites for its sweet-spicy-salty flavor. 

I tried something new, born of necessity, for my pizza sauce on this pie. Out of cans of good crushed tomatoes, I searched the pantry and found I did have a small can of stewed tomatoes. I crushed them up and added them, along with juices, to a pot with minced garlic, salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I added chopped fresh basil and oregano from our garden at the last minute to preserve their flavor. The vinegar was gorgeous in the sauce; it played up the sweetness of the raisins, rounded out the spice of the sausage, and lent a little acidity, along with the tomatoes, to cut through the richness. The fresh herbal flavors of the basil and oregano also helped to enliven the pizza and play off that richness. The sauce turned out so well that when we made the pizza for the second time last week, I went the stewed tomato route again! It makes a slightly chunky, rustic sauce that just works really well for these toppings. 

No real recipe, as this was purely an exercise in eyeballing amounts. I hope you'll try this flavor combination, if you haven't already!

Small Changes

Well, I'm becoming more and more mobile, thanks to my trusty rolling office chair, which I'm using as a substitute wheelchair. Don't laugh, it's much faster than my crutches thanks to our wood floors, and it enables me to carry things. You try getting a bowl of cereal from the counter to the table on crutches! 

Anyway, I'm not back at the stove yet, but I made a couple of changes to the format here on the blog and thought I'd mention them. I've updated and expanded my blog list, as I do faithfully peek in on quite a few every day, and the list I had here was much smaller than the one in my 'favorites' folder. I also added a new widget in the left sidebar, for followers. I just have one lonely follower right now, so she's a super celebrity, all alone in the box, featured on the page! Everyone give a big hand to Liz, from What's To Eat Baltimore? ! If you would like to be notified of updates to this blog, please feel free to click on the big grey "Follow" button, and you can join Liz in the most exclusive club on the Web, or you can choose to follow privately and leave her all alone in there. 

That's pretty much it for format changes, other than the little bit of juggling I did with the order to things in the sidebar. I'm off to roll into the kitchen, to attempt making pizza dough from my chair. We're having a wonderful new-ish pizza tonight, one we've only made once before. I've got pictures of our first one, so I'll post about it soon! 

A Little Break (Figuratively and Semi-Literally)

Once again, I find myself apologizing for things being so quiet around here. Things have been unsettled in Chez Marshmallow for a few weeks now, as we've been preparing for an upcoming event that would put me in a different position; less standing at the stove watching sizzling, bubbling, burbling pots and instead more sitting, looking at this:

Last Thursday I underwent ankle surgery, thanks to a hole in the sidewalk that I managed to find with my shoe heel last New Year's Eve. The prognosis is good; everything has been repaired, resected, and resewn, but I have two and a half more weeks of no-weight-bearing to muddle through before I can get back into the big, black, heavy walking boot that I never thought I would actually look forward to. I have a few backed-up posts that I can put up in the meantime to break the silence, and I'm really hoping to get back to the stove soon. Hubband has been keeping me well fed with lovely homey meals (although I sent him out for Thai food tonight, whee!) and taking better care of me than anyone could ask for. Many thanks to Mom as well, for running over while Hubband has been at work this week and making so many things easier.