Two days ago, I went for a walk and I found myself thinking about making Ciabatta Bread as a metaphor for living life by oneself in quarantine and maintaining a good mood. You start with the dough, which takes a lot more yeast than most other dough and you don’t add a lot of flour so it’s a very wet dough. Then you let it rise. And in spite of all that yeast it takes a long time to rise because you can’t put it in a proofing drawer or even in a warm place. It needs to rise slowly at room temperature. Eventually it doubles (or triples!) in size and you are ready to form the ...
Baking
BRITISH BAKING SHOW CHALLENGE 2: BISCUITS (COOKIES)
It’s week two of my Great British Baking Show Challenge. This week’s show revolved around Biscuits. For those of you who don’t know, a biscuit is what Americans call a cookie. Each episode of the Baking Show has three challenges to it. The Signature Challenge in which the bakers get to show off a recipe that they have perfected at home, The Technical Challenge in which the bakers are asked to show how much they know about baking in general by baking from a recipe which they have never seen before with limited instructions, and The Showstopper in which the bakers are asked to ...
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW SIGNATURE CHALLENGE: HEATH BAR SWISS ROLL
Well, it’s been a long week. I don’t know about you, but I know I am bored when cleaning my house seems like a fun activity. Fortunately, I have The Great British Baking Show Challenge to keep me going. Season One, Episode One on Netflix (Which if you are a true fan of the show you know is not the very first season) was all about cakes. It was a nice way to get started on this game because I know something about British cakes having lived there for seven years. I choose the Signature Challenge, a Swiss Roll, for my bake. And then I made it American with a chocolate butter cream ...
WHEN LIFE GETS CHALLENGING, CHALLENGE IT BACK! BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE
Challenge yourself to make a beautiful blueberry filled coffee cake! Recipes for using cans of beans and other imaginative things to do with pantry staples are not really my thing. And there are a lot of much better chefs out there who are creating and sharing those kinds of recipes for you. I am working on the assumption that the cooks among you are looking for projects, something to stretch your mind and talents and hopefully result in something fun to eat (#gettingfatfromcoronovirus). Starting next week, I am replaying one episode from the Great British Baking Show, Season One and ...
IF I CAN MAKE A FRUIT TART, YOU CAN MAKE A FRUIT TART
An elegant fruit tart is easy to make with this recipe. The cookie crust and quick custard support the fruit design of your choice! The first time I tried to make a fruit tart was 37 years ago. I lived in Paris and I was eager to try all kinds of cooking. I know exactly when it was because I still have the recipe written down in the notebook I was using at the time. It was from the August 1983 issue of Bon Appetit and it was called Crème Brulee Tart Jimmy. It consisted of a pastry shell, baked and brushed with chocolate, then topped with blackberries and custard. It was finished with a ...
READY FOR THE BIG LEAGUE? FETA CHEESE ROLLS
Up to now, we’ve been making bread the easy way—as a quick bread. But it’s time to step up our game and make a yeasty bun filled with a lovely herb, feta and cream cheese filling. Hey, come back here! There’s no reason to run away from baking bread with yeast! There used to be, back in the day before stand mixers with dough hooks and instant-read thermometers. But life is a lot easier now. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the time it takes to make it. These lovely cheese-stuffed rolls take about two to two and a half hours to make. Most of that time is devoted to letting the ...
A CONFLUENCE OF EVENTS: CHEDDAR-PECAN BREAD
Fresh Dill, Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Nutty Pecans combine to make a savory quick bread that is perfect for a winter day. There are two things I know: Never go shopping on an empty stomach, and The best time to read a cookbook is when you are hungry. Both of these things grow from the same stem. Because when you are hungry everything looks good to eat! I have been traveling a lot since January and while I’m not complaining (really!) it does mean that I have fallen behind a bit on cooking for my blog. But now I am home and I have been itching to get back into cooking and ...
VALENTINE’S DAY CHOCOLATE CARAMEL BROWNIE SUNDAE
We have all heard it, “Cook with love”. But what does that mean? Does it mean loving the act of cooking? Or does it mean loving the people you cook for? I think it means both. And while I love a good restaurant meal with a well thought out menu, for Valentine’s Day I am more likely to create a meal at home centered around the passions (for food!) of the person I am cooking for. And for dessert, that means chocolate! Not just any chocolate. A chocolate brownie with layers of chocolate and caramel in the center, topped with vanilla ice cream and a luscious homemade chocolate ...
New Year’s Quandary: Pavlova with Bailey’s Irish Cream Custard
A crisp meringue shell with a pillowy interior forms the cake layer for this version of Pavlova, topped with custard laced with Bailey's Irish Cream, Blackberries and Raspberries I have a quandary. I want to give you a great recipe for a show stopper dessert for New Year's Eve (or any time for that matter) but I am still working on it. It's at the point where it tastes amazing but it looks meh. What to do? I am making it again today and I think I've got the appearance issue solved but it won't be ready until tomorrow night (New Year's Eve) and where will that leave ...
CHRISTMAS COOKIE SERIES: PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE MACAROONS
Every holiday cookie tray needs a show stopper, don’t you think? Here's mine for this year! These coconut macaroons are topped with dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint for a cookie that is reminiscent of a Mounds Bars. Not to be confused with the French macaron, the macaroon was initially an Italian confection. The two are similar in using beaten egg whites as the leavening agent. But, aside from confusingly similar spellings, the similarity stops there. Shaped like small mountain peaks the Macaroons rise above their flatter cousins and catch the eye of everyone’s inner ...
