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This week the Tuesdays with Dorie group is baking Savory Brioche Pockets from page 421 of Baking with Julia, a book edited by Dorie Greenspan, and based on the PBS series, Baking with Julia (Child).These brioche bread pockets contain a mixture of mashed red potatoes, goat cheese, chives, caramelized onions, and asparagus tips... a pretty amazing combination of flavors. They are topped with an egg
Believe it or not, I had never made ribs before. Ever. And I love them!One of my favorite things to do is cook both with and for my grandsons. I just learned that one of their all time favorite foods is spareribs when their grandpa asked the oldest to list their favorite foods, and he said, "Ribs, pizza, and orange chicken."I can do this!Unlike other recipes I've seen, these spareribs are baked un
Want to have fresh rolls for dinner that require very little hands on time? If you mix up the dough before you go to bed, you can bake these in the morning, and, boom, you have fresh rolls. Just reheat them before dinner to have warm rolls. Your friends and family will be impressed. I promise.These no knead rolls are based on the same concept as no knead bread. Mix flour, salt, water, and yeast w
This Multigrain bread with sunflower seeds and flax seeds (and whole grains) is densely packed with seedy goodness. I recently read on the Interwebs that both flax seeds and sunflower seeds are super foods (and if you read it on the Internet, it has to be true!).If you toast your sunflower seeds in a hot dry skillet, you will get an amazing flavor from them. Just be sure to watch them or they will
Asparagus, shallots. ginger, garlic, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and grape tomatoes. All of these vegetables have different textures and density. The beauty of stir frying is the ability to add the vegetables at the right time to ensure that everything turns out perfectly... all within just a few minutes.The asparagus is briefly blanched prior to beginning the stir fry. After blanching, I rinsed
This salad tastes even better the day after you make it. It is a perfect picnic salad.Don't tell anyone this... on days when I'm feeling guilty about what I had for lunch (or dinner yesterday), I have a big bowl of these beans for dinner. The combination of the parmesan, basil, shallots, and balsamic give these beans such an amazing flavor.Don't tell anyone this either, but I can eat t
This blackberry margarita is super refreshing and maybe even a little less guilt producing. It's fairly low in sugar, and gets its sweetness from the fresh fruit. Rather than sweet and sour, it has a little added limeade concentrate.This recipe is for a single cocktail, but it can easily be sized for a pitcher. Just puree the blackberries in a food processor or a blender with some of the lime
These sourdough bread twists are amazing.I love bread. I love sourdough. But you knew that. These little sourdough pull-apart bread sticks are ideal for a dinner bread basket. They are also awesome for appetizers spread with an olive tapenade or a fabulous cheese. I like to dip them in oil and balsamic or slice them in half and toast them with butter, garlic, and parmesan. Keep them attached
I wanted to play around with a white bread recipe by adding some whole grains while keeping the structure and "look" of sandwich bread. I replaced about 25% of the white flour with a mixture of whole grains and nicknamed it "Pantry Bread" because I grabbed whatever I had on hand and added it to the dough.This bread can be sliced very thinly without crumbling. You will find this
This is a lovely little butter cake with a topping of fresh rhubarb and pecan caramel laced with a bit of bourbon. These cakes are baked as upside down cakes in eight little four inch pans. Who has eight four inch cake pans? I do... of course!I bought them to host the Gingerbread Baby Cakes Tuesdays with Dorie.The cakes were super easy to prepare, and are amazingly moist, probably thanks to the fu
You know how when people celebrate their one year anniversary, they are supposed to bring out the top of the cake from the freezer and share it with each other? I'm pretty sure that top tier cake ends up in the trash (well, maybe it is Instagrammed and then dumped in the trash).Why not make a new little anniversary cake?This little cake is baked in two 5 inch cake pans, perfectly sized for a first
Supposedly, this cocktail was created at the Tuxedo Club in New York in the 19th century. In another version of its origin, the cocktail was part of a slew of drinks created during prohibition. These cocktails contained liqueur to conceal the atrociousness of the bathtub gin that was available at the time.There are a few versions of this cocktail, with the biggest variation being the inclusio
We had a Cinco de Mayo potluck breakfast at work today. I debated between bringing chilaquiles or the Tex-Mex version of migas.Migas. The word roughly means of crumbs. Whatever you have left over. This version of migas includes eggs, tortillas, tomatoes, jalapeño, cheese, onions, bell peppers, cheese, and cilantro. I needed to try this (I will be making chilaquiles in the very near futur
Homemade English muffins have been on my list of breads to attempt. While I had made the recipe in Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice, I wasn't that happy with the results (sorry Peter). The dough seemed too firm and dense for English muffins.(I still do want to try the recipe from Artisan Breads Every Day. The dough in that recipe is so batter-like that you must use crumpet rings...
Who knew that "velvet" was a verb?Well, it is! Do you get as annoyed as I do when you hear "boneless skinless chicken breast (BSCB)?" Once you "velvet" your chicken, you won't hate it anymore.Velveting involves marinating meat, poultry, or fish in egg whites, cornstarch, rice wine, oil, and a bit of salt, and then simmering it in water and oil for a very short period of time prior to stir frying.
About three and a half years ago I took up bread baking. I didn't start with just any bread. It was a sourdough loaf. I talk about it in my post about basic sourdough. I bought my starter from King Arthur Flour and have kept it alive and well since 2009. It now has a couple of siblings in my refrigerator, and some cousins in friends' refrigerators. No matter how many breads I bake, I alway
I have been making an effort to use my slow cooker more recently. It sits up in the closet and taunts me, reminding me that I brought it home and then ignored it. So far this year, I've made Asian Pot Roast, Mahogany Chicken Legs, and now this chili. My slow cooker might actually quit pouting. I think the electric griddle I thought I'd use all the time is a little aggravated though.... T
I so enjoy the bread baking community. For example, I learned about this bread by hanging out with bread bakers online. The recipe for this bread was contributed by Yuko to the Artisan Bread Bakers Facebook page Bread of the Month (also known as the BOM). Yuko found this bread recipe from Maya's blog, Foodiva's Kitchen. Maya adapted the recipe from Eva Toneva.What I love most is that Yuko
Imagine a sable cookie... only it's not a cookie, it's a savory herb butter cracker that is perfect with an aperitif or a glass of white wine before an elegant dinner. Are you planning a dinner party? These are perfect.(It's difficult for me to share this, but I'm not a big fan of onomatopoeia when it comes to describing food and eating. I kind of get bugged by words like chomp. I
Tomatillos are these tart little tomato-y looking green things with husks. They are not tomatoes, although they are evidently from the tomato family. To me, they taste a little bit like unripe tomatoes dipped in lime juice. They are most commonly used as the base for salsa verde when combined with jalapeños, garlic, and salt. They add a brightness to this salsa.Tomatillos are a plant native t
This is the winning recipe for the 2009 (the first ever) National Festival of Breads, a contest for American amateur bread bakers. The loaf is stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, cheese, and basil. It's seasoned with garlic powder, and rolled up, cut open on top with scissors, and then formed into an "S." I had a little issue with that sequence with my first loaf, which, after cutting,
I grew up in and still live in southern California. Rice and beans are part of the Mexican food repertoire. Good Mexican food? You know it when you see it. Most of the time, Mexican rice is pretty much an afterthought.Why should it be?This rice stands on its own as an excellent side dish of which you can be proud.This recipe allows for cooking the rice on the stovetop and then finishing it in th
I have not had the best of luck baking baguettes. They get all squiggly when I move them to the stone and they collapse when I slash them. I try to put a positive spin on it. "While they don't look that great, they sure are tasty!"Ahem... right....I posted one of my attempts using Julia Child's French bread recipe. Everything went well until it came time to slash the dough. Pffff
This week, the Tuesdays with Dorie group is tackling Madeleines. For something that had intimidated me, these Madeleines were pretty easy.You begin by making a genoise, a batter that is leavened by beating air into eggs and sugar, and then gently folding in the flour and butter. The batter is delicate, and must be used immediately.I cut the recipe in half because I only had one pan, so the co
Do you think I included enough of the ingredients in the title? I think the only ingredients I left out are salt, pepper, and olive oil.This salad is super crunchy and fresh tasting, and the combination of fennel and citrus works beautifully. The yogurt, tarragon, lemon, and mint dressing is tangy and fresh. This salad is great on its own for lunch, or as a starter for dinner. Perfect for an al fr
Aren't these cute? Tiny tortilla shells filled with a lime and cilantro marinated chicken, Napa and red cabbage, salsa, and cumin sauce. Adorable. You can eat them in one bite. So pop-able.I've made the flour tortilla version (above), and the corn tortilla version (below). Super cute.I love the combination of flavors.Read more »
After baking the buttermilk chocolate cookies, I had lots of leftover buttermilk. My friend Sarah saw my post and, coincidentally, had leftover buttermilk too from making these blueberry muffins. She thought the cookie recipe would be perfect for using up some of her leftover buttermilk... which of course inspired me to use up some of MY leftover buttermilk to make the muffins.Accidental recipe ex
100% whole wheat sourdough bread (actually about 98% or so because I used a bread flour starter). While I am giving you the whole wheat version, you can substitute some of the whole wheat flour with the same weight of other grains such as rye, cornmeal, maseca, and/or oatmeal.This recipe calls for a 66% sourdough starter, but I don't think you have to go crazy maintaining multiple starters. Ju
I took this salsa to a party with a Mexican theme. This salsa was clearly the winner in the "salsa wars." Just saying. Or people were just being nice =)One of the tricks to increasing the intensity of the tomato flavor is to salt the chopped tomatoes and let them sit over a strainer to drain off some of the water. The salsa is best served the day that it is made, but can be kept in the refri
In looking for something to serve along side the Hakka style cabbage and egg dish I made last weekend, I came across a recipe for mahogany chicken in Art of the Slow Cooker: 80 Exciting New RecipesThe recipes in this book are not your typical "dump and run" dishes that give slow cookers a bad reputation. They require a little prep, (in this case, about 10 minutes) but it's worth it.What was m
This is a very simple dish and, after prepping your ingredients, it takes about 3 minutes to make. No step takes longer than two minutes and most take about 30 seconds. There are very few ingredients: Napa cabbage, garlic, salt and pepper, and an egg. An egg? Yes, an egg. At the end of the stir fry, you toss in an egg and stir the whole thing for about 30 seconds.This is a very simple side dish to
According to King Arthur Flour, this recipe comes from French Pastry School in Chicago, and is one of the school's favorite loaves. The bread requires a starter that is mixed and allowed to bubble up at room temperature overnight. The next day, the dough is mixed and kneaded, and after the first rise, cheese is rolled up into the dough like giant cinnamon roll dough.This bread was a little awkward
This week, the Tuesdays with Dorie group is baking these loaves from Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best BakersI'm really pleased with this bread.How to make it:Take equal parts mashed potatoes and flour, mix them together with some yeast, a little water, and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then beat the heck out of the dough for 11 (not 10, not 12) minutes.D
Ho hum. Just another chocolate chocolate chip cookie. Not.These cookies are chewy kind of like brownies, and have a very rich dark chocolate flavor from the large amount of cocoa powder.This dough does not need to be refrigerated before baking and you don't need to wait for the butter to reach room temperature. You can have chocolate cookies in a few minutes. Perfect for spur of the moment baking
One of the nice things about living in our part of southern California is that the minute winter turns to spring, strawberry stands pop up on what seems like every corner where there is a vacant lot. These strawberries are huge. They are the kind you might imagine they use to make chocolate dipped strawberries. We usually have at least three or four baskets of strawberries in our house at all time
This month, the Bread Baking Babes (12 awesome women from around the world who bake a specific yeasted recipe every month) are making Gâteau á la Crème. The Kitchen of the Month chooses the recipe and the Babes bake and post on the same day of the month. This month the Kitchen of the Month is Notitie van Lien, (click on her page to see links to all of the Babes' variations) and she chose this
One loaf for you, one loaf for me.This bread has just enough healthy to make you feel good about eating it. It is also super soft and moist.... and it is amazing spread with butter. It's also an excellent sandwich bread. I love it for turkey avocado, chicken salad, and BLT sandwiches.And making it is easy!You are probably asking yourself, "Are those giant dinner rolls or loaves of bread?"By
I don't usually see movies when they first debut, mostly because I am easily distracted by fellow movie goers. I have issues.We finally watched Sky Fall last week on PPV. I was not prepared to love it as much as I did. The Astin Martin, the gadget references, and the shaken martini. So many references to the original Bond. Loved it.The Vesper is originally referenced in Ian Fleming's novel Casino
I love the nutty flavor of semolina, but working with the flour has its challenges. Bread made with 100% sourdough does not develop a thick crispy crust like bread made from high protein all purpose or bread flour. In fact, the crust tends to crack. Regardless, it has a beautiful color and a sweet nutty flavor.I have made a few breads (click here and here for two of my favorites) with a
I'm going to start this by saying that this stir fry was really good and really easy. Any problems are because of "user error." Essentially, the "user" needs to read the recipe all of the way through.Before settling in to watch a movie, I shredded the carrots, skinned and cubed the chicken and set out all of the ingredients. Mis en place. Got that down.Once the movie was over, I took a look at ste
I am in serious love with these cookies.There is nothing new about them.. other than that they contain a large amount of instant coffee in the dough.. and a pound of chocolate vis a vis two cups of flour. Love the ratio.These cookies are from the book Baking with Julia edited by Dorie Greenspan. This particular recipe was contributed by Rick Katz. I can't stop eating them. I had no idea that mass
I admit it. I'm always drawn to cheese bread. While looking for a bread to make for this month's Twelve Loaves holiday theme and sorting through tons of sweet breads, I stumbled upon this bread. Cheeeeeese!I'm watching Biggest Loser as I write this... alrighty then.This is an egg bread loaded with parmesan cheese. When it bakes, your house will smell divine.According to the King Arthur Flour
This has been my go-to recipe for a salad when I'm serving an Asian flavored main course, particularly with a Korean barbecue beef we like to prepare (I will post the beef recipe next time we make it because it's amazing). This salad is also substantial enough for a lunch main course, and because it's a cabbage salad, any leftovers you may have will hold up pretty decently for the next day.Pecans
These cookies are super easy. They are normally made with pistachios on top, but because I brought them to a Saint Patrick's day potluck at work, I decorated them with these tiny little shamrocks instead. The pistachios are tastier, but these are definitely cuter. Sometimes style over substance will have to do. Plus, kids won't turn their noses up to sprinkles the way they might with nuts.Éirinn g
I came across this recipe from King Arthur Flour. Because of all of the positive reviews from other bakers, I had to try making it. Of course that meant I had to order white rye flour from them (no worries, you can use medium or dark rye in this recipe, it's just that I look for any excuse to try a new ingredient).This bread makes great sandwiches, and the dough is super easy to handle. It's
These super skinny and crispy pieces of straw colored goodness are completely addicting. The ingredient list includes parmesan, black pepper, white pepper, garlic, chives, rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano. My biggest issue with them is that I can't leave them alone. They are crazy good.Don't you think these would look fabulous at your cocktail party? I promise you, they will be gone in about 15
Isn't this bread pretty? It's a white bread with a lovely thin crisp crust. The starter contains both malt syrup and and milk. The interior, while not super airy, is somewhat soft and has both large and small holes. It's great for sandwiches and morning toast.Check out the other side.Hi there. The recipe did not mention that I should have slashed the bread. Or maybe not. When researching the bread
Today is Friday. It's been a long week for some reason. Same for you? Would you like some comfort food?I'm sure I've said it before, but for me, baking bread is therapeutic.This is a sweet version of the Parmesan pull-apart bread that is so addictive. These breads are so simple and fun. The dough is rolled out, spread with fillings, and then cut into squares and sandwiched together in a
This is a meal that you can prepare when you get home from work and are too tired to cook. The ingredients don't require a lot of prep, and you can have this on the table within minutes.This dish is also perfect if you are serving a multi-course meal with lots of choices. Make some rice, stir-fry a few courses such as this chicken and these vegetables, and you've got the perfect meal for casual en
Pain au ChocolateI've made croissants before. Successfully. How hard could this be? The last time I made croissants I had hunks of butter popping out everywhere and they still turned out. I can do this.Dough & butter I cannot tell you how "done" I was with this process. Making these croissants has been a three day adventure (ordeal). I'm sure it was fun for the other member of my househol
