Missing those Bánh mì? Make your own!

Yes you can, you can make your very own Bánh mì! You'll most likely need to visit an Asian grocery store for the daikon and red pork seasoning and if they happen to have sandwiches already made, then just eat those! I would.

Just FYI, this is a two day process. Day 1 will be make the pickles and marinate the pork. Day 2 you will cook the pork and make the sandwiches. Day 3 you will have leftovers and you will make sandwiches that can be put in the freezer and be pulled out on a later date. What, did I just let you in on a little secret? If you make the sandwich and omit the veggies, you can wrap it securely in parchment or plastic wrap, stick it in a ziplock and freeze that motherfucker! Hold up, you're now wondering "can I do this with the sandwiches from the restaurant or market?" Yes you can! Pull out the veggies from the extra sandwiches (make a noodle bowl or add to a salad) and wrap that sandwich up.

Ready?

I doubled the recipe

Day 1

The pickles traditionally uses daikon and carrots in a vinegar base. Visit your Asian market on your next grocery run for daikon and the pork seasoning and you'll also be able to grab a lot of tasty foods to shake up your days. If you can't find daikon, that's ok, use 2 lbs of carrots. It'll still be tasty. These pickles are tasty with many, many dishes.

Đồ Chua (Daikon and Carrot pickles)

• 1 lb daikon (washed, peeled, and cut in bite size pieces) 
• 1 lb carrots (washed, peeled, and cut in bite size pieces) 
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Toss all of this in a large bowl, stick your hands in and churn it about until the daikon (or carrots) become flexible enough to bend and not break. This will take about 5 mins or so. Once you get a bendy veggie rinse the sugar/salt mixture off and place back in another large bowl.

Next in a separate bowl, mix

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 1/4 c vinegar
• 1 c warm water

Mix until dissolved.

Grab a few glass jars with lids or anything with a lid that can be stored in the fridge. Pack that container(s) with the daikon/carrot mixture. Next ladle the liquid over the veggies until they are just covered. You'll probably have some liquid left over, it's ok to discard.

Place these in the fridge, they'll be ready for eating the next day. I feel comfortable eating on these for about a couple months or so.

BBQ Red Pork

I'm using a simplified version of the recipe, just like any bbq you can get really elaborate and go many routes with this. My version uses a packet mix and pork tenderloin. If you don't want to make the pork or have chicken, use it. You can also just use deli ham in this sandwich, it's still tasty.

• 1 packet of Char Siu or Roast Red Pork seasoning mix
• 2 lbs of pork tenderloin (you can use the skinnier, prepackaged pork tenderloins that are unseasoned and it only has to be close to 2 lbs)

Grab a large flat bottomed dish that can hold the pork overnight and go into the oven or transferred to an oven safe dish. Rinse your pork off and if it's a large tenderloin then cut in half lengthwise (you want more surface for the marinade).

I also doubled this recipe

Now rub the marinade all over that pig! Your hands will get red from the seasoning and it'll wash off after awhile, but wear gloves if possible. I ignored the directions on the back of the package for adding water to the marinade and it worked out fine.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap and leave overnight in the fridge.



Day 2

Time to bake the pork! Preheat oven to 400 degrees, pop pork in for about 20 - 30 mins. Bake the pork until the top looks slightly charred. The goal is to get your pork to sorta look like the pork on the picture of the package.

Sorta looks like the package

Once it's done, pull out of the oven and transfer the pork to a cutting board and let it rest. Always let your meat rest, always. If you cut in to it too quickly, juices will flow out and the meat becomes dry. (Insert joke about dry nether regions.)

While the pork is resting, gather your toppings:

• French bread or ciabatta
• butter or mayonnaise
• lettuce
• cucumbers (sliced thin)
• daikon/carrot pickles
• jalapenos (sliced thin)
• cilantro
• soy sauce
• siracha

I had some little red peppers
that wanted to participate

Toast the bread in the oven or toaster. Slice the pork into thin slices. Generously spread the butter or mayonnaise on the inside of your toasted bread, add the sliced pork, your veggies, and that's it. (I really like a little sprinkle of soy sauce and siracha too.)


Day 3

Make more sandwiches and if you can, maybe send some $ to a local restaurant that's closed. 

Wonton soup and a hug

Comfort food take center stage. Please and thank you for your ability to make just a moment seem ok and feeding our feelings with something a bit tastier.

Here's another food memory, wonton soup, partially from my mom but more so from my sister. (Sis is still alive and it seems dire to even have to clarify but it's the reality these days.)

I've never made this or many of the other recipes I've been trying these last few weeks, but I need to be comforted and so does my House. My mom cooked to comfort, my sister cooks to comfort, and I cook to comfort. Now is the time to embrace these meals and gain a few pounds. It's ok.

When I chatted with my sister about this recipe, she, just like my mom does not write down her recipes. No actual measurements for anything, but I've got the gist and I remember the way it's suppose to taste. So I took what I remember from my mom, what my sister told me, and a little internet research and came up with this recipe.

It took a couple of hours to prepare but it was comforting, much like a hug from my mom and sis.

Pork Wonton Soup

Makes roughly 60 wontons and soup for 8 - 10 people

Pork Wontons

1 lb ground pork
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1/2 inch of ginger, finely diced
1 TBL fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of white pepper
2 tsp sugar
Wonton wrappers (sometimes called eggroll wrapper, needs to be about 4" x 4")

Mix all ingredients above (except wrappers) together in large bowl. Lay out a sheet pan and large plate to assemble wontons. Pre-separate about 10 wrappers and lay out individually. They are hard to separate on the fly while rolling.

Place a single wrapper on the plate, wet down the top half with a water dipped finger. Place about a rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper, fold the bottom half over the top and seal. Press air out from the center around the filling to the edges. Leave like this or get fancy with your wonton folds.

Place on sheet pan, repeat until all wrappers or filling has been used.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place 10 - 12 wontons gently into water and stir after 2 mins. Wontons will rise to the surface, gently simmer wontons for 4-5 mins (or until filling is cooked). With a slotted spoon, remove wontons to a covered dish to keep warm.



Wonton Soup Base

2 boxes chicken broth (32 oz each)
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced

In a large pot, bring to a boil all soup base ingredients except green onions. Turn down and simmer for 15 minutes, add green onions and cook for another 10 mins.

Serve warm wontons in a bowl with a nice ladle of soup. If you've got fresh cucumbers or radishes, slice those up and serve on the side. Creates a nice fresh contrast.

Go make some soup! Or something comforting that gives you a nice warm hug.

Let's dust off this thing....and make some salted lemons (Chanh Muối)

Well now, aren't these some strange-ass times. I mean, seriously, strange-ass times!

Skip the rant and go straight to the recipe provided by Garden Betty!

So I find myself twirling around, lost in thought, lost in grief, lost in confusion because I just simple don't know how to exist in this reality. I know I need to get up, shower, make breakfast and convince myself that everything will be ok. And will it? I really hope so. I truly, deeply hope that we come out of this with most of our lives, a better healthcare system, and some compassion (we've been missing some of that as of late).

This blog might be a little heavy, you can power through or skip to the recipe. Although, I hope you read the next bit because it involves my mom.

My mom passed away last October, approximately a year and a week after my brother had passed away (and my brother's passing was a week before my separation from my husband of 15 years). Just want to provide a little overview of this last year's shitshow. (Now queue pandemic!)

I've been feeling my mom's loss in many ways, but specifically her food. She was an amazing cook and loved providing food for anyone. And she provided food that was non-traditional to the rural area where she had landed in after moving to the US from Vietnam. They loved it and they loved her.

I remember her talking about the first time she walked into an American grocery store. She was mesmerized by how vast and strange it seemed to be so well stocked with so many non-fresh items. She was also accustomed to shopping everyday in Vietnam and picking up ingredients for the next meal; not meal planning, stocking, and freezing meals that American households had been sold was the new norm.

My mom adapted, she adapted to life in the US but she also adapted her recipes to use ingredients that the local grocery would not have for many years or just never have. One example is a lemongrass beef stew (Bún bò Huế) which requires rice noodles. My mom used spaghetti noodles and holy moly that is tasty and, I think, better.

So during this unbelievable time in our lives, I'm glad my mom has passed. She died happy - not worrying about what will happen to her, not worrying about her children, not worrying where everyone was going to get their next meal. It's now my turn to worry, she did enough in Vietnam. I'll take over for now, I'll cook my mom's meals and I'll do my best to think everything will be ok.

Now let's make salted lemons, cause you know we've been handed a big, cosmic bucket of lemons and need to do something with it.

Vietnamese Preserved Lemons (Chanh Muối)

Great for making lemonade, eat as an accompaniment to spicy foods, or just cook and bake with them!

Recipe provided by Garden Betty
https://www.gardenbetty.com/vietnamese-preserved-lemons-chanh-muoi-and-salty-lemonade/

Ingredients

1/4 cup kosher salt, plus more to sprinkle*
1 1/2 cups water
3 to 5 lemons (more or less, depending on how many will fit in your jar)

Instructions

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, dissolve the salt in water and then remove the brine from heat.

Wash and scrub your lemons thoroughly to remove any wax from store-bought lemons, or any dirt from homegrown lemons.

Slice off the top and bottom of the lemon so that a little flesh is showing.  Slice the lemon lengthwise into quarters, but do not slice all the way through.

Liberally salt the inside of your almost-quartered wedges and set aside while you slice and salt the other lemons.

Pack the lemons into your jar and cover them completely with brine.

If you’re using a widemouth jar, or if your lemons won’t stay submerged, you can wedge a couple of 3-inch toothpicks (the “party toothpicks” used to skewer burgers and such) inside the jar to form a single or crisscrossed grill.

Wipe any salt residue off the rim and seal the jar loosely with a lid, as you want to let the gases escape as your lemons ferment.

Leave the jar out at room temperature (in the sun, if you wish, though I’ve found no difference in quality) for at least three weeks. The lemons may turn darker and the brine may become cloudier during this time — that’s when you know they’re good and ready!

Always use a clean utensil to scoop the lemons out; other than that, the jar will keep at room temperature indefinitely and does not need to be refrigerated.



*I didn't use kosher salt, but I did use a kosher pickle jar. Does that still count? No, technically it doesn't, but I think it'll be ok. I'll let you know if it doesn't go well!

TWD on hold for awhile

Well it happened again. What you ask? Well, life. BUT this time in a good way, a great way, an awesomely awesome way. I am working in a cake shop and all my dreams are coming true! I know, it's awesome!

I had been working out of my home doing some sciency stuff and cake stuff for about 8 months, but that wasn't really working for me. The dogs told me I was driving them nuts and that this wasn't really where I belonged all day long. I was cutting into their nap time, toilet paper stealing time, etc... Thought they would've enjoyed having me around all the time? Oh well, I get it.

But as I've mentioned before I get overwhelmed very easily. So as I'm transitioning into the professional world again I am going to step out of the TWD and blogging arena for awhile. I will for sure keep an eye on everyone's creations and maybe once in awhile I can join back in. I have really, really enjoyed it and learned a great deal.

Thanks for letting me play.

Later buds.

TWD - French Apple Tart

A year ago yesterday our dog, Crash, passed away. We declared yesterday Crash day and honored him by eating his favorite food, chicken. Crash loved chicken more than life itself. He loved chicken so much that one time when he was eating his dog food my husband said chicken (in regards to our upcoming supper) and Crash spit out his dog food and whipped his head around looking for the chicken. I've never laughed so hard in my life. This dog loved chicken.

So yesterday instead of making the tart, I looked at pictures of Crash, ate a little chicken and cried a little. But it's ok. I'm ok and Crash is ok because I'm pretty sure he's getting all the chicken he's ever wanted.

miss you

Well don't let Crash fool you, he had a sweet tooth too and would've loved this tart. And I have always wanted to make a French tart. I love the thin apples carefully laid out in a circle. It really appeals to my OCD side. I have to channel that for good and not evil.

thank gravy for my mandolin!

After baking this little beaute, I didn't feel I had properly achieved the caramelized edges that were pictured in the book. So out comes the blow torch! Don't worry it's just a little guy. Just the perfect size to sizzle each apple edge. Yes more OCD. But look at this picture, wasn't it worth it?

torched to perfection

Ok, now for the 64 dollar question...what did I change? Well everything...almost. I did use granny smith's called for in the recipe. But I used this pie dough recipe. And for the apple mixture, I omitted the cinnamon and added 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste. Yes, tamarind. It's so tangy and sweet. I highly recommend everyone running out right now and getting some at your local latin store. Back? Good, eat some.

Here's our hostest with the mostest for this week, Laws of the Kitchen. She's a lawyer, so you better follow her recipe to the T! Don't do what I did and throw caution to the wind...well maybe throw a little.

later gaters

TWD - Pizza with Onion Confit

So I missed a TWD post. It was the Finnish Pulla. Why did I miss the Pulla? Well I pulla' my back. haha, sorry. I couldn't help it. I pulled a muscle in my back that prohibited me from doing anything except watch tv and be provided food. That's what the doctor told me to do (well I'm sure he would've if I had gone).

But in all seriouslyness, I couldn't stand upright for more than a few minutes for several days. We're just lucky I can take quick showers. I do plan on making it up and will be back on track with no missed recipes though!

Now check this out, for a whole year I've been baking and cooking out of this book and bothering readers with my overuse of commas. I think in all reality we're looking at about 2 more years or so with this. That's pretty nifty.

Now on to this week's gem....pizza with onion confit. I'm in the midst of making it all. It seems to be how I work. Bake, write, finish, taste, write, blog.

Very, very tasty

The dough is rising and the onions are cooking off their delicious drunkenness as we speak. Check out this week's host to get a sneak peak of what's to come. But you have to come back to my blog and finish reading what I have wrote. It will be extremely vital.

So I know you are asking what changes did I make. (I always make changes, right?) Well, I really didn't make any this time. I didn't change the pizza dough recipe and I didn't change the onion confit recipe. The only thing I did do was add some espresso balsamic figs that I had made up a while ago and tossed into the freezer. Think about it...balsamic figs, onions cooked in wine and topped with goat cheese. ooo lala

Pizza's in the oven and wowza does it smell good.

ta da!

It's magnific! I cannot wait to make another....maybe just a bit more cheese. You can never have too much cheese.

later kids

TWD - Gingerbread Baby Cakes

Holy black pepper! These cakes are like crack! Have you ever had crack? Well I haven't, but I understand it's really addicting, so I believe these cakes should be called crack cakes. That is how good they are.

I love crack...cakes!

Crack cakes have a cute little wrapper.

I've seen too many recipes, had too many desserts that fall short of the punch. When you say you are a lemon tart, please, please taste like lemon and have a little kick. If you are going to claim to have some ginger in you, then I better feel like I'm on Gilligan's Island!

These little lovelies, they do the trick. There's powdered ginger, fresh ginger and (wait for it) black pepper!

I am going to be putting black pepper in a few more sweet dishes from now on.

You all would be proud of me too, I only changed up the recipe a smidge and that was on the recommendation of the many other TWD'ers. There was much chatter about the molasses being overwhelming and this recipe called for 2 cups. That is a lot. So I subbed half the molasses with corn syrup and I believe that was the right call, it allowed the other flavors to come through nicely.

Oh and the texture of these genius bombs are somewhat like a brownie...isn't that crazy?

A ginger brownie.

It's a little christmas miracle.

Crack cakes also come in snowflake shapes.

Karen's Kichen Stories is this week's host. She has some nice pictures. Staging and all, I have my cooling rack that appears in 99.9% of my pictures. It's a nice rack though.

TWD - Best Ever Brownies

That's the actual title of the brownies. Now, I haven't eaten one yet, so I reserve judgement until the end of this post when I've finally consumed one. But what I can tell you right now is that these are the most hippest brownies, ever.

How are they so hip you ask? Well just check these babies out! They are chevron patterned and anyone in the hippest squares know that chevron is every where (you really notice this if you have to visit a Target and that means it must be hip.)

Too hip

Now how did I make this hippness? I took a tour around my pantry and found a few items that screamed "put me in your brownies now!" Said items were coconut cream and Speculoos. Double take, what's Speculoos? Trader Joe's, my friend, introduced me to this peanut butter looking stuff that is made out of ground cookies. It's crazy! And crazy good. Instead of peanut butter, it's cookie butter. I love butter.

I subbed out 1/4 of the butter in the recipe for coconut cream and then mixed 4ish tablespoons of the Speculoos in with about 4 tablespoons of some more coconut cream, melted it, spooned it on top and then swizzled with a knife. Tada, chevron!

It really smells good. Really, super, really.

Here's the recipe in all it's original best-everness hosted by A Beautiful Mess.

Just had a piece, I think I need to test the rest of the pan before I can make my judgement. I don't take these things lightly (neither does my scale).

TWD - Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

Radio silence. I know, that's what I've been broadcasting these last few weeks. I just didn't have anything to say. Without a TWD to write about, I just couldn't write.

A friend of mine yesterday told me that men's minds are like waffles and women's are like spaghetti. (I think it's a book.) Now, I don't usually prescribe to these types of metaphors, but spaghetti did seem to fit. I think it's something about how everything I think or feel gets involved in everything I do. So I've been kind of empty thus I had nothing to write about.

It is was it is.

Ok, no more.

So I have to say these muffins give me hope. I plan on them being my supper followed by a chaser of tomato juice. I need to have a balanced meal, right?

Muffins for dinner, emptiness, this is sounding a little Lifetime. Ah geez and I did watch a sappy movie with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant on Lifetime yesterday. This really isn't good.

Well I just pulled them out of the oven, hope gone. They have little sink holes in them. Is that another metaphor?

Maybe those holes are supposed to be filled with cream cheese?

Now I can't see the sink holes.

I think I'll order some delivery instead, how about spaghetti?



Easier Than Pie used the exact same pan as I did and no sink holes. Geez, it is a metaphor. Well the recipe is listed on their site, maybe make the muffins yourself and see what it says about your life.

TWD - Bagels

Have you ever done distracted baking? Not the baking that you do to distract you from your woes, but baked or cooked while distracted because you had to. Maybe it was because you couldn't or shouldn't go out to eat again and should use that box of spinach that you picked up at the large wholesale bonanza store. Or baked because you have been neglecting your promise to the TWD group and you can't ask your sister to bake again because that would be wrong and you should save those favors for important things like kidneys or get out of jail cards.

Well I have been baking distracted. My poor, poor bagels. I barely read the recipe, couldn't have the patience to let them rise and my punches were weak.

These bagels didn't get the love that they should've and to top it all I also tweaked the recipe. So not much brain power went into my tweaking either. I switched out the sugar for malt and honey and added pumpkin spice instead of the black pepper. It sounds good, but I didn't really pay attention if those changes would suffice.

They didn't.

I know, just follow the recipe and you wouldn't have to worry about sad bagels.

sad, sad bagel

There's this song called "Sad Robot". This might describe my bagels. Sad, sad bagels.


But on an unrelated note, I am now the proud owner of green jeans. And not just green, but skinny, green jeans. Look out world, here comes Misses Green Jeans and her bagel top!

Where's the holes?

I'm sorry bagels, you got more love at Heather's Bytes I think.


So why am I distracted, it's a little thing called life. Sometimes it's just distracting for no good reason.

TWD - Cranberry Pumpkin Walnut Loaf

How do you bake bread in a hotel room with only a microwave and mini fridge? I can poach salmon in my coffee maker. Or make a nice grilled cheese with my iron. And it seems if I had thought to bring my rice cooker I could have made some outstanding meals!

I did try, I purchased a toaster/convection oven thinking that I could do a lot of things with it and I could have if I hadn't chickened out and thought that I would get in trouble with the hotel. And I think I would have. It's not safe to bake in your hotel room, do you hear me, not safe at all even if it's for the goodness of the blog. So next best thing...call my sister and ask if she would bake it for me and send me pictures and tell me her thoughts.

"Sister would you please take many hours out of your already busy life and make some bread for me so I can tell the world about it? Please, I know you will love the recipe! And you are a master bread maker and please?"

Thanks sister :)

Well her verdict, the recipe took two days! And it didn't taste that good! And she didn't mind because she's a good sister.

Thanks sister :)

Yes, it was a long recipe and with all the great sounding ingredients, it just wasn't a home run for her or her husband. She couldn't taste the pumpkin, only the cranberries and raisins. She said it smelled great while baking, but just didn't cut the mustard even when it was generously slathered with butter. (Don't know why she used mustard in the recipe.)

Well shucks. My sister is a master break maker so I know it wasn't her. I was sure this recipe would be a winner, now I feel sorta bad for asking her to work on it. Well only sorta, she is my big sister and I'm sure there is something that she did to me when I was young that this is pay back for ;)

Thanks sister :)

It's cute though.

Now you readers scamper on over to This Bountiful Backyard and Heather's Bytes to find out the true meaning of Christmas - wait I mean the recipe to this bread.

Magic and microwave brittle

Well I have something very awesome to share...I have a theme song! A song that was made for little ol' me. How, you ask? Well, I made him brittle and he made me a song. (That sounds romantic, but it wasn't. My husband has made a song for me though, that I won't share because it's mine and mine alone.)

So this theme song is pretty cool. He read my blog and ate my brittle and put it all into a little instrumental.

Hit it Paul!

Nice, huh? I thought so. Thanks Paul, you are too cool.


Now on to fancy pants stew. I don't really have a recipe for that. It's more of a story about my mom. My mom makes brittle for every Christmas and she makes it in the microwave. I know some of you have heard of this and I'll share a recipe below. But the really cool thing is my mom made this when microwaves weren't in every home and if they were you mostly just reheated your coffee or something. Another cool thing about my mom is she's Vietnamese (my dad's Kansas) and she still made brittle even though she didn't have that growing up. She learned how to make it because, I suspect, one day at work someone was talking about making some candy in the microwave and she remembered it, then she came home and did it. And it was amazing, it was the best tasting brittle I'd ever had. She didn't use thermometers, she didn't know anything about hard crack stage or microwave wattages...she had heard someone describe the process and she maybe had a piece. An that was it. This is her magic.

Another example of her magic is when we'd go into a restaurant and we'd all have a nice meal. Someone would comment about the stew and how good it was and the next day my mom would whip out this bowl and it would be the same stew. She'd had figured out what was exactly in that stew just from a few tastes. Even when the name gave no indication what was in it, it could have been called fancy pants stew or something. But somehow she knew. That is magic.

I don't have that kind of magic. But I do have her and she showed me how to make brittle. That's pretty good.


Microwave Peanut Brittle
Adapted from my mom

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 ½ cups raw Spanish peanuts with skins
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Spray a metal cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Combine sugar, corn syrup and peanuts in a 2 quart glass bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and continue microwaving on high 3 minutes more, then stir in butter and vanilla and microwave for 2 more minutes.
2. Finally stir in baking soda and salt until just mixed. Pour onto cookie sheet and spread thin with a large spatula or metal spoon (sprayed with non-stick spray). Cool completely then break into pieces and serve.

Be very careful, melted sugar is hotter than the surface of the sun. It will burn. This I know.

So microwaves vary and you might need to adjust times to better fit your microwave. You are trying to reach hard crack stage. Here's a nice site describing how to test for that.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html

TWD - Whole Wheat Loaves

Turns out I'm kind of lazy and that I get overwhelmed easily. Luckily I've made this bread before so my laziness and being easily overwhelmed doesn't really affect this week's post. Oh ya, I have memory problems too. I think it was one of the first recipes I made out of the book sometime last year, but I only think that because when I went to take a gander at the recipe, someone (probably me) had wrote "good" next to the title.

So now I'm going to go look for some pictures and try to see if I have any other thoughts or memories that pop up so I can say something else about this loaf of bread.

Found one!

Boy they do look good!

According to the date on the picture, I made these bad boys on January 8, 2012. That's clearly not last year but I do still think they where some of the first recipes I had made. In the same picture folder are some brioche loaves. I do remember those because they were a pain in the ass to make! Later the brioche became bread pudding and that was some dang good bread pudding.

Those are some fancy, granny rolls.

So going on the "good" statement I'm going to recommend you try these out. I don't write "good" on just anything (I don't think anyway, hard to tell since I really can't remember). The recipe calls for malt extract and I'm pretty sure I used a one-to-one exchange of molasses instead, because until yesterday I've never owned malt. And once again, "good" means the molasses must have worked out.

Veggie num num and The Family That Bakes Together can provide a much better synopsis of this bread. I think aroma was mentioned and some other niceties that probably make this recipe actually sound more appealing than just "good".

See? Good.

TWD - Sugar Plum Chiffon Cake

Sugar plums are dancing in my head. They are kind of like the dancing hippos in Fantasia. Round with little tutus. The plums don't have faces (makes it easier to eat) and they just twirl and twirl. There might be something wrong with me.

Moving on...

Sugar plums are dancing in your head now.

So the cake for this TWD installment was supposed to be a Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake with a streusel layer made up of almonds, oats and brown sugar. I strayed a bit. I did what I promised and followed the recipe exactly for the last TWD, so now I have given myself carte blanche. I had been baking with peaches/nectarines a lot lately and were a bit tired of them. And then I started having the sugar plum dreams and what could I do? Sugar plum cake! I just traded out the brown sugar and nectarines for white sugar and some large black plums. I left out the struesel layer because it didn't sound like it fit. Others posted that they weren't very enamored with it either.

Dollops of happiness.

I've also been making mascarpone and added a little dollop of mascarpone icing to each slice. It's good. I ate it for breakfast. Not the whole thing, just a slice. But if I were actually in my dream...I'd eat the whole thing and follow it up with some bacon. Why not, I'm getting exercise chasing the sugar plums so I can make another cake. It all works out. Oh ya, in my dreams my skinny jeans fit too. Stupid person for inventing skinny jeans.

I think I just saw a plum roll by on a bicycle outside my window.

I think my jeans are too tight...and they aren't even skinny.


I hope this week's host's jeans are tight too. I don't think they properly enjoyed the cake if they aren't.

The Little French Bakery http://littlefrenchbakery.com/nectarine-upside-down-chiffon-cake/

The Double Trouble Kitchen http://thedoubletroublekitchen.com/2012/09/04/twd-nectarine-upside-down-chiffon-cake/


Here's a picture of a cake I did the other day. Since my last post didn't have any pictures, I thought I would up the picture quota.

Vanilla buttermilk cake with caramelized peaches and mascarpone icing.

Banana Squash Bread with Mascarpone Icing and Salted Walnuts

I forgot to take pictures. Yes, it's the ultimate no-no for blogging about food. I'm sorry, I was in a rush, it was late and then they were gone. Whisked away to my husband's office. But if I could just describe them for you, just maybe you'll get the picture.

Uh-um...

"They were brown, little squares of soft bread flecked with spices generally reserved for the fall. Allspice, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon. Freshly ground to make that ubiquitous pumpkin pie spice. A beautiful, yellow squash (from a co-worker) finely grated and mixed with slightly over-ripped bananas made the heart of this bread. It was carelessly topped with a homemade mascarpone cheese blended with a bit of sugar and vanilla. Then on top of it all, just to make it more than you should even tempt, where broken bits of walnuts toasted in butter and then salted."

Can you see it? Can you taste it?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I gave you 94, it'll have to do.

Even though no picture, I still feel I should share the recipe. Maybe when you make them, you can take a picture and send it to me?

Banana Squash Bread with Mascarpone Icing

26 muffins, adapted from Beard on Bread by James Beard.

• 3½ cups sifted flour

• 1½ teaspoons salt

• 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 cup melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

• 2/3 cup rum

• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed

• large yellow squash, grated (bananas and squash together equal 15 oz)

• 1 cup walnuts or pecans, butter toasted and chopped (optional)*

1. Butter 2 loaf pans. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess. Or line 36 muffin tins with wrappers.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (350 degrees for loan pans).

3. Sift all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, rum. Finally mix in the banana, squash and nuts (if using).

5. Bake the muffins 15 - 18 mins or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Bake the loaf pans 1 hour or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Storage: Will keep for about a week, if well-wrapped, at room temperature. Takes well to being frozen, too. 


*For 1 cup of nuts, I used about 2 tbl of butter and a generous pinch of salt. I was going for the saltiness of peanuts out of a can. Just heat the butter and nuts over medium heat, tossing frequently for about 5 minutes. Just before pouring out of the pan toss in a few pinches of salt. Let cool before placing on top of bread.


Mascarpone Icing

I made mascarpone (store bought can be used also) and the recipe can be found here: http://www.darcyeden.com/posts/2012/3/4/homemade-mascarpone.html?lastPage=true&postSubmitted=true

• 8 oz. mascarpone, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 - 2 tbl heavy cream or half and half

Mix mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add 1 tbl at a time of the cream or half and half until you have a spreadable consistency.

Spread on cooled bread and top with nuts.

*This is a very forgiving recipe, use more sugar if you want it sweeter or less if you want it tangier.

TWD - Popovers

Well...what to say...popovers, ya. Oh, I did as I promised and followed the recipe. Well, I did not change the ingredients. I did change up the preparation just a smidge. Nothing too crazy, but I forgot to pull out my eggs before I started and they are supposed to be room temp. So I heated the milk and eggs together, but in my defense I had read that that helps them pop and oh did mine pop! I was pretty excited about them. I hadn't made popovers before, so I was 50/50 on the achievement of success. But success I achieved!

pop goes the popover

So when I pulled those beauties out of the oven and proceeded to crack one open, I looked inside and thought what happened? Where did the guts go? Well no guts, no glory. I was not enthralled with these. Apparently they are supposed to be slightly hollow, but where's the flavor? I ask you, please, tell me where is the flavor?

Maybe you could give this recipe a shot and tell me if yours have flavor?

Vintage Kitchen Notes http://www.vintagekitchennotes.blogspot.com/2012/08/popovers-twd.html

Bake with Amy http://bakewithamy.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/tuesdays-with-dorie-popovers/


Sorry for the short post, I'm sleepy.

zzzzzzzzzz

My Favorite Cookie

Nope, not chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin. It's not sugar cookies or snickerdoodles. It's a palmier. Yes, the palmier. Not easily found in the stores or bakeries or anywhere really, but it's the one.

Before when I was asked  the question if I was on a deserted island what would be the one food I wanted...I would state supreme pizza. It has a variety of toppings that I can choose to eat or not eat so that I don't get tired of the same food and I get a better balance of nutrition. If I'm ever at the pizza joint, I never, ever order a supreme. I don't like them, on a deserted island it's practical though.

Oh how I love thee.

But oh the palmier, it makes me want to throw practicality out the window! I know I wouldn't last as long on that deserted island, but it sure would be pleasant week.

Have you ever had one? No? Then quickly, quickly make these recipes below. If you have had one then quickly, quickly make these recipes below and have another.

We could share these together on a deserted island and I promise when we run out I won't eat you....maybe.

You, me, deserted island...be there in 10.

Fast and Easy Puff Pastry Dough
(It really is fast and easy, no need to use store bought...really!)
slightly adapted from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/fast-and-easy-puff-pastry-recipe

• 2 cups  All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut in pats
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (honey yogurt works very well also)

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter, working it in to make a coarse/crumbly mixture. Leave most of the butter in large, pea-sized pieces.

Stir in the yogurt; the dough won't be cohesive. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and bring it together with a few quick kneads and pat the dough into a rough log, and roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle.

Dust both sides of the dough with flour, and starting with a shorter end, fold it in three like a business letter.

Flip the dough over, give it a 90° turn on your work surface, and roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Fold it in three again. Then chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before using. 

Freeze dough for prolonged storage, up to 2 months. To use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Palmiers
slightly adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/palmiers-recipe/index.html

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Fast and Easy Puff Pastry

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and make sure your rack is in the center of the oven.

Mix the salt and sugar. Pour half the sugar mixture onto a work surface and spread out slightly larger than your dough. Place the chilled dough on top of the sugar. Roll out the dough to about an 8 x 10 rectangle then pour the rest of the sugar mixture on top. Spread the sugar out until it covers the dough. Roll the dough out until it is about a 13 x 18 rectangle. Your goal is to press the sugar into the dough. Trim the edges so that you have a clean rectangle. Finally take the two shorter edges and roll in towards each other until they meet in the center. If you look at the end you should see the shape of the palmier. Next, with a sharp knife, cut the rolled dough into 3/4 inch slices and lay them down on their cut side on parchment (or silpat) lined baking sheets. Place one pan in the fridge.

Bake the other pan of palmiers for 11 minutes and then turn each palmier over and continue baking for another 5 minutes (at this time pull the other pan out of the fridge). At the end of the second baking they should be golden brown. Immediately remove the palmiers from the pan onto a baking rack and let cool. Bake the second pan just like the first.

For step-by-step photos, check out Joy the Baker's photos. She does a dazzling job of showing you how to roll the palmiers!

Band Wagons and Kale

There was this bandwagon I saw the other day, it drove right past. Then a few days later I saw it again. And just the other day...one more time...right by. What bandwagon you ask? Well the kale chip bandwagon of course. Don't tell me you didn't see it zoom by? Maybe you jumped on. Maybe you were like kale chips, who are we kidding? It's kale, there's only one vegetable that can be properly called a chip. Even if you are in England, chips are still made of potatoes.

But you know when this bandwagon took another turn down pass my driveway, I jumped on. What the heck, I was at the farmer's market and needed to buy something so they would let me come back and I grabbed the kale. Never had it before, but the pressure of the surrounding healthy folks made me do it.

So there I had on my counter. Kale. Didn't know what it tasted like. I needed to do something good with it because it was kind of pricey...and then honk, honk. "What's that I hear?"

Bandwagon, "Kale chips, they are delicious and nutritious and you'll never want another potato chip again!"

Me, "Well I'm pretty sure that's not true, but what the heck, I've got kale and I'm hungry."

Well my little ride on the bandwagon was pretty good, it was salty and crispy and well, tasty. I guess some bandwagons are worth the ride even if they do cost more than a bag of chips.

crunch, crunch, crunch

Kale Chips

Adapted from every single kale chip recipe online

1 bunch of kale, washed

1 - 2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Removed the stems of the kale with scissors and cut the leaves into bit size pieces. Tos kale with olive oil and salt in a bowl then spread kale on a baking tray, try to give each piece it's space. You may need to use two baking pans.

Bake kale for 15 - 20 mins or until the kale just turns slightly brown and is crispy. Remove from oven and wait a minute or two and enjoy.

Will stay crispy for a day or two if you haven't eaten them all.

TWD - Riesling Poached Apricot Marzipan Tartlets

Ok, I promise, pinky promise that the next TWD recipe I will follow to a T! I swear it! What is the next one...popovers...sure I can do that, I can make a recipe and not tinker with it or completely change it up so that it's not even recognizable. Sure.

Now let me explain. I didn't do the galette because last TWD I did a galette (mini galettes). I send my baked goods to work with my husband and there are about 50 or so employees and I just want to make it easy for each or as many as possible to enjoy a bite. I know it's easy to cut up a pie or a galette, but come on who cuts it up equally so that you can have 50 pieces. Ok, that doesn't make sense, but you see what I'm getting at, right?

And since I did mini galettes last week I needed to do something different this week. So I went back to pie/tart shape. I think this is technically a tart dough, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

But maybe you are asking why did I do tartlettes this week, when I could have done them last week and did mini galettes this week and followed closer to the recipe, huh? The answer: I dunno. Moving on.

As for using apricots and marzipan and not mixed berries, well I did not realize but berry season is long gone  here at the base of the rockies. So dried apricots and marzipan from the cupboard made sense. Plus I had a wee bit of riesling that needed to be used up. So toss some sugar, cardamom pods, crushed vanilla beans and the riesling in the pot with the apricots and tada!

Vintage year

Now this week I did use the dough recipe. My recipe from last week is the foolproof pie dough from Cook's Illustrated. I LOVE IT! It's so freakin tasty and easy to throw together, it's supper, dupper flaky and is just great to eat, but kind of hard to work with. This week's recipe is super easy to work with, the cornmeal is fun and it's nice and sturdy and it tastes good too. I think I shall add it to my repertoire.

To see this magical recipe, go here and here and then here. (That last one was just for fun.)

Even though this wasn't a 2 am genius moment, I think I'll still call Martha and tell her about these.

Adorable, right?

And they are really the cutest things ever, well almost.