Maybe Just A Little Bite...

Chocolate Babka

2008-10-27T21:34:00.016-04:00

This is no ordinary sweet bread. This stuff has it all! You get crumbs, chocolate, nuts, cinnamon and the complexity of yeast. What more could you ask for? Bake it with the windows cracked and the neighbors will find an excuse to visit.

Babka is another thing that there are a million versions out there for. You know those kinds of things, I'm sure. I adore this recipe. The dough is beautiful and perfectly capable of standing alone! You can omit the chocolate and use brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts in its place and you will still have an equally glorious Babka. It may even be more traditional? Here I am out of my element, so I will leave the subject alone and give you the recipe.

Chocolate Babka

Dough

1 ½ cup milk

½ oz (2 pks. dry) yeast

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

14 oz. butter

1 7/8 lbs. finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate

2 ½ Tbls ground cinnamon

Egg Wash

1 egg
1 Tbls heavy cream

Streusel

1 2/3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/3 cups flour

sift together sugar and flour

6 oz. butter

cut in room temp. butter with a pastry blender or two knives

Warm the milk to 110 degrees. Proof yeast in milk. Mix ¾ cup sugar, 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks.

Add to yeast mixture.

With paddle, combine flour and salt in mixer. Add liquid mixture. Change to dough hook and add 8 oz. butter and work for 10 minutes. Pull off of hook and rise in a buttered bowl until doubled.

Put chocolate, remaining cup of sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl and combine. Cut in remaining butter. Set aside.

Punch dough down. Roll into a long rectangle, approx. 18 x 24. Brush edges with egg wash and distribute chocolate mixture. Roll jellyroll fashion, seam edges with egg wash and twist the dough and arrange it in a Bundt pan. Egg wash the top and sprinkle/press the streusel crumbs on top. I like to compress them a bit before I put them on top so I have BIG crumbs and not just "sand".

Let set 20-30 minutes and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Let the Babka sit for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Now comes the hard part.

Resist the urge to cut for at least another 20 minutes because the chocolate needs a chance to set.

Enjoy!

Italian Cooked Water

2008-10-20T08:00:00.012-04:00

Last night's was dinner really good.It was soup. I wish that the name was a little bit more creative, but I really liked the soup. The name sounds better in Italian. It is called "Acquacotta". Doesn't that sound better? It could have been worse. Much worse! At least I didn't serve "Strozzapreti". That translates to Priest stranglers! Don't worry, it's only a shape of pasta. Even the food can be dramatic in Italy, with the exception of my poor Cooked Water evidently. Ugh! Now who's being dramatic? (I was born there. I can't help myself.)

Acquacotta is native to the Lazio region of Italy. It is traditional peasant food. It is one of those recipes that you will look at and say "How could this possibly be good? There's hardly anything in it." It is amazing what hungry people created out of nothing. Look to any culture and you will find similar dishes.

Acquacotta feeds 4 generously
(adapted from a recipe by Julia della Croce)

3 qts vegetable broth or water (or chicken broth)

6 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 large handful chives, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped thin (I don't like this so I don't use it)

1 head garlic, cloves peeled and lightly smashed

2 potatoes, diced small

a few sprigs thyme

5 basil leaves

Bring everything to a boil together and lower. Simmer until the potatoes are al dente.

Add:

1 endive,chopped

1 bunch arugula, chopped

Cook for another 20 minutes or so. They will become part of the soup instead of floating around like they don't belong.

2 slices peasant bread per person (a few days old)

Fantastic Olive Oil

Romano Cheese

Put 2 slices of the stale bread in the bottom of each bowl and pour a few tablespoonfuls of olive oil over the bread. Ladle on the soup and sprinkle on some Romano.

Enjoy!

Please get a Mammogram and do your self-exams monthly!

2008-10-14T08:07:00.005-04:00

Pink isn't really my favorite color any more. It was when I was 16 as is true of many 16 year old girls. Then I grew out of it. My blog however, can manage to wear pink for a few weeks in October to honor the fact that on October 21st I will celebrate the 12th anniversary of my Breast Cancer surgery. It also happens to be Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I was one of the lucky ones who caught it early in a self-exam. I was 32 years old.

I did great, and I remain well today.(Knock wood!) I would love for everyone else to have the same opportunity!

If your over 40 or have family history of breast or gynecological cancer, please, with the advice of your doctor,have a mammogram or an ultra sound done. Please do your monthly self exams.

Need a line - American Cancer Society 1-800-ACS-2345 OR
www.cancer.org

Pumpkin Bread

2008-10-12T17:36:00.008-04:00

It's the middle of October, and already everyone is in the spirit! Everywhere I look, there are pumpkins. Many people see them and think Halloween. I see them and think bread, pie, even soup....you get the point. That big orange thing is edible! Sure, it looks really cute with a funny face on it, and a candle inside, but if you get the right kind and you cook it.... Did I just lose you? OK, back up the bus! Go to the grocery store and buy a can of pumpkin! Are you with me now? Canned pumpkin is perfect for this recipe.

Back to the bread. This is one of the oldest recipes that I have. Someone gave it to my mother in the 70's and we have been baking it ever since. It is a family favorite. As with everything else, I have adapted it. I don't put in raisins because nobody in my house really likes them, but the recipe calls for them. I left them there to honor any purists because I think they "go". I like it best with chocolate chips in place of the raisins. I keep the walnuts. I like walnuts and so does the rest of my family. Besides, if you put chocolate chips in, maybe they won't notice that there is actually something good for them in there and refuse to taste it before they figure out that they actually like it.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

Combine and set aside:

3 ½ cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ginger

1 ½ cups walnuts

1 ½ cups raisins

Beat together:

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

Add:

4 eggs-1 at a time

Beat in:

2 cups pumpkin

2/3 cup milk

Gently stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Pour into greased and floured Bundt or tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Not So Giant, Soft Ginger Cookies

2008-10-01T18:50:00.007-04:00

If I were a cookie, I think this is the kind of cookie that I would be. A Not-So-Giant, Soft Ginger Cookie.It is small and spicy. It is crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside. This is my cookie, believe me! Yeah, yeah, stop shaking your head! You could be a cookie too! Just think about it. You don't have to admit it, but think about it!

The original recipe called for these cookies to be larger. When you make them larger, they are even chewier and obviously they are bigger, but they wouldn't suit my purpose in this case. These are my Operation Baking GALS cookies for October. I wanted to have more cookies instead of bigger cookies, so I made them smaller. Putting them in a mailing container and sending them who-knows-where is smarter if they are 2 inches in diameter as opposed to 4 inches in diameter, right? Can you see 6 guys around a plastic container filled with cookie crumbs? All I could suggest at that point would be six spoons and a quart of milk :)

Maybe someone who eats these cookies will be from New England like I am. Maybe the thought of falling leaves and pumpkins and a New England stranger who wishes them well will make them smile. It doesn't really matter where they are from. Hopefully someone gets some joy from these.

When my kids were little, I used to bake these and have them warm for them when they got off the bus in the Fall. They carry a little bit of nostalgia for me. Alright, enough waxing philosophical. Here's the recipe.

Ginger Cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (ground)
1 teaspoon cloves (ground)
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Ginger (ground)
1 1/2 cups shortening
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses

Sanding or Demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend flour, baking soda, salt and spices and set aside.

Beat shortening and 2 cups sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Beat in molasses until combined.

Stir in flour mixture. Mix until just combined. If you want Giant cookies, use a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, if you want them smaller, use a 1/8 cup scoop. Roll the balls in sanding or demerara sugar.

Place the balls a few inches apart on ungreased sheets. Press down on them slightly.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are puffy and golden. Let them cool for a few minutes before moving them. They will settle and crack a bit. It will make them even more beautiful!

So, I can never leave well enough alone. It is one of my quirks. This recipe lends itself to additions. Dried cranberries, pecans and chocolate chips. I liked all three together. The one thing I didn't do well with was white chocolate. The batter "ate" the white chocolate. I hate it when that happens! Is there a Harold McGee for Dummies book out there somewhere?

The other thing these are wonderful for, is Ice Cream Sandwiches, especially peach ice cream. Make the Giant cookies, load them up with ice cream, roll the edges in nuts, wrap them up and put them back in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours.

Torta Della Nonna

2008-09-14T14:48:00.010-04:00

Italy is a pretty big country when you compare it to some of the countries in Europe. Torta della Nonna is Grandma's cake. There must be quite a few grandmas in a country the size of Italy. I'm sure that every one of those Grandmas has her own opinion about how it is supposed to be made. At times the country probably bulges in attempt to fit all of the grandma opinions!

I ate a slice of this Torta in Boston's North End a few weeks ago and it was pretty good! I wanted to see if it was what I thought it was, and it was! In many cases, it was Pasta Frolla and lemon flavored Crema Pasticceria. When I looked it up, I found a million different recipes, some of them had ricotta, some of them had mascarpone, some of them had almonds.......remember all those Italian opinions that I was talking about. I said to heck with everyone else's opinions and developed my own Torta from my favorite recipes. Hey, what's one more opinion added to the pot!

Torta Della Nonna

Pasta Frolla - this makes a good amount of dough but 1/2 of this isn't quite enough to accomodate the filling necessary if you are using a 10 1/2 inch tart pan like I used.

4 cups a.p. flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
8 oz unsalted butter, cold
4 lg eggs

Pignoli
Powdered sugar

By hand - Mix your dry ingredients. Cut butter into tiny pieces and tumble it in the flour to coat. With two forks or a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour until just mixed. Beat the eggs and add them to the butter/flour mix and knead just until you have a smooth dough. Wrap the dough to rest for a bit and then put it in the refrigerator until you need it.

If you have a food processor - Put your dry ingredients in the food processor. Mix them. Add the butter and mix it until it is incorporated. Add the eggs. When the dough is a ball and "rides the blade" take it out of the processor. Knead the ball if you need to. :) Wrap the dough to rest for a bit and then put it in the refrigerator until you need it.

Crema Pasticceria
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 Tbls butter
1 Tbls vanilla

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Beat the egg yolks with an electric or stand mixer until they are broken up. Gradually beat in the cup of sugar and continue beating until it is a pale yellow in color, and thick enough to form ribbons back upon itself when the beater blades are lifted.

Bring the 2 cups of whole milk to a boil and stream the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture carefully. When it is all incorporated, move the mixture to a double boiler on your stove and stir over medium heat until it reaches a bubble. Or, you can put everything directly into a saucepan and forgo the double boiler, and be careful.(I'm not so good at this, I always get lumps and have to strain!) As soon as it starts to boil, bring it to low heat and beat with the whisk, continuing to cook it. Your making sure that the flour is cooked. This should only take a minute or so. You also want to make sure not to burn the bottom of the pan if you are not using the double boiler.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the butter and the vanilla. Cover it with plastic and put it in the refrigerator. It must chill for at least 4 hours.

Assembly - Take about 2/3rds of the dough out of the refrigerator. Divide your 2/3rds to use for your Torta. Roll the bottom out and lay it in a 10 1/2 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Don't trim off the edges.

Stir 1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract into the Crema Pasticceria. Pour it into the bottom shell and be sure that it is spread evenly. It shouldn't reach higher than the sides of the tart pan or it will keep the Torta from sealing properly.

Roll the top piece of dough out. Cut it to the size of the tart. Slit the center of the dough in a few places to allow steam to escape during cooking. Carefully place the dough on top of the filled bottom shell and press the two doughs together. Use water if they do not adhere. Press against the sharp edges of the tart pan to create uniform and decorative cuts.

Bake the Torta Della Nonna in a 375 degree oven for approximately 35 minutes, but keep an eye on it, it may have an opinion of its own ;>

When it has cooled down, sprinkle on a generous handful of Pignoli and dust with powdered sugar. Set it in the refrigerator and serve after dinner.

p.s. that leftover dough I made you make... sorry. You can use it for cookies if you want or for a jam tart. You can make these amazing turnovers filled with ricotta, mozzarella and proscuitto and roasted red pepper. If your taste doesn't run towards Italian, just put in regular ham and cheese. MMMM.

Fantastic Job By a Great Group of Ladies!

2008-09-05T15:39:00.017-04:00

Thank you so much for a great job, well done!

These are the fantastic looking and wonderfully tasty things baked by my Operation Baking GALS team! Nick and his buddies in Mosul should be receiving some of this stuff from Team Maybe for Real as I type. I'll bet they are feeling the love!

Sarah Hurley made Pumpkin Molasses Snaps!

and White Chocolate, Oatmeal Cookies.

Barbara Cohen made Rice Krispy Treats, Sugar Cookies,

and M & M Chocolate Chip Cookies.

MMm....Now, if anyone is tempted to buy a Ziploc Vacuum Sealer, Barbara loves hers! Here is what it does!

Erin Garrard made Oatmeal Carmelitas.

Tami of Whisked Away made "The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies".

Check out her brand NEW blog too! It's a beauty!

Ashley of Cakes By Ashley made Snickerdoodles.

Lisa at Lunch Bucket Bento made some amazing Rice Krispie Treats in both plain and peanut
butter.

Maria made Oatmeal, White Chocolate Cookies,

and, Homemade Oreos!

Lauren of I'll Eat You made Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters.

Janet of All I Want Is Chocolate made Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now THERE'S a name for a blog!

Thanks again for everything, everyone! I wish I could have a bite of each cookie. They all look great!

My Round Two Cookies and a Little Perspective

2008-08-30T08:20:00.010-04:00

Chocolate, White Chocolate, Walnut Cookies for Operation Baking GALS! So, there's nothing that will make you stop feeling sorry for yourself because you are sending your child an hour and a half away to college like making cookies for the child of someone you don't know, (and will probably never get a chance to meet). I baked a batch of cookies and sent them off to Iraq and thought about the families of the guys who will be getting the cookies! Of course I'm going to worry about my kid, because I love him and as he says, "I'm still going to worry". He's a smart kid! I probably don't have to worry about quite the same stuff that they do, ya think? When I shook my head, I kicked myself in the tail (HARD) and mailed the cookies! I hope they like them and I hope they are as safe as they can be.

Chocolate, White Chocolate, Walnut Cookies

2 1/4 cups a.p. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder and set aside. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer beat sugar into butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until mixed in. Add vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture and nuts and chips until all are just incorporated.

Drop dough by large tablespoonfuls onto parchment or greased cookie sheets. Press slightly on the tops of mounds to flatten a bit. Bake cookies for 10 minutes.

Team Maybe For Real

2008-08-22T15:59:00.025-04:00

Hi Team Maybe for Real- I'm Anna of Maybe Just a Little Bite and we're the new team on the block! Our Soldiers are a group of guys who are permanently stationed in Mosul. Yep, I said permanently stationed! There are about 8 troops and they have been there for a long haul and they have another long haul ahead of them. What better way is there to show our appreciation than to lavish them with some good old fashioned, cookie love, or brownie love, or whatever your specialty might be.

I'm so excited to do this! Let's do what we do best! Are you as ready as I am? Let's get cooking! Let's get these guys some sweet stuff, both literally and figuratively!

We're getting a bit of a late start so if you would like to join us, please send me an e-mail at biscottidiverona (at) hotmail (dot) com by Friday, August 29th. Please include your name if it isn't evident from your e-mail address and if you have a blog, include both the blog name and the URL. (We're extending our shipping dates from the 23rd-30th to the 23rd -4th to accommodate being late bloomers. Anyone who is ready can certainly go ahead and start shipping on the 23rd but newcomers can have until the 4th to ship.)

Our gang, so far!
Rigby of Butterbur's Bistro
Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen
Sarah Hurley
Barbara Cohen
Erin Garrard
Tami of Whisked Away
Dina Fitzpatrick
Jennifer McElhaney
Janet of All I Want Is Chocolate
Suzanne Vierno
Ashley Bates
Lisa of Lunch Bucket Bento
Maria Romano
Amanda from The Waterside Novice Baker
Stacy
Cindy Olinger
Jill O'Callaghan
Lauren of I'll Eat You
Emily @ I Found A Fish
Elizabeth from Providence

Old Fashioned Cobbler

2008-08-17T10:45:00.017-04:00

The one thing I can say about this stuff is that when you say the word "cobbler" everybody visualizes something different. In certain parts of the U.S. people actually argue about it! Some people see one crust, some people see two. To me the two crust variety is called a pie! Some people like a biscuit topping. To be honest with you, I think they all taste wonderful, but this one is my favorite because it is buttery and so easy to make. First you dump the batter on top of the pool of melted butter, now don't you mix it! Next you plop your fruit on top of the batter and then you bake it and the butter and the batter kind of hug the fruit.....OK, OK, I'll stop..the recipe is below, you get the idea....I know you can read. You can make this stuff in "nothing flat" if you want something sweet for yourself and it is homey and wonderful for guests too!

I've made this with all types of cooking apples. They need sauteing first so adding them lengthens the recipe a little bit but don't let that stop you. In the fall the combination of apples, brown sugar, dried cranberries and pecans is unbeatable topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. I've used blueberries, raspberries, peaches and a bunch of other fruit combinations. Use your imagination! If you mess up, well, don't tell Martha. Nobody else will care! Better yet, send her a letter, I'm sure she will be able to tell you how to fix it.

This is comfort food no matter how you slice it! It can be eaten hot in the winter, with a steaming cup of cider, room temperature and bursting with the flavor of the day's fresh picked blueberries in the summer, and any time of year out of the pan at 2:30 in the morning when everyone else is sleeping. Oh come on, don't tell me I'm the only one who does that?

Old Fashioned Cobbler

¼ lb. butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ cup milk

Fruit of your choice

Apple – Sauté 1 ¾ lbs. peeled, cored and sliced apples in 4 tablespoons of butter. Stir in ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon if you like.

Blueberry or Raspberry – Mix 1 ½ pints blueberries or raspberries with 1/2 cup sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon.

Peach/Raspberry – Mix 2 or 3 large, cut up, fresh peaches and 1 pint fresh raspberries with ½ cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp nutmeg.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into bottom of a 9 x 9 pan. Mix remaining ingredients and dump on top of melted butter. You may have to spread it out a bit but please, do not stir them together. Place fruit in middle of puddle of batter and bake for about 45 -50 minutes, or until the batter has climbed up the sides and enveloped the fruit. The edges will be crispy and buttery and the center will be sweet and fruity.

2008-08-13T09:46:00.002-04:00

Got that part down! Trial and error is good! The picture is a little blurry and I don't need to do a new post every time. I can just continue. Here's the rest of the Ricotta and Homemade Blueberry sauce, just in case anyone really is out there! The first picture was just the whole milk and the buttermilk together in the pot with the thermometer. The one thing I have to stress here is NOT to use ultrapasteurized milk products. You won't be a happy camper. I'm not a food chemist, so I can't explain it, but it doesn't work well. The picture below is where we are starting to approach 175 degrees. You can see where the milk is starting to curdle. Remember "little Miss Muffett and her Curds and Whey"? This is the stuff they were talking about. The photo is a little yellow, but that's just my lack of photographic skill. It is actually a creamy white, which you can see from the other photos!
This next photo is the drained ricotta. Looks much better than the stuff out of the plastic tub any day! This stuff is amazing. Technically, this isn't really ricotta at all. Some people might call it the cheaters way out. The real stuff is a by-product of the cheese making process and this is the closest thing that we can make in our own kitchens. It's pretty tasty if you ask me and I'm just too lazy to make real cheese to get real ricotta. This recipe is from Michael Chiarello. If it is good enough for him, it is certainly good enough for me! He puts a Blackberry Topping on his and I twisted mine a little with my Homemade Blueberry Sauce.

Fresh Ricotta (adapted from Michael Chiarello)

1 Gallon Whole Milk
1 Quart Buttermilk
A Candy Thermometer or an Instant Read Thermometer
A Colander lined with dampened cheesecloth

Mix the milk and buttermilk in a large, non-reactive pot and heat over high heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until the mixture is warm. Be sure not to miss any spots on the bottom of the pan or you may scald the milk solids as the curds form.

Watch the thermometer. When the temperature reaches 175 degrees F, the curds and whey will separate. Take the pot off the heat and ladle the solids into the cheesecloth lined colander. Let it sit for a while to drain and don't press on the cloth so you don't push any of your cheese into your cloth. Wouldn't want to do that! Turn the cheese into a container and seal it tight. It will last a week refrigerated, but I'll bet you won't have it around that long!

Fresh Ricotta with Homemade Blueberry Sauce Pt 2

2008-08-13T08:37:00.000-04:00

OOps! I hit enter! and "posted". So how on earth do you start a new paragraph? This will all be one big paragraph until I figure it out. Sorry! Like I said, "don't know what I'm doing". Anyway... here goes... I'll try to post the photos with this too. The recipe is pretty easy and can obviously be used for things like lasagna and all the other things you would use ricotta for too. In my case, I had blueberry jam that didn't set properly. Old pectin? I don't know. Whatever happened, it made me aggravated and I decided to do something about it, so I made ricotta to pour it over. Trust me, it made me feel better, much better!

Fresh Ricotta with Homemade Blueberry Sauce

2008-08-13T08:32:00.000-04:00

So, here it is.. my first post! Frankly, I'm not even sure I'm doing all of this correctly, but if I do it wrong, who care? There's probably nobody looking anyway. Is there even a right way?