Merry Christmas 2009

Once again, it is that time of the year….time certainly does fly.  Obviously, this is a Daring Baker post…they seem to be the only ones I have done as of late (I am hoping that in 2010, that will change)… and there are formalities to dispense of…

Most importantly…

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

The recipes can be found on their blogs and soon as I find the time to update my DB recipe page, you will find them there as well.

Again, time has certainly flown yet there is still some year left in 2009 and still a lot to do.  So I only have a few more things to say and then you can all go off and enjoy this Glorious time of year!!!!

Obviously, I want to thank Anna and Y for a fantastic challenge!

To all the other Daring Bakers across the globe I wish to send many thanks as well.  You all have inspired me with your immense talents…such very beautiful creations you all have done!!!

Of course, none of us would be here without our fearless Daring Baker Diva leaders!!!

Lisa & Ivonne

What a fantastic idea you had and how very wonderful of you both to share it with the world!!!!

I now leave you all one last wish…

May you have a Joyous and Merry Christmas* and a Happy New year!!

*so if you noticed the asterick and made it past the video to here, then here is where I am the Bear that I so typically can be.  Again wishing you a Merry Christmas, sorry but this is my holiday and I refuse to be PC about it, if it isn’t your holiday then disregard and have a Happy New Year!

Here I go again!!!!

10:10pm Mon Oct 26:  A little Farmville play, harvest, plow, plant!

10:17pm Mon Oct 26:  Check Facebook! Ah how nice a Post on the Daring Baker’s Oct Challenge: Macarons  written by Sunita’s World

10:19pm Mon Oct 26:  Sunita’s Macs look yummy and the post was a great read.

10:20pm Mon Oct 26:  I think to myself, “Yo, John, you are a Daring Baker and tomorrow is the 27th, where in hell are your macs?!?!?”  Here I go again!!!!

10:23pm yadda-yadda-yadda!!!  Run downstairs and seperate five eggs and pray that the 16 hours the whites will age will be enough!!!!!

Comic relief kids, since time seems to be my weakest link……..

Fast Forward to

6:15pm Tues Oct 27:  I got magma!!!

Piped Magma

6:54pm Tues Oct 27: I DON’T gots feet!!  Feets done failed me now!!!

7:02pm…: Last bit of magma piped, going to let it air dry this time and see what happens.

8:0 (freakin’) 9…: Still no feet!!!!  Time to admit defeat?; or is that defeet?????

Ok, so I have finally come to a challenge that I feel I shall not return to.  This is not my 1st attempt at Macs, the first was last month, you can read about it here, that was a semi-success.  The 2nd attempt was earlier this month, I was going to make chai spice shells with a pumpkin cream cheese buttercream, I ended up with , once again, ‘feet”less hockey pucks.  Tonight’s attempt had no feet but had the classic crisp outer shell with a soft chewy core, so another semi-success.  After last night’s trip into the Time Warp, I was getting ready for bed and my flavor combo hit me…

Rocky Horror (Road) Macs

So tonight’s  batch was a milk chocolate shell, with a marshmellow cream filling and chopped almonds to round it out.  Even though they were more a failure than otherwise, I felt you needed to see the end result.

"Feet"less Rocky Horror (Road) Macs

And now I will leave you with two things to ponder.

First the obligatory….

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

And lastly…

I think it is time to kiss my Macs….

Goodbye!!!!

For the Love of Autumn

The first of each month has been pretty much the same for me for the past year and a half….I grab my morning coffee and head straight to the Daring Kitchen to see what is in store.  This month we were given…

The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

As is often the case, we were given some freedom to play.  The puff pastry obviously is the star of this show, and Steph did a great job of explaining it here.  So I will not go into a lot of detail regarding it, other than to say it is really not a difficult endeavor!!  It is true that I more often than not buy puff already made but I do make it as well and always am I pleased when I do so.

What then, you wonder, am I going to tell you about then….

The supporting cast, of course.

Vols au vent are a puff pastry shell which are filled….and filled with a multitude of options.  My intial thought was to make a pumpkin praline mousse to fill small leaf shaped shells and then finish that off with a cinnamon caramel drizzle…..didn’t happen!!!

The weekend I decided to go for it and tackle the DB challenge happened to be a beautiful mid september weekend.  Crisp and cool yet sunny and bright…I could “smell” the leaves turning color….a wonderful weekend to get in the kitchen and play.  Truth be told, I had quite a few kitchen “projects” planned.  I needed to make a supply of my “world famous” pasta sauce and I wanted to dive into something that I have been afraid of for some time, you can read about that here, and of course puff pastry.

Saturday was a day of getting things in place…my sauce is an all day affair and I also had tons of prep for the DB challenge and my other project.  Sunday arrived, my sauce was “put up”, my fears had been put to rest and my puff pastry had been “turned”, now it was dinner time!!

As I said earlier, initially I was going to go for more of a dessert for the challenge but again dinner was calling, what to do?  The weather was still holding, the air crisp and I kept thinking how much I Love this time of the year…the warm spices, the tart green apples, the little bit of a chill that calls for something comforting, and then I favorite little cafe on the southside came to mind.  The 1889 Cafe does a great stuffed breast of chicken that I thought, if broken down, could be morphed into a great savory, comforting filling for fresh from the oven puff pastry shells.

The inspiration is a chicken breast stuffed with sausage, apples and raisins with a white wine reduction as a topper…easy to break down!!!!  Now my cooking style is not one to follow a recipe, I am a pinch of this, dusting of that kind of cook…..so please bear with these “instructions” ( although I promise if you give it a go, you will make it one of your favorites).

Start with 1/2 lb breakfast sausage, brown and remove to paper towels to drain.  Cube 3 boneless skinless chicken breast and brown add 1/2 of a medium onion diced and continue till chicken is cooked through and onions are translucent, remove and set aside.  Chop 3 granny smith apples into bite size pieces and caramellize in pan, have patience with this step…let the apples get a nice color on them.  While all of this has been going on I plumped about 1/4 cup raisins in a spiced Riesling, when the apples  have caramellized nicely, remove them and deglaze the pan with the excess wine from the raisins. scraping all the “bits” from the pan.  I then added 1 1/2 cups chicken stock  and brought it to a boil, I then added the chicken, onions and sausage and lowered the flame to a simmer.  Let this reduce by half, then add the raisin, apples, a touch of salt, pepper, sage, cinnamon and 1/4 cup heavy cream bring to temp.  Remove from flame and then “swirl” in 4oz butter, ladle this into fresh out of the oven pastry shells!!!  Enjoy!!!

I served this with a crisp greens salad topped with butternut squash croutons and a lite drizzle of cider vinegar.  Warm, comforting and well worth the “turns”, alas Autumn has arrived!

For the Love of Autumn

Mac Attack!

Yea, so I have been playing a bit of the tease with some of you on Facebook….well I guess now is the time to put up or shut up, so here goes.

It has been a year and a half since I first joined the, then, Daring Bakers who have now become The Daring Kitchen; it has been that same amount of time that I became aware of something called a “Macaron”, only one “O” there kids, so not the chewy coconutty cookieish thing you are thinking (although macarons are chewy and cookie-like there is a world of difference between 1 “o” and 2).  It has been slightly under a year that I had my first taste of one of these divine pastry/cookie delectables!!!! It was at Lisa and W’s wedding that I got to put one of Veronica’s macarons to my lips…..OMG!!!!!  No wonder that damn near every food blog this side of the recently downgraded Pluto had something to say about these bad boys!!!!!!!

Almost a year gone by and you are wondering why it has taken me so long to attempt these, well when you read about them, you find that they are a bit intimidating.  The basic 3 ingredients are but egg whites, almonds and sugar combined in such a way as to form something so wonderful one won’t forget it!

At the wedding I also met Helen(e), of Tartelette fame, invariably when macarons are mentioned so is she.  The fact that her creations, edible art, blow me away combined with all the semi horror stories I have read about making macarons  conspired to make me (if you are prudish turn away or switch your browser to another blog) one scared shitless mother fucker!!!!!!

Really, I thought these babies were so outta my league that I would never again have one.  Sure they can be ordered online or you can fly to France or Tokyo for the King of Macarons but since I don’t often patronize bakeries/patisseries, I prefer to make my own,  it was learn or go without.  For almost 1 year…I bought the ingredients more than once and more than once they became something else…the elusive treat was not to be.

Jesu, Giuseppe, Maria as my aunt Lena often said…enough is enough…..(look away time again) shit or get off the pot!!!!!

I committed, I read, I shopped and finally I dove in head first.   Again, 3 basic ingredients but about as many recipes as there are stars in the sky!  These things are all about technique…french method, italian method, whip all the whites, whip only half the whites and on and on.  I finally decided on a  recipe by David Lebovitz, which combines the french method with my favorite flavor, after meat, chocolate.

The egg whites were aged, the almonds ground to a point just short of becoming almond butter and hell I even printed out some nifty macaron templates…aside from doubling the ingredients I followed David’s recipe to the letter, so I won’t bore you with those details.

Nifty printed templates under parchment!

I whipped, I folded and I was pleased.  I filled, I piped and again I was pleased.  Well, almost, something was slightly amiss, naw!!!! just stage fright.  5 trays of chocolate macaron discs, 90 shells, 45 finished macarons (for those who have no clue these are constructed like an oreo, 2 shells and a filling).  Now some people suggest to let the piped shells sit out for about an hour to dry and form a “skin” of sorts, David mentions this but it appears he doesn’t always use this.  I did.

Ready for Macaronage!

Piped and drying.

First tray in the oven, I could have fit another but I wasn’t risking multiple trays just yet!!!!  Oven temp…check, time…check, ok in they go.  A short time later the unmistakable scent of…scorch… I look at the timer and dismiss it, I am only halfway there…..DUMBASS!!!!  FYI, if you smell scorch do NOT dismiss!!!!!  Hockey pucks, I had mini hockey pucks!!!!!!!

Regroup and rethink.  I lowered the oven temp by 50 degrees and used another of those not mentioned in recipes hints…I put a wooden spoon in the oven door to keep it slightly ajar.   No smell of scorch this time but when all was said and done, some of the shells cracked, hmmm oven temp adjustment time.  But there was good news with this batch…..I HAD feet!!!!  Those who know, know and for those that don’t…well the macaron shell consists of 3 “areas”, the dome (top), the base (bottom) and the feet ( a small area between the dome and base that…well, resemble little feet).

Because of the cracked shells, I lowered the oven temp another 25 degrees, in went the 3rd tray and then the fourth, as the 3rd looked great.  You got it “Houston, we have a problem!”  At about the time the 4th tray was ready to come out of the oven, the 3rd tray was cooled quite a bit, so I had to get a taste.  Into one I gingerly bit, yes there is that slight crisp exterior but wait where is the softer chewy brownie/cake-like interior????  The interior was slightly chewy but way more “dense” than it should be.

4 trays down and it was not looking good.  I had lowered the temp to the lowest temp I had read in any recipe, so it must be my batter or more specifically the “macaronage”, again if you know…then you know and really I apologize for this but if you don’t know, well I am not sure I can explain, as I am not sure I know it as fully as I could.  Did you see the light at the end of the tunnel in those last 5 words written??

1 tray left and something told me I didn’t screw it up badly enough to just pitch the rest into the can!!  What to do?  I wasn’t going lower with the temp, so I decided on less oven time.  The original recipe calls for 15-18 mins at 375,  I had shaved off 75 degrees and was now about to shave off time, but in they went.  I was not going to walk away from the oven, no way!!  So on went the light and in I stared.  I swear to you, at a little over 6 minutes in, the oven light blew!!!!!  It frickin went out on me!!!  Can this be for real.  Now a 300 degree oven isn’t the hottest but you try sticking your face as close to a slightly ajar, totally dark oven and try and see what is going on in there at that temp!!!!!  No easy task, I tell you!  So at 8 minutes in, I just had to open the door and see what was up….nice rise and FEET, I don’t know what but something told me they were done.  Out they came to cool.

Now, if you have been paying attention you may think, there is something wrong with this picture.  Me too!!  Original recipe the oven temp was 375 and cooking time 15-18 mins, this last try was done in a 300 oven for a little over 8 mins, that’s one helluva difference….and I think I know the reason but that I am saving for the end!  Just a few more observations and ramblings and you are all free to go and bake.

Once tray 5 was cool, I had to taste test….crispy dome, soft chewy interior and chocolate from hell!!  Could I have done it???  Yes, Watson, I think I just may have!!!  Keep in mind, I started with 90 shells, the first 70 were…well we won’t go there.  So I had 20 shells that worked and I had just eaten one, remember, macarons are 2 shells and a filling….what to do???  Yep, I had to eat another shell…and it tasted as grand as I remembered, perhaps no competition for Veronica and Helen but damn tasty!!!!

18 little shells in need of filling…decisions, decisions!!!  Well, I had a little leftover American buttercream from a sidetrip on this months DB challenge (hush hush till the 27th), so 8 got to wrap themselves around that.  If you have been paying attention you know my favorite flavor is meat with chocolate being a close 2nd.  3rd comes….and what better to pair with chocolate….peanut butter!  So I made a mini batch of chocolate peanut butter ganache, literally 2 oz of chocolate, 1/2 tsp PB and a splash of cream, to finish off the last 10 shells.

9 filled macarons… Now I would be a liar to say that I followed what every recipe suggests…to wait a day to let the flavors meld…hell no, I was tasting one of each.  7 filled macarons and 24 hours to wait…in the interest of science and baking I waited and then tasted.  5 filled macarons….hours of reading and thinking, a few singed eyebrows, all this and more for 5 filled macarons!!!!  Am I doing it again?  Yes!!!!!  I am not anywhere in the city of Macaron but I am certainly in the suburbs and soon to be at the city limits!!!  Would I have waited this long to dive in again, NO, Never….go for it, don’t wait!!

For those who “know” I ask that you not hurt yourselves too terribly from falling out of your chairs in hysterical laughter at my not so pretty macs (although, I hope you read on once you get back up to see if what, I think the issues were, seems to be feasible).  For those of you closer to me, who may not “know”, I promise to continue to use you all as guinea pigs till I get pretty macs!!!!

Mac Attack!!!!

Issue/Issues.

One hint that I did not follow, nor even think about till after the fact was to get the batter to a consistency where it flows like lava.  Hell I am not a volcanologist so I am not really sure what lava flows like but I am certain my batter had no flow whatsoever.  This though, I think was caused by what I believe to be my biggest mistake…..

“Beat the whites till they are firm and stiff”.  I thought it at the time and know it almost 100% now but I beat my whites till they were rigid and dry.  Could this have been my biggest downfall????

I now want to mention someone who I don’t know, of whose blog I have read little (but I plan on that changing) that I just kind of happened on after all was said and done.  Audax Artifex, his post on his DB anniversary macarons has great information that I found to be helpful.  I just wish I had read it before my first attempt, but then, perhaps it was meant to be this way….I saw my wrongs and then was given a resource to help fix them.

Dobos on the fly!!!! (or PB&J Torte)

Yep kiddies, that time again…well yesterday was that time…Daring Baker reveal for August!  I know, again I have been remiss, again I am behind but then if I were on time, you all might get “afeared” that I had been abducted by aliens and replaced with some sort of pod person….so consistent and behind I shall be.

First and foremost…..The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Second…The excuses and the story!

Excuse #1- ‘Tis august, the thermometer is bulging….who wants to turn on the oven?

Excuse #2 through infinity- Refer to excuse #1.

The Story…..As some of you know, I have been absent from our beloved DB for a bit, too busy, too tired, too whatever, at the beginning of this month I was happy as a clam for a cake, my kind of cake, so I swore to all the baking and blogging Gods that I would “hell or highwater” manage to find the time.  Then, of course, the month intervened, vacations, bee stings, etc, etc, etc (all of which are lovely stories in and of themselves but I know you don’t want to hear them).  Then this morning arrives and I am sitting here with my coffee and cig and in my reader I notice….Dobos…..Dobos…DOBOS!!!!   “Aw crap!!” (that isn’t really the retort but I am trying a kinder and gentler approach here).  Yep, John will be John!

So off to work I go…BTW did I mention today was Fudge Day?  Yea, aside from the 96 gallons of ice cream we have been going through in a week, today was my day to make 140 lbs of fudge. Between the ice cream, the fudge, an employee on vacation and various classes of returning college kids…yea I had time to plan an attack on making a Dobos!!!!  Along about 4pm, in walked my inspiration….Ray (and for everyone going “awww” and tearing up…please!)…it wasn’t so much him , as it was the package of raspberries he just had to have that he wanted me to come up with something to make from them.  But alas, my dear sweet partner in life didn’t WANT CAKE!!!! (Lis, I think you have the proper retort for this one…can you be the one to say it please?)  Crunch time, now I have 2 desserts to come up with, yea right like that is going to happen….Ray will just have to be content with his nightly PB&J sandwich before bed!!!!! Yes people, we keep Smuckers and JIF afloat, not to mention Wonder Bread (yea he has to have the spongy flavorless white crap bread and if it didn’t take an extra 20 seconds, the crusts would be cut off also!).  At all times we have on hand 1 drum o’ Jif and 2 jars preserves, one strawberry the other raspberry.  Hmmm, raspberries, raspberry preserves, peanut butter, cake, dessert….can you feel the impending crescendo?  Viola!!!!  PB&J Torte!!!

Lastly, I give you the Mechanics!!!

As with any Daring Baker challenge that I complete, you can find the recipe here, on various other DBer Blogs and of course on our above mentioned Hostesses sites as well.

Here are my tweaks:

To the egg yolks in the batter I added 1/3 cup creamy Jif ( I think a bit more would have served me well)

For the buttercream I subbed white chocolate and also added 1/4 cup strained rasp. preserves.

Instead of doing the free-form rounds, as I feel I am rotund enough, I chose square and thus used 1/4 sheet trays to bake in, hence the reason I feel I got alot of “lift” in my layers.  (although I wish I would have spent a little more time leveling the batter)

For the wedge embellishments I did a half moon shape and replaced the caramel with reduced  strained preserves.  I really wanted to do more of a crescent shape for a bit more lacy feel and also for a little spot to tuck in a raspberry but it didn’t happen!!!!

The guinea pigs will have at it tomorrow, so I will update you when the final verdict is in.  Up to this point I found it to be a great challenge!!!

A Little Peanut Butter for a Pal.

For a Pal

Merriam-Webster.com defines Pal as a close friend.  So, I guess the title of this post should  change but then again, it is there and I am not rethinking it!!!

This whole Twitter/Facebook/MySpace/WordPress world brings us together with others we would never have had the opportunity to meet in the not so distant past.  It seems we are all a friend of a friend of a friend these days.  Luckily, I have met many a folk from across the globe….and some very “Wonderful” folk I might add!!!  The “pal” I am referring to today is not in some far off land or even a different US time zone…she is literally over the hill and across the river from me and yet we have never met!

What’s this about you ask….well this “pal” asked a mutual friend (sorry PP….”oh! but I don’t!”) if I would make her a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake and since I love me some cheesecake, I did!!!!

It's all about the ganache!

A bit of a sidenote now that I am about to give you the lowdown on this cheesecake and its making… It seems my new Pal has just recently learned she passed her CCRN’s so my dear I hope you enjoy a celebratory slice!!

Now comes either the disappointment or the intrigue, it depends on how comfortable you are with flying solo.

I make many a cheesecake and I have no real recipe just a couple rules.

• 1 X LG egg for each 8 0z. cream cheese  (use best available CC, no “store brands”
• Bake in a water bath
• Bake @ 400 degrees for 15mins, reduce to 300 degrees till center jiggles ever so slightly (please don’t mar the beautiful top of a cheesecake by inserting a skewer or knife to check for doneness!!)

The rest my friends is something I wing!!!!  Sweet, savory, crusts, flavors etc., etc.  There of course are some other rules but these come with time.

• Don’t overbeat the batter.  Too much air causes the cheesecake to crack, even when using a water bath, which cuts down on this a bit.
• Do mix 1 egg at a time into the cream cheese till it is fully incorporated
• Do practice often till you get to know the “it’s done jiggle”!!!

Now for those who need a bit more instruction, as best as I can recall, here is what I did for this particular cheesecake.

Crust:

• 3/4 cup crushed oreos
• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 4 TBS melted butter

Pulse oreos and peanuts in processor till fine, slowly drizzle in butter till it comes together.  Pat into bottom of 10″ springform pan.

Batter:

• 40 oz cream cheese
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt

Divide the batter and add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to 1 half and 1 cup chocolate ganache to the other.  Pour PB batter over the crust and level, next pour chocolate batter over PB batter.  Place foil prepared* pan into a water bath that comes 3/4 way to top of pan then into oven, bake 15 mins at 400 and then finish off at 300 till you get the “it’s done jiggle.  Let it come to room temp and then refridgerate at least 10 hrs.

Once it was chilled, I then topped it with a white chocolate peanut butter ganache, back to the fridge to let that firm up.  Run a knife around the rim of the pan to loosen the cheesecake, release the lock and serve it up!!!!!

* I should have stated this sooner but when using a water bath to bake in a springform pan you must cover the outside of the pan with a couple of layers of foil so no water seeps in while it is baking!

Congrats Edy!

And as a final tease….some of my favorites.

• The Classic- a bit of lemon juice and grated rind in the batter and top with fresh fruit.
• German Chocolate-Chocolate batter with coconut and mini chocolate chips folded in.
• White Chocolate Raspberry- Fold white chocolate ganache into batter then swirl with a sweet raspberry compote.
• Chicken Jalapeno with cumin minis- a freakin’ awesome appetizer!!
• Lobster with Garlic clarified butter drizzle- Only 16 oz cream cheese packed with diced tail meat and a bit of lemon zest, drizzle with garlic clarified butter and brunch is served!!!

Getting back to the roots of Strudel!!!

Apfelstrudel, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!!!!!

Well, I guess I need to rethink my love for it, or at least the classic Viennese version.  Which of course brings me to this…..

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

As with anything, often there is more than one way to arrive at the final destination and strudel is no different.  The strudel my “granny” made, the strudel I make and the strudel I adore are not  strudel in the classic Viennese way.  With no hanging my head in shame, I proudly proclaim my love for strudel made with phyllo dough!!  This is not to say I won’t eat the classic Viennese version but there is an obvious difference in the doughs, both visually and texturally, and I prefer phyllo.

Visually the difference is more than obvious.

Phyllo vs. Strudel

Texturally it is a bit more subtle.  Phyllo is like a 2000 year old papyrii disintegrating into a myriad of crackling shards when you bite into it.  Strudel dough is more like a thin leather scroll, dried and cracked but yet still retains a little “tooth” to it.

All of this being said, this months challenge was more about technique for me than taste.  Being that I have technically cheated on every strudel I have ever made, I figured giving the “real thing” a go would be fun…and thanks to

Linda and Courtney

it was!!!!

I stayed very close to the posted recipe with only 2 small changes.  The first being that I eliminated the walnuts and the second being I used Alpine Spice in place of the rum to soak the raisins.  The dough, for me , was the star in this show and after reading the forums and a few things on wikipedia, I had concerns.  Legend has it that the “Austrian Emperor’s perfectionist cook decreed that it should be possible to read a love letter through it“.  Being that I have a tendency to put holes in a lightly tossed pizza dough, I was positive I would end up with a Swiss strudel and not a Viennese one.

(I hope everyone caught that sad reference to swiss cheese!)

My concerns were for naught, this dough was absolutely a marvel to work with.  Not only did I manage to get the 2′x3′ dimensions suggested, I far exceeded them and I could have read numerous love letters through it.  My only “ahhh hell” moment came right after I knew I was done stretching but I had to go one more!!!!  Just a small tear, alas perfection was not to be!!!!

Just shy of perfection!!

Dat's how I roll!!!!

Lovin' from the oven

Strudel Viennese!

As for getting back to the roots of strudel, I am so glad this opportunity was given…I found that the technique for making the dough is not as bad as I thought it would be.  However, and I can only speak for myself on this, I have every intention of continuing my cheating ways and using phyllo for my strudel!!!

And please visit my fellow Bakers who dare!!

A Rose for Momma!!!!

So this is a day behind schedule but then again “prompt” is not my middle name!!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all!!

My Mom and my Mother-in-Law are no longer with me, so Mother’s Day is more a day for thought around these parts anymore.

This year however, I was given a Mother’s Day gift!!  Yes, I know, technically, I can’t be considered a mom but then again, I have a tendency to think of some of those around me as my kids.  So, in an odd sort of way I am a Mom!!!!

One of my kids, Widdah, is a culinary student specializing in pastry and yesterday she brought to work some practice icing and her piping kit.  As you all may recall “piping” is not my forte and it was her intent to teach me to make a piped rose…and my friends she did just that!!!

I am not known for my “warm and fuzzy” nature, quite the contrary!!!  Although, yesterday I was beyond giddy with the excitement of actually learning and succeeding at making a piped rose….so much so that my little Widdah was somewhat taken aback, as she has never seen that side of me.

“My Dear, it’s the little things…”

What you see above is what she taught me, although I did do a little photoshop work, as the practice icing was blue.  I think she understood a little how very happy this tutoring made me but what I think she doesn’t know is….

No matter where your externship and life takes you….

…every piped Rose I see from now on will remind me of you and how much I was thrilled you gave me a

Mother’s Day Rose!!!

Happy Easter-It’s all about the sauce!!!

So this is going to be very short and sweet.  Well wishes to all.  Today I spent a quiet Easter with Ray and we had our typical, ham, scalloped potatoes, pineapple glazed carrots, all accompanied by a salad and crusty dinner rolls.  Pretty tame.  However, I had a hankering for lamb and despite the fact that he won’t touch the stuff, I went ahead and stuffed a leg of lamb.  I found the recipe off of facebook and you can all find it here, it was pretty straightforward and not at all a difficult task.  The stuffing was simply, mint, shallot ( I used garlic and onion) and bleu cheese.  Stuff it, roll it, roast it, simple as that.  To finish it off was a sauce….OMG the SAUCE!!!!!!  Reduced pan drippings, red wine followed by more reduction, thicken with ground roasted pine nuts, remove from the heat and add more bleu cheese.  All I can say is the lamb was divine but truth be told, I would have been content with the pan of sauce and a straw!!!!!!  Try it, you are gonna like it!!!!!!

And again, to everyone out there, “Christos Anesti!”.

What I did today…and why you are going to Laugh!

So today is the 3rd* and final reveal day of this months Daring Baker Challenge for March and well…..I am writing this actually before I have even begun!!!!

*apparently sometime between the last time I visited the site and yesterday the reveal date kinda changed on me!!

When I first joined the DB, 11 months ago, I was soooo good at gettinig it done early and having the time to contemplate a post, not so much as of late.  Lately, I have been scrambling and today I am scrambling HARD!!!!

Let me first off get the formallity out of the way….

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

…now let me drive this baby home so I can get in the kitchen!!!!!

I am of Italian descent so I am more than familiar with fresh pasta, bechamel, ragu and of course lasagne, so this month didn’t really phase me much.  However, being that this particular version of lasagne is much lighter than mine, I have decided  to deviate very little  from the recipe Mary, Melinda and Enza have chosen.  My version of lasagne is laden with layers of sausage, ground veal, ground beef, garlic scented ricotta and pasta (a typical pan of my lasagne goes at least 15lbs).  This is a much lighter version and I figured give it a go!!!

Why then, if it is something I am comfortable with and actually a bit less work than I normally put into, am I scrambling…..and again, scrambling HARD??  Well, this “cake thing” of mine is kinda “taking off”, this week alone I have done 7 cakes (5 paying, 2 gratis), along side of the normal 2 stores to run, 2 dogs to deal with, a house that NEEDS attention and of course my very own RAY!!!  It’s sunday you say, the day of rest…not around these parts, I have a cake due for tuesday, one I have always wanted to try but was always intimidated by, well today is the day…this cake is a 3 tiered, carved, fondant coated work of engineering….one of those wobbly wacky looking Dr Suess cakes.

That’s the scramble, so why are you now going to laugh?

As I said earlier, I am not deviating from the recipe much, initially I thought we had no choice but to make spinach pasta and Ray doesn’t “do” spinach, so I told a couple people about it and they are waiting for a taste…this then means I have a sunday meal to make as well, and guess what picky boy wants!!!!

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes!

So go ahead and giggle kids, as I am off to …

Peel potatoes

Chop onions

Make Bechamel

Make Pasta

Bake 9 cake layers

Form meatloaf

Put lasagne together

Bake

Bake

Bake!!!!!!!!

BTW It is 10:58am and I vow to have this post finished, photographed and posted by the end of the day…I refuse to be late this time!!!!!!  So more later.

2:44pm- First snag of the day came at 11:30am, the girl that was to open one store was going to be late, as the subway in PGH was down for some reason, so I had to go in.  Got the pasta made there, here are some bad pics from cell phone camera.

Mise en place!

a'kneeding we will go!!

Time to rest!!

5:34pm-Snag number 2, camera batteries dead, so no pics of me rolling sheets, but it is a quick charge and you will see them drying.  Along with the first of the cake tiers cooling.

6:46pm-Snag number 3, no this one is much more an EVENT!!!  While making the bechamel I let the dogs go out in the yard for a bit, as per usual when they returned they pranced around the kitchen.  However, I was working on my roux and was being careful not to go past “blonde” on it, so I paid no mind to the happy romping pooches.  Long story short…there was a pail of driveway tar out back, somehow it was knocked over and here is the result!!!!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Many STEPS!!!!

8:18pm-Things are looking up, dinner is done, more cakes in the oven, camera battery is good to go and Mr. Picky Eater is on “floor patrol”!!!!

Cute but bad dog on a clean floor!

9:07pm-Taking a Celebrity Apprentice break!!!!

To hell with the time checks, the water is boiling and it will be done in time.  The complete recipe can be found here.  The only variation from the original recipe was in my Bechamel.  When I make this sauce I typically dice a small onion and a couple cloves of garlic and simmer that in the milk, I then strain the milk into the roux and cook as directed in the recipe.  I used my own sauce and not the recipe given, I would share that recipe with all of you but then it would no longer be my secret sauce and I would not be a happy boy and let’s face it, after the day I have had we all want me to be a happy boy!!!!!!  So I am in the final stretch, it is finally in the oven, obviously I am not going to be eating it tonight but I can say the cooked pasta was divine!!!!  It was perfectly “to the teeth”, just as any good pasta should!

TADA, out of the oven with 20 minutes to spare…the only thing is I may not get a plated photo in time, so here is one that has been edited a bit so as not to spoil what I hope will be the surprise!!!!!

A bit more color than it should have...yummy nonetheless!!!

And now, one last picture and hopefully a surprise… we are the Daring Bakers, which to me means we go a bit beyond the norm on occasion.  Since I have been so into cakes and I have never to my recollection seen a round lasagne…. well, I dared!!!!

Lasagne in the Round!

Ok, so all done but it was a LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG day and the only way to sum it up would be to quote my dear Mrs. P, “FAAAKKKK!!!”.