Warning!! Pudding Failure. Sorry, Dorie.

This post will be short and sweet. It is late. This week’s TWD choice was Garrett’s of Flavor of Vanilla who picked Split Level Pudding. I like pudding. I have never made it from scratch. And after this week I may never try again. What I have is a nice soft chocolate ganache overlain by a nice liquid vanilla milkshake. Tastes good, for a milkshake.

This is after 2 days in the fridge and following the recipe TO THE T.

But …..
I made one plain vanilla and added Chai spices to the other. (1/2 recipe gave me pudding for two ramekins and a tad left over.) Both had the chocolate ganache on the bottom.

Okay. That’s it. Now I have two TWD fails – the other was the rice pudding. At least the pudding was edible.

Please go visit the other TWD members. I am sure they had better luck than I did. (Altho a couple of little (tweeter) birds told me otherwise….)

 

Blogger Bites #137

I have so much fun reading foodie blogs. Over the past year since I have been ’seriously’ studying the recipes I try to find time to actually try them. And every once in a while I actually do. Thus the title Blogger Bites. Over the past few weeks I have made:

General Tso's Chicken

I saw this dish first on Tracey’s Site At Tracey’s Culinary Adventures where you can find the recipe. Thanks, Tracey. This was really good. Tracey has some great recipes.

I also tried Tracey’s

Caramelized Butternut Squash

She is also a Tuesdays With Dorie Baker, a member of Sweet Melissa Sundays and Martha Stewarts Cupcake Club. Visit, you won’t regret it.

One of the first bloggers I began following was Terri at A Daily Obsession. She has some tremendous recipes one of which was :

Potato Galettes

Terri is in Malaysia so many of her ingredients are not available for me. But I still love reading her blog. And have tons of her recipes marked.

Well, I just wanted to share.

 

Secret Baker

As I wander around the blogsphere visiting Baker’s sites I am always noticing how much everyone enjoys seeing everyone else’s baked goodies. Often there are comments like, “Oh, I wish I could share that with you.” or “Let me have a bite.” We know it isn’t possible because most of us live far, far, far away to just pop in for coffee and a visit.

Well last nite on twitter Tracey, Sarah, and I came up with a solution to that problem. Kayte, when she caught up with the posts, said, “Wow, leave you 3 alone for an evening & you come up with all sorts of things 2 keep us busy!” And so we did. The Secret Baker. A new take on Secret Santa which is always fun. Here are the details:

Sarah at The Blue Ridge Baker will be hosting the first round. If you would like to get a surprise package in the mail (and send one in exchange, though not necessarily to the same person) email the following information to travelingteapot@hotmail.com :

- Your name
- Your shipping address
- Your email address
- Any food allergies, dietary restrictions, food aversions, etc…


The theme for the first round is – FALL!


The last day to join for round 1 is Monday, October 26th.

We will all ship out on Monday, November 2nd. It is important to ship out on this date so we can be sure the goodies will arrive before the weekend.

All of the bakees will be chosen at random, and you will be contacted via email on October 27th with the name, address and dietary details of the person you’ll be baking for.

Think of it as Christmas in November.

Happy Baking, y’all.

 

The Kitchen Reader – Julie and Julia

My mother reads – a lot. And when she is finished with her books I get to choose which ones I want to read. One of the ones she had was:

For some reason she had started buying foodie books, and I was beginning to enjoy them. This was before I started food blogging. Before I met other foodies and food bloggers. And the more I read the more I began to appreciate food and what it was all about.

This book, and one of the first bloggers I began to follow – A Daily Obsession – introduced me to the possiblility of doing my own blog. After reading the book, I found Julie’s blog and started reading and thinking.

.
But you want to know about the book. I have to tell you, I really enjoyed it. Lively, sweet, busy, fun, interesting, tasty, intriguing. The story of a young woman living in a small apartment in NYC who borrowed her Mom’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child and decided to cook her way throught the entire tome of recipes. Quite an undertaking considering the complexity of some of the recipes. And the itty bitty kitchen she had to work in. She garnered quite a following while blogging about her experiences and it was from that I discovered foodies and their blogs.

What she went through just to find some of the ingredients was funny and gross and scary all at the same time. And how she described some of the dishes before, during, and after are just hilarious. And I would tell you about them, but that would ruin the fun. You just have to read the book. The movie doesn’t do it justice as it is actually a combination of this book and “My life in France” by Julia Child.

Or visit the other members of The Kitchen Reader and read their reviews. They all enjoyed the book too. Trust me. You will love it.

 

MSC – The Bonus Round!

The MSC Group is at it again. Baking our way through Martha Stewart’s CupCake Book, we do one cupcake every month. But this month we get a bonus – a second Cup Cake – Banana-Pecan

With Caramel Buttercream Frosting.

Easy to put together. Tasty to eat. I made 1/3 recipe and that gave me 11 cupcakes. I had some buttercream frosting in the fridge, so I made Dorie’s Caramel (From the Peanut Crunch Tart) and mixed that with the softened Buttercream. That worked out fine, but it took a lot of caramel to give it the flavor it needed.

I sprinkled some toffee bits on top of some, drizzled (which fizzled) on some and left some just plain.

Another good cup cake from Martha’s book. You really should buy this one. But you can also find the recipe – HERE!!

And go by the MSC Site and see how the other cup cakers.

 

Peanuts, Caramel, Ganache. Heavenly, TWD!

Tuesdays!! I like love Tuesdays!! It means that Monday is over (…of course when you don’t work anymore, Mondays aren’t that bad….). It means Wednesday is just a day away!!! (Although I tell my children not to make the time go by too quickly…). But most importantly it means that more than 300 creative dedicated bakers are comparing notes on the Tuesday with Dorie Recipe. And this week the bakers are making Dorie’s Chocolate – Crunched Caramel Tart. It was chosen by Carla of Chocolate Moosey.

Let me give you a few facts about this tart:

It is excessively good.
The caramel is to DIE FOR!!!
It is really quite easy.
Did I tell you it was good??

This is a layered tart.Dorie’s Sweet Tart Pastry filled first with caramel mixed with honey roasted peanuts (I know some bakers used cashews and pecans), covered with a semi-sweet chocolate ganache. And then I topped mine with some crumbled caramel bits. Like Laurie said, “What’s not to like….!”

I only made 1/2 the recipe and that gave me two very full mini tarts with ganache left over.
Please visit the other bakers and see their tarts. I’m sure you will enjoy their creations.

 

The Daring Baker’s: Vols-au-Vent

The September 2009 Daring Baker’s 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

I found out this past week that I enjoy making Puff Pastry. Rolling. Folding. Butter. Folding. Butter. What’s not to love? It is time intensive – prepare to spend an afternoon getting the pastry ready to bake – but it is so worth it. What you end up with is a delicate, flaky, buttery treat. Another fun challenge from the The Daring Kitchen. And fairly easy.

What is a vol-au-vent (French for ‘windblown’) you ask?

It is a small hollow case of puff pastry.

The hollow can be filled with a sweet or a savory filling. I chose a sweet milk chocolate mousse.

Topped with a drizzle of chocolate ganache and bits of caramel. Clean. Simple. Elegant.

Please visit other members of the Daring Bakers and see their creative takes on this lovely challenge.(Just click on The blogroll.)

 

Presto Pasta Night – Pasta with Shrimp.

To me there is nothing better than a good dish with some type of seafood. Whether it be shrimp, crabs, scallops, or some type of fish we love it. And if it is a pasta dish – even better. So as I slowly work my way through ‘tons’ of saved recipes from bloggers, magazines, and other sources I tend to focus on seafood and pasta recipes. Like this one:

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp and Basil

The original recipe called for Angel Hair, but I made my own pasta. You could use any pasta.

1 8 oz package pasta
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 lb large shrimp – peeled and deveined 4 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 Tbl chopped fresh basil (my first time to use from my new herb garden)
3 Tbl grated Parmesan cheese.

Combine water with 1 Tbl oil in large pot, boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain well. Rinse well with cold water, drain, and set aside.
Heat remaining oil and garlic in a 10″ skillet.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the garlic is tender (abt 1 minute).
Add shrimp and continue stirring until shrimp turn pink.
Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.
Stir tomatoes, wine, parsley, and basil into the skillet. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced by 1/2 (8 – 12 minutes)
Return shrimp to skillet and continue cooking until shrimp are heated through (2 – 3 minutes)
Serve shrimp over pasta.
Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

This was alright, but not great. If I make it again

– I will use fresh shrimp instead of frozen (big dif in taste)
– I will add more garlic
– I will add salt and pepper which the recipe did not call for
– I will chop the tomatoes up smaller.

 

Celebrating Fall with Dorie!

Today is the first day of FALL!! YAY!! For some it will mean cooler days are not far away. (Unless you live down under somewhere…) For some the frosts are coming, altho’ I understand Natashya has already had one. For some it will mean a little more wet weather – although Nancy and Mary Ann say they have had more than their share already. Keep your fingers crossed they don’t float completely away. Despite the fact that we in the Deep South won’t get any cool weather for at least another 2/3 weeks (maybe…) it is still time to celebrate the new season.

And those of us in TWD celebrated with Cottage Cheese Pufflets chosen by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes.

This was an interesting dough – made with cottage cheese. It gave a light fluffy dough with a different taste. I have to admit, I liked the dough, but have mixed feelings about the overall ‘cookie’. I only made 1/2 the recipe. Some of the bakers mentioned that their dough was wet, so I drained some cottage cheese over night in the fridge. That helped quite a bit. The dough was easy to roll out, but make sure you HEAVILY flour your board because they stick. The dough rolls out easier if you let it sit out for a couple of minutes from the fridge (You have to chlll for at least 3 hours before you begin). I filled some of mine with Strawberry preserves (Note to self: brush these with melted preserves next time) and some with Nutella. Still not sure if I like them enough to make them again. Sorry, Jacque.

Please visit the other TWD bakers and see their puffy creations.

 

Slow and Steady BBA – Corn Bread!

Cornbread is a staple in our house. We eat it with gumbo in the winter, we eat Fried Cornbread year round but mostly with Bar-B-Q. I usually use the recipe on the back of the Aunt Jemima Cornmeal bag and I usually make it SWEET. Now I live in the south – don’t make sweet in the Deep South. But I am 1/2 Hoosier and 1/2 Cajun and I like my cornbread sweet. Blame it on my Yankee Dad – Mom used to make cornbread with Ham Hocks and White Beans. I ate the ham and cornbread. They ate the beans. And it was not sweet cornbread. What can I say – I’m 1/2 Yankee and 1/2 Rebel

Where is that leading? It’s leading to the next bread on the Slow and Steady BBA baking list – Corn Bread!

What can I say about this cornbread except – It’s Good!! Real Good!!

And it is not like any cornbread I have ever made. Why??

First step is to make a soaker. This was new to me.
Next step is mix the soaker with the rest of ingredients. Including crumbled bacon and corn kernels.

The bacon is crumbled on top, but spreads through the rest of the bread. The instructions called for an 8″ cake pan, but I always make our cornbread in a cast iron skillet with melted butter. So I did that here. Worked just fine.

This is definitely a keeper. Tasty! Moist! Easy!

Please visit the other members — Kayte, Nancy, Cathy, Audrey, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Karen, Natalia, Tracey, and Leslie, of the Slow and Steady BBA and see their takes on the Corn Bread.

And if you want to see where the not so slow and steady BBA group are doing you can visit them.