Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I threw my dog a birthday party...

Happy birthday, Clif!


In honor of my dog's second birthday, we had a barbeque down at Locust Beach. Hamburgers and sausage to roast over our roaring fire, plus shrimp cocktails, delicious stuffed tomatoes, and watermelon to munch on. I made rhubarb crisp and an orange-chocolate bundt cake, and my friend brought a mixture of the two: rhubarb cake. Aha! Clif's friends were invited too!


It was an eventful day. The tide was out literally a mile, and we ran to the water's edge and back twice. Clif chased a kite-surfer, back and forth and back and forth across the bay. So funny! Aaaand the sun gave me a sunburn so bad my skin was purple. We played in the mud, had a laugh, and threw sticks endlessly for the woofs. Needless to say, Clif was exhausted.


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Homemade Savory Pop-tarts


When I was a lot younger, a wee lass you might say, I used to go crazy for pop-tarts, despite the tasteless crust and iffy looking icing and too-sweet filling. My mother seldom bought them, so it was a special treat. Now pop-tarts are special in a different way, fitting in the category of "mystery foods" along with Twinkies, bologna, and Captain Crunch. When was the last time you tried one of those things? Are they as good as you remember them?

Now, I'm older, wiser, craftier; I make my own delicious pop-tarts! By which I mean, I make them for my family because I am a vegetarian and these babies are savory. All you do is make a pastry dough, roll it out, cut it into rectangles or your favorite shape, and fill it with whatever your heart desires.

Poptarts

Pastry
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with pecan-sized lumps of butter still visible. Mix the egg and milk, and add it to the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive.

Divide the dough in half; each half will weigh about 10 ounces (about 280g). Shape each half into a rough 3" x 5" rectangle, smoothing the edges. Roll out immediately; or wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Prepare the filling: Start with some sort of sauce, be it barbecue, marinara, pesto, or you name it. You'll need some cheese, some meat, and veggies like spinach, peppers, tomatoes, etc. Mine tend to get huge! I can't stop filling it. Most often, ham and cheese with pineapples and marinara sauce are requested, but bacon does not go amiss inside of these things, nor do the sweet stuff!

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8" thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9" x 12". Laying a 9" x 13" pan atop the dough will give you an idea if you’ve rolled it large enough. Trim off the edges; place the scraps on a baking sheet, and set them aside, along with the 9" x 12" rectangle of dough.

Roll the second piece of dough just as you did the first. Press the edge of a ruler into the dough you’ve just rolled, to gently score it in thirds lengthwise and widthwise; you’ll see nine 3" x 4" rectangles.

Beat the egg, and brush it over the entire surface of the dough. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each marked rectangle. Place the second sheet of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around each pocket of jam, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Cut the dough evenly in between the filling mounds to make nine tarts. Press the cut edges with your fingers to seal, then press with a fork, to seal again.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake for 20 minutes until they’re a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan.

Variation:
Cinnamon filling: 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons flour

S'more Poptarts: marshmallows or marshmallow fluff and chocolate chips

Inspired by one of my childhood favorite flavors, this one doesn't always turn out the prettiest because the marshmallow oozes out the sides, but my boyfriend is still a fan and says they taste good. Worth a try!

Jam filling: 3/4 cup jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

To make the filling, mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts. Make a quick icing to drizzle on top to make it a real treat by mixing a spot of milk with powdered sugar.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oreo Ice-Cream Cake


When my friend told me he didn't really like cake, my immediate reaction was disbelief. "You don't like cake? How can you not like cake?? IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE YOU IF YOU DON'T LIKE CAKE????" Then I realized, I'm not much of a cake fan myself. I prefer the frosting. Confetti frosting. Or cream cheese frosting, my favorite! We compromised with ice-cream cake: Looks like a cake, it even has cake in the name, but without anything that's actually technically a cake.

On a side note, if you want to read a funny cake story, go here.

I made this cake up as I went. Remember when I wrapped cookie dough around an Oreo and baked it? That was actually the last post I saved. Well, that's the basis of this recipe. With an Oreo bottom and a cookie layer between some vanilla ice-cream, you can't really go wrong. Top it with whipped cream and finely crushed cookie, you've got a birthday cake.



I forced everybody to sing to the birthday boy, despite the fact that he is twenty-four.

There were candles too, which he definitely blew out.

You're never too old for candles on your cake!



Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oreo Ice-Cream Cake

3 T melted butter
1 1/2 c. finely crushed Oreos (about 14 cookies)

1 pint vanilla ice-cream

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1
teaspoon salt
1
cup (2 sticks)
butter, softened
3/4
cup granulated sugar
3/4
cup packed brown sugar
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips


To make the crust, combine crushed Oreos and butter and press to the bottom of a cake pan. I like to just use my fingers here. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Place half of the pint of ice-cream on Oreo bottom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, then add granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels if chocolate.

For every Oreo, put one scoop of cookie dough on top, another on bottom, then seal edges together. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Several days ago, one of my friends sent me an e-mail that had nothing but a link to an unusual recipe in it. A subtle hint? "It's hard to pass things like this along without the other person assuming you are demanding cookies...but I figured you would make them regardless of how you heard about them once they were brought to your attention!" says the Desert Crab.

He was right.

So what this Amandaleine person thought up was a simple yet brilliant thing: take an Oreo, wrap it in your favorite cookie dough, and bake. Easy as that. The result? "It was yummalicious!" That's what I like to hear.


Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Honestly, I'm a fan of the generic Nestle Tollhouse cookie recipe with minor adjustments. I will make batches of the stuff, scoop out balls of the dough, and flash freeze them so I always have them on hand. Freezing the dough is the secret to the perfect cookie! You can use whatever recipe you like for these.

2 1/4
cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1
teaspoon salt
1
cup (2 sticks)
butter, softened
3/4
cup granulated sugar
3/4
cup packed brown sugar
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 package Oreos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine fl
our, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, then add granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels if chocolate.

For every Oreo, put one scoop of cookie dough on top, another on bottom, then seal edges together. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Monday, March 14, 2011

It's Pi Day!

And it's time to update this blog. After months of ignoring it, feeling that it really couldn't compare to other blogs out there, like Joy the Baker with her fun Californian style and honest approach to writing, or the Smitten Kitchen and her beautiful photos and renowned food articles. I have decided that even if I'll never be them, never artful or articulate or clever as other blogs, I can still do it for myself. For fun. What better way to start than sharing pie!


Pi (π) is a mathematical symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is approximately equal to 3.1415926... (that's all I have memorized), an infinite decimal, and thus irrational. Pi is fun!
Pie is fun! Nowadays, my friends and I celebrate this magical number by feasting on pie pie pie! on the fourteenth day of March. Because... 3/14, 3.1415926... Get it?


Well, in my endeavors to choose some pies to make, I narrowed the list down to five: Pecan pie, banana cream pie, blueberry pie, and apple pie, and strawberry swirl cheesecake. I thought it would be quite a feat, but it was easy! I made all my own crusts, tweaked the recipes wherever I felt like, and spent one evening in the kitchen. Voila! Five quaint-looking pies. No major mishaps.

The banana cream pie was definitely a favorite, along with the pecan pie shown above. It was my first time making both, so it felt like a real baking accomplishment!


Did you know cheesecake is technically a pie? This is so because it does not rise, which apparently defines a cake. I think I burnt the graham cracker crust a little, and the top looked funny so I smothered it in my leftover homemade strawberry sauce. Aside from looking like a bowl of blood, my strawberry swirl cheesecake was said to be pretty tasty.


Other people made pies too! Our host made two savory pies: a chicken-bacon-mushroom pie and a lamb pie. They were devoured by the guests. One couple made a cheddar-pear-apple pie, and finally, a friend brought a delectable tayberry pie with the best crust ever. Apparently, the secret to a perfect crust is vodka. Who knew?

This was a GREAT, successful Pi Day celebration. If you don't partake in this little holiday, it's not too late. There's always next year!