September’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge — Crackers & Salsa September 27, 2008

Crackers

(The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart)

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings (I used dried basil and mixed it in as I was kneading the dough)

1.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball.  You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2.  For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.  Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  (This is where I added the basil.)  The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled.  Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4.  For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter.  Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.  Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches.  You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax.  At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down.  Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes.  When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.  Line a sheet pan with baking parchment.  Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment.  If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf.  Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.)  Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough.  You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking.  If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6.  When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Corn, Tomato, Avocado Salsa

1 pkg homemade frozen corn (or fresh off the cob)

1 tomato, seeded and diced 

1 avocado, chopped

basil

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

salt

papper

Unthaw the frozen corn and mix with reamining ingredients adding the basil, vinegar, oil, salt & pepper to taste. 

A New Kind of Taco September 23, 2008

Sorry no pictures with this one.  I froze half the recipe, so maybe when I take that out I’ll snap a couple. 

My husband and I liked this dish.  It can be made ahead and is fairly simple to prepare.  I suggest using the Monterrey Jack cheese along with the cheddar.  I didn’t have any in the house and my cheddar didn’t melt like it was supposed to.

Stuffed Taco Shells

(Recipe adopted from:  www.blogchef.net)

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg taco seasoning

4 oz cream cheese

12 pasta shells

1 cup salsa

1 cup taco sauce

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla strips

Your fav taco toppings

Cook ground beef as you would for any taco meat and add seasoning as directed on back of package.

Add cream cheese and simmer until melted and mix well with meat.  Set aside to fully cool.

Cook pasta shells as directed on package, drain and toss with a couple tablespoons of melted butter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour salsa into the bottom of a 9×13, fill each shell with meat mixture, layer onto of salsa and top off with taco sauce. 

Bake covered for 30 minutes.  Uncover, sprinkle with chips and cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes.  Serve with toppings of your choice.

Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies September 13, 2008

Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

(Recipe from:  Cooking Light September 2008)

• 4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 6  tablespoons  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1  large egg
• 3/4  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/4  cup  flaked sweetened coconut
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped dark chocolate
• Cooking spray 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 2 minutes). Add egg, beating well. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir just until combined. Stir in coconut and chocolate.

Scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 portions. Roll each portion into a ball. Place 12 balls on each of 2 baking sheets coated with cooking spray; flatten slightly with the heel of your hand. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, at 350° for 15 minutes or until the tops are set and cookies are lightly browned on the bottoms. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Verdict:  I would make these cookies again.  I liked the texture of them.  The chopped chocolate and coconut probably helped out.  They have chewy centers and are crunchy on the outside. 

Fudge Meltaways September 4, 2008

I’ve had a jar of Nutella sitting in my cupboard for some time now waiting for it to be used up so I decided to do a Food Blog Search and came up with more recipes using Nutella than I could make in my life…ok, maybe not, but there were a bunch of them that looked good.  I chose a filling recipe using Nutella and made meltaway cookies to smoosh in between them to make sandwich cookies.

These days I can usually pass up any type of chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter cookie.  Not that they aren’t good, but have been eating them my whole life, they aren’t anything new.  These Fudge Metlaways I could not keep my hands off.  The cookies melted in my mouth while the fudge filling…did whatever it did.  Ha, so much for my description.  Anyway, I recommend everyone trying these out if you’re up for something new.

See you next week.  I’m off to Scottsdale until Tuesday.  104 degrees here I come! 

Fudge Meltaways

(Recipe adopted from:  Recipezaar and The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook)

Cookie:

 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Sift both flours, cornstarch, baking pwd and salt into a medium bowl.  Set aside

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until smooth.  Scrape sides as needed.  Mix in vanilla, decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture just until combined and smooth dough forms.

Use about 1/2 Tbsp of dough to form each cookie.  Roll each into a ball and place on lined baking sheets.  Flatten with a fork to about 1 and 1/4 inches in diameter.

Bake sheets one at a time until the bottoms of the cookies begin to brown, about 25-30 minutes.  The tops should not change color.  Cool on pan for about 10 minutes and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Filling:

1/4 cup Nutella

3/4 powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

4-6 tsps water

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a fork or mixer.  Add more or less water to get the consistency you desire.

Assembling:

Spread fudge filling on the bottom of one cookie.  Press another cookie into the fudge filling to make a sandwich.