Pumpkin Roll October 31, 2008

Yet another fall recipe, so delicious and easy!  Most people look at this and imagine a disaster waiting to happen with rolling the cake up in a nice spiral, but it really was not bad!  As long as you follow directions and let it cool completely, you’re good to go.  I hear these freeze great too. 

I brought this one to our Boss’ Breakfast we have every year in honor of Boss’ Day.  I bet most people wouldn’t consider this to be a good addition to a breakfast buffet, it’s more dessert, but you don’t know my co-workers, they eat anything from omlets and hash browns to leftover steak and potatoes from the night before to brownies, cake and ice cream before 10 a.m., plus we had enough egg casseroles, potatoes, fruit, etc being brought in and I was signed up to bring something sweet.  We had such good food this year we decided to start an on-going BKS Recipe Book.

Pumpkin Roll

(Recipe adopted from:  www.verybestbaking.com)

¼ cup powdered sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Grease a 15×10 jellyroll pan and line it with parchment paper.  Grease and flour paper; set aside.  

Spread a clean, thin dishtowel on the counter (make sure the towel is larger than your jelly roll pan); sprinkle the towel liberally (you don’t want the cake to stick to the towel) with powdered sugar (a mesh strainer works great for this).

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves & ginger.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thickened.  Add pumpkin; beat until well mixed.

Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined.  Spread the batter evenly into prepared jellyroll pan, easing it carefully to the corners with a spatula.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched.

Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert cake onto the prepared towel.  Remove pan and carefully peel off paper.  Roll the cake up in the towel while hot, starting with 10-inch side.  Cool completely on wire rack for about an hour.

When the cake is almost completely cooled, make the filling. 

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

4 Tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla 

Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth.

When the cake has completely cooled, unroll it, spread the cream cheese filling over the cake and re-roll the cake.  Wrap the rolled cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When ready to serve, unwrap the cake, cut into even slices and place it on a platter.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

October’s DB’s Challenge — Homemade Pizza! October 29, 2008

This challenge went a lot better than I thought it would.  Although, it wasn’t difficult and I’ve made homemade pizza before, it was the dough tossing that got me nervious.  The tossing went fine, my husband enjoyed the entertainment, and if you’ve never done this, you should!  My dough was extremely flexible and spread itself out easily as I was tossing.  In a way, I wish it was a bit stiffer because the middle got way to thin.  All the dough went to the edges after the first couple of tosses.  It still looked and tasted good though! 

The other challenge was getting the pizza from the paddle/cookie sheet to the pizza stone in the preheated oven.  I advise layering a very thick layer of cornmeal down before setting the dough down.  So much that you can’t see through the granuals to the paddle/sheet.  I believe that is the key to the transfer.

I used the pizza sauce I’ve made here.  Toppings were the norm.

Thanks to Rosa for hosting this month! 

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces) Water, ice cold (40° F)
1 Tb sugar
Cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Or

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Oatmeal-Nut Crunch Apple Pie October 22, 2008

The good ‘ol Apple Pie.  This one turned out really good, from the crumble on top to the crust.  It was really tasty with a little scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side.  (Although what isn’t tasty with ice cream on the side?)

At the end of this post I listed types of apples that can be substituted for the ones called for in the recipe.  Apples don’t all cook down the same, hence the two types of apples. 

Oatmeal-Nut Crunch Apple Pie

(Recipe from:  Eating Well)

Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons ice water

Whisk flour, whole-wheat flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter and the cream cheese using a pastry blender or a fork until the mixture is pebbly. Add oil; stir until evenly moistened. Sprinkle water over the mixture; toss with a fork to combine. Knead the dough in the bowl a few times. Gather into a ball, press into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into a 14-inch circle between 2 large pieces of parchment or wax paper. Peel off the top sheet and invert the dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Peel off the remaining paper. Press the dough firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Tuck the overhanging dough under, forming a double-thick edge. Crimp the edge with your fingers. Using a fork, prick the dough in several places. Refrigerate the crust for 15 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375°F.

Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, about 30 minutes.

Filling
3 med Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced (Shapely)
3 med McIntosh apples, peeled and thinly sliced (Saucy)
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Combine apples, 1/2 cup brown sugar, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a large bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour over the apples and toss again; mound the filling into the cooled crust. Coat the crust edges with cooking spray, return the pie to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Topping
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Meanwhile, prepare topping: Combine 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or a fork until evenly distributed. Stir in orange juice concentrate and nuts.

After the pie has baked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven and scatter the topping over the apples. Return it to the oven (covering the edges of the crust with foil if they’re browning too quickly) and bake until the topping is golden and the juices are bubbling around the edges, 20 minutes more. Cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Types of Apples to try (This list also came from Eating Well):

Shapely:  Granny Smith, Golden Del, Jonathan, Jonagold, Northern Spy, Ida Red

Saucy:  McIntosh, Cortland, Paula Red, Empire, Macoun, Mutsu (Crispin)

Happy Birthday Justin! October 17, 2008

Last weekend I gave my husband a birthday party with the friends and family.  Like I’ve said in previous posts Payday Bars are his favorite!  So instead of having a birthday cake, I made a Payday Bar pyramid.  Check it out…

His birthday is actually today, so feel free to wish him a happy one!

Sweet Corn and Pepper Bisque — Soup Sundays October 12, 2008

Before I get to the soup, I think I promised to post a picture of the taco shells I made a couple weeks ago.  Notice the right side with more cheese, those are for me :) JP doesn’t like cheese a whole lot. 

Hope you give this recipe a try sometime, they’re worth it!

I’m a week behind on this post, I actually made this soup last Sunday, but I still have one container in the freezer and I’m looking forward to eating it sometime this week.  The taste of this soup was sweet from the sweet corn and peppers but had a nice kick from the cayenne pepper.  I will definitely make this again.  I think having really good sweet corn is important, otherwise the flavor might not be there.  I used sweet corn kernals that we froze this summer and it turned out great! 

Sweet Corn and Pepper Bisque

Serves 3-4 (about 1 1/2 cups each)

(Recipe adopted from:  Eating Well)

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped sweet onion (1/2 onion)

3 cups frozen sweet corn kernels

1 tsp minced garlic

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

1 Tbsp yellow cornmeal

1 cup diced sweet pepper (red/yellow/orange)

1 scallion, white and pale green part, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

Dash of Cayenne Pepper (to taste)

Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, 6-7 min.  Add corn and garlic; cook, stirring often, until the corn is lightly browned, about 5 min.  Add broth and simmer until the corn is tender, 12-15 min.  Stir in salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer 1 1/2 cups corn mixture to deep semi-narrow cup (or blender/food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender).  Add sour cream and 1/2 cup cooking liquid.  Using an immersion blender, blend until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes.  Return the puree to the pan.

Whisk in cornmeal; bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens.  Add bell pepper, scallion, parsley and Cayenne pepper; heat through.  Serve

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup October 4, 2008

Looks like it’s time to post again!  It’s been a while but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been in the kitchen! 

I got this recipe from my friend Laura, who got it from her mom.  Laura saw my Smoky Stuffed Peppers and thought I would enjoy this soup, which I did.  Instead of simmering for an hour, I threw all the ingredients in the crock pot before I left for work one morning.  I thought it worked good and according to Laura, the texture was the same as if it was simmered for an hour.  Instead of buying chili sauce, I decided to make my own, which made the soup a bit too sweet.  I would advise going out and buying Heinz Chili Sauce (should be next to the ketchup) instead of finding a recipe for it on-line and substituting that. 

I would definitly make this soup again, and it feezes really well for a quick lunch or supper on these chilly days we’ve been getting lately.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

(Recipe from:  Laura’s Mom)

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1 can (46 oz) tomato juice

1 1/2 qt water (46 oz)

3 medium green peppers, diced

12 oz chili sauce (Heinz)

1 cup uncooked white/brown rice

2 ribs celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

3 beef bouillon cubes

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt

Simmer one hour or cook in crock pot on low 8-10 hours.

This soup freezes well.