Tulies – January’s Daring Baker’s Challenge January 29, 2009

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

If you’re not sure what a tulie is, the closest thing I can think of to compare it to would be a fortune cookie.  It’s a thin crisp cookie that is very lightly sweetened.  After baking, it is formed into any shape you desire or it’s even possible to pipe out for dessert decorations.

This challenge was pretty simple.  The only thing I had trouble with was getting the batter into a very thin even thickness to bake them.  I ended up using a round stencil and back of a knife, it worked well!

This first picture, I pipped some whipped cream in the tulie.  In the picture below I made some Cherry Yogurt Couscous found here. 

Tuiles

(Recipe from:  The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeinck)

¼ cup / 2.3 oz softened butter

½ cup / 2.1 oz sifted confectioner’s sugar

dash of vanilla extract

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

1/2 cup / 2.3 oz sifted all purpose flour

1 Tbsp cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste.  Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites.  Add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste.  Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up.  (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with silicon baking mat and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.  This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template.  Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter.  Leave some room in between your shapes.

Bake for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.

Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape.  (Carefully, they’re hot!)  These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones…

White Chicken Chili, French Onion Soup & MORE! January 26, 2009

Can anyone guess why I’ve been on a soup kick lately?  A little hint…I live in the Midwest…

So, I started off with some Chicken Tortilla Soup, the same recipe I made about a year ago.  You can check out that recipe and my thoughts on it here. 

(By the way, I don’t eat the soup for dinner night after night, I usually have it once and freeze the rest for my lunches.)

On to soup #2.  I’ve been wanting to make French Onion Soup for a while now and found this super simple recipe from Rachael Ray.  I wasn’t sure if this soup would fill me up, so I made a Caprese Panini to go along with it.  (Although the soup probably would have been enough; with the bread cubes, it was actually pretty filling!)

 French Onion Soup

(Recipe from:  Rachael Ray)

2 Tbsps olive oil

2 lbs onions, thinly sliced

1 sm clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

salt & pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cups beef broth

1/2 baguette, cut into small cubes

2 cups shredded gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, garlic, thyme and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the onions are golden, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the wine and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the beef broth, reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan.

Divide half of the bread cubes among four small ovenproof bowls and cover each with 1/4 cup cheese.  Divide the soup among the bowls, then top with the remaining bread and cheese.  Set the bowls on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese is bubbling, about 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Caprese Panini(Recipe from:  Cuisine At Home)

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp Balsamic vinegar

2 slices sourdough bread (brushed with Olive oil on one side)

Pesto

Mozzarella

Salt & Pepper

Spread pesto on sourdough (opposite side of oil).  Heat oil and diced tomato in frying pan until they break down.  Turn off heat and add balsamic vinegar.

Layer tomato mixture and cheese on 1 slice of bread on the pesto side and place the second piece (pesto side down) on top.  Grill on both sides until nicely brown.  (or use a panini press if you have one)

Serves 1

 

For soup #3, I decided to make White Chili.  I got this recipe from Cousin Tim who originally got it from his friend’s mom.  My favorite is to sprinkle a little cheddar cheese over the top.  Yum!

White Chili

(Recipe from:  Cousin Tim’s friend’s Mom)

6 small chicken breasts with bone (I used 3 large)

4 cups water (I ended up adding another cup)

4 chicken bullion

1 sliced medium onion

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp creole seasoning

3/4 Tbls. each of oregano and cumin

1 – 4 oz can chopped green chilis (undrained)

1 can white corn (drained)

3 cans great northern white beans (drained)

Cook chicken breasts in 4 cups of water with chicken bullion

Bring to a boil then simmer for 10 to 15  minutes.  Remove chicken and add all remaining ingredients (plus chicken bones). 

Simmer for 1 to 2 hours

Add chunked chicken 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with a flour tortilla, white corn chips, top it with cheese, salsa, cilantro; however you like your chili is up to you!

 

“Healthy” Brownies January 21, 2009

Of course when you put ‘em in a waffle bowl and top ‘em with whipped cream, chopped Reeses & Oreos, fresh strawberries and chocolate syrup like we did last Friday with our friends, I wouldn’t consider them so healthy…

But have a brownie without all that stuff and you get an 88 cal 1 g fat gooey chocolate treat.  I found this recipe in a magazine that was left in our lunch room at work.  It called for unsweetened applesauce which I had a jar open, so I figured, why not give it a try.  They don’t cut as nicely as a normal pan of brownies would, probably because they only have egg whites, no yolks, but personally, I think they are just as good.

Double Chocolate Brownies

(Recipe from:  Healthy Decadence with Devin Alexander)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup unbleached, all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8×8 inch non-stick cake pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk or spatula, mix the applesauce, vanilla, egg whites and sugar until they are well combined.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.  Stir in mixture until it is just combined and no lumps remain.  Pour it into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the chips evenly over the top.  Bake the brownies for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are fine).

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool.  Cut them into 12 brownies (that’s another thing, usually an 8×8 is cut into 9, not 12…)

Steak Pizzaiola Burgers January 13, 2009

One of the cookbooks I got for Christmas this year was Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book.  As I was going through it to decide which recipe I would make first, I saw the photo for the Steak Pizzaiola Burgers and knew instantly my husband and I would love it.  Rachael explains that she came up with this recipe for Donald Trump who enjoys a nice steak and appreciates good pizza (sounds like my husband).  I’ve made this two times now and we both love it.  As far as the preperation goes, I’ve made a few changes .  Who wants to get three pans dirty all at once to make any meal!?!?  Not me! 

So here is the recipe with a few changes in the ingredients I used and my prep.  If you want to see how Racheal preps it, check here. 

(I really wish I took a picture of it after being cut open, but after that first bite…it wasn’t going to happen.)

Steak Pizzaiola Burgers

(Recipe adopted from:  Rachael Ray)

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 large onions, thinly sliced

salt & pepper

3 Tbsp tomato paste

3/4 cup beef/chicken broth (dry red wine)

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup pepperoni, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2-3 Tbsp garlic olive oil

4 slices bread (I use Jewels homemade wheat but want to try sesame semolina sometime), 1 inch thick

1/2-3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

8 slices provolone

Preparation

1.  (This can be done up to a day in advance) Mix together ground beef, pepperoni, parsley, oregano and red pepper flakes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Divide in 4 parts (5-6 oz each) and form patties using a burger press to make them even, or your hands. 

2.  Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Chop onions, add to the pan and season with salt and pepper.  Cook unions until they soften8-10 minutes. 

3.  Add tomato paste to onions and cook, stirring occasionally until they start to caramelize (2-3 minutes).  Add wine/broth and cook until it pretty much evaporates.  Remove onion mixture into small dish and cover with foil.

4.  Place the bread slices on baking sheet and broil them until toasted on both sides. 

5.  Heat dirty pan with remaining oil and cook patties for 3-4 minutes on both side for medium doneness (the time may be different depending on thickness and heat level).  As they are cooking, remove toasted bread and brush with garlic olive oil on one side and  sprinkle with grated parm-reg cheese. 

6.  Top bread slices with cooked burgers, divide the onion mixture among the burgers and top with 1-2 slices of cheese.  Place burgers under broil until cheese melts (2-3 minutes).

7.  Serve with knife and fork.

The Chewy (M&M Style) January 9, 2009

I’ve really come to enjoy Alton Brown’s show Good Eats.  Each show takes a specific food or ingredient and pretty much dissects it to teach the viewers about that specific food or ingredient. 

My favorite part of a chocolate chip cookie is the chewy center but with a slight crunch around the edge.  This recipe is exactly that.  They make gigantic cookies, which are great, but I’ve also used a smaller cookie scoop (along with minimizing the baking time) so they’d last a little longer in our house.

If you check out the recipe on Food Network’s website, you’ll see that this cookie recipe got awesome reviews (518 to be exact).  If that doesn’t tell you that these cookies are probably close to being the best chocolate chip cookie out there, I don’t know what will.

The Chewy (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

(Recipe from:  Alton Brown)

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 ¼ cups bread flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

¼ cup sugar

1 ¼ cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp milk

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups M&Ms

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar.  Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.

Stir in half the M&Ms.

Chill the dough, then using an ice cream scoop (or smaller cookie scoop), scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6-12 cookies per sheet and press 4-5 M&Ms on top of scooped batter.  Bake for 14 minutes or until gold brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes.  Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Cocoa-Nana Bread January 3, 2009

Here is another recipe from Dorie’s Baking From My Home to Yours book.  It is a very chocolaty bread (almost cake like, but a little more dense) with a nice banana flavor.  I topped it with some Cool Whip, but also ate it by itself, which was also tasty.

Cocoa-Nana Bread

(Recipe from:  Dorie Greenspan)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or 1/2 cup choc chips

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9×5 (I used my new silicon bundt pan!) and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer.  Preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened.  Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition.  At this point, the batter may look a little curdled — it’s okay.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas.  Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear in to the batter.  Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.  Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil and continue to bake another 40-45 minutes or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes before unmolding it.  Cool at room temp right side up.

Here are some random pictures using the new camera.  I’m looking forward to getting some snow again and hopefully catching some cool pictures outside.