Baker's Theory

Paneer Makhani

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If you’re tired of your usual hum drum meals, spice up dinner with this zesty Indian comfort food! This is one of my favorite Indian foods because it’s cheese  in a creamy and tangy tomato sauce. Those are the best things in life! If you are branching out of your comfort zone, this is kind of like a chili if you swapped the ground beef for a very mild, high-protein cheese. 

Paneer is an Indian cheese that is very firm, mild, and doesn’t melt easily. You can usually find it at the cheese counter of your grocery store. My Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry it, but the fancier grocery store does.

The word “curry” is used a lot in Indian cooking and often turns people off who aren’t familiar with it. Curry actually describes two things: (1) it’s a spice that is very pungent and yellow and used in some dishes (it’s not in this one) and (2) it’s just another word for sauce. So you could say this is a cheese dish in a tomato curry, or you could say it’s a cheese dish in a tomato sauce. It’s the same thing when we’re talking about Indian cooking.

Also, if you’ve ever had butter chicken, this paneer makhani is the same sauce. Butter chicken and chicken makhani are synonymous. Butter is just easier to pronounce! By the way, makhani is pronounced MAHk-nee.

I love this dish with some buttery garlic naan and white basmati rice. The sauce is so unique, combining tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, cashew butter, cinnamon, and cream. From the ho hum perspective, you’d think those don’t really go together. BUT THEY TOTALLY DO, PEOPLE. And it’s out of this world! (Or out of this continent, at least.) 

FYI, since cashew butter is on the pricey side ($8-$11/jar), you can definitely sub peanut butter instead! Just make sure it’s creamy. 

True to Indian cooking, the ingredient list is lo-o-o-o-ong and the process is very involved. If you just want the gist of it, slow cook tomatoes and onion in some spices, puree the mixture, add in the nut butter and puree again. Stir in the cream and cheese et voila. Drop in warm and buttered garlic naan, grab a bowl of rice, and feast! In case you’ve never had Indian food before, you serve the paneer makhani over (or next to) basmati rice, and use garlic naan (a flat, oven fired bread) to scoop up or soak up any remaining sauce!

Indian cooking usually requires ghee, or clarified butter, but you can use regular butter, too. 

One more tip–the acidity of tomatoes prevent onions from softening. Cook the onions FIRST and then add the tomato. If you don’t, you’ll have some crunchy onions in your sauce, which, for this dish isn’t a huge deal since it all gets pureed, but because I like to follow the rules, I’m letting you know the “correct” way. 

Ingredients

1 onion, diced 
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
2″ of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
28 oz can of whole, peeled plum tomatoes 
1 tsp sugar
2 sticks of cinnamon, about 3″ long
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
1 tsp red chili powder
1/8 tsp red cayenne pepper (optional–omit if you don’t like heat)
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp salted butter
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup creamy cashew butter (peanut butter is fine, too)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 oz fresh paneer, cut into 1″ x 1″ x 1/2″ cubes

 

Process

In a medium to large pot or Dutch oven, cook onions on medium heat in hot vegetable oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant, about 2 more minutes. Stir constantly so the garlic does not burn. 

Stir in the tomatoes and their juice and crush with a fork or masher so they are saucy. (Don’t worry, you’ll puree them later, too.) Sprinkle in the sugar, drop in the cinnamon sticks, and add the cumin, garam masala (if using), chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, bay leaf, butter, and tomato paste. Lower the heat and give it a good stir. Let this cook for about 30 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. 

Discard the cinnamon sticks and bay leaf. Using a hand blender or food processor, puree the sauce. Add the cashew butter and puree again. Return the sauce to the pot. Drizzle in the cream while stirring. The sauce will take on a lovely orange color. Drop in the cubes of paneer and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes on low. 

Serve with garlic naan and basmati rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. 

Mac’n’Chini

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There are a lot of power couples out there in the world: Bill and Melinda, Kate and William, Pepper and Tony, Chandler and Monica, Blake and Ryan, Peanut butter and Jelly. These pairs are powerful because while, individually they are awesome, together create something better and bigger than the sum of their individual parts. I officiated the marriage of a power couple this weekend. I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Mac’n’Chini. 

Macaroni and cheese is a major figure in our lives, always there for us when we reach out for quick, comforting, cheesy, delicious noodles. Later in life I met Arancini, reinvented from the previous night’s risotto, charged with gooey cheese, breaded and deep fried. I had a feeling they were perfect for each other. They agreed. 

Ingredients

2 cups of leftover macaroni and cheese, refrigerated overnight
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp sour cream
2 oz muenster cheese, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1/2 cup flour
1 egg + 2 tbsp heavy cream, beaten
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt for sprinkling
Tomato sauce for dipping

Process

Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil. 

Wearing food safe gloves*, in a large bowl combine leftover macaroni and cheese with mustard and sour cream. Depending on your macaroni and cheese recipe, you may need to add an egg yolk if it is too dry. 

Take a cube of cheese and compress the macaroni mixture around it , creating a ball 1.5″ in diameter. The gloves really help shape the ball without the macaroni sticking to you. Place the ball on the aluminum foil-lined pan. You should end with 10 balls. 

Gather three bowls, one for the flour, one for the egg and cream, and one for the parmesan and breadcrumbs. 

Roll each ball in the flour bowl, one at a time, placing it back on the baking pan. Cover the balls completely in flour–there should not be any yellow showing. Discard remaining flour. 

Again working one at a time, GENTLY place the ball in the egg mixture, fully coating it (be careful not to break it apart) and transfer to the breadcrumb-Parmesan mixture. Return the ball to the baking pan and repeat with the remaining balls. 

Fill a small pot about 1.5″ high with oil and heat oil to 340F. Once the temperature has been reached, drop in the balls two at a time. Fry for three minutes or until a golden brown. Remove from the pot using tongs and transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Sprinkle salt over the fried balls. Serve immediately. 

If reheating, from fried, bake at 350F for 15 minutes. 

*Food safe gloves are extremely helpful because the macaroni and cheese will be difficult to handle with your bare hands. It will stick to you and forming and shaping the balls will be very difficult. I highly recommend using them. 

Noshing Appetizers

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Bleu Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms and/or Arrancini

My mother-in-law, Jane, makes a beautiful spread of hors d’oevres on Christmas Eve, and it left me feeling very inspired to direct some energy on my appetizer game. I could seriously be content to eat appetizers instead of a meal for dinner. Appetizers are small and delicious, and you can try a lot more things than if you’re just having steak and potatoes. 

There are more appetizer recipes to come, but I feel these three cover a lot of what is desired in an appetizer spread: something meaty, something sweet, and something cheesy and bready. I’ll also direct you to one of my favorite appetizers of all time: deviled eggs. Alas, Jim’s whole family despises hard boiled eggs, so I don’t have much reason to make them often!

Jim got me this fantastic book for Christmas called KitchenWise by the brilliant, mastermind food scientist, Shirley Corriher, and I have gleaned so much information from it! The ginger fruit salad and the flank steak recipes below are from her. 

However, the bleu cheese stuffed mushrooms come from my heart. I live about six hours away from my home town where a great little restaurant serves tempura battered bleu cheese and herb stuffed mushrooms. Now I pride myself on being able to make most things that I crave with the exception of Home Run Inn pizza and those bleu cheese mushrooms, but in an attempt to recreate them, I made something else in the process and was really happy with the result!

I had a little left over filling after stuffing the mushrooms, and serendipitously also had leftover saffron rice, so I combined the powerful forces and rolled out arrancini, breading and frying them with the mushrooms. 

I can’t imagine these mushrooms without the sauce, but feel free to omit if you want. It is essentially an alfredo sauce made with bleu cheese and creme fresh. 

Despite living in quarantine for almost a year now, it is still very difficult for me to refrain from making too much food. It’s just the two of us, but I love cooking for a crowd. I managed to exercise restraint and foresight and breaded 30 mushrooms and put 20 of them in the freezer. I only fried up 10 and grab one or two as a nice addition to my dinner (though, they’re obviously best fresh). 

Ingredients

10 oz whole baby bella mushrooms, cleaned
8 strips of bacon, fat reserved for soffrito
1 carrot, minced
1/2 leek (or 1/4 onion), minced
1 small celery stalk, minced
4 oz bleu cheese, divided
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp onion salt
4 oz creme fresh
4 tbsp butter

Process

Gently pull off the stems of the mushrooms. Set the caps aside and dice the stems finely. 

In a large skillet, fry the bacon and set on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb some of the grease. In the same skillet on medium heat, fry the minced carrot, leek/onion, and celery, stirring occasionally until very tender, about 20-30 minutes. (This is called soffrito.) Add the diced mushroom stems and Worcestershire sauce, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. 

While the soffrito cooks, crumble half of the bleu cheese with breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Crumble the bacon into this bowl as well. Then line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and arrange mushrooms on it in rows, bottoms facing up. 

Once soffrito and mushrooms are finished cooking spoon them into the bowl with the bleu cheese, breadcrumbs, and bacon. Combine with a spatula until homogenous. You should not need to add salt as the bacon, bleu cheese, and Worcestershire have plenty.

Using a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon (because it is small and easier to navigate), stuff the mushrooms with the soffrito mixture, packing the stuffing in tightly. They should each have a rounded, heaping amount. Excess stuffing can be used in arrancini, if desired. 

Cover the pan with Press-N-Seal and let it chill for four hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

After the stuffed mushrooms have chilled, prepare a bowl of 1/2 cup of flour. 

Uncover mushrooms and one by one dredge them in the flour bowl and returning to the pan. Dump out remaining flour from the bowl and then add and combine the Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and salt. In a second bowl beat eggs and heavy cream. Again working one by one, dredge the mushrooms in egg and then coat generously with breadcrumbs. Place back on baking sheet. 

Once all mushrooms have been breaded, heat a small-medium pot with about 2″ of oil to 300F. Fry mushrooms in batches of two. Fry for 30 seconds to one minute per batch. Sprinkle salt on the mushrooms as they come out of the hot oil so the salt sticks to them. Any breaded mushrooms you don’t plan to eat right away can be kept in a freezer-grade Ziploc bag in the freezer. 

The sauce can be made ahead of time, as the mushroom frying goes by very quickly. Melt 4 tbsp of butter. Add 4 oz of creme fresh and the remaining 2 oz of crumbled bleu cheese. Crush the cheese with a whisk and stir continuously until thick and creamy. Drizzle over fried mushrooms and serve immediately. You can garnish with chopped chives or green onions. 

Ginger Fruit Salad

This is a fruit salad I put together based on a recipe from the book KitchenWise where the author makes a ginger-infused syrup to pour over fresh fruit. Her recipe called for a few fruits I did not have on hand, but it doesn’t matter so long as you have the same volume of fruits. This recipe will work with just about any fruit.

I really like fruit salads! Last year my favorite was the winter citrus salad I got from my friend Lauren. If you don’t like grapefruit, substitute it for two oranges. If you don’t like blueberries, use strawberries. If you don’t like cantaloupe, use watermelon! This is a very versatile mix!

Ingredients

1/2 cantaloupe, balled
1 grapefruit, peeled and pulp removed
1 orange, peeled and pulp removed
2 cups of green grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
2 cups of blueberries
2″ of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 cup of boiling water
2 cups of cool water
1 cup of sugar

 

Process

Place cut fruit in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. 

Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the freshly grated ginger and allow to steep in a bowl for half an hour. Then strain the ginger pieces out and retain the syrup.

In a medium-sized pot on medium heat, combine sugar, 2 cups of cool water, and the ginger syrup. Heat only to the point that the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool completely and then pour half (or all…) over the fruit. Allow to chill overnight so ginger syrup soaks in. 

London Broil Rollups

Another KitchenWise recipe for you! Flank steak has a reputation for being really tough, but this recipe combined with the quality of meat and the oven time take toughness out of the equation. Don’t forget that you have to cut flank steak against the grain. I rolled these up and skewered them for appetizers, but this flank steak is great on its own for fajitas! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp McCormick’s Montreal steak seasoning
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 lb flank steak, preferably USDA Grade prime or choice, about 3/4″ thick

Process

Combine all ingredients in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and slide in the flank steak. Allow it to marinade overnight, turning it once to ensure the marinade is evenly distributed. 

Place oven rack about 4″ from the broiler. Place a large cast iron skillet on that rack in the oven and turn on the broiler. Allow the oven and pan to heat up for 15-20 minutes. When it’s hot, take out the cast iron skillet (use oven mitts!!!) and place on the stove. 

Take the steak out of the fridge and shake off any excess marinade. Lightly coat with oil and place on the cast iron skillet. It should sizzle. 

Return skillet to oven and broil 8 minutes. Flip the steak and broil an additional 10 minutes. (Broil time may be longer for thicker steaks.)

Remove steak from broiler and let it stand tented under foil on the skillet for 10 minutes. 

Slice the steak perpendicular to the grain in thin slices. This tenderizes the meat. Roll the slices up and secure with a toothpick. Garnish and serve with sesame seeds and sliced green onions, if desired. 

Beer and a Shot Tacos: The Only Chicken Taco Recipe You Will Ever Need

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I guarantee you, this is the only recipe you’ll ever need to make tacos. It could not be easier, either. Make it for tacos or fill a cheese quesadilla, burrito, or bowl of rice with this shredded chicken. It’s creamy, tangy, salty, savory, sweet, and has a tiny kick. It’s everything a taco should be. 

You literally will dump everything into a pot (with some small amount of finesse for timing the flash of alcohol). I even came up with a catchy song to help you remember how to make these. It’s like Snoop Dogg meets Dr. Seuss. Ahem: 

Drop it like it’s hot in a pot and pour a shot 
Plus a beer, let it sear. What a sizzling song to hear.

I’m making that face of the emoji who looks shocked and embarrassed all in one. 

Jim said these taste like breakfast and he liked it! I think he was detecting the very small amount of cinnamon I dropped in there. Cinnamon is often used in savory Mexican dishes. I think it works with the tomatoes to bring a little sweetness to the game, but you can very easily omit the cinnamon if you like. 

You do need either a blender, food processor, or an immersion blender to puree the onions and tomatoes with the tequila and beer after everything has cooked. The immersion blender is the least amount of cleanup because you puree everything in the pot. I use mine very often. Mine is an older version of this one.

Alcohol dissolves fats. It creates an emulsion between the water in the vegetables and meat and the fats in the butter. Fats carry flavors, and the alcohol disperses the fats to carry the flavors throughout the meat and sauce. Without it, you would just have the fats rising to the top in a buttery pool. If you are going to replace the alcohol with chicken broth, you might want to also halve the amount of butter. 

At the end, please, please, please adjust for salt. Everyone has a different saltiness preference! The general rule of thumb for poultry is 3/4 tsp – 1 tsp of salt for every pound of meat you have. I have included 3/4 tsp prior to adjust for salt. This gives me a solid baseline to build off of once everything has cooked, and I can add more to my liking to my taste. 

 Remember to taste and gauge. Is it too salty? Add a small amount (1/4 tsp) of instant coffee and stir. Bitterness cuts back salt. Is it not salty enough? Sprinkle in a little sea salt and stir, or give it a spritz of lime juice or a dash of cayenne. Acid and spiciness enhance saltiness. 

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes (on the vine or Roma are good), chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground oregano
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
3-5 shakes of cayenne pepper
4 tbsp butter, sliced
1 bottle of pale lager or wheat ale (I used a Corona)
1 shot of tequila (about 1/4 cup)

Process

Combine cumin, oregano, cinnamon and paprika (if using), salts, garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. 

Heat a large pot with extra virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot and shiny, add the chicken breasts. They should sizzle. After a minute, flip the breasts. Quickly dump the spices over the breasts. 

Drop the chopped tomato and onion pieces around the chicken and place the butter on top of the breasts. 

When everything is really hot and sizzling, pour in the tequila so it flashes quickly. Then add the beer. 

Cover and boil for five minutes on high. Lower the heat to low and cook for one hour. 

Then remove the chicken breasts and place on a plate. Puree the sauce either in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender in the pot. Replace chicken and shred. 

Adjust for salt as desired. Alternatively, stir in a small amount of instant coffee powder to cut back some saltiness if too salty or just add a bit of water. If it’s not salty enough for you, you can add more salt and/or lime juice or cayenne to enhance the saltiness.

Serve with rice or on tortillas!

Faux-Ho: Fake Hostess Cupcakes (but better)

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I swiped this recipe from the New York Times and it REALLY DELIVERS. Jim said this was one of the top ten best desserts I have ever made! (A high compliment from a man with a wicked sweet tooth.)

It is charged with cream filling whipped up from marshmallow cream, heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and butter. Some of the best things in life! I think I did a poor job of folding the batter and the tops caved in a little when I took them out of the oven. (I started reading BakeWise and I believe this is called under-leavening?) The day I made these was a very anti-nonsense day. When things didn’t go my way, I’d pivot. I simply flipped over the concave tops and decorated their perfectly smooth bottoms instead. I think it actually worked better for the chocolate ganache to drizzle down the sloped sides instead of dripping on to the plate. 

They really do taste like the original Hostess cupcake! However, some deviations are: the outer layer of the cake has a thin crunchy layer to it. You wouldn’t think crunch to a cake is desirable, but it was actually an extremely delicious texture. The cream filling tastes like real cream–not some strange, partially hydrogenated oil that can last 1,000 years without expiring. 

Making the spirals was hands-down the best part. The cream filling and the spirals are actually the same. You just need to change your frosting tip to go from charging the bottoms to drawing fun spirals on top of the ganache layer. 

There is a lot of cream filling–enough for double the batch of cupcakes–but I only made 12. 

In other news, I am excited to start another aspect of my YouTube channel! I have so many food-related questions, and I love investigating the answers. I also love making videos, and so I thought I’d start summarizing my “research” into videos. Still deciding what to name it, but I’m thinking “Alexplained.” The upcoming video will be about veal and why it has such a bad reputation! Keep on the lookout for it! 

In this new year, I am really trying to buckle down and focus on producing one video per week. I have mapped out a schedule and am really excited to dive into my food questions and answers. I filmed “Veal” this weekend and have almost finished my editing (which is really fun and I get to use Canva and Epidemic Sound which I cannot recommend enough for food blogging!) and I’ve already begun the next topic… Don’t worry about the PUTZY videos. Those will get updated too! They just take more time because they’re so, well…putzy. 

Ingredients

For the cake batter
5/8 cup cake flour*
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar + 2 tbsp

For the filling and swirls
6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
2 tbsp cream

For the chocolate frosting
1/4 cup cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature

Process

For the cake
Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer or other smaller bowl. A hand mixer is the easiest.

In the bowl with egg yolks, add cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, 1/2 cup of sugar, and canola oil. 

In the bowl with the egg whites, whip with a whisk attachment until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the pinch of salt and continue whisking for another minute. Slowly add 2 tbsp of sugar while whisking. Whisk until stiff peaks form and the structure remains intact, even when the bowl is turned upside down. 

Spray a 12-cup cupcake tin with non-stick spray (no cupcake liners!!) and use an ice cream scooper to drop in 2-3 tbsp of batter into each cup. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack. 

For the filling (and swirls)
Beat together butter, fluff, powdered sugar, and cream until thick and fluffy. Cut the tip of a pastry bag and insert the inner piping coupler. Place the pastry bag in a tall drinking glass, folding the top sides over the lip of the glass. Use a spatula to spoon the filling into the pastry bag. Then place a sharp piping tip over the inner coupler and twist the outer coupler on top. Inject the cupcakes from the bottom or the side with enough filling to make them swell. Don’t worry if it starts to puff out on the top of the cupcake. This will get covered in chocolate frosting. After injecting the cupcakes, you should still have plenty of filling left over to use for the swirls. 

After you’ve frosted each cupcake with chocolate frosting (see below), you can change out your piping tip to a small round tip and piping the swirls onto the cupcakes. The standard Hostess cupcake has seven swirls! 

For the chocolate frosting
In a microwave safe bowl, microwave cream and chocolate for 30-60 seconds. Add the butter and stir until you reach a smooth consistency. Spoon the chocolate over the tops of the cupcakes and spread evenly. Allow to set (the shine should dull) for about 5-10 minutes. 

You can eat these right away, but I actually liked them a lot better after they had set overnight in the refrigerator! 

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (or Cake!)

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Happy New Year, friends! 2021 has been INSANE and being busy never ceases. I don’t really mind, though. I like keeping busy, even during a two week winter vacation! To catch you up, here are just a few updates: I rung in a new decade last month and was lucky enough to celebrate it with my mom! We had pretty, pink cosmos and I got to cook for her which I absolutely love to do. It was a big deal to me, and I made chicken parmesan, chocolate fudge cake, shredded beef sliders, avocado cucumber sushi, grapefruit salad, crab cakes, homemade pasta, popovers, spinach bacon quiche, cranberry orange scones, croissants, caramelized sweet potatoes, DRY AGED RIBEYES–more on those in an upcoming post–and mashed potatoes. Did I mention she was here for only two days? We ate well and I can’t wait until the next visit. 

We also hosted our first murder mystery party! We received a kit for Christmas and made the plan to have one with our closest, COVID-conscious group. But later, after I opened the box and started diving into the instructions, I was immediately alarmed at how confusing they were. I scrapped the whole thing except for the character names and descriptions. I actually had a ton of fun making it a highly customized game for our family and friends by re-writing the clues, secrets, and plot. It was a 1920’s themed soiree and we all had a blast! Jane, my mother-in-law won best actress, my sister-in-law won best detective, and my brother-in-law, Tim, won best costume (a jockey!). And my dear friend, Morgan, was the culprit all along! Just an FYI, when hosting a murder mystery party, it SERIOUSLY takes a lot of planning. As the host, you should know whodunnit and how to subtly guide your guests to the answer. 

Anyway, that’s borderline too much information for a food blog. You’re here for the recipe! Let’s get to the chocolate chip banana bread! I doubled my usual loaf banana bread recipe to make it in a bundt pan. Then I drizzled some caramel sauce on top to make it a little more exciting. Well, as exciting as banana bread gets, that is. You can halve this recipe and make a single, 5″ x 9″ loaf. You can also swap out the chocolate chips for toasted walnuts!

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
5 bananas
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick spray. If halving the recipe, spray a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. 

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment for 30 seconds. Don’t over mix. Spread into the bundt pan. Batter will be thick. 

Bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Then lower temperature to 325 and continue baking for another hour. 

Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then invert on to a serving plate. Enjoy plain or with caramel sauce drizzled on top! 

Cran Brûlée

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I can’t tell you how (a) yummy this is and (b) easy this is. It has all the right things–sweet, tangy, creamy, and just a touch of saltiness. Make the pudding ahead of time and assemble this in ten minutes. Christmas dessert will look fabulous, taste like a flavor bomb, and won’t occupy more than 4 minutes of precious oven time. 

Ingredients – Serves 8

8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
1 3.4 oz box of vanilla instant pudding
1/2 cup cranberry curd*

sugar, for topping 
Pomegranates or berries for garnish

Process

Whip cream cheese on high speed in a stand mixer with powdered sugar until soft and resembles buttercream. With mixer still running, drizzle in half and half. Turn off mixer and add marshmallow fluff, instant pudding powder, and cranberry curd. Turn mixer back on and whip for 2 minutes. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. 

Spoon into ramekins almost up to the top. Sprinkle with sugar to lightly coat the top of the custard. 

Arrange ramekins on a baking sheet. Broil on high in the oven on the top rack for 3-4 minutes. Remove and garnish. Can chill in refrigerator for later or serve immediately. 

*You can buy cranberry curd at the grocery store or you can make your own. To make your own, Place 12 oz of fresh cranberries in a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Add the juice of an orange and its freshly grated zest. Add 2 cups of sugar and stir. The cranberries will begin to pop. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Using a fine mesh colander, strain the pulp and retain the remaining jelly. Return the jelly to the pot and temper in 2 egg yolks, whisking constantly. Add 1 stick of butter, stirring until melted. Allow to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Transfer to a jar and cool. Makes about 2 cups of curd. 

Sweet Corn Risotto

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Risotto is one of my favorite foods… I am part Filipino, so I grew up enjoying rice for three meals a day! And by enjoy, I mean my grandparents continued shoveling it on to my plate after I’d insisted I was full three servings ago. 

A lot of countries have their version of risotto. The Filipino version is called lugaw. In China, they have congee. In the U.S., we have creamy chicken and rice. A few years ago, I went through a savory breakfast porridge phase. Maybe that should make a comeback. I bet it’s a thing in Scotland.

Anyway, the thing about risotto is you have to be patient with it. It’s a high-maintenance dish that requires frequent stirring for 45 minutes while eyeing the liquid level, adding a cup of wine or broth at a time when needed.

But the reward is high, I can promise you. It is creamy. Savory. Buttery. Tangy. And with a little crunch from toasted pine nuts, it’s the rice dish of your dreams. 

What’s really nice about it, though, is you can flavor it any way you want. Plain risotto cooked in wine and chicken broth can be tossed with butter and parmesan or creamed garlicy peas and prosciutto just the same. Simple or complex. Cracked pepper or truffle-topped. Mushroom or asparagus. However you dress it, inhale it immediately after.

If you’re looking for a shortcut, cook your risotto in a pressure cooker or rice cooker. My friend Lauren uses a recipe where she slow cooks it in the oven. (I’ll have to inquire further on this…) The ratio depends on the type of rice you use, but for the classic risotto rice called arborrio rice, it’s about 1 cup of rice to 4 cups of liquid. If you’re using jasmine, it’s a bit less, about 1 cup of rice to 2.5 cups of liquid. It’s not the traditional way, but I’ve done the shortcut method in many a pinch and it’s just as tasty, so who cares if you did it the “correct” way? 

For the purist, though, here’s the gist of it. Fry your alum (garlic, onion, shallot, leek, etc.) of choice in hot butter or extra virgin olive oil. Add in the rice and toss it around with a wooden spoon. Once the rice is a light golden brown, add one cup of dry white wine. It’ll bubble and turn a bit syrupy after a couple of minutes. Once almost all of the wine has evaporated, add another cup of wine, then two cups of chicken broth, waiting between each cup for the liquid to reduce by about 75%. Lower the heat, add in butter, grated parmesan cheese, and cream, or any other addition as you see fit. Then generously shovel it in to your gracious mouth. 

Sweet Corn Risotto

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup arborrio rice
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth

1/2 onion, chopped
1 can of corn (frozen or fresh are good too!!)
1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp bacon fat + 1 tbsp EVOO (2 tbsp of butter is also fine if you don’t have bacon fat)
1 cup half and half
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sugar

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted golden brown (~3-4 minutes on broil)

 

Process

In a large non-stick skillet on medium heat, sautee leek and garlic in olive oil. Once onion is translucent, add salt and pour in rice. Stir, coating the rice in a bit of oil. Stir occasionally, and once the rice has turned a light golden brown, pour in the first cup of wine. Allow the wine to absorb into the rice and is almost completely evaporated. Then add the next cup of wine and chicken broth in a similar manner: one cup at a time and waiting until it is almost evaporated.

While you are between adding cups of liquid to your rice, melt butter, bacon fat, and olive oil in a medium-sized sauce pot on high heat. Add onion, cooking until translucent. Add corn and all of the spices and sugar. When the corn has taken on a golden yellow color, pour in the half and half and reduce the heat to low. Bring it to a simmer (do not boil!!) and use a hand mixer to puree it. Stir in the parmesan cheese, using a whisk to combine the parmesan has melted completely. 

Back to the risotto pan, once you have added your final cup of chicken broth to your rice and the liquid has reduced almost entirely, you can add in the corn. (If you aren’t ready to add the corn yet, change the heat to the lowest setting on your stove and stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.) Combine completely and remove from heat immediately. Serve in bowls and top with parsley and toasted pine nuts. 

 

PUTZY – Episode 2: Le Croissant

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Hello again. I’m back on le YouTube with another non-15-minute, non-quick-and-easy, non-health-conscious recipe.

It took way longer than I had hoped, but it’s finally here! PUTZY – Episode 2: Le Croissant! Video editing a 20 minute video takes me about 50 hours! Sadly, I don’t do food blogging full-time, so spreading out video editing over five weeks is where I am at now. 

I was really happy with my first PUTZY video on making fresh pasta, but I got some feedback that it was too rambling and not helpful. It spurred an identity crisis, I think, and that contributed to me neurotically editing the next video so it is more informative. Honestly, I’m not really thrilled with it because I thought the rambling rapport was what made it fun! Alas, I still haven’t figured it all out just yet. Sorry if you hate it. I also did a blog post on how to make croissants if you’re more of a skimmer than a watcher!

In other news, I have decided we will do something Christmas-y each of the 12 days before Christmas. Monday, I sent out my Baker’s Boxes Part II:

These included coffee toffee with peanuts, more sugar cookie bars, marshmallows, shortbread, walnut Russian teacakes, and Italian Reeses cups. I also added chocolate chunk cookies and chocolate peppermint “brookies,” which are brownie cookies. It was stressful to hit the deadline, but thankfully I had help.

Jim helped me bake all of the goodies over the weekend, thank goodness. Jane must have passed on a baking gene to him because he’s a NATURAL!! 

We also worked on some Christmas music on Monday! Music is how Jim and I originally became friends. He plays the piano wonderfully, and I do Bing Crosby impersonations. Lately, our project has been an old Christmas song sung by Kate Smith called Christmas Eve in My Hometown.

Yesterday we did some Christmas shopping and present wrapping! Today we are going to bundle up and drive or walk around our neighborhoods to ogle everyone’s Christmas lights. Do you have any other Christmas-activities we can do?? Hot chocolate is also on the list!

We have been crazy busy lately between the Baker’s Boxes, Christmas stuff, and work! However I did manage to make some homemade pizza. ,

Italian BBQ Chicken

When I need to make chicken in a pinch, I either use my cast iron skillet and grill it in the oven, or I slice it thinly–almost julienned–add some quick spices and sauces to it, and pan fry it. 

This one got topped on a pizza with caramelized onions and grilled bell peppers, but I could see this going on a salad or pasta quite nicely, too! 

It’s really easy after you julienne the chicken. I add the spices and sauces directly to the chicken on the cutting board and toss it with my hands before throwing it in some hot oil. 

I just used one chicken breast here for the pizza, and that gave us four servings, but adjust for your own quantity needs!

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, about 1/3-1/2 lb
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground mustard
Dash of paprika
Pinch of salt
Oil, for frying

Process

Julienne chicken into 1/4″ thick slices. You can make the slices about 2″ long. On the cutting board that you cut the chicken on, add the spices directly onto the chicken. Add the sugar, Worcestershire, soy sauce, ground mustard, paprika, and salt. Mix it together with your hands briefly so the pieces are evenly coated. 

Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium high heat with enough oil to almost cover the bottom of the pan. (If your pan is 10″ in diameter, put enough oil to cover 8″ in diameter.) When the oil is very hot and shimmering, drop in all of the chicken as evenly as possible. Allow it to sear for a minute before tossing around the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. You should have a nice crust on at least one side of each piece of chicken. 

Baker’s Boxes

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If Christmas cookie charcuterie isn’t a thing already, I’ll be glad to make it so. Call it the holiday spirit (I call it a serious baking addiction, actually,) but something possessed me to put together little Christmas tins of homemade cookies and candies over the course of 36 hours and ding dong ditch them to my friends and family near by. (I’m also starting to mail some out to friends and family not so near by!)

I feel like I have completed a serious baking challenge after making all of these treats, and I’m gearing up for round two soon! 

Here was the menu for this batch (which is not indicative of the next batch…). 

“Wrapped Presents” – Sugar Cookie Bars (the red and green ones) which taste like the big, store-bought cookies you bring to school when it’s your turn to bring a snack. (Unless people don’t bring cookies to school anymore and I’m showing my age because we’re supposed to encourage carrots instead of sugar?) 

“Snowballs” – Russian Tea Cakes (the white cookies dusted in powdered sugar) which are actually an eastern European version of shortbread. You substitute half of the flour with almond meal or some kind of ground up nut. 

“Tree Stumps” – Italian Reese’s Cups. Used a very putzy method to make my own hazelnut paste and used that instead of peanut butter for the filling. 

“Nut (space) Crackers” – Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Like chewy chocolate chip but a little different. 

“Yule Log” – Homemade Snickers Bar (wrapped in foil or half eaten on top of the one still wrapped in foil…). Picked up candy bar molds at Michaels! I’ve also been learning a lot about candy making and whipped up a nougat and caramel to wrap around salted peanuts before coating it in dark chocolate.

“Stocking Stuffers” – Salted Caramel. Honestly wasn’t thrilled with any recipe I have found on caramels because they all require light corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. Immediately after sending out this batch of Baker’s Boxes, I came up with my own recipe that I’m a lot happier with, and that’s the recipe I’ll share. (Sorry to the first batchers!) 

“Lumps of Coal” – Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. I think that speaks for itself. Got this recipe from the NYT and it’s one of Jim’s favorites!

“Icebergs” – Homemade Marshmallows (dyed light aqua in the back right) which are great for dropping in some hot chocolate! 

“Ho Ho Hosts” – Scottish Shortbread. They have a cross pricked in them with a fork, and Jim said, “Oh, like a host?” Really buttery and dry. Highly recommend with your morning covfefe. 

Sugar Cookie Bars (by The New York Times)

Ingredients

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

Process

Grease a 9″ x 13″ pan and line it with parchment paper, also greasing the parchment paper. Make sure to have an overhang with the parchment paper (so you can pull the bars out to cut). Beat butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add sugar, then egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely, then pick up out of the pan using the overhang. 

 

For frosting – this is enough for half a batch. Double this for two different colors in one batch.

6 tbsp butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
3-4 drops food coloring gel

Combine all frosting ingredients in a stand mixer. Color should darken over time. Spread over cooled bars. Use sprinkles liberally, then cut into 1″ squares. 

Russian Tea Cakes and Scottish Shortbread

Russian Tea Cakes 
Ingredients

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 cup almond flour or walnuts, ground up finely
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract, or vanilla if using walnuts

Yield: 40-42 cookies

Russian tea cakes are a form of shortbread! You are seeking a dry, biscuit texture. For both tea cakes and Scottish shortbread, you must add the flour slowly! 

Process
Cream butter with brown and powdered sugars in a stand mixer. Add salt and extract. Very slowly, add the flours on low speed. If you add it too quickly, the dough will be too crumbly and difficult to work with. Once all flour has been added, roll a tablespoonfull into a ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the balls 2″ apart. Bake at 325F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then roll in more powdered sugar, about 2/3 of a cup. You can roll them twice, once when warm, and once when cooled. 

Scottish Shortbread
Ingredients

1 cup softened salted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour

Yield: 28-30 cookies
Process

Cream butter and brown sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Very slowly, add the flour on low speed. Alternatively incorporate by hand. If you add the flour too quickly, the dough will be too crumbly and difficult to work with. Once all flour has been added, scrape dough out onto a long, rectangular sheet of cling wrap or Press ‘n’ Seal (sticky side facing up). Cover dough with another sheet of cling wrap or Press ‘n’ Seal (same dimension as the bottom sheet). Using a rolling pin, flatten dough to 1/4″ thick. Peel back the wrap to fold dough on itself along the edges, then reapply the wrap and roll further to attain a straight edge. (See diagram.) You should have a relatively straight, rectangular shape of dough. Peel back the top layer of wrap and discard. Using a bench scraper or sharp chef’s knife, Divide the rectangle into smaller, equal rectangles, about 1″ x 2″. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing cookies in 4 rows of 3. Prick with a fork four times in any pattern you like. Bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes. Check the cookies at 18 minutes. Once they form a golden edge at the bottom, they are finished. Cool and then serve

Italian Reese's Cups

Process

Boil water in a medium pot. Add 3 tbsp of baking soda and 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts. Water will turn purplish black. Boil for three minutes and then drain in a colander. Roll the nuts out onto a large tea towel, then place another towel on top. Rub them gently with the top towel to loosen the skins. Transfer the skinless hazelnuts to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 325F for 12 minutes. 

Transfer the nuts to a food processor and process on high until crumbly. Add salt, powdered sugar, and 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted. Process further, slowly drizzling in 3 tbsp of vegetable oil while processing. It should be a thick paste. 

In a bowl melt 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or melting discs, about 1 minute in the microwave. Using a mini muffin tin lined with mini muffin liners, drop 1/2 tsp of the melted chocolate in to each muffin liner. Work quickly and pick up the muffin tin, making a figure eight motion to spread the chocolate up to the edges. 

Using a melon baller or 1/2 tsp measuring spoon, drop the chocolate hazelnut paste into the tins over the melted chocolate. Press gently to flatten. Spoon more melted chocolate over the hazelnut paste to cover it. Place in refrigerator to set, at least 30 minutes. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts
3 tbsp baking soda
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or melting discs (dark, milk, or white–your choice)

Homemade Snickers Bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups melting chocolate or chocolate chips (dark, milk, or white–your choice)
Nougat* see below
Caramel* see below
2/3 cup roasted, salted peanuts

For the nougat
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 egg white
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/8 cup (2 tbsp) of cocoa powder
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

For the caramel
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp salted butter, divided into six pieces
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp sea salt

Yield: 10 candy bars
Process

For the nougat
Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Place on medium heat and cover, 2 minutes. Remove cover and insert candy thermometer. Bring to hard-ball temperature, 260F. 

While waiting for sugar to boil to hard-ball temperature, place egg white and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl. Whisk until stiff peaks form in a stand mixer. You may have to whisk by hand if your stand mixer doesn’t reach the egg white. 

Once sugar syrup has reached hard-ball temperature, immediately remove from heat. Turn on stand mixer to low speed, slowly drizzling the hot candy down the side of the bowl into the egg. white mixture. Once all the syrup has been added, change speed to medium-high and whip for 3 minutes. At the second minute add the cocoa powder and salt. After three minutes, remove from stand mixer. Allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Then mix the peanut butter in with a spatula. Transfer the mixture to a gallon-sized Ziplock bag and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. 

For the caramel
Place sugar in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan on medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon constantly. Crystals will form and then melt. Once the caramel is a dark amber color, add in butter pieces, stirring until melted. Continue to cook for 2 minutes without stirring. Slowly drizzle in the heavy whipping cream (it will bubble violently!). Boil for one minute, not stirring. Remove from heat and add salt. 

For assembly
Place two silicon candy bar molds on a baking sheet. Brush molds with melted chocolate. Be sure to get the sides and corners. Snip the tip of the gallon bag containing the nougat and pipe the nougat into the mold. Scatter 7-9 peanuts in each mold, in and around the nougat. Spoon the caramel over the peanuts and the nougat until the mold is about 90% full. Spoon remaining chocolate over the bars. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Then carefully invert the molds to pop the chocolate bars out. Use a sharp knife to trim excess chocolate and create a straight edge along your bar. Wrap in aluminum foil. 

Salted Caramel

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
6 tbsp salted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
Kosher salt for sprinkling

Process

Prepare a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray or rubbing with butter. Line with parchment paper and apply the same spray or butter to that. Make sure to have an overhang of the paper.

Melt sugar in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot on medium heat, using a wooden spoon to stir. Once sugar is a dark, amber color (about 5-10 minutes) add in the butter, stirring until the butter and sugar are melted together completely. Insert a candy thermometer and bring to 280F. Slowly drizzle in the heavy whipping cream. This will cause the temperature to drop. Bring the temperature up to 266F, never stirring. Once the temperature is reached, remove from heat and stir in 1/2 tsp sea salt. Pour into the loaf pan. After 30 minutes, sprinkle kosher salt over the caramel. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool for 1 hour. Lift caramel out of the loaf pan and onto a cutting board. Cut caramels into desired shapes and wrap in wax paper. 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (by The New York Times)

Yield: 36 cookies
Process

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Beat butter and sugars in a stand mixer for five minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients until just combined, adding the discs last. Form dough into 1″ cubes and place on parchment-lined baking sheet, 2″ apart. Bake at 350F for 14 minutes. 

Ingredients

1 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
10 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg + 2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate discs

Homemade Marshmallows (by Alton Brown)

Ingredients

3 packs unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice water, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
non-stick spray

Process

In a stand mixer bowl, bloom gelatin in 1/2 cup of ice water. Attach the whisk attachment. Combine the other 1/2 cup of water with sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a sauce pot. Cover on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Uncover and clip in a candy thermometer to reach 240F (soft ball stage). Remove from heat immediately. Turn the mixer on low and slowly drizzle in the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. Once all syrup is added, whip on high 12-15 minutes with the whisk attachment. Add in vanilla during the final minute. Mixture will be white and glossy. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with non-stick spray and coat the bottom and sides with the cornstarch and powdered sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan and cover with more cornstarch and powdered sugar. Allow to set 4-24 hours. When ready to cut, coat knife in powdered sugar and cornstarch. Should be good for up to three weeks.