Sunday, September 25, 2011

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

 
Pao de Queijo
Photo and Recipe courtesy keyingredient.com
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/7214014/brazilian-cheese-bread-pao-de-queijo/


Ingredients
½ cup olive oil or butter
⅓ cup water
⅓ cup milk or soy milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic
⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 beaten eggs
 Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.Pour olive oil, water, milk, and salt into a large saucepan, and place over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately, and stir in tapioca flour and garlic until smooth. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
3.Stir the cheese and egg into the tapioca mixture until well combined, the mixture will be chunky like cottage cheese. Drop rounded, ¼ cup-sized balls of the mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4.Bake in preheated oven until the tops are lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Apple Upside Down Cake
Photo and Recipe courtesy keyingredient.com
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/9204057/apple-upside-down-cake/

Looking for my camera.. will have to steal from others for a few days.













Topping

2 medium apples
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup light corn syrup
Cake
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9” round cake pan at least 2” deep. Line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment.
2) Slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into ¼” thick wedges.
3) Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.
4) Prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
5) Pour ½ cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.
6) To make the cake: Beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed
7) Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.
8) Add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.
9) Drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.
10) Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.
11) Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.
12) Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.
13) Reheat the reserved topping. If butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.
14) Pour the sauce over the cake. Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.


Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt

10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
6 pounds apples

Directions
In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring.


Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.
Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.
*Enough to fill approx. 7 guart size jars*

Recipe via AllRecipes.com  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/canned-apple-pie-filling/detail.aspx

Friday, September 16, 2011

Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts

A great warm fall appetizer or snack! Found this recipe watching 'Best Thing I Ever Ate' on the Food Network. Be careful, tasty and addicting.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups (18-ounces) assorted unsalted nuts including peeled peanuts, cashews, brazil nuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, pecans and Whole unpeeled almonds
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread Them out on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until light gold brown. About 10 min.
In a bowl, combine rosemary, cayenne pepper, sugar, salt and melted butter
Thoroughly toss the roasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm. If too oily, place spiced butter coated nuts back on baking sheet and roast in 350F oven for a few minutes. Once you eat these, you will never want to stop.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Smells like fall! - Apple Pie

I never really make pies. I love pie. BUT I have always been challenged by the crust portion. I could never get that perfecly golden flakey crust. I set out to master the pie crust this fall... yes I actually did. My sister has the same issue, and we've secretly come to the conclusion that we think even Grandma's pie crust falls short. I was looking at Ree's blog (pioneer woman) and came across 'Pam's Pie Tutorial' and decided I'd start there. I was more than pleased.. I need look no further. This is the most perfect pie I have ever baked in my life! This will definitely be my go-to crust for both sweet and savory pies.


















Filling is:
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs. (Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 tablespoon water


In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.
Fill pastry lined 9 inch pie pan with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork
or by hand. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and water. Brush mixture over top crust.
Bake at 425 degrees, until the pie starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Cover the pie with foil to hinder more browning, turn the oven down to 375 and continue baking until the juices in the pie begin bubbling. Depending on the fruit used this could take twenty to forty minutes more. Be patient. As long as the pie crust is covered to prevent over-browning, the pie can continue to bake.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Blogs!

P-Dub, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer WomanDid I mention I am in Love with the Pioneer Woman's Blog??
Check it out! The Pioneer Woman

Daring Bakers - September Challenge: Fresh, Fluffy, French


Croissants
Recipe Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two. Julia Child and Simone Beck.

This was a fun challenge. I have always wanted to make croissants, but never attempted. I was excited to tackle one of Julia Child's recipes. As per usual Julia, the recipe included close to 60 steps. They came out perfectly flakey and the only thing I would change is their appearance. I'm a perfectionist (understatement) when it comes to cooking so I will definitely practice practice practice!
September Daring Bakers Challenge... Check!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Rustic Onion Tart

I made the pâte brisée crust and used feta cheese instead of the gruyère because thats all I had ;-) worked great. I would suggest waiting until later in baking to sprinkle feta topping as it started to burn and I needed to cover it with foil. P.S. sorry for the poor quality picture... this is the quality of the iPad2 camera.
Ingredients
1 Pâte Brisée (tart dough) for one 10-inch tart (see method for making pâte brisée) or 1 packaged, flat pie crust (Trader Joe's has one in their frozen section)
3 medium sized red onions
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
Salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup (not packed) roughly grated Gruyère Swiss cheese

Directions
1. If you are making a crust from scratch, prepare the dough and let it chill in the refrigerator while you are cooking the onions.
2. Peel and slice the onions.
3. Heat olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and sprinkle a little salt over them. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened and are translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are well browned. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for 10 minutes more, until onions are completely caramelized. Remove from heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes before rolling it out. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10-inch diameter. Remove the crust dough to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Place all but a couple tablespoons of the cheese in the center of the dough. Spread to within 1 1/2 inches from the edges. Add the caramelized onions, layering them on top of the cheese. Fold the edges of the crust dough over so that a small circle of onion is still showing in the centre of the tart. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the tart.
6. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes at 450°F. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Nana Cakies - Banana Cake Cookies


I had a few ripe bananas that I needed to find a use for. I'm banana-bread'ed out.. and I had recently made banana cake bars so I needed something new! Great recipe for banana cake cookies. Topped them with a simple no-fail cream cheese frosting recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Cream shortening; add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs and banana; beat well.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Stir in pecans.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto greased cookies sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting  (I halved the recipe this time)
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.