Cooking in a Winter Wonderland

I was a serious cookin' machine today!  Beautiful snow falling (but not really sticking) put me in the mood to bake.

In-between baking projects, though, I did cook dinner,as well.  Victor saw a recipe in Parade Magazine of all places that looked intriguing.  Chicken and Peppers in a balsamic vinegar sauce.  We've done a lot of balsamic reductions, but this one sounded just different enough to give it a try.  This one comes from Bobby Flay.

Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
  • 1 large yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp clover honey
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over high heat until it shimmers. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the pan, in batches, top-side-down. Cook until golden brown, 4 minutes. Turn over, continue cooking 3 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.

2. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half. Add honey and broth, season with salt and pepper, cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover the pot, and cook until the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. Cook sauce until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and pour sauce over the chicken.

I served it with a whole grain mahogany rice blend.  I made it with chunks of chicken breast because I didn't have any thighs in the freezer.  It came out pretty good.  I think I like Lidia's Pork Chops and Apples, better, though...

One thing I was definitely going to make today was an apple pie.  And yes, I make my own pie crusts.  They're just not that difficult to make and I can't find a decent pre-made crust that will fit a standard 10" deep-dish pie plate.

Food Processor Pie Crust

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup butter, cubed (I freeze it)
  • pinch salt
  • pinch sugar (if for sweet pie)
  • 1/4 cup ice-cold water

Put flour, salt and sugar (if using) in food processor bowl.  Pulse a second to blend.

Add cold or frozen butter pieces and pulse until well mixed.

Add water while mahine is running and pulse a few times to mix.

Dough will look very crumbly.  Pinch together a small amount to see if it holds together.  if it doies, you're set.

Form into two disks - one larger than the other - and let rest about 10 minutes.

Roll out on well-floured board.

It really is easy to do!

Apple Pie filling

  • 5 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • pinch salt
  • 1/4 cup apricot brandy

Place all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix well.

Place filling into pastry-lined pie plate.  Top with crust and crimp edges.

Bake at 400° about an hour.

It came out really good.  It didn't even need ice cream!

The other thing I was obsessing about a bit today was Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread.  I almost bought a loaf and then decided I could make one just as easy.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

  • 3 cups flour, more or less, divided
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons softened butter
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Beating at low speed, add the water and butter. Continue beating at high speed for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour and beat 4 minutes longer. Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding a little more flour as necessary.

Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turning to butter top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm place, free of drafts.

Punch dough down; knead until smooth. Roll into a 12x9-inch rectangle.

Brsh with melted butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and then spread raisins evenly.

Starting with the narrow edge, roll up, turning ends under to make loaves to fit pans. Place rolls seam side down in greased loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches.

Cover pans with clean towel and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.

Bake loaves at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped with fingers. Remove from pans to racks; brush with butter.

This was supposed to be for breakfast tomorrow.  Needless to say, we didn't wait.

I could eat this every day.

As for the snow storm that was supposed to droip another 18" of snow?  It hasn't quite hit yet.


Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Dinner tonight was pretty simple - burritos.  Ground beef, rice, and beans, chilis, olives, cheese.  Simple, basic, and filling.

So after dinner, Victor laments that we don't have dessert tonight.  Situations are actually reversed, for once.  Usually it's my sweet tooth looking for goodies.  Being the unsympathetic person I am, I said there were two pieces of Valentine chocolate left.  One for each.  Dessert is covered.

Victor said he was going to bake cookies.  My clever ruse worked.

I left the kitchen and Victor went to work.

When we bake cookies, we use ice cream scoops (known as "dishers" in the food biz) to scoop out the dough.  We have about a half-dozen of them in varying sizes.  They are so much easier than trying to deal with tablespoons and the like - and you get a consistent-sized cookie!  (They're also really good for making cupcakes and muffins!)

Victor used a #16 scoop tonight - 1/4 cup.  These are big cookies!

The recipe is a variation on the recipe from the lid of the Quaker Oats container.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

  • 1/2 pound butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups rolled oats

Heat oven to 350°. In large bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded 1/4  cup scoops onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Of course, you can drop them by rounded tablespoons (try a #40 disher) and bake for about 10-11 minutes.

They totally rocked.


Cannoli Cake

I've died and gone to heaven.

Such a simple cake and such a huge flavor.  I think this could be an every-night dessert!

Cannoli Cake

The Cake:

  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan and line with parchment.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks, vanilla, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until thick - about 5 minutes.

Mix in flour just until blended.

Gently fold 1 cup of whites into egg yolk mixture to lighten, then fold remaining whites into yolks.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.

Sift powdered sugar over cake and place a clean kitchen towel on top.  Flip cake onto towel and roll up jelly-roll style from short end.

Cool completely.

Ricotta Filling:

  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces

In food processor, blend the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Transfer filling to bowl and stir in the chocolate pieces. Cover and refrigerate filling while cake cools.

To Assemble:

Unroll cake and drizzle with a simple syrup and Cointreau or Grand Marinier.  (Victor used Blood Orange Syrup.)

Spread filling over cake and roll up with seam on bottom.

Dust with powdered sugar and cocoa mixture.

This really was a rock 'em sock 'em dessert.  Cake and creamy and not too sweet.

I had two pieces.


Cassoulet and Apple Fig Coffee Cake

The Super Bowl is on TV.  I hate to admit it but I'm really not all that interested this year.  I'm not home for the first time in forever.  We used to fly home for my father's birthday - which just happened to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday.  A big party at my sister Eileen's house, lots of fun, food, laughter - and football pools.  No matter what, it was the one time of the year we knew we would all be together.   Pop's no longer with us and because we're flying home in a couple of months for my nieces wedding, we stayed east this year.  Right off the bat, I'm feeling the blah's.

And there are two teams playing that I really could not care less about.  Okay.  Not totally true.  I don't particularly want New Orleans to win, but I do want Indianapolis to lose.  I opened a hotel in Indianapolis circa 1988.  I pretty much dislike Indianapolis.  A lot.

So while others are having their football parties, I'm catching it peripherally.  It's on in the corner of the computer and it's on in the living room.

I decided to cook for the weather, not football tonight.  I soaked a pound of black  beans last night thinking I might make chili.  The chili morphed into a cassoulet of sorts.  Not a classic cassoulet by any means.  More just a homey slow-baked bean stew.

Kinda Cassoulet

  • 4 bacon slices, coarsely chopped
  • 1 lb beef, cubed
  • 1 lb pork, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp herbs d'Provence
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 1 lb black beans, soaked over night and cooked
  • 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 275°F.

Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot until wilted. Add onions and garlic. Add meats and brown.

Add brandy and simmer until almost evaporated. Add tomato paste and heat through. Stir in beans with about 2 cups cooking liquid, tomatoes with juices, and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil.

Cover pot and transfer to preheated oven and bake 2 hours.

I was going to make some beer bread but  got sidetracked with a project I'm working on for a friend... so we had the last of the Pugliese I made last week.  It worked.

And every dinner needs dessert, right?!?  Well... we think so!

Victor made an Apple and Fig Coffee Cake.  Not a coffee cake in the traditional sense of the word, but a cake with a cup of coffee in it!

Apple Fig Coffee Cake

  • 1 Tbsp instant coffee
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped figs
  • 2 medium apples
  • 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 c packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted

Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Cool. Peel, core, and shred the apples.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Combine egg, apples, melted butter, and coffee. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just till moistened.

Put it into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350°  for about an hour or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

I did stop what I was doing to watch The Who.  Roger can't hit those high notes anymore, but he does a pretty good job for being 66.  I was bummed that Pete Townsend didn't destroy his guitar at the end.  Oh well.

And as long as I'm ranting... Wasn't the Super Bowl - once upon a time - where they ran really cool, innovative commercials?  These things they've shown tonight are awful.


Our Biannual Dinner with Linda and David

Twice a year we have dinner with our friends Linda and David.  July at their house to celebrate Linda's and my birthday, and the week between Christmas and New Year for our holiday festivities.  It's great.  They love food just as much as we do.  We all go over the top just a bit when figuring out what to cook - always something we wouldn't do unless they (or we) were coming to dinner.  It's a lot of fun.

This year, we decided to do a prime rib and individual Yorkshire puddings.  I was going to do Trevor's popovers, but changed my mind at the last minute.  Actually, I chickened out.  I hadn't made a popover or Yorkshire pudding in a bazillion years and didn't want to publicly screw them up.

We started with a 4-bone rib roast.

I don't remember the last time I did a prime rib other than at some hotel or another where I was working.  I actually may have never cooked one at home before.  And I did mention that there were only four of us, right?!?

The roast went into the oven and the hors d'oeuvres were started.

We started with a baked brie with roasted figs in a citrus glaze.  This was an impulse buy at Wegmans when we were shopping for dinner items.  Victor saw the figs and went wild.  We then picked up a wedge of brie and a star was born. It looked like cheesecake with topping before it went inti the oven.

It was ridiculously good.

And we had crab on cucumber slices.

These were really good, too.

Crab Salad on Cucumber Rounds

  • 8 ounces crabmeat
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tbsp minced red onion
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cucumber, sliced

Mix first 5 ingredients together.  Add salt and pepper, if desired.

Place on cucumber slaices.  Top with paprika.

We also had a hot artichoke and spinach dip, but I missed getting a picture.

Artichoke and Spinach Dip

  • 1 cans  Artichoke Hearts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 box  frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1/2 cup  Shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup  Mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix ingredients well and transfer to shallow baking dish.  Broil until bubbly and browned.

And Dauphine potatoes!

These are fun.  One of the hotels I worked in years ago served these all the time.  When I win the lottery I want a commercial kitchen in the house - with a real deep fat fryer!

This recipe comes from Gourmet Magazine.

Dauphine Potatoes

  • 1 1/2 pounds russet (baking) potatoes (about 3)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • vegetable oil for deep-frying the potatoes
  • coarse salt for sprinkling the croquettes if desired

Bake the potatoes in a preheated 425°F. oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are soft, halve them lengthwise, and scoop the potato out of the shells with a spoon, reserving the shells for another use. Force the scooped-out potato through a ricer or a food mill fitted with the medium disk into a large bowl. (There should be about 2 cups riced potato.)

In a saucepan combine 1/2 cup water, the butter, the salt, and the nutmeg, bring the mixture to a boil, and stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to moderate and beat the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes, or until the paste pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the pan from the heat, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, and beat the mixture until it is smooth and shiny.

Add the potatoes and beat the mixture until it is combined well. The potato mixture may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. In a deep fryer or large kettle heat 2 inches of the oil until it registers 340°F. on a deep-fat thermometer. Transfer the potato mixture to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip and pipe eight 2 1/2-inch lengths, cutting them with kitchen shears or a small knife, directly into the oil. Fry the croquettes, turning them with a slotted spoon, for 3 minutes, or until they are crisp, golden, and cooked through, transfer them as they are fried to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle them with the salt. Make more croquettes in batches with the remaining potato mixture and transfer the drained croquettes to a rack set in a jelly-roll pan (to prevent them from becoming soggy). The croquettes may be made 2 hours in advance, kept covered loosely with paper towels at room temperature, and reheated on the rack in a preheated 400°F. oven for 5 minutes, or until they are heated through and crisp. If not making the croquettes in advance, keep them warm in a preheated 300°F. oven.

The zucchini boats were just hollowed out zucchini with a carrot puree - cooked carrots, honey, dill, and S&P.  Baked at 350° for 20 minutes.

A simple salad...

And the Yorkshire Puddings...

These were a lot of fun - and gave me the confidence to make the popovers relatively soon.

Yorkshire Puddings

  • 4 large, fresh eggs, measured in a jug
  • Equal quantity of milk to eggs
  • Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp beef drippings
  1. Heat oven to 450°.
  2. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.
  4. Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.
  5. Place 1 tsp drippings in a Yorkshire pudding tin or muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.
  6. Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes.

And then we had dessert.

Okay.  I freely admit that I must have been on drugs when I made these.  My thought process was to make 4 individual Baked Alaskas.  Another thing I haven't made in 30 or so years.  The key word to note here is individual.  Right.

Chocolate Cake

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup grapeseed (or other neutral) oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line sheetpan with parchment paper.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

I started off with what looked like a small cake round.

And then it just went out of control.

I drizzled Blood Orange Syrup on the cake because I needed an excuse to open the syrup we bought down in DC at Cowgirl Creamery.

That "small cake round" was really pretty big.  It took a lot of ice cream to properly cover it.

And then the meringue.

Meringue

  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Whip egg whites until foamy. Add vanilla and cream of tartar.

Slowly add sugar and whip until still and glossy - about 5 minutes.

The final step is to brown the meringue in a hot oven.  One could use a blow torch, but I don't have one.

We split two of them between four of us - and even that was too much!  (Okay - I could have eaten a whole one myself, but I'm a dessert/ice cream pig. And another great thing is we now have more desserts just for us!)

I actually did learn a few lessons with this meal - especially the all-important portioning.  I really did forget just how big those desserts would grow.  I could have made them on cupcake bottoms and they probably would have been just right.

But we had a wonderful time - and that's the most important thing.

And now we get to think about what to get Linda for her birthday...  July is not that far away!


Mincemeat Pie

We were talking last night and Victor said he had never had a Mincemeat Pie.  I was surprised.  We've made mincemeat cookies in the past, but, looking back, I couldn't really recall making a pie.

I decided I had to rectify the situation today!

I had most of the ingredients, I just needed a couple of apples and the suet.  Try finding suet out here in "afraid of fat" land.  It's difficult enough trying to find lard!   I wasn't about to drive all over hell and creation for 2 ounces of suet, so I substituted butter.  Close enough.

I also went looking for a recipe and couldn't find one I liked, so I took the best of several and made one up.

And since we still had some lard in the 'fridge, I made a real pie crust - 1 part butter to to parts lard.

12-14-pie-1

Perfect Flaky Pie Crust

  • 15oz flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6oz lard
  • 3oz butter
  • 1/4 cup ice water

Place flour and salt in food processor.  Add lard and butter in small pieces.  Pulse a few times until crumbly.  Add ice water a bit at a time until it forms a ball.

Divide into two disks, one larger than the other, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour.

Mincemeat Filling

  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup dark raisins
  • 1 cup dried currants
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 oz shredded beef suet (1/2 cup) (or 4 oz butter)
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp minced lemon zest
  • 2 tsp minced orange zest
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ginger

Blend together all mincemeat ingredients in large pan.  Cook on low heat until thick.  Cool, then refrigerate.

12-14-pie-2

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 400°F.Place sheetpan in oven on middle rack.

Roll out dough  on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch round and fit into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Spoon mincemeat into shell.

Top with second crust and crimp edges.  Cut steam holes in crust.

Bake until pastry is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

12-14-pie-4

The crust was melt-in-your-mouth-flaky.  The filling was just tart enough and not too sweet.  A hint of the brandy and a hint of the spices, but nothing overpowered anything else.

And the best thing about all of this is we haven't gained any weight.  The weight loss has stopped, but we haven't gained anything.

If we can keep this up until January 1st.....


Stollen

Oma's Christmas Stollen

OMG!  You should smell this house right now!  I have died and gone to Culinary Heaven!

I've said over and over that our baking has been the best, ever.  And I'm here to say it, again.  It's the best, ever!

I got the recipe from a friend several years ago and finally decided to make it last year.

The first stollen I made was horrible.  I totally and completely screwed it up.  Don't ask me how - I just did.   I actually threw it all away and re-did it.  It was really good the second time, but this year?!?  Perfection!  Absolute perfection.  Oma guided my hand.

12-14-stollen-1

It started with the dough.  It felt right from the beginning.  Even though I'm a baker, there are a lot of things I've just never baked before, and Stollen was one of those things.

When you bake a lot, you learn how to touch and feel dough.  It speaks to you - you just need to learn how to listen with your hands.  Today it spoke and I listened.  It said "be patient".

It takes a lot longer to rise than the breads I'm used to making.  It also takes longer to knead.  Of course, the breads I'm used to making don't have a pound and a half of butter in them!  Patience.

12-14-stollen-3

I cut the recipe in half because 4 loaves is more than I really need to have in the house.

Oma's Christmas Stollen

This recipe is huge and makes 8 loaves (it freezes well – in Germany, it’s traditional to consume the last Christmas stollen on Easter) so feel free to cut it in half. It isn’t overly sweet and heavy and nasty like traditional fruitcakes – it’s more like a sweet bread, and the butter in the recipe makes it very flaky.

  • 6 pounds flour
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 7 oz fresh yeast (about 80 gr dry)
  • 1 lb golden raisins
  • 1 t almond extract
  • 3 t salt
  • 3 lb butter
  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 1 lb dark raisins
  • 1 lb blanched almonds, ground finely (but not overly fine – you get it)
  • 1/2 lb citron, chopped finely (as above) and floured

In a saucepan, heat the milk. Remove from heat and add butter, sugar and salt. When just warm, add yeast. Put into large mixing bowl and begin to add flour, about five pounds, mixing well after each addition. Stir in raisins, citron and almonds. Add almond extract. Mix well and knead on floured board (dough will be a little sticky – you’ll use probably half a pound of flour doing this, which accounts for the six pound total) until it’s very smooth and elastic (about 20 minutes). Put into a covered bowl and let it rise until doubled. Divide dough into 8 parts and flatten each piece into a circle and fold over *almost* in half – the bottom diameter will be larger than the top. Let rise again until doubled and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. When cool, dust heavily with powdered sugar.

12-14-stollen-4

The house really isn't all that warm this time of year, either.  I let them rise for several hours, formed the loaves, and let them rise, again, for several hours.

12-14-stollen-7

They look beautiful, they smell beautiful, and I know they're going to taste beautiful.

This is our year.  No question about it.

And I think I finally figured out why...  It's because we decided we weren't going to go crazy and bake a bazillion cookies like we do every year.

Just by cutting back and coming up with fewer batches of everything, the stress went away.  Once we decided it just didn't matter, it all fell into place.

There's a few things still planned for the next few days and the weekend.  And when we get to them, we get to them.

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

And we are.


Christmas Fruitcake

12-4-fruitcake

The picture is just not doing this justice.  This really looks so much better in person - and wow!  Does it ever taste good!

I'm a little late making the fruitcakes this year.  Usually they're done by late October and definitely before Thanksgiving.   But since I'm less than 2 weeks past "Stir-Up Sunday" - the traditional day of making fruitcakes in Britain - I'm not too concerned.

I went hunting for a new recipe this year.  I've tired of the Apricot Macadamia Fruitcake I've made for the past 20-odd years and while the cakes I made last year were okay, they were just okay.  I wanted something better.

I didn't find a recipe I really like, so I found one I knew I could reinvent.

It worked.

The 2009 Fruitcake

  • 5 cups golden raisins
  • 4 cups dark raisins
  • 3 cups dried currants
  • 5 cups chopped glacéed fruits
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup dark rum
  • 1 tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 10 large eggs
  • 3 cups pecans

Mix dried fruits in large bowl.  Heat water and rum and pour over fruit.  Mix well.  Mix in syrup and baking soda. Let stand until fruit mixture absorbs liquid, stirring often, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°. Butter 9 full-sized loaf pans.

Sift flour, baking powder,and salt into medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.

Add flour. Mix until just blended.

Mix batter and fruit mixture. Divide mixture among pans. Cover pans with foil.

Bake at 325° about 1 1/2 hours. Reduce oven temperature to 275°and continue to bake covered until tester comes out clean but slightly moist, about 30 minutes longer.

Transfer pans to cooling rack.  Remove foil and drizzle about a tablespoon (or more) rum on each cake while hot.

Wrap and store in a cool place, adding more rum weekly.

I actually had Lyle's Golden Syrup (available at Wegmans) but if you don't, use a light molasses.  I also resisted using any other spices and I'm really glad I did.  The flavors worked perfectly and will only improve with age - and a bit more rum!


Rice Pudding

Eileen Dineen Reidy

  • 2 C cooked rice
  • 2 C miIk
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C sugar (white or brown)                        –                        –
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbsp nutmeg
  • 1 C raisins (optional)

Grease baking dish. Preheat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients with fork. Pour all at once into your dish. Cook for about 50 minutes. This will feed about six people. For those of you with larger families, just double everything.


Fruit Pizza

Mary Dineen Jankowski

Sugar Cookie Crust:

  • 1-1/2 C flour
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/2 C shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Combine shortening and sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add shortening mixture to dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread dough in well greased pizza pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool.

Cream Cheese Topping:

  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • Dash of vanilla

Mk and spread over cooled crust, Top with fruit (mandarin oranges, bananas, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, – whatever fruit you would like. Be sure to soak bananas in lemon juice so they don’t turn brown.)

Glaze:

  • 1 C orange Juice
  • 1/4 C corn starch
  • 3/4 C sugar

Mix together and cook on medium heat. Add a little water if necessary to thin. Cool. Pour over pie. Refrigerate until serving.


Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

Patty Dineen Reynolds

  • 3-8 oz packages cream cheese
  • 3 eggs
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Vanilla wafers
  • Cool Whip
  • Cherry pie filling

Mix together cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Set aside.

Place 1 vanilla wafer in the bottom of 36 ~ cupcake papers. Fill each cupcake holder 1/2 full of the cheese mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool.

Spread 1/4 inch layer of Cool Whip over each cheesecake. Top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate until serving. Makes 36 cheesecakes.


Ice Box Cake

Kate Kelly Hodsdon

This dessert comes in handy if you’re trying to impress someone!

  • 1 C milk
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • ½ t salt
  • ½ C pineapple juice
  • 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
  • ½ C flour
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 T unflavored gelatin
  • ½ C orange juice
  • 2 pkgs jelly roll cake (6 sm jelly rolls in the 2 packages, use only 5)

Cut each jelly roll into 4 slices. Soak gelatin in pineapple and orange juices. In spring-form pan, line jelly roll slices, first the sides of the pan, then the bottom.

To make custard, combine milk, flour, sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add juice with gelatin and boil until thick. Add crushed pineapple. Cool.

Add 3 beaten egg whites to which 3 T sugar have been added. Pour all into pan. Cover and chill at least six hours. To serve, remove sides of spring-form pan and garnish with whipped cream.