Sourdough starter...it's alive!!!

 

A sourdough starter is simple and you shouldn't let it indtimidate you.  All it takes is time and patience.

Sourdough starter:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tps honey

2 cups unbleached white flour

1/4 cup water

I started this on the 18th, on the 19th 20th and 21st you stir your mixture.  On the 22nd you feed your mixture with flour and water.  Let's begin!

First, heat your milk until it is about 110 degrees F.  Place in a large bowl and add the yeast, honey, and 1 1/2 cups flour and mix together.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm draft free space.

This is the mixture on the 19th,

20th, 

and the 21st. 

On the 22nd add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.  mix and let sit for about 4 hours.  The mixture will smell like beer and have a slight sour punch to it.

Store in the refrigerator in a bottle.  Punch out small holes in the top because your mixture is alive and it needs air.  The mixture will last about four weeks.  Use this in any sourdough recipe.

Marquise on Meringue

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

This recipe isn't too challenging but it has a lot parts to it so it is a bit time consuming.  The finished product is so tasty and everything keeps really well in the refrigerator except for the meringue.  The Marquise melts really easy so keep it frozen until you are ready to serve.

Chocolate base (used in the marquise recipe)
6tbsp bittersweet chocolate about 70% cocoa
3 oz heavy cream
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp Frangelico (hazelnut liquor)
1 Tbsp agave syrup (or light corn syrup)
1/4 tsp canilla
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp ground coffee


Chocolate Marquise
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 Tbsp and 2 tsp of sugar
1 tbsp and 1 tsp water
Chocolate base
4 oz cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Torched Meringue
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup minues 1 tsp of sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla

Roasted Walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg white
1 cup shelled walnuts

Frangelico caramel
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 tsp slat
2 Tbsp Frangelico

First make the chocolate base.  Melt your chocolate, I just put it in the microwave which can be tricky cause you don't want to burn it.  To be on the safe side it is probably best to melt it using a double boiler.  Add the melted chocolate to the rest of the ingredients listed for the Chocolate base in a large bowl and set aside.

To make the Marquise, place all of the egg yolks and full egg into a mixer and mix on high for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are thick and pale.  When the eggs are just about done, combine your sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until it has reached about 235 degrees F.  Turn your mixer on low and slowly add the sugar syrup into your eggs.  When all of the syrup has been added turn the mixer back on high until the bowl is cool to the touch...about 2-3 minutes.  In a separate bowl whip the heavy cream until it has soft peaks and set aside.  add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.  Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixure, and then add the rest carefully folding in the chocolate so you keep the air in the cream and eggs.

Line a baking pan (8X12) with parchment paper and pour the chocolate mixure in.  Spread it with your spatula and then cover with plastic wrap.  Make sure the plastic wrap is actually touching your Marquise so no air gets trapped inside.  A couple of bubbles here and there are not a big deal so don't worry over them.  Place this in the refrigerator for about 6-8 hours or over night.

Next make the nuts.  Combine all of the ingredients for the nuts in a bowl and mix so that the nuts are evenly coated.  In this picture I used brown sugar and it was too much so above I wrote to use regular sugar instead.  When the nuts are evenly coated pour them out onto a pastry lined baking pan and place in a preheated oven of 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly browned.  Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool.

Next make the caramel.  I don't have any pictures of me making the caramel because you have to time everything just right otherwise you burn your caramel and I didn't want to mess with the camera.  To make the caramel, put the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook until the water has evaporated and the sugar is a dark mahogany color.  Quickly whisk in the cream to the darkened caramel, you can remove from the heat to do this if you are afraid the cream may overflow.  Return the pot to the heat and mix your caramel with a whisk until all of the hardened sugar has broken up.  When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it remove it from the head and add the salt and Frangelico.

The last thing to make is the meringue.  Beat the egg whites until they become foamy.  With the mixer on high, slowly add the vanilla, and then the sugar.

Continue to mix on high until you have a shiny stiff mixture.  To make sure the sugar is mixed in thoroughly take a bit of the meringue and rub it between two fingers.  If you feel a little grit, that means the sugar is not completely mixed in yet.

To plate, pull the marquise out of the freezer and cut it into 6 even squares.  Roll it in some cocoa powder and place it on a heaping spoonful of meringue.  Torch the meringue using a cooking torch and drizzle with caramel and nuts.  serve immediately....

Banana nut muffins

 

When bananas are over ripe and brown......make muffins!  Recently my husband and I have been eating a lot of bananas.  Every weekend I buy about two bunches of bananas.  This past week I started putting strawberries in my morning oatmeal instead of bananas so the extra bananas became brown and over ripe.  I set them aside and let them sit for about another week.  The more brown a banana gets the sweeter it is, but be careful you don't want it to start liquefying on your kitchen counter.  In this recipe I added walnuts to the batter and garnished each muffin with a walnut.  Walnuts are an optional ingredient so feel free to mix it up with a different nut or not have nuts at all.  I like the Walnuts because it gives the muffins texture and an added flavor.

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas 

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

about 1/2 cup whole walnuts

mush up the bananas in a bowl with a potato masher.  In another mixing bowl add the sugar and butter and cream together.  Then add the eggs buttermilk and vanilla and mix until smooth.  The batter will be a bit lumpy but don't worry about it.  Add in your mashed bananas.  Rinse out the bowl you used for the bananas and dry it.  In this bowl add the rest of the ingredients except for the nuts.  Whisk it so that all of the dry ingredients are mixed together.  Slowly add this to your banana mixture while mixer is on a low speed.  When all ingredients are mixed together fold in the chopped nuts using a spatula.

lightly spray a muffin tin and use muffin cups.  Fill each muffin cup almost to the top.  Place a whole walnut in each muffin and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  The batter should make about 24 muffins.  Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F and cook the muffins for about 25-30 minutes.  To make sure they are done insert a toothpick into the center of one, if it comes out clean they are done.  Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes and enjoy!

   

Easy cheese cake dessert

 

This dessert is so tasty and it is perfect for a summer bbq.  I made this for my dad hence the huge 'D' made out of black berries.  The recipe comes from my mothers archive, passed to her from an old friend.

Raspberry cream cheese dessert

1 1/2 cup crushed grahm cracker (approx 8-10 full crackers)

1/2 cup melted butter

8 oz cream cheese

1 can of sweet and condensed milk (14 oz)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 package Dream Whip (you will need cold milk and vanilla to prepare this)

Package of Danish dessert (strawberry)

Package of frozen raspberries (12 oz)

First, mix your Grahm crumbs with butter.  Pour all of it in a 9x13 pan and press down making an even layer.  I didn't have a 9x13 pan so I used a slightly smaller one.  Because my pan was smaller I had extra crumbs to press up against the side making a yummy grahm shell.

Next using an electrical mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sweet and condensed milk, and lemon juice.  In a smaller bowl prepare one package of Dream Whip according to the directions on the back.  I found that Dream Whip is more structurally sound than regular whipped cream so I don't suggest substituting the Dream Whip with the real thing, it might mess with the structure of your dessert.  Gently fold the Dream Whip into your cream cheese mixture and pour over your Grahm crumbs.  Even out the top and allow it to sit on the counter for about one hour.

When the cheese cake has set start making the Danish dessert according to the package.  If you are wondering where to find Dream Whip and Danish dessert you will find both of them in the baking section near the jello and gelatin.  When the Danish dessert is done cooking add in all of the frozen raspberries and gently fold them in.

Spread the Danish dessert over your cheese cake.  I also decided to decorate my cake with blackberries but this is completely optional.  Place the cheese cake in the refrigerator and allow it to cool.  I made mine the night before so it could sit in the refrigerator all night but if you don't have that much time a couple of hours should be fine.  I found with cheesecake, a whole night in the refrigerator is always the best route to go.

Stash tea lemon biscotti

 

This is a recipe which was inspired by the new Stash tea Meyer Lemon flavor.  Stash tea is putting on a recipe contest and this is my submission so wish me luck!  I decided to make biscotti because I wanted to have a tea time theme.  The smell of lemon in my kitchen made summer feel even closer.

For this recipe you will need:

3 cups of flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

pinch of salt

9 Stash tea Meyer Lemon bags

2 eggs plus one egg yolk

1 cup of boiling water

4 tbsp of butter

1 cup powdered sugar

Put a cup of your boiling hot water into a coffee mug or glass liquid measuring cup.  Place three tea bags in the water and allow it to steep for about 3-5 minutes.

When the tea is finished steeping remove the bags and dispose of them.  

In a large bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and 6 bags of tea.  When opening the tea bags make sure you just rip the top part off instead of messing with the staple.  This way you can make sure that pieces of the staple do not fall into your mix.

Mix up the flour mixture and then add 3 tbsp of butter cubed.  For this step you can use a pastry cutter to mix in the butter or an electrical mixer.  Just be careful with the electrical mixer so you don't have a huge flour mess!

Make a well in the middle of your flour and butter mixture and add 6 tbsp of the steeped tea with two eggs.  Mix with a wooden spoon or an electrical mixer.

When the mixture has come together and formed a dough pour in the almonds and knead this into the dough.  For this step you may want to lightly flour your hands because the dough will be a little bit sticky.

Spray a sheet pan with non-stick spray and separate your dough into two equal pieces.  Form them into logs approximately 4x11".  The size isn't that critical so you don't have to be extremely precise.  Brush them with egg yolk to give the tops a shine and place in the oven at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Before taking them out you can check if they are done by inserting a tooth pick into the center, if it comes out clean they are done.

Slice the logs up into 8 pieces each and place the cookies flat side down on the sheet.  Put them back in the oven for 20 more minutes or until slightly browned.

When the cookies are done make your glaze.  put the powdered sugar in a bowl and melt 1 tbsp of butter.  Add the butter into the powdered sugar with one tbsp of steeped tea.  Slowly add tea 1 tbsp at a time until the glaze meets the consistency you want.  The more tea you add the more transparent your glaze will be.  I added 3 tbsp to my glaze.  When the cookies have cooled for a bit pour the glaze on them using the whisk or a spoon.  Serve with coffee or Stash Meyer Lemon tea!  You can store them in an air tight container for about a week or two.

dinner rolls

This summer I wanted to experiment with bread.  I started with this basic recipe and this summer I will be sprucing them up with some herbs from the garden.  It was also fun to experiment with different shapes.

I got this recipe off of a site called cookingbread.com, the site has a lot of different recipes and tips on baking bread.  For these rolls you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup liquid honey
• 4 - 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt

Put the honey, shortening, and butter in a bowl.  Pour the milk in a sauce pan and cook on high until it is hot but not boiling.  Pour the heated up milk over your honey and butter and stir until the butter is melted and the honey is completely mixed in. 

Add two cups of flower and stir until smooth.  Allow the mixture to cool to about 110 degrees F.  When it has cooled add in the yeast, and salt.  mix until smooth and then allow to rest for about 15 minutes.  Begin to add the rest of the flour slowly while kneading the dough.  You may or may not need all of the flour.  Stop adding flour when the dough has stopped sticking to the bowl or counter top. 

When the dough has stopped sticking continue to knead for about ten minutes.  Form into an oval ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

After the dough has risen separate into twelve equal pieces.  You can either leave them in a ball or shape them into what ever shape you like.  I rolled mine out into snakes and then carefully tied them into double knots, braids, or scroll shapes. 

Place the rolls on a sprayed cookie sheet and cover with plastic.  Allow the rolls to rise again for about another hour or until they have doubled in size.  Before you are ready to cook them, brush a coat of egg yolk over them to give the finished product a nice browned shine.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot with jam or honey.