Entries in recipe (502)

Tuesday
Nov072017

craving beignets

I was craving beignets last week.  I know part of that was the trip to Galveston.  It is the closest place for me to buy beignets out currently.  Unless I wish to drive to New Orleans.  I actually do not have a problem with that but I do not always have the time.  And I say drive because then I can take a tent, camp, wander, eat, drink, and be merry.  Yes.  It is how I do New Orleans at this point in my life.  

The lowly oddly beignet on the plate in the above picture was the last one.  Cold because I made it the day before but it was still a good beignet!  Which the day after, beignets are pretty bleah!  I do not know if I am making beignets next or croissants because I am craving them both but one will be made.  But I have to write down the beignet recipe.  I followed a recipe for New Orlean style beignets, changing them for sourdough and what was in the house.  This is where I get asked did I really follow the recipe or not.  My response is usually, hmmmm.

beignets

Note:  I started with the beignet recipe from Genius Kitchen.  I changed it for sourdough and what was in my kitchen.

1/4 cup sourdough starter (I have a large mason jar of starter just ready to go now.  I just dipped out a 1/4 cup)

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

3-3 3/4 cups whole wheat white flour

2 tablespoons butter

In a large bowl, put in the starter and water.  Mix well.  Stir in the sugar, egg, salt, milk, and butter.

Mix in the flour a cup a time.  I made my dough on the wet side so I held back on the flour.  But you want to get enough flour until you can knead the dough smooth.  I had to use my dough scraper to help me because the dough was so sticky.  I really wanted a dough that would rise well when fried.  I used about 3 1/2 cups flour.

Cover and let the dough rise until double in bulk.  This can be done at room temperature or it can be done in the refrigerator.  If you plan to put the dough in the refrigerator, cover the bowl with cling wrap.

When the dough has doubled, turn it out of the bowl onto a clean floured surface.  Pat or roll to about 1/2 inch thick and cut rectangles.  I went for smaller then purchased beignets.  But my dough was also soft enough by the time I transferred them to baking sheets covered with silpats to rise, the rectangles were not very rectangular. 

Cover and let rise until double again or very puffy.

In a deep pan, put in two or three inches of vegetable oil and bring to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  I use a cast iron chicken fryer.  Put a few beignets in at a time to fry.  First one side, then roll over.  An even brownness is wanted.  It will only take a few minutes a side.  They can go from golden to too dark very quickly.

I actually had paper towels in the house so I let them drain on paper towels.

Sift lots of powdered sugar over them.  Eat hot with coffee or tea.  Take some to the neighbors.  Which is what I did because I did not need to eat two dozen beignets even though I wanted too!

Like I said, beignets or croissants later this week.  The boyos would say both!

Thursday
Oct262017

sourdough vanilla everyday cake

Since I started making sourdough everyday cakes, as soon as a cake is gone I am told we need cake.  When I was at my parents, I told this story.  My brother was there and said of course you always need cake in the house!  I did not realize there were such strong feelings about the topic.

But everyday cake is a good thing.  I think I mentioned I was working on a vanilla and I think I figured it out.  My regular frosting vanilla cake did not translate well.  And according to Koda Bear, birthday cake is only frosting cake!  He is adamant about this!  So having the frosting cake recipe is a good thing.  It does translate well to buckle.  But I had to tweak to get the vanilla.  It turn out well.  

I have been asked to have a cake rotation.  There is one more I am going to try.  A rift on Dorrie Greenspan's lemon spice traveling cake.  It is what she calls it.  But it is not going to have five eggs in it!

What can I say?  This is just a good basic vanilla cake.  Similar to a pound cake.  It travels well.  I like it toasted as if it is a bread, with butter.  It would be something that would go well into a lunch box.  And since we take food with us every where, I know this.  This is definitly a comfort cake not an exciting cake.  But I like comfort cakes better anyway!

sourdough vanilla cake

Note:  The sourdough I am using here is 100% by volume.  That means I use one cup of flour and one cup water to make it.  If you use a sourdough that is 100% by weight, 100 grams flour and 100 grams water, or whatever it takes to make a cup, increase the milk to one cup.  I used Smitten Kitchen's everyday chocolate cake as a starting point, truly.

1 cup sourdough

1/2 cup olive oil (mine is very fruity so sometimes it tastes like I am eating more a banana bread)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons vanilla

1/2 cup milk or water

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose here) 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butter and flour a loaf pan.  I bought the Vardagen loaf pan from Ikea.  Is is 5.25 inches by 3 inches by 12.75 inches.  It holds 1.9 quarts and works perfectly.

In a large bowl, put in the starter.  Mix in the olive oil, egg, and vanilla.

 

Sift in the flour and baking soda. I usually have some bran from the flour that needs to be dumped into the compost.  Add the salt. My salt is a very coarse grind which is why I am not sifting it in. 

Mix well

 

Pour into the loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  

Check to make sure the cake is done by inserting a knife and it comes out clean.  The cake will also have pulled away from the edges.  let the cake cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, if not 30.  I always have someone who cannot wait.  If you do not let this cake cool in the pan, it will collapse from its own weight.  Still very edible but there is usually a bit that gets very dense.  Obviously, I have done this in the past.

 

It is good vanilla cake.  Not very fancy because that was not the goal.  Good for a snack with tea.  Toasted with butter.  It is one of those that seems to make life better.

Thursday
Sep282017

sourdough chocolate everyday cake

My experimentation with sourdough cakes did not start with the pumpkin cake.  It started with this one.  Chocolate.  Part of that was my wanting cake.  Which is not me.  I do not like cake.  I will keep saying that.  But the reality is I do not like cake that is dry or needs frosting.  Koda Bear does not get this.  Cake has to have frosting, especially birthday cake, according to him.

This chocolate cake turned out very well.  It is another cake that is very good toasted with butter spread across.  So more like a chocolate bread?  I used white whole wheat flour in it again because that is all I have in the house.  It is very good.  

I have one more cake I am experimenting with.  Vanilla.  The last one was a bust.  It all got eaten but it was not the best cake.  I will have to try that one again.

sourdough chocolate cake

Note:  The sourdough I am using here is 100% by volume.  That means I use one cup of flour and one cup water to make it.  If you use a sourdough that is 100% by weight, 100 grams flour and 100 grams water, or whatever it takes to make a cup, increase the milk to one cup.  I used Smitten Kitchen's everyday chocolate cake as a starting point

1 cup sourdough

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup milk or water

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose here)

3/4 cups cocoa, the best you can buy

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butter and flour a loaf pan.  I bought the Vardagen loaf pan from Ikea.  Is is 5.25 inches by 3 inches by 12.75 inches.  It holds 1.9 quarts and works perfectly.

In a large bowl, put in the starter.  Mix in the olive oil, egg, and vanilla.

Sift in the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. I usually have some bran from the flour that needs to be dumped into the compost.  Add the salt.  

Mix well.

Pour into the loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  

Check to make sure the cake is done by inserting a knife and it comes out clean.  The cake will also have pulled away from the edges.  let the cake cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, if not 30.  I always have someone who cannot wait.  If you do not let this cake cool in the pan, it will collapse from its own weight.  Still very edible but there is usually a bit that gets very dense.  Obviously, I have done this in the past.

 

It is a good, not too sweet cake.  On the rich side though.

Toast, add butter.  Chocolate toast for breakfast.  True decadence.

Saturday
Sep232017

salsa

One of those things that is still on the shelf after Harvey, is salsa.  That is a crazy thing but true.  It may only be the flavors I care for but they are thin on the shelf.  I decided to give salsa making a try.

I used a can of Barrio Whole tomatoes.  I blended them.  Then I chopped a lot of fruit and vegetables to go in.  More tomatoes.  White onion.  Nectarines.  Mangos.  Jalapenos.  Mixed it all up.  Salt and pepper were added.  Then it was mentioned that it needed more spice, so chipolte and ancho were mixed in.  Just a bit.  It is pretty good salsa.  Is this the end recipe?  That I am not sure of and I am not sure of proportions.  Just a lot of everything in almost equal portions except the jalapeno and the ground spices.  

It went really well on the taco salad I made.  Maybe I will get it tweaked well enough that I want to write the recipe down so I can reproduce it.  It is a possibility!

I have one sleeve on on the sweater I am making.  One more to go and then a decision on border color.  Or do I wish one and will just keep the border white?  I am thinking color.  Most of the projects I am working on seem to be taking a bit of time.  Not a bad thing but it does make it difficult to write about.  Not that my head is really on straight.  Harvey did blow in some interesting pollens and my allergies are bad.  This has been a tough allergy week.  I need to remember that it is okay to slow down.  I have a hard time with that.

Possibly tomorrow.  

Thursday
Sep212017

sourdough pumpkin cake

I have gotten asked if I could make a cake with sourdough.  And I have been craving cake.  But not cake with frosting but what I call an everyday cake.  Where it is a little bit sweet, may be toasted, goes well with tea.  Why not?  

I had some "extra" sourdough starter.  Actually, I took a cup from a pizza dough I was preparing.  I used it in the cake.  It meant I did not need to use baking powder, which I can not stand the taste of!  It also means, depending on the consistency of the starter, I do not need to add any extra milk.  Also, I could use water instead of milk here if I wished too.

By the way, this is one of my current favorite breakfasts.  The cake gets toasted, some butter is smeared, life is good.  It is not as bad for you as you might think.  Olive oil is used instead of butter.  I used white whole wheat flour.  I am getting requested for cake about once a week currently.  It is a good thing I walk over 7 miles most days.

sourdough pumpkin cake

1 cup sourdough

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 14 ounce can of pumpkin (not pie filling)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

(1/2 cup milk or water)

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose here)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspong ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butter and flour a loaf pan.  I bought the Vardagen loaf pan from Ikea.  Is is 5.25 inches by 3 inches by 12.75 inches.  It holds 1.9 quarts and works perfectly.

In a large bowl, put the starter.  If the starter is a 100% starter by volume, you will not need to add any extra liquid to the batter.  If the starter is a 100% starter by weight, you will need to add a 1/2 cup of either water or milk later in the process.

Mix in the olive oil and sugar.  It might be a difficult mix depending on the consistency of your starter.  Mix in the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and if you are using a 100% starter by weight, either the water or milk.  Mix well.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  I usually have some bran from the flour that needs to be dumped into the compost.  Add the salt.  

Mix well.

Pour into the loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.  It will depend on the consistency of the starting batter.  I start checking at 1 hour with a knife to the base of the cake.  When the knife comes out clean, let the cake cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, if not 30.  I always have someone who cannot wait.  If you do not let this cake cool in the pan, it will collapse from its own weight.  Still very edible but there is usually a bit that gets very dense.  Obviously, I did this.  It was a very wonky cake.

An everyday pumpkin cake.  I have not tired of this one yet.  I have a chocolate version as well but so far, this is the one that gets requested the most.