Daring Bakers - My First Post - Chocolate Eclairs

This will be posted on monday! Thanks!

Feast Day!

Today was the feast day at our church. I will expand on this a little later.

Here is the recipe I promised to post. Pictures will be added this evening. I'm pooped.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Snack Mixes

I have been experimenting with making my own snack mix (similar to Chex mix). I started out using seasoning packets from the spice aisle, adding them to melted butter and then baking. They work very well but you're never quite sure what all is in them. So I made my own this evening. Its in the oven currently but the pre-oven taste test was pretty yummy. Here's the recipe.

P.S. Ben is perfectly happy with the base ingredients on their own. We'll see what he thinks of the finished product.

P.P.S. Fruity snack mix? How would you get the flavor into the cereal???


Basic Snack Mix

Base Indredients:
4 cups corn (chex-like) cereal
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds (I used sliced almonds. Its just what I had on hand.)
1 cup sunflower seeds

Seasoning Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter
2 tsp salt (I used kosher.)
2 tsp seasoning salt
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp dried Parsley Flakes*
1 Tbsp dried Minced Onion


Melt the butter in a pan. Measure the base ingredients and put into a bowl. Measure the seasoning ingredients into your measuring cup. When butter is melted, turn to medium heat. Add seasoning ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour evenly over base ingredients and stir together quickly and throughly. Pour on to lined baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees. Stir every 20 minutes for 40 minutes. Cool.

Barefoot Bloggers - Butterflied Chicken

Ina has done it again. 'What?' You may ask, 'has she done again?' Ina has combined a few simple ingredients to great a bite that says,'This is what cooking is all about!'

Lemon, garlic and rosemary - they seem ordinary enough . . . right? Maybe, but when combined they are an extraordinary team that brings out the best flavors a chicken has to offer. This trio make chicken the star of any show. They give the chicken a fresh citrus aroma with a slight hint at woodsy. This is an easy must try recipe.

Note: I didn't grill my chicken. I sauteed it in olive oil. Delicious!

Here is the recipe.






(We loved it. Need I say more?)

Cakes from the Past

To catch ya up . . . these are the cakes that I have made 'professionally' so far. Hope you like them. Let me know any comments. Thanks

This first cake is the first one I did for a friend of mine. It was her mother's birthday.



This is a Thanksgiving cake I did for my Aunt.

Barefoot Bloggers - My First Post - Panzanella

A Side Note: YAY!


Panzanella is a bread salad originating from Italy. Its full of bright garden yummies such as red and yellow peppers and scrumptious tomatoes, as well as, everyone's favorite - fried bread! Capers and basil run throughout the crunchy bites, as the vinaigrette excites the tongue.

This is a great salad for the lake, picnic or even just a barbecue. It doesn't have any mayonnaise so you don't have to worry about spoilage and its pretty good whether its cold or room temperature.

For presentation reasons, I cut my components smaller than Ina's recommendations.

Here's a link to the recipe.

Chocolate-Chip Cookies

What is more American than the chocolate-chip cookie? Apple pie, you reply. Well, maybe to some, but the history of the apple pie really goes back into the english and dutch history books. Our English settlers had to wait a while until they were sent barrels for tree starts from across the Atlantic.

The chocolate-chip cookie was created here. Chocolate chips were even born in this great land. So I ask you again . . .

Anyways.

Many of us grew up loving the Nestle Toll House recipe - the old favorite against which we judge all cookies. Everyone has a different way that they prefer their chocolate-chip cookie, too. Some like them crunchy, some cake-like, while others like their cookie chewy. There are even debates on how many chips should be involved.

Well, I sought out the perfect cookie. I like soft and chewy with a medium amount of chips. Ben likes chewy with a little crunch on the edge with the same amount of gooey chocolate.

This past Christmas, one of Ben's aunts brought a new recipe to the table. She had taken out some of the sugar ( a quarter cup, I believe) and replaced it with a small package of vanilla pudding mix. This resulted in a very soft, cake-like cookie. Unfortunately, it didn't have the same flavor that Ben and I look for and it definitely did not have the chewiness we desire.

Alton Brown has even created 3 separate recipes to soothe the different cookie yearnings. He has named them for their properties. The Thin, The Chewy and The Puffy. He also has a Gluten Free version of 'The Chewy'.

In his recipe for 'The Chewy', AB uses bread flour. Bread flour? In cookies? I am telling you guys and gals, this man is genius!

This is a delightful cookie. The texture and chewiness are wonderful . . . but . . . it was lacking the Toll House flavor that I look for.

So I went back to my Kitchen Aid . . .




Almost the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie


Wet:
1 stick or 1/2 cup margarine, softened at room temp.

1 stick or 1/2 cup butter, unsalted and also softened at room temp.

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (I use light brown.)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

Dry:
2 cups bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Chocolate: (the most important)
11/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips


The Process

In your bowl, cream the butter, margarine, sugars and vanilla. Once combined add the eggs, one at a time. I let the mixture continue to cream while I sift the dry ingredients together. (Sifting is not necessary but helps to mix the ingredients thoroughly.) Then on low speed, I slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. I then scrape down the flat beater and remove the bowl from the mixer. I scrape down the sides and give the batter a good mix to make sure everything is properly combined. I then stir in the chips.

At this point, you have three options: a) have a couple friends over to watch chick flicks and enjoy the cookie dough, b) roll the dough into parchment paper to be chilled, or c) scoop by the teaspoonful on to a cookie sheet and toss into a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. I turn my cookies at the half way mark.


Note: I have used many different chips, from off brand to gourmet, and they all result in a wonderful cookie.