Thursday, January 29, 2015

Chilli Cumin Cornbread - - Home Sweet Home Bake Along (13/100)


This is definitely an unusual bake - the 20g of cumin that starts the recipe, had me wondering if a trailing zero had been added by accident. 20g of cumin is a lot. It gives what is a traditional American recipe a rather more eastern feel.


I think the sweetcorn adds moisture, but is a somewhat strange thing to encounter if you are unsuspecting when biting into this bread.


Something very strange happened to my loaf in the oven - it came out a little, well, odd, in shape. Dear Papa called it "pregnant," I thought it resembled a slipper and Pigling, first questioned if it was alive and then described it, most amusingly, as, "Flubber Cornbread."


Either way, it is a tasty recipe, and another one I probably would not have baked if we weren't doing the whole book.


Currently undecided on whether I'll bake again. If I do - will definitely be adding more chilli, and probably serving with curry!


Ingredients:
20g (twenty, not a typo) of cumin seeds
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g soft light brown sugar
60g coarse polenta (I used maize meal, because, well, that's what I had. It's probably the same *shrugs*)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (adjusted to taste)
1 tsp maldon sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
2 large eggs
90g soured cream
100ml whole milk
120g tinned sweetcorn





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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Funnel Cakes - Home Sweet Home Bake Along (12/100)


In my mind, the world is divided into two types of people; those who run screaming from the thought of deep fat frying, and those who merely dislike it. I am very proud to have moved from the former category into the latter.


Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, I have conquered my deep-seated fear of deep fat frying. This does not mean that every day will be fish, chips and doughnuts, oh, no. For the aroma of the frying does cling somewhat.


And when you take your funnel cakes to visit the Literary Lady, her daughter, Graceful Girl will very much enjoy sniffing your arm, and instructing The Vicar to do the same. (For the sake of propriety, he did resist.) The aroma did linger on in the house for at least a further 24 hours, too.


So, like Gill I will probably not be repeating these. I do, however, remain grateful to them for my induction into deep-fat.


The recipe made at least 10 of these "cakes" - but given each one will more than adequately serve an adult, that's quite a lot, really. (And as you can only make/fry one at a time, it is rather time consuming.)


Ingredients:
120g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon caster sugar
250ml water
pinch of salt
170g plain flour
4 large eggs
2 large egg whites
sunflower oil for deep frying
icing sugar for dusting


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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Blueberry Loaf - Home Sweet Home Bake Along (11/100)


So far this Bake Along (for me) has been "Good Bake" then "Bad Bake," in a repeated round. This loaf was a "Good Bake."


Albeit a messy one. No matter how hard you push frozen blueberries into dough, they fall out when you turn it vertical. (True Story.)


The effort and the purple fingers are worth it, for a delightful sweet-bread.


I take slight umbridge at the photograph - from the photo it is clear it was sprinkled with granulated sugar, not light brown sugar, but hey-ho!


I also found that this loaf took longer in the oven than the recommended time.


Ingredients:
Dough:
300ml whole milk
25g caster sugar
1 tsp dried fast-action (or 'quick') yeast (recipe gives 1.5tsp dried active yeast, but i've never really seen this, and have a large pack of fast-action yeast)
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
85g unsalted butter, cubed
For the filling
60g unsalted butter, very soft
100g soft light brown sugar
200g blueberries
1 large egg, beaten



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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies


My favourite moment with these blondies? The moment I introduced them at Home Group, and one of the members listened to the explanation then went, "and what's in the tin?" Um. These are a recipe from the archives of Smitten Kitchen (let's be honest, every food blogger secretly or not so secretly wants to be Deb from Smitten Kitchen) - and reading the blurb beforehand, I thoroughly agreed with Deb.


Peanut butter recipes are indeed often rather wimpy, and never quite do justice to peanut butter. The flavour does tend to be rather underwhelming.


I'm afraid, therefore, that I am somewhat disappointed with these blondies. Not that they tasted bad. Nor were they badly received. For they tasted lovely, and disappeared before I could say Jack Robinson.


They just weren't peanutty enough. And the chocolate ganache, although necessary and delicious, rather overwhelmed the attempts the peanut butter was making to shine through. I think next time I would reduce the quantity of butter and sugar, and increase the quantity of peanut butter. Or maybe use crunchy peanut butter instead of, "creamy" (smooth.) Or maybe add a few chopped peanuts.


Just something to let the peanuts say, "we're here." On the upside, The Pure Mathematician In Exile has stated he is more than willing to taste the experiments to reach the perfect peanut butter blondie!


Recipe
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007
Makes abound 36 1+1/2 inch blondies

Blondies
 225 grams unsalted butter, softened
100 grams granulated sugar
250 grams soft brown sugar
255 grams smooth peanut butter (see notes above)
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
150 grams plain flour
100 grams self-raising flour (I like my brownies a bit more cakey, so with a little "lift," hence the addition of self-raising flour, if you like very cakey brownies, use all self-raising, if you like very fudgey brownies, use all plain flour)
200g dark chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon table salt (Deb warns that this may not be necessary if you use regular peanut butter with added salt, but using store-brand smooth peanut butter, I initially added 1/4 tsp table salt, but it definitely needed all of the 1/2 teaspoon)
For ganache
180g dark chocolate (not the really dark 85% cocoa stuff, more like the generic eating dark chocolate stuff)
100ml double cream

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking tin. (Or, in my case a 9 by 9 inch and a 6 by 6 inch)
2. Beat together butter, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla.
4. Stir in flour and chocolate chips to make a thick batter.
5. Spread batter in baking tin, smoothing top.
6. Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a skewer inserted in centre come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.
7. Cool in the tin on a rack.
Make ganache:
1. Put dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
2. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan (or in the microwave, whilst watching like a hawk,) then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.
3. Stir until completely smooth, and then spread over the blondies and leave to set before lifting out and cutting into squares.

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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Blondie Pie - Home Sweet Home Bake Along (11/100)


I tell you, it's a jolly good thing that this dish is tasty, for there was no end to its mischief.


The first problem was I do not own a 9-inch pie dish. 8 inch and 10 inch, yes. 9 inch cake tin, yes. 9 inch pie dish, no. The picture in the book showed a rather thin looking base, so I assumed (foolishly) that a smaller pie dish would be the way forward.


It wasn't. The filling is a nebulous and frothy thing and redecorated the floor of the oven.


The second problem is covered in some detail by Gill. Despite its name, this dish is neither blondie nor pie.


It is a white chocolate and almond praline tart. Praline, you note, not brittle - brittle is whole nuts in caramel, so called because it is, um, brittle. You do indeed create brittle. You then pulverise it into dust. It is thus praline. It is no longer brittle. It is smashed. And tart. Not Pie. As my Mama doth quote; "tarts are topless."


*Sigh* As I say, it is a good thing that this is a tasty dish. My colleagues were very grateful for it. (Even if my boss did keep referring to it as, "that treacle tart thing.") Explosive redecorations of the oven not withstanding, I would bake again, for it was certainly a hearty and tasty thing.


One of my colleagues (The Faux-Taxidermist) questioned whether The New Year would bring a slower pace of baked goods that I foist upon her, in a vaguely feeder-ish way. Um. There are still 89 bakes to go. No. I'm afraid there won't be a slower pace.


Ingredients
Praline
200g blanched almonds (I only have ones with skins, which I buy from the local independent whole-foods shop, so I blanched them myself, which is a rather satisfying task, as they "pop" from their skins
240g caster sugar
150ml water

Crust (pastry)
250g plain flour
80g caster sugar
180g cold unsalted butter, cubed

Filling
240g white chocolate, melted
80g unsalted butter (melted with the chocolate)
3 large egg yolks
60g caster sugar
150ml double cream


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Sunday, January 04, 2015

Spicy Butternut Squash with Puy Lentils


This nearly was my New Year's Day post - it fulfilled so many wonderful stereotypes. The earnestly over-healthy first post of the year. A bit of winter warmth. The most middle class dish I could ever imagine making.


But sadly, it was not to be, for an errant tree was caught in a rather large gust, and severed my telephone line.


Ironically, even when the man came to put the two pieces back together again, the BT software reported that the line was, "testing as fine." No wonder they couldn't find the problem last year, when a tree rub caused intermittent faults, if they can't see a fault when the phoneline no longer connects to anything!


Anyway, here it is, a warm, wintery dish, without the heaviness of so many cold-weather meals.



(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
1 pack pre-cooked puy lentils, reheated (to add to the hilarious middle-class nature of this dish, I had a pack that were a blend of puy lentils and quinoa)
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1 small red onion, sliced
4 tablespoons of chilli dressing/marinade - I used  half chilli salad dressing and half chipotle sauce, but any chilli sauce with a bit of "tang" to it would be good - if using sweet chilli sauce, I'd thin it with a little vinegar to cut the sweetness and to make it a bit more runny.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Toss the squash and onion in the marinade, ensuring the squash is fully coated.
3. Roast the butternut squash and onion for about 40-50 minutes, until the squash is tender, and starting to caramelise around the edges. (If you're in a hurry, you can pre-cook the squash and onion in the microwave for 5-10 minutes, then finish them off in the oven).
4. Whilst the squash is roasting, reheat the lentils.
5. Mix lentils with squash, and enjoy!


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I'm also entering this in The Health Bay's Big Recipe Book Challenge.