Testing 1,2,3

Experimentation is always fun! Last night I tried developing my own Apple Galette recipe. It was tasty, but had some issues. I used the Pâte Brisée from the Caramelized Onion & Potato Tart post. I used only AP Flour, and added 1/4 of sugar. I didn’t want to go full out Pâte Sucrée which uses eggs, etc. Though I may have to.

The galette took longer than I thought it would to bake. The crust came out very tough on the bottom. The top was nice - though, I’m thinking that the sugar hardened the dough. Live and Learn.

The filling was mostly Granny Smith Apples. I used a mandeline to slice them. I was going for looks and sliced them in full rounds. I love the skin, it’s a personal taste. However, because the skin was in the round it sometimes came out like spaghetti. NOTE TO SELF: regular quartered slices work better if you’re going to keep the skin on.

Getting a little overzealous I sliced all 6 apples I had. I really only needed two, at the most three, to complete the galette. I used the remaining to make an apple crisp with oatmeal topping. I forgot to flour the apples, and add enough seasoning. Oh woah is me. It still tasted great, so I’m happy.

I had to run out an get some Vanilla Ice Cream once I realized we didn’t have anything to top it with. Even with the mistakes - it still tasted wonderful, and next time it will be even better!

[click to continue...]

Craving!

One part boredom, plus ne part left over chips, plus two parts hunger equals Butterscotch Chip Cookies. I’ve wanted to try Alexis Stewart’s Brown-Sugar Chocolate-Chip Cookies for as long as I’ve know about it. They are supposed to be flatter and less cakey than normal chocolate chip cookies.

After using all the chocolate chips in the house, and having half a bag left of butterscotch chips, I just had to make them. You can find the recipe here. NOTE: The image shown on the website is in actuality not the actual recipe (per Alexis Stewart on Whatever Radio)

I halved it as 50 cookies is quite a lot! Plus I didn’t have enough chips. After baking the first batch I saw that I made the drops too large, and there wasn’t enough flour in the batter. I added about 4 tablespoons more flour and reduced the size and voila! Yummy golden brown buttery goodness.

Simmer!

Tonight I made soup. Warm delicious soup. I was inspired by VeganYumYum’s post today about Minestrone.

Overall the seasoning turned out great. I did add a touch too much salt, but I’m getting better. I’m really happy. I made a White Bean & Vegetable Soup. Of course, again, I couldn’t find a recipe that I could use directly from the book. I didn’t have all the ingredients in stock. (I used all the onions in the house for the tart on Monday, among other missing ingredients.) I took some ideas from this White Bean and Vegetable Soup Recipe and the Tuscan Bean and Farro Soup from Chez Panisse Vegetables.

I rummaged around in the fridge, freezer, and pantry and found what I could. The following is the concoction that I made tonight. This kind of soup is very flexible and you can add any type of bean or vegetable you want. I would have loved to add some celery or leeks, (or onions!). [click to continue...]

Let’s Get Baking!

Baking an Onion and Potato Tart. I don’t know what got into me. I had fun yesterday making cookies and we’ve had these onions sitting on the counter forever! Joe was doing dishes when I got home so the kitchen was nice and clean for me to make a mess Sorry, hon.

I dried the dishes and got to it.

First thing was finding a Pâte Brisée recipe. Pâte Brisée is just basic pie dough. I say Pâte Brisée because I think it makes me look fancy. teehee. First, the recipe in Joe’s school book was for 5lbs of dough! I didn’t want to convert it. The one in Chez Panisse Desserts was a little too complicated, and I didn’t want to think that hard. Plus the pages kept turning on me and I didn’t want to get the cook book holder down. So I decided on an adapted recipe from a Season Baking Class hand out by Julie Fether. (I did have to half it, the exact recipe I used tonight below) I adapted it to fit my own style.

Pâte Brisée
enough for one 11″ tart, plus extra

1 cup AP Flour
1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3~3/4 cup cold water
8 oz. cold butter

Sift flour, add salt. Cube cold butter. Working quickly use your finger tips to work the butter into the flour until you reach an oatmeal/cornmeal consistency. Don’t over work the butter as it will melt. Cold flakes of butter = Flaky dough. If needed you can toss the mixture back in the fridge.

Quickly and all at once, add the water and mix until incorporated. Always err on the side of less water. It’s easier to add water than take it out.

Once the dough has gathered, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead it gently. Don’t overwork the dough. There should still be “marbled” butter batches visible. Once the dough is smooth and firm shape it into a disc and wrap it in plastic, chill completely.

Lasts 3-4 days; 2 months in freezer.
Take the dough out a few minutes before working with it. Always work with a cold dough. If it begins to warm up too much, toss it back in the fridge.

Once I had the dough made and in the fridge I moved on to the filling. I was searching for Caramelized Onion Tarts in our cook books and online. This is the one I based my recipe on. There are many many variations all over the place. The filling isn’t an exact science - mix and match fillings and spices to your hearts content. Experiment! [click to continue...]