Food Tag

Sara over at Three Clever Sisters recently tagged me to participate in a “food holiday tag” menu. The rule is to share menu suggestions of a couple of dishes previously posted on your blog for an upcoming food holiday, with photos and links to the recipes. Then, you tag 10 more bloggers. I told Sara I didn’t have time to participate, but then I thought about it again and realized I had a holiday coming up. Not an official holiday, though. But I want to celebrate the end of me eliminating almost all fruit and vegetables from my menu for a couple of weeks which was due to the scary E.coli outbreak here in Germany. Thus, I picked a couple of dishes that feature (raw) fruit and vegetables. Here you go.

Bake! – Kyra’s Hot Milk Sponge Cake

The 11th recipe I made from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!” was Kyra’s Hot Milk Sponge Cake. I know, this recipe hasn’t been on the official lineup yet, but let me explain what happened.

Bake! – Cream Cheese Scones

The 10th recipe I made from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!” was Cream Cheese Scones. Wow, these were really quick to put together. Only problem – I didn’t have cream cheese, but I DID have cottage cheese and thought I’d give it a try. Worked out perfect . These scones were heavy, but so delicious! We served them with homemade jam – YUM! Others who made these scones: Abby and Phyl.

Modern Baker Challenge – Sour-Cream Apple Pie

The 9th recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts and Pies section for the Modern Baker Challenge – Sour-Cream Apple Pie. I sooo looked forward to making this pie because I love apple pie and sour cream. So the recipe sounded like the perfect combination. It called for the Sweet Tart Dough, and making the apple filling, sour-cream custard and the crumb topping wasn’t complicated at all. I should have listened to my instinct feeling when I read the recipe called for Golden Delicious apples. I’m not a Golden Delicious apple person. Not at all! These apples don’t have a character, soft, bland and sweet. I prefer firm apples that are sour and sweet at the same time, but the recipe said Golden Delicious, so I bought Golden Delicious. I should have gone for tart apples. Really! The pie was ok, and to be honest, the hubby really loved it, but I thought it was without character, just sweet… I didn’t even notice the sour cream. So, next time I’ll try this pie with a different kind of apples, because the custard and crumb topping were great!

Modern Baker Challenge – Lemony Cheese Tart with Sour-Cream Glaze

The 8th recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts and Pies section for the Modern Baker Challenge – Lemony Cheese Tart with Sour-Cream Glaze. You need the Sweet Tart Dough, and the ingredients for the filling are: cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon zest, eggs, egg yolks, and sour cream. For the sour cream glaze, you need more sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. The filling comes together easily, next time I’ll probably add the lemon juice from the lemon I grated the zest of. The filling is scraped into the tart crust, then I baked it for 35 minutes. While the tart was baking, I prepared the glaze which you spread on the tart when it is done baking. Then, I returned the tart to the oven and baked it 10 minutes longer. My verdict: AWESOME TART!!!!!!! I refrigerated the leftovers and we had them the next day right from the fridge: EVEN BETTER than at room temperature!!!!!! This one is a keeper!

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Pasta e Bisi (Pea Soup with Pasta)

I have to admit I’ve bought a new cookbook. I know, I know, I didn’t want to buy it, but Kayte`s blog posts forced me to! She’s been involved in a challenge called Thirty Minute Thursday, a challenge momentarily cooking through Giuliano Hazan’s “Thiry Minute Pasta” which was set up by Glennis. The dishes Kayte blogged about sounded and looked so delicious that I couldn’t resist: I HAD to get the book. Now, I cooked the first dish from it: Pea Soup with Pasta. A very simple recipe. You need yellow onion, butter, peas (fresh or frozen), salt, pepper, vegetable stock (the recipe says beef bouillon cube), flat-leaf Italian parsley and pappardelle. Definitely a keeper, because it’s yummy, quick and everybody just loved it!

Bake! – Best & Easiest Carrot Cake

The 9th recipe I made from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!” was the Best & Easiest Carrot Cake. Phyl picked this recipe, you can find his take on this cake here. I am still not sure what to think about this cake: yes, it was very easy, but is it the best carrot cake? I can’t really compare because I haven’t had much carrot cake yet, and the little I had I can’t remember to compare. The recipe for the cream cheese frosting is a little off, it does taste wonderful, but is way too runny and does not look like in the book at all. Phyl noticed the same thing. Less cream cheese? More confectioners’ sugar? I don’t know why it was so runny… I followed the recipe to the T. As I said, the frosting was yummy. The cake was weird. Maybe it was the combination of lots of cinnamon and carrots which already SOUNDS weird to me? My family loved it, though.

Others who have made this cake: Kayte & Abby.

Bake! – Danish Apricot (Plum) Pinwheels

The 8th recipe I made from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!” was Danish Apricot Pinwheels. It was my turn to pick a recipe, and as I had been so successful with the Danish Cheese Pockets, I thought I’d try another, more sophisticated Danish version. I decided, though, to use Christel’s Danish Pastry Dough (page 111, with ricotta and baking powder, and without sugar) instead of the Quick Danish Pastry Dough (page 110, with milk, sugar and yeast). Making the ricotta/ baking powder version was much quicker than making the yeasted version, but I DID wonder what the layers would result from because there was no giving the dough a turn involved. The recipe for the almond filling made way more than 12 heaping teaspoons, more like 12 heaping tablespoons, but everything fit into the pinwheels nicely. Instead of apricots (no apricots here yet) I used red plums,  a variation Malgieri mentions, too. Folding the pinwheels was not really that difficult because the instructions and pictures in the book are very detailed. Into the oven they went and were dusted with some powdered sugar after baking. My verdict: they looked really nice, and they tasted fine, but there were no layers at all as in the Danish Cheese Pockets. I’m sure this is due to the different dough. I’ll definitely make the pinwheels again, but will try the yeasted dough then to see if it makes a difference.

Bake! – Strawberry Chantilly Cake (Victoria Sandwich variation)

The 7th recipe I made from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!” was Strawberry Chantilly Cake. Kayte had chosen it to be her birthday cake, but here it takes some more weeks for strawberries to come into season, which is why I decided to not make the original recipe, but the Victoria Sandwich variation. I used the yellow-cake recipe for the 2 layers and bought some strawberry preserves – quick and easy! I have to say, though, that I don’t own 2 9-inch round cake pans, but only 1 10-inch springform which is what I used. But I own a cake leveller which is perfect for cutting a springform cake into 2 or 3 layers. This cake was a huge hit here – sometimes it’s something really simple which makes my family happy .

Modern Baker Challenge – Breton Apple Pie

The 7th recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts and Pies section for the Modern Baker Challenge – Breton Apple Pie. I explicitely chose this recipe because NM says this pie freezes well. I wanted to bring this pie to work for my co-workers, and the only good day for bringing in stuff like that is Wednesday, but with my crazy work schedule right now (Mondays 12 hours and Tuesdays 13 hours) I knew I would NOT manage to make this pie on a Tuesday night. Thus, I made it on Sunday and stuck it into the freezer. First I thought this recipe was time-consuming, but it really isn’t. You just should pay very close attention to the apples so they don’t scorch – I almost had a mishap like that. But everything else was easy and rather quick. And yes, this pie freezes well and tastes like fresh when thawed. My co-workers loved it and said I could bring it in again ;o).

Twitter Chef Avatar Fun – April: Jacques Pépin’s Rice Paper Rolls with Avocado and Sun-Dried Tomato

This month’s chef for the Twitter Chef Avatar Fun is Jacques Pépin. My first idea was to make Ricotta Dumplings with Red Pepper Sauce, but Abby got to them before me and she was rather disappointed with the result, so I thoughtI’d look for a different recipe. Et voilà: I decided to make Rice Paper Rolls with Avocado and Sun-Dried Tomato. These are raw spring rolls, and you can fill them with virtually everything, but I thought the avocado, sun-dried tomato and scallions were a perfect combination. I really loved them, hubby liked them and the kids absolutely disliked them. Well, not every recipe can be a winner, huh? I guess, next time I’ll have to make them for my lunchbox .

Modern Baker Challenge – Neapolitan Easter Pie

The 6th recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts and Pies section for the Modern Baker Challenge – Neapolitan Easter Pie. This pie was really time-consuming: you have to cook wheat berries and pastry cream and then prepare the filling. Before that, you have to prepare the dough because one half of it has to be chilled. And as I happened to NOT have candied orange peel, I had to make it myself which took another day. So I was hoping this pie would be worth all the work. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The orange flavor in the filling is weird, absolutely overpowering. I’m not even sure we’ll eat the whole pie. Maybe I take the rest of it to the in-laws’ house to see if they like it better. So, this is not a keeper, even though it does look really nice.

Modern Baker Challenge – Lemon Tartlets

My 2nd assigned recipe in the new section for the Modern Baker Challenge – Lemon Lime Tartlets. I REALLY tried to find organic limes, but was not successful, so I made Lemon Tartlets instead. The recipe called for the sweet tart dough which I don’t think is the right choice. Imho, the press-in cookie dough would have complemented the lemony flavor better. Maybe it would have been different if I had used limes as the author had intended. Anyway, the lemon curd, though, was a dream! I had made a double batch because I KNOW that I’m a big fan of lemon curd, so we had the rest of it on toast or rolls. YUM! Verdict: tartlets so-so, lemon curd AMAZING!

Modern Baker Challenge – Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

The next tart on my Modern Baker Challenge lineup was the Bittersweet Chocolate Tart. This one is REALLY heavy – like, you can eat one piece of it and you’re full for the rest of the day, but it is oh so yummy!!! I gave the press-in cookie dough a second chance (when I made the Parisian Fruit Tarts it was too crumbly to get it out of the pan) because I have a TART PAN with a removable bottom now! And it worked out just fine. The chocolate ganache was easy. Only problem here: you need to be patient – heated cream mixture has to cool, same goes for the melted chocolate. Then you mix both and let the ganache cool again. Butter is added, filling is scraped into the tart shell and AGAIN it has to be refrigerated. The recipe says to bring the tart to room temperature for 1 or 2 hours before serving – I thought, it tasted even better right from the fridge.  Oh, and the raspberries on top complemented the sweetness of the ganache really well!!! Definitely on my make-again list!

Modern Baker Challenge – Mango & Rice Tart

We’ve started with a new section of “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri in the Modern Baker Challenge – Sweet Tarts and Pies. I already made 2 recipes from this section long ago: the Parisian Fruit Tarts and the Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Tart. Both were fantastic! One of the official recipes I claimed from this section is the Mango & Rice Tart.

Kirschlikuchen – Cherry Cake

Inspired by Ulrike I recently made a fake “Kirschlikuchen”. Fake, in that the “real” Kirschlikuchen is a cake from a box: a mix of flour, sugar, baking powder, rice starch, emulsifying agents, flavoring, and thickening agents. To this, you add butter, eggs, and chocolate flakes, and a jar of sour cherries. It’s Ulrike’s designation to recreate such box mixes as closely as possible, of course without those bad things like emulsifying agents, flavoring and thickening agents ;o). I thought her result looked perfect, so I tried my hands on it, too. And indeed, this cake was delicious! My son’s new favorite cake!

Bake! – Chicken Empanadas

It was Marthe‘s turn to pick the next recipe from Nick Malgieri’s Bake! – she chose Empanadas. This recipe involved making puff pastry – I’ve made it before, so I wasn’t that nervous anymore. I have no idea which recipe was easier, don’t really remember the process for the elephant ears anymore, I just know that both recipes are really easy and the results were very good. I decided to go for the chicken variation because I’m not a big fan of ground meat. Making the filling was a bit time-consuming, but it was so worth it. This filling makes a nice stew when you don’t let the liquid evaporate completely – try it, it’s so yummy! Btw, I did NOT shred the chicken and I didn’t use chicken thighs but chicken breasts. The empanadas were extremely flaky – too flaky for my little girl: she said “I don’t like these crunchy thingies”- but everybody else loved the them! The leftover scraps I used for cheese sticks: I cut strips, sprinkled them with parmesan cheese and baked them for approximately 10 minutes at 350°F.

Check here for Abby’s post about her empanadas.

Panda Bread

In the last roundup of “Bake Your Own Bread” I saw this supercute panda bread and had to make it, too. You can find the recipe and instructions here. My version isn’t perfect yet, but for my first try at it I think it’s rather pretty. I will definitely make this again!

Mellow Bakers March 2011 – Aloo Paratha

My third bread for the Mellow Bakers this month was Aloo Paratha – an Indian flatbread which is stuffed with a spicy potato filling. This bread was delicious, though a bit time-consuming to make. For the filling, I didn’t bother grating the potatoes but used my potato masher which worked perfectly! For the mustard oil, I couldn’t find black mustard seeds but had to work with yellow ones – I have no idea if that made a difference. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two? Answers as “The color” won’t be accepted, though ;o). Making the dough balls was easy, stuffing them with the potato filling balls was, too. I was a little bit afraid of the filling coming through the dough when rolling it out but this didn’t happen. I was thinking about buying ghee for brushing the bread while it cooks in the pan, but then I discovered “Butterschmalz” (clarified butter) in the back of my fridge and a quick search revealed that ghee is heated longer than Butterschmalz, but other than that they are the same. Not sure, if the result would have been even better with real ghee. Anyway, most of the breads puffed up in the pan really nicely, and we enjoyed them with Indian-spiced chicken with tomato chutney (that’s what Abby had served them with) and tamarind chutney. REALLY good!

Modern Baker Challenge – Tomato Cantal Tart

When you read my post about the no-roll flaky dough you probably mentioned that I’ve become a big fan of this tart crust, so when the Tomato Cantal Tart came up on my Modern Baker Challenge schedule I immediately knew I would use the no-roll flaky dough for the crust again.  This tart calls for cantal cheese which is a French cheese – the ladies at the cheese counter looked surprised: obviously, they had never heard of this cheese before. Fortunately, I remembered the side note saying that Cantal was similar to Gruyère which they had. Back at home, I realized I didn’t have enough Gruyère, so I added some sharp Cheddar (just in case you were wondering about the orange spots on the tart). This tart was easy-peasy: make the crust, brush with Dijon mustard (note to myself – do NOT lick the spoon when you’re done: it is really hot), top with half the cheese, arrange the tomatoes, top with remaining cheese and bake. When it comes out of the oven, top with basil. This tart was awesome. YUM!