My new year's resolution is to plan weekly dinner menus. When I plan dinner in advance it makes my life easier and cooking more enjoyable. My goal in blogging about it is to take notes of what works and what doesn't and is also a more social way of keeping track of the menus.
I don't usually plan out the vegetables until I go grocery shopping, unless I know that something will be in season or if the vegetable is the main attraction. I also like to note what I can prep for the next day or make extra of something to freeze.
For example, if I'm making brown rice, if I make extra I can freeze it and pull it out on a night when I don't have 45 minutes to make it.
A few of my goals with menu planning are to identify menus that work really well, and expand my repertoire of recipes.
Two of the recipes this week are brand new to me, the cabbage rolls and the pork loin. I checked out a book from the library on slow cooking (i.e. Crockpot) by Cooking Light.
Menu for the week of January 23-27th (This week's plan is only for 5 days because on Saturday we leave for a week of vacation)
Monday: Meatloaf with leftover Emerald City Salad and baked sweet potato.
Tuesday: Stuffed cabbage rolls (vegetarian) and salad. Make double recipe of the filling to freeze for another meal.
Wednesday: Slow cooker pork loin with dried fruit and squash. Freeze extra cooked butternut squash.
Thursday: Sweet potato groundnut stew (Recipe from Joy of Cooking)
Friday: Salmon (or trout) with Quick Lemon and Garlic Quinoa Salad. I usually broil the salmon with a rub. We eat salmon once a week and I usually don't sweat how I am going to prepare it.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Puffed Apple Pancake
From the Gourmet Cookbook. Active time 25 min, start to finish 45 min.
This is a lot like a clafouti but I only eat this at breakfast time for some reason. You could use cherries instead (thaw & drain liquid), and omit the cinnamon & cloves and add a generous dash of brandy or rum instead.
2 tart apples, cored & sliced 1/4" thick (peeling optional)
1 TB lemon juice
3 TB packed brown sugar
4 TB sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
3 TB unsalted butter
3/4 cup whole milk (buttermilk also works and you can get away with non-whole milk I imagine)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
scant 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 425, rack in middle of oven.
Toss apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, 3 TB white sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.
Heat 1 1/2 TB butter in 10-inch ovenproof skillet (nonstick or cast iron) over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, unti just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer apples and any liquid to a wide bowl and let cool.
Clean skillet & heat in oven for 5 minutes. Combine milk, eggs, flour, remaining 1 TB sugar, salt, and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth (or use a mixer or whisk).
Remove skillet from oven. Melt remaining butter in skillet over moderately high heat then pour batter into the skillet. Spoon apple mixture evenly over top. Bake until puffed and golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if desired.
Notes: You can use other fruit, but make sure it is hot and that excess liquid is drained off, or else it won't cook very well.
This is a lot like a clafouti but I only eat this at breakfast time for some reason. You could use cherries instead (thaw & drain liquid), and omit the cinnamon & cloves and add a generous dash of brandy or rum instead.
2 tart apples, cored & sliced 1/4" thick (peeling optional)
1 TB lemon juice
3 TB packed brown sugar
4 TB sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
3 TB unsalted butter
3/4 cup whole milk (buttermilk also works and you can get away with non-whole milk I imagine)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
scant 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 425, rack in middle of oven.
Toss apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, 3 TB white sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.
Heat 1 1/2 TB butter in 10-inch ovenproof skillet (nonstick or cast iron) over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, unti just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer apples and any liquid to a wide bowl and let cool.
Clean skillet & heat in oven for 5 minutes. Combine milk, eggs, flour, remaining 1 TB sugar, salt, and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth (or use a mixer or whisk).
Remove skillet from oven. Melt remaining butter in skillet over moderately high heat then pour batter into the skillet. Spoon apple mixture evenly over top. Bake until puffed and golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar if desired.
Notes: You can use other fruit, but make sure it is hot and that excess liquid is drained off, or else it won't cook very well.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I'm so lazy
I think maybe I'll start a more general blog. I keep forgetting to post to this one. I'm hoping to do some cake baking while I'm at sea level, see how recipes are supposed to be for comparison...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Alise's Velvet (Cup)Cake
Alise's Velvet Cake (cupcake-style)
This recipe was included with a box of Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Chocolate. I don't think they provide this recipe anymore as I couldn't find it on their website, and it doesn't come with the chocolate anymore. The Velvet Cake listed on their website is totally different recipe. This one was provided by their pastry chef at Cafe Cacao, Alise Raya. Since the recipe is not really available anymore I will include the original amounts & instructions here.
I was getting sick of modifying the other chocolate cupake recipe and thought maybe a different chocolate cake recipe might be easier to modify for this lofty elevation. This recipe seems promising because it doesn't use very much baking powder, and it uses buttermilk, a high altitude staple. The acidity is supposed to help tenderize as well as do other groovy things.
Their description of the cake:
Again, this recipe uses unsweetened chocolate, which you don't ever want to just bite into, as it is 99% cacao, and has no added sugar. Just cacao and vanilla beans. I'd be curious how this is with bittersweet choco or a combination of the bitter + unsweetened.
I modified the recipe a bit for my first stab at it, just doing some minor fairly run of the mill adjustments: adding flour and buttermilk, reducing sugar and baking pow.
I almost added an extra egg but resisted.
Measuring Note: I whisked the flour in a bowl, then spooned into a measuring cup and levelled off. If you weigh the flour, just measure out 100 grams (for high altitude). In the original recipe it would be just over 3 oz of flour.
Overall: The cupcakes didn't rise very much. They took forever to bake (over 40 minutes), and I never got the center completely baked. It's slightly gooey in the center. There is a bit of crust on the top. Not a velvety-smooth texture. But tasty.
First Batch:
I only filled the cups 1/2 full, so they didn't rise above the cupcake papers. I cooked them in the lower part of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. I took them out even though the tester came out with batter on it. They taste pretty good -- crunchy at the top, moist and dense inside. Very chocolatey. But a little too gooey in the center.
Second Batch:
The batter was super thick from sitting around at room temp for 40 minutes. I raised the oven temperature to 375 F. I filled the cups almost totally full this time. Again I had to cook them for too long (40 minutes), and eventually had to take them out of the oven as they were getting almost black on top. These ended with a thick crust and the bottom go too cooked as well. I took a bite of one and it wasn't as good as the first batch.
Wrap-up: I'll keep the first batch and toss the second. I've googled a little and am not sure how to fix this issue, but the first thing I will try is some more liquid (buttermilk), and probably will use the full 1/4 tsp of baking powder. It's possible an egg would add more liquid. They definitely need to set faster.
Another idea is to change the methods used putting the cake together. I think I might try creaming the butter and sugar (more air gets whipped in, helping volume), and adding in melted choc later. Also, I might try alternating adding the buttermilk & flour mixture. Beating the flour & chocolate mixture for 3 minutes at medium speed seemed weird to me.
This recipe was included with a box of Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Chocolate. I don't think they provide this recipe anymore as I couldn't find it on their website, and it doesn't come with the chocolate anymore. The Velvet Cake listed on their website is totally different recipe. This one was provided by their pastry chef at Cafe Cacao, Alise Raya. Since the recipe is not really available anymore I will include the original amounts & instructions here.
I was getting sick of modifying the other chocolate cupake recipe and thought maybe a different chocolate cake recipe might be easier to modify for this lofty elevation. This recipe seems promising because it doesn't use very much baking powder, and it uses buttermilk, a high altitude staple. The acidity is supposed to help tenderize as well as do other groovy things.
Their description of the cake:
Dense but delicate, this cake has a crumb that's as velvety-smooth as the name implies.I am a fan of Scharffen Berger's not-so-cheap boutique chocolate that I can't really afford. But the upside to buying it in Los Alamos is you can support a local business. Cook'n In Style is the only place to buy Scharffy in Los Alamos. But any good quality unsweetened chocolate can be used.
Again, this recipe uses unsweetened chocolate, which you don't ever want to just bite into, as it is 99% cacao, and has no added sugar. Just cacao and vanilla beans. I'd be curious how this is with bittersweet choco or a combination of the bitter + unsweetened.
I modified the recipe a bit for my first stab at it, just doing some minor fairly run of the mill adjustments: adding flour and buttermilk, reducing sugar and baking pow.
Ingredients (underlined ingredients were modified, see below):
- 8 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 6 TB (3 oz) unsalted butter
- 2 c. sugar
- 2 tsp rum (could probably substitute vanilla).
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 c. flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt.
- 1/2 c buttermilk
- 2 cups minus 2 TB sugar. Hint: 2 TB == 1/8 cup
- 3/4 cup plus 2 TB flour. The flour weighed 100 grams total.
- scant 1/4 tsp of baking powder, maybe more scanty than usual. But not an 1/8th or anything.
- 1/2 cup plus 1 TB buttermilk.
I almost added an extra egg but resisted.
Measuring Note: I whisked the flour in a bowl, then spooned into a measuring cup and levelled off. If you weigh the flour, just measure out 100 grams (for high altitude). In the original recipe it would be just over 3 oz of flour.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Either prepare cupcake pans; or butter two 9-inch round pans and line bottom with baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate & butter in a stainless steel mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth and melted. Add sugar, stirring until well incorporated. Set aside.
Beat eggs & rum together in medium bowl. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowing add the beaten eggs and rum to the melted chocolate and mix at low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium speed until the batter is shiny, about 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the buttermilk and mix at low speed until incorporated.
Divide batter between pans (or put into cupcake pan 3/4 full) and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set on cooling racks about 5 minutes, then turn the cakes from the pans.
Let cool completely.
Preheat oven to 350F. Either prepare cupcake pans; or butter two 9-inch round pans and line bottom with baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate & butter in a stainless steel mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth and melted. Add sugar, stirring until well incorporated. Set aside.
Beat eggs & rum together in medium bowl. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowing add the beaten eggs and rum to the melted chocolate and mix at low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium speed until the batter is shiny, about 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the buttermilk and mix at low speed until incorporated.
Divide batter between pans (or put into cupcake pan 3/4 full) and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set on cooling racks about 5 minutes, then turn the cakes from the pans.
Let cool completely.
Overall: The cupcakes didn't rise very much. They took forever to bake (over 40 minutes), and I never got the center completely baked. It's slightly gooey in the center. There is a bit of crust on the top. Not a velvety-smooth texture. But tasty.
First Batch:
I only filled the cups 1/2 full, so they didn't rise above the cupcake papers. I cooked them in the lower part of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. I took them out even though the tester came out with batter on it. They taste pretty good -- crunchy at the top, moist and dense inside. Very chocolatey. But a little too gooey in the center.
Second Batch:
The batter was super thick from sitting around at room temp for 40 minutes. I raised the oven temperature to 375 F. I filled the cups almost totally full this time. Again I had to cook them for too long (40 minutes), and eventually had to take them out of the oven as they were getting almost black on top. These ended with a thick crust and the bottom go too cooked as well. I took a bite of one and it wasn't as good as the first batch.Wrap-up: I'll keep the first batch and toss the second. I've googled a little and am not sure how to fix this issue, but the first thing I will try is some more liquid (buttermilk), and probably will use the full 1/4 tsp of baking powder. It's possible an egg would add more liquid. They definitely need to set faster.
Another idea is to change the methods used putting the cake together. I think I might try creaming the butter and sugar (more air gets whipped in, helping volume), and adding in melted choc later. Also, I might try alternating adding the buttermilk & flour mixture. Beating the flour & chocolate mixture for 3 minutes at medium speed seemed weird to me.
Friday, March 14, 2008
thoughts on high altitude baking
The problem with baking up high is that you don't know what the cake should be like in the first place, or even if the recipe works reliably at sea level. Obviously I can go on how it tastes and looks when I make it. But how do I know I'm starting with a decent recipe in the first place?
With the cupcake bakeshop blog, I can stare at the photos of the cupcakes and attempt to get mine to look similar. They look like they taste good.
I do wonder if some recipes just can't be adapted for high elevations.
I've been cleaning out the recipe/cookbook shelves tonight, and found some more chocolate cake recipes that are similar to the Caldera cupcake recipe, but with variations. I've also found a ton of JP's mom's old recipes, some of which I should try out sometime.
One chocolate cake recipe I found is from a Scharffenberger box of chocolate. It's called Alise's Velvet cake. It has 8 oz of chocolate, less butter, fewer eggs, not a lot of flour, and some buttermilk. Buttermilk is a traditional High Alt. fix, so this recipe looks promising.
Another recipe that looks similar is Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, from the Silver Palate cookbook. It uses a whopping 14 oz of chocolate (wooooo!), 12 eggs, and the usual flour, sugar, etc. It uses whipped egg whites which tends to work well up this high. They also have some other chocolate cake recipes that sound good: Decadent Chooclate Cake is one of them.
One idea I've had is to use the Caldera Cupcake recipe, but beat the egg whites separately. I might have to try that.
Chocolate Cupcakes remixed.
Last night a friend and I made cupcakes. We used my Caldera cupcake recipe and each made a few changes. I dramatically cut back on baking powder and used a little less flour. My friend tried to keep everything pretty much the same. We each made a half recipe of cupcakes.
My cupcakes look kinda funky on top. No dramatic sinking or anything, but this pumice or lava like look across the top. They taste fine, but I want a cupcake that tastes great & has killer good looks to boot.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Chocolate cupcakes with Ganache frosting.
I don't have any pictures of these cupcakes. I made them for a potluck party. They were pretty lightweight and flat on top.
The thing I noticed about the recipe is that it made about twice as many cupcakes as the recipe was supposed to make. This was because I would only fill the cupcake paper maybe 1/4 full, as the cupcake rose dramatically while baking.
I'd like to try this again but cut back on the leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda) even more. I'd probably try 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda. I like a denser cupcake.
Cupcake recipe is also from the Cupcake Bakeshop blog. I have modified it here some, adding an extra egg, cutting back on the baking powder, and I probably increased the flour by a TB and reduced sugar by 1 TB.
The ganache recipe is from me, well, I learned it working at Katrina's on San Juan Island.
Cupcakes (modified)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
1-1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup flour (4 oz flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter & sugar then add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Whisk remaining dry ingredients together. Alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk.
Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 minutes, or really, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
Ganache
1 cup whipping cream.
8 oz semi-sweeet or bittersweet chocolate chopped up into smallish pieces, or chocolate chips or pareils.
In a frying pan or skillet, heat the cream over high heat till it's boiling and frothy. I turn it on and ignore it while I prep the chocolate. When it is is all boiling and frothy, take it off the heat, and add the chocolate. Stir until it is all melted. And you have ganache. It will keep forever as well if you don't eat it all.
The thing I noticed about the recipe is that it made about twice as many cupcakes as the recipe was supposed to make. This was because I would only fill the cupcake paper maybe 1/4 full, as the cupcake rose dramatically while baking.
I'd like to try this again but cut back on the leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda) even more. I'd probably try 1/8 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda. I like a denser cupcake.
Cupcake recipe is also from the Cupcake Bakeshop blog. I have modified it here some, adding an extra egg, cutting back on the baking powder, and I probably increased the flour by a TB and reduced sugar by 1 TB.
The ganache recipe is from me, well, I learned it working at Katrina's on San Juan Island.
Cupcakes (modified)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp
1-1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup flour (4 oz flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter & sugar then add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Whisk remaining dry ingredients together. Alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk.
Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 minutes, or really, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
Ganache
1 cup whipping cream.
8 oz semi-sweeet or bittersweet chocolate chopped up into smallish pieces, or chocolate chips or pareils.
In a frying pan or skillet, heat the cream over high heat till it's boiling and frothy. I turn it on and ignore it while I prep the chocolate. When it is is all boiling and frothy, take it off the heat, and add the chocolate. Stir until it is all melted. And you have ganache. It will keep forever as well if you don't eat it all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)