Saturday, November 27, 2010

Apple Cranberry Crisp

AppleCranberryCobbler

What do you do when apples are 69 cents a pound? You make apple crisp, apple pie, apple anything, that's what! I added a half bag (6oz) of fresh cranberries, and replaced the regular white flour with Trader Joe's light whole wheat flour. With all the brown sugar and butter, you can't even tell it's healthy! Err...

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving Part II : Potato Croquettes

PotatoCroquettes

Maybe because I'm getting older, but Thanksgiving dinner didn't totally do it for me this year. I had a whole list of these extravagant dishes to make (homemade pie, pumpkin soufflé, fresh cranberry relish) but as I always say, when it rains it pours and so I spent (or wasted) the beginning of the week running around. Anyway, the weekend isn't over, so I plan on spending the next few days trying to revamp the same old leftovers. First up, are potato croquettes, inspired by Bitchin' Kitchen's recipe.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Scallion Pancakes

ScallionPancakes

Warming up the kitchen for Turkey Day! I tried this recipe but be warned - you will need almost twice the amount of flour the recipe calls for. Instead of 1 1/4 flour, start with 2 cups, and go from there. Instead of lard, which I believe the original pancakes are made from, this uses oil, so the dough is more like a pizza dough, instead of a flaky pancake. Not as greasy like the ones from the restaurants, but cripsy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a subtle scallion flavor.


Sunday, November 14, 2010

necessity (boredom/hunger/desperation?) is the mother of invention

CarmelizedOnions01

I wanted to try caramelizing some onions. Yup, this is a pretty normal Sunday for me, guys. Like the dinner rolls from my last post, they require a lot of time and patience. Too high, the onions are half raw / half burnt, too low, you'll be waiting for ever. These were done in about 45 minutes. With no burger to top, I toasted a piece of 12 grain bread, spread on some cream cheese and topped with the onions. It tasted so good, I almost felt guilty. Almost.

What foods have you thrown together in a moment of desperation?

Friday, November 12, 2010

beginner dinner rolls

Rolls01

Rolls02

Every year, stores and TV commercials seem to start with the Christmas music and shopping earlier and earlier. This year is no exception. Instead of grumbling about it, I've decided to embrace it and try to recreate some of that magical Christmas feeling that was so easy to have as a kid, but has sharply declined each year. The holidays are all about baking and while I plan on trying my hand at cinnamon buns, a perfect pie crust and something (anything) with pumpkin in it, I stumbled upon this recipe and thought it good practice for working with yeast.

There is no milk needed, which was good because my cat decided to drink the last of mine, and no buttermilk needed as well (who really has buttermilk on hand?) The dough came together very easily, you only need a bowl and a spoon. The hardest part was waiting... first 2 hours in the fridge, then an 1 1/2 half after you make the individual rolls. But they were worth it - nice sturdy mounds of bread-y goodness, spread with cold butter and raspberry jam. I quickly down 3 in a few minutes. Now all I need to learn is to let the dough have its time to rise...