Pictures

I've realized that the pictures on this blog don't always make the food look appetizing. Actually, I guess I've known for a while that I need to work on my photography skills, but that became even more clear after looking at my pictures of the cinnamon rolls versus those on Good Eats. So, until I start taking better pictures you'll have to take my word for it on the food!

Fun with Yeast...

More than a month ago I saw this recipe for cinnamon rolls on one of my favorite food blogs. Ever since, I've been trying to work up the courage to give it a shot. Tonight was finally the night. I really liked this recipe because it provided fool proof directions for using the KitchenAid mixer as opposed to a bread machine. That said, I was still stressed about the dough and whether it was doing what it was supposed to be doing. I suppose that's probably typical for a first experience with yeast. Hopefully, next time I use yeast it'll be less mysterious. In the end, these turned out well. The only problem was I think I cooked them a little too long because they weren't browning the way I thought they should. In any event, these were really tasty! I'm not sure I'll make them again because they were a lot of work and fairly time consuming. I'll probably move on and try another yeast recipe instead!



Cinnamon Rolls
from Good Eats n Sweet Treats

1 cup warm milk (110 F)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt



Dissolve the yeast in the warmed milk, along with 1 tsp sugar from the 1/2 cup white sugar. Let stand, covered, about 10 minutes, until foamy.

In the bowl of the KitchenAid mixer, add the yeast/milk mixture, eggs, melted margarine, 3 cups bread flour, salt, and remaining sugar; mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment until combined. Switch to the dough hook and start kneading the dough on speed 2. Add 1/2 cup of bread flour at a time, until the dough becomes soft and elastic and no longer sticks to the bowl (approximately 4-1/2 total cups bread flour according to the recipe). This will vary depending on the humidity of your kitchen, but you can tell it is done when the dough starts to follow the dough hook around in a large ball. If more flour is needed past 4-1/2 cups, add one tablespoon at a time to avoid adding too much flour. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp towel for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough (lengthwise so you end up with a 21 inch roll) and cut with a bread knife into 12 rolls (about 3 finger widths each). Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

French Fries!

I wanted something fun for lunch today and had a leftover sweet potato on my counter that needed to be used. Those two factors led me to give this recipe from Martha a try. Admittedly, it was a little time consuming, but I think the effort was worth it. These really did taste like french fries and were a great alternative to just sticking the whole potato in the microwave and baking it. I definitely want to try this recipe with white potatoes soon!



Parmesan-Coated Sweet Potato Fries
from MarthaStewart.com

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 large egg whites
1 1/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 small sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), scrubbed and quartered lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.

In a shallow bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and pepper. In a separate shallow bowl, lightly beat the egg whites with 2 tablespoons of water until combined. Place the Parmesan on a sheet of waxed paper or put it in another shallow bowl.

Dip the sweet potato first in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. Then dip each wedge into the egg white mixture until coated. Finally, dip the sweet potato in the Parmesan, pressing the exposed surface of the potato into the cheese. (Don't worry if some gets on the skin.) Transfer potato wedges onto the prepared baking sheet as you go.

Bake potatoes until tender and crisp, about 25 minutes. Serve sprinkled with more salt if desired.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Panko-crusted Salmon

Shane and I were eating salmon all the time over the summer when we were able to stick it on the grill. Now that winter is here, however, I don't think we've had salmon even once. We both really like salmon (plus it's healthy) so when I found some on sale at the store yesterday, I picked it up. Then I set out to find a recipe that would incorporate both the salmon and some panko breadcrumbs I bought a few weeks ago. This was one of the simplest recipes I found and it's definitely a winner. We halved the original recipe for the two of us. Can't wait to make it again!



Panko-crusted Salmon
from Simply Recipes

4 teaspoons olive oil
4 pieces thickly cut, boneless salmon (each 6 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp honey mustard or sweet-hot mustard (see below recipe)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Set the salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the honey mustard and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. In another small bowl, mix the panko with the remaining 1 teaspoon of thyme, 4 teaspoons of olive oil, parsley, and paprika.

Using a small spoon, spread the mustard mixture on the salmon; top with the bread crumb mixture.

Roast the salmon for 12-14 minutes or until it is almost completely firm to the touch and flakes when poked with a fork.



Honey Mustard
from Allrecipes.com

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard (I used dijon, but yellow mustard works too)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey and lemon juice in a small bowl. Store covered in the refrigerator.

The original recipe yields 6 tablespoons but I scaled it back to make 2 tablespoons without a problem.

Pumpkin Bread

I was bored the other night so I decided to bake something. I had an open can of pumpkin in my fridge that needed to be used so I started looking for pumpkin recipes. I actually wanted to make muffins but couldn't find a good recipe for which I had all the ingredients on hand. So, I ended up making pumpkin bread based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin bread, but even I liked the end result, so I'll definitely make this again sometime.



Pumpkin Bread
from Allrecipes.com

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


Preheat oven to 350 F . Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. (I used two 9x5 loaf pans instead)

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (I had to cook my loaves for about 60-70 minutes because of the pan size)

Chocolate Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla Cream Filling

For Christmas I received the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. It's a gorgeous book with tons of recipes and beautiful color pictures accompanying most of them. I also really like that it contains tips and how-tos to make the recipes easier to duplicate. Shane flipped through the book and requested these cookies so I decided to give them a shot for our New Year's Eve party.

On a positive note, the cookies were tasty and the end result looked just like the picture in Martha's book. However, I found the dough very difficult to work with. It softened up quickly after coming out of the freezer so if you don't cut the cookies and get them on the baking sheet very quickly, you'll have a mess on your hands. I had to refreeze the dough more times than the recipe called for because it became unmanageable so these ended up being fairly time consuming. That said, I'll probably make these again sometime and see if I can be more successful.



Chocolate Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla Cream Filling
from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla; beat to combine. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and beat to combine.

Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and divide in half. With floured hands, shape each piece into a flattened rectangle. Wrap each half with plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness, stopping every so often to release the dough by running an offset spatula underneath. Each rectangle should end up being about 14 x 11 inches. Transfer each rectangle to a prepared baking sheet and freeze until very firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place one rectangle on a clean work surface. Working (VERY) quickly cut out rounds using a 2-inch cookie cutter. If the dough softens too much, return to the freezer for a few minutes. Transfer rounds to parchment lined baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out more rounds. Repeat with remaining rectangle.

Bake the cookies until the centers feel firm when lightly pressed, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Filling

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine all ingredients. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

According to Martha, the recipe yields 2 dozen sandwich cookies. I was able to make 11 sandwiches though my cookies were definitely bigger than 2 inches.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I was looking for a quick and easy appetizer to make for our New Year's Eve get together and came across this recipe. It had good reviews and I've always wanted to try making stuffed mushrooms so I gave it a shot. I made some minor modifications to the recipe (noted below). Overall, I think these were good, though next time I might try to add some additional ingredients to make them more interesting. Maybe some bacon or crab meat.

Stuffed Mushrooms
from Allrecipes.com

12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I used 2 medium-large garlic cloves)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I only used 4 oz of cream cheese based on some reviews that 8 oz overwhelmed)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus some additional I used to sprinkle the tops before they cooked)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn the garlic. Set aside to cool.

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing (I put the filling in a ziploc bag, cut the corner and piped the filling in that way).

Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.