7 posts tagged “salt”
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.
Last night, our friends Don and Pam had come down to San Francisco for an arts and crafts festival. So, since I often eat at their house up in Citrus Heights, I figured it was only fair I return the favor. They brought a bottle of Topel's '05 Pinot Noir, and I made a Guinness beef stew and served it with some fresh country white sourdough and Kerrygold butter.
Ingredients:
2 boneless beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
All-purpose flour for dredging
4 tbsp unsalted Kerrygold Irish butter
1/4 cup canola oil
4 medium onions, chopped
2 cups beef stock
2 cups Guinness
5 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
4 parsnips, peeled and thickly sliced
1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup pearl barley
Season the meat with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. In a stockpot or large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Cook the meat on all sides for 5 to 7 minutes or until evenly browned. Remove from the pot. Stir in the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until soft.
Return all the meat to the pot and add enough of the beef stock and Guinness to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about an hour or until meat is nearly tender. Add the carrots, parsnips, turnip, and barley and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the vegetables and meat are tender and stew is thickened.
This year, this was my contribution to Thanksgiving Dinner at the in-laws'. I was sent home with a mere bite left.
Ingredients
7 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. minced fresh sage
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cups butternut squash puree
2 Tbs. olive oil
2/3 cup caramelized onions
2 cups Arborio rice
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 4 Tbs. of the butter. Add 1
Tbs. of the sage and heat until the butter browns. Strain the butter
into a small bowl and discard the sage. Cover the bowl to keep the
butter warm.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the stock and squash puree. Bring just to a simmer, 8 to 10 minutes; maintain over low heat.
In a large saucepan or risotto pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the caramelized onions and rice and stir until the grains are well coated with the oil and are nearly translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 Tbs. sage and the rosemary. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Add the simmering stock mixture a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding more.
When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and
looks creamy, after about 30 minutes, stir in the remaining 3 Tbs.
butter, the cheese, salt and pepper. Add more stock if needed so the
rice is thick and creamy. Let stand for 2 minutes. Drizzle with the
reserved sage butter and serve immediately. Serves 6.
Streusel
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp butter
Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or food processor until it is a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
Cake
3 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup softened butter
4 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 8 oz container sour cream
2 tbsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan or an angel food pan, both work well with this recipe.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Beat sugar and butter in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin puree, sour cream and vanilla until incorporated. Gradually beat in flour mixture and mix well.
Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with streusel mixture over batter (do not allow the streusel to touch edges of pan). Add rest of batter on top.
Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Invert cake onto wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice or milk ( i use orange, it compliments
the pumpkin cake).
In a small bowl, add all ingredients stirring until smooth with a wire
whisk. Drizzle glaze over cake.
The chicken:
1 (4-pound) chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 coarse ground black pepper
1 scant cup olive oil
2 fresh flat parsley sprigs
1 fresh rosemary sprig
1 fresh sage sprig
1 bay leaf
1 celery rib
40 cloves garlic, peeled (from 3-4 heads)
1 loaf bread (I used sourdough)
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wings under chicken. Heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add chicken and sear, turning carefully, until golden brown all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Tie herbs and celery together with string ato make a bouquet garni and add to pot. Scatter garlic over bottom of pot and put chicken breast side up on top of garlic. Cover tightly, transfer to oven, and bake, basting twice, until thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (without touching bone) registers 170 degrees F, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board, reserve pan juices.
Spread roasted garlic on bread and cut chicken into serving pieces. Serve chicken drizzled with some pan juices.
The potatoes:
3/4 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Salt and coarse ground black pepper
Peel (if desired) and quarter potatoes. Combine with cold well-salted water to cover by 1 inch in a 4 qt saucepan, bring to a simmer, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small nonstick sillet over moderately high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and deep golden, about 8 minutes.
Drain potatoes in a colander, return to pan, and coarsely mash with a potato masher. Stir in shallots, buttermilk, and salt and pepper to taste.
While traditionally, pound cake originally used a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, etc., they've evolved some, and not all pound cakes subscribe to that school of thought.
Such is the case with today's baking adventure - chocolate pound cake.
2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
3 cups of sifted flour (I used the equivalent of unsifted cake flour since Softasilk does not need sifting - that was 3 cups 6 tbsp)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
With a high speed mixer, cream butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy.
Pour into a lightly greased tube or bundt pan. Bake 90 minutes at 350 degrees. After the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan.
I glazed mine with a simple sugar glaze.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp dill (if using fresh, use 2 tbsp)
2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
12 oz beer
Glaze: 1 egg & 2 tsp water, beaten
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, dill, and cheddar in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined (I use my hands here... it's far easier). Spread dough in a greased 8 inch loaf pan, brush with glaze, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean - about 45 minutes.
Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature (and I put butter on my slice - YUM!)
