Camera Cleanup #11

Wow it's been a while, sorry about that. Although these days there's so much good food reading on the net I suppose I don't need to apologize. Heh. Anyway, I haven't been posting because I haven't really been cooking much. Too hot mostly, but I also don't really like cooking for one. I mean there's only so many sandwiches a dude can post, especially since they aren't always as creative as some I have made. I doubt folks really want to hear "ate another turkey sandwich. It was pretty good", you know?

I've also had some writers block, although that sounds a bit too grand for referring to blogging. But there it is. Anyway, I do have some pictures, why not share them?

Let's start with breakfast, that seems appropriate. Mmmm, pecan sticky bun. This is another pizza dough thing, but what I did was make a rope of dough that I coated with sugar, apple pie spice, pecans and a little butter. Then I coiled it, put it in a covered bowl and let it rise in the fridge over night. The next morning I baked it and it was awesome.

For lunch, how about some fish I made. I think it's tilapia, if not then it's mahi mahi, those are the only fish I've had lately. I remember using Mexican spices, I think maybe even the same ones I did this with. The rice was some leftover white rice I had that I tossed in to the pan after cooking the fish making a kind of fried rice thing. Oh and I put some cilantro in it, seemed the thing to do.

I thought this was kind of weird, see the size difference in the yolks? Well the little ones on the left came from the same egg, which was itself shaped strangely. It was wicked long and narrow. Yeah, it's not really that exciting. Heh.

And for dinner? Might I suggest some roast chicken? I pretty much used the same method for this as I did for the roasted half chicken. The big difference being, clearly, this was a split breast and not a half a chicken. It was, however, fantastic.

Alright then, there it is. Hopefully this is indicative of me getting my groove back. Is that something a white guy is allowed to do? Perhaps I should get back on the horse, but I'm no equestrian. Maybe put my shoulder to the wheel? I don't know, something. Start posting again, anyway.

Repost: Molten Chocolate Cakes

I feel bad. I promised things that didn't happen. So here is a repost of one of the best things I've ever done. It doesn't matter that the girlfriend I'm referring to is no longer someone whose tastes are relevant, nor does it matter that Valentines Day was some time ago. The cake speaks for itself. Chocolate usually does. Enjoy.

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So I got an email a while ago from Kate of Serendipity. She wanted to know if I wanted to take part in a Valentines Day roundup where she would send me some chocolate, I would do something with it and post about it.

At first I was kind of dubious, seeing as how I'm really not a big V-Day person. I get my girlfriend flowers (which I do periodically anyway), a card, I cook her a dinner she enjoys (which I do all the time regardless), probably some champagne in there and yeah, that's it really. I didn't even do a post about it last year.

But then I remembered where Kate lives.

She lives in Belgium.

So, to recap, she offered to send me Belgian chocolate and all I had to do was make something with it? Yeah, I'm down. Completely. Always happy to take part in activities with my fellow bloggers. Heh.When the package came it was like Christmas. I opened up the envelope and let out a most undignified (not to mention unmanly) squeal of delight. Four bars of chocolate, two in foil and two in plastic with a sticker declaring they were artisan. Or that's what I'm guessing "artisanale" means. Because I'm clever like that. I don't have pictures of all of them, some of it mysteriously (and rapidly) disappeared. Mostly the big bar from that artisan place. Yeah, no idea what happened that. Heh. The question was, what to do with it? What to do with it, indeed.

But the answer, really, was simple. When you have awesome chocolate you have to make an awesome chocolate cake. That's it. So, molten chocolate cakes it was. Because really, is there a more awesome chocolate cake? I'm not convinced that there is. Plus it's so ridiculously easy. I didn't use the same recipe from last time I posted about them, I used this one from Tasty Kitchen. It used all bar chocolate, instead of some cocoa powder, so the cakes weren't so dark. Which means my girlfriend likes them more, too. Which is good, for Valentines Day.

So thanks Kate! This was a lot of fun. Now, have you kids all been to her blog? If not you should, she takes wicked good pictures. And I'm not just saying that because she sends me chocolate. Heh.

Oh and since it is Sunday, here's Noodles. Wanting what she can't have.
Check out what the other folks did with their chocolate, here is a link to the roundup.

Chocolate Chip Dulce de Leche Banana Bread Bundt Cake

Or something like that. It's banana bread, but I baked it in a bundt pan since I have no idea where my bread pan is. I know, once again I know I've promised beans and am posting something else. But when I mentioned I made this to my sister she threatened me with stern retribution if it wasn't the next thing I posted about. So in the interest of family togetherness, here it is.

The recipe is simple, it's the same one I've always used and I didn't even make my own dulce de leche, so I'm afraid my sister is going to be a bit disappointed that it's nothing new. Oh and the next person who tells me to open a can of ddl and "pour it" is going to get a dope slap. I glooped it with a spoon and then tried to swirl. Mostly I got pockets, but really it's not something to complain about.

But! I now have a table, which means prep space which means not just cooking, but also more pictures since the table is right in front of a window. Nice. Of course this is all assuming I can convince a certain someone that the table is mine, not his. I think just keeping him off it while food is on will be the goal. Heh.

Camera Cleanup #7

Found some shots of this years Christmas dinner, which was as always, wicked good. My sister in law does the lions share of the cooking, which usually features classic brown sugar/mustard glazed ham with pineapple and cherries. Good times and killer sandwiches later.

This year she made this awesome pumpkin cake with a chocolate glaze. The glaze was like a ganache and it was also wicked good.

Then there's these. These are called Holiday Bacon Appetizers and they're from Ree, the illustrious Pioneer Woman. It's bacon, crackers and cheese all heated and crisped and fatty and stuff. Look, they're rich enough that even she only makes them for the holidays. That should tell you something. Something good.

Pecan Tassies

I have a fairly large family (I'm the youngest of seven) so for Christmas we just draw names out of a hat and get a gift for one person/family unit. This year one of my sisters got my girlfriend and me and along with some amusing t shirts she sent a couple dozen of these. These are pecan tassies and they are deadly. They're like mini pecan pies with a cream cheese crust. And no, there isn't one missing from that pack. I swear I didn't eat any before taking a picture because they just looked so good, it only appears that way. All right? All right.Anyway, my girlfriend and I almost came to blows over the last one.

It went down like this:

*Intense stare down, High Noon whistle. I loom over her, almost a foot taller and much heftier.*

Me: "You think you can take me, girl? I have over 100 pounds on you and years of martial arts under my belt!"

Girlfriend: "Uh-huh. Hey! Noodles is scratching your guitar! Go stop her!"

Me: "Whaa?!" I turn my back.

I turn back after noting that no, Noodles was not scratching my guitar but my girlfriend is covered in crumbs and grins. The bastard.

Ok, that didn't really happen. But civil discussion isn't half as amusing.

So anyway, I figured I'd have to make them. But that hasn't happened yet and since I want to clean up my camera I'm going to post about them anyway. My sister used the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but I don't feel like writing out a recipe today. So instead I'm going to link to a few of my favorite bloggers who have posted a recipe for them.

Evil Shenanigans has one that uses golden syrup, which I bet gives a great texture to them.

Here is one at The Joy of Baking that looks an awful lot like the BH&G version and if it is I can testify to its awesomeness.

And here is a gluten free pecan tassie recipe from Simply Gluten Free, which I am intrigued by. I'm not a gluten free needing person but they look fantastic and if that's something you're into you should check that out.

Who out there has had these? Has anyone ever subbed other nuts? I was thinking cashews or almonds. Maybe chocolate and peanuts...

Repost: Rolo Cookies

Well, the holidays are almost done, but I bet some of you still need to make cookies and since these are wicked good I thought I'd share the recipe again. Plus it's quicker than writing a whole new post so I can go right back to playing Civilization V. Heh.

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1 cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup cocoa
2 ¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 packages Rolos (40)

In a large bowl mix butter, 1 cup of sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In medium bowl mix flour, coco, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture. Roll 1 tablespoon cookie dough into a ball; flatten into palm of your hand. Place 1 Rolo in the center; bring sides together and roll into ball. Roll ball in the remaining ¼ white sugar. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

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First off, these cookies rule. The cookie part tastes almost like brownies and has a great chewy/fudgy texture. And then there's a Rolo in the middle, so how can you lose? I saw this recipe on Bakespace some time ago and was intrigued. So I copied it down for making in the future. I had forgotten that Spryte has a Rolo cookie recipe too and it looks like it's easier to work with. The recipe I made has very sticky dough that was very hard (as in, impossible) to roll into a ball. But I found that it was less sticky after it sat for a bit. So next time I make these I'm going to let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes before I bake them. Still, next time I make them I'll be using Sprytes recipe, they have a little more flour so shouldn't be quite so bad. She recommends using cooking spray on your hands, but I didn't. I should have.

The recipe I used says to mix together the sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla as the first step. I just couldn't do that, I had to mix the sugars and the butter together first. Is that a bad sign? Am I getting snooty? Anyway, that's what I did. I took the sugars and butter and mixed them together. I didn't really cream them, but I mixed them together pretty well. Then I added the egg and vanilla and mixed it all up. Them came the dry mixture. The recipe didn't call for any salt, which always tweaks me out. So I added a little bit. Forgot to get a picture of the dough. Sorry. Then I took big tablespoons, rolled them into a ball and squished them flat in my palm, like the recipe said. Put a Rolo in the middle and brought the sides up. Well, I tried to. It didn't really work like that, the dough was way too sticky. So I wound up just taking big chunks of dough, stuffing a Rolo in the middle and squishing it around till the candy was covered. Then I rolled them in sugar and plopped them onto a parchment lined sheet. Baked them at 350 and there you go. They looked lovely, nice and dark and chocolaty. And tasted even better. These are my new second favorite cookies. First being chocolate chip, of course. Here are a couple more pictures of the middle. I liked this one because it's a good gooey caramel shot. And this is after sitting for an hour, so the caramel is totally set. So I highly recommend these, they are wicked good. They've got me thinking of what other kinds of candy I can fill cookies with. This is a dangerous path folks. Heh.

Snickerdoodles Two Ways

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt

2 tbls sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
(optional) 2 tsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 400. Combine the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Beat the sugar, butter and shortening together. Add the eggs, one at a time mixing well to combine. Add the dry and mix well. Chill the dough for an hour. Mix the cinnamon and 2 tbls of sugar together. Make tbl sized balls of dough, roll them in cinnamon sugar and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. If you want, mix the cocoa in to the cinnamon sugar and roll some in that too. Bake for about 8 minutes. Cool for a minute on the sheet then transfer to a wire rack.

If you under cook these a little they will be nice and chewy. If you like them crisp cook them a bit longer.

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Mmmm, snickerdoodles. I mean really, who doesn't have that reaction when they see these buttery, cinnamony, sugary things? If you don't, well, you're probably a robot. This recipe came to me from one of my lovely sisters and while I was making it I thought it would be fun to add some chocolate in there somehow. It worked out... ok. Maybe working some chocolate into the dough itself.... hm. More experiments are clearly needed.

Snickerdoodles couldn't be easier, here's how you do it.

Ok, first off I didn't use shortening. I know it makes a crispier, lighter texture, but I'm a bit of a butter hound. So, butter and sugar. Mix them together. Then eggs. Well, egg, this is a half recipe. It's just two of us in the apartment and I don't like any of my neighbors enough to give them cookies. Heh. More mixing, then the dry ingredients. More mixing and then it's time to chill. I just cover it with plastic wrap in the bowl as is, can't think of anything easier. Now you have an hour to kill, you should probably start preheating the oven. At least if your oven is as crappy as mine is. But what else you do with the hour is your business, I'm not the nosy type. Then it's time to whip up the cinnamon sugar (and cocoa, if you're doing that) and roll some dough balls in it. I didn't get any shots of the cocoa/cinnamon sugar mixture, but I did get one of the dough balls on the cookies sheet. So that's something. And there you have it, two kinds of snickerdoodles. Like I said, the chocolate ones didn't turn out as I hoped. I'm definitely going to try it again though, there is much promise there. How would you folks add chocolate to snickerdoodles?