Spinach Mushroom Puffs

Sometimes good stuff happens because of mistakes. Like these Spinach puffs. I had bought the wrong frozen spinach and couldn't figure out what to do with it. And then I thought of Spanakopita, the lovely Greek mezze which tastes so very good. And because it has so much spinach you could almost convince yourself that it's actually good for you. From that the thought evolved. Let's see, I had spinach, mushrooms, and puff pastry. Something could surely be made with that. And oh dear did it taste wonderful. So very yummy. Healthy? I wouldn't go that far, but with all that spinach, something is good about it, surely.



Spinach-Mushroom Puffs

1 sheet of refrigerator thawed puff pastry.
I box frozen chopped spinach
1 cup chopped mushroom (button or baby bella)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbsp. finely chopped onions
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
1 tsp. dried dill
pinch of nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tsp. lemon juice


Thaw the frozen chopped spinach and squeeze as dry as you can. Put in a bowl. Heat oven to 400F. Sauté the chopped mushrooms in some evoo and set aside to cool. Roll out the dough and cut into 9-12 squares. Place the squares into prepared muffin tins making sure there is enough to cover the top a little bit after being filled with the spinach mix. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl with ONE of the eggs (slightly beaten) and stir to mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture among the pastry lined muffin tins. Fold over the corners of the pastry squares and paint the tops with the remaining egg beaten with 1 tbsp very cold water.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

This recipe is one of those which could easily be customized. Exchange the mushrooms for roasted pine or walnuts, or even bacon.

Hazelnut Shortbread

Welcome to decadent. Having this stuff in my house is injurious to my health and I find myself contemplating an impromptu donation to a dear friend.

My son's school had a fundraiser on Friday and we parents were encouraged to donate baked goods. Wanting to make something that didn't have the words chocolate chip, rice-krispie, mono-ethylglycolene (just making this up)  or peanut butter in it, I decided on some lovely hazelnut cookies found on a blog titled At Down Under. Specifically I had run a search entitled 'eggless cookie' on foodgawker, and this recipe was one of many which popped up.

I felt entirely too lazy to go down to my basement (the dungeon, really) to find the cookie cutters, and therefore merely employed my knife and a fork to make shortbread style cookie bars. The recipe was followed to a T with the exception of adding the recommended chocolate coating. I didn't want the chocolate to start to melt all over the cellophane bags in which these lovelies were to be stored and sold. And it was lovely. Delicious. Addictive. Four cookies to a cellophane bag, tied with garden twine, and a stamped tag, these adorable things were way too cute to be prizes at a school fundraiser. But then, I am a good mommy and brought them early Friday morning to the school.

There were still plenty of ground hazelnuts at home and as the age-old adage goes 'waste not want not.' What better way than to turn them into more of these delectable cookies. This time, though, I allowed my meddling 'can't-leave-a-recipe-alone' personality to play and what came of it was nothing short of a culinary coup.  The cookies were enhanced with two ingredients. Yes, just two. But it's amazing what two ingredients can do. I included dried cranberries (craisins) and then drizzled the baked and cooled cookies with some leftover semi-sweet chocolate I had in my baking cupboard. That took these cookies from really good to 'Oh, Wow!'

Without further ado, here is the recipe as adapted from Viviane of Down Under.

Hazelnut-Cranberry Shortbread with Chocolate Drizzle

220 gr. flour
80 gr. ground hazelnut
200 gr. unsalted butter, diced
1/2 tsp. salt
40 gr. ground brown sugar
20gr. sugar
a handful of sweetened, dried cranberries
some semi-sweet chocolate for drizzling

If using a standmixer, place all ingredients except the chocolate in the mixing bowl. With the paddle attachment mix until you have a well mixed dough. Invert dough onto some parchment paper, and flatten to a thickness of about 1 cm. I used a rolling pin for that. Slip parchment and dough onto a cookie sheet and place in cool place or refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Slice  cookies into bars an prick with fork. If your cookie sheet has enough space (mine didn't) move the bars slightly apart. If you can't, you'll need to slice the cookies again when you remove them from the oven. Allow the cookies to bake for 14-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Melt the chocolate per manufacturers recommendation and put into a plastic bag. Cut a small hole on one end and drizzle the chocolate all over the cookies. A little chocolate goes a long way here. 

Let the chocolate set and enjoy with your favorite coffee or a chilled glass of ice-cold milk.

Guten Appetit. 

Challah Bread

To me this bread is the sacrament of the Sacred Divine of the Church of Gluten. My daughter would agree.  The crumb is unbelievably tender and once you begin to partake of its holy sacrament, you can't stop. I've often baked this bread as a gift, and everyone said the same thing. You pull a corner and then there is this uneven shape which just won't do. In order to restore balance you pull on the offending corner. And then this imbalance thing happens again. This is the curse of braided bread. This curse also leads to an achy, overstuffed tummy.

By the way, you MUST click on the image for a larger picture. I am not responsible for any drool damage to your electronic equipment.

I found this recipe on a blog which in turn I found on foodgawker. The recipe is foolproof and I've  never felt the need to tweak it. When I bake this wonderful bread I generally use King Arthur flour which truly is superlative. But I am a tad short on funds right now (the holidays tend to do that to me) and I am using regular store brand flour.

No-Knead Challah Recipe
Adapted from 'Cooking with my kid', who adapted it from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

(Makes 4 loaves)

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or neutral-tasting vegetable oil such as canola) (I only use unsalted butter)
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water)
Poppy or sesame seeds for the top

In a standmixer with the paddle attachment place half of the lukewarm water, a tablespoon of honey, the yeast, and 1 of the seven cups of flour.  Mix briefly. When the mixture starts to bubble (approx. 5 minutes), add the butter, remaining honey, beaten eggs, and remaining  lukewarm water. Stir for a whirl and then exchange the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Now, cup by cup add the remaining flour while allowing the machine to mix and knead.

This can be done with a spoon too, but I loooooove my standmixer as the dough is quite sticky. You may need to incorporate the last 1 cup of flour by hand with a dough scraper if you have been mixing by hand.

Place the finished (sticky) dough into a slightly oiled 5 quart or larger lidded, food-grade container.

Allow the dough to rise in the container until it collapses a  bit. The top will be flat, no longer domed. Do put the lid but don't lock it in place.

Now, invert the container onto your slightly floured work surface  and divide the dough into four equal parts. If you don't want to bake four loaves, put the dough you wish to keep for later in individual ziplock baggies and freeze.  If you are ready to bake, place the dough you wish to work with in your refrigerator and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes. It will be much easier to work with. 

Divide each piece of dough into three pieces  and roll into ropes.  If the dough shrinks back, let rest for five minutes and try again. Braid the dough into a loaf starting at the middle.  Turn around and braid the other side. Pinch and tuck the ends under. Transfer the loaves onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and let rest at room temperature for about 40 minutes. I've found that covering them with a sheet of glad wrap helps prevent them from drying out. 

At the 40 minute mark turn on your oven to 350F. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of cold water and 'paint' the loaves with it. If you like sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes in the middle of the oven. Remove and allow to cool on a rack. 

The procedure for the frozen dough is slightly different. Remove dough from freezer and allow to thaw in refrigerator. Cut into three pieces and allow to settle for 5 -10 minutes on the counter before making ropes. Let the braided loaves rest and rise for at least an hour before giving an egg wash and  baking them. 

In the name of Gluten. Amen

Best Banana Bread Ever

I found this recipe on a blog called Galleykitchen a while ago. And ever since then this bread appears on our table at least once a month. The bread is wonderfully tasty and so easy to make, I've made my kids bake it for me on a number of occasion.






Banana Bread

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. ground flax seed (adaptation)

scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda (adaptation)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt (we always use yogurt)

2/3 cup granulated sugar  (we use less than that)

2 extra large eggs lightly beaten, at room temperature

1 cup mashed very ripe banana, 2-3 depending on size

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) (chocolate chips work great too)

2 tablespoon Demerara sugar (optional, but really recommended)

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Lightly grease a loaf pan. If you bake in a glass pan, or a dark coated pan, reduce oven temperature to 330º F. In a medium bowl, place flour, ground flax seed, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a separate medium bowl, stir together the mashed banana, yogurt or sour cream, vanilla, vinegar  or lemon juice and chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Beat the room temperature butter with the sugar. If you use a standmixer, use the paddle attachment. You are looking for a light, fluffy texture.  Now add the flower and speed up the mixing until  the mixture has a sort of sandy texture. Under no circumstance walk away and forget you have the mixer running and come back to find that the butter melted and it's all a creamy texture. That would be bad, your bread would get very heavy and doughy.  Add the eggs and beat until combined.  Fold in the banana mixture, and the nuts or chocolate chips; do not over mix.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar.  Bake for 40-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf to a cooling rack and allow to cool as much as you can tolerate before you absolutely have to try a slice.

Guten Appetit.

Spiced German Chocolate Cake

If you have never had a glass of red wine with a slice of spiced chocolaty cake, you've been missing out. You have been deprived and I highly recommend that you remedy the situation as soon as possible.

We found out quite by accident what a wonderful gastronomic delight this combination this is. The menu for that fortuitous day was a dinner of Hungarian Gulyás. Unfortunately I hadn't chosen the right wine to go with the robust flavors of the Hungarian Gulyás. The inexpensive Malbec  didn't stand a chance, and so we switched to a Burgundy instead. Dessert for the evening was this Spiced German Chocolate Cake, in honor of my husband's birthday. Not one for wasting wine, I served the mild mannered Malbec along side the already wonderful cake. While the wine did not pair well with the robust Hungarian Gulyás, it paired wonderfully with the Spiced German Chocolate Cake. It was actually divine!

This cake has it all, and in abundance. Gluten, sugar, added fats, dairy... you name it. Which is why I only make it once a year. Although, now that we have discovered how wonderful it tastes with the red wine, I see no option but to make it again. Soon. I am however, planning on experimenting. Maybe apple sauce will successfully replace part of the butter used in this recipe.

I stuck mostly to recipe  as it was written but have substituted semi-sweet chocolate for half of the amount of German chocolate. You should definitely head over to the original site though, as the photography is superlative.

Spiced German Chocolate Cake

original recipe from scrumptiousphotography.com

2-1/2 cups flour (325 g)
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice (I use about a quarter tsp more)
½ tsp ground cloves  (I use about a quarter tsp more)
1 cup butter (225 g)
2 cups granulated sugar (400 g) (I use only 1.75 cups)
5 eggs
1/2 bar Baker’s German chocolate (2 oz)
1/2 bar  Semi-Sweet chocolate (2 oz)
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Separate eggs and set aside. Place the egg whites in the refrigerator until later.

Grate chocolate bars (do this with the grating blade in the food processor or a box grater) and set aside. Albeit messy, this also works with a manual grater.

With the paddle attachment in your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, then add egg yolks. Combine thoroughly. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk (dry, milk, dry, milk, dry) and mix to incorporate. Stir in grated chocolate.

Beat egg whites separately until stiff  peaks form. Fold them into the batter. On the original website the author recommends using your hand. I have used the paddle attachment and my hands with equal success. The key appears to be avoiding overmixing.

Turn into greased bundt or other tube pan, level it and bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If your bundt pan is very dark, I recommend lowering the temperature to 335-340F as the exterior of the cake gets otherwise too dark.

Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto wire rack and cool completely. Dust generously with powdered sugar.

Wine pairing recommendation: Malbec or Shiraz.

Simplified Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

After I posted a few pictures of my Simplified Blackforest Cherry Torte on Facebook, I had several friends ask if I would please post the recipe. Well, here you go.
As a native German, I grew up eating this gorgeous dessert.  My mother used to make a wonderful Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and I'd like to say I learned from her. But I've been cheating for a long time now and making a simpler two layer version which comes together quickly and tastes just as good as the fancier three layer.  The other sin I commit when making this cake is my omission of Kirschwasser. Since this cake is essentially a quick way of occluding your arteries I make it very rarely.  An entire bottle of Kirschwasser is simply too much to buy for this rare occasion. We use rum instead. Rum and cherries are great together and so is rum and chocolate. What could possibly go wrong? The original way to make this cake is with a sturdier type of dough at the bottom to support the cake.  I skip this part shamelessly. I also use sweet canned cherries if fresh ones aren't available. The Chocolate Cake Base which I use isn't very sweet making it quite useful in recipes where sweet fillings are included.

I had last made this cake many years ago and neither of our kids much liked it. Since there were only two of us (adults) eating it,  part of it went into the trash. Besides, we are getting too old to eat this cake without mentally putting a cardiologist on speed dial. Lately however, my husband had been pining loudly for this cake, and with my father in-law's first birthday since moving in with us, I felt obliged to comply.

Chocolate Cake Base

Dry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all unbleached all purpose white flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Moist Ingredients
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup brewed coffee - cooled

FillingA few tablespoons of any red jelly
1 quart whipping cream whipped stiff with 1/2 cup sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
1 can of cherries, drained and then soaked in a half cup of rum over night. Drain before using but keep the rum
Maraschino Cherries - drained
Good quality semi-sweet baking chocolate - grated

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add all moist ingredients and stir well. Pour the batter into a greased and floured springform pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 50 minutes.  When I baked this cake recently I used part of the batter (maybe a third of it)  to make a smaller 'virgin' cake for my seven year old.

By letting the cake to cool completely before cutting it in half you can reduce the amount of crumbling you get. Allow the cake to rest cut open for an hour before assembling it. I usually cut the dome off the top of the cake to have a nice flat surface.

To assemble.
Place bottom half of cake on your cake stand.  I place some wax paper around the edges to keep things clean.
Sprinkle some of the cherry flavored rum on the base and then thinly spread some of that red jelly over the base. This helps prevent the base from becoming too soggy. You need only a little since you don't want to be able to taste the jelly. Thickly spread whipped cream on the base and then place the drained cherries on the base. Cover the cherries with another layer of cream.

Take the top layer of cake and turn it upside down (cut side up) and sprinkle with the cherry infused rum. Then spread some jelly over the cut area. Place the cut side down on top of the cream covered cherries.  If you did need to cut the 'dome' of the cake make sure to coat the cut part with a super thin layer of jelly. Coat the entire cake with a thin layer of cream and allow to cool for half an hour before proceeding. This will ensure a more finished appearance later on.

To finish the cake reserve some of the cream for piping and spread the rest evenly over the chilled cake. Sprinkle the top with the grated chocolate and pipe rosettes around the edge. Place a maraschino cherry on each rosette. Remove the wax paper pieces you used to keep the plate clean. Pipe a simple edging along the bottom edge of the cake and chill at least an hour before serving.

Mrs. B's best Zucchini Nut Muffins

The obscenely ginormous, huge, zucchinis from somewhere in Iowa.

Yesterday, when I came back from co-hosting a seminar, my husband met me at the door.

'I have a surprise for you', he announced grandly. 'You've never seen anything like this before!' he claimed and with a flourish presented me with these huge, green objects. 'Have you ever seen zucchini like this before?'

I had to admit I had not. I didn't even know they could get that big. Even the smaller of the two is larger than any zucchini I've ever seen.

Apparently our neighbor had been blessed by someone they knew with cucumbers and zucchini. They knew what to do with the cukes but had no idea what to do with the zukes. But, bless her heart, she knows I love to cook and that I love veggies. What she didn't know was that I particularly adore zucchini.  The kids of course wanted zucchini muffins.

No problema!



I would really recommend clicking on this picture to see the muffin larger as it doesn't really show it as well in the smaller picture.



My son won't touch zucchini unless it's converted in Zucchini Nut Muffins. I found the recipe in a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, adapted it to suit our palate and it's been a family favorite since then. When my son was a toddler at daycare I gave them this recipe. The first time they made this recipe the kids plowed through the first batch of muffins so fast they had to quickly whip up another batch.



 
Feel free to add or exchange ingredients. This is the recipe they way we changed it from the original.

Mrs. B's best Zucchini Nut Muffins


2 cups un-bleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
3/4 cup plain sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup applesauce (we use unsweetened)
2 cups packed, shredded zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup golden raisins (we don't use that because the kids don't like them)
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar or Washed Raw Cane Sugar for sprinkling (this will give you a crunchy texture on top - big yum! factor)


Pre-heat oven to 350F.


Combine sugar and eggs in a bowl; blend at medium speed for 2 minutes. Gradually add the oil; beating constantly for 3 minutes. Add the applesauce, vanilla extract and shredded zucchini and blend well. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Now, if you want a more pronounced walnut taste, toast them first until fragrant.


In a separate bowl mix the flours, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and ground flax seed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined but not overmixed.


Pour batter into 24 lined muffin cups or non-stick muffin tins and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar; bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

(You could substitute a half cup of craisins for the nuts and add some quick cooking oats to up the health-factor)