DIY Baking Powder

A reprise of a favorite post that shows you how to make your own baking powder just in time for cookie season.

Holiday baking season is here.  Your heirloom recipes don't deserve stale baking powder.  Happily, it's easy to make your own with pure ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen.

Baking powder that's been on the shelf too long may not provide the expected leavening and I find it can impart a bitter taste to baked goods. 

On top of the opportunity to degrade over time, baking powder comes in sizes that are hard to use up within the recommended six-nine months if you are not a frequent baker.  When you make baking powder  yourself, you can make smaller batches and get the benefits of cooking from scratch with really fresh ingredients.  

The recipe is simple:

2 parts baking soda

1 part cream of tartar

1 part corn starch

Mix well and store in an airtight container.  I like to use a small sifter or strainer to really mix the ingredients together. For my baking needs, I might use these quantities to yield enough for the season:

Holiday Quantity Baking Powder

2 tablespoons baking soda

1 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 tablespoons corn starch

When I mix baking powder into flour, I sift it through a small strainer to keep any clumping at bay.

Happy baking!

Baking Powder DIY

Holiday baking season is here.  Your heirloom recipes don't deserve stale baking powder.  Happily, t's easy to make your own with pure ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen.

Baking powder that's been on the shelf too long may not provide the expected leavening and I find it can impart a bitter taste to baked goods, as if the cream of tartar in the mixture can no longer stand up to the baking soda.

On top of the opportunity to degrade over time, baking powder comes in can sizes that are hard to use up within six-nine months if you are not a frequent baker.  When you make baking powder  yourself, you can make smaller batches and get the benefits of cooking from scratch with really fresh ingredients.  

The recipe is simple:

2 parts baking soda

1 part cream of tartar

1 part corn starch

Mix well and store in an airtight container.  I like to use a small sifter or strainer to really mix the ingredients together. For my baking needs, I might use these quantities to yield enough for the season:

Holiday Quantity Baking Powder

2 tablespoons baking soda

1 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 tablespoons corn starch

When I mix baking powder into flour, I sift it through a small strainer to keep any clumping at bay.

Happy baking!

Black Pepper & Cherry Savory Crackers

These tender crackers are for soft goat cheeses and tubs of homemade (or farm stand) ricotta cheese.  Black pepper and dried cherry feature here but feel free to swap in chopped rosemary and dried figs or walnuts and dates.  Try serving the crackers with drier cheeses too--Manchego comes to mind.

Black Pepper & Cherry Savory Crackers
Yield 2 dozen crackers

Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
½ cup dried fruit, chopped(cherries, cranberries, nectarines,
¼ sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Method

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and use an electric beater to mix until fluffy.  
2. Add salt, pepper and brown sugar and continue to beat until sugar has melded with butter.  
3. Add flour as you continue to beat so that the flour is nicely coated in butter mixture.  Do this in three batches but work quickly so you do not over work the flour and create a tough cracker.
4. Add egg and mix in.  
5. Use a large spoon to mix in dried fruit, nuts and any extra flavorings (herbs, citrus zest, etc).  
6. Using your hands, form the dough into a log.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.  
7. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350˚F.  
8. Slice dough in ¼ inch slices and lay on a parchment lined baking sheet.  
9. Bake 10 minutes until crackers are just browning on the bottom.  
10. Remove to a cookie rack to cool.  Crackers will crisp as they cool.  Store in an airtight container. 

Peanut Butter Mousse Cupcake Filling

Pure peanut butter mousse is not only possible but very simple, making it a top choice to fill or frost cupcakes.  The secret ingredient is ricotta cheese which lends volume and helps create a spreadable consistency.  Ricotta adds a subtle complimentary taste to peanut butter and vanilla flavors.

Filling cupcakes may sound difficult but all it really takes is the patience to wait for the cupcakes to cool.  You can frost the cupcakes immediately after filling them.  Use a apple corer to pull a small plug of cake out of the top of each cupcake. Hang onto the plugs to reinsert before frosting.   You can also dig a little hole using the handle of a teaspoon.  Fill using a small spoon or better yet, place the mousse in a plastic sandwich bag, seal and snip off a corner to use as a pastry bag to fill the little cakes.

A plastic baggie makes a great piping bag.

The vanilla (yellow) cupcakes are from an all natural mix that replaces about half of the liquid with ricotta cheese.  The cupcakes taste great and have improved structure for holding fillings. Use your favorite mix or from scratch recipe for 12 cupcakes.

Make the mousse while the cupcakes bake.  Frost with a simple chocolate ganache of chocolate chips and cream.  The technique is included below.

Peanut Butter Mousse
Yield 1 cup, enough for 12 cupcakes or 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon coconut oil*
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk preferred
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey or golden syrup

*skip if using regular peanut butter which already contains an oil

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Use a whisk to create a smooth texture, whipping for about 30-45 seconds.  
2. Taste and adjust for sweetness.  You can add more honey or a pinch of salt to bring out a bit more sweetness.  
3. Use immediately and store any leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator. Use within three days.

NOTE: The cupcakes must be refrigerated since the filling includes dairy.

You can also eat it as a mousse in a small cup with some dark chocolate shavings.


Chocolate Ganache
To make a chocolate ganache to glaze your cupcakes, place 1/3 cup good quality chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl with enough cream or whole milk to barely cover the chips.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Remove and stir to finish melting the chips into the warmed cream. Cool for 3-4 minutes and spread on cupcakes.  The chocolate ganache will set within a few minutes to a smooth and glossy finish. 

How to Make Three Real Foods This Week

It only takes cooking three foods this week to kick-start eating real foods all year.  They say habits take a few weeks to take hold and this is an easy one to incorporate into your routine.  Here is how to have more home cooked, real food ready when you need it. Pictured above, Potato-Corn Chowder with pre-cooked chicken breasts and bacon.

The key is to use passive cooking methods and to cook these pure, real extras while you are already in the kitchen doing something else.  Measuring coffee and bringing water to a boil or waiting for the coffee maker to do its thing?  Measure out some rice or a whole grain and slip it into boiling water to simmer on low.  Most grains cook within 30 minutes and can be stored in the refrigerator for tonight's healthier dinner.  Reheat in the microwave while you steam or stir fry some veggies.

Is the oven being used for dinner tonight?  Use the energy and space wisely-- add some chicken breasts or a fruit crisp to the oven and enjoy real food for dinner tomorrow night too.

Pick easy recipes that require a minimum number of ingredients and a passive cooking technique like steaming, roasting or baking.  Match the recipe's cooking temperature or cooking time to what you are already making, eg use the same oven temperature for several items.   Avoid recipes that ask you to stir, add ingredients midway through the cooking process or transfer from one cooking method to another (steaming then stir-frying). 

Make a big batch, one that can be used in different ways during the whole week.  Make eight half-cup servings of grains, four 6- to 8-ounce portions of protein or one pork tenderloin, even a whole chicken can be roasted alongside tonight's dinner and used in any recipe calling for rotisserie chicken (for half the price!). 

I. Cook a Grain
Rice, whole wheat pasta, barley, bulgur (cracked wheat), buckwheat, oats and more can be made ahead and served at dinner or form the basis of whole grain lunch bowls with steamed spinach, leftover veggies, beans and pre-cooked proteins. 
Hint: if you own a rice cooker it will also cook other grains, even oatmeal.

II. Cook a Protein
Chicken, pork tenderloin and fish can bake alongside tonight's meal in a low or medium oven.  If you are not sure how to prepare, place the protein in a shallow lightly oiled dish, season with salt, pepper and herbs and spices you like and cover with aluminum foil.  Check on fish after 8-12 minutes, chicken and pork 20-30 minutes.  Use a thermometer to make sure the food is thoroughly cooked.
Cooked proteins can be reheated gently by steaming or microwave on low power.  Or make paninis, main dish salads and quick pastas using these pre-cooked proteins.  

III. Cook a Fruit-based Dessert
Fresh or frozen berries, plums, peaches and cherries or fresh apples and pears can each be baked up in a buttered pie plate with a little honey or cinnamon sugar and topped with a combination of quick cooking oats and almond flour that's been tossed with equal parts vegetable oil and maple syrup.  Eat this for dessert or in a breakfast yogurt parfait.

Bonus Round:
Make a pot of soup the way cooks in past centuries did-- on the back burner while you are doing something else.  Simmer broth, vegetables, grains and beans into a pure, homemade soup flavored with herbs, salt and pepper.   The soup pictured above was made with extra boiled potatoes mixed with chicken broth and last summer's frozen corn.  Some chicken added protein and chopped avocado, jalepeño, cilantro and precooked bacon made it a meal. 

The Piemaker

Janet's apple mincemeat pie, ready for the oven.  Note the streaks of white lard, visible in the unbaked crust.  Flakiness is good.

This post was originally published on November 10, 2011.  I am re-posting it today in celebration and honor of my godmother, Janet Mahoney who we lost this weekend.  Janet leaves bereft friends and family with memories of her great kindness, acts of generosity and her own, unique view of our world.

I am already missing her wit and divergent opinions about the biggest and smallest things. She reminded me that it is both fair and fun to speak your mind and let others know what you think. And in demonstration of that fairness, she had fun listening to your opinions.

Her precise attitude toward baking has made this less precise baker a better pie and cake baker.  It is a wonderful to know that every time I bake, I will hear her voice again, invoking me with dismayed laughter to keep more flour in the bowl.  XXOO


Pies-Pies-Pies
11/10/2011
Earlier this fall I got a hot tip.  It came from a very reliable source over at a certain cable network.  Pies will be the next big thing.  Move over cupcakes.

You may have already noticed the signs and not just because Thanksgiving pie season is upon us.  Whole slices of pie are suddenly finding their way into our smoothies.  They are getting baked into stunt cakes at the Reading Market in Philadelphia.  Popular pie flavors like apple, key lime and Boston cream pie have been flavoring our yogurt for some time now.

But the real thing has always been big around here. My family was in the pie manufacturing business when I was in high school and through osmosis I learned about Michigan’s cherry harvests and the educational needs of migrant workers’ children.   I helped my mother sort through pie filling recipes  destined to go on the package of the unbaked pie shell crust product. During the holidays we kids helped my parents deliver thank you pies to everyone who had helped us out the year before—especially the mechanics at the garage who kept my mother’s carpool station wagon alive (somehow). 

Later, I worked at Pillsbury’s advertising agency in New York City while they were developing their hugely successful Refrigerated Pie Crust product.   (We called it by its "code name," ARPC –all ready pie crust--- during the test marketing). 

One day, our small media planning team was asked to join a taste test in our company's kitchens.  Could we tell the difference between three apple pies?  One was baked using the Pillsbury test product, one was baked with an all butter crust and one used a lard crust. The test product was good, more than good, as sales have shown these past 25 years.  Still, I was able to distinguish between the three and knew in a flash that the one everyone adored (and my foodie boss thought was made with butter) was the lard crust.  The test product came in a strong second and the butter crust was third.

What’s special about a lard crust?  It creates those flakes we love and keeps a pie from feeling leaden in out tummies.  (These days many people use a half butter/half lard recipe to get both flavor and flakiness.)

Despite my pie company formative years, the real reason I could identify the perfect flaky crust was that my godmother had taught me to make pie dough a few years earlier.  This was the pie we ate when we spent Thanksgiving or Christmas at her home.  One year I asked for the recipe.  She said, “No.”

And after a breath said, “But I will show you how and then you can have the written recipe.” 

Turns out there’s a bit of technique involved.  It helps to feel the cool flour in your hands, see the cornmeal texture emerge between fat and flour, and intuit the amount of moisture in the air versus ice cold water in the measuring cup. It is tricky to describe but so easy once you've seen it done.

So I’m afraid I'll have to stick with tradition.  No written recipe today—but one day I promise I will demonstrate how to make a perfect pie crust.  Or maybe there is someone special in your family who will show you the ropes.  For many of us, cooking together is one of the finest holiday traditions we know.  And whether you roll out your own dough or one from the dairy case, it’s hard to go wrong if you are in the kitchen with a loved one.

If you’ve been taught by a master as I was, this may be the year to start making an extra pie for your teacher or to show someone else how to do it.

Fried Chicken Tenders and a Buttermilk Smoothie

Buttermilk Smoothie
This one is 1 cup buttermilk, ½ banana, ½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen), ¼ teaspoon vanilla, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.  Puree in the blender and enjoy.  This is a pure and simple way to get buttermilk, a fermented food into your digestive system today. 

Recipes using buttermilk, especially cake recipes, often use just a ½ or ¾ of a cup yet buttermilk is most often sold in quart containers.  Having a few easy recipes like a smoothie or Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders to use up this valuable food item will make buttermilk a more frequent staple in your refrigerator. 

Using chicken tenders is what makes this buttermilk fried chicken dinner easy to make.  The thin strips of chicken brown quickly. Placing the fried tenders in the oven to finish also keeps the fuss to a minimum.  Serve the chicken over a salad of sturdy lettuce like iceberg or romaine.  Drizzle with buttermilk dressing (recipe below).

If you have the time, prep the buttermilk marinade  .a few hours ahead and let the chicken strips soak and tenderize.   When you are ready to cook, you can start at the flour dredging stage.  If you have less time, let the pieces soak for about 15 minutes before flouring. 

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons hot sauce*
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Optional: dash or two of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders (or boneless chicken breasts cut into strips)
1 cup flour
¼ cup corn starch
¼ teaspoon each salt, pepper, paprika
½  cup canola or grape seed oil for frying

*These are spicy.  If you want a less hot version, omit the hot sauce and use ½ teaspoon each paprika and dried dill weed.

Method

1. In a re-sealable plastic bag,  mix together buttermilk, hot sauce, salt, black pepper and cayenne, if using.  Place chicken tenders in bag and refrigerated at least 15 minutes, preferably a few hours.  
2. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400˚F degrees.  
3. Mix together in a shallow bowl the flour, corn starch salt, pepper and paprika.  
4. Turn on the stove’s exhaust fan.  Pour the oil into a deep skillet and heat on medium-high until it reaches 375˚K.   
5. Dip 5-6 soaked chicken tenders in flour mixture and carefully lay in hot oil.  Do not crowd your pan (a pound and a half of tenders should take 3-4 batches).  
6. Turn chicken tenders after 2 minutes or when lightly browned.  Fry another 2 minutes and place on a baking sheet.  
7. Put baking sheet in the oven while you fry the next batch.   Bake chicken in oven about 6-8 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F.  

Serve over a chopped salad.  Drizzle with buttermilk dressing.

Variation
Buttermilk-soaked chicken can be grilled or baked too.  Just wipe away some of the marinade and cook as your recipe directs

Pure Buttermilk Salad Dressing
This dressing uses fresh herbs for a bright taste.  If you are using dried herbs, measure 1/3 the amount (1 teaspoon dried for every 1 tablespoon fresh) and be sure to allow the mixture to rest at least ½ hour for the dried herbs to hydrate and flavor the dressing.

½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
juice of ½ lemon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

More Buttermilk Ideas
The easiest ways to use up buttermilk is to swap it for milk in recipes:

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Substitute all or half the milk in mashed potatoes with buttermilk. Or use half buttermilk and ½ low sodium canned chicken broth. 

Buttermilk Biscuits
Swap out all or part of the milk in any mix or recipe from scratch for biscuits.  This works for any fruit cobbler recipe too. 

Buttermilk Pancakes
Again, you can use buttermilk for all or part of the milk. 

Corn Muffins with Grapes

We do not all feel harvest time in the same way that our grandparents did.  Then, even city-dwellers were aware of when certain foods were at their peak and ready for market.  We see grapes all year these days but some varieties, like red grapes from our northern hemisphere, are abundant now.  It's nice to acknowledge the harvest season and nicer still when you can make something easy and pure. 

These corn muffins with grapes are a fun school lunch or after-school treat.  Adults really like the grape surprise inside too.  Simply take your favorite corn muffin recipe (or the one below) and drop a few grapes into each muffin tin before baking. 

This recipe was inspired by Harvest Grape Breads, a wonderful slightly sweet flat bread or focaccia from Tuscany. After looking around at Harvest Grape Bread recipes, I found a Harvest Cake made with grapes, olive oil and semolina.  Thus was born an original recipe for corn muffins with grapes.  In the recipe below, you may substitute olive oil for up to half of the butter. 

Corn Muffins with Grapes
Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup red seedless grapes (about 40 grapes) washed and dried

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease a regular sized muffin pan (12 muffins) with vegetable oil or spray.
3. Melt butter in microwave or small pot over low heat.
4. While butter melts combine cornmeal, flour and salt in a small bowl. 
5. Stir melted butter and sugar together in a medium bowl.
6. Add eggs and beat until well blended. 
7. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture sugar mixture.
8. Stir in cornmeal mixture until well blended and few lumps remain. 
9. Scoop batter into the prepared muffin pan.
10. Press a few grapes into the tops of each muffin.  (Batter will rise up around grapes.
11. Bake at 375˚F for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center muffin comes away clean.

Simple Lasagnas

I love the section of Italian menus headed by the phrase “al forno” meaning "baked in an oven."  For some that still means a wood-fired oven but even without a rustic touch, a baked pasta meal is pure comfort food. 

This week my husband was picturing an old fashioned meat lasagna while I was dreaming of spinach and mixed vegetables.  You might think a big heaping combo lasagna with ground beef, sausage, mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant would be the answer but for real variety two smaller, more pure lasagnas were just right.  I use 8” X 8” brownie pans or several small loaf pans to build these smaller, more manageable al forno dishes.  

Recipes can look daunting with up to fifteen ingredients but consider that a pure lasagna, meat or vegetable versions, can be broken down into 4 basic elements.  There will be cheese, sauce, wide flat noodles and filling.  Each of these elements can be prepared in advance and assembled and baked up to a day later. 

Formula for Pure Lasagna
Lasagna Noodles
I like the no-bake kind or fresh sheets but have also used regular uncooked noodles and added extra liquid to small lasagnas.  For the uncooked noodle version, you need to bake the dish 10-15 minutes more.  Cooking regular noodles takes a little extra time but if you lay drained noodles onto wax paper, is not too big a production.  Recipes ask for 8-12 noodles.  Cut or break the noodles to fit the pan.

Cheese
Ricotta, grated Parmesan cheese and sliced mozzarella are musts for me.  Cottage cheese makes a great substitute if you don’t have ricotta, especially the small curd type.  I mix a pint of ricotta with an egg, a ½ cup of grated Parmesan and some oregano and basil. I also like black pepper in the mixture and a nice handful of chopped fresh parsley. Sometimes I dice some mozzarella and add that but mostly I leave this mixture light and place the mozzarella as a layer on its own.  I always finish with a layer of mozzarella with some grated Parmesan over that. You will need 1-2 pints of ricotta depending on the size of your project. 

Filling
If it’s meat, my favorite is ground beef and some Italian pork sausage (out of the casing) cooked and drained and moistened with a little marinara sauce.  Use a 2:1 ratio for the meats, about 3 cups of meat is nice.

If its vegetable, either make a cooked mixture from steamed and drained spinach, sautéed mushrooms and assorted chopped vegetables that can be held together with a little ricotta or layer grilled or roasted vegetables over the ricotta layer as you would noodles.  (If you choose vegetable layers, you can skip a layer of noodles.) Sliced and cooked eggplant, zucchini and Portobello mushrooms make nice layers. 
You will want 2-3 cups of filling.

Sauce
Marinara sauce can be your homemade or use a pure brand out of a jar.  Some recipes, especially for vegetable lasagnas, add a béchamel sauce layer but I find this adds extra work and the ricotta layer has already provided a nice creamy contrast.  You will need about ½ cup of marinara sauce to coat the bottom of the baking dish and extra for serving is always nice so I try to have about 4 cups of sauce on hand for assembling and serving. 

Method
With your fillings ready, here is the layering and baking method:

• Lightly oil the sides of your baking dish. This will make removing the noodles later and cleaning the pan a little easier.   
• Spread ½ cup marina sauce on the bottom on the pan and lay noodles down to cover bottom.  
• Cover noodles with filling, a little sauce and a second layer of noodles.  
• Cover second layer of noodles with the ricotta cheese mixture and a little sauce, and any extra filling.  
• Last place the top layer of noodles, a layer of sauce and if you have any little extras like sliced olives and roasted red pepper strips before covering it all with a layer of mozzarella and grated Parmesan. 
• Bake your lasagna covered with tin foil at 350˚F for 35-45 minutes until the center reaches 145˚F. Remove the foil covering during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove form the oven and let the dish least at least 10 minutes to firm up before slicing.

Don’t miss out on making lasagna for a small family.  Leftover lasagna cut into individual portions is a freezer treat that can be reheated either as is --frozen-- or defrosted.  

Sweet Potato Rolls

The sweet potato in these soft dinner rolls provides fiber without the crunch or dryness you think fiber adds.  So ease back into the rigors of school days without feeling like you are giving your family homework.  Made a little larger, these rolls are great for sandwiches in an enviable brown bag lunch.

Bake an extra sweet potato next time you are serving them at dinner or microwave one that is about 4 1/2 inches long to yield the amount you will need in this recipe.  These rolls are easy even without a bread machine since they need little attention after mixing.  Both methods are included here. 

Sweet Potato Rolls (Yeasted)
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Yield: 12 large sandwich size or 16 small dinner rolls
Ingredients
1 small sweet potato cooked, peeled and mashed, about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup tepid water
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
3 tablespoons softened butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast

Bread Machine Method

1. Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order listed (or according to your machine’s layering instructions).  Use the dough cycle to create a light orange dough. 
2. When dough cycle is complete, use floured hands to scoop out portions.  Roll and pinch onto round balls and place on a greased cookie sheet for separate rolls or 2 greased pie plates for rolls with soft, connected sides.  Make balls a little larger than the size of a ping pong ball for dinner rolls.  For sandwich or hamburger rolls, make balls about 1/3 larger.
3. Cover dough balls with a clean dishtowel and allow to rise about 40 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375˚F while rolls rise to about double in size.  Bake at 375˚F for 15 minutes.  If you are using pie plates, you may need to bake an additional 2-3 minutes.  Remove rolls from pan and let cool slightly before serving.  Fully cooled rolls can be lightly toasted for sandwiches and hamburgers. 

Hand Method

1.  In a large bowl combine water, 1 tablespoon of sugar and yeast and let stand 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.  
2. Add all ingredients except flours and mix well (by hand or with a mixer on low.)  
3. Stir in bread flour and 1 cup white whole wheat flour.  With last cup of flour in reserve, turn dough out onto a floured board.  
4. Knead dough 4-5 minutes working in remaining flour to form a soft, non-sticky dough.  
5. Wipe out mixing bowl and insert dough ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a non-drafty spot for one hour.  
6. Proceed from step 2, in bread machine instructions above to form and bake rolls. 

Fresh rolls that will not be enjoyed within a day or two can be frozen for up to three months.  For maximum freshness, freeze as soon as rolls are cool. 

Fontina Asparagus Pizza

My friend Lee knows I make my own pizza dough. He gave me a ball of frozen dough that he assured me would be just as light and all natural-- the same pure ingredients I use.  His came from a business associate who supplies dough to pizzerias wholesale.  Lucky pizzerias.  Prep space is limited in many restaurants and finding a quality supplier that can save the owner time and money (and space) is a good for all sides of business. 

I also saved time with the high quality frozen dough.  It defrosted leisurely in its package in the refrigerator and over 3 days went from a solid softball to a foamy square pushing into the sides of its bag.

We've had hot, hot days so turning on the oven to heat a pizza stone was out of the question.  Even taking the time to really stretch out the dough seemed too much effort in the steamy heat.  A free form pizza baked over a bed of farina (instead of cornmeal) on an extra thin cookie sheet was all that could be managed and thanks to the relaxed rise of the pizza dough, it came out perfectly. It had a crispy light crust yet was still moist and deliciously yeasty inside.  The dough was a perfect foil to the cheese and asparagus.  Omitting the sauce made for a lighter meal and let us taste and appreciate each ingredient. 

We topped our pizza with quickly steamed, then butter & olive oil-sauteed asparagus over fontina cheese.  X's formed with anchovies provided a salty balance.  If you don't love anchovies, accent this sophisticated pizza with crisped bacon, it's cousin pancetta or top with good quality prosciutto.  (If using prosciutto, wait until the pizza is out of the oven.) For an all vegetable pizza, slice a few oil cured olives and scatter over randomly.

Bake the pizza in a preheated 400˚F oven for 12-14 minutes until the dough is puffed up a bit and the bottom is light brown and sturdy.  Let the pizza rest a moment before slicing.



NOTE: High quality pizza dough has few ingredients, just like what you would put together with flour, water, salt and olive oil.  The trick is giving your dough time to rise. Be patient and go for a slow rise under refrigerated conditions in a loosely secured plastic bag to allow for expansion.  A freshly made dough will rise in about 8-12 hours and can hold for a day.  Let a frozen dough come to the ready over three days.

MultiGrain Bread

Pure Foods Project MultiGrain Loaves

January is National Bread Machine Month.  It’s also the month of the egg, hot tea, soup, dried plum breakfast (prunes) and oatmeal among others.  Month promoting is popular among American business and cause-related organizations.  It can feel commercial, quirky or quite the right thing to be doing. 

I’ll place National Bread Machines in the right thing for January category.  If you have a bread machine and a freezer, January is a great month to stock up on home made breads.   The bread you bake yourself will be made of pure ingredients and, with a little organization, much can be produced with little effort.  This morning I baked two loaves of rich and light ricotta bread and a loaf of New York rye bread while I took care of some household chores and paperwork.  Most of today’s baking will be stored in the freezer in full or half-loaves when they are cool.

Last year I developed a recipe for a multi-grain loaf that is as moist as it is hearty.  This bread slices well, toasts well, travels well and looks good on a cheese board. I make the dough in my bread machine then form loaves for final rising outside the machine and bake in a traditional oven.  I don’t really mind the squared off loaves bread machines produce but we prefer different shapes for different recipes.  This multi-grain recipe makes two small free-from oval loaves or two long baguettes. 

As a self-trained baker, I used to feel a bit amateurish using a bread machine until I read the very insightful King Arthur Flour Bread Cookbook.  Like the chefs in their test kitchens, I also cook in cold weather, a cool house.  The advantage of making dough in a bread machine is a consistent temperature and humidity level that allows a flawless rise.  Bread machines have taught me what good dough should look and feel like so when I make dough without a machine, I know what a properly developed dough should be.

Following the bread machine recipe is a technique for making the bread by hand—no machine.  Don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients.  It doesn’t take long to assemble and the moistness of the bread depends on several of the more absorbent grains. 

Ready for the oven

Pure Foods Project MultiGrain Bread
Bread Machine Version
Makes 2 small oval loaves

Ingredients
1 cup water, room temperature
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups bread four
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coarse corn meal
1/4 cup rye flour
1/2 cup 5-grain cereal (flakes)*
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 tablespoons uncooked hulled millet
1/3 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1 tablespoon olive oil
 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

*Cereal/flakes look like rolled oats.  Typical combinations include spelt, barley, rye, wheat, oat flakes etc.  Bob’s Red Mill and Country Choice Organic are two brands that make multi-grain cereal flakes.  You can make your own combination from the bins at a heath food store as well.

1. Add the ingredients to the dough bucket in the order your machine manufacturer recommends.  
2. Set the machine to the dough cycle (usually about 1 hour, 40 minutes—no need to use the artisinal cycle).  
3. When the dough is ready, remove it from the bucket and divide it in half.  Knead it lightly to form two oval loaves or roll to create two long baguettes.  Set loaves 5 inches apart on a lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet to rise.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise 45 minutes. 
4. Preheat oven to 400˚F about 20 minutes before baking.  
5. Before placing in a 400˚F oven, slit loaves.  A few slits are fine but this bread looks dramatic and beautiful with one vertical slit down the cent of each loaf. 
6. Bake 18-20 minutes until the internal temperature reads 195˚F. Cool on a rack at least 25 minutes before slicing. 

Pure Foods Project MultiGrain Bread
Hand Kneaded Version
Makes 2 loaves

1 cup water, room temperature
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 cups bread four
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coarse corn meal
1/4 cup rye flour
1/2 cup 5-grain cereal (flakes)*
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 tablespoons uncooked hulled millet
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1 tablespoon olive oil

*Cereal/flakes look like rolled oats.  Typical combinations include spelt, barley, rye, wheat, oat flakes etc.  Bob’s Red Mill and Country Choice Organic are two brands that make multi-grain cereal flakes.  You can make your own combination from the bins at a heath food store as well.

1. In a large bowl, combine yeast with 1 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar and yeast. Let mixture sit 8-12 minutes until yeast has proofed and puffed up on the surface.
2. While the yeast proofs, combine remaining dry ingredients in a second bowl and mix well.  (Everything except remaining buttermilk and olive oil).
3. When the yeast is ready, add 2 cups of flour mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon. (I turn the spoon upside down and use the handle to create a dough hook effect.)  Dough will be shaggy at this point. 
4. Stir in buttermilk and olive oil.
5. Stir in 2-3 more cups of the flour mixture, stirring with spoon handle straight up until ball of dough begins to form and pull away from sides of bowl.
6. Turn dough onto a clean counter top or board that has been scattered with a handful of the flour mixture.  Knead the dough, adding a bit more flour mixture in as you go until it is all incorporated.  Kneading  will take 8-10 minutes. 
7. Once kneaded, place dough in a large, clean bowl to rise in a warm place for about an hour.  Cover the bowl with a dishtowel or plastic wrap.
8. When dough has doubled in size, turn dough onto a clean surface and divide in half.  Form two oval loaves.  Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet (or parchment on a baking sheet). 
9. Cover loaves with a dishtowel and let rise about 45 minutes.  During last rise, preheat oven to 400˚F.
10. Before placing in a 400˚F oven, slit loaves.  A few slits are fine but this bread looks dramatic and beautiful with one vertical slit down the cent of each loaf. 
11. Bake 18-20 minutes until the internal temperature reads 195˚F.  Cool on a rack at least 25 minutes before slicing.  

Hand Kneaded Version, 1st rise

Stuffing Bread

This is the time of year I hear very personal recipes for Thanksgiving stuffings and dressings.  Yesterday I heard parts of a secret recipe with four types of mushrooms with sage and chives from the cook’s own garden.  Dried fruits are returning to popularity in some recipes and traditional sausage recipes now include chorizo and homemade ground meat blends.  Even winter squash and Brussels sprouts are squeezing into some family recipes. 

These rightly proud and sometimes secretive cooks often make their specialty a day ahead to keep guests guessing (and coming back for more).  I love the variety and we have our favorites too, an apple-sausage-pecan-cornbread number and from my family oyster stuffing.   But I also like to serve a more plain stuffing for plainer tastes at the table.  It’s a reminder that while we are a food abundant nation, dishes like stuffings and dressings were meal extenders that allowed us to serve more people and were often comprised of inexpensive and more available ingredients—bread, onion, celery—for example. 

The bread would have been homemade, day old and perhaps a bit too hard to eat out of hand.  In a broth and butter soaked stuffing, not a crumb would have been wasted.  These are hectic days but if you own a bread maker you can make your own very plain or secret ingredient version of the traditional turkey side with some homemade bread.  It seems a shame to labor over special ingredients and then mix them with store-bought, processed bread.  This week I am making a wheat and cornmeal loaf that will absorb all the savory flavors in my recipe.  If your recipe calls for a softer, less rustic bread seek out a recipe for a simple wheat bread made with egg and some milk (to soften the crumb) or potato bread made with either mashed potatoes or (real) potato flakes.

Wheat and Cornmeal Stuffing Loaf
Ingredients
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
optional: 1/4 teaspoon each dried herbs (see bonus note below)
1 cup yellow cornmeal (I use a mixture of 2/3 cup finely ground and 1/3 cup coursely ground)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Method

1. Place the ingredients in your bread maker in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Set the machine to the regular baking cycle (light crust is there is that option).  
2. When loaf is ready, remove and cool completely.  Slice into cubes or tear into chunks and set on a tray to dry for several hours.  (You may speed this up by placing trays in a warm oven, below 200˚F for 30-45 minutes.)  
3. Cool bread cubes before storing in an airtight container until ready to use.  Store dried bread at room temperature 1-2 days or freeze up to 3 months.

Bonus: If your stuffing recipe has sage, thyme or another dried herb you can add a 1/4 teaspoon of each into this bread recipe.

Note:
In our family we still call it stuffing even though we cook it outside the bird these days. While the turkey rests we bake the stuffing and other side dishes in the hot oven.  This safer method allows the un-stuffed turkey to cook more quickly and the stuffing will also be fully cooked and hot in no time as well.  If you think you will miss the moistness the bird’s juices impart to stuffing cooked inside the bird, add some extra broth to your recipe before baking it in a separate covered dish and baste halfway through with some pan drippings.  You can also reheat stuffing in the microwave and finish it off in the  oven if you like a bit of a crust.

Pies-Pies-Pies

Tarte Tatin alongside the cast iron skillet it was baked in.

Earlier this fall I got a hot tip.  It came from a very reliable source over at a certain cable network.  Pies will be the next big thing.  Move over cupcakes. 

You may have already noticed the signs and not just because Thanksgiving pie season is upon us.  Whole slices of pie are suddenly finding their way into our smoothies.  They are getting baked into stunt cakes at the Reading Market in Philadelphia.  Popular pie flavors like apple, key lime and Boston cream pie have been flavoring our yogurt for some time now.

But the real thing has always been big around here. My family was in the pie manufacturing business when I was in high school and through osmosis I learned about Michigan’s cherry harvests and the educational needs of migrant workers’ children.   I helped my mother sort through pie filling recipes  destined to go on the package of the unbaked pie shell crust product. During the holidays we kids helped my parents deliver thank you pies to everyone who had helped us out the year before—especially the mechanics at the garage who kept my mother’s carpool station wagon alive (somehow).  

Later, I worked at Pillsbury’s advertising agency in New York City while they were developing their hugely successful Refrigerated Pie Crust product.   (We called it by its "code name," ARPC –all ready pie crust--- during the test marketing).  

One day, our small media planning team was asked to join a taste test in our company's kitchens.  Could tell the difference between three apple pies?  One was baked using the Pillsbury test product, one was baked with an all butter crust and one used a lard crust. The test product was good, more than good, as sales have shown these past 25 years.  Still, I was able to distinguish between the three and knew in a flash that the one everyone adored (and my foodie boss thought was made with butter) was the lard crust.  The test product came in a strong second and the butter crust was third. 

What’s special about a lard crust?  It creates those flakes we love and keeps a pie from feeling leaden in out tummies.  (These days many people use a half butter/half lard recipe to get both flavor and flakiness.) 

Despite my pie company formative years, the real reason I could identify the perfect flaky crust was that my godmother had taught me to make pie dough a few years earlier.  This was the pie we ate when we spent Thanksgiving or Christmas at her home.  One year I asked for the recipe.  She said, “No.”

This year's apple mincemeat pie, ready for the oven.  Note the streaks of white lard, visible in the unbaked crust.  Flakiness is good.

And after a breath said, “But I will show you how and then you can have the written recipe.”  

Turns out there’s a bit of technique involved.  It helps to feel the cool flour in your hands, see the cornmeal texture emerge between fat and flour, and intuit the amount of moisture in the air versus ice cold water in the measuring cup. It is tricky to describe but so easy once you've seen it done. 

So I’m afraid I'll have to stick with tradition.  No written recipe today—but one day I promise I will demonstrate how to make a perfect pie crust.  Or maybe there is someone special in your family who will show you the ropes.  For many of us, cooking together is one of the finest holiday traditions we know.  And whether you roll out your own dough or one from the dairy case, it’s hard to go wrong if you are in the kitchen with a loved one. 

If you’ve been taught by a master as I was, this may be the year to start making an extra pie for your teacher or to show someone else how to do it. 

Carrot Coconut Bran Muffins

The muffin pan has been out recently to make Breakfast Egg Cups for the weekdays.  The weekend is calling out a different tune: bran muffins with carrot cake overtones.  I extracted from a few favorite bran muffin recipes to make this low fat version and then added my favorite extras- grated carrot, coconut, raisins and walnuts.  For you, these can be plain bran muffins or add blueberries or dried cranberries and almonds, or even some banana  chunks (1 small banana) and chopped peanuts.

Carrot Coconut Bran Muffins with Walnuts and Raisins
Makes 12 regular muffins
Ingredients
1 cup unprocessed (miller's) wheat bran
1 1/3 cup white whole wheat four (or half all purpose, half whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup whole wheat flour (spoon into a measuring cup and level top)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cups low-fat or skim milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Method

1. Preheat to 350°.  Lightly spray twelve regular size muffin cups with oil. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine bran, flours, baking soda, and salt.  
3. In a small bowl combine grated carrots, raisins, coconut and walnuts.
4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, sugar, applesauce, egg, oil and vanilla. 
5. Add the carrot mixture to the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly with a spoon or your (very clean) hands.  Make a well in the center of this dry mixture, and pour in the liquid mixture. Using a spoon, stir just until combined. Spoon the batter equally among the prepared muffin cups. Bake until the tops spring back when pressed gently in the center, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing from the cups. Enjoy immediately or cool completely on the rack.  Cooled muffins can be stored in an airtight container 2 days or placed in plastic bags and frozen for up to 2 months.

These are moist so yo can enjoy them plain or, to bring our the carrot cake lurking inside, dab yours with a little softened cream cheese.

Pie Dough Samosas

Samosas are an appetizer from India.  Triangular dough pockets are filled with mild mixture of cooked potatoes and peas and are served with yogurt based sauces like cucumber raita or mint chutney for dipping.  When you order samosas at Indian restaurants they are fried.  At home, you can make these with pie dough and bake them, avoiding the fryer. The difference is subtle and your stomach will thank you because it’s hard not to eat a bunch of these. 

One complete recipe for pie dough (top and bottom) will yield 10-12 samosas.  You can use a prepared pie dough from the store if you are not a regular on the baking scene.  The triangles are formed from 5" rounds cut out from rolled out dough.  I use a small bowl—about 5 inches across as my template.  The potato and pea filling can be very mild or a spiced up curry version.  Cooked cauliflower can be mixed in or replace the potatoes.  Cooked sweet potatoes, butternut squash or pumpkin can also be used and are really fun around Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Here’s how:


Pie Dough Samosas
Makes 10-12 pieces. Serving size: 3 samosas
Pie dough-enough for 2 12-14 inch discs rolled out

Filling
1 tablespoon canola
1/2 white onion
4 medium boiling potatoes, peeled , boiled and diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1-3 teaspoons curry powder*
1/2 cup water
egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water.

Method

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  While oil heats, peel and chop onion.  
2. Saute onion in oil until it is tender and just beginning to color.  
3. Add cooked potatoes,  frozen peas, curry powder and water.  Stir to combine.  Lower heat and cover partially.  Cook down,  about 3 minutes until peas are heated through and potatoes have soaked up curry mixture.  
4. Remove cover and continue to cook on low until the sauce is thickened and coats vegetables.   Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before proceeding. (Filling may be prepared ahead and chilled overnight.)
5. Preheat oven to 425˚F.  
6. To make samosas, roll out pie dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a small bowl or 5”diameter round cookie cutter to cut out 4 rounds from each disc.  Knead leftover dough together and place in refrigerator to keep chilled.  
7. Place a scoop (2-3 tablespoons) of the cooled filling in the center of each round.  Paint the edges with egg wash and bring up the sides of each dough circle from 3 sides so they meet at a point at the top.  Press together the dough along the three seams.  It is fine to leave a small opening at the top to allow steam to escape when baking.  
8. Place samosas on a baking sheet as they are made.  Roll out the remaining dough to get 2-3 more round discs.  When samosas are assembled, you may leave them plain or paint them with leftover egg wash to help the dough brown.  
9. Bake at 425˚F for 18 minutes, until dough is cooked. 
10.  Serve immediately or cool and refrigerate overnight.  Reheat in a 400˚F oven for 15-20 minutes. 

Serve samosas with Indian condiments including mint or mango chutney, hot sauce and cooling yogurt raita.

To make Raita:
1 cup plain yogurt  (whole, low-fat, nonfat or Greek are all OK)
1/4 cup grated cucumber (peel cucumber if not waxed)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (start with a 1/4 if you are not used to Indian foods)
1/8 teaspoon salt, coriander and mint
Stir it all together and let sit about 30 minutes for herbs and spices to blend.

Raita is one of those things you can really customize to suit your tastes.  With samosas you are going for a cooling effect but if your tastes veer toward spicy, you can add grated onion, a bit or fresh garlic, cayenne, etc.

*Curry Powder
In my Massaman Curry  (Three Curries, March 1, 2010) I discuss curry blends and how to make your own.  For samosas you can use a blend sitting on your shelf or make it fresh. To make your own for this recipe combine: 1 teaspoon tumeric, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/8 teaspoon each cayenne, oregano, paprika, cinnamon.  To make this spicy, add a good pinch of cayenne.

No Fuss Granola; Pure & Simple

Even though granola sounds healthy some store bought versions include some iffy ingredients or need some processing to be shelf stable. Homemade granola can be so simple and this no fuss version uses just a few pantry items. Fewer ingredients not only gives you a pure flavor, its saves time so you will make your own granola more often.  Here’s our honed down version with our favorite flavors.  It used to have twice the number of ingredients and we think it tastes better pared back.

No Fuss Granola
Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/3 cup each wheat germ, coconut, sliced almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup each vegetable oil, maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
post-bake add ins: 1 cup dried fruits including raisins, cherries, chopped apricots or figs, etc

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300˚F.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (oats through salt) and stir to combine thoroughly.  
3. Add liquid ingredients: oil, maple syrup and vanilla.  Stir to coat all dry ingredients.  (You may use your very clean hands).  
4. Pour granola mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet and spread out evenly.  Bake a total of 25-30 minutes until oats are crisp and lightly browned.  Check and stir mixture halfway through cooking to gauge progress.  
5. Cool cooked granola and, once cool, add dried fruit.  Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. (It won’t last that long.) 

Your No Fuss Granola
Toasted coconut and almonds spiked with vanilla and cinnamon flavor our favorite granola.  Make substitutions for these ingredients slowly to find your favorite yet still pure flavor profile.  Oat flakes aren’t the only grain – try wheat or rye flakes or a five-grain flakes mixture as your base.  If you don’t like coconut, skip it and add sunflower or sesame seeds.  Try replacing the almonds with other nuts like walnuts, chopped hazelnuts, peanuts or even pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds).  Almond extract is an alternative to vanilla and nutmeg, ginger or cardamon can stand in for cinnamon.  After baking add tropical dried fruits from mangoes and pineapple to banana chips and papaya.  Some households I know will try a chocolate chip version.  :)  And others will experiment with cayenne or chai spices.  Let me know how that goes.

Baked Oatmeal Sqaures

This is the pure on-the-go oatmeal breakfast I have been dreaming of for many years.  Oatmeal muffins, cookies and breakfast bars are good but have too many other ingredients to really qualify as a breakfast that can kick off a morning.  Baked oatmeal squares taste like oatmeal in the bowl, and now, in your hand.

I made the first batch plain and the second with dried fruit and nuts (cherries and almonds).  Both were so tasty, not too sweet and pleasantly moist.  The squares and wedges can be cut and eaten right out of the oven, topped with some yogurt and sliced fruit, or cooled and then cut into portions for the road.  Keep individually wrapped portions refrigerated (or frozen) then put them in your bag on the way out the door.  They are really good room temperature and even better warmed in the microwave when you get to work. 

There are as many flavor variations as you can think of but one thing is not negotiable.  The oats have to soak over night (or eight hours) so you have to plan ahead to enjoy these.  The key to the recipe’s moisture and texture is that the oats are soft and have absorbed the liquid before the batter goes in the oven. On the bright side, it took me less than five minutes to mix the ingredients together last night for this morning’s treat.  In fact I did it during a commercial break.  This morning, while the oven heated to 350˚F, I poured the batter into an oil-sprayed metal pie plate and then baked it for thirty minutes. 

Try this simple version first.  If you like it you can double the recipe and have baked oatmeal squares all week long.  You can also experiment with your favorite flavors.  I’ve listed a few suggestions. 

Baked Oatmeal Squares
Makes 4 large squares or wedges

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk (go for the buttermilk if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Combine all ingredients together in the vessel you’ll be soaking it in.  A bowl covered with plastic wrap, a 1-quart plastic food storage container, etc.  
2. Place covered container in refrigerator and let it sit at least 8 hours.  Note: Oats absorb liquid best in more acidic environments.  If you think you’ll remember, you can wait to add the baking powder and salt after soaking the rest of the ingredients to keep the ph-level acidic.  
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350˚F.  Spray an 8” pie plate or baking pan with oil.  
4. If you are adding fruit, nuts or other goodies, stir them into the batter at this stage.  (If you haven’t added the baking powder and salt yet, do this now.)  
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  I like to sprinkle on a little cinnamon sugar just before it goes in the oven for a little brûlée effect.   
6. Bake oatmeal at 350˚F for 30 minutes, until oatmeal is firm in the center.  Remove from oven and enjoy. 

Mix-Ins:
1/4 cup dried cherries and 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 small apple or pear, chopped in small pieces
1/4 cup blueberries or sliced strawberries
1/4 cup fruit jam (fig, raspberry, apricot, etc) or nut butter swirled into batter
Replace half the brown sugar with 1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup raisins and chopped peanuts
1/2 cup total of chopped dried fruit—try apricots, cranberries, mango, orange peel
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (it will still have less sugar than a pop tart)
1/2 sliced banana

Can’t wait until tomorrow morning.  Wish I had bananas in the house.

Acknowledgments:
I started with the recipe for baked oatmeal from Pattycake (http://pattycake.ca/node/382) who in turn adapted it from Macheesemo (http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/06/baked-oatmeal/).  Quaker Oats has a version using instant rolled oats that doesn’t require soaking but it doesn’t travel.  I’ll be working on a version using ground oats (a Scottish version of pinhead oats) that will likely take much more soaking time but will be extraordinary.

Holiday Bread Pudding

This is a festive and light holiday dessert that combines several seasonal favorites.   Cinnamon-sugar, almonds and sliced pears nestle into a loaf of eggnog infused bread pudding. We like ours with raisins but dried cranberries or cherries make the season bright too.  Leftovers make a terrific post holiday “French toast.”  Individual slices can be re-heated in the oven or grilled then dusted with extra cinnamon or powdered sugar. 

Bread pudding using an eggnog base makes sense since eggnog is basically a custard—milk, eggs and sugar.  If you have homemade eggnog leftover from a party, this is a good use for it.  You can also use store-bought eggnog.  Since the eggnog is cooked in the dessert, there is no raw egg in this recipe.

At this time of year it is easy to find fruited breads or ones made with eggs like challah, pannetone and paska.  You can use regular cinnamon-raisin bread for this recipe (or even regular bread) but if you have some day old holiday bread, pick that.  This recipe uses about half a loaf of most breads.  

Pear and Cinnamon Eggnog Holiday Bread Pudding
Ingredients
6-8 slices of raisin, paska or challah bread  (4 cups of 1/2 inch cubes)
(1/2 cup raisins if bread does not have raisins already)
12 ounces eggnog
2 eggs
1 ounce rum or brandy (optional)
1/4-1/3 cup sugar*
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash salt
1 pear, cored and sliced (peel if thick skinned)
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

Method

1. Lightly oil a 9x5 loaf pan with canola oil.  
2. Place bread cubes in a wide bowl.  
3. Combine eggnog, eggs, liquor if using, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a smaller bowl or 2-cup measuring cup. Whisk with a fork to break up eggs and combine thoroughly.  
4. Pour eggnog mixture over bread cubes and toss lightly to cover all the bread with liquid. Move bread cubes to the prepared pan and press slices of pear into pudding so that slices are 2/3 submerged.  
5. Sprinkle top with almonds and cinnamon sugar.   (Bread pudding may be covered and refrigerated at this point overnight or for several hours.) 
6. Now, preheat oven to 375˚F.  (If you have not stored the bread pudding, waiting while the oven preheats will give the bread cubes time to absorb the liquid.)  
7. When oven is pre-heated, bake bread pudding, uncovered, for 45 minutes.  Test in the center with a skewer for doneness.  Pudding is done when skewer comes out clean but still moist (no uncooked egg mixture on skewer) and pudding pulls away from sides of pan.  Let bread pudding rest about 10 minutes before serving. 

Serve slices warm with a scoop of plain , whole yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream and if desired a teaspoon of maple syrup.  Keep leftovers refrigerated. 

*Eggnog recipes vary.  Some are sweeter than others.  Test your mixture by using the lower amount of sugar and heating a bread cube doused with a few teaspoons of the eggnog mixture.  (Microwave on low for 30-45 seconds or until egg is cooked through).  Taste the cooked egg and bread and adjust for sweetness.

Fresh Soft Breadsticks

Serve breadsticks in a unique glass

This is mostly a passive recipe that requires a few minutes of your attention at the start and finish and rewards you with a batch of warm breadsticks.  Sprinkled with some grated Parmesan cheese, they make a simple soup or spaghetti dinner special or a nice coffee treat when dredged in a bit of cinnamon sugar.  Topped with some coarse salt, they will remind you of soft pretzels.  Serve them at a cocktail party with a honey-mustard sauce.  If you have never worked with yeast doughs, this is a good starter recipe. 

Soft Breadsticks Dough
Makes about 36 breadsticks

Ingredients
1 cup water, 100-110˚F
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (1 packet)
large pinch of sugar
3 cups bread flour
optional toppings: grated Parmesan cheese, cinnamon sugar or coarse salt

Method

1. Start dough up to an hour and a half before you want to serve bread sticks.  Add 1 cup of water, 100-110˚F, to a large bowl.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over water and stir lightly.  Let mixture sit for 5 minutes to allow yeast to bloom.  If you do not see a bloom cap forming over water within 8 minutes, your yeast may be old.  You will need to start again with fresh yeast.
2. When yeast has bloomed, stir in 2 cups of flour.  Turn a wooden spoon upside down to use the handle as a good mixer.  
3. When flour is incorporated, turn dough onto a floured board and begin to need, adding the last cup of flour in as you go.  On drier days, not all the flour will be required.  Knead dough for 8 minutes, until dough is elastic and no longer sticky.  Don’t worry too much if you are new to the process and not sure of the texture.   This is a very forgiving dough. 
4. Place dough in a medium bowl that has been lightly oiled.  Cover with a dish towel and place in a non-drafty spot at least 70˚K (near the stove works well).  Let dough rise 50 minutes, until doubled in size.
5. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
6. Punch down dough and let rest 15 minutes.  This will make the dough easier to roll out.  On a floured counter tip or board, roll out dough to into a large rectangle about 12” X 16”.  
7. Cut dough in strips about 1/2 inch wide to make 32 strips.  Twist the strips and fold them in half so that the two ends twist around each other or leave them long for a dramatic effect.  Lay each strip on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.  
8. For breadsticks, brush strips with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese before baking. For cinnamon sticks, brush with melted butter and cover with cinnamon sugar (2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon) before baking. For soft “pretzels,” brush with water and baking soda (dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a 1/4 cup water) and sprinkle with coarse salt before baking.  
9. Bake at 400˚F for 15 minutes, until nicely browned.  Remove from pan and cool just a few minutes before serving. 

Leftover breadsticks don’t keep well.  If you have leftovers or want to make a batch ahead, store them in the freezer and reheat them uncovered in a oven or toaster oven at medium temperature (300-350˚F) or about 10 minutes.