My first Tuesday with Dorie

I mentioned a while ago that I had gotten a great deal on Dorie Greenspan’s newest book and that I was trying a few of her recipes. I was inspired to even buy the book and learn more about who Dorie was after seeing many of the food bloggers I read link to the Tuesdays with Dorie  group.  Week after week they would post these tasty looking treats.  I debated joining the group, hemmed and hawed about it long enough that the group was closed to new members.  Then something happy happy happy happened.  Last week they opened the group to new members. 

I greatly fear failure, which perhaps seems to not match with joining a baking group in which you post your results each week.  At the same time I like trying new things so I pushed myself into joining and begin posting my 2-4 recipes a month.  I want to try new things and have any excuse to bake.  But I worry that I will not be able to keep up and then feel such guilt that I won’t maintain my member status.  So I worry.  If you know me though, I worry about pretty much everything so this is nothing new. 

On to my cooking adventure for this week.  Dorie’s Blueberry Crumb Cake.  In the easiest sense it is a coffee cake.  I am never a huge fan of coffee cake which doesn’t mean that I won’t eat it, it just means that I am not apt to grab it on the breakfast buffet.  One of the things that I like most about Dorie’s recipes is that she offers adaptations and variations to many of her recipes.  I always want to try something a little different to make my recipe stand out from the rest and I loved the option of adding orange zest instead of lemon zest.  The orange zest really gave the blueberry cake a bright little pop of flavor but I think I should have measured the quantity a little better instead of guestimating, which I tend to do a lot! 

My only issue with the cake was the topping.  Mine had a pool of butter in the center while baking even though the edges were browning and finished.  Even I, who eats pretty much anything under the sun with flour, sugar and butter, don’t like a dry cake, so I pull it out of the oven with the pool of butter.  There were suggestions of chilling the topping mixture before placing on top of the cake but I have decided that I would just lessen the amount of butter in the topping if I were to make it again. 

I also felt that the topping was a bit more crunchy than the typical crumb topping. I envision crumb topping to be crumbs not a firm layer of sweetness.  The recipe was quite tasty and if you are looking for a good standby blueberry crumb cake recipe, this is one to try.  The recipe can be found at Zihan’s website, as she chose the recipe for the week.

Dorie’s Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of my all time favorite treats.  I loved it enough to have it as my wedding cake.  It was ridiculous to pay that much for a wedding cake for only a small number of people but hell, I am planning on sticking with the one I picked! 

Cheesecake falls into two worlds, French style and New York style.  Simply put, french style is more pudding and creamy like while NY style is way better.  Okay, not the real story but NY style is much more firm and dense.  The Tuesday’s with Doriegroup is baking their way through the Dorie Greenspan book one Tuesday at a time.  I have been watching the group from afar so when I found the regularly priced $45 book at TJ Maxx for $10 I grabbed it and ran like a demon.  That crazy TJ Maxx had no idea that even Amazon.com was selling it for four times that price.   The book is a bit more than just a cookbook.  Dorie gives variations of almost every recipe and also tells stories about a lot of her recipes and how they came to life.  I have spent hours pouring over the recipes and stories deciding which one would be my first test.  If you don’t know who Dorie is, just imagine being good enough to work with some of the legends of the cooking world and there you have it, Dorie Greenspan. 

This cheesecake recipe is relatively simple in ingredients, but does require a few extra steps to make the recipe like boiling water for the hot water bath and allowing the cheesecake to set for a hour in the oven after baking.  I was nervous the cheesecake would be underdone since it was very white on top after baking.  Then I was nervous that the cheesecake would overbake since it sat in the oven that extra hour.  Now I realize that Dorie has worked with people like Julia Child for a reason, she knows what the heck she is doing. 

The recipe turns out gorgeously.  Perfectly creamy and thick.  Rich enough to make you only need a small slice.  Perfect with a berry glaze on top.  I also melted some chocolate chips with a tablespoon of peanut butter for a different take on the same cheesecake.  I rarely top the cheesecake with anything immediately after baking since everyone has their own preference.  I like to be able to choose my topping! 

My instructions for a berry glaze follow the recipe. 

Tall and Creamy Cheesecake: From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

16 servings

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two

Directions
To make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap  the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist.  Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don’t worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn’t have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

3.Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle or large pot of water on to boil.

2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.

4.  Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

7.  When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight is best. 

Berry Puree

Ingredients

3-4 cups frozen berries

water

1/4 cup sugar

1-2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Directions

Most berries have about two million seeds but making a puree is relatively easy.  

1. To make a berry glaze puree frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc…) with a bit of water until smooth. 

2. Strain with a cheesecloth into small saucepan. 

3.  Add sugar to berries.  It will depend on your berry, so be sure to taste test. 

4.  Bring berry mixture to a boil. 

5. Mix cornstarch with  water and slowly add to berry puree while whisking.  The cornstarch will thicken the berry mixture almost immediately, so only add cornstarch until it is desired thickness.

Allow to cool and pour over individual slices of cheesecake. 

 

Apple Walnut Muffins with Honey Cinnamon Frosting

 

 

There are recipes that you make and forget about.  This is not one of them.  Between the apple dotted muffins and a frosting that can be used on banana muffins or really any fruit muffin, this recipe combo will be at the front of the recipe binder.   The apple in this muffin keeps the recipe extremely moist and a bit unique.  It is a break from the traditional banana or blueberry breakfast muffin. 

The frosting comes from my favorite banana cupcake and my beloved Martha Stewart.  The apple muffin originally has a crumb topping but that was a bit to traditional.  I felt since I was making a rare apple muffin, I should put a sweet unique frosting on it.  This frosting is not thick and cake frosting like, but has enough flavor to stand out. 

The original recipe for the muffins suggests slicing the apples, but I find that dicing the apple allows it to soften completely during baking yet still gives you the taste of apple you are looking for.  If you try the recipe with whole slices, let me know how it turns out.

 

Apple Walnut Muffin adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

2 cups peeled, cored and diced apples

1/2 cup walnuts finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Coat top and insides of muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/4 cups sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at time. Mix together the 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in apples and walnuts. Scoop into muffin cups to fill 3/4 full.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If they are browning too quickly, cover with tin foil. Remove from pans, and cool on wire rack.
4. When cool, frost with Honey Cinnamon Frosting

Honey Cinnamon Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 pkg cream cheese (4 oz), softened

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a medium bowl mix all ingredients until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes

 

Weekly Menu

We’re getting some white winter weather here in Pennsylvania and I can’t help but say I love it.  Since the snow was expected all day long Saturday, I ended up planning my menu for the week on Friday and heading to the store right after work. 

-  We didn’t get to the chili last week, so it got bumped to the menu for this week.  Sweet cornbread will be included again. 

- Szechwan Chicken and Shrimp.  This is something that I absolutely love and what I usually order at Chinese restaurants.  If you have never eaten Szechwan anything, be warned - it is spicy.  On Chinese menus there is usually a chili pepper sign next to it. 

- Baked Salmon and Old BayShrimp with sweet potatoes and salad.  Have you ever used Old Bay seasoning?  It is a staple for those of us that grew up in the Mid Atlantic states.  They even sell Old Bay seasoned potato chips.  In regards to salmon, that is for my husband.  He told me some things about salmon, he is a fisheries PhD student, and ever since then I have not been able to stomach it.  I will not tell you anything he told me just because I want you to eat the nutritious fish. 

- Meatball subs with oven fries.  I made these in the past for a recipe challenge, but I think I may try a new recipe this time.  We also used these only for meatball subs so this time it might be a good idea to freeze some to use in spaghetti.  For oven fries, I simply use regular baking potatoes.  Slice them into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices (think similar to steak fries).  Season them with onion salt, garlic powder and a little dash of paprika.  If you want, dice some onion, green pepper and garlic and toss it all with one to two tablespoons of olive oil.  Bake at 400 for 55 minutes turning once.  Mmm. 

-Finally, I am making a mexican inspired recipe from Cooking Light.  Yes, Mexican and Cooking Light.  Crazy.  My current town really lacks in good Mexican food, so I do anything to make authentic tasting Mexican food.  Here is to hoping that this Chicken Tamale Casserole is tasty.

 

I don’t have any sweet treats in line for this week, but I am preparing for hosting a baby shower next week so I am open to any suggestions for appetizers  and sweets.  Any suggestions?

Spinach Artichoke Dip

When I first started trying new recipes on my own, this is one that I created for a bridal shower.  Dips seem like a shower or party type food but something I rarely make to have on hand at home for just my husband and I.  I wanted a cold spinach and artichoke dip, nothing that had to be baked or kept warm.   I prefer to start with fresh spinach and let it cook down with the other ingredients rather than use frozen, but I am sure that if you drain and defrost frozen spinach appropriately, you could use frozen. 

This dip is best after it has refrigerated overnite or at least for several hours.  The flavors seem very simple but after setting overnite, they become better and better.  I like to use a pita cracker or multigrain cracker.  I have been using the Nabisco Toasted Chips – Wheat Thins in multigrain flavor.  I prefer to stick to a plain cracker as the dip has lots of flavor. 

Ingredients

1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)

1- 16 oz sour cream

1 – 10 oz jar/can of marinated artichoke hearts (in oil or water is fine since they are drained prior to cooking

4 cloves of garlic (diced)

1 – 6 oz bag spinach (baby or regular)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

1. In a medium bowl mix softened cream cheese and sour cream until smooth - set aside.

2. Heat a medium sauce pan to medium heat.  Drain and rough chop the artichokes and add to the pan.  Add garlic.  

3. Begin rough chopping the spinach, being sure to remove any exceptionally long stems that you may see.  They will cook down, so it is not essential that you get each and every one.   Add chopped spinach to pan and allow to cook down for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.  The spinach will reduce down incredibly. 

4. Allow the spinach, artichoke and garlic mixture to cool for about ten minutes.  Add cooled ingredients to sour cream and cream cheese mixture.  Add all but one or two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and mix.  Top with remaining Parmesan for decoration. 

5. Place in fridge overnite or for several hours to cool. 

 

Be sure to take this to someones home or it will tempt you will eat much more than intended. 

 

Notes:  

I use reduced fat cream cheese and light sour cream and the dish is still mighty tasty.   I am not sure about how fat free items would work. 

I prefer to use fresh grated Parmesan cheese because it seems have a better flavor and be softer in the dip. If you only have shaker parmesean around, feel free to add some of that. 

Weekly Menu

Every weekend I head to the grocery store, typically on Saturday morning.  I like to go around 8:00 am so that I am not crowded and can wander the aisles with my list.  My list is planned with care, each section and aisle is known well enough that I write out the grocery list with the aisle in mind.  I save the deli and produce section for last and start at the back, in the reverse of most people, at the sodas and dairy case. 

Before I head to the store, I prepare my list based upon household necessities like toilet paper and laundry detergent and then based upon the menu for the week.  I like to have five meal ideas for the week, as I know that one nite will inevitably lead to something quick like spaghetti or burritos and .  quesadillas

I have found that making a meal list and writing it on the dry erase board in our kitchen makes it much easier to come home at nite and eat something home cooked.  It also makes it easier to not waste ingredients you have on hand.  If I know there is chicken in the freezer, I try to come up with a meal using chicken.  It is also helpful to make the menu ahead in case you have guests coming over, that way you know to pick up any special ingredients you may not typically have on hand. 

My husband and I also plan our lunches for the week and having all neccesary items such as sandwich bread and fruit make it much less tempting to pay for a meal out. 

This week I have planned the following meals:

Homemade pizza - Crust recipe found here  , I’m trying a new one.  I use basic low moisture, part skim mozzarella and always grate my own since it melts better, I think.  I will use turkey pepperoni by Hormel and my favorite sauce of all time.  It is only sold regionally but you can buy it online.  I buy it at my hometown grocery store, usually six at a time, when I am visiting family.  I also like to saute some crushed or diced garlic and sliced mushrooms in olive oil to throw on top my half of the pizza. 

Beefy vegetable soup with grilled cheese- I have to admit I don’t like vegetable soup.  This my first attempt at making it and I am open to any and all advice.  My husband loves it with a creamy grilled cheese, so I am obliging him and attempting to make some. 

Roast, mashed potatoes and corn – The roast will be prepared in the crock pot to allow it to become as tender as possible. 

Chili and sweet cornbread – I attempted about ten recipes for chili until I came up with one that I like. I’ll share the recipe later this week.  I love cornbread but only sweet cornbread.  I never realized how easy it is to make until my non-baking sister scoffed at me for using a mix.  I use a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. 

I like to try one or two new recipes a week and typically those are baking recipes, but I am going out on a limb this week and trying a new main dish meal.  I was watching our local public broadcasting station and they had a macaroni and cheese recipe that looked divine.  Most likely this will be served with a grilled chicken breast and salad since the macaroni and cheese is enough to give you a heart attack!

I only have one dessert planned for this week and it is a black raspberry pie from the stock of black raspberries in our freezer.  Mmmm.  Vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream will top it!.

Crockpot Chicken

When fall rolls around, I start wanting foods that are warm and comforting.  A simple roasted chicken is absolutely the perfect fall food with a heaping side of mashed potatoes and corn.  This roasted chicken dish comes out absolutely perfect everytime and even provides enough broth for gravy if you want to make your own.  The chicken is moist enough to simply fall off the bone.  With only two people eating the chicken, there are typically are enough leftovers for chicken salad or chicken pot pie.  This meal is a great way to stretch your grocery store budget as many times you can find the chicken on sale for less than a dollar a pound. 

If you love your crockpot, try this recipe, it won’t disappoint!

 

Crockpot Chicken- serves 2-4 people 

1  4-5 lb roasting chicken

Spices to taste

Water

 

1. Remove chicken from plastic wrap and check for any bags of nasties inside.  If there are nasties inside, run screaming remove and discard.

2.  Place breast side up in a crockpot and cover 1/2 to 3/4 way with water

3.  Sprinkle the top of the chicken with desired herbs and spices.  I like a few of the McCormick spices, either the Chicken Rub or my personal favorite which is the Cracked Peppercorn Herb Roasting Rub.  I use approximately 1-2 tsp of spices. 

4.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  I recommend on high for four hours as the meat seems to fall apart less on high. 

5.  Use the broth in the crockpot to make gravy if desired. 

 

Serve and try not to eat any before it hits the plates!

Fall Favorites: Apple Dumplings

Once the weather starts to turn cool, there is nothing that I like better than something made of fresh apples from one of our local orchards.  If is has butter, sugar and flour, I’ll probably like it even more!  Using apples that are meant for baking will create a better dumpling as they tend to soften quicker.  Consider using Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith or other apples known to be better for baking. 

Apple dumplings are a great alternative to making an entire apple pie.  You can edit the recipe to do as many or as few apples as you would like.  Top a warm dumpling with cinnamon ice cream for a few extra calories!

Apple Dumplings – Ladies of Whips Cove Church

Dumpling

5-6 medium apples (peeled and cored)

2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk

Sauce

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup butter

1.  Preheat oven to 375F degrees.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.  Cut in shortening until crumbs are size of small peas. 

4.  Pour milk over flour mixture by the tablespoon until dough is completely moisten and you can form it into a ball.  Do not handle more than necessary. 

5.  Place dough to cool in fridge for at least one hour (or freezer for 30 minutes) 

6. Roll dough as for pastry, approximately 1/3 inch thick and cut into 6 squares.

7.  Place an apple on each square and fold pastry to surround apple. You can also cut the apples in half and wrap in pastry for smaller dumplings. 

8.  Place in a casserole dish.  Depending on the size of your apples, use a 9×9 pan.  If your apples are larger, use a 9×13 cake pan.  You will need to have room for all the sauce. 

9.  Combine brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a saucepan.

10.  Boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat. Don’t worry, it will be runny at this point. 

11.  Add butter and stir.

12.  Pour sauce over dumplings.

13.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, brush pastry with sauce twice during baking.  You can also use a turkey baster for this step.

Soft Sugar Cookies

 

These are perhaps the best sugar cookies that I have ever made.  I could have simply frozen the dough in small balls and tossed it in ice cream, it was that good.  There was several spoonfuls of dough that never even made it to the oven.  Last year I tried Pioneer Woman’s sugar cookies and I have to say that I thought they were a big old failure. The flavor was very good. But the texture and the brittleness of the cookie was so frustrating.

These, from Jenny over at Picky Palate, are perfect.  Soft, moist, easy to roll out and cut and they have stayed moist for four days already.  I should eat more to ensure that they are still moist. 

I made these for the sad and pitiful Tennessee Football party that we held on Monday and everyone kept asking where I bought them.  I think that is one of the biggest compliments that you could recieve.  Someone could think that they were good enough that you could never make them at home. 

I started with Jenny’s recipe and did not alter it a bit.  I debated adding some orange zest since I was making this an orange themed dessert.  Instead I made Paula Dean’s orange cream cheese icing.  I edited her recipe a bit by adding about one and a half more cups of powdered sugar and food coloring to make the icing orange colored.  I did have one person comment that they thought the icing was Easy Cheese because of the color, so perhaps next time I should make the icing even oranger.  I didn’t want to frighten anyone with florescent orange icing but next time I just might! 

 

Paula’s icing could be altered to any fruit flavor you might like, think grapefruit, lemon, lime or even strawberry.  But as is, these were a hit and I have finally found a sugar cookie recipe that I think could beat out any other out there.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cups

If you are anything like me, you love peanut butter.  You love chocolate.  What about cheesecake.  Some people might be lost there, but not me.  I love cheesecake enough that it was our wedding cake.  Let me tell you that a cheesecake big enough to serve the very small wedding that we had cost almost as much as most people will pay for a cake for 150 people.  Ouch.  Oh weddings and how you pay out the wazoo for everything. 

Wait.  Focus.  Cheesecake.  Peanut Butter Cheesecake cups.  A good friend, close enough friend that I would consider her like family, celebrated her birthday last week.  She absolutely loves peanut butter and chocolate and typically I make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing for her, but this time I wanted something different.  The original recipe was a full cheesecake, but I knew that one large cheesecake for two people is a bit much even if it is tasty, so I decided to try to adapt it to cupcakes.  Then I realized I was missing ingredients.  Then I realized I did not know what adding peanut butter to the recipe would do to it.  So I just began to wing it.  Then when I realized that I was using the crust up way to quickly and I had to make more mid baking.  The recipe was more of a guide.  But sweet mother.  I will make these sweet babies again and again.  I received rave reviews from both the birthday girl and folks at the office that received the remainders. 

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cups- Eats and Treats

Yields 20 Cheescake Cups

Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup peanut butter 

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Additional mini chips for topping (1/3 cup)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

For the crust, crush the graham crackers (approximately 8 crackers) and mix with sugar, cocoa and melted butter.  Using a cupcake pan with paper liners, press one and a half tablespoon into liners.   Sprinkle mini chocolate chip crusts on top of crust. 

In large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream and peanut butter.  Mix in sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla.  Mix in chocolate chips by hand. 

Fill paper liners 3/4 full with cheesecake mixture.  Sprinkle tops of cupcakes with remaining chocolate chips.  Bake in oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from pans and allow to cool on wire racks for one hour.  Cool in fridge for at least four hours before eating.