Peach and blackberry galette.

I love blackberries. I love peaches. They should get married. I used to be able to get good peaches form a roadside orchard, but they closed... now what am I supposed to do?! Well, I came across some good ones at a local market, as well as some local blackberries, and decided I needed pie. Well, my fave crust is a cornmeal pate brisee, b/c its so freaking easy and tasty (and durable, but tender)!


Pate Brisee (makes 2 crusts, so you can save 1 in the freezer!)
2 c AP flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1 t salt
1-2 T sugar
1 c cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
1 T cold vinegar
Ice water

1. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and sugar. Add the butter and work in until sandy with fingers.
2. Add sour cream and vinegar and work in. Slowly sprinkle in the ice water until a nice dough forms.
3. Divide dough in half and put one in the freezer for later! Take the other one and let rest in fridge for 20-30 mins before rolling out to form a disc. This will firm it up a bit so its a little more sturdy. Roll out until about 1/8'' thick and proceed to...

Peach and Blackberry Galette
1 rolled out Pate Brisee crust
2 c blackberries
3 peaches
1/4 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
dash of vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Toss together blackberries, peaches, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch. Arrange fruit mixture on top of the dough, leaving a ~2'' open space around the edge. Fold border over fruit mixture.
3. Brush pastry edges with egg. Bake until crust is golden, ~30-40 minutes.

I realize my border in more than 2'', but whatever, I made a

double so I used the whole pate brisee recipe.

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*******CONGRATS PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!********

BEST apple spice cake ever!!! Seriously.

Dinner at the parents house. This will consist of yummy food and a walk in the woods after dinner, they want to show me the pawpaw grove. We'll need plenty of sustenance for that 20 minute journey, lol. So, I'm bringing dessert. What am I bringing? I decide on something Autumnal, you know, since its Autumn. Well, apples are a fall food, so lets make an apple cake! Hey- I saw one the other day on the kitchn website.

Print.

Buy brandy.

Bake.

OHMYDARWIN! Delicious!!!


Apple spice cake with brown sugar sauce, via the kitchn, with some edits by me.
Cake
1 c golden raisins
1 c brandy
1 c unsulphured dried apple slices, cut into eighths
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 c AP flour
1-1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1-1/2 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 t fresh ground cloves
1-1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c applesauce
3/4 c chopped pecans, toasted
2 medium sized tart cooking apples, such as Northern Spy or Rome Beauty, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Additional butter for greasing the pan

Directions
In a small saucepan, soak the raisins and apples in the brandy for 20 minutes, then heat over med-low for about 10 mins. Do not drain!
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl (of stand or handheld mixer) blend both sugars.
Add the eggs and beat on medium speed until thickened and pale (2 minutes with a machine, 4 to 5 minutes by hand).
Add the cooled melted butter and applesauce mix to blend.
Fold in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just enough to moisten most but not all of the flour.
FOLD in the dried fruit and brandy mixture, chopped pecans, and diced fresh apple.
Don’t fret about the ratio of fruit to batter — there is a remarkable amount of fruit but it bakes into a wonderfully chewy cake.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and set in the center of the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched, a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream (36%)
2-1/2 tablespoons brandy
Directions
Combine the butter, sugars and cream in a small, heavy bottomed saucepan.
Stir this mixture over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to medium and bring the sauce to a very gentle boil, stirring all the while.
Cook 5 more minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the brandy or other liqueur.
Serve immediately, or cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. To rewarm, either microwave the uncovered sauce on low power or transfer the cold caramel to a saucepan and stir over low heat until warm.


Cut the cake and drizzle with a little sauce... mmmmm!!!
We had about 1/4 of it left... between 5 people... since dinnertime. We're not big dessert people either! My little sis (shes 7) declared she likes it more than angel food cake and strawberries, which is her all time fave. (No worries people, I boiled off the -OH for the sis!) The sauce makes it over the top. I would think a scoop of vanilla ice cream would not be amiss. If you want coronary disease and yumminess all in one!

This picture really doesn't do it justice! It bakes up chewy and perfect, I promise!!!

Here is my tasty lunch from today. I thought I would share.
Sammie: Challah slices, avocado, lettuce, white anchovies marinated in mexican spices.
Yogurt: Im addicted to yogurt so whenever I find something new I pick it up. This was actually pretty good! Ill buy it again if I see it!

Happy Late Halloween from Anck Su Namun (me).

Traditional sunday roast, English style.

So I hope to be getting a science research or health care job in England in the spring. PS if anyone can help me with this I will make you lots of goodies!!! Anyhow, this has got me thinking about the food (because heck... its me!) over there. Now a lot of people think that English food is bland boring food. Not so. I have been there twice and I would say its on par with American cuisine, but less fast-foody. They are getting there though, if they arent careful. England has a long history and many classic dishes, the most comical to me being stargazer pie. They have a mecca of different cuisines surrounding them (ie Europe) and plenty of immigrants to bring delicious recipes with them (curries?). BUT there are classics too, well relatively speaking. When I think of English food I think of: PG Tipps, scones, bangers and mash, fish and chips, curry, marmite, McVities anything, roasts, full English brekkie, pasties, bubble and squeak, banoffe... the list goes and goes. Well, I decided lets try some of it before I get there. I have had several of these things, but never a roast dinner. Now let me tell you, I am not the kind of person who eats a lot of meat, let alone big hunks of it. This is precisely the reason I decided to make this dinner. I am more a fresh, light, bright flavors sort of person. I added my own little twists as you will see...

Traditional Sunday Roast, English Style
Salad with spinach, peppers, cukes and tomato.
An olive plate with kalamata, picholine and castelvetrano (my FAVE) olives and brie, goat cheese and cheddar.

Roast beef.
Roast potatoes.
Braised brussel sprouts.
Yorkshire puddings.
Pan gravy.

Meyer lemon cake with eggless lemon curd and Italian butter cream... and PG Tipps tea. :)

The olive plate. I ate all the castelvetrano olives, oops (well, the one bigger green one on the right is the last one). Castelvetrano olives are mild and way less salty than regular olives. I looove them. Aged brie on left, honeyed goat cheese on right.

Roast beef. My family came over so we started to dish it and then I remembered I needed a pic. Lol. Method: used a 2.6 lb top sirloin, night before cut slits and add garlic cloves inside, then rub with seasoned salt. The next day, let rest one hour to come to room temp, then turn oven to 500F. Put in a 9x13 pan: mushroom, celery, carrot and onion scraps and a couple bay leaves, a couple thyme sprigs and a sprig of rosemary. Add 3-4 cups low sodium beef broth. Put on bottom rack of oven. Set roast on top of the pan ON THE RACK above so there will be nice heat circulation and the pan will catch the dripping juice (of which there isn't much). Cook at 500F for 15 mins the bump down to 325 for about 1-1.5 hours. Cook until the internal temp reads 135F, that will give you a med rare center. To make the gravy: strain the pan with the drippings into a bowl, discard scraps. Make a roux on the stove top by heating 3T butter and 3T flour over med heat until light golden. Slowly add the juices from the pan (about a cup at a time) and whiskwhiskwhisk! Drop heat to med-low and simmer for a few mins to thicken. Done deal.

Yorkshire puddings. 4 eggs, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 t salt, 2 c flour. Mix until looks like thick pancake batter. Heat oven to 425F. Put 1t oil (I used EVOO but you can use any oil, shortening or fat like bacon grease) in each of twelve muffin tins. Put into oven until HOT and almost smoking. Pull out oven rack and add some batter into each muffin cup. It should sizzle! Push rack back in and bake for about 25mins, until tall and golden, with some browning on the edges. Mine are hollow, you just cant see it.

Roasted potatoes. I used Nigella Lawson's recipe, with mods. Peel some potatoes. cut into large chunks. Biol for mins, drain. Put into pot and shake up to bash up the edges a little. Add 2T course cornmeal and shake again. Spread onto greased baking sheet and bake at 425F for 45-60mins. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I also made Brussel sprouts but no picture of those.
Here is my meyer lemon cake! YUMMMM. I served it with some PG Tipps tea. Cake recipe from the accidental scientist, its a little dense, but maybe I did something wrong? I wonder how hers turned out? I think next time Ill just make it 4 eggs and no meringue, and add more leavening. Eggless meyer lemon curd (b/c I cant eat very much yolk or my intestines hate me): 1/4c water, 1/2c sugar, 3T cornstarch, 1/2 c meyer lemon juice. Microwave for 3 mins, until thick and... well, goopy. Then add 1T meyer lemon zest and another 1/4c meyer lemon juice. Let cool and whip until spreadable. I made IMBC (italian meringue buttercream) from Joe Pastry, which is kick ass! Go to the site and be amazed, for real. Don't forget the crumb coat on the cake people! It sort of sticks the crumbs into the cake so you have a nice, crumbless frosting job. Crumb coat-fridge-real coat of IMBC-smooth with a hot spatula. I made 2-8'' cakes and cut those into halves, so I would have 4 layers. I smeared lemon curd thickly onto the top and bottom layers and raspberry jam into the middle one. There will be some leveling off of the sides vertically, so you get easily frostable sides. I made some candied meyer lemons to decorate with!
You could use regular lemons, I just had a little zest and A LOT of juice leftover from my limoncello batch, 18 lemons and 1500mL of vodka!

Buttercream. I could eat SPOONS AND SPOONS of this stuff!!! Its really addicting, and totally hides how much butter is in it! Wolf in sheeps clothes? If you're going to make it get organic butter please! PS note errant crumb in cake photo... dammit!

What you cant see under the cake is... HAAAAARRY POTTER!!! Hehe. Here are the layers for you. The family said the cake was divine, sort of like a light pound cake. BUT pound cake... and lemon curd... and buttercream?!?! Noooo. I wanted a light, airy, delicate cake and this was a bit heavy. I even used cake flour people!

Well, that's the wrap up for my Sunday roast dinner! Hope you liked it and if you have any Qs or suggestions... please comment! GObama!

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Daring Bakers Challenge- October!

Okay, here is the daring bakers challenge for October... Pizza! I like pizza but only when its home made. I decided to make a shimp pizza and and ancovy pizza (b/c thats my FAVE topping!!!). The dough was good, but I had to add a lot of flour and then rosemary to make it the best dough ever! I even used a little of my new robust, spicy olive oil on the top of the pizzas.

I noted changes in red.

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH

Original recipe from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 Cups Unbleached bread flour

1 3/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Instant yeast

1/4 Cup Olive oil

1 3/4 Cups Water

1 Tb sugar

Cornmeal for dusting

Chopped rosemary

Day One

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days. I only rested it for a couple hours and room temp.

Day Two

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

The Pizza dough, with rosemary added.

Shrimp pizza.

Roasted garlic, Precooked shrimp marinated in spices, Mozzerella cheese

Anchovy and Basil Pizza.

Tomato sauce with roasted garlic, mozz and parm cheese, oregano, fresh basil, anchovy fillets (torn).

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Summer catch up.

Well, its been a fair bit snce Ive written a blog. I guess Ill do a summertime overhaul to share with you some good summery foods. Since its October now, Ive been eating a lot of Fall-like foods, so I was craving a salad today. One last summer hurrah, Here we go...

A morel mushroom pilaf. I think you all may have a clue that morel hunting season is months-past, but You know, Im doing the summer clean out to catch you all up! My stepmom collected morels and gave me some, and I was happy to geez... HAVE to think of something to use them in! :) I did a couscous with parm and morels, peas and onions, used chicken stock (homemade, der). Yum, I think I will demand manymany more morels next year!

Lavender blossoms and a watermelon cooler. I beleive this was after a mud volleyball tourney! Watermelon + water (more than you'd think) + sugar + lemon sorbet = yumminess! Just add everything into a blender and bleeend.

Strawberry pie. Sorry, camera skills suck! SO easy and SO good! I was eally suprised by this. The flavo is so intense (with those summertime berries), I got way more than I was expecting. I think I made this pie like 4 times, to rave reviews. Recipe from Gourmet via YumSugar: http://www.yumsugar.com/1734253

Stuffed grape leaves (Dolmades). There is a gapevine at the 'rents house, so I collected 75 and went to town! These are obviously a summer dish b/c I HATE using jarred grape leaves. What a watse! Get the tender leaves, and make sure they are pesticide free! Made with lamb, rice, onion, mint, dill (NO cinnamon or allspice), lemon and served with tzaziki. They were very delicious. Took some time to make, but worth it... especially with the fresh grape leaves.

Molten chocolate cakes. Okay, these arent summery per-se, but I made the for my Daddys bday in summer, so they were summery for me! He turned 52 (but looks 40... please let me get that gene!) and after dinner we did what classy people do. Attacked him with water balloons! Ha! Well, these are REAL molten cakes, not the kind with the truffle in the middle. Melt chocolate, add eggs and sugar and salt and a little flour, bake at 425F for 8 mins, until not done (hey, they are molten chocolate cakes, right?) , remove, turn out, add cream and eat! Yummy, and I dont like chocolate!

Water ballon fight. Daddy, Shelley (step parent), Sarah (little sister). Im behind the cam.

And Ill leave you with this:

AAAHHHHHHHH!!! Happy Halloween! GObama!

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