Pie Crust (Pate Brisee)

Need a fast Pie crust at the last minute,  Here is one from "Ratio",  Michael Ruhlman's book on ratio's. page 25.   I use this as my standard go to pie crust.  It's fast and always right on.  The crust is based on a 3-2-1 formula,  3 parts flour 2 parts fat and 1 part water. So if you need two crust, just double it.  This base ratio will make one 9" crust and one top.

Ingredients

• 12 oz AP Flour


• 8 oz Butter or shortening


• 2-4 oz ICE COLD WATER


• 1/2 teaspoon salt

 Instructions

1. Cube the butter/fat, so that it can be incorporated into the flour.


2. Add the flour into a mid-size bowl.  Add your butter and with  your hands begin working the butter into the flour... Until the flour is nice and flaky.  You should have nice pea size chunks.


3. Add your water, Nice and gently and work the water into the dough. 


4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (This gives the dough a chance to rest.)


5. Flour your board and roll out your dough to the correct size, with about a 1" overhang.

And More Helpful Hints

Here are some more helpful hints for the kitchen.  Tricks to keep you from running to the store at the last minute.

 Baking powder will go bad,  and the best way to check it is Mix 1 teaspoon (5gm) with 1/2 cup hot water.  The mix should bubble immediately.  If it doesn't toss it out.  You have bad baking powder

Baking powder should be replaced every 6-12 months

To test Baking soda, ¼ teaspoon to 2 teaspoons VINEGAR mix should bubble immediately

To make Baking Powder is a pretty simple thing to do.

• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Mix the baking soda and cream of tartar together until well combined. The yield is one tablespoon.

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Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar is the common name for potassium hydrogen tartar and also tartaric acid salt.  It is obtained when tartaric acid is half neutralized with potassium hydroxide, transforming it into a salt. Grapes are the only significant natural source of tartaric acid, and cream of tartar is obtained from sediment produced in the process of aging wine. It is found on the insides of the wine barrels and sometimes at the bottom of bottles of wine. It crystallizes out as a hard crust in the barrels.

Cream of tartar is best known for helping stabilize and give more volume to beaten egg whites. It is used as the leavening agent in baking powder.

Normally when cream of tartar is used in a cookie, it is used together with baking soda. The two of them combined work like a double-acting baking powder. When substituting for cream of tartar, you must also substitute for the baking soda.

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Self-rising flour

If your recipe calls for self-rising flour and you only have all-purpose, here's how you can save the day.. Measure out the amount of flour into a separate bowl and for each cup of flour add 1.5 teaspoon baking powder and one half teaspoon of salt, Mix that up and  POOF you have self-rising flour.

Can be stored in an Air tight container for Months 

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 Brown Sugar  

Your out of Brown sugar, but you have granulated sugar and you have molasses.  The formula or recipe is 1 cup sugar and 2 Tablespoons molasses.  In a stand mixer (can be done by hand with a fork).  Put the sugar and molasses in your mixer bowl and with the whisk attachment, start that puppy up..... run on medium speed till all mixed,  this may take a while to do. But it does go together. If you have some clumps that refuse to break up,  use a fork to break them up.  And POOF again,  you've made brown sugar.

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I hope these little hints will help,  everyone runs short on stuff, and just maybe this will help.

 

SATURDAY STALK BLOG HOP

SATURDAY STALK BLOG HOP

Need new followers to your blog? Link up

with the Saturday Stalk Blog Hop. Brought

to you by Just Married with Coupons and

Debbie Does Coupons. 

 

Blog Hop Rules

1. Please follow us: http://www.justmarriedwithcoupons.com/ AND Debbie Does Coupons then we WILL FOLLOW YOU BACK.


2. Copy the Saturday Stalk into a blog post.


3. Come back and post the direct link to your blog post here into the link forms below.


4. Follow as many participants as you would like, leave them a comment letting them know you’re are following them.


5. Follow back anyone that is now following you and leave them a comment back letting them know you’re following back through this event


6. Please follow the rules or we will have to delete you from the list =(

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If you all are wondering what this is above,  It's a way for us bloggers to increase our following and ratings on Search Engines. 

OLD-FASHIONED YELLOW CAKE

Photography by Michael Long

    This is the first recipe that I made out the book Small Batch Baking. This is going to be a first in a series of recipes that I'll do.

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    As Debby Maugans Nakos (author) called her Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake.  pp42. This makes two cakes and uses two 14- or 14.5 oz cans, To bake in.  I had some small cake pans that I used.  

 INGREDIENTS:

• Unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing the cans/pans. 


• 1/2 cup A-P flour, sifted, plus more for flouring the cans.


• 3 tablespoons buttermilk


• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 egg Yolk (large egg)


• 1/5 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract


• 3 Tablespoon unsalted butter melted and cooled


• 1/3 cup sugar


• 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place oven rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350F 


2. Grease the insides of the cans and lightly dust with flour, tapping out the excess.  Place the cans on a baking sheet for easier handling and set aside. 


3. Place the buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl, and whisk until the baking soda is dissolved.  Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and melted butter.


4. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium size bowl and whisk to blend well.  Add the buttermilk mixture and whisk just until blended and smooth.


5. Spoon the batter into the prepared cans, dividing the batter evenly between the cans. Bake the cakes until a toothpick comes out dry.  (about 25minutes)


6. Remove the cakes and cool for about 15 minutes then De-can the cakes.  You may have to use a knife around the edges to loosen the cakes from the cans.  

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And that's all there is to it.......Poof you have cakes for dessert....... Is that cool or what.... and they taste pretty darn good too. 

BAKING FOR 2

I just got a book on Small-Batch Baking. By Debby Maugans Nakos. A super book. In the book Debby talks about Desserts for 2.  I made a yellow cake for tonights dinner and It came out fantastic.  I was very impressed.  She hit right on with the recipe. Time, Temp Measurements were right on.  It looks like most of the cakes are made in a 14.5 oz cans.  The cans that beans etc come in. I used very small cake pans for the cake below.  She goes into how to prep the cans to use for you baking molds. I made the yellow cake in just a few minutes, with 1 small bowl,  and one 3 qt bowl. and a wire whip.  The baking took right at 25 minutes. Ovens my vary on temp and time.

Photography by Michael Long

Here is what the Publisher had to say about the book.

Even the most enthusiastic home bakers may admit there are times when they really only need a few muffins for breakfast or a couple of cream puffs for a dinner party—not a dozen or more of each. When standard recipes won't reduce neatly (how do you halve an egg, for example?), frustration ensues. Nakos, a Shape, Southern Living and Cooking Light contributor, takes more than 250 classic cakes, pies, cookies, cobblers, puddings and breads and downsizes their proportions to yield just the right number of goodies for small families, singles, newlyweds, empty-nesters or the leftovers-averse (do such people exist?). Nakos certainly is creative: she uses tin cans to bake two-layer coconut cakes and chocolate cakes, jumbo muffin tins for Peach Pie and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, and small loaf pans for Moist Fudgy Brownies. Meanwhile, a full-size loaf pan turns out Mississippi Mud Cake or Gingerbread Roulade, and one regular baking sheet does the job for Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti. Small-batch baking as formulated by Nakos is liberating: with quick mixing, baking and clean-up times, the whole process of producing, say, eight Pecan Snowball Cookies for tea time, or two Honey Apple Oatmeal Crisps for a sweet breakfast, is less overwhelming.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

I give this book a 4.5 star rating.  There are no pictures in the book. or at least none in the paper back edition.  I will be posting recipes from this book very shortly.

MELTED BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I just got Alice Medrich new Cookbook,  CHEWY GOOEY CHRISPY CRUNCHY.  It is so unbelievable I mean way over the top for cookie recipe.

You all really need to pick that one up.  But anyway,  I've been on a quest for the ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie.  I think I've found it... I really do.  So I've adapted this recipe from one of her's in the book.  She called this recipe "My Chocolate Chip Cookies".  pp 132-33.



Anyway, looking through it I ran into this recipe.  And all I needed was a reason to make this.  The reason I used was that I had a copy of the recipe... So after testing it eating them, giving some away.  And now to make some more, since they are all gone.  I'll do these tomorrow. 

Ingredients:

• 10.125   oz     AP Flour  


• 1          tsp     Baking soda


• .5         lbs     unsalted butter, melted and still warm


• 5.25      oz     granulated sugar


• 5.25      oz     packed brown sugar


• 1           tsp    pure vanilla extract


• 1           tsp    salt


• 2           lg      eggs


• 2           cups  chocolate chips


• 1           cup   coarsely chopped walnuts

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I replaced the vanilla extract with vanilla bean and I didn't use the walnuts

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Directions:

1. Combine the flour and baking soda in a bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.


2. In a large bowl, combine the MELTED BUTTER with the sugars, vanilla and salt.  Mix in the eggs.  Stir in the flour mixture just until all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.  IF POSSIBLE, LET THE DOUGH STAND FOR 1 OR 2 HOURS in the frig.  (wrap the dough in plastic wrap)  Or better still overnight.


3. Preheat the oven to 375F.  Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.


4. If necessary, remove the dough form the frig to soften.  Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and place them 3 inches apart on the ungreased or lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and no longer look wet on top.  Rotate the pans for even baking.  Remove from the oven and let the cookies firm up on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes.  For unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to racks to cool.  Cool completely before storing or stacking.  
   
   
   
   
   

   

THE WONDERFUL CHOCOLATE WAFER

Always being a big fan of the Vanilla Wafer,  I have never found a good chocolate wafer.  But now I have one.. And it's way way over the top.  This thing is so good,  It makes your eyes tear up.  The only true way to enjoy these is with Brain Freeze COLD MILK or with Ice cream... However, these little guys can be eaten straight up also... But the Brain Freeze is so much better... 

    Alice Medrich wrote this recipe and it's from her book Cookies and Brownies, A Warner Books, Inc.  New York: 1999  Which I've adapted this recipe from.







Ingredients:

• 1 cup (130g)  AP Flour


• 1/2 cup (50)  unsweetened DUTCH-Processed cocoa powder


• 1/4 tsp           salt (kosher)


• 1/4 tsp           baking soda


• 3 TBS (45g)    unsalted butter, room temp.


• 3 TBS (45g)    margarine (NOTE!!!) 


• 2/3cup(140g) packed light brown sugar


• 1/2cup(100g) granulated white sugar


• 1 tsp               pure vanilla extract.  or 3 vanilla beans split and scrapped out I changed out the extract to vanilla bean.  Made big difference!


• 1 large            egg

Note the addition of the margarine!!!!

 Directions:

1. In a bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.


2. In your mixer bowl cream the butter and margarine until well blended.  Add the sugars (both the white and brown).  And the vanilla to the mix.  Beat on high speed for (1 minute).  Stop the mixer and scrap down the sides And beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the flour mixture. and beat until (JUST INCORPORATED)


3. Take the dough out of the bowl, and onto parchment paper form the dough into a log.  About 1-11/2 in dia.  And warp the dough you just logged with parchment paper.   Try NOT to Flatten the log too much.  And place the log in the frig. for at least 1 hour, but better if longer.  Like overnight.


4. Preheat the oven to 350F. and place your racks in the center of the oven.  Your only going to be able to do 1 half sheet pan at a time.   


5. Using a very sharp knife cut the log into quarter inch slices and space them about one inch apart on your cookie sheets.  OH FORGOT USE SLIPATS OR PARCHMENT PAPER TO LINE YOUR SHEETS WITH. 


6. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and tops have small crackles or ripples.  


7. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool  on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or so.  Then you can move those little guys over to a cooling rack. 


8. You can store this little guys in an airtight bag or container for about 10days or so.

This will yield about 36 cookies.   

The local testers for this recipe have been at least 4 stars, all the way up to a 5 star.

So you know these little guys are good... 

VANILLA BEAN SUGAR COOKIES

   HEY, Look at the picture above... Pretty cool huh!!!!  Those are VANILLA BEAN SUGAR COOKIES.  I found the recipe in Alice Medrich newest cookbook. CHEWY GOOEY CRISPY CRUNCHY COOKIES On page 38-40.  I ordered this book and didn't tell my wife about it.  So when she got home, she saw it... So to cover my tail I told her I would bake anything in the book for her... And she picked out this along with 50 or so other recipes...

    After making these little puppies,  I was hooked on them... Hey, the baker here has to test everything...!!!

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INGREDIENTS:

• 18 oz       (4cups) AP Flour


• 1   tsp      baking powder


• 1/2 tsp      salt


• 1/2 lbs      unsalted butter/slightly softened


• 14  oz       sugar


• 2  ea         eggs


• 1 Tlb         Vanilla extract or seeds from 3 beans

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix together thoroughly with a fork or whisk.


2. Beat the butter and sugar in bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, (3-4) minutes. Add eggs one at a time and then the Vanilla bean seeds.  On low speed, beat in the flour (only until it's just incorporated)  Scrape the dough into a mass and knead it with your hands a few times until smooth. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each into a flat patty.  Wrap those guys up in plastic wrap and refrigerate the patties until firm enough to roll,  preferably several hours or overnight.


3. Preheat the oven to 350F and position the racks one at a third down and one a third up.


4. TO ROLL AND CUT THE COOKIES:  Remove 1 patty from the frig. and let it sit at room temp until supple enough to roll but still firm.  It will continue to soften as you work.  Roll the dough between two sheets of wax-paper. To a thickness of 1/8 of an inch.  Turn the dough over once or twice while you are rolling in out to check for deep wrinkles; if necessary, peel off and smooth the paper over the dough before continuing to roll it out.  


5. When the dough is thin enough, slide it (still between the sheets of wax-paper. On to a sheet pan and put back in the frig.  Remove the bottom (coldest) sheet form the frig.  Peel off the top sheet of paper and set it on the counter.  Invert the dough onto it and peel off the second sheet.


6. Cut cookie shapes as close together as possible to minimize scrapes, dipping the edges on the cookie cutters in flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Place the cut out cookies on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper cookie sheet, or slipmat lined cookie sheet.  (IF THE DOUGH GETS TOO SOFT ANYTIME, SLIDE THE DOUGH INTO THE FRIG TO COOL.).


7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. 

______________________________ 

This recipe will yield about 90 cookies with a 2-1/2" cutter 

PAT'S PASTA SALAD

Photography by Michael Long

PAT'S PASTA SALAD was created by Pat (my boss,manager,driver,wife).  We had this SALAD at one of the local Restaurant's, Here in Palm Springs. This salad is way over the top for good!  So anyway, we got some to take home and started DECONSTRUCTING that puppy.  And we have come up with a wonderful SALAD...  

So with that Here you go!!! Pat's pasta salad... 

Ingredients:

• 4          Cups    Tri-Color Rotini or other colored Dry Pasta,  uncooked


• 1          Cup      Mayonnaise,  I used Mirclewhip


• 1/4      Cup      Distilled White Vinegar


• 2/3      Cup      white sugar,  (granulated)


• 1-3/4   Tabl     Yellow mustard


• 1-1/2   teasp   Salt


• 1/2      teasp   ground black pepper


• 1         ea        yellow bell pepper


• 1         ea        orange bell pepper


• 1         ea        red bell pepper


• 1/4      cup      grated carrots


• 1         med     diced onion

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.  See package for times. (Or better yet, taste test)


2. After pasta has cooked,  Drain pasta into a colander and cool with tap water to rinse. 


3. In a large bowl mix together the mayo, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Add the balance of ingredients.  Bell peppers, onion, & pasta.


4. Stir to mix and make sure all the ingredients are well coated.  


5. Place bowl in frig and let the flavors marry together.  Let set at least several hours.  Or better let sent over night.  


6. Put your pasta salad in a fancy bowl.  Get a big spoon and just go for it.  

This serves about 12ish. The prep time depending on how good your are with a knife, and how much coffee you've had that day...

NOTE:  You don't really need to use those bell peppers.  Use different colors if you like,  Hey do what ever you like... It's all in the taste buds.. Just make it pretty and above all make it taste good...

SOME OF MY SOURCES

Here is a list of some of my sources.  You'll also see the web address, and comments.  Most of these you may already know about, Some you may not. I hope you find this list helpful.  Almost everyone I've ordered from. If not ordered from, at least chatted with. 

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The National Pork Board:    http://www.porkbeinspired.com/Cut_Sausage.aspx 

  A great website, Covering just about anything you might want to know about Pork.

The National Onion Association:  http://www.onions-usa.org/

  Another great site.  Kim will get back to you asap with an E-mail  Super lady over there.

Oregon Truffle Oil:  https://www.oregontruffleoil.com/

  White Truffle Oil: Never ordered from them.  However, there website is very clean.  I would feel safe ordering from them. 

The Fresh Loaf:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/   

  Carries News & information for the Amateur Bakers & Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

The Chocolate Life: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/

  An internet group set up for chocolatetiers to meet & converse, trade ideas.  I'm a member.  Extremely helpful group to anyone that asks questions etc.  A group anyone with an interest in chocolates should join.

Dessert Professional:  http://www.dessertprofessional.com/ 

  Another internet group for the dessert maker etc.  Another wonderful group that I'm a member of.  You can ask them anything about desserts and they will work with you to get an answer.  Another group you should join if your into desserts.  Fantastic group!!!



Amazon.Com:  https://www.amazon.com

  I order tons of stuff from there. Great service, Wait for sales if you can.  I have found some great deals. 



Self Life Advice:  http://shelflifeadvice.com/

  A very nice website about self life.  They have a Tips, A list of all foods and how long they are good for.  Everyone should look at this one!!!



Still Tasty:  http://www.stilltasty.com/

  Another great website.  Pretty much the same as the one above.  It's a matter of which one is the easiest for you to get around on.



Allergies:  http://grou.ps/allergy_bloggers/home

  A group for people with allergies.  A wonder website.  Covers all food allergies.



National Pasta Association: http://www.ilovepasta.org/index.html

  A place to go to find out just about anything you want to know about pasta.



Bake Decorate Celebrate:  http://www.bakedecoratecelebrate.com/

  A pretty inspiring website for cake decorating for the amateur baker. 



I'm cooked:  http://www.imcooked.com/

  A website to post your cooking video's 



The Chocolate Addict:   http://www.thechocolateaddict.com

  A great website about chocolates, working with chocolates, video's,& materials.



Calorie Counter:  http://caloriecount.about.com/

  Looks like a very usable website.  I've used it several times and was very happy.



Pressure cooking with Lorna Sass:  http://pressurecookingwithlornasass.wordpress.com/

  If your into Pressure Cooking this is the go to lady. Book author, Chef



National Honey Board: http://www.honey.com/nhb/home/

  The National Honey Board,  What more needs to be said!!!



Dry Spice:  http://www.dryspice.com/

  Little containers that you put in your spice containers.  I use alot of these.  Tell Ken that I sent you...



ChocolateSource:  http://www.chocolatesource.com/home/index.asp

  All Chocolates,  Great people to work with.  All your major brands. 

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I hope that some of these websites are of some help to you.  These are all from my "Favorites"  I have a ton more, But these are the most active ones.  I'm sure that I didn't list some of your favorites, So bear with me on that.  Let me know if you a favorite one or ones, and I'll list those also.