Friday December 18, 2009
Here are the recipes for the spiced nuts, struffoli and caramels that I am (have) packaging(ed) on TV tomorrow morning December 19th at 8.40 - tune in if you can. I will be posting video tips later along with the segment clip as well. Wish me luck!! Good night for now!!
Struffoli
Growing up in a three generation household with my Italian grandparents was a gift. My Christmas time memories are so vivid. My grandmother set up a round folding table with a green wool skirt with a beautiful green and red embroidered linen topper where she displayed all her Christmas treats. I would sneak in and “steal” a ball off her honey wreaths and pray she wouldn’t notice. I’m sure she knew but she never let on....
3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla or grappa or limoncella
canola oil for deep frying (about 2 cups)
2 cups honey
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs and vanilla. Slowly incorporate using your fingers. Gather into a ball and let rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat (to test temperature - toss small piece of dough - when it sizzles vigorously - it’s ready!!) Grab a golf ball sized ball of dough and roll it between your hands so it forms into a rope about 1/3” in diameter. Then cut rope into 1/3” pieces. Fry the balls in batches. Place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Once the balls are done, begin making the honey syrup. Heat the honey, sugar and water in a large saucepan over low heat until the sugar is dissolved then turn up the heat until the liquid boils and bubbls. When the foam dies down and the mixture has darkened (all takes about 4 minutes +/-), take off the heat and add the fried balls.
Using a slotted spoon, remove honey balls and arrange on a lightly oiled piece of wax or parchment paper. My grandmother used a glass to form the center of a wreath and put balls all around and then sprinkle with candied fruit or nuts. She brought the struffoli wreaths to all her friends and relatives when they visited them during the holidays - a lovely tradition!!
Spicy Curried Walnuts
These have been in my Mom’s and my stable of winners for years. They make excellent bar treats, great hostess gifts and are fantastic in a salad.
1 lb walnut halves
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
First you need to blanch walnuts for about a minute in boiling water. Drain and toss well with sugar and oil. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Spread walnuts in a single layer and place in the middle of the oven. Check and turn the walnuts every 7-10 minutes until golden. I find the process is about 25 minutes but be careful - one extra minute can turn your golden nuts black. Remove golden nuts and put in a large bowl. Mix all spices and then toss with the warm nuts. Spread nuts in a single layer to cool. Once cool, store in a sealed container and Enjoy!!
Christmas Caramels
I am inspired this season to be a mad baker and maker of yummy edible gifts. I've got my plan and I will share with you as I prepare each goodie. But for whatever reason, I decided to go off my list when I was paging through December's Country Living Magazine and make Butter and Cream Caramels and yes they are an indulgence extraordinaire. I'll need to go for a good long jog to keep these off my hips...but what are the holidays if not for eating lots of amazing food!! Here's the recipe with my comments and tweaks, of course!!
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
canola oil for greasing
candy thermometer
Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil and brush with canola oil.
In a medium saucepan over high heat cook the sugar without stirring until it begins to melt and boil at which time you can stir slowly with a metal spoon until melted (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add cream. The sugar will harden almost immediately. Then add in the butter and corn syrup. Attach candy thermometer and return saucepan to stove over low heat, stirring occasionally for around 30 minutes until mixture liquefies. (This is a challenging spot as it seems as though it will never happen and then it just does.) Once that happens, turn the heat up and cook caramel mixture until the thermometer reaches 238 degrees F.
Remove from stove and stir in the vanilla. Then pour into prepared 8 x8 pan. Cool caramel for at least 30 minutes, lift from pan, remove foil and place on an oiled cutting board. Using an oiled knife, cut caramel into 1" squares. (I found it worked best when the caramel had sat for a while on the cutting board and when I ran my knife under hot water and then oiled it - the caramel did not stick to the knife.)
Wrap the individual pieces in 4 x 4 wrappers and then package them in a larger plastic bag with pretty ribbon.
Sunday December 13, 2009
I am inspired this season to be a mad baker and maker of yummy edible gifts. I've got my plan and I will share with you as I prepare each goodie. But for whatever reason, I decided to go off my list when I was paging through December's Country Living Magazine and make Butter and Cream Caramels and yes they are an indulgence extraordinaire. I'll need to go for a good long jog to keep these off my hips...but what are the holidays if not for eating lots of amazing food!! Here's the recipe with my comments and tweaks, of course!!
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
canola oil for greasing
candy thermometer
Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil and brush with canola oil.
In a medium saucepan over high heat cook the sugar without stirring until it begins to melt and boil at which time you can stir slowly with a metal spoon until melted (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add cream. The sugar will harden almost immediately. Then add in the butter and corn syrup. Attach candy thermometer and return saucepan to stove over low heat, stirring occasionally for around 30 minutes until mixture liquefies. (This is a challenging spot as it seems as though it will never happen and then it just does.) Once that happens, turn the heat up and cook caramel mixture until the thermometer reaches 238 degrees F.
Remove from stove and stir in the vanilla. Then pour into prepared 8 x8 pan. Cool caramel for at least 30 minutes, lift from pan, remove foil and place on an oiled cutting board. Using an oiled knife, cut caramel into 1" squares. (I found it worked best when the caramel had sat for a while on the cutting board and when I ran my knife under hot water and then oiled it - the caramel did not stick to the knife.)
Wrap the individual pieces in 4 x 4 wrappers and then package them in a larger plastic bag with pretty ribbon.
I gave one to Jim to test and he's already addicted as I caught him taking a couple for "dessert."
Monday December 07, 2009
I have always envied my Mom because she baked whenever she was stressed, worried, or frustrated. And the gorgeous and delicious goodies she produced were and still are phenomenal!! My Mom is a cookbook collector; she reads them as if they were page-turning thrillers. The by-product of such a habit is a stack of recipes that she must "try." And boy does she "try" them - she pretty much produces a picture perfect attempt every time. Some she discards as, "it sounded better than it tastes." And some become part of the recipe war chest. Her arsenal of winners. And lucky for me, I am related to a veritable test kitchen. I can just assume one of her tested recipes and whip it up knowing that it will be a success.
One of these recipes is a Nutella Pound Cake. Exactly, I know what you are thinking - could this really be that good. The answer - it is show stopping delicious!
Mom and I got together on Sunday to bake up some cakes (date nut spice and Nutella cakes) for client and hostess gifts.
Here's the recipe for Nutella Heaven as I have renamed it:
4 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 stick butter, softened
1 13 ounce jar of Nutella
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Lightly beat eggs with vanilla in a small bowl. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a hand mixer in a large bowl until fluffy. At low-to-medium speed gradually beat in egg mixture until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in batches, beating at low speed. Spread 1/3 of batter in prepared loaf pan, then spread 1/2 of Nutella on top. Repeat with another 1/3 of batter and the remaining Nutella, topping with the last 1/3 of batter. Lightly swirl Nutella into batter but be careful not to over mix. Bake cake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes. Then remove from pan and let cool for another 2 hours on a wire rack.
And then ENJOY!!!!
Tuesday September 15, 2009
Maybe yes, maybe no? But I am always willing to try new things and explore the possibilities that an opportunity may be right around the corner. I guess that is what makes me both an optimist and entrepreneur. So when my friend Joanna Roche asked me to help out one of her clients who has a neat line of handbags (some even for knitting and needlework projects) I had to help out. (check out
www.lexiebarnes.com) Lexie was debuting her bags at Fashion Week in NYC and needed sponsors and support for her "press lounge" where she hosted a "knitting lounge." So I had to come up with something for the goodie bags well knowing that the rail thin models and weight-obsessed industry would be at the receiving end. So nuts seemed to fit the bill. And I, of course, thought this could be a fun way to get the word out about Heirloom Meals and my quest for sponsors or strategic partners. Finger are crossed for Lexie and me - two independent, creative women with a dream!!
By the way - my nuts are hardly dietetic - but a small bag is really quite satisfying.
So here's my recipe for Spicy Curried Walnuts. They make excellent bar treats, great hostess gifts and are fantastic in a salad.
1 lb walnut halves
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
First you need to blanch walnuts for about a minute in boiling water. Drain and toss well with sugar and oil. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Spread walnuts in a single layer and place in the middle of the oven. Check and turn the walnuts every 7-10 minutes until golden. I find the process is about 25 minutes but be careful - one extra minute can turn your golden nuts black. Remove golden nuts and put in a large bowl. Mix all spices and then toss with the warm nuts. Spread nuts in a single layer to cool. Once cool, store in a sealed container and Enjoy!!
Sunday August 30, 2009
Nothing like a raw, unseasonably cool day to make me want to make soup. And fortunately, I had every single ingredient I needed on hand AND it was farm fresh....broccoli we just picked from our garden, leeks, carrots and garlic from the CSA and High Lawn Farm heavy cream. I even had vegetable broth in the freezer awaiting just this confluence of events. So, I figure when the food gods line up like that then I have no choice.....
Here's the recipe for Cream of Broccoli Soup - out of my Mom's archives of recipes with a note on top that says, "excellent." Oh and Julia Child would be proud - I used butter and heavy cream.
9 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups leeks, minced
1 1/2 cups carrots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 pinches cayenne pepper or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
salt and pepper to taste
In a pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, garlic. Cook until tender but be sure not to brown (about 5 minutes).
Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the broccoli. Cook 8-10 minutes until the broccoli is tender.
Pour the soup into a processor (may need to do in batches) and process until veggies are finely chopped but not pureed. Pour soup back into pot. Stir in cream, celery seed and salt and pepper. Reheat before serving or freeze in batches as you await another cool day!!
Enjoy!
Serves 8-10.
p.s. You can leave out the cream entirely or exchange it for half and half or milk. When using great ingredients it's divine any way you eat it. I've got my 13 year old step son that prefers the heavy cream!!
Thursday July 30, 2009
These past two weeks are among my favorite - the pick your own blueberry farms are open and blueberries abound at most farm stands and farmer's markets. And of course I stuff my face until my mouth is blue, reveling in all the antioxidants this dark super food is delivering to my body. But I also love to bake with them. One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid in the summer was to bake blueberry muffins or blueberry coffee cake.
Here is one that uses yogurt for an even more healthful indulgence:
Blueberry Yogurt Coffee Cake
This recipe has been in our stable of recipes as far back as I can remember. My Mom and grandmother made certain there was always yummy homemade baked goods in the house. This was a special weekend breakfast treat. I used to view it as breakfast dessert. We were big yogurt eaters so it’s not surprising that we baked with yogurt. I now love the new flavors like banilla that add a special twist - but plain usually does the trick!
For the Topping
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut up
For the Cake
8 tablespoons (one stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x13 baking dish. Using a fork, blend topping ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter, brown sugar and egg (I do it by hand with a fork, but a mixer works wonders!) Add baking soda, flour, yogurt and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Pour cake batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle berries over top and gently push into batter and then sprinkle sugar topping over all.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!
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