Herbed Croutons

I like simplicity. I happen to like simplicity almost as much as chocolate, bread and wine. And when it comes to cooking, I really like simplicity. (But for some reason, simplicity goes out the window on the weekends. As in, can I make things any more complicated and time-consuming?)

When I walked into the kitchen this afternoon several vine ripened tomatoes and a bag of Chicago hard rolls were staring back at me. I originally intended the tomatoes for fresh salsa. But this afternoon I decided to roast the tomatoes and make herbed croutons out of the rolls.

I diced up all 6 rolls into bite-sized pieces.


Then I added fresh thyme and fresh basil.


And after drizzling with a generous amount of olive oil (about a 1/4 cup total) I baked the croutons at 450 for 7 minutes.


As for the tomatoes, I suspect they'll meet a splash or two of balsamic vinegar before being poured over a layer of the herbed croutons. Yummy.

Caramel Project, Part II

The verdict is in and éclairs were the chosen shape of the day (versus puffs).

To make éclair shells, you must begin with Pâte à Choux. It's a very simple process but requires the patience in stirring for the minute required (and also requires a strong arm!). Thankfully throughout my research and cooking experience, I have never seen a recipe different than this recipe which happens to be the same as Julia's. I like this consistency because trial and error to find the best recipe is not always fun and exciting.

Thankfully, these little darlings were perfectly petite and portioned. And it took a few tries to determine the best piping size for the best éclair shell. And I love that each one is unique and different from the next. Nothing remotely close to perfection here.


Pâte à Choux makes such a unique pastry case; sturdy on the outside but tender on the inside, with its interior easily giving way to whatever filling you choose to introduce. They're so delicate, you can even see the sunshine peering in through the windows to fill the éclair shells.


For these éclairs, I made a slightly sweet but very rich caramel pastry creme of caramel sauce, heavy cream and mascarpone cheese. Sublime and heavenly. Simply luscious. And fattening. Really, really fattening.


What I'm currently debating is how to dress the éclairs - caramel, chocolate, nothing? (If I actually had readers I could pose the question to more than the viral void.) So, I'm left wondering... how to dress? And I must wonder quickly since they're bound to go fast in this house.

Caramel Project, Part 1

This morning I began what I believe will be the laborious process of making caramel éclairs. (I've debated whether to make éclairs or crème puffs, but the only difference is the size – an éclair is long and thin while a puff is round and slightly taller.)

Part 1 is making the caramel sauce. Begin by combining sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Over low heat, allow the sugar to melt completely. Once melted, increase the heat to medium-high and allow the sugar syrup to boil.

Continue to boil until it becomes golden in color; about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in 1 cup of heavy cream. (The mixture will bubble loudly.) Whisk to thoroughly combine the caramel and heavy cream. Add in a ½ teaspoon of good vanilla extract. Strain into a glass container and allow to cool to room temperature before moving to the refrigerator to completely cool.

Now, if you're me, you're going to see this happening in the pan and think, "What the?"

But despite my culinary doubts and angst thinking I'd just wasted 1 ½ cups of sugar and 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream, my doubts were quickly cast aside when my taste buds met the beautiful combination of water, sugar, cream and vanilla. Good gracious. My hips just can't take it.

Up next: crème puffs

Caramel Crème

What happens when you combine caramel sauce, with a mixture of mascarpone cream and whipped cream? You get something so devilishly good that my mouth is already watering and my thighs are preparing for combustion.

This concoction has got me thinking about making Caramel Crème Puffs drizzled with a chocolate caramel sauce. This means I'll combine Julia's delicate Pâte à Choux with a light caramel crème followed by a caramel sauce (somehow combined with chocolate). And just to add insult to injury, some toasted chopped almonds would be a nice contrast.

Making Julia's Pâte à Choux will bring me to Recipe #2. And yes, I've yet to take on croissants. But it's more about finding 12 hours to tend to the dough.

Cannoli Cream Cupcakes

A distressing, culinary itch presented itself earlier this week - cannoli. (I have a long time love affair with cannoli, dating back to my adolescence when my parents took me to a favorite Italian restaurant every year for my birthday.) But even when I realized I could scratch the itch by visiting a local Italian restaurant, it wasn't enough. I had to take it further and do more than just eat a cannoli, or make cannoli or make a copycat recipe from the Internet. Oh no... just like most everything else in my world, I had to over complicate.

After several days of research and recipe reviews I concocted a recipe for cannoli cream-filled cupcakes, marrying several different ingredients and methods. Filled with classic cannoli ingredients like ricotta cheese, cinnamon and chocolate I was hopeful these would scratch my cannoli itch. And boy, did they ever.

Cannoli Cream Cupcakes
makes 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans with a total of 18 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract.

Measure the cake flour by spooning into a dry 1 cup measuring cup and level the cake flour with a knife. Combine the 3 cups of cake flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk flour mixture with a wire whisk.

Add the flour mixture and 3/4 cup buttermilk alternately to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well after each addition, and beginning and ending with the flour. Use a standard size ice cream scoop to fill prepared cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes for 16 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.


Fluffy, and so pretty.


Cannoli Cream
15 oz. ricotta cheese (thoroughly drain in a wire strainer for at least 8 hours, or overnight*)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

*This is a step you MUST not skip.
Combine strained ricotta cheese and remaining ingredients until well blended. Set aside.

Frosting
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons half and half (or milk)
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Using a hand-held mixer, beat together butter, half and half, confectioners sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold sugar mixture into whipped cream, careful not to over mix.

To fill the cupcakes, fill piping bag with cannoli cream.


Using a decorating tip (recommended Wilton Bismark Tip 230) hold filled bag perpendicular to cupcake inserting dip 1-inch deep into the center of the cupcake. Squeeze a small amount of cannoli cream into the cupcake. Set aside until all cupcakes are filled.


To frost the cupcakes, fill a clean piping bag with frosting. Using a decorating tip (recommended Wilton Star Tip 1M) frost each cupcake beginning on the outer edge, piping inward towards the center of the cupcake.

If desired after frosting the cupcakes, lightly dust with shaved bittersweet or semisweet chocolate shavings.


And when you take a bite, nestled inside the moist and slightly sweet cupcake is the cannoli cream filling.


Delicious!

Aromatics and Sweet Stuff

This past Sunday was a busy day in the kitchen... baking, blanching, whisking, rolling, zesting and glazing to name a few. I had a specific task to complete - cooking a full meal for someone I don't know.

The day started with several aromatics, like carrots, to make Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits.


And celery.


And parsley. Beautiful parsley.


A naked lemon.


Fully zested to make Ina Garten's Lemon Cake.


Poor lemons. They got reamed.


And fell down.


All to make this really good!


Next, I'm taking several Cannoli Cream Cake recipes and modifying for cannoli cream-filled cupcakes, laced with a few drops of marsala wine. Meanwhile, I'm still attempting to conjure up the courage to make Julia's Croissants. Not sure if it's really courage that I need, but rather time. A whole 12-hour block of uninterrupted time. Maybe while the rest of the house is sleeping?

Recipe #1: French Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Well, I did it. I kept the vow for the first day and chose a recipe from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks - The Best of Bon Appetit. (I happen to think it's pretty close to biblical in the world of cookbooks.) There's a plethora of gems tucked within those pages; gems that could easily spell the quick demise of the pounds I've recently shed.

Today's recipe was French Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze. Sublimely simple ingredients and calculated preparation made for a sinful, yet delicate cake.

I've both read and heard that the key to ensuring a pleasurable result in most any recipe is to start with the best of ingredients. If you can, this is the place to splurge and indulge on things like chocolate.


Semisweet dark chocolate is irresistible.


Especially when the logo is so curious.


And when it's melted with unsweetened chocolate, butter and honey, it results in the perfect velvety bath for a cake laced with butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and breadcrumbs. Yes, breadcrumbs.


And what you have at the end is pure bliss.


One thing I concluded today was to focus solely on the recipe itself, taking far less pictures than I have before. I'm primarily focused on teaching myself (and perhaps achieving some uncomplicated personal goal) so I will rely on the principle of the recipe itself. And another thing, I believe in practicing something my mother drilled into me - read the recipe once, twice, and many more times before beginning. All too often a recipe can fail by missing one word - or in my case, looking at the wrong recipe when referring back to it for the instructions. Rather than spooning out dough for snickerdoodle cookies, I packed the dough into a 9-inch by 9-inch pan as though I was making snickerdoodle brownies.

Thankfully the French Chocolate Cake recipe was a hit, even though one key ingredient was omitted - orange zest. Instead of having a panic attack standing in the middle of our kitchen, I opted to forge ahead. But after tasting the rich and delicately tender cake, I believe it may have benefited from the orange zest. The zest would have added a subtle dimension. But as my husband pointed out, I can make it again. (Although he must like it fine since he's on his second piece.)

Best of all, I've joined my love of cooking with my fear of the uncomfortable and quest for control into something that feels as much awkard as it does rewarding. The love definitely came from parents and their love of cooking. From my mother's Beef Wellington to Scallop and Mushroom Pie, or my father's Vichyssoise and Au Gratin Potatoes - and every "normal" thing in between - it all came from them. Thanks mom and dad.

As I'm currently planning, the next recipe will be Julia Child's croissants - perhaps as early as this weekend. And since I read the recipe before hand, I've already started attempting to commit the recipe to some form of my memory. It's a total 12-hour process to create 50+ layers of dough.