Iggy’s Bread 3.6.14

Iggy’s Bread of the World, 130 Fawcett St, Cambridge, MA

I picked up a slice of portabello pizza, a loaf of rye, a loaf of pan de mie, an everything bagel, and an almond apricot cookie.  The pizza was good, but I thought the taste of the pizza crust at Clear Flour was better.  The pan de mie is very sour, which I wasn’t expecting, but it was good.  The bagel was great, and the apricot cookie was perfectly buttery and crumbly. 


Everything Bagel

Pan de mie

Rye pullman

Chocolate Chip Cookies for the masses 3.3.14

I made a large batch of chocolate chip cookies for Community Cooks.  I used cow milk instead of almond milk because our recipes for Community Cooks are nut free.

Ingredients
½ cup coconut oil (3.5 oz)
1 cup brown sugar (6.5 oz)
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour (10.25 oz)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon (fine) salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Creaming method.  Bake 350 for about 9 minutes.  

Chocolate chip cookies 2.17.14

My new favorite chocolate chip cookies.  Made without eggs and butter.

Ingredients
½ cup coconut oil (3.5 oz)
1 cup brown sugar (6.5 oz)
¼ cup almond milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour (10.25 oz)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon (fine) salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Creaming method.  Bake 350 for about 9 minutes. 

Chocolate Therapy 2.15.14

Chocolate Therapy, 60 Worcester Road, Framingham, MA

Mintage and Honey Hops truffles.  Mintage was pretty good, but honey hops tasted like it was rancid.  I had to spit it out.  But maybe that’s just the flavor of the hops?

These in the picture are half eaten because I forgot to take the picture before sampling!

John Harvards 2.15.14

John Harvards, 1 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA

The bread they make themselves.  It’s very soft and airy, with lots of olive oil.  It’s fresh, but not as chewy as I’d like.

Valentine Crispy Rice Treats 2.14.14

Traditional crispy rice treats as well as vegan crispy rice hearts using my favorite chewy granola recipe.  

1 c granola

½ c crispy rice

2 T oat flour

2 T veg oil

1 T brown rice syrup

1 ½ T maple syrup

1/8 t fine salt

(1 t vanilla)

Granola Bars 2.7.14

Chewy Oatmeal Cookie
These granola bars came out like a chewy oatmeal cookie because of the applesauce, which softens the oats.  Double this recipe to fit in a 9 by 9 square pan.
1 c granola
¼ crispy rice
¼ c + 2T oat flour (55 g)
1T veg oil
3 T maple syrup
1 ½ T bron sugar
1/8 t salt
2 T applesauce
Mix wet and dry igredients separately, then mix dry ingredients into the wet.  Press into a pan lined with parchment and bake at 350 for 18 minutes.  Cut when cool.

Chewy granola bar
These taste like a sweet rice krispie treat.  They are shiny and crispy.
1 c granola
½ c crispy rice
2 T oat flour
2 T veg oil
1 T brown rice syrup
1 ½ T maple syrup
1/8 t fine salt
(1 t vanilla)

Cook all ingredients, except for granola and rice in a saucepan, adding the oat flour last, until simmering.  Then stir in granola and rice.  (The rice krispie method).  Press into a 4 by 7 pan and cut when cool.  This recipe is scaled to make thin crispy rice hearts.  For regular sized rice krispie treats (1.5 in thick), triple the recipe and press into a 13 by 9 in pan.

Crunchy granola bar (yet to try from BI)
2 1/3 c (7 oz) granola
½ c chopped nuts
¼ c honey
¼ c brown sugar (1.75 oz)
1 t vanilla
2/3 t cinnamon
Cook honey and sugar, then add vanilla and cinnamon.  Stir in mixed dries to the sugar mixture and press into 8 by 8 in pan.  Bake 350 for 18 mins or just let cool.  Cut bars when cool.

Pear Tarts for the masses 2.4.14

I made four pear tarts for Community Cooks this week, but failed at organizing prep work ahead of time.  I made the dough days in advance, in two double batches.  Rolled out the dough, then froze it in layers.  First, I believe I added too much water to the dough because it became gummy.  Second, I think I should have frozen the dough as a puck, not rolled out.  Actually, I probably could have just stored the dough in the fridge, but it would be nice to learn how to freeze the dough, and know how long I can freeze it for and how to thaw it out.  After thawing the dough in the fridge for 24 hours, the dough was very gummy.  And after it baked it was still gummy.

The pears were another failure all together.  Instead of using Bartlett pears, I could only find mixed bags of pears including bosc, Anjou, and green Anjou.  I mixed all three pears together in the tarts.  Many experts have told me that the best apple pies are ones with multiple types of apples in them.  So I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.  I sliced half of the pears the day before and put them in a bowl covered with water.  I’m not sure if this was the best way to store them.  I macerated them in sugar, but they were still very juicy in the tarts.  Also, the pears did not cook as fast as the Bartletts.  Since I overcooked the apples so severely in the apple pies I made (more accurately, applesauce pies) I decided to err on the side of rawness and took the tarts out before they got overcooked.  They were still pretty crunchy and I fear the fruit was quite undercooked.  I am considering precooking the pears next time to soften the fruit and reduce the water content.

Lemon Poppy cookies 1.28.14

This recipe is called Lemon and Poppy Seed Slices from Better Homes and Gardens 100 best cookies.  There is a similar recipe in Baking Illustrated (Lemon-Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies).  The BH&G recipe has less butter, slightly less sugar, and no baking powder compared to the BI recipe.   These cookies came out okay.  I though the flavor was really flat.  They were lemony, but overrun with white sugar and white flour.  And I overbaked them.  However, they were very easy to mix and the slice and bake method worked like a charm.  But I think I will try the BI next time I make these.  Hopefully the extra butter will add more flavor, and the baking powder a little lift.  The BI recipe also includes a small amount of brown sugar for added flavor.
¾ c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 T milk
2 t shredded lemon peel
½ t vanilla
½ t lemon extract
2 ¼ c AP flour (11.5 oz)
2 T poppy seeds
Sanding sugar
Mix dough – creaming method.  Shape dough into log, chill, then slice and bake at 375 10-12 minutes.

Pear Tart 1.24.14

This tart is made with Bartlett pears, which cooked perfectly in 45-50 minutes in my 375 oven.  They are topped with slivered almonds.  I didn’t overhydrate the crust, and it came out well.  It tasted a little bland (maybe not enough salt?) but it had good texture, crisp and flaky.
Adapted from Country Pear Tart in Better Homes and Gardens Baking

Crust:
7 5/8 oz AP flour
½ t salt
½ c butter
9 T ice water
Mix the dough and rest in retarder for at least 30 minutes.  Roll out dough into 13 in-circle.

Filling:
1 ½ lb pears sliced and peeled
¼ t ground ginger (or 1 T finely chopped crystallized ginger)
¼ t ground cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
2 7/8 oz sugar (1/3 c)
1 T sliced almonds
Milk (for wash)
Granulated sugar

Macerated the sliced pears in sugar for 30 minutes.  Then mix sugar and spices together.  Toss with the pears and mound them into the center of your rolled dough.  Fold the edge of the dough over the pears, pleating the dough to make a circle.  Wash the dough with an egg wash, then top with almonds.  Sprinkle sugar over the crust and place dots of butter on top of the exposed pears.
Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Check that crust is browned well and pears are tender.

This tart came out amazing.  Unfortunately, I was unable to reproduce my results.

Chocolate Chews 1.17.14

I used broken mousse cups for the chocolate, which is of really nice quality.  Here’s a picture of them melting down with the other ingredients.

I need to review the rules of tempering with molding chocolate, although I don’t remember it being a problem.  I used the heart mold and the spiral mold.  I made fresh mint flavor and orange flavor.  I think the mint ones could have a stronger mint flavor, but the texture came out good.  The mixture was thick to pipe, so I think next time I should use the correct amount of corn syrup.

10 g fresh mint (use more next time)
2 oz light corn syrup
4 oz semisweet chocolate
¼ t warm water

1/2 t orange extract (maybe try contreau)
2 oz light corn syrup
4 oz semisweet chocolate

Dairy-free ice cream 1.16.14

Trying more ice cream, I have my favorite so far (the So Delicious mint marble fudge) as well as coconut mint and rice dream vanilla.  Coconut mint was okay, but too coconutty for me.  Perhaps if you like coconut flavor you’ll like this one.  The rice dream vanilla was so off flavor for me, I’m not going to be able to finish it.  The texture was fine, though.  It looks very off white, compared to the coconut mint which is so white.

I have also since tried the So Delicious Mocha Fudge, which is pretty fantastic as well.

The local 1.16.14

The Local Wellesley, 11 Forest St, Wellesley, MA

Coffee ice cream pie.  It was delicious.  It was truly a pie-shaped slice of coffee ice cream with whipped cream on the side.  Yum.

FoMu 1.10.14

FoMu Alternative Ice Cream + Cafe, 481 Cambridge St, Allston, MA

Chocolate brownie and espresso flavored ice cream.  All the ice creams are nondairy and these two flavors have a coconut milk base.  Many of the flavours have a  hint of coconut flavor in the background, although chocolate brownie had the least coconut flavor of the ones I sampled.  There are also 2 or 3 nut based flavors.  I love the idea of coconut based ice cream, especially over rice or soy since it gives such a natural flavor.  Unfortunately, I don’t like coconut, so it is a struggle for me to eat it.

Cook's Illustrated Soft Pretzels 2.5.13

2 t active dry yeast (or 1 t instant yeast)
1/4 c honey
1 t fine salt
3 c bread flour (i used AP, it was on hand)
1 c warm water (I used 1/2 c water, 1/2 c Leinenkugels Hoppin' Helles)
3 T baking soda
coarse salt


The beer taste was nicely balanced.  Making pretzels is so much fun.