gingerbread cookies

made use of the recipe from this site.  herein is my personal notation for future reference.

 ingredients:

• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour (spooned/leveld)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened, room temp)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsulphered/dark molasses (apparently Grandma's brand.  which was the only version in the grocery store anyway)
• 1 egg (room tep)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

preparation: 

• in large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves
• in a large bowl, beat butter (hand mixer or whatever) for 1 min on medium until smooth/creamy
• add the brown sugar and molasses and beat on medium high until combined/creamy
• beat in egg and vanilla on high for 2 full minutes
• add the dry ingredients and beat on low until combined (it will be thick/sticky)
• divide dough in half and place each onto plastic wrap.  wrap tightly and create a disc and chill at least 3 hours (or overnight)

• roll out disc until 1/4 inch thick
• cut into shapes and place about 1 inch apart on baking sheets 
• bake at 350°F on about 9 minutes for smaller cookies.  apparently 11 minutes for larger (4"+ cookies)
• cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack 

 discussion:

9 minutes was about right for baking.  the consistency was soft on inside, a little crisp at edges.  overall nice.  probably would bump up the spices.  i couldn't find the meringue powder at publix, so i didn't do the homemade royal icing this time.  went with premade icing.  kids enjoyed the making and the eating.  and nat enjoyed the decorating so far.

 

 

freddington update - 2021 edition

not a new recipe, but i do need to put my latest refinements and updates somewhere that i remember them.

 miniature freddingtons are better than a single long one.  it cooks more evenly and is easier to prepare.

• i've taken to getting pre-cut filet mignon medallions (~1/2 lb each)
• for three freddingtons, i used 1/2 apple, 1 medium-large eggplant, a little garlic, and two 5.2oz bags of pre-roasted chestnuts.  this provides enough duxelles without being too much or too little.
• i use six pieces of proscuitto per freddington (three across, two long)
• i use 2/3 of a puff pastry sheet, plus a little, for a freddington of this size
• IMPORTANT: put cooking spray on the rack used for baking.  putting it on a wire rack, on a cookie sheet, with parchment paper helps with cleanup.
• bake it until 115°f, and it'll keep cooking up to about 135, so it'll be on the verge of medium.  maaaaybe bring out a little earlier, even.
  

eggplant casserole redux

so one of the recipes i posted early on was a pork and eggplant casserole, and in recent years, i've inadvertently recreated it.  last summer, i was making what was supposed to be a ratatouille...but it turned out to be a better version of the initial casserole.  i neglected to document it then, but i made it again this month.  i actually remembered to photograph it this time!

all in all, this takes maybe 45 minutes to prepare and cook, and it made about 6 servings.

ingredients:
- 1 pound hot sausage (walker farms meat)
-1 eggplant (largeish
- 1 pint of frozen tomatoes (mostly drained)
- 1 medium fresh tomato (cut up)
- feta cheese
- basil
- oregano
- chili powder
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- cayenne
- salt
- black pepper

preparation:
i started by cubing up the eggplant.  i tossed it with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and included the various herbs and spices (to taste).

i browned the sausage in a large cast iron pan (on medium to medium-high heat).  once cooked, i added the eggplant to the pan and let that brown.  i stirred in the tomatoes and let the mixture cook on the stove until it started to bubble.  at this point, i popped the pan in the oven (350°F) for about 30-35 minutes.

serve in a bowl with feta cheese (about 2 oz per serving).

verdict:
this preparation solves the original problem i had with the recipe, which was with tough eggplant.  we both love it...there's a good heat to the dish fom the hot sausage (and spices), but it's not so much that the mouth is on fire for hours.  rather, it just helps clear the sinuses.

i was going to stash some in the freezer (just to have pre-made meals on hand), but jackie wouldn't let me...it got consumed within 4 days!  i guess i'll just have to procure more eggplant and make another serving for freezing.

peach and blackberry pie

so over the july 4 holiday, my uncle asked why i never posted any recipes anymore.  and i didn't have a good answer.  being busy isn't an excuse because it isn't like i'm not cooking anything.  so i'm trying to make the effort to remember to take photographs and to document what i've been doing.  that said, i'm still being slow about it (this pie was baked back on july 9)...but at least i'm posting!

jackie found a recipe for this blackberry and peach pie online, and she wanted me to try it.  we had picked up some peaches from a roadside stand outside rockingham, nc, on our way back from the beach (frozen by now, of course), but we needed some berries.  so jackie came with me on her very first blackberry-picking expedition.  after the briars and the bugs and the heat, it might be that she'll leave the berry picking to me in the future, but she did good!

ingredients:
~ 2.5-3 cups fresh blackberries
~ 3 peaches, skinned/sliced/pitted
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
- double crust (premade)

preparation:
mix the berries, peaches, cornstarch, and sugar in a large bowl.  contrary to the online recipe, i also stirred the cinnamon and nutmeg into the mixture.

press one pie crust into the bottom of a pie pan.  pour the fruit mixture into the pan and cover with the second crust.  crimp the edges together to seal the pie.  cut slits in the pie for venting.  i got a little fancy and cut out a few ovals in addition to a few slits.  brush top of the pie with the melted butter.  i also sprinkled a little bit of white sugar and cinnamon on the crust.

put pie in oven (preheated to 450°F) for 15 minutes.  reduce heat to 350°F and bake until crust is golden brown.  for me, this took about 37 minutes.

verdict:
this is a good pie and pairs very nicely with vanilla ice cream.  one downside was the crust; it was cooked properly but just wasn't as flaky as, say, a pillsbury crust.  as an alternative, it would be a great cobbler filling.  i'll definitely make a version of it again!

Banana Pumpkin Bread

*Guest Entry*

4 ripe bananas (2.5c mashed)

1 pie pumpkin, roasted (yielded 3c mashed)

2 cup sugar

2/3 cup melted butter

4 eggs

4 cups plain flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp clove

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

2 pinches of salt (which I forgot to add so I added a couple grains to each mini loaf a couple minutes after popping them into the oven and stirred it in... let's hope for the best)

7 greased mini loaf pans (I tried out Baker's Joy for "greasing")

Preheat the oven to 300F.

Follow pumpkin puree recipe from October 2014. And allow to cool completely. (Brian prepared this two days before and put in the refrigerator.)

Combine the pumpkin and mashed bananas until homogeneous.

In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, and eggs, and stir until well mixed.

Add the fruit and vegetable mixture to the sugar, butter, egg mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, spices, and salt).

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while constantly stirring.

At this point, the bread batter seemed to be somewhere between cake batter consistency and dough. I hope that's right!

I transferred a heaping cup of the mixture to 3 of the loaf pans and kept adding until there was about 1.5 centimeters of room to the top of the pan.

Then I added the chopped nuts to the remaining mixture and stirred.

I then repeated the same process into 3 new loaf pans, but then I had extra for a 4th, so I just filled that one up too.

It took 54 minutes in the oven to bake. (I checked in at 30 mins, 40 mins, 44 mins, 48 mins, 50 mins, one loaf passed the wooden toothpick test so I took them all out, but another one was a little wet, so I put them all back in and checked 4 minutes later at 54 mins). So it wasn't in a closed oven for 54 minutes straight, just FYI.

As for the verdict... it'll have to wait. These are Christmas presents for various people. Regardless of how successful they are, I'll be making a second batch this upcoming weekend for a second wave of Christmas presents. If I'm lucky, there will be an extra that I can have myself.

Pineapple Chicken with Cabbage Stir Fry

*GUEST ENTREE ENTRY*

Stir Fry Ingredients

2 tbsp wok oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp raw ginger, crushed

1 tbsp soy sauce

6 cups shredded cabbage blend with carrots

1 red bell pepper, julienne slices

~9 hollow parts of green onions in 5-10mm diagonal cuts

Salt to season

Heat 1 tbsp of wok oil. Add garlic and ginger and stir until aromatic. Add red bell pepper and stir for a few minutes until somewhat softened. Add cabbage, 1 tbsp wok oil, and soy sauce. Stirring occasionally until cabbage starts to wilt. Add green onions and salt to season. Stir until preferred stir fry texture.

Fried Chicken Ingredients

1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1" cubes

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp salt

1 pint reusable vegetable oil

Heat 1 pint of vegetable oil on medium-high heat (to what I would call "deep frying temperature"). Mix together flour, salt, and pepper in bread bag or Ziplock bag. Dunk chicken cubes in eggs. Then place wet chicken cubes into flour (~6-8 pieces at a time). Shake to coat and then place raw coated chicken on a plate. Continue until all the chicken is coated in flour. Drop 10-14 pieces of chicken in hot oil. Allow the pieces to turn light brown before flipping over (to keep the breading intact). Allow to cook through (like 5 minutes). Transfer out with a slotted spoon to another plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease.

Pineapple Sauce Ingredients

1 cup water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup pineapple white balsamic vinegar

Juice (only) from one can of 8oz Dole pineapple rings in juice

1 tsp raw ginger, crushed

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp corn starch

2 cups pineapple chunked into small/medium bite-size pieces

Toasted sesame seeds

Bring water, soy sauce, vinegar, and juice to a simmer. Add ginger and continue to simmer until aromatic. Add brown sugar and continue to simmer. Add 1 tsp of corn starch and bring to a low boil for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to check consistency (add more corn starch if desired). Add pineapple chunks to sauce on low heat. Add fried chicken as prepared above to sauce. I brought it back to a boil to burn off any extra water to thicken the sauce a little more without adding more corn starch. Then reduce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Verdict

Since I couldn't find a recipe to follow/tweak, this was a true experiment. By combining previous techniques from my Clementine Chicken recipe and new ideas from reading through a bunch of recipes that just weren't what I was looking for, I have come up with something quite grand. Also, we picked up copious amounts of pineapple white balsamic vinegar and wok oil at Olive & Vinegar in Greenville a couple weekends ago; I was determined to do something with it. Overall, I am quite pleased with this meal. The sauce could have stood to be just a little thicker, but I'm always overly cautious of adding too much corn starch (because I have definitely ruined a meal or two by doing that). So, I was fine with it for how it turned out, especially after it cooled down. Also, I had no idea how long each of the 3 components were going to take to cook, so I started all 3 at the same time. The sauce and chicken took about the same time, but the cabbage stir fry could have waited at least 10 minutes after I started on the other two. By multitasking, I created a huge mess, but it was well worth it! 

Beet Pesto Spread

*GUEST ENTREE ENTRY*

Visit the Roasted Sweet Potato & Beet Salad blog entry for instructions on how to roast the beets for this...

3 red beets, roasted
6 cloves of garlic *recommend scaling this back to 3 cloves in the future*
3/4c walnuts, roasted (~7 minutes)
3/4c grana padana cheese, shredded
1/4c oil olive
zest of a lemon
juice of a lemon
1 tsp salt

Add the ingredients to a food processor and pulse several times until the ingredients are well combined. It should be a spreadable paste consistency (like hummus). Serve over crackers, toasted italian bread, on a sandwich, etc.

The texture of this was great... however, the garlic truly overpowered this spread. I would recommend using 1/2 the garlic or even 1 clove of garlic to 1 red beet. There was A LOT of this spread & unfortunately, it didn't all get used.