Culinary Discussion, We could call it our House of Earthly Delights... Options

[grif11]

If you're craving for cake but don't want something too rich, try this beautiful cake with special frosting that compliments it perfectly

FOR THE CAKE

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter
75g cocoa
400g caster sugar
1 x 142ml pot sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2 1/2teaspoons bicarbonate of soda


FOR THE TOPPING:

300g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g icing sugar
125ml double or whipping cream
METHOD Serves: Makes about 12 slices
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C, and butter and line a 23cm springform tin.

Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsieved icing sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.

Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

[Thomas Kaira]

Make your own eclairs!

Eclairs are composed of three components: the shell is made from a dough called Pate au Choux, which is a dough specifically for eclairs. The filling is Pastry Cream, and the icing on top is called Ganache.

Yield: About 8 to 10 eclairs.

Pate au Choux:

Water/Milk: 8oz
Butter: 4oz
---
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Flour (AP): 6oz
---
Eggs: 10oz

1. Bring your liquid to a boil on the stovetop. Sift flour and salt to mix and remove lumps. Preheat oven to 375*F
2. When liquid begins boiling, add butter, and let melt fully.
3. Add flour and salt after butter has melted, stir until the paste pulls away from the sides of the pot easily.
4. Remove dough from pot and place into mixer. Mix for about 2 minutes as is to remove excess heat.
5. Gradually add in eggs about a quarter at a time. Allow previous eggs to incorporate fully before adding more. Continue until batter is pipeable (will be pasty, not quite doughy, yet not quite batter-y). You may not need to add all the eggs to achieve this.
6. Using an open-star or closed-star tip, pipe the mix onto ungreased parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for approximately one hour.
7. Allow to cool before filling.

Pastry Cream:

Milk: 2 lb (one quart)
Sugar 1: 4oz
---
Egg Yolks: 3oz (about 5)
Corn Starch: 2+1/4oz
Whole eggs: 4oz (about 2)
Sugar 2: 4oz
---
Butter: 2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 T

1. Dissolve sugar 1 into milk. sift corn starch and sugar 2 together. Whisk egg product together, and add sugar + corn starch, whisk until smooth.
2. Bring milk to boil in a saucepan on the stovetop.
3. Remove milk from heat, slowly add in half the hot milk to your egg mix, whisking constantly. Once half the milk is in the eggs, pour the bowl's entire contents back into the saucepan and whisk together.
4. Return pot to heat and whisk until cream thickens. It should look like yogurt and cling to the whisk if you scoop it out. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps forming.
5. Immediately transfer cream to a cold metal bowl in ice bath (strain it if lumps formed). Continue whisking in the ice bath to help dissipate the heat.
6. Once cooled sufficiently, transfer to refrigerator and chill until below 40*F before use.

Ganache:

Heavy Cream: 9oz
Chocolate (semi-sweet): 9oz
---
Butter: 1+1/2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp

1. Bring cream to boil on stovetop.
2. When cream boils, pour over chopped chocolate and slowly stir with spatula until chocolate is fully melted.
3. Add butter and vanilla, stir until butter is melted.
4. Use immediately, reheat over double-boiler if needed, but don't do this too often or ganache will become grainy.

Using those three components, here's how to make the eclairs:

1. Cut baked eclair shells in half horizontally, giving you a top half and bottom half. Or poke holes on either side of the shell if you wish to pipe your filling.
2a. If cut, spoon pastry cream into bottom half, dip top half into ganache. Sandwich on top of each other and garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.
2b. If piping, use your pastry injector tip (very long with slanted opening similar to a hypodermic needle) and pipe half from one side, and half on the other. When you see filling being pushed out, stop, the shell is full. Dip in ganache, then garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.

[Grits]

Here’s something for those occasions when only carcinogens and saturated fats will do. I’ve found that if I serve this in January and February after folks have gone public with their New Year’s resolutions, they’ll still devour it, but they grumble a lot.

Hot Bacon Swiss Dip

½ cup mayonnaise
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon chopped scallion
8-10 pieces of bacon, chopped

Mix.

Heat at 325 degrees F until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Serve with crackers.

[Olen]

That sounds rather nice... it would probably do me for about three weeks though.

A question this time: what is cornbread and how do you make it? I'm allergic to gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats) but if it's made from maize then it would be ok, or might take having the plain flour replaced with a substitute better than normal bread. It was a thought anyway.

Seeing as this is a recipe thread my speciality healthy breakfast which really shouldn't be:

Tattie scone - the easy way
instant mashed potato
flour
salt

Make up the instant mashed potato with boiling water as usual but make it a bit dry. You can use mashed potatoes (with other left-over root veggies added if desired) from the previous night which have been left out and dried a bit too but instant is just as good.

Add about 1/2 - 2/3 (depending on wetness) of the volume of potato of flour to the potato and stir into a dough. Add salt to taste and herbs or pepper if desired.

Heat a frying pan on a high heat and drop in a small knob of butter (less than you'd put on toast). Roll golf-ball sized lumps of dough between your hands (it shouldn't be sticky) and flatten them to about 1/4" thickness. Fry them in the butter. You can add more when turning them if you like them greasy.

Once browned on each side serve them with poached egg or if you want to leave the realms of healthy a full fry up. In the latter case frying them in the bacon fat makes them delicious and they pick up the little burnt bits too.

It sounds like a faff but it can be finished in about five minutes while you make coffee/ lunch etc.

[The Solo Rollo]

My parents are visiting soon, and I'm going to try to get hold of my dads recipe for his delicious scotch broth. If you've never had homemade Scotch broth, I seriously reccomend you do!

[haute ecole rider]

Olen, I assume you're using gluten-free flour in your scone recipe?

This is cornbread, Southern style (Southern US, that is).

I also found a gluten-free cornbread recipe, but it seems rather complicated. I'm not sure why you can't take Paula Deen's Southern cornbread recipe and substitute gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Then there's the Cheyenne batter bread recipe I found years ago when living in Minnesota. Not sweet at all - rather a more savory bread. It was delicious, but different from what I expected. Here it is:

1 quart milk or water
2 cups yellow or white cornmeal
3 eggs, separated
4 TBS melted butter
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper

In large saucepan, bring milk to boil over medium heat. Gradually stir in cornmeal. Cook, stirring for a few minutes until thickened. (Sounds like polenta, doesn't it?) Beat in egg yolks, butter and seasonings. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Fold whites into corn mixture, pour into 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees (Farenheit) 20 - 30 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown. Cut into squares and serve at room temp. Makes six servings.

[Olen]

Well I made the first recipe (the gluten free recipe needed all sorts of weird ingrediants and the other requires beating egg whites which takes ages with a fork) substituting in a GF flour blend. It worked, well I think it did, I've never had the real thing but it was yellow and bready and edible.

I have a few questions though - how do you eat it? I had a big lump (maybe 2"x2"x4") with a rasher of bacon and it was tasty, but is that normal. It's sort of sweet so that got me thinking it might be meant to go more with ice cream or something? Also how long does it keep (obvioulsy there's one way to find out but if it keeps very well/badly I'll plan what I eat when around that).

[Grits]

Sounds like you made cornbread.

In our house we eat it with jam for breakfast, with all kinds of chili (some crumble it into the bowl and ladle the chili on top), and with strawberries and milk any time we can get strawberries. A square of cornbread can substitute for a dinner roll.

Sorry, I can’t say how it keeps. It always just gets eaten.

[haute ecole rider]

Cornbread seldom last more than a few days in my house.

But it can be refrigerated for a few days. Freezing? I'm not sure, but it may be a week or so. Freezing might alter the texture, though.

Good cornbread is moist, crumbly, almost like a muffin. As a matter of fact, as far as I'm concerned the only difference between cornbread and corn muffins (other than the shape) is that muffins are sweeter (because of added sugar).

Congratulations! You've just discovered why corn is so vital as a sweetener in processed foods. It is naturally very sweet.

I love to eat it warm with butter. The best thing about cornbread is that it is almost as versatile as bread. Have it with jam as Grits suggested, or with butter (or both). Have it warm or room temperature or cold. Crumble it over chili or other spicy foods (that sweetness of the corn complements peppery foods very well). Experiment! Go with what you like. There are no hard and fast rules about consuming cornbread. I have never heard of eating it with ice cream, but there is no reason why you can't try that either.

[mALX]

Make your own eclairs!

Eclairs are composed of three components: the shell is made from a dough called Pate au Choux, which is a dough specifically for eclairs. The filling is Pastry Cream, and the icing on top is called Ganache.

Yield: About 8 to 10 eclairs.

Pate au Choux:

Water/Milk: 8oz
Butter: 4oz
---
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Flour (AP): 6oz
---
Eggs: 10oz

1. Bring your liquid to a boil on the stovetop. Sift flour and salt to mix and remove lumps. Preheat oven to 375*F
2. When liquid begins boiling, add butter, and let melt fully.
3. Add flour and salt after butter has melted, stir until the paste pulls away from the sides of the pot easily.
4. Remove dough from pot and place into mixer. Mix for about 2 minutes as is to remove excess heat.
5. Gradually add in eggs about a quarter at a time. Allow previous eggs to incorporate fully before adding more. Continue until batter is pipeable (will be pasty, not quite doughy, yet not quite batter-y). You may not need to add all the eggs to achieve this.
6. Using an open-star or closed-star tip, pipe the mix onto ungreased parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for approximately one hour.
7. Allow to cool before filling.

Pastry Cream:

Milk: 2 lb (one quart)
Sugar 1: 4oz
---
Egg Yolks: 3oz (about 5)
Corn Starch: 2+1/4oz
Whole eggs: 4oz (about 2)
Sugar 2: 4oz
---
Butter: 2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 T

1. Dissolve sugar 1 into milk. sift corn starch and sugar 2 together. Whisk egg product together, and add sugar + corn starch, whisk until smooth.
2. Bring milk to boil in a saucepan on the stovetop.
3. Remove milk from heat, slowly add in half the hot milk to your egg mix, whisking constantly. Once half the milk is in the eggs, pour the bowl's entire contents back into the saucepan and whisk together.
4. Return pot to heat and whisk until cream thickens. It should look like yogurt and cling to the whisk if you scoop it out. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps forming.
5. Immediately transfer cream to a cold metal bowl in ice bath (strain it if lumps formed). Continue whisking in the ice bath to help dissipate the heat.
6. Once cooled sufficiently, transfer to refrigerator and chill until below 40*F before use.

Ganache:

Heavy Cream: 9oz
Chocolate (semi-sweet): 9oz
---
Butter: 1+1/2oz
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp

1. Bring cream to boil on stovetop.
2. When cream boils, pour over chopped chocolate and slowly stir with spatula until chocolate is fully melted.
3. Add butter and vanilla, stir until butter is melted.
4. Use immediately, reheat over double-boiler if needed, but don't do this too often or ganache will become grainy.

Using those three components, here's how to make the eclairs:

1. Cut baked eclair shells in half horizontally, giving you a top half and bottom half. Or poke holes on either side of the shell if you wish to pipe your filling.
2a. If cut, spoon pastry cream into bottom half, dip top half into ganache. Sandwich on top of each other and garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.
2b. If piping, use your pastry injector tip (very long with slanted opening similar to a hypodermic needle) and pipe half from one side, and half on the other. When you see filling being pushed out, stop, the shell is full. Dip in ganache, then garnish with shaved chocolate if desired.

My absolute favorite dessert - with the Bavarian cream in the center !!

[Grits]

This is not so much a recipe as an adventure with oats inspired by Ruben cooking skirlie and sausage in Olen’s story Shades of Ending (page 4). I have never heard of fried oatmeal, and I didn’t have sausage, lard, or peppers, but I did have olive oil and a sweet potato. And I was hungry.

I sliced the sweet potato into matchsticks so that it would cook quickly in the pan, then I fired up the skillet and cut the onion into those little crescents, I think it’s called julienne. Dumped them in on top of some olive oil and went to check my email.

Came back to find a nice brown color , dumped in some steel cut oats, and this time I stuck around to keep it moving in the pan. It got dry and toasty in a hurry. I added some stock, but not enough to make it too porridge looking. Next time I will use a little more stock. I used salt, turmeric, cumin, and a dash of white pepper because I thought it would be tasty. It was.

Next I’ll try it with spinach, garlic, and mushrooms. I already have a plan for swiss chard and spring onions when the farmers market opens. Can’t wait.


Oh! I did not take a picture, because it looked like something the cat does when it has an intestinal parasite. But close your eyes, it’s delicious!

[mALX]

Oh! I did not take a picture, because it looked like something the cat does when it has an intestinal parasite. But close your eyes, it’s delicious!

There goes the can of chicken noodle soup I just made for lunch! GAAAAAK !!!

[Olen]

Sounds good Grits. Not quite the authentic recipe but if it tastes good who cares (my classic line when I try to make American food).

A more traditional method goes:

1 onion chopped fairly small
A couple of handfuls of oatmeal
A tablesppon (at least! two or more is common) of lard
Salt
Black pepper

Fry the onion in the fat. Once done add oatmeal slowly until it absorbs all the fat, add a little more. Fry for a short time. Serve. Get indigestion. Die of heart disease.

If the final step doesn't happen there's always deep fried marsbar. It's self explainitory - take your favourite sweet bar (mars and snickers work best) dip it in thick batter to seal (or your fat gets nasty). Deep fry, hard fat gives the best result. Serve with chips. And yes, this is a genuine Scottish food. Along with deep fried: pizza (battered or not), haggis pudding, white pudding (oatmeal, onions, pepper and lard), black pudding (white pudding with added blood), red pudding (you really don't want to know), mince pie (this is unusually greasy...) and just about anything else. There might be a reason life expectancy here isn't as good as in the rest of Europe...

On a healthier note something which is really easy and worked quite well.

Sweet potato gnocchi:
Sweet potato
Flour
Salt

Boil the sweet potato until tender. Drain and mash. Add flour (no water) to make a dough, avoid adding too muchflour or they end up heavy. Make into balls about 3/4 " across and squeeze either side (end up the shape of a red blood cell). Drop into quickly boiling water. When they float they're done. It's best to drop them in as you make then then fish all the floating ones out every minute or so, if you strain them normally they fall to bits. Serve with pasta sauce or pesto and roasted veggies.

[Thomas Kaira]

Free sweet rolls!

Home baked, completely from scratch. These aren't Pillsbury.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Aug 18 2012, 10:18 PM

[mALX]

Free sweet rolls!

Home baked, completely from scratch. These aren't Pillsbury.

Mmmmmmm !!!!!

[haute ecole rider]

Yummy!

Absolutely essential to the Sweetroll Negotiations!

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Aug 18 2012, 10:35 PM

[Grits]

Free sweet rolls!

Home baked, completely from scratch. These aren't Pillsbury.

Yum!! Just the thing with my morning kahve.

[Grits]

Two things.

One, rice. I hate cooking rice because there has to be just the right amount of water and it always boils over so you have to watch it. The kind I make takes 50 minutes, so that is not fun. So I decided to cook it like pasta in more water than necessary, then drain it. Problem is the rice goes through the colander, and the strainer won’t sit up in the sink. So here’s my rice draining rig. Strainer balanced on colander. Yay.



Two, haute ecole rider’s Cloud Ruler Temple Beef Stew. Here’s the picture. It is SO good! I made it for the family, then made it again the next week for supper club. It’s that delicious!!




It's cold here in Grits world tonight. I could use a bowl of stew (and a roaring fire) right now!

[Acadian]

How clever on the rice! And the stew looks absolutely perfect for the cold weather. Yum, and thanks for sharing!

[mALX]

If the water is boiling over after you have added the rice and dropped the temp of your burner, then your stove burner is getting too hot/not cooling down quickly enough. (The burner is taking too long to cool down).

If you are bringing your water to a boil using the "high heat" setting, that is the cause. For rice, bring the water to a boil using a medium setting (medium high at the very most, I just use medium).


I use 2 cups water + 1/2 stick butter (not margerine) for every 1 cup of rice. Salt the water and add the butter, bring water to boil at medium heat.

Add rice. When the water returns to a boil stir it ONCE with a fork, drop the burner to low, cover the pan with a lid - and DO NOT REMOVE THE LID FOR 17 MINUTES! Then lift lid and fluff rice. If it is done, remove from heat. Rice needs to steam open, that makes a perfect pot of rice every time.

Also, the pot you use for cooking rice should be deepsided, and the right size for the job. Too small a pan will boil over and absorb the heat too much (be harder to cool down for steaming). Too large a pan and the rice will spread out and not steam at all.


** PS - the stew looks great, would you butter my roll for me? Lol.




This post has been edited by mALX: Nov 14 2012, 06:33 PM