Ode to Vermont and Canada

I'm so not feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I want a shirt that says, "Bah. Humbug." However, the bright sunny morning cheered me a little and I decided to celebrate the first day of me not checking my Blackberry all day with some scones.  Not just any scones -- maple-glazed pumpkin scones to be exact. I wanted to make these over Thanksgiving, but a family emergency kept me from my kitchen most of my time off.

You've seen the scone recipe before, so let's get to it. It starts pretty much the same; pulse dry ingredients in the food processor.  Add cold butter.

Here's the departure:  make Trader's Joe's Pumpkin Butter your friend. Y'all might even be best friends after this :-)

Mix it into the cream really well. Instead of a full cup of cream, I used 3/4 C. Add the cream to the flour mixture. 

CI has you do this by hand, I just added mine to Miracle and pulsed until it formed a dough.

                                     

Now comes the messy part. Dump the dough on the counter. Knead very gently to incorporate all the dry bits. Form a ball or two, depending on how you will shape your scones.

I made two balls because I used a 6" cake pan so I could have mini scones.

Press the dough into the pan.

Invert.

Slice (do a better job than I did.) Remember to press straight down. I'll show you what happens later when you don't.

I did better on the second round.

I started with refrigerated instead of my usual frozen butter, so I parked these in the refrigerator while I took a bacon detour. 

I did say MAPLE pumpkin scones. No way I was going to have a hot oven, maple syrup on the counter and bacon in the refrigerator without making maple-glazed bacon again.

Back to the scones.  I heated some butter and maple syrup together.

I gave the scones a beautiful brush-on tan and to the oven they went.

Here's what I got.

Absolutely delicious! The texture was closer to a biscuit or even cake. I prefer my scones on the drier side, but the flavor made up for the break with tradition. The pumpkin butter was pretty sweet, so I would knock out some of the sugar when I try these again. The maple syrup kept the outside of the scones from getting hard, so next time, I'll make half with the glaze on before baking and put the glaze on the other half after baking to see which I like best. 

With Teavana's English Breakfast Tea, these made a wonderful morning treat. On a side note, here's another vote for Silpat -- the burnt syrup just flakes off. Easy cleanup.

Remember my note to press straight down when cutting? Here's what happens when you don't. He's all crooked :-( I'm working on a granite counter, so I use my bench scraper to cut dough. Moving to a cutting board so I can use my knives is too much work. And even still, I think it's just the way I cut and lack of wrist strength. I sometimes have lopsided biscuits too.

Tools of the trade

• Kitchenaid Food Processor
• Wilton Cake 6" Deep Pan
• 2-Cup Pyrex Measuring Cup
• Silpat
• OXO Pastry Brush
• OXO Bench Scraper

Summer Baking

It was absolutely blazing earlier today.  I was slightly miffed because I had to go outside and because I had to turn the oven on.  In hindsight, the oven part isn't so bad.

The baking need arose from a container of plums I got from Costco a couple of days ago.  I was about to purchase $9 cherries, when I spotted $5 plums.  I made a quick switch.  Once I got the plums home, I realized that they were extremely ripe.  They were so ripe that they tasted a little like pears.  These would need to star in a crumble or a crisp real soon.

Once I realized that I wouldn't finish the sewing project I was working on in time, I decided to take a break and head to the kitchen.  Here's what I came up with:  a plum crisp.  I adapted the recipe from Baking Illustrated.  If you've read my blog in the past, you know I am an America's Test Kitchen believer.

Starting here was a no-brainer since I had limited time and patience.  (I wanted to get back to the other hobby.)  This recipe was amazingly simple.  I think it went together in less than 20 minutes.

Make the topping first.  Flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg (freshly ground, please) and salt go for a spin in the food processor.  It's been a while since Miracle and I have hung out.

Add the butter and pulse until you get something that looks like wet sand.  Chill immediately.  (Not you, the topping.)

Move on to the fruit.  The recipe called for sliced fruit, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice.  I had two of the four.  If substituting plums for apples, CI wanted me to have tapioca pudding too.  Yeah right.

Since my plums were very ripe (look at 'em; they look like beets), I used about a couple of tablespoons of sugar.  For the acid, I thought balsamic vinegar would be hot.  Don't sleep on balsamic vinegar and fruit.  It will change your relationship with strawberry shortcake forever. I used about 1 1/2 Tbs.  I used a tablespoon of cornstarch in place of the tapioca.

Let's assemble. Dump the fruit into a buttered baking dish.  

Creatively distribute the topping over the fruit. Ain't that pretty?

Get thee to a pre-heated oven.  I let it bake at 375 for 30 minutes and then jacked up the heat to 400 for browning.

Hallelujah!! All I need is some white ice cream (my uncles' term for vanilla ice cream.)

Tools of the trade

• Microplane Grate and Shake Nutmeg Grinder/Grater, Black
• KitchenAid Food Processor
• OXO Bench Scraper
• Pryex Baking Dish

Buy The Book #4: Cook's Illustrated 2003 Annual

Whenever I can knock out a killer breakfast, I am a happy camper. One of the things I do love for breakfast is cornmeal pancakes. Many a day I opened a box of Jiffy for pancakes and not cornbread. That is until I discovered lemon-cornmeal blueberry pancakes in 2003.

This was the year I bought my first CI Annual. If you haven't figured it out, I believe the folks at Cook's Illustrated author the best recipes. Perhaps a third or more of my cookbook collection is from CI. I think this recipe is the one I use most from the 2003 volume. It truly is a breakfast favorite.

Let's get started. This is all you need to make these wonderful pancakes. I would've preferred fresh blueberries, but it's winter. I'll make do with frozen. And yes, the use of prep bowls really does help.

Start by stirring your lemon zest and lemon juice into the milk. Yep. You're making buttermilk. Let it sit for a while to thicken. You can easily use buttermilk and just add the zest. I feel Sunday biscuits coming on, so I'm saving the real buttermilk for that.

Mix the egg and melted butter.

Now, mix all of your dry ingredients. I do this in two stages, cornmeal and flour and then the baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt into the cornmeal and flour.

Dump the egg mixture into the milk and give it a whisk. Next, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix in the milk mixture. I start with a whisk and then switch to a spatula. Please don't overmix. Lumps are okay. Completely smooth batter means tough pancakes and who wants that?

I used a large scoop to portion the batter. I don't care about perfectly round pancakes. This is a good thing because I can't make them! I do have some egg rings that I could use if I needed to impress somebody. After the batter is in the pan, sprinkle the blueberries across each pancake.

I am pining for a Le Crueset double-burner reversible grill and griddle. Until then, a large skillet will have to do. I added a little more oil than I should have and the heat was up a touch higher than it needed to be. Therefore, the first batch fried a little. Once you see the edges of the pancakes start to dry out (you'll see the bubbles), give the pancakes a flip. On my stove, liquids tend to pool on one side, so one pancake got a lot of hot oil. Can you tell which one?

When the bottom side has set, remove the pancakes to a plate and work it out with some syrup and butter. I also had some maple glazed turkey bacon going on the side. Add some rich coffee made from freshly-ground beans and you'd think you're at a fancy restaurant.

A couple of things would've made this better -- breakfast in bed and breakfast before noon! No matter. All was right with the world after the first bite.

These also freeze well. I stack them between parchment paper. I intentionally undercook each batch after the first, so that the frozen ones will be a little more forgiving when reheated.

Tools of the trade:

• All-Clad 12" Nonstick Fry Pan
• Glass Prep Bowls
• OXO Food Scale
• French Whisk

Dollar Friendly

You know from the last post that I'm preparing for Thanksgiving, so I have to pinch a few pennies in order to work the masterpiece I'm planning in honor of the holiday dedicated to food. Anyhoo. I was inspired to bring back my red beans and rice after reading a post about Monday red beans and rice on YatCuisine. I paired that with some cornbread. What makes this blog-worthy is the edition of sweet potato fries to the plate.

This was just an off-chance craving. I usually microwave sweet potatoes and treat them like a baked potato. Visions of the sweet potato fries I had while on a commercial shoot in Los Angeles popped into my head. Don't know why, but the vision hit and I had to act.

I used a Cook's Illustrated recipe as the base. It was pretty simple: toss the fries in oil, salt and pepper; throw them into the oven; handle them with care while they are cooking. How could I mess that up?

Here we go. I started by heating a cast iron skillet in the oven. CI recommended a baking sheet; I knew cast iron would be better for me. Leave it in until it's screaming hot.

I wanted to use my never-been-used-in-four-years French fry disc for Miracle. Note to self: potatoes go in sideways. The potato had to be trimmed to fit the feed tube. This is the one time I wish I had a wider feed tube.

I tossed these in canola oil, kosher salt, black pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. I never eat sweet potatoes without nutmeg. (It just ain't right to not pay homage to sweet potato pie.)

Add a little oil to the skillet and arrange the fries in a single layer. Bake until golden brown on the underneath. Here's the tricky part: flipping the fries. You have to use a thin spatula to get underneath the fries and not leave the caramelized portion on the pan. Enter fish spatula.

After you've turned them, throw them back into the oven until done. So simple and so good. Inexpensive too!

Tools of the trade:

• OXO i-Series Peeler
• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Shun Santoku
• KitchenAid Food Processor
• KitchenAid French Fry Disc
• Lodge Logic 8" Cast Iron Skillet
• Kuhn Rikon Fish Spatula

Buy The Book #2: Sweety Pies

I realized that my last post could have been a part of this series. I was too excited about mastering biscuits to think about it. Oh well.

For my second post in this series, I wanted to use one of my newer cookbooks. I was so in love with Sweety Pies last year, I gave it as a gift. I like a good story with my recipe and this book delivers!

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Let me back up. I was home last week for a funeral and someone brought over a homemade egg custard pie. You would not believe the excitement this elicited from Aunt Carolyn, me and later my big brother. This woman put her foot in that pie! My dessert-loving Uncle Herman later agreed. Needless to say, I was willing to make another attempt at this pie until I got it right. I had a few books to choose recipes from and I chose Sweety Pies because it was newer.

Since the filling was so simple, I tried to go for a more difficult traditional pie crust. I chose the one in Baking Illustrated. Y'all know pie crust has been my nemesis. I wanted to venture away from my beloved Cook's Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough. Not the smartest move I've ever made, but practice makes perfect.

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Pie crust first. The best-tasting crusts have butter and shortening. Make sure they are both well chilled.

Take the flour, salt and sugar for a spin. Add the shortening and process. The mixture should look like wet sand. Evenly distribute the butter on top.

Process until the butter is the size of peas.

We'll now fast forward. Dump the mixture into a bowl and add cold water. Shape into a disc and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll it out and get it into the pie plate.

Moving on to the filling. Cream the sugar, butter and eggs. I gave the butter and sugar a head start and then added the eggs.

Look at Sparkle go! Don't be confused; you know I named most of my appliances. I didn't call the food processor by name, but you already know Miracle.

Add your flour, buttermilk and extracts. The recipe called for lemon and vanilla. I think I want to go for just the vanilla next time. The buttermilk made the eggs curdle. Curdled batters always make me nervous.

Here's the result -- a little more golden brown than I planned on, but still good. Do you know how hard it was to wait on the pie to chill so I could taste it?!! I had to go to bed to rid myself of the temptation.

Although good in it's own right, this is not the pie I tasted in Little Rock last week. I just called my Aunt Myrt to see if she can get the recipe!

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Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Food Processor
• KitchenAid Hand Mixer
• OXO Bench Scraper
• French Rolling Pin
• Pyrex 9" Pie Plate
• Glass Mixing Bowl