LET’S GET SPOOKY!

Posted in Cookies, macarons by sallybr

I realize Halloween will not be the same this year, and that makes me sad. But it is impossible to resist baking all kinds of spooky things, and with this post I share six options for your socially-distant Halloween celebration.

All macarons were filled with a chocolate ganache, but in the Devil and Mummy macs the ganache was made by steeping the cream with smoked tea. Bat Cookies are a hazelnut-almond dough, and the others are regular sugar cookies.

DEVIL MACARONS

I used my default recipe which you can find here (and also a video tutorial in case you’d like to bake along with me). The idea of the decoration came from a brand new cookbook (The Wicked Baker) by one of the most fascinating contestants of the Great British Bake Off, the one and only Helena Garcia. She used a similar decoration for donuts, but I adapted it for macarons. The ears were made with Royal Icing dyed black, and piped on parchment paper in the appropriate format. Make more ears than you’ll need, as they break easily. The same Royal Icing was used to pipe the devilish tail. Once you assemble the shells with the filling, quickly add the ears, while the ganache is still soft.

Recipe for the smoked chocolate ganache:
150g heavy cream (you won’t use the full amount in the ganache)
1 bag smoked black tea (Lapsang Souchong)
2 tsp corn syrup
230g semi-sweet chocolate in pieces

Start by making the filling, as it must cool down before using. Bring the heavy cream to a gentle boil, add the tea bag. Turn the heat off, close the pan and leave the tea infusing for 30 minutes. Squeeze the tea bag and remove it. Bring the cream to a gentle boil again, then pour 115g of it over the chocolate. Leave it for 5 minutes, gently whisk until smooth, add the corn syrup. Cool it until it gets to a good consistency for piping on the shells.

MUMMY MACARONS

Also made with my default recipe, and filled with Smoked Chocolate Ganache. Once the shells are assembled, simply use white Candy Melts to make a random drizzle on the surface, and quickly add store-bought candy eyes (from Wilton).

Those were made in fact two years ago, and I totally forgot to blog about them. Back then, there was a thing called “Halloween Party” with guests and all (sigh). Bogey approved the macs, but was a bit spooked by a special version I made at the time.

Isn’t that pup the most adorable being in the universe? Noticed the paw?

SPIDER MACARONS

The shells were made with a new (to me) recipe. I used the Swiss meringue method, in a version that is super easy to memorize: 100g of every ingredient. All details in this recent post from Broma Bakery. I really like the way the shells baked with tall feet, and I did not even passed the almond flour + powdered sugar through the food processor, which made the whole process even simpler.

I loved making the spider decorations. I used marzipan dyed black, and then formed the head and the body of the little spiders, glueing them to the shells with candy melts. A little food-safe black pen to make the spider legs, and that was it! If you prefer less marzipan on the shells, roll the marzipan thin, and cut circles, one bigger for the body, one smaller for the head. It will have a similar look, but for those who are not wild about marzipan, even better to enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache Filling

100 g heavy cream
220g dark chocolate, chopped finely (I used Lindt 70%)
15 g butter
15 g honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Gently melt the chocolate with the butter in a double-boiler or microwave at 50% power. Set aside.

Pour the cream together with the honey and vanilla into a small saucepan and place over medium heat until it reaches almost boiling point. Pour slowly over the chocolate-butter mixture, mix until homogenized. Keep at room temperature for about 3 hours before using to fill the shells. You can make also make it the day before.

BAT COOKIES

Another decoration idea from The Wicked Baker, Helena’s cookbook. She used sugar cookies, I went with a slightly different recipe for the cookie base.

HAZELNUT-ALMOND CUT-OUT COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

188g butter at room temperature, cut in small cubes
78g powdered sugar
63g eggs
250g all-purpose flour
42g ground hazelnuts
42g ground almonds
1/4 tsp salt

In a Kitchen Aid type mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter with powdered sugar until soft and smooth. Gradually add the eggs, and keep beating until fully emulsified.

Add the flour, hazelnuts, almonds and salt, mixing gently to a homogeneous mixture. Transfer the dough to a floured surface, pat as a disc and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Roll out and cut in any shape you like. Freeze the cut cookies for 10 minutes before baking at 350F for about 12 minutes, until edges start to get a little color. Decorate with Royal Icing or serve plain, they are delicious even without decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

A little Royal Icing, sprinkles, and food pen to finalize the bat-look… Very simple to decorate, and the hazelnut-almond base really adds a lot to the cookie.

SPOOKY SUGAR COOKIES

I love using these cookie cutters that make the design for you, because I’m not that good at piping fancy designs (I am working on it, but well, you know how it goes). For the houses, I wanted a “granite” look, and it was easy to do with food gel diluted with a bit of vodka (or lemon extract). You need to eye-ball the dilution factor, so that the color is a little faded and does not cover the surface of the cookie completely. I used purple and dark blue from Artisan Accents, and completed the decoration with Royal Icing dyed orange or black.

For the sugar cookie basic recipe, I followed Bakeat350 to a T. I love that you don’t need to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. All recipes I’ve tried from that site worked wonderfully, and I’ve tried plenty, as every week I include a small batch of sugar cookies in my donations to Common Table.

FRIENDLY GHOST MACARONS

I used my default recipe for these, and the same chocolate ganache used for the Spider Macs, posted above. All you need is a template to pipe your little ghosts, and to make sure the macaron batter is not too thin, stop shorter in the macaronage, so that when you pipe the design it stays as it is. There are many templates available in the net, I used this one. The only issue I had with these macs is the slight browning in the oven. It is pretty tricky to keep the white color unchanged. In a batch I made earlier, I painted some pearl dust all over the surface, but it used up so much pearl dust, I am not sure it was worth it.

For more recipes to inspire you, click on this link from last year. Amazing how we had no idea how much our world would be changed 365 days later.

ONE YEAR AGO: Miso and Sesame Roast Chicken with Revelation Quinoa

TWO YEAR AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four

THREE YEARS AGO: Parsnip, Coconut and Lemongrass Soup

FOUR YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2016

FIVE YEARS AGO: Paleo Moussaka

SIX YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2014

SEVEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2013

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Bourbon and Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin

NINE YEARS AGO: Crimson and Cream Turkey Chili

TEN YEARS AGO: Taking a break from the nano-kitchen

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies

5Oct2020

TURKEY-PUMPKIN ROULADE WITH CIDER SAUCE AND MILLET PILAF

Posted in Poultry, Rice and Grains by sallybr

This was one delicious meal, even if I say so myself. I had never cooked turkey breasts, for some reason they’ve always intimidated me. Huge, and with that look of “I am going to be very dry and tough.” But sous-vide has a way to mellow any tough creature into perfection. If you don’t have a sous-vide, you can still make this recipe, just read my comments for changes.

TURKEY-PUMPKIN ROULADE WITH CIDER SAUCE AND CARROT-MILLET PILAF
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 boneless, skinless turkey breasts
Salt Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
¼ cup chopped toasted pecans
2 tablespoons crumbled sage,
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup + 1/2 chicken broth, divided
¼ cup apple cider
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons flour

Heat the water bath to 148F. Pound both breasts to about ¼ inch thick. Season well with salt and pepper. Make the filling by mixing the pumpkin, pecans, sage and smoked paprika in a small bowl.

Spread half the filling on each breast, then roll up each breast jelly-roll style, starting at the narrow end. Keep the roll tight with kitchen’s twine. Place each breast in a heat-safe bag, and pour 1/4 cup chicken broth + 1/8 cup apple cider in each bag. Close by water displacement. Cook in the water bath for 3 hours.

Remove the roulades from the bag, reserving the cooking liquid or one of the bags (discard the liquid from the other bag). Place the roulades on a paper towel–lined plate and pat dry. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a non-stick skillet and brown the roulades quickly on all sides. Cut the kitchen twine and place them on a platter covered with foil as you reduce the sauce.

Add one more tablespoon of flour to the skillet, and cook the flour on it for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Pour 1 cup of chicken stock and the reserved cooking liquid from one of the bags. Simmer gently until reduced, about 5 minutes. Season with more salt and a little pepper, cut the turkey in slices and serve with the sauce.

CARROT-MILLET PILAF

1 cup millet, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil, dividied
salt and pepper
3 carrots, peeled, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup slivered almonds
smoked paprika to taste

Start by roasting the carrots. Heat oven to 420F. Drizzle the carrots with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Place on a small baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 20 minutes, then add the almonds and roast for 5 minutes longer, mixing them well with the carrots. Reserve.

Cook the millet. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the millet and cook on high-heat, toasting well, for a couple of minutes. Add 2 cups of water, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed and grains are cooked. Immediately fluff it with a fork, add the carrots and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipes, click here

Comments: If you don’t have a sous-vide, the process is pretty much reversed. You start by browning the roulades in olive oil, then add chicken stock and cider to the pan, close it and simmer away until done to your liking. Or use your crockpot, or the pressure cooker, following the timings recommended for this type of preparation.

The millet was also delicious with it, and leftovers re-heated quite well for two more meals. This whole dinner would be perfect for a Thanksgiving for two, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of roasting a whole bird and then facing leftovers until Valentine’s Day say hello…

ONE YEAR AGO: Strawberry-Vanilla Mini-Cakes

TWO YEAR AGO: Bourbon-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Pea Pesto

THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies from Naturally Sweet

FOUR YEARS AGO: Little Bites of Paradise

FIVE YEARS AGO: Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2014

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Grilled Steelhead Trout

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Brown Butter Tomato Salad

NINE YEARS AGO: Spelt and Cornmeal Rolls

TEN YEARS AGO: Roasted Potato and Olive Focaccia

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire

1Oct2020

IN MY KITCHEN, OCTOBER 2020

Posted in In My Kitchen by sallybr

It is that time of the year… I invite my readers for a walk around our kitchen. In My Kitchen posts started many years ago with Celia and is now hosted by Sherry, from Sherry’s Pickings. The idea is to share whatever you feel like. New gadgets, new ingredients, new cookbooks. Perhaps a few kitchen boo-boos (read on). Make sure to visit Sherry’s site, so you can check what is happening in kitchens all over the world. And, if you are a food blogger, why not join this virtual fun? I’d love to see what’s happening in your kitchen too…

In our kitchen….

I never get tired of these Japanese fermented drinks! In fact, they transport me straight to my childhood in Brazil. They were sold door to door by beautiful Japanese women carrying them in some type of insulated bag, and my Mom used to buy enough to last us until the next visit. Not very easy with me around. For decades I lost track of Yakult, but a few years ago our main grocery store in town started to sell them. And the best part is that I “converted” Phil into a Yakult-lover too.

In our kitchen….

My new tea-passion (it seems I keep finding teas to fall in love with on a regular basis). I’ve always known and enjoyed the regular type, red rooibos, but my friend Heather gave me the heads up on the green version which is not roasted. Oh, my! The flavor! It is so subtle and mellow, I highly recommend you try it if you just know the more common type.

In our kitchen…

Speaking of tea, I got a little Japanese tea cup that I found online. However, although I love the pattern, it is a bit too small, so I will use it instead to serve nuts and crackers. But it is so whimsical, I intend to somehow mimic the pattern in a certain cookie made with almond flour and meringue. Can you guess which?

In our kitchen….

A few cookie cutters, the spider web is pretty cute, makes it a lot easier to decorate a spooky sugar cookie. The triangular coupled with mini-cookie cutters came in pretty handy to make some chocolate sandwich cookies that at some point shall be blogged about. I share a little sneak preview of both cookies…

In our kitchen…

I cannot believe that it took me years to figure out that a huge container for powdered sugar is the best way to deal with it. It holds several bags, and makes life so much easier!

In our kitchen….

This is my favorite light brown sugar, straight from the UK, but I found at amazon for a pretty good price, and of course, could not resist ordering some.

In our kitchen….

Fondant mats, also work great for marzipan, as you can see in the little lemon cupcake at the center. You simply roll the marzipan on top of the mat and gently pull it with the nice impression formed on it. Etsy is a great place to find them, although the first one is from Nycake.com. and to be honest, their stuff is a bit pricey. But very high quality.

In our kitchen….

This is the labor of my beloved husband to his braces-wearing wife. Every time he cooks corn on the cob, he shaves the kernels off for me, season with salt, pepper, and lime, the way I like it… And it just melts my heart. It is still a bit of an ordeal to brush the teeth later, but totally worth it. You guys have no idea how much I miss eating corn on the cob with gusto.

In our kitchen….

Springerle molds, which are slowly turning into an obsession of mine. It is the type of baking that brings me peace and serenity. Some molds work better than others, and I am still figuring things out in terms of dough recipes, flavors, decorations.

In our kitchen….

A new runner rug, as the old one got all stained and ugly as the years went by. I love the colors, and some of the flowers will definitely inspire cookie decorations…

In our kitchen….

Speaking of cookie decorations… Painted Macarons… Yes, I know there is room for improvement, but I still have a lot of fun channeling my inner Monet. Painting cookies, oddly enough, relaxes me. I don’t think about politics, I don’t think about Covid, I get into a soothing Zen-mode instead.

In our kitchen…

A work in progress… my first attempt at hand-dipped bonbons, these are filled with pistachio and strawberry, but I had issues with the decoration. They were supposed to be decorated with two circles, one red, one green, but I was barely able to add one ring in some. I ended up using transfer sheets for many of them instead, the famous Plan B. I am gathering my strength to try again, it is quite a bit of work, but also a ton of fun!

In our kitchen…

A truly spectacular cinnamon raisin bread, which was part of a bake-along organized by my friends Caroline and Robyn, associated with a Facegroup Fan Page for the Great British Bake Off. If you want to see a very detailed tutorial to bake it, click here. I made half the recipe for one loaf only.

Speaking of Caroline….

In our kitchen….

The clash between dream and reality….

This fun picture was a gift from my friend Caroline, who runs a fantastic baking blog that I urge you to visit (click here). Her son made this composite shot, with the mixer of my dreams, a beauty I saw face to face (rather… face to machine) in London last year (for a picture of the real meeting, go to last year’s IMK). Yes, allow me to dream…

Because reality is quite a bit harsher as far as mixers are concerned….

Bread dough was happening. As I added a bit more flour with the machine still running, the hook hit the measuring cup, catapulting it up and… well, the picture is worth a thousand words. It did not bring me joy.

And do you want to know what else did not bring me joy?

My favorite flour scoop, that I’ve had for years and years, somehow found its way to Buck’s bed, and again, the rest is history. I’ve been searching for one like it, so far, no luck. If anybody knows where to get it, please leave me a comment.

And along the non-joy movement…. (RESPECT: something I seem unable to obtain in the sanctity of my own home)

Well, I guess the pups made their way into my post, once again. Come to think of it, this round up of In My Kitchen did not start with gifts, as I did not get any lately. Proving that the pups are way more popular than the food blogger, they got a gift in the mail, from my friend Jennifer…. Thank you, Jennifer!!!!

Life in pandemic times seem to suit them well. They are rarely outside, and “vacations” at the kennel are now nothing but a distant memory. Their main concern? Protect their humans and their property.

They will take breaks from snoring away anytime their help in the kitchen is needed.’

And are always happy to bond with one of their favorite humans…

So much sleeping and hanging around the house gets Buck a bit worried about his waistline, so he decided to drop us some hints….

Which prompted me to take him for walks, where love at first sight was waiting just a few houses down the street….

That female Jack Russell is a firecracker indeed! She is just one year old, and patrols her front yard like nobody’s business… barks, barks, and runs around the tree in circles (they keep a long leash tied to the tree). But that day, they both froze, staring at each other as if struck by Cupid’s arrow. It was very sweet to witness…

Unfortunately, his sex appeal is a bit diminished after he and Oscar got into a little fight. Not over the attention of a female pup, but over an EMPTY food bowl that Oscar decided to protect as if it contained medium-rare T-bone steak. Go figure that one out. He is fully recovered by now, just a small scar and a bald spot where the cut was.

What can I say? Oscar is a special boy…

With very odd ways to get comfortable around the house. This is by far his new favorite spot now, wedged in between the leg of an armchair and the leg of the table. It hurts my ribs to look at it.

If you remember from my last In My Kitchen, Phil worked hard to build us a little outside patio, and I am thrilled to inform that the project is finished and was a total success! Every evening we have a cup of tea together sitting outside. We are thinking of getting one of those stand up propane heaters so we can still enjoy our patio as the weather gets colder (sigh).

So that’s all for now, folks. I hope you liked this little tour around the Bewitching Kitchen… see you for another one on the first day of 2021! And may 2021 be A LOT better than 2020. Right? Right?