AIR-FRIED EGGPLANT STICKS WITH TAHINI SAUCE

Posted in Air-Frying, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

No air-fryer? Just use a very hot oven, preferably with convection. But I cannot tell you how much I adore my fryer and how often we put it to use. This preparation could not be simpler and I have made it three times, always starting with two eggplants for our meal, which will provide me with the leftovers I crave so much.

AIR-FRIED EGGPLANT STICKS WITH TAHINI SAUCE
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

for the eggplant:
2 eggplants, cut in sticks (see comments)
1/4 cup olive oil
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
drizzle of hot honey
salt to taste

for the tahini sauce:
½ cup tahini
juice of one large lemon
½ teaspoon za’atar
water to adjust consistency
black or white sesame seeds to serve (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic and hot honey. Add the eggplant sticks and mix well, seasoning with salt. Add to the air-fryer set at 400F and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, adding water to make it into a pouring consistency. Once the eggplant sticks are done, place on a serving dish, drizzle the sauce all over, and sprinkle sesame seeds.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I do not like the skin of the eggplant very much. I do eat it, but prefer not to, so when I cut it I usually leave the skin behind. It does waste a bit of eggplant but that does not bother me. We compost it anyway. If that bothers you, by all means keep the skin on all pieces. Tahini sauce will harden as you mix it, so the water is very important to turn it into a smooth sauce. The amount will vary depending on the brand of tahini you use. This is a super tasty side dish, and it will definitely be in our rotation. Hot honey is a fantastic ingredient, by the way. I use this one.

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20Oct2024

HALLOWEEN ALMOND COOKIES

Posted in Cake, Cookies, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

I am not quite sure why they are described as cookies, to me they are more like little cakes. They are often served during the holiday season in Italy, known as Almond Rainbow Cookies. To mimic the colors of the Italian flag, the layers are green, white and red. I used the basic recipe and turned them into Halloween creatures. What do you think?

HALLOWEEN SESAME-ORANGE ALMOND COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

4 eggs (separated)
1 cup sugar
7 oz almond paste
2 + 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp black sesame paste
1/2 tsp orange emulsion
black and orange food coloring
raspberry jam (I used SOLO raspberry filling)
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate
small amount of white chocolate and orange fat-soluble dye for decoration (optional)

Heat your oven to 350°F and line 3 baking pans (13 by 9 inch) with parchment paper. Reserve.

In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed and add 1/4 cup of the sugar a little at a time. Beat at high speed until you have glossy stiff peaks then transfer to another bowl and reserve until needed.

Clean the bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Mix the almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well incorporated, about 3 minutes. They will look like small pebbles. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy, another 3 minutes. Next add in the yolks and almond extract until well combined. Reduce the speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until combined. Fold half of the egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently until everything is mixed all together.

Weigh the batter and add 1/3 to one bowl, 2/3 to another. To the smaller portion, add the sesame paste and the black dye, mix well to incorporate. Add the orange extract and orange dye to the other bowl.

Spread the black batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the orange batter divided in the two other pans. Bake each pan for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool completely. Now it is time to assemble.

Place one orange layer onto a baking sheet with some parchment paper. Spread a thin layer of jam, then place the black layer on top, and spread another thin layer of the jam. Place the second orange layer on top of the black and cover with plastic wrap. Place another baking sheet on top with some weight and let it chill in the fridge for 4 hours.

Remove the weight and plastic and bring layers to room temperature (so that the chocolate won’t set too fast when you spread it). Melt chocolate in a microwave at 50% power until smooth. Trim the edges of the assembled layers and spread a thin layer of the chocolate on top of the cake. Place it back in the fridge to chill and until chocolate is firm. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, place another baking sheet on top, carefully flip the cake. Spread a thin layer of chocolate and chill again until firm. Melt some white chocolate and dye it with fat-soluble orange dye, then make swirls on top (optional).

With a serrated knife cut the cookie/cake in rectangles while still very cold.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I cannot lie to you, as it stands right now, I am not sure I will ever make these again… Labor of love, yes, no doubt. Maybe a second time will be easier but I was quit exhausted at the end and until I cut the pieces and looked at them all lined up, I was not sure of the outcome. For starters, it is hard to judge the thickness of the batter as you spread it on the baking sheet, so it was not easy for me to make sure the three layers had the same dimension. But overall, I think it was all fine. The taste (I tasted some trimmings) was really pretty spectacular. I love almonds and any sweets made with almonds so if you are part of my cheerleading team, you will love these!

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7Mar2024

SHOKUPAN MARBLED BLACK SESAME BREAD

Posted in Breads by sallybr

Not too long ago I got notification of a new blog post by my friend Karen. You can check her post here. She mentioned the yudane method, a kind of tahgzhong on steroids. I am familiar with tangzhong and love it, but yudane was new to me. I could not wait to give it a try. I ended up following this recipe that was linked at the end of Karen’s post.

In the tangzhong method, part of the flour is gently cooked until a paste forms. To make yudane, you boil water and mix with the flour, then place in the fridge for 4 to 24 hours. That gets incorporated into the bread dough. Fascinating, Mr. Spock, fascinating…

I loved making this bread. For the full recipe, please visit Bread Experience (click here). My modifications were just a few: I did not have white whole-wheat, and did not have kamut in the pantry, so I used the full amount of regular whole-wheat, King Arthur’s brand. For the liquid component I used oat milk. Finally, I used store-bought black tahini, just eye-balled about 2 tablespoons and got a nice dark color. The dough is a pleasure to work with, and the marbling worked perfectly!

The crumb is soft, tender, and the bread is absolutely delicious with a hint of sesame taste. I highly, highly recommend you give yudane a try. This is what it looks like…

Just don’t forget it in the fridge, make sure to grab it when you are ready to make the dough! (Yes, I almost forgot about it).

And look at that crumb!

I hope you give yudane a try, the bread stays soft and moist for at least a couple of days. After that I sliced and froze for later.

THANK YOU, KAREN AND CATH FOR THE BREAD INSPIRATION!

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21Oct2021

BLACK TAHINI SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I have a weak spot for shortbread cookies. And that spot gets even weaker if the shortbread flirts with a savory side, like a touch of sesame, in this case, black tahini. The darker, grayish color of the dough makes it perfect for Halloween times. If you stop by my cookie blog tomorrow, I will be sharing particularly spooky versions using this exact same dough. Heads up: a little tutorial I used for one of the spooky cookies is available in the Facebook group “Painting with Sugarprism.” If that interests you, check it out and ask to join. It is a super fun and interesting group, hosted by Michelle Ingalls. And now, without further ado… the Black Tahini Shortbread Cookies…

BLACK TAHINI SHORTBREAD COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, very cold, cut in pieces
280g all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
50g brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons black sesame paste (I used Kevala)
luster powder + vodka to paint (optional)

Heat oven to 350F.

Place the butter, flour, cornstarch and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process pulsing on and off until the butter is in small little pieces. Stop the processor, add the sugars and the black sesame paste. Keep processing until the mixture forms a ball that starts to glue together. You might need to clean the bowl and spread things around once or twice.

Stop the processing, transfer the dough to a countertop, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Roll the dough and use any type of stamp of cookie cutter of your choice. Place the cut cookies on a parchment covered baking sheet and freeze for about 15 minutes.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Times will vary depending on the size of your cookie and your oven.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I’ve been using the food processor method for shortbread as described by Helen Fletcher in her new book, which I recently reviewed. For my personal taste, these are total winners. Shortbread is a very simple cookie, that needs pretty much nothing in terms of adornment. No icing, no dusting with powdered sugar, although those things can still happen if you like to gild the lily. The tahini gives the cookie an adult feel, less sweet, very intriguing. And the color of the cookie screams Halloween. I invite you to stop by my cookie blog tomorrow to get spooked. But in the meantime, consider adding this recipe to your list of things to bake. You won’t regret it.

Cookie press available here.

Cat fondant press available here.