Au Revoir - For Now

As you may have gathered from my previous recipe, the Vino Rosso Bundt Cake, the post was originally written in early January.  Due to whatever technical difficulties, the site refused to let me post photos, so I procrastinated in making the updates.   It seems that this post was inevitabl: I've determined this is going to be my last udpate.  At least for a few months. 

My reasons are simple.  Though initially a fun concept, this project is entirely too time-consuming and I have no extra time. Cooking and baking have always been joyful and stress-reducing for me, but now there is all this extra pressue to take pictures and write things down and follow-up with editing and posting.  I'm finishing my final semester of law school, worried about passing the bar exam, and planning my wedding. It's all a bit much to handle at this point in my life.  While I won't say I'll never blog again, it's not going to be happening over the next few months.  And let's be honest - with how few and far between the posts have been, there's not a whole lot to be missed, now is there? :-) 

Thank you for following along with my work, and if I do make any changes to the blog, it will appear on my Facebook and Pinterest pages.  Until then...

- Sarah

Vino Rosso Chocolate Bundt Cake

For Christmas this year, I received an adorable rose shaped Bundt cake pan that I have been dying to use.  Unfortunately, I was on calorie overload from the holidays, so I was putting off doing anything with it.  Now that enough time has elapsed between the holidays to allow my liver and pancreas to recover, I was ready to get back in the kitchen and put the cake to use.  My next challenge was to use up some culinary remnants of my family's holiday dining.  I opted to make this devilishly rich bundt cake, utilizing both left over red table wine and buttermilk.  The end was a beautifully decadent and moist chocolate cake, that is even tastier than it looks.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for bundt pan
• 3/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for bundt pan and dusting baked cake
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1.  Position rack in lower third of oven.  Preheat oven to 325 F.  Butter and dust bundt pan with flour and a little cocoa powder.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  Whisk together to combine.  In the bowl of a large stand mixer, mix sugar and eggs until light in color and sugar has dissolved.  Scrape down sides of bowl and add buttermilk.  Mix on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add red wine, olive oil, and vanilla.  Mix on medium speed until well combined.  Add one third of the dry mix to the wet batter at a time, mixing on low-speed until just incorporated before adding more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Once all dry ingredients have been added and incorporated, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

3.  Pour batter in to prepared bundt pan, leaving 1 1/2" inches of room for cake to rise.  Do not overfill.  If you have remaining cake batter, you can use this for cupcakes, baking at 350 F for 18-20 minutes on the middle oven rack.  Place bundt pan on cookie sheet and put in oven to bake for 45-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake ring comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool in pan before attempting to remove.  The cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan the longer it cools.  Invert cake on cake stand once cool.  Dust with desired amount of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

 

 



Caramel Apple Spice Cookies



Thanksgiving has passed, and here comes Christmas!  Holiday drinks are drawing people in to coffee shops, and one of my favorites at this time of year is the "Caramel Apple Spice" at Starbucks.  My goal with this recipe was to channel those brilliant fall flavors in to a chewable version.  What better way than in a cookie?   After all, the holiday season and cookies go together like peanut butter and...cinnamon and bananas (yep, that's what I like. Especially on toast!). 

These delectable cookies have just a slight crunch that you bite through before hitting the soft, gooey center.  I highly recommend lining your baking sheets with parchment paper, as the caramel tends to ooze out.  I'm fairly certain you'd much rather enjoy a mouthful of cookies than scrub at a pan covered in a sticky caramel mess. 

I'm confident that once you share these with loved ones, they'll be a family favorite going forward. Luckily, these cookies are unbelievably easy, so satisfying their cookie request will be no problem at all!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softer than room temperature but not melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 10 packages of Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Drink Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 20 individually wrapped Kraft caramels, unwrapped and cut in half

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  **Do NOT use silpat mats, as the cookies will be too soft and the caramel will get stuck**

 

2.  In a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and apple cider packets.  Whip up on medium high until the sugar dissolves and the mixture appears light and fluffy, taking time to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.  On medium-low, add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.  Continue to mix, adding the baking soda and baking powder.  Stop the mixer and add the first cup of flour.  Mix on low until mostly incorporated and stop.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the second cup of flour.  Repeat until all the flour is nearly fully incorporated.  Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until all the flour has been incorporated.  **Be careful not to overwork this dough, or the cookies will not turn out as soft as they should**

 

3.  With a cookie scoop, scoop out 1" balls of the cookie dough.  Gently roll in to a ball and insert the cut caramel piece.  Lightly press the dough so that the caramel is covered, and roll in to a ball again.  Place the cookie ball on the lined cookie sheet, lightly pressing down just so the bottom becomes slightly flatted and doesn't want to roll around.  Continue until all of the cookie dough has been used, taking care to place each cookie at least 2 inches apart on the sheet. **The cookies spread out, and since the caramel oozes if not entirely sealed, there is a chance they will stick together.  If this happens, allow the cookies to fully cool before breaking them apart.**

4.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies are just lightly golden.  **These cookies are best slightly under baked, so take care that they do not get too golden or crispy** Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 1 minute on their baking sheet.  Carefully slide the cookies (still on the parchment paper), directly on the counter to continue cooling.  Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Black Forest Ham & Gruyere French Toast

Is there anything better than Sunday brunch? The answer is yes.  Yes, because nobody honestly likes worrying about making food before they've had a big cup of coffee...or three.  And by nobody, I mean me.  I adore breakfast food.  I adore brunch altogether.  But let's be real - going out for brunch gets expensive.  Last night when facing this dilemma it hit me: why not make brunch for dinner?  Shall I call it brinch? Or brinner? I'm going with drunch. 

My inspiration for tonight's drunch came to me after my engagement photo session with my FIANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, Chris and I got engaged since my last post.  I'm sorry it's been so long.  I've been dealing with recovering from foot surgery, various other ailments, and starting my final year of law school.  It's been a little hectic. Anyways.

During yesterday's photo shoot, Chris and I did this little "picnic" session, and had this random loaf of olive bread from Trader Joe's afterwards.  It was getting stale quickly, and rather than toss it, I realized it would be perfect if I soaked it French toast style.  Then I got to wondering how that would work with olive bread, and I realized the only thing holding me back was what I was used to eating.  I've never had a savory French toast before.  I figured I'd leave it on the counter over night to dry out, and would work out my concept over my three cups of coffee.

I ended up preparing a ham and cheese variant French toast.  It's first soaked in a batter that includes white wine, a bay leaf, and tarragon, is fried on the skillet, then placed on a baking sheet and covered in layers of thinly sliced apple and red onion, black forest ham, and shredded gruyere.  I then baked it in the oven for 10 minutes to soften the apples and onion slices, and get that cheese to bubbly, melty goodness. 

I chose to plate this with blanched asparagus spears and bearnaise sauce, although the toast really is good enough to eat all by itself. 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf day-old, unsliced bread (I used olive)
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp. tarragon
• 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
• 4 oz. thinly sliced black forest ham
• 4 oz. finely shredded gruyere cheese
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced in to 1/2" inch wide strips
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced in to rings

Directions:

1.  Slice your loaf of bread pieces just over 1" thick.  Slice each piece in half.  Place in a single layer in a 13"x9" baking dish.  In a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, wine, salt, pepper, bay leaf, tarragon, ground mustard, and melted butter.  Whisk until well combined.  Pour the egg mixture over the bread.  Cover and refrigerate half an hour.

2.  While the bread soaks, peel and slice your apple so that it is in very thin strips.  Cut them so that they are about 1/2" wide.  Thinly slice your onion and separate the rings.  **You may find it easier when layering the French toast to have the onion rings sliced in half.  Shred the cheese and tear the ham in to pieces large enough to form a single layer on the bread.

3.  Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Lightly coat a large skillet with non-stick spray (butter flavor, if available).  Heat on medium until hot.  Pull the bread from the fridge and place in a single layer in the hot skillet for about 3 minutes.  While that cooks, coat a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Flip the bread in the skillet and allow the other side to cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining slices of bread.

 

 

4.  Begin layering your bread on the baking sheet.  First add the apple, then the onion, then the ham, and top with the cheese.  Place in the oven and bake on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese begins to bubble slightly and the ham begins to get a little crispy around the edges.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. 

5.  Serve with blanched asparagus, bearnaise sauce, and a glass of chardonnay if desired.  Enjoy!!

Blanching Vegetables

Here's a quick and easy way to prepare vegetables without oil or all those extra calories.  Use vegetables that are typically crunchy and in a single piece, like green beans, asparagus, or carrots. 

Directions:

1.  In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil (like if you're going to cook spaghetti). 
2.  Once the water is boiling, add your desired about of vegetables for 3-5 minutes, just until tender.
3.  Pour the vegetables out in to a colander and let drain.  Serve warm.