Happy Fasnacht Day!

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In good Pennsylvania Dutch fashion, my mom made doughnuts today. A tradition rooted in my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. For those of you not familiar with this tradition, fasnacht's day is observed the day before Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of Lent. This day goes by many monikers. New Orleans has Mardi Gras and today is Fat Tuesday. While living in Germany, we celebrated Fasching and Karneval and there are several other names as well.
Unlike many other pre-lent celebrations, Fasnachts day is limited to a single day and literally means "eve of the fast". The potato based doughnuts that were made are also known as fasnachts. The fasnachts were made to use up fat, lard, and sugars before the Lent fasting period when no sweets were eaten.
My dad is from a Mennonite family. I remember as a small child watching my grandmother make fasnachts. By the time she finished, her whole large kitchen table was covered with doughnuts. Then we all ate as many fasnachts as we could hold. As a child it was a day that I looked forward to only second to Christmas.
My mother has carried on this tradition. Yeah! I ate three, today!

Honey Shortbread

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I love shortbread cookies. All that flaky buttery goodness. What could be better? Well how about shortbread with a toffee-like layer on top and just a hint of saltiness? Oh yeah it's really good and super easy to make as well. The honey melts into the top of the shortbread and kind of caramelizes on the top. Paired with the salt and the buttery shortbread...in short (pun intended) yum!
Honey Shortbread
Nonstick cooking spray
7-1/2 oz. (1-2/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
6 oz. (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. kosher salt (I used gray sea-salt)

Spray a 9-1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray.

In a food processor, briefly pulse the flour and sugar. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated and the mixture is sandy and uniform. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan with your fingers. There will be some loose crumbs around the edges, but most of the dough should be solid and compact. Refrigerate until chilled, least 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Using the tines of a fork, dock the dough evenly all over. Bake the shortbread until golden in the center, 40 to 45 minutes.

Heat the honey in the microwave until warm and liquid but not boiling, about 10 seconds. Pour the honey over the shortbread and spread with a pastry brush over the entire surface. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the honey. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 3 minutes more.

Transfer the pan to a rack and let the shortbread cool slightly, about 15 minutes. While still warm, remove the tart pan ring and cut the shortbread into 12 wedges with a sharp knife. Cool completely before serving or storing. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.
Source: Fine Cooking
October 23, 2008

Happy Valentines Day

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I just wanted to say Happy Valentines Day to everyone and say thank-you for all the nice comments you all have left me. I'm still blown away that so many people drop in and read my blog. You all are great and I'm sorry I've been so neglectful! I've just been really swamped for a couple of weeks. So I thought I'd post a few pictures showing you all a little of what I've been up to over the last week or so. This is just a bit of what I've been baking:

Heart shaped sugar cookies in various shades of pink

White chocolate dipped strawberries

Baby shower cupcakes

More Valentines Day cuppies!

Have a Happy Valentines Day!! Normal life should resume soon( I hope!!) and I promise I'll drop by and "visit" you all soon! Thanks for all the blog love you've given me:)

Pomegranate gelato

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The folks at POM Wonderful recently contacted me and asked if I'd like a free sample of their pomegranate juice. Umm... let me see...Yes!!! You don't have to ask me twice! I love the stuff and you want to give me some, FREE! Okay, I'll take off your hands;)
We almost always have a bottle of juice in the fridge. It's not only delicious but incredibly good for you as well. It's an antioxidant superpower and has been shown to improve heart health as well. Check out all of the amazing health benefits of pomegranate juice here.
Yesterday I opened my door and found a FedEx package sitting there. I couldn't recall ordering anything, but the box had my name on it. Then I saw the POM label! Inside the box was and entire case of pomegranate juice!! I was so excited, like I'd won some kind of food lottery. I guess I'm easily thrilled, but really how cool is this:

Thanks POM Wonderful!! Now to figure out what to make with all that delicious juice.

Way back sometime near the beginning of December, I sent hubs to the grocery store to pick up something I needed for dinner. I know that in doing this that I'll end up with not only what I sent him to get, but more than likely, several kinds of mustard and at least one bottle of hot sauce. He claims we can't have enough mustard and there's always some new variety he wants to try. Same thing with the hot sauce. On this particular occasion he mentioned on the way out the door that he was going to get some Haagen Daz Fleur de Sel caramel ice cream. I introduced him to this amazing ice cream shortly after he'd returned from Iraq and it was love at first bite. When He got home from the store and began putting away the various mustards and hot sauces he'd purchased, explaining the need for each one. He told me that unfortunately the store didn't have the Fleur de sel ice cream so he gotten the Haagen Daz Pomegranate Chip instead. After tasting it we were not disappointed at all in the substitution. It was just as delicious. Anyway when I got the case of juice from the POM people, I knew right away I knew I wanted to try to recreate that pomegranate ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3 ounces of dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Combine the juice and sugar in a small, non-reactive pot and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. It will become slightly syrupy. Set aside to cool completely. When the resulting pomegranate and sugar syrup has cooled, whisk in the heavy cream and refrigerate until very cold about 2 hours. Churn according to ice cream machine's instructions. Add the chocolate pieces in the last five minutes of churning. The gelato will still be very soft at this point. Put ice cream into a freezer container and freeze for another several hours or overnight to get the perfect texture.


Okay so maybe this recipe defeats the heart healthy part, but it's so good! Stay tuned for more recipes/ideas for pomegranate juice. Coming soon pomegranate vinaigrette...

Tuiles the latest DB'rs challenge

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This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
Okay I know I'm sliding in under the wire this month. It seems no matter how I think I'm going to change my procrastinating ways, the DB'rs challenge still sneaks up on me! Anyway this was a fun challenge. There was lots of room for creativity. I made my tuiles into cups filled with strawberry mousse in a pool of strawberry syrup. Just for fun I made some tuiles in the shape of butterflies. I had a great time with this challenge and the end results were very tasty! Be sure to check out all the other DB'rs tuiles. Thanks to our hostesses Karen and Zorra for such a fun challenge!


Strawberry Mousse
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg white
3/4 cup heavy cream
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1 tablespoon of the water and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. In a blender, puree the strawberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Strain the strawberry puree into a small saucepan; there should be about 3/4 cup. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer the strawberry mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in the softened gelatin until dissolved. Let the mixture cool.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg white until firm peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cooled berry puree until no streaks of white remain. In another bowl, beat the heavy cream until softly whipped. Fold the whipped cream into the berry mixture and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Strawberry Syrup
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup strawberries, plus more for garnish
In a small saucepan, combine the water sugar and lemon zest and bring to a boil. Add the strawberries to the syrup and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, crushing the blackberries against the side of the pan, until the liquid is slightly reduced and the berries have broken down, about 15 minutes. Strain the syrup into a heatproof cup without pressing. Refrigerate the syrup until chilled.

Guilt (and gluten) free oatmeal banana muffins

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My dad is the healthiest person I know. Really. He's in his late 60's has almost no body fat and can outwork most men half his age. His cholesterol and blood pressure are great in spite of eating eggs, real butter, and some form of dessert at least once a day. If you ask him what his secret is he'll tell you; oatmeal. He has eaten a bowl of oatmeal and two eggs for breakfast nearly everyday of his entire life. I think he single handily has kept Quaker Oats in business!
He's hardcore with the oatmeal too. It's the old-fashioned oatmeal, no quick cooking, brown sugar and maple microwave variety for Dad. He claims that the quick cooking kind it's nearly as healthy( and apparently the American Cancer Society agrees). Oh and he doesn't put any sugar on his oatmeal either, sometimes some raisins or other fruit but never sugar.

Oatmeal is one of those super foods that has numerous health benefits, not the least of which is lowering cholesterol levels. I know I should get more in my diet and I do occasionally eat a bowl. I just can't seem to make myself eat it everyday. Oh and I do have to add a bit of brown sugar, sorry Dad, I'm not as tough as you! Hubs will also force down a bowl now and again, but definitely isn't going to eat it on a regular basis. So I been was looking for some other ways to incorporate more of this wonder food into our diet. I came across this recipe for oatmeal banana muffins. It's low fat and has an amazing 25 grams of oatmeal to each muffin! I didn't actually set out to make gluten free muffins, but this recipe uses no wheat flour. Instead it calls for oat flour. I didn't have any oat flour on hand, but its easy to make. I put my old fashioned rolled oats into the food processor and ground them until they had a flour like texture. Super simple! It takes about a cup and a half of oats to make one cup of oat flour.
The muffins were really moist. Hubs and I agreed they taste and texture of banana bread.


These muffins are like a portable bowl of oatmeal. The fruit is even included.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Yield: 12 large
Bake: in 400ºF oven for 20 minutes

1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup yogurt, plain low fat
1/2 cup milk, low fat
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil, sunflower or vegetable oil
2 bananas, large, ripe, mashed
1 egg, large, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Instructions
In a bowl mix together rolled oats, yogurt and milk. Let soak for 10 minutes.
Mix oat flour, salt, spices, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
Add brown sugar, mashed banana, egg and oil to rolled oats mixture. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients to the rolled oats mixture. Mix well. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Antipasto for two

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Okay I've been a bad blogger. I know but, it's been a crazy busy week or so. I haven't had a spare moment it seems. By the time I finish all the baking I have to do for others, I've just haven't had time to squeeze in time for pictures and new posts. So enough of my excuses for now!
I did, while shopping for baking orders, find time to pick up a new cookbook, however. I got Frank Stitt's latest cookbook Bottega Favorita. It features the recipes from his Italian restaurant, one of my personal favorite restaurants, Bottega. The recipes in this cookbook are wonderful. I've made the several so far(but didn't take pictures!) and they've all been winners. This is a picture of the antipasto for two. You don't really need a recipe to put this together. Just grab olives, roasted peppers, pepperoncini, some Italian meats and cheese, and good bread and your set. I did make the marinated chickpeas that he had in the cookbook and hubs and I both agreed they were delicious. We opened the last bottle of wine that we brought back from Italy and enjoyed it with this antipasto platter. It was just like being back in Italy!
Method
1/2 cup cooked or canned chickpeas
1 scallion thinly sliced
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and let marinate at least one hour at room temp. or overnight in the refrigerator.(bring to room temp. before serving).