Cutting for Scone(s)

Cutting for Scone

Still nannyless,two of my grandkids spent the day with me yesterday. 

We baked scones. Lila wanted to make raisin scones. She became adept at cutting them and we had a delicious snack. 

Here’s the recipe:

Raisin Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup raisins

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel in a bowl. Add the butter in chunks and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins. In a small bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk together and pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix until a soft smooth dough forms. Roll or press the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/2-inch. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until scones are lightly browned and well risen. Makes about 12

Chocolate Pudding

What happens when you and your nanny part ways?

You go to grandma’s.

At least for a day or so.

My daughter Gillian and son-in-law Jesse and their nanny have called it quits. Everyone is scrambing. It is stressful, unnerving and frustrating. It’s no joke figuring out what to do when you work and need child care. I am happy to help out in any way possible of course, but a long term solution is needed. I’m just a quick, temporary answer.

So what do the kids do at grandma’s house?

One of the things I do is cook with Lila, almost age 5. Remy, 9 months old is a little too young yet.

Today we cooked chocolate pudding. You can see Lila here, diligently pushing the cocoa powder, sugar and cornstarch through the strainer. Some of the mixture is on the counter, some on her pajamas, but she’s really good at this and I’d say 99% stayed in the bowl.

I also cooked chocolate pudding with my grandma. Only we made it from a box of My-T-Fine which she insisted on calling “Morty Fine.” In those days My-T-Fine didn’t have additives and artificial ingredients. Just cocoa, cornstarch, sugar and vanillin. That’s the way I make it at home. The old fashioned way, like from a box. Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Pudding

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Strain the cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar and salt into a bowl. Heat 2-1/2 cups of the milk until it is hot. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup milk into the cocoa mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the chocolate mixture into the heated milk and stir to blend thoroughly. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring with a whisk, or until the pudding bubbles and is thick. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the pudding into a large bowl or into 6 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until cold OR serve warm. Makes 6 servings

Friday Reads: Better-Late-Than-Never edition

fridayreads:

The dreaded Tumbeasts ate the post we’d queued up for today, and we are woefully late in correcting it. If you’re Tumbling, and you’re into books, please reblog this post and add a line about what you’re reading this week.

You’ll be joining more than 5,000 other booklovers across the internet and around the world, and you’ll be entered to win terrific books and prizes.

Reading “The Most Beautiful Gardens in America” by Alain le Toquin — sort of self explanatory. Great photos — before I give this away as a birthday gift. LOL

sprinklefingers: sunday dinner

sprinklefingers:

oh my goodness, there’s a story online today at the wall street journal’s site detailing a man in southern italy who has built a business delivering home-cooked meals to thirty-something adults living in rome.

but this isn’t just any old home delivery meal service. all of the meals are made by…

This fascinating article bowled me over. So Mommas are still cooking for their adult children who live miles and miles away! And the guy who delivers the stuff to those lucky kids has made it big too!

Started me thinking — not about cooking and delivering food to my married daughters, both of whom work, but about what one of those daughters actually does: she cooks for people with young families who are too busy to cook for themselves and want something delicious to eat when they get home at night.

Gillian is not an Italian Momma, so it’s not Sunday Dinner she’s making. Her specialty is modern American food, healthy stuff, that’s easy to reheat and serve. Like Braised Chicken and Chard and Sweet Potato Fries and Fluffed Farro with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms and Roasted Chutney Turkey Breast and Stuffed Butternut Squash. And on and on.

But the concept is the same. Some of us are too busy to cook for ourselves and we don’t want to eat out every night (too expensive, too time consuming, too caloric) and don’t want to order in (same reasons) and don’t want to eat junk.

It’s nice that in places in the world there are people who will cook for you and make lovely food that tastes good.

For those of you who live near Brooklyn, NY, and want dinner delivered to your door — maybe not like Momma cooked, but a great home cooked meal — ask Gillian if there’s something on her menu for you: gillianfein@gmail.com.

Maybe there will come a day when someone out there wants in on the delivery service, like that guy in Italy. Right now, Gillian does that too.

The Differences Among Matzo Balls

OMG it’s April already! April 1st! No fooling!

Passover is only 18 days away.

It’s not as if I haven’t been thinking about it. I have written three separate articles about it already (you can see one in Jewish Woman Magazine about Passover desserts here: http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=2751) and the one at kosher.com about Haroset here: http://blog.kosher.com/2011/03/25/old-world-charosis-gets-a-hip-makeover/. The third article (on quinoa) hasn’t appeared yet and I’ll post it when it comes out next week.

But I haven’t really thought about my own Seder yet.

Except for the turkey. There’s always a turkey.

And there’s always a bunch of other stuff like spinach pie and braised eggplant. Cranberry sauce. A lot of veggies. And even though I like to make new recipes and serve less traditional foods, it wouldn’t be Passover without Matzo Ball Soup.

In our family we have had the same important discussions about these as everyone else: which is better, light fluffy matzo balls or chewy firms ones? Like politics, opinions on this subject tend to be definite and once decided, difficult to change. 

When I was a kid and my grandma and then mother had the Seders, my cousin Essie would bring her famous matzo balls. They were cannonballs, like in a children’s picture book — you could picture one falling out of the plate and bouncing out the window and into the city streets and out into the countryside.

But her husband and kids loved them. Fortunately, my mother also made a batch of spongier ones too.

The difference among matzo balls has to do with how many eggs you use, what kind of fat you mix in, how much you handle the dough, how long you cook them, whether you include spices or chopped fresh herbs and so on and so on. I use goose fat, which I put in in the freezer in December (from the goose I make for Hanukkah) because it gives the matzo balls a smooth, rich texture. And I include chopped fresh parsley or dill because it adds some flavor but also enhances the look. And mostly I use chicken soup in the mix, though occasionally I will use seltzer instead.

Here’s the recipe we use. These make medium, slightly-firm, soup soaked delicious matzo balls.

Matzo Balls

1 cup matzo meal

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black or white pepper to taste

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or dill, or both, optional

4 whole large or extra large eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup melted goose fat, chicken fat, margarine or vegetable oil

1/4 cup chicken soup, water or seltzer

In a bowl. combine the matzo meal, salt, pepper and parsley or dill (or both). In another bowl, beat the eggs, melted fat and soup together. Add the egg mixture to the matzo mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in the liquid. Cover the ingredients and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. With wet cold hands shape the matzo mixture into balls 1/2-inch to 1-inch balls (you may have to re-wet hands occasionally). Add the matzo balls one by one to the boiling water. Lower the heat so that the water is at a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for at least 50 minutes (do not lift the cover) or until they are tender. Remove the matzo balls from the water. Place into the soup to soak up more flavor. Makes up to 20

Blueberry Streusel Cake

I feel bad for dentists. No one likes them. Well, I guess their families must. I meant no one else. No one I know likes the dentist.

I used to go to a dentist that billed himself as “the dentist who caters to cowards.” I used him not so much because he was good (he may have been) but because I was his target audience.

It all started when I was a kid and had a cavity (16 of them actually) and the dentist told me that the drill wasn’t going to hurt.

He lied. I bit him. He kicked me out of his office. It happened again, all before I was 8 years old, after which my kind and very wonderful 3rd grade teacher took me to her dentist who, at least, was honest about what was going to happen.

And so on, throughout my young adult life until finally one day I matured and stopped being afraid. That, plus the fact that novacaine helped (they didn’t use that on kids back in the day) plus the fact that after a certain age you more or less don’t get as many cavities anymore.

My high-cavity years were when all breakfast cereals (even Cheerios) contained sugar, plus our parents let us add extra sugar (and whole milk of course).

It was also before the authorities put fluoride in the water. I still vaguely remember the fights over whether fluoridating the water was a Communist plot and whether allowing it in the water was going to turn us into Commie robots.

It wasn’t and it didn’t.

But the cavity rates did plummet.

And so this morning, I went to the dentist and behaved myself. No cavities. Just a checkup and cleanup.

Whew!

So now that my teeth sparkle, I should really refrain from drinking tea or wine and eating stuff like blueberries that might stain.

But I needed to test out a recipe for Blueberry Streusel Cake.

It was yummy. And I brushed my teeth again right after I ate a piece, so it’s okay.

You can eat this for dessert or as a snack or even for breakfast.

Blueberry Streusel Cake

Streusel:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 3 tablespoons white sugar

• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 4 tablespoons butter

Place the brown sugar, white sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter in the workbowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or work the butter into the other ingredients by hand). Set aside.

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake pan. Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and lemon peel in a bowl and set aside. Mix the milk and vanilla extract and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and blend it in. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk mixture, beating ingredients until smooth. Stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the pan. Top with the streusel. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Makes 8-10 servings

Berry Tart

Now that I more or less snitched on Aunt Alice for telling me she baked a cake that she bought and then sending me a recipe for the cake (which the one she served wasn’t) it is now confession time.

Once, when we had company and I cooked the entire meal, including several hors d’oeuvre, fish course, entree and salad, but bought dessert (a fruit tart with raspberries on top), the one recipe someone wanted was — you guessed it — the fruit tart.

The woman, whose name was Nina, asked if I made it.

I lied and said yes.

So it was kind of awful when she asked for the recipe. Which I sent, a la Aunt Alice. Not THE recipe. Just A recipe.

It is a great recipe though. It’s just that I hadn’t had time to prepare it.

So, Nina, I hope you’ve been enjoying the recipe all these years, even if it wasn’t THE one.

For everyone else — try this sometime. It’s delicious.

Fruit Tart

Pastry:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons cold shortening

3-4 tablespoons cold water or milk

Place the flour, sugar and salt in the workbowl of a food processor. Cut the butter and shortening into chunks and add to the workbowl. Process on pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 3 tablespoons of the cold liquid and process, then add more liquid but only as much as is necessary for the ingredients to come together into a soft dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, knead into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is large enough to place in a 9 or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Place the dough in the tart pan gently and cut off any excess dough from the edges. Cover the dough with aluminum foil. Place pie weights or dried beans over the foil. Bake the tart crust for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and the foil, prick the dough with the tines of a fork and return the crust to the oven for another 10 minutes or until browned and crispy. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. 

Pastry cream and fruit:

1-1/2 cups whole milk

5 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons kirschwasser or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

raspberries or strawberries (about 2 pints)

6 tablespoons red currant jam

1 tablespoon kirschwasser or brandy

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until hot; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar together at medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until thick and light. Stir in the cornstarch and mix until thoroughly blended in. Turn the mixer to lowest speed and gradually add the hot milk. Mix until smooth and well blended. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently, for  about 8 minutes or until very thick. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the kirschwasser or vanilla and the butter. Strain the mixture if desired, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Makes 2 cups

Just before serving, fill the baked tart shell with the pastry cream. Top with the berries. Melt the currant jam and 1 tablespoon kirschwasser or brandy in a small saucepan until melted. Brush the jam over the berries.

Makes one tart serving 8 people

Welsh Rabbit

Every few years I do a recipe purge. I go through my files and discard duplicates or recipes I don’t need a recipe for, like “applesauce” or recipes with ingredients I know I don’t like and thus will never cook (calves brains) and, increasingly over the years, recipes that are really really long and too much bother to read, let alone cook.

I also throw away recipes that I’ve cooked but weren’t great, which is why I no longer have the one for Aunt Alice’s Black Forest Cake recipe that I mentioned yesterday.

But I do keep some family treasured recipes such as my mother’s favorite Lime Jello Mold or such old fashioned favorites as quiche because even though they might not be popular right now, there’s always the hope that if they don’t get a chance for a re-run then at least I could write nostalgically about them. And of course there’s always the possibility that someone might call or email me to see if I have a recipe for, say, Tuna Casserole or Green Goddess Dressing.

So I was delighted when I looked in my cheese file and found I had kept an old recipe for Welsh Rabbit. You don’t hear much about Welsh Rabbit anymore. But when you think about it, the dish is more or less grilled cheese, just a little fancier and sometimes more adult (if you use ale or stout).

Here’s the recipe. Welsh Rabbit is a real treat on a lazy weekend afternoon. Good for lunch or even a vegetarian dinner (with a salad).

Welsh Rabbit

• 4 slices homestyle white bread
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound shredded cheddar cheese
• 1-1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
• pinch or two of cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, optional
• 1/2 cup flat ale, stout, beer or milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven broiler. Toast the bread until lightly browned and place in a baking dish. In the top part of a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter, then add the cheese and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the cheese has melted. Stir in the mustard, cayenne pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually pour in the ale and stir until blended. Add the eggs and cook, stirring until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the melted cheese mixture over the bread slices. Place the baking dish under the broiler and cook briefly until the top has browned.

Makes 4 pieces.

AUNT ALICE’S SCHWARZWALDER KIRCHTORTE

Submitted by Carol Selkin (carol_selkin@sbcglobal.net):

Ronnie – As “Aunt Alice’s” daughter, I can testify that my mother was NOT a cook, although she had a refined and educated palate (my folks ate out a lot, and well).  However, she was clearly not motivated in the kitchen.  My brother and I considered canned Chef Boy-Ar-Dee ravioli a real treat (not surprisingly, it’s still a fave of ours, and—weirdly—of our local granddaughters)!  In the fifties, my mom bought an impressive rotisserie machine from which we ate chicken at least once a week.  A “gourmet” meal was baked, seasoned chicken pieces coated in egg and cornflakes.  All spinach was from the frozen bricks.  She hated lima beans, and never ate them, though she begrudgingly served them (I loved them).  Dessert was often red Jello with sliced bananas–my mother could never remember which of her kids hated red Jello (me), so she just served both of us.  Later, my mother graduated to nearly undiluted green jello poured into a drained can of sliced pineapple (after gelling, the bottom was opened and the “molded” tower of pineapple was pushed out and sliced).  So you can imagine how amazed we were when she baked!  She had a few quick and easy recipes: “Split Second” cookies, a lovely apple crisp, the Betty Crocker yellow cake mix with added Jello lemon pudding (not realy so bad…!), and the famous Schwarzwalder Kirchtorte.  I must admit I haven’t had it for more than 40 years, and sometimes, as you write, “food pushes emotional buttons”—  old “homey” things may be memorialized as terrific when they just represent the good time we had eating them (like canned ravioli?!).  But I did find Alice’s original recipe, with my handwritten “Yum Yum Yum” at the bottom.  I think your recipe looks much more tempting, but this certainly looks like an easy way out.  P.S.  My aunt (my dad’s brother’s wife, Roz) was an excellent baker, and some of my fondest memories of baked goods were the wonderful shoeboxes of pecan tartlets she would make for each of her nieces and nephews!

AUNT ALICE’S SCHWARZWALDER KIRCHTORTE from the ’50s

2 eggs; 1 c. sugar; ¼ lb melted butter (or margarine); 2 tbs. Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 tsp. almond extract; ½ c. sifted flour; ½ c finely ground nuts (done in a blender); 1 tsp. baking powder; 1 (16 oz.) can unsweetened (tart, sour) cherries DRAINED AS DRY AS POSSIBLE! (Alice’s note)

Beat eggs thoroughly.  Mix eggs with melted butter, vanilla and almond extracts, and sugar.

Add flour, baking powder, nuts, cocoa.  Coat a greased 8” (2 ½” high) springform pan with a fine dusting of nuts, or even fine bread crumbs.  Pour mixture into pan.  Spread drained cherries evenly over batter.  Bake about 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Well this gave me two laughs and a half early in the morning!

I am so happy you found that recipe but I do want to say: IT IS NOT THE ONE SHE SERVED THAT NIGHT!!!

The one she served for dessert had no cherries in the cake — only on top. And it was covered with whipped cream and there were perfect rosettes of whipped cream too, topped with maraschino cherries and plenty of shaved chocolate over everything.

It didn’t matter. We had a good time and an evening — obviously — that lasts in the memory. So, as we both know, food can evoke great memories, even if the food wasn’t cooked by the person serving it.

I loved hearing about your memories of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, jello molds and lima beans.

What are split second cookies?