Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Carbonara

BDs favorite pasta dish. Couldn't find guanciale in Jumbo (available at AH) so substituted pancetta. Could use more spaghetti/less sauce ratio (XBD agreed). Very easy to put together and beats the weird carbonara sauce that MM gets from the store that is filled with cream and garlic. BDs gave it 5 *s but still only 3 from me (had stomach ache so maybe higher rating next time).
  • 500 g spaghetti (was 350 g/12 oz)
  • 200 g guanciale (or sub 100 g pancetta with some oil)
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 100 g pecorino (not padano, not parmesan)
  • black pepper
  1. Cut the guanciale/pancetta into small pieces. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. (No oil needed for guanciale because it's so fatty. Some oil for the pancetta though)
  2. Zest the pecorino. Combine with eggs and black pepper. Mix until creamy.
  3. Boil the spaghetti in salted water until al dente.
  4. Move spaghetti to meat skillet. Cook with the guanciale over high heat until sizzling.
  5. Turn OFF the heat. Add in the pecorino mixture, stirring constantly to prevent curdled eggs.
  6. If it's too creamy, add some pasta water. If it's too runny, add some more pecorino.
  7. Serve on plate/bowl with a side salad.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Sweet Dough Shapes

Used the food processor recipe for sweet dough, using the dough blade. Divided into thirds for 3 people to make cinnamon sugar filled treats of their own choosing. Fun project with kids, rolling pins and pastry cutter.

  • ~3 c flour (max 500 g)
  • 1 packet yeast
  • 220 ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • pinch salt
  • 80 g sugar (1/4 c)
  • 60 g butter
  • optional: grated rind of half a lemon
  1. Put everything but milk in food processor. 
  2. Mix at low speed for 10 seconds.
  3. Add the milk and mix at low for ~1.5 min. When dough is smooth, place in a warm location to rise. (Add additional flour but do not exceed capacity of processor)
  4. After doubled, either shape or punch down and rise again.
  5. Divide and shape. Fill with cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture, fruit, or nuts.
  6. Let rise ~10-30 min. Coat with egg wash.
  7. Bake at 350F/160C until lightly browned.

Related

Cinnamon Buns - also made of Sweet Dough
Animal Bread - dough used to make shapes

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

GF Peach Almond Cake

Had a gf friend coming so threw this together. Unfortunately, it turned out pretty gross. Not sweet enough, not tender. I had leftovers the next day and the almond was even stronger and covered with powdered sugar it was slightly better (or maybe it's because I was so hungry). Would not recommend.

Source: https://sweetsavoryandsteph.com/light-peach-cake-with-almond-flour/

Angel Food Cupcakes

I've been craving angel food cake for a while but I don't have the pan to cook it (nor a reliable oven). I had a bunch of leftover egg whites from making a double batch of empanadas and found a recipe for angel food cupcakes. However, they turned out terrible. My egg whites might not have been enough or improperly whipped, since it only made 4 cupcakes instead of 6 and they turned out incredibly dense. If I ever have leftover whites again I would still want to give it a another try. I also tried using my new food processor to do the whites. It was quite handy, but it was hard to scrape it all out. So perhaps a hand mixer in a bowl would be a better choice. I also didn't have bleached flour.

  • 1/4 c flour, bleached
  • 1.5 t cornstarch (to ensure tender crumb)
  • 1/8 t salt
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 t cream of tartar (to stabilize whites)
  • 5 T sugar
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place 6 paper liners in a muffin tin. Do NOT grease.
  2. In a medium bowl sift the flour, cornstarch and salt. Sift into another bowl back and forth for a total of 3 siftings. 
  3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy (~30 sec). Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form (~2 min). Slowly stream the sugar, 1 T at a time, while beating. The mixture should be bright white and glossy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the whites and fold together. 
  5. Divide the batter into 6 liners. The filling should go to the top of each liner. 
  6. Bake for 17-19 min, until the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean
  7. Let cool completely in the pan before moving to a wire rack.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Pierogi

I could easily buy White Cheddar and Potato pierogies in the freezer section at my local grocery store in Toronto, but Cheddar is not really a thing in the land of Gouda. So I thought I'd try making this from scratch, but with orange cheddar. DBD liked them a lot. I thought the cheese was overpowering and would reduce the ratio next time.

Dough

  • 5 c flour
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 T butter, softened
  • 1 c lukewarm potato water* (may not use all of it)
  • 1/2 c milk
Filling
  • 2 lb potatoes, Yukon gold (about 5)
  • 3 c shredded sharp cheddar (would use less next time)
  • optional: 1/2 c milk
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 1/2 t pepper
  1. Leave the peel on the potatoes. Roughly quarter them so they cook faster. Add to pot with enough cold water to cover them. Salt the water. Bring to boil, and cook until fork tender.
  2. *Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water (for the dough). Drain and peel the potatoes (they should come right off). Add the cheese, salt and pepper and mash with a fork. Add the optional milk to make it creamier. Season to taste.
  3. Dough
    1. Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle or use a dough hook.
    2. Add eggs, then butter and milk, and mix.
    3. Gradually add the potato water and mix until dough starts to form. Add enough water until a ball forms and the dough is not sticky.
    4. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 min to rest.
    5. Divide dough into 4 pieces, keeping covered to prevent drying out.
    6. Divide one piece into 10-12 pieces. Roll to about 1/8-1/6" thick circular shape, about 3" in diameter.
    7. Place a heaping tablespoon full of filling in center. Dab edge with water. Fold in half to seal into half moon shape.
    8. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet, keeping covered until ready to boil.
    9. Optional: Freeze the uncooked batch to cook later
    10. Boil pierogi until they float.
    11. Optional: Freeze the boiled batch to reheat later.
    12. Optional: Saute chopped onion with butter over medium heat until golden brown. Then add the boiled pierogi until onions are caramelized and pierogi are crispy. Add more butter as needed.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Alice Salad

Alice always makes this salad and sends pictures of it so I finally threw it together with some leftover ingredients. Would be nice on a bed of greens.

  • Avocado
  • Mango
  • Shrimp
  • Cilantro
  • lime juice
  • salt

Monday, January 29, 2024

Coconut Buns

This is another great recipe from The Joys of Baking. I use maple syrup instead of the golden syrup called for (not an ingredient available here) in the filling and always skip the sweet wash. It bakes up beautifully and tastes great.  

9/13/22





9/15/22
5/16/23 Egg white wash (looks better with whole egg)
1/29/24 Forgot the maple syrup in the filling until over halfway through stuffing. Added a squeeze to remainder of filling and they all still tasted good. Also ran out of coconut oil so substituted butter for greasing the pan and sunflower oil in the bread.