Cooking

Coconut Pancake Review

Book Reviews, Cooking

First off, I must say, I am not a super big pancake gal. I am a bit picky on my pancakes. I like them thin and crispy. I am also not a fan of maple syrup, never have been. While flipping through Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking cookbook, I came across a recipe for Coconut Pancakes with Mango Slices and Lime Syrup. The picture looked good so I thought I’d give them a try.

The recipe makes about 16 small pancakes. I was just making these for myself, so I cut the recipe in half and then in half again. It made about 4 – 5 pancakes this way, which was the perfect amount for my appetite. While I followed the pancake recipe, I did not use Chef Ramsay’s toppings of mango slices and lime syrup. Sorry Chef. I would probably be thrown out of the kitchen for this move, however I made the bold move of using my own toppings. I chose to top the pancakes with honey and chopped almonds. I would have used macadamia nuts as the topping of choice, however almonds were what was on hand.

The pancakes came together easily and I did add a mixture of coconut milk and water to thin the batter a bit. Chef Ramsay did say that water or coconut milk could be added to the batter if it was too thick after its fifteen minute rest. I preferred to add both.

The pancakes cooked beautifully in my cast iron skillet heated with canola oil. I cooked them for about two minutes on each side at a medium heat. After removing them from the skillet, I drizzled them with honey and sprinkled the nuts on top. They had nice crispy edges and were light and lovely. Oh my! I devoured these pancakes. They were the best pancakes I have had in a long time, perhaps ever. If not a huge fan of pancakes, give this recipe a try anyway. They are sure to change your mind about pancakes. https://www.gordonramsay.com/gr/recipes/coconut-pancakes-with-mango-slices-and-lime-syrup

As always, Happy Cooking!

Steel Cut Oats

Cooking

I normally enjoy a bowl of old fashioned oats for breakfast. Trying to be a bit healthier, I recently added steel cut oats to my breakfast repertoire. But what is the difference?

Old fashioned oats take less time to cook. They take a total of three minutes on the stove top. Nice! Who doesn’t have three minutes to spare in the morning? The reason for the quick cook time is that the oats are steamed and flattened when processing. This process does away with the bran and other nutrients that take longer to absorb water when cooking.

Steel cut oats take 15 to 20 minutes on the stove top. Oh, well that is a bit longer, isn’t it. Why do the steel oats take longer to cook? It has to do with the processing of the oats. The steel cut oats are made by chopping hulled oat grains into small pieces with a steel blade, hence the name – steel cut. This allows the oats to retain bran which needs more time to absorb the water when cooking.

Steel cut oats, while creamy, are chewy and hardier than the old fashioned oats. They also have a nutty texture that reminds me of eating bulgar, but creamier than bulgar. By the way, steel cut oats are also known as Scottish or Irish oats.

My take on steel cut oats…It’s a thumbs up from me. I like the texture. I like the bonus nutrients. I do not even mind the extra time. I have gotten used to putting them on the stove before I start fixing my other breakfast items. Oh yes, I have quite a spread for breakfast. I think it may be my favorite meal of the day.

Oreo Cheesecake Review

Cooking

I love cheesecake, and this Oreo Cheesecake recipe from https://www.browneyedbaker.com/oreo-cheesecake/ did not disappoint. It was simple to put together and tasted great. One of the things that drew me to this recipe, besides the Oreos, was that it did not call for a water bath.

Water baths are used in making some recipes of cheesecake by wrapping the cheesecake pan in foil and then emerging it into another pan filled with water. Common sense tells me this might be a disaster waiting to happen. If the pan is not wrapped well, and somehow the slightest bit of water gets in, the cheesecake is ruined. I was not willing to take the chance, so I found a recipe that would be a bit more forgiving.

This recipe calls for the cheesecake to be baked for 40-55 minutes until the outer two inches are puffed and browned and the center is still jiggly. The oven is then turned off and the oven door is slightly left ajar for another hour while the cheesecake continues to slowly finish baking and the center is done.

The only changes I made to the recipe were….I substituted lactose-free cream cheese for regular cream cheese, I also substituted coconut milk for the heavy cream, and I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup instead of the 1 cup that it called for. Basically dairy-free, except for the crust. The silliest change I made was to the amount of slices. Although I KNOW that cheesecake is filling, I had the cheesecake cut into 9 slices instead of the recommended 12 servings. The boys and I agreed that maybe that was going a bit overboard. Silly me! So, keep the slices at 12 so as not to get overstuffed.

The recipe worked well and I will use it again. I think I will try it with a graham cracker crust and a plain cheesecake version as well. The possibilites are endless.

As always, Happy Baking!

Korean Hotdogs (aka Corndogs) Review

Cooking

What exactly is a Korean hotdog? It is similiar to a corndog but without cornmeal. The batter is made with yeast and flour instead. After the batter is applied, it is rolled in panko crumbs and deep fried. Toppings vary but the Korean way appears to be a coating of sugar.

I found the recipe for the Korean hotdogs and decided to give it a try. I liked how the batter turned out. It was sticky yet managable and easy to roll around the hotdog. I actually rolled the batter with a tiny rolling pin, being careful not to press down too hard as the dough was supposed to be sticky and I did not want to add flour to it. After surrounding the dogs in the batter, I rolled them in the panko which adhered easily. Some recipes for regular corn dogs have left me with such a mess. The batter usually gets all over and is hard to keep on the dogs. This was not the case here. I was enjoying the process. Making the Korean hotdogs was easy and did not take long except for the hour rise time for the batter.

As for the taste of the Korean hotdog? I liked them. They are not as sweet as corndogs. (unless rolled in sugar) They crisped up very nicely when fried. I dipped mine in ketsup and mustard as I would a regular corndog.

Give it a try! I found the recipe at: https://www.chopsticksandflour.com/korean-hotdog-corndog/

As always, Bon Appetite!

Raspberry-Nectarine Bostock Recipe Review

Cooking

I picked-up a copy of the May/June 2021 issue of Victoria Magazine – Special French Issue the other day. This issue being devoted to all things French, including the recipes, I was sure to be in for a treat. Oh yummy!

I saw the photo for the Raspberry-Nectarine Bostock and my mouth was watering. While this recipe is suggested as a breakfast item (and I would agree), I decided to make it for a dessert last night. It worked quite well in that department as well. The pairings of the apricots (which I substituted for the nectarines), raspberries, and almond was quite delicious.

The Raspberry-Nectarine Bostock is made up of fruit on top of an almond-paste creme spread over raspberry preserves on a slice of brioche. This is baked in the oven, cooled, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The only substitutes I made to this recipe where (as stated above) using canned apricots instead of nectarines (not in season), frozen raspberries instead of fresh, almonds instead of pistachios, and instead of the vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract. The recipe itself is very easy to make and takes very little time to put together an impressive looking pastry.

The other recipes from the ‘French Breadbasket’ article also look delicious and will soon be put to the test in my kitchen. These recipes include: Chaussons Aux Pommes, Ginger-Cardamom Kouign-Amann, and Escargot Au Chocolat. This issue of Victoria also has recipes for Macarons. Included are: Blackberry-Thyme, Earl Grey, White Chocolate-Mint, Strawberries and Cream, and Raspberry Lemonade. Looks like I will not be coming out of the kitchen for a while.

I highly recommend the recipe for Raspberry-Nectarine Bostock from Victoria Magazine. I am quite sure I will be making this recipe again. As always, Happy Baking!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Cookies

Cooking

Raspberries and white chocolate sounded yummy so I decided to make them into cookies.

Ingredients:

1 c. All Purpose Flour

1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 c. shortening + 1 Tbsp water (mixed)

1/4 c. light brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. frozen raspberries (keep them frozen)

1/4 c. white chocolate chips

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, mix with hand mixer the shortening, sugars, egg, and vanilla. To this add the flours, baking soda and salt; mix until dough is formed. With a spoon, mix in the chips. Very gently, fold in the raspberries.

Scoop out dough into heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheet. (Makes 18 cookies)

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees F. for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

As always, Happy Baking!

Making English Muffins

Cooking

My husband and I decided to make English muffins. Could these compare to those bought in the store? We had to find out.

To make the English muffins, we started the day before as they needed time to rise and rest. The dough was made using a stand mixer with dough hook. No kneading involved. Gotta love that! The dough was set to rise and then divided into twelve balls and placed on a sheet with cornmeal and covered with plastic wrap. The next step was interesting. Another cookie sheet was placed on top of this, to weigh down the muffins. All this was set in the refrigerator to rest overnight.

In the morning, my husband and I browned batches in cast iron pans on the stove top, flipping to cook both sides. The muffins were then put into the oven to finish cooking until they reached around 205 degrees when poked with a thermometer.

So, how did the English muffins turn out? I really enjoyed them. They were delicious. Mine was cut in half and toasted in the toaster. I then smeared margarine on top. This is my muffin topping of choice. In my opinion, these were much better than any brand of English muffin I have purchased before. The texture was good, they toasted well, and they were fresh. A keeper, I would say.

The recipe (which includes helpful pictures) can be found in the cookbook: America’s Test Kitchen – Bread Illustrated.

My English Muffin

As always, Happy Baking!

Homemade Sushi

Cooking

My daughter likes sushi and decided to make her own sushi at home. This was new to our kitchen, so she found a recipe on-line and we watched a video on how to accomplish this dish. But first she needed supplies.

From the video, we could see that a sushi mat (small pieces of bamboo tied together into a bendable mat) would be an essential tool in the making of the sushi. So, we ordered a set to pick-up curb side. The set was very nice. It also came with a flat, fat wooden spoon to smooth the rice onto the mat and a pair of cute chop sticks. All for under four dollars.

Next, for the food items. She would be using sushi rice (rice especially made for sushi because it turns out nice and sticky), fresh alvacado, cucumber, wasabi, lemon juice, sheets of dried seaweed, and instead of the traditional imitation crab legs, canned salmon. These are the basic indredients for the California Sushi Roll. No raw fish for us.

My daughter made the sushi by first covering the sushi mat with saran wrap. Do not skip this step if deciding to try this at home. This keeps the rice from sticking to the mat. The mat is basically a turning/rolling device that helps to form the rolled sushi. Next, she used the wooden spoon to pat down rice onto the mat. Then she put a sheet of seaweed on top. On top of this, she added the alvacado mixed with lemon juice, cucumber, and salmon. Now it was time to roll it all up. This step required a bit of patience. I think watching a video of the process helped out a lot. After rolling it into a log, my daughter put it in the refrigerator overnight.

My daughter, the sushi chef, hard at work.

The next day for lunch, I was offered some sushi to try for myself. Not a big fan of seaweed, I opted for a small bite. My daughter sliced the log into bite sized portions and squeezed a bit of wasabi onto the plate. I was told only a small bit of this was needed as it was very hot. She also put soy sauce into a dipping bowl to dip the pieces of sushi into before eating.

I sat down, ready to wrinkle my nose up a bit. I tried using the chop sticks, however, I think I need to practice with those a bit more. A spoon ended up being my utensil. With a bit of wasabi on top, into the soy sauce it went, and then into my mouth. My daughter was right, only a bit of wasabi is needed. It was hot but tasted good. To my surprise, the seaweed did not taste like the ocean (maybe the wasabi covered the taste) and I actually enjoyed the sushi. Job well done daughter dear!

As always, Happy Cooking!

Baking Bagels for the First Time

Cooking

I decided to try making homemade bagels. I opted for a recipe I found for Montreal Style bagels. https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/homemade-bagels/ The recipe looked simple enough, and it was.

The bagels were put together quickly using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. After that, they were set to rest for half an hour, shaped into bagels, and set to rest for another half hour. They were then tossed into a pot of boiling honey water, flipped to boil the other side, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and popped into the oven for fifteen minutes.

My taste testers agreed that they were good enough to make again. I was quite pleased as to how fool-proof they were to make. I think I shall be trying other versions of bagels soon. My son has requested his favorite cinnamon raisin bagel. I am sure the options are endless…

Boiling the bagels.
Out of the pot and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Ready to eat!

As always, Happy Baking!

Dreaming of Chickpea Soup

Cooking

This Chickpea Soup is my new favorite. I have caught myself craving it at night. It is so yummy! It is such a quick and easy soup to make. As with most soups, one can add or subtract an ingredient or two as needed. The version in my picture was made the day after Thanksgiving, so I added leftover pieces of shredded game hen. Usually, however, this is a meatless soup for us. Let’s get started…

Chickpea and Kale Soup

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small green pepper – diced
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • pinch of each: oregano, thyme, basil, sage (dried)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup tomatoe (chopped)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes (canned) (looks pureed)
  • small bunch of kale (rinsed and torn into small pieces)
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • freshly shaved parmigiana cheese or crumbled feta cheese

Heat oil in a pot. Add the green pepper, onion, garlic, herbs, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are barely tender, 4-5 minutes. (Do not brown the onions.) Add the chickpeas, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add the kale, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

As always, Happy Cooking!