What to Do with that Leftover Panettone…
The Christmas tree has been taken down; the ornaments, lights, and wreaths are wrapped and back in their respective boxes; and the new toys have finally found a home in the toy chest. But what about the one or two . . . or three Panettones you received from colleagues, or other representatives of Santa’s team, that still sit on the counter?
2008 Food Blog Awards: Nomination Period Open
Now is the time to nominate your favorite food or drink blog for the 2008 Food Blog Awards. All the details can be found on our main site.
Holiday Break
Thank you so much for making our site a part of your regular routine. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. We will be taking a short break to celebrate the holidays with our family and friends, and will resume regular postings on Monday, January 5th (the official kick-off of the annual Food Blog Awards!).
Happy holidays!
Rosemary Flat Bread
18 oz (3 cups) Semolina flour
13-1/2o z (3 cups) flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1-2/3 cups water
1/2 cup olive oil
Mix the dry ingredients with the rosemary, then add the water and oil and mix by hand to form a smooth dough. Knead about 2 minutes; do not overmix. Wrap in plastic and let rest about 1 hour.
Cut dough balls about 2 oz each and roll cracker thin. Bake on a baking stone at 475 degrees F until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
I like mine with more rosemary, so you can increase or decrease rosemary to taste. This recipe was taken from a 1996 issue of Fine Cooking magazine.
Banana Tarte Tatin
Do you remember the story of the Tatin spinster sisters who in their hurry to bring the apple tarte to the table dropped it and unashamedly served it upside down. Some time ago I came across a savoury version that was a delight, and today here is an exotic version of the same.
This one was brought to me by Jamie Oliver (not in person, you understand). Here is what he says about it: “The thing I love most about it is how simple it is: all you need to do is buy some ready-made puff pastry. Split a few bananas in half and get something magical happening in the oven.” This recipe is part of his “pass it on” campaign.
Caramel and banana, you can’t go wrong. It also has the incredible advantage of using those few bananas before they turn black.
If you have cooked a Tatin of any kind and want to share the recipe, let me know via the comment box; we could have a post devoted to Tatins all sorts.
A Baker at Boot Camp: Part 2
Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Culinary Institute of America’s Hearth Breads Boot Camp. If you want to read about my day at Boot Camp and see some pictures I took in class, you can do so here. This post is about what happened once I got home ~ that is, putting some of what I learned at the CIA to use in my home kitchen.
Among the souvenirs I brought home from Boot Camp were 8 loaves of artisanal bread, baked that day in class. I wrapped them like gold bricks and put them away in the freezer, parceling them out like a wheat miser, a few slices at a time. But a couple of weeks ago, the inevitable occurred ~ the last slice was eaten. It was once again time to put on my CIA apron and bring my sourdough starter back to life.
Candy Cane Cookies
This cute recipe comes from Betty Crocker. These are sure to be a kid pleaser! Since these take a little time to roll and twist the dough, get the kids to help out. What I found to be helpful was to roll 3 balls of each color together to 8″, this will make them bigger and easier to twist. Roll them on a clean lightly floured surface, not in your hands or they will melt and stick. To get the candy to stick, take the cookies out of them oven 1 minute early and sprinkle them, then place back in the oven for a minute.
2008 Food Blog Awards Kick-Off
On Monday, January 5th, we will put out our call for nominations in fourteen different categories, and this is your chance to nominate the food and drink blogs that you think are the best of the best. The nominations period will close on Friday, January 9th, 11:59 pm, EST, giving you five full days to nominate your favorite blogs. Any nominations after that period will not be considered.
On January 19th, we will post the Top 5 nominations in each of the fourteen categories. These spots are decided by our judging panel, and only blogs nominated the week before will be considered. The amount of times a site is nominated does not have any bearing on its placement, it only puts it in the running.
Once the top 5 sites are announced for each category, the voting begins. Voting will be open from Monday, January 19th until 11:59 pm EST on Friday, January 23rd. You will have five full days to vote for your favorite site, determining the winners. The winners will be announced on Monday, January 26th.
During the rest of this pre-Food Blog Awards time, we will be unveiling our distinguished panel of judges, the official rules of the Food Blog Awards, and the list of prizes donated for the winners from our very generous sponsors.
Go on and spread the word … and let the fun begin!
Mini Black-and-White Cookies
Black and Whites are my kids’ standard choice any time we visit a bakery. Maybe it’s not the prettiest pastry in the bakeshop, but it is what it is ~ a New York classic. Also known in parts of the state as the Half Moon, the much loved Black and White is essentially a dropped vanilla (or lemon, or rarely but occasionally chocolate) batter cake with enough body to stand up on it’s own, decorated with half white and half chocolate fondant icing.
Some Black and White cookies my look like the real thing but they monkey around with the formula enough to miss the boat. These may be high in yum, but they’re like the difference between eating a really good pizza from Cinncinnati and eating one from a neighborhood pizzeria in Brooklyn. There’s a difference. One of our favorite local bakeries, for example, frosts their version of the Black and White cookie with buttercream. Now, no one is disputing the fact that buttercream is tastier than fondant. But a “Black and White” with buttercream is just not a true-blue Black and White. It’s more like a large, flat cookie-cupcake. Still delicious, but different.
Caramel Rolls
I am always so impressed with the effort that goes into food gifts this time of year. Elaborate trays of cookies, breads of all kinds, gingerbread houses . . . bakers are busy in the kitchen cooking up things to give to others. A gift of homemade goodies, in my opinion, is a true gift of love.
I think I am going to do an assortment of pumpkin bread, cookies and something a bit different this year. My closest friends are going to get a pan of Caramel Rolls. I read about this idea last year, but with using your favorite cinnamon roll recipe. Purchase several aluminum round cake pans and whip up a few batches of your favorite cinnamon roll dough. Roll and slice the dough and place 6 rolls each in the round cake pans. Tightly cover and freeze. When you are ready to gift your cinnamon rolls, take them out of the freezer, wrap in clear plastic wrap, decorate the packaging as you wish and attach instructions for thawing and baking on a card. Your friends will love the idea of having home-baked goodness given to them to bake fresh in their own oven. Imagine how nice it would be to wake up to hot cinnamon rolls on Christmas Day without the effort of actually making them.
Recent Comments