Just Baking

Imposters!

I came up with the idea for Wannabe Portuguese Egg Tarts after seeing many pictures of egg tarts around the Web. I’ve never eaten an authentic egg tart — heck, I’ve never even seen one in person. These were my attempt to get something in the ballpark of what an egg tart would taste like. I didn’t quite get the dark brown top I was going for, but they were delicious nonetheless. If you are in the same boat as myself and aren’t able to get an authentic egg tart, I recommend trying these out.

Image & Recipe from Divine Domesticity

Wannabe Portuguese Egg Tarts
Makes 6 Tarts

• 1 package frozen puff pastry shells (6 shells come in a typical package)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 T. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 3 egg yolks

1. Bake puff pastry shells at indicated temperature (about 400 degrees F), but only for 10 minutes. While baking, prepare the custard. In a saucepan, combine the milk, cornstarch, vanilla and sugar. Stirring constantly, bring up to a medium heat until thickened. Place egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk 1/2 of milk mixture into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture, whisking constantly.

2. After 10 minutes, take puff pastry shells out of the oven and cut off the tops of the middle part of the shell. Fill with custard to the brim of each shell. Return to oven for approximately 10 minutes. (At this point I turned off the oven and let them sit for about 10 more minutes, I would recommend doing this.) Serve and enjoy!

• Leave a comment...

This week, our school is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week. Every day this week, parents are encouraged to send in a little something for the teachers — a note of encouragement, maybe some home-baked cookies, whatever. And every morning in the teacher’s room, a continental-style breakfast awaits, supplied by parent volunteers. This year, my contribution was these Apple Walnut Muffins.

Everyone knows that apples are the traditional expression of giving a shout-out to teachers we love, and I have much love for the teachers at our school (full disclosure: my husband is one of them). So even though it’s not apple season, I think these are appropriate for the occasion.

The batter is a bit touchy, but don’t let it worry you. It won’t come together like normal muffin batter, but will remain dry and crumbly until the oven works its magic. Just heap it into the muffin cups and believe.

Apple Walnut Muffins

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large baking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I like Cortland, Empire, and Golden Delicious for these)
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients except for sugar (flour through salt) and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, chopped apples, and walnuts; stir by hand until combined.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be dry and crumbly but no flour should still be visible.

Spoon heaps of batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. (These muffins do not rise much.)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean and muffins are golden brown and look dry.

Let sit in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Store leftover muffins in the refrigerator, or wrap in waxed paper and plastic or foil and freeze.

Makes 12 jumbo muffins or 24 regular muffins

• Leave a comment...

This morning my six-year-old woke up and was moping around before school, claiming “my tummy hurts.” He wasn’t running a fever, he ate a good breakfast, and was feeling good enough to torment his sisters. We walked up to school, I kissed him good-bye, and all was well. All was well except for the small nagging in the back of my head about his tummy hurting. His actions told me that he was feeling okay, but my instinct told me that maybe I should have listened to him.

Fast forward to 10:30 a.m., I am just getting ready to go and pick up the middle munchkin from preschool, and the phone rings. Sure enough, it was the school nurse. “I have Jacob in my office . . . he just got sick in class.” Ugh . . . “No, he didn’t make it to the bathroom, but he seems to be okay at the moment. How soon can you pick him up?” I was up there within minutes, feeling horrible that he had to be embarrassed in class simply because I didn’t listen to my instinct and keep him home. Bring on the mom of the year award, again!

• Continue reading or Leave a comment...

These are the cookies for when you need something dense, chocolatey, and brownie-licious — in cookie form. Keep a box of brownie mix on hand (my hands-down favorite mix, store brand or otherwise, is Wal-Mart’s Great Value. Really!), and when the craving for chewy, dense brownies strikes but you don’t want to wait for them to bake and then cool so you can cut them neatly from the pan, these will do the trick.

To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Big Brownie Cookies

• 1 (19.5 to 21.5-ounce size) box fudge brownie mix
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 tablespoons water 
• 2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated, but do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons (I use a #40 scoop) onto the greased baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies as these will spread. 
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies appear set and do not look “wet” in the middle. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

*If desired, you can stir in 1 cup of white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, or peanut butter chips; 1 cup of chopped almonds or pecans; or 1 cup of M&MS or Reese’s Pieces before scooping and dropping onto cookie sheet.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies 

• Leave a comment...

Need a side dish for a steak or burgers? These oven-roasted potatoes come together in minutes, can be adapted to feed a crowd, and are a healthy alternative to French fries.

Oven-Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

• 4 russet potatoes, skin left on, well scrubbed and dried
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut potatoes into cubes about 1 to 11/2 inches square. Place in medium mixing bowl and sprinkle with garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle generously with olive oil and toss to coat. Pour potatoes out into baking dish and arrange in a single layer. Roast at 400 degrees F for about 1 hour, or until potatoes are crispy on the outside and tender when pierced with a fork. Stir about halfway through cooking time.

Serves 4 to 6

• Leave a comment...

Baking cookies is the best way to placate yourself and your kids, and for me, it’s also a favorite pastime! What I love about cookies is that they can be simple and festive at the same time. I had thumbprint cookies on my mind for a long time. The name “thumbprint” comes from the fact that you use your thumb to make an indentation into each ball of dough, which is then filled with some jam. The best part is that these tiny delights are very easy to make and extremely versatile. Just follow the basic recipe and use your choice of fruit flavors or even chocolate as a filling. No matter what’s the occasion, they are sure to be a hit!

I made mine with walnuts and mixed-fruit jam. You can use any other jam or fruit preserves of your choice. Chocolate or Nutella are other great variations. I think I’ll be making these again with hazelnut and chocolate next time. These bite-sized cookies are a perfect snack for parties or picnics too!

Ingredients
Makes about 25 cookies

• 4 oz butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts
• 1/3 cup mixed-fruit jam (or any other of your choice)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 7-8 mins.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and ground walnuts and add to the creamed butter mixture. Mix until well combined to form a soft dough. Do not knead a lot as this can get pretty sticky. Use some all-purpose flour for dusting.

Now refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This makes is easier to shape the cookies.

Take a teaspoonful of dough in your hand, form a small ball, and press lightly in the center with your finger to make a shallow hole (use light pressure with your thumb or index finger).

Arrange the cookies on the baking trays, 2 inches apart. (Leave enough space, as they will spread a bit as they bake.) Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly colored and the cookies look firm.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then fill the holes with your favorite jam.

These Thumbprint Cookies filled with jam are pretty to look at, easy to make, and delicious to eat, and eggless, too! The semi-hard texture with nuts is nicely balanced with the smooth sweetness of the jam, making this recipe a sure-shot winner. I’m so glad I tried them and will definitely be baking more of these! (Img source: Fun and Food)

Similar Recipes:
Eggless Almond Cookies (Nankhatai)
Peppermint-Vanilla Butter Cookies
Chewy Chocolate-Chip Cookies

• Leave a comment...

Empanadas, or hand-held meat pies, are common to many South American and Hispanic cuisines. Close cousins to the British meat pasties, the Australian meat pies, and the Indian samosas, their widespread popularity is no doubt due to their portability and their versatility.  

Easily customized to cultural flavor preferences, the empanada is a perfect way to incorporate whatever bits of leftovers you’ve got sitting around in the fridge. Roast beef? Dice it and toss it in. Steamed veggies? Ditto. Chili? Mmm-hmm!

For my family, when I make empanadas, I tend to stick more closely to the traditional Argentinean recipe, which features hard-boiled eggs and green olives, mixed into a base of seasoned cooked ground beef. This owes more to the fact that I learned to make empanadas from my father, a professional chef born and bred in Argentina, than to actual preference, as my kids claim that the oven does unkind things to hard-boiled eggs, and can usually be found fishing out egg-white pieces and accusing them of being gristle.

For these empanadas, which I have dubbed “Smith-Style,” I omitted the eggs and the olives, because I didn’t have time to boil eggs and I had no green olives in the fridge. I added cheese because we are a cheese-loving clan, and I threw in some diced roasted veggies (carrots with cumin and lime, because that’s what we’d had with dinner the previous night). I added cream cheese and sour cream to bind them together, some seasonings, and voila, empanadas that not only got rid of some leftovers, but were eaten with much gusto and not a single complaint.

*Note that this pie pastry recipe makes enough a 9-inch double-crust fruit pie.

• Continue reading or Leave a comment...

When I think about tarts, I think about a crazy aunt who often jet-sets off to Paris and brings everyone back exotic gifts that cannot be found anywhere in your hometown. She is always traveling on glamorous adventures, leading a life of glitz, yet always keeps an element of mystery to her life. Her life makes churchgoers blush and tends to seem a bit risqué.

Pies, on the other hand, always conjure up a vision of down-home comfort . . . wearing your favorite fleece pj’s, snuggled up under a favorite quilt, sitting by the fire and absorbing a great book. Family picnics, church bake sales, and old-fashioned bakeries always come to mind when I think of pies.

While all the June Cleavers of the world were making pies, the Glamourpuss was baking tarts. So, what will you think of me when I tell you I have been on a major tart kick lately? Will my reputation as a family-friendly blogger go up in smoke? Do you think I am longing for a different life . . . wishing to jet-set and be a part of glamorous adventures in worlds beyond my own? Well, not so much . . . The truth is I purchased a few new tart pans and was eager to try each of them out. I have made three different kinds of tarts in the past week, and although not as comforting as a slice of apple pie, they are just as delicious, if not a little risqué. If you are willing to risk your clean-as-pie reputation, I suggest you take a walk on the wilder side of life and delve into the world of tarts. Everyone deserves a little glamour in their life.

• Continue reading or Leave a comment...

Well, in my case, the answer is . . . rarely. But that’s mainly because I love the process itself and so don’t really look for the shortcuts, and also because I like food to be as close to its natural state as possible. (I’ll refrain from climbing up on my soapbox here, but if you’re interested, you can check out my personal blog, where I tend to wax philosophical about the joys of eating real food.) Now, having said that, there are a few notable exceptions, and over the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing them. First up, the premade pie crust.

Generally speaking, I prefer to make my own pie crusts. I have a reliable recipe that I’ve used for years, and it’s no trouble to throw together the pastry for a double-crust. Plus, there’s really nothing like homemade pie with real, scratch-made crust. But sometimes, Thanksgiving, say, when my kitchen turns into an assembly line for 8 pies at a time or I just want to throw something into the oven to turn out a quick dessert with no countertop mess, I do occasionally rely on the premade crust. Specifically, I use the Pillsbury refrigerated crusts that unroll beautifully into the pie plate.

Are these as good as homemade? Honestly, no. But they are good, and many people can’t tell the difference. (Trust me on that.) You can crimp the edges, so they look homemade, and the color and texture are quite nice. They’re more successful with some fillings than with others. For example, I like them with pecan pie better than, say, a juicy fresh raspberry pie, as the crust tends to get soggy and break down faster than a homemade crust would. This isn’t a problem if you plan on consuming the whole pie in one sitting, but it is an issue to consider if you’ll be refrigerating it for any length of time.

Also, the crust isn’t quite as thick or as flaky as homemade, but it’s really not a bad trade-off for the convenience of putting together a whole pie in minutes.

So, all things considered, although homemade pie pastry would be my first choice, the pie made with roll-out premade piecrust is a lot better than no pie at all. In many basic applications, premade refrigerated piecrust is a respectable substitute for scratch pastry, and it’s versatile enough to use with sweet or savory fillings, like quiche.

• Leave a comment...

As much as I’ve been looking forward to the vegetables of spring (hello, asparagus!), there are a few hearty winter staples I am reluctant to say my farewells to. Especially this particular preparation, Curry-Roasted Cauliflower, which I discovered only a few weeks ago, and which became an immediate favorite in our household. I’ve had roasted cauliflower and curried cauliflower, but the combination of the two is simply wonderful, and the vinegar adds the definitive touch.

Feel free to increase or decrease the spices according to your own preference, but do use a good-quality curry powder, either store-bought or homemade. Also, only fresh — not frozen — cauliflower will do.

This is excellent hot or at room temperature, and leftovers reheat well the next day.

Enjoy now, during the last few days of cauliflower season!

• Leave a comment...