2 am Tomatoes

You know, some people like it at night. I mean, they like being up really late at night. I can see the appeal really, it's quieter, the phone's not ringing, the heat usually lets up a bit at night. That's not me though. When I was a kid, sure, it was always fun staying up till the wee hours of the morning, it was sneaky and usually it was with friends. Fun. Nowadays I lay in my (usually uncomfortably hot) bed staring at the ceiling (or the clock, or the window, or the fireplace, whatever) and I run through all of the mistakes that I think I've made throughout the day (week, month, life, whatever). I make sure to think about all of my worst fears and I mentally watch myself fail in plans that haven't even occurred to me to yet. Grim. This late night wheel-spinning happens more than I'd care to admit and probably more than you'd care to know.

Over the years, I've figured out a few things that hold it all at bay (sometimes). I leave a small light on because then I have something to look at. I usually keep the television going really softly in the background so that I can hear human voices (the trick is to keep the volume just loud enough to hear that they're talking but not quite loud enough to hear exactly what they're saying). I'll try talking to someone until I'm tired enough to drop off (and, as Joe can attest, sometimes past dropping off). Some nights the stars are not in alignment though and I run the gauntlet until I either crash from exhaustion or I hear the buses start going by, call it morning and start worrying about how I'm going to make it through the day without ripping someone's head off because I'm so bloody tired (Joe can also attest that I'm not always successful at that either).

The stars were not in alignment tonight so I tried something different. After two or three hours of self-reflection (doesn't it sound so positive that way), I got up and made BLTs (Meag was still up so I made one for her too). Don't know if eating bacon with mayo is a good idea at 2 in the morning but it was either that or cake and that's just not happening.

2 slices of stupid-giant-sized-rye-bread-that-has-to-be-toasted-one-half-at-a-time-because-it's-so-freaking-big-that-it-won't-fit-in-my-toaster
couple of slices of tomato
couple of pieces of cooked bacon
couple of leaves of romaine that have the spine removed (sounds so grisly)
mayo
s&p

Toast it. Stack it. Eat it.

I don't know if this will help me sleep but at least I'm not hungry anymore.

BLT Bites

You won't believe how hard it was to get a good picture of these little buggers. I made these for the Alpha Celebration Dinner tonight. They were really easy but I wish that I had started them earlier in the day because they could have done to sit in the fridge chilling for a bit longer. I wasn't sure how many people were going to be there so I cut them a little smaller so that this recipe cranks out about 54 little bundles. You could make them bigger if you wanted though. As you will see, I even went so far as to stick little 70s-bridge-party frilly toothpicks into them. What a hoot.

1/2 c mayo
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 T thick and chunky salsa
1/2 T Epicure Sundried Tomato & Herb Dip Mix
1 t dijon mustard
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
9 tortillas (you could totally do fewer tortillas though, I was trying to stretch them a bit)
1 c finely chopped and seeded roma tomato
1/2 c shredded romaine

I went fancy on these, I trimmed the tortillas until they were square. I also used spinach, tomato, and cheese tortillas so there were some nice colours going on. Mix the mayo, cream cheese and flavouring stuff until well blended, then stir in the bacon. Spread the bacon mixture evenly over the tortillas. Evenly top with lettuce and tomato (you should have seen how finely I shredded the lettuce, I did a chiffonade. Very cool.) tightly roll them up and wrap them securely with cello wrap then put them in the fridge for at least an hour but definitely not overnight (I'm pretty sure that the lettuce would wilt a lot if they were in there for a really long time but I'm thinking 8 hours would be the max).

Cut them into 1" rolls and secure them with a toothpick. Cool beans.

Joe's Grandma's White Cake

Apparently this is Joe's favourite birthday cake when there's raspberry jam between the layers. I thought about doing that but I had these fresh raspberries in the fridge and it just seemed like a good idea to put them between the layers with vanilla whipped cream. I loved this cake because it's a little denser than your average box cake, just a little more body. Joe tells me that it's not usually like that though that that his mom puts in extra egg whites to make it fluffier.

Sift into mixing bowl: 2 1/4 c sifted cake flour (yes, that's right, you're going to double sift it)
3 1/4 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/2 c sugar

Add: 1/2 c Crisco
2/3 c milk
Beat for 2 minutes until batter is well blended

Add: 1/3 c milk
1/2 c egg whites (unbeaten)

Add 2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond
Beat for 2 minutes

Pour into two 8" or 9" pans that have been greased and floured on the bottom only.

25-35 minutes @ 350F

Triple Ginger Pound Cake

You know, Farrah Fawcett was really pretty when she was younger. This is my favourite pound cake recipe, Christmas present quality. The little ship on Liam's cake just wasn't holding up the way that I wanted it to so I re-baked it in pound cake. I don't know if triple ginger pound cake will work for Liam but I'm hoping that someone likes it.

2 3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c butter
1 T grated ginger root
1 t vanilla
5 eggs
3 c flour
2 t ground ginger
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c milk or evaporated milk (I've only ever used plain milk)
1/2 c finely chopped crystallized ginger

Beat sugar, butter, ginger root, vanilla and eggs on low for 30 seconds till mixed then 5 minutes on high speed.

Sift the flour, ginger, baking powder and salt together. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. (Personal tip: finish with the flour, ie: 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, repeat, last 1/3 flour). Fold in the crystallized ginger and pour into greased and floured pans (This makes 3 medium sized loaves).

Bake at 350F for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes till it passes the clean pick test. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.

BTW, I'm watching Cannonball Run. Farrah Fawcett is in it.

I Have Mastered the Sugar Cookie

Okay, so I don't talk about it much but cookies have always defeated me. Rolled cookies of pretty much any kind. Drop cookies are fine, it's kind of hard to screw those up but rolled sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, what have you, have always been a problem. They've always been way too crumbly to roll. Not a bad thing if you're doing shortbread and you're going to be pushing it into a press but not so great for snowflakes, stars and butterflies, or, in this case, shamrocks.

I did them for the Comhaltas fundraiser that's coming up and I used the Rolled Cookie recipe from Wilton with the thought that they try really hard to make this stuff accessible for the general public (not that Betty and Fannie haven't). It was crumbly. It was giving my dough hook a serious run for its money. So rather than try to bull my way through I started to play with the recipe (you know, I've always been a little afraid to do that with baked goods because everyone always talks about the chemistry of baking but damnit, I've got my bones in chemistry and I have the student loan to prove it so I started tweaking the recipe and it was wicked easy). I ended up reducing the flour by a half cup and adding 2 more eggs (technically one egg and 1/4 cup flour because I had doubled the recipe. It made for a really resilient dough that cut like a dream, was easy to transfer with minimal breakage and they taste lovely, not uber-dense. I used too much vanilla (per usual) and some almond extract, I would totally use other flavours for this though. So this is my final version:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
2 1/2 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt

Preheat 400 (Oh yeah, I reduced this to 375) Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. Add first cup of flour with salt and baking powder. Add remaining flour a cup at a time. Bake 6-7 minutes.

I started out using my regular pizza pans with the thought that I could cycle them in and out of the oven, I'd have one ready to go by the time the last one was done but the baking time is so fussy with them that I eventually just switched to my baking stone and things went a lot more smoothly. I don't know why I never start with that right away.

I read in an old Wilton magazine about rolling the dough right onto the baking sheet and then just removing what's left after you've used the cutters but I tried it and things really didn't start clicking along until I stopped doing that and just rolled them on the counter. It's easier to separate them from the scrap and your scrap dough doesn't have crumbs stuck into it from the pan. It's also a little finicky to remove tiny bits of dough from between the cookies without moving the cookies, they ended up more damaged than if I had moved them from the counter AND they have a tendency to grow together while they're cooking when you do them this way, it's just too tempting to cut them close to each other. With the stone, it took closer to 10 minutes for the first batch but 7 minutes on the nose for the rest of them.

I used full test royal icing to outline the cookies and thinned royal icing almost as a glaze to fill in. Tasty tasty. I have to get them out of my house.

A Foccaccia... (Bread, It's Bread)

So I call Erin around 5 to tell her how amazing this stuff smells. I'm referring to the combination of yeast, olive oil and Foccaccia Spices from Epicure.

I start this post around 5:40 because it's finished rising and my mouth is still watering from the smell and I would feel silly calling Erin to say "It still smells amazing, just thought you'd want an update".

I've got a little bit of olive oil in a dish, a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar in it. I've got a caesar salad using the Epicure recipe. I'm going to be breathing fire all night! I was told once that if everyone eats the same garlic-y meal, it doesn't smell strong to them.

Dissolve 2 packets of yeast with 1 T sugar and 1 c warm water for about 5 minutes. Soak 1/4 cup Foccacia Herbs in 1/3 c olive oil and 3/4 c hottish water, let it cool to lukewarm, add 2 t salt and mix it with the yeast. Add 4 cups of flour, a cup at a time, and knead for about 4 minutes (I used my dough hook). Put it on a baking sheet that has been liberally spread with olive oil and sprinkled with cornmeal (I skipped that ingredient obviously). Let it rise for 40 minutes and then bake it at 425 for 20-25.

Things that I would change: I'd use a little less flour and a little more oil in the preparation of it. I would also use my stone, I had no idea that it was going to be that big although 4 cups of flour and the huge amount of yeast might have given it away. If I was using my stone, I would put it in with the bread cold, because I baked mine on a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes and the bottom was a little too close to burnt for my tastes.

So, dipped in olive oil didn't work for me this time but Oh Lordy, dipped in Caesar salad dressing is something else entirely.

Who put the crack in my Extraordinary Cheese Dip?

Is it just me or is everyone else having a hard time resisting this one? I swear, I've made it probably around 6 times since that last Epicure party and that's a bit excessive I'm thinking. I made it last night in some of my medium sized ramekins (because my casserole dish has beef stew in it). I left it in for the usual amount of time which was technically a mistake because you have to adjust for shorter cooking times when you change the size of the cookware but O... M... G... The sides and bottom caramelized a bit and had this lovely smoky cheese flavour beyond what it usually does. Yay mistakes!

We're going to have to pin Dayna down and make her tell us which ingredient has the crack hidden in it. I'm thinking that it's the Bacon, Cheese and Chive Dip mix but then again, the Lemon Dilly jar is almost empty...

Bread. Thats it. Thats all it is. Bread.

After spending a few infuriating hours on the internet looking for "BREAD", all it was coming up with nothing but bread machine recipes. That drives me nuts - What happened to baking bread in your ovens? Come ON people. Finally, I did the sensible thing (for it is usually at the end of our ropes that we do the sensible thing.) and went and consulted Betty. She had this to say -

BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID :
Baking bread by hand is a serious commitment - at least 3 or 4 hours of your time. Your feet will be covered in flour. Your arms will hurt. It will get under your nails. But you know what?

It''ll be so, so tasty.


White Bread
- 2 packages active dry yeast (and ANOTHER thing - whats with this package buisiness? As an FYI to break your package-dependance, one pkg. is the equivilant of 2 and a quarter tablespoon of yeast.)
- 3/4 c. warm water

- 2 c. milk, scalded. (Pfffffffff....Betty, please.)
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 3 tbsp. shortening (I ignored this and used butter, as usual.)

- 1 tbsp. salt
- 7 - 8 c. flour

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I. Disolve yest in warm water in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, sugar, shortening/butter/fat/whatever, salt and 4 cups of flour. Mix untill smooth. This will take a good five minutes or so by hand - Don't whine. You knew what you were getting into.

II. Mix in the remaining dough untill it clings together and is easy to handle.

III. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead untill smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn greased side up and let it alone for about an hour. *You'll know its ready when an identation remains when poked.*

IV. Punch down the dough and divide in two. Place loaves in 2 greased loaf pans and brush with melted butter - cover and let rise again for another hour.

V. About five minutes before the loaves are ready, heat oven to 425. OR DIE TRYING.

VI. Place loaves on a low rack so that the tops are in the centre of the oven. Pans should not touch. Bake untill golden brown and hollow when tapped - 25 to 30 minutes (an episode of The Simpsons) Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks. I

VI. Devour with white fury.

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afterparty
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Two loaves of bread. Thats it. Thats all it is. Bread.

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Extraordinary Cheese Dip

I know that we've made this, most of us have tasted it, some of us have tasted it at 3:30 in the morning because we couldn't resist its siren call. I keep losing the pieces of paper that I have it written on and I can only ask Erin for another copy so many times before I start to feel like a complete knob.

250 g spreadable cream cheese
1/2 c grated cheddar
1/2 c grated mozzarella
1 c mayo
1 t VE Cheese, Chives & Bacon dip mix
1 t VE Lemon Dilly dip mix
1 t VE 3 Onion dip mix
1 or 2 rounds of sourdough bread (or see the Wheat Snackers recommendation from March)

Combine all of the dip stuff until well blended. You can bake it at 350F for about 20 minutes or so in the sourdough loaf but I just use an ungreased casserole dish. I'm thinking of trying a mold to see if it will hold its shape next time because that would be really cool to see.

It's the Right Thing to Do with Ice Cream

My Oatmeal-Ice Cream Dessert by Me

Ingredients
1. Oatmeal
2. Ice Cream

I came up with this idea entirely on my own, and I'm very proud of it. You take one Quaker flavored instant oatmeal pack. The Maple and Brown Sugar works best, though other flavors are good too. Add water and microwave for 60 seconds. Try not to add as much water as they say on the directions, because it's best if the oatmeal isn't too soupy. When it's done, add vanilla ice cream liberally, and serve (quickly). The ice cream will melt into the oatmeal, and it will be almost like a real dessert.

PS For dinner, I had porcini sauce that I bought at a specialty market and served it with angel air pasta.

Peppakakor - Death By Cookie

A good friend of mine in Sweden, Stefan "i kno im facking gorgeous!" J., who is also a cook, gave me this recipe last night at my request for something "Sweet, Swedish and good for a picnic.". I have found that in the face of great stresses, I have the tendency to bake...and last night, Bake I Did.

3/4 c. butter

2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses

4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. kanel (swedish cinnamon - sub with standard)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

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Preheat to 350. OR DIE.

- Cream your butter + sugar, add egg and molasses, beat untill well mixed.
- Mix the dry ingridents in thier own separate bowl.
- Add dry to wet 1/2 cup at a time. It may seem like you're not going to have enough but you will. In fact, it just keeps getting better.
- Roll the dough into small teaspoonsized balls (about 20 to a tray), smush them flat with the bottom of a glass (dont worry about putting them too close - they dont spread) and then sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for 9 minutes, remove from tray and let cool on a wire rack.

heres the catch -
The yield to this recipe is something over 100 cookies.

SUPRISE! Prepare to be everyones best friend when you show up with a heaping tin of cookies and bags under your eyes from baking for 2 hours.