kitchen

a year of bakes-october

kdavis Leave a comment

last month my mom and i ended up on nephew and niece duty for a football saturday. mom planned to make a big ‘ole pot of chili and suggested cheese straws might be the perfect snack to accompany a piping hot bowl for dinner. say no more! instead of just picking some up at the nearby grocery store, i got to googling and stumbled upon this cheese straws recipe featured in food & wine magazine. i’m finding they are a reputable source, which shouldn’t be surprising but is comforting.

i don’t know that i have ever eaten a cheese straw, much less made one. so i was sure to read the recipe through several times before i got to mixin’. the minimal ingredient list gave me a short pause, but sometimes less is more. what i ended up finding as i prepared, rolled, and cut this dough is that these cheese straws were quite easy to bring together. many of the components are staples that were already handy in the pantry, and i’ll tell you now that the house smelled heavenly as these sweet little things baked up in the oven.

i decided to use a fancy fluted cutter my dad got me ages ago (8 years ago to be exact) and definitely wiggled each straw as suggested in the instructions to create an appealingly curvy shape. just make you smile, don’t they?

and then you know what made me chuckle? how these cheese straws looked so much like crinkle fries once done. much amusement. so they were good looking, but were they good tasting? i’m happy to report they were. if you make these, don’t you dare omit the cayenne pepper. it’s extremely necessary to keep the straws from tasting bland, and if i’m being honest, i think (somehow) the straws tasted better the next day. cheesy? zippy? easy to eat? you can bet this recipe is going in the binder.

oh, and this month i have a bonus for you all! i was suddenly inspired to try my hand at a roll cake. yes, i’ve made cake. yes, i’ve made whipped cream. but have i ever rolled a cake? no. this recipe from john with preppy kitchen will be a keeper. i think my only flub is that the cake was overbaked by maybe just a minute or two. i say so because when i unrolled the cake, filled it with the cream, and rerolled it, some cracks started to appear. the good news is that you drown it in chocolate ganache, which covered up all my mistakes! i am not embarrassed at all to say that i did share a slice with phillip but then managed to eat the whole rest of the cake all by my lonesome. at least i paced myself throughout the week. 🙂

  • whip it good!
  • stiff peaks.
  • dusty.
  • well, that made a mess.
  • perhaps it’s time for new oven mitts.
  • earning that muscle memory.
  • this whipped cream was YUM.
  • just keep stirring.
  • getting there…
  • …closer…
  • helper phillip!
  • …a work of art!

a year of bakes-june

kdavis Leave a comment

i know i have been tardy in my baking posts but promise i have not been tardy in my actual baking! i did do a june bake and even already did my july bake! i’ve just been a little preoccupied with some fun activities but am happy to get back to it.

there wasn’t any particular strike of inspiration for my june bake, so i thought i’d turn to a reliable source for ideas. i present the alternative baker cookbook. i’m certain i’ve mentioned this book before, but long story short, it was a suggestion from a former coworker whose wife is gluten-free. i tolerate gluten just fine but welcomed the recommendation to expand my baking knowledge. over the past five years or so, i’ve made several of these recipes (most quite successfully) so flipped through its pages to see if anything would strike my fancy.

after considering a few options, i landed on the buckle. this “old-timey” dessert features ripe fruits that sink into batter, which then buckles up and around. seriously, that’s it! these alternative flours were familiar to me, but i don’t often bake with stone fruits so thought this new-to-me recipe seemed like a comfortable choice.

when i launch into a recipe (especially new ones), i read the instructions several times. i get out all my ingredients and organize my bowls and utensils and measuring spoons so that once i begin, it’s smooth sailing. with this buckle, that included smoothly sifting my dry ingredients (what a relaxing sight) and browning my butter (what an intoxicating smell). each step matters, and the first few are no exception.

from there, i buttered my springform pan generously, plopped in the batter (which had me skeptical since it barely covered the bottom), and added the cut fruit. i couldn’t find good apricots in our produce section so settled on peaches instead. i mean, after all we are here in the peach state. 🙂 then, into the oven it went. i wasn’t really sure what to expect and thought there surely was not enough batter to create the buckle effect described by alanna. however, i’ve found this year that i’ve been surprised more than once so let science do its thing.

the oven filled the kitchen when nutty aromas and cozy feelings, and i had a smile on my face when the timer chimed. look at this scrumptious masterpiece! please trust me when i say this buckle tasted even better than it looked.

although described as a dessert, i greedily ate a slice for breakfast the next day and enjoyed it with a mug of piping hot coffee. the buckle batter was moist and delicate yet not tackled by the heavy peach slices. the alternative baker does it again, and i can see this buckle being a new go-to when we have visitors in town.

a year of bakes-march

kdavis Leave a comment

somehow it is already spring, and somehow march seemed to rush right on by without any notice at all. thankfully, i had the perfect occasion to fit my march bake: our neighbors are expecting their fourth child! i wanted to whip up something special before the baby’s arrival, so i asked the husband what the expectant mother’s favorite dessert was. his answer? cheesecake. i was excited by the challenge of this classic treat because, yes, it would be my march bake. however, i also looked forward to it because i feel like something like a cheesecake really tests your abilities. it might seem simple. a bunch of cream cheese, some sugar, and some eggs. however, something so iconic can so easily go awry. i expect we’ve all had a slice of mealy, dry, cracked cheesecake, which isn’t enjoyable on any level. in a bake like this one, even though science is certainly at play, experience really can give you an advantage.

i don’t have my own go-to cheesecake recipe, and if you don’t either or just are interested in something new, i will quickly direct you to this recipe by sam. this recipe is unique because it does not use a water bath (something super common when making a cheesecake), but i followed the instructions to a tee, and my cheesecake turned out smooth, rich, and easily edible. i will say, though, i did get a little nervous mixing the batter itself. i needed to ensure i incorporated everything evenly without letting in too much air, and that is where my prior baking experience was helpful. i kept a close eye on it, didn’t mix it on too high a speed, and didn’t second guess my instincts. when it looked done, i turned off the mixer and moved on to the next step. sometimes you have to fight that urge to overthink things!

i popped my cheesecake into the oven, set the timer, and resisted the temptation to open the oven to check on things. the minute you do, so much heat escapes, and all sorts of things can go sideways (no matter what you’re making!). about an hour later, the house smelled divine, and my cheesecake looked as happy as it could be. better yet, it tasted great, too! i had the neighbors over for a slice, and even their youngest (who doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth) ate most of hers. i think the only tweak i would make to this recipe is putting more of the graham cracker crust on the bottom. i didn’t know exactly how much filling there was going to be, and as you can see, i had an excess of graham crackers up the sides of my springform pan. aside from that minor adjustment, i think this one is a keeper!

kyle and black eyed peas

kdavis Leave a comment

like most folks, black eyed peas are a staple in our family around the new year.  i mean, if eating some of them will bring us good luck, then what do we have to lose?  this year i made my mom’s famous black eyed pea dip for phillip and me, and my brother kyle decided he needed some for his household as well.  he was following the recipe i posted a few years ago and recorded and shared his very own black eyed pea making experience for us all to enjoy.  i love this post because in it kyle sounds so much like our father milo; a fact that simply cannot be denied.  like father like son!  😀

“When preparing the Italian dressing mix, you notice the directions call for vinegar, but they don’t specify the type of vinegar.  Call Kelsey to get her recommendation, which is white vinegar.  Pray you have white vinegar in your pantry; prayer answered.

When preparing the Italian dressing mix, you notice the directions call for oil, but they don’t specify the type of oil.  Call Kelsey, again, to get her recommendation, which is vegetable oil.  Pray you have vegetable oil in your pantry; prayer answered.  Good Seasons company, please make the font on your packaging a little smaller and include these details!

Spend about 2 seconds opening the jar of pimentos.  I suppose the packaging company decided that whole zombie apocalypse was much ado about nothing.

Do the choppin’ and transfer all the ingredients using the new bench scraper your mom got you for Christmas.  Thanks, Mom!

Stand back and admire all the work you’ve put in.  Make sure to sample but resist the urge to eat the entire bowl in one sitting.  You need to share with family and friends when the clock strikes midnight!”

that blue apron thing

kdavis Leave a comment

after much advertisement dodging and internal reflecting, i decided to take the plunge, jump on the bandwagon, and try out blue apron.  for those of you who do not know, blue apron is a meal-delivery service.  now, when i say “meal” i mean that they mail you all the ingredients and instructions for a few meals that you then get to cook in the comfort of your own home.  now, there are all sorts of companies like blue apron, but considering they were offering three meals for only $20 in your first week, it sounded like a deal too good to pass up.

when you sign up for blue apron, you do get to decide what day of the week your box arrives.  i figured tuesday was as good a day as any, so a few days ago our first box was waiting at the back door for me to scoop up and bring inside.

in addition to designating your delivery day, you get to provide some meal preferences.  for example, if you’re vegetarian or only eat seafood, you can indicate just that in your profile.  a handy feature, especially for someone who might be on a more restricted diet.

the box that arrived was quite compact, at least in my opinion, and i got as excited as a child on Christmas morning when i grabbed the scissors and cut that box open.

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before i proceed much further, it is clear that blue apron definitely has some thinkers working for them.  the way they package the ingredients and recipes along with the charming notes and witty branding really does the job it should:  it gets you excited to cook!

one of the delightful things about blue apron is that each refrigerated item is individually packed, “pantry” produce is loose in the box (which is fine because less packaging means less waste), and you get these awesomely large freezer packs that you can re-use or, if you desire, you can have blue apron recycle for you – nifty!  however, maybe above all else, the best part is that everything comes in the cutest little bags and cutest little containers with the cutest little labels!  again, their marketing dollars hard at work.

our box had three meals that have two servings each.  of the options in front of us, phillip and i decided to make the burgers and slaw because we were hungry.  as such, we wasted no time at all grabbing the recipe (complete with instructions, pictures, and recommended wine pairings) and getting to work.

now, the estimated completion time for this particular recipe was 25-35 minutes.  my friend judson who had done a similar meal-delivery service said that it always takes him longer than what the recipe says.  well, challenge accepted!  i kept our trusty chef timer around at all times to see if we could beat the clock.

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the recipe’s step-by-step instructions were perfectly clear.  i chopped away and mixed up the slaw while phillip was on burger duty.  phillip enjoys being in the kitchen and was especially entertained as he marked off each completed step with a little check on the recipe.  #adorable

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just as phillip was flipping the burgers to finish them off, our chef timer rang out loudly, sounding the buzzer for the suggested 35 minutes to cook the entire meal.  well, it turns out we needed about 10 minutes more.  but still, a home-cooked meal in under an hour isn’t something to be too upset about, right?  sure!

with the oven off and the stovetop cooling down, phillip and i plated our first blue apron meal, poured a couple glasses of delicious red wine, and dug in.  first things first, yes, this meal was as delicious as it looks.  the slaw was a great crunchy texture to have with the tender beef patty and schmear of sriracha mayo.  and, as you can see, there was plenty of slaw that we really even had it as a second side next to the sweet potato wedges.  those wedges were cooked through just right and were so easy to make!

now, i know what your next thought is.  “that looks like a pretty big plate of food.”  well, it certainly was.  in fact, the portion size for this meal was so large that i almost couldn’t finish!  i let phillip polish off the last few sweet potato fries and then i think we were both stuffed.

besides the end result of a delicious and different dinner on an otherwise normal tuesday night, what is our review of blue apron?

  • are you happy you tried it?  yes, especially with the first week at only $20!
  • did the box provide everything you needed to make the meal?  almost.  blue apron assumes you have things like extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper on-hand.
  • was the food you got a good value for what you paid?  again, for the first week, yes!  it’s hard to go out to restaurants and spend only $20 on six humongous meals.
  • what are you liking most so far?  i think the convenience factor is the ultimate perk of something like blue apron.  i didn’t have to stop at the store on the way home from work, which saved me time and got us cooking earlier in the evening.  i also very much like the variety of recipes.  for example, this week’s recipes were the burgers and slaw, creamy shrimp spaghetti (which we made last night and also was quite tasty), and then chicken enchiladas.
  • will you do blue apron again?  well, considering i forgot to cancel next week’s “order,” yes!  at least for one more week.  do know, though, that the regular price for three meals with two servings each (so six meals total) bumps up to $60 per week.  however, if you don’t like eating monstrous dinners, you could likely split these two servings per meal into four, so then you’re getting twelve total meals for $60 rather than just six.  so, in the end, still a pretty good price.
  • anything else we should know?  well, yes!  apparently i have three free meals i can give to my friends, so if you’re interested, let me know and i’ll hook you up!  also, for those of you who want more per meal or have more than just a pair like phillip and me, they do have family-size options you can order.  and (i promise this is the last thing) you can also skip weeks without any penalty at all.  just make sure you do so a week before your next delivery date.

bon appetit!