Thursday, November 26, 2009

My Thanksgiving.

THANKSGIVING 2009

Well the wife and I are home for Thanksgiving. Not going anywhere and not having any company, we did not want to have to deal with alot of fuss.
So a trip to the store:
1 lb Bacon
2 potatoes
1 small jar minced garlic
1 pork loin
1 red onion
1 can crushed pineapple
1 can cranberry sauce with whole berries
1 bag shredded cheese
1 can collard greens
2 cans mandarin oranges

I marinated the pork loin in pineapple, pineapple juice, and garlic overnight.
The next day I laid out the bacon, smeared it with chopped onion and garlic (forgot to take the smearing photo so just imagine).


Wrapped it all up tight with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap helps with stickiness and keeps control of the pork loin and bacon.


The wrapped pork loin was placed on a roasting pan into a 375 degree oven. Near the end I turned on the broiler (350 degrees), to get the bacon a good color and crisp. The internal temp was around 170 plus or minus.

All I have to say is Yum. The bacon was crisp and the loin tender.

For a sauce I mixed the cranberry sauce, the pineapple (drained), and two cans mandarin oranges (drained). Then fine chopped some red onion and mixed it all together.

So with some cheesy roasted potatoes, the greens and the pork loin it all came together.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Turkey Day Chocolate

So I was wandering around in a Micheal's and kinda got sad about not being a pastry cook anymore, so I went home and started baking. I had some left over "good" chocolate so ganache was made. That led to a Devil's food cake. Just had to pick up some blackberry jam for part of the filling.

Cake:
I kinda cheated with the actual cake and used to box cakes (duncan hines, I think). The two fit into one 9" cake round.

Gananche:
2.75 lbs of chocolate, melted in a double boiler
1.37 quarts heavy cream
.25 lbs of butter
splash of corn syrup

Melt butter, corn syrup, and chocolate in a double boiler
At the same time heat to boiling the heavy cream
when cream heated, set aside.
when chocolate melted, add cream and let sit for a few minutes
then whisk to combine, til smooth and homogeneous.
place in a bowl and cover in plastic wrap, making sure that plastic is on the surface of the ganache (otherwise a skin will form)
let cool over night on the counter.

Filling:
Blackberry jam warmed on the stove to make it easy to spread on the cake layers.

chill cake in the refrigerator and cut into layers (more evenly than mine hopefully)


Sugar dough:

18 ounces Sugar
2.25 pounds Softened butter
5 ounces Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Paste
1 tablespoons Almond extract (or to taste)
18 ounces Bread Flour
2.25 pounds Cake Flour
5 ounces sour cream or yogurt

Cream Butter and Sugar
Add Eggs, Vanilla, and Almond Extract, mix til just combined
sift the flours and add
Add sour cream mix to combine
mold into disk, wrap with plastic and cool to set up
When cool roll out to desired thickness
and cut

Nom Nom Nom

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Sausage Biscuit with Egg – The Delicious Daily 11.22.2009

Sausage Biscuit with Egg – The Delicious Daily 11.22.2009: "







Homemade sausageBrunch of champions.


"

Minty Sweet: Peppermint Whoopie Pies by Kitchen Witch

Minty Sweet: Peppermint Whoopie Pies by Kitchen Witch: "Peppermint whoopie pie
When I unexpectedly found myself with a $25 gift certificate for RegionalBest.com (thanks Keren!), I immediately set myself to the task of buying the most delicious-looking thing that cost closest to $25 including shipping. The result? A half-dozen peppermint Whoopie Pies from Kitchen Witch, a holiday take on the Amish / New England classic. And at $27.50 including shipping, they fit the bill.
Kitchen WitchPeppermint Whoopie Pie
Proud of my prowess for bargain-hunting, I promptly forgot about the purchase, but was delighted to receive a package marked 'Perishable' a few days later. Opening up the box, the pies were safely nestled below packing material in an airtight baggie, in which they were individually wrapped in the traditional plastic wrap. Happily, half of the cakey cookie part did not come off with the plastic wrap when opened (a whoopie pie pet peeve!).
Peppermint Whoopie Pie from Kitchen Witch
So how does a peppermint whoopie pie taste? Pretty good, I must say. The cakey part was extremely moist and chocolatey, and the peppermint filling was the of the traditional creamy, slightly slick texture which usually inhabits the inner section of a whoopie pie, but with a light peppermint flavor. Kind of like a very big, cakey peppermint patty. It was very easy to eat--the only problem was how quickly and easily it disappeared. Luckily the portions are fairly modest as whoopie pies go--i.e., not the size of a saucer--so you feel pretty good about having a bite (or three) of a second pie. At least I did.

Kitchen Witch cookies can be found on RegionalBest.com or on Etsy.
"