50years50recipes

November 16, 2012 · 11:04 am

A Peck of Applesauce

I am packing for our week in the midwest and I’m a little stressed. We’re planning to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws, and before you ask the answer is NO, they are not what is stressing me out. I can’t wait to see them as it has been too long between visits. What I’m worried about is if I’ve packed all the kitchen essentials. How to pack what I truly need vs. what can be improvised.

Our plan is to meet in Michigan at the house my husband’s grandfather built and have a big, huge, classic family holiday meal. Something along the lines of Cynthia Rylant’s fabulous children’s book When the Relatives Came. Only we’ll add turkey and cranberry sauce to the story.

Grandpa Tyskling and Judy

There will be one Grandmother (my mother-in-law Judy), three siblings (my husband plus his brother and sister), their spouses (my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and me) plus all nine cousins. It’s not the number of people which has me concerned, since I agree with Rylant and think the more the merrier. Rather will the house have pots and pans big enough for the mountains of mashed potatoes, rivers of gravy, and vats of green beans? Or will we need to cook the food in shifts? To stave off my anxieties I’ve started cooking a few things to pack and bring along. Cooking is my therapy. I’ve also packed a few bottles of wine, which in a pinch, can be used as rolling pins after they’ve done their duty during cocktail hour. My stress level is dropping as I write this.

What I started with making was applesauce. This almost doesn’t qualify as a recipe, but perhaps there are a few people out there who don’t know how to make homemade applesauce. It couldn’t be easier or more stress-free if you live in apple country. The trick, as I have mentioned before when you are cooking with fruit, is to mix up your varieties – in this case apples. Then your only other decision is chunky or smooth.

50 Apple Applesauce

Buy as many different apple varieties as you can get your hands on. Trust me, there is no such thing as too much applesauce. If you want smooth you will need a foley food mill. If you prefer chunky all you’ll need is a huge pot and a reliable paring knife. The real difference between the two is prep time vs. clean up time. Chunky is all in the prep. Smooth will mean more time at the sink.

Vintage cast iron enameled pots

Smooth Applesauce

Wash as many apples as will fit in your pot (my giant cast iron enameled pot can hold a lot). Cut them into eighths add a splash of water and cover (that’s right, apples, seeds, skin and all). Cook over low heat (with your pot sitting on a flame tamer), stirring every once in a while to prevent the apples from burning. Cover the pot to help things along.

When the apples are soft and cooked down ladle everything into your foley food mill. The food mill will grind out the skin, seeds and stems while at the same time giving you a lovely pink toned applesauce (if your apples were red skinned). This applesauce is a thousand times better than jarred because it has a depth of flavor you can’t get with just one type of apple.

For those of you who may never have used a foley food mill be aware that they can often make noises of the rude, immature kind. Hearing applesauce burp, fart and squelch seems to cause giggles in children of all ages from toddlers to teens to middle age men. You have been warned.

Chunky Applesauce

Pretty much the same as for smooth only this time you peel and core the apples before cooking them. I can fit around 50 apples in my giant blue pot. Don’t forget the splash of water before you turn on the stove top. I always use a flame tamer to keep the heat well-distributed under the pot. This is what it will look like when things really get cooking:

A few stirs and when the applesauce is fully cooked it will “deflate”. Stop cooking when there look to be a few too many chunky apple pieces. The applesauce will continue cooking with it’s own heat and you should end up with a perfect chunky sauce.

Once the applesauce is cooked you can either ladle it into jars and process in a water bath* or you can cool it down and freeze it in portions. Or you can spoon it hot into dishes and sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar. It just depends on how much you want to eat now and how much you want for later.

Next I’ll make cook up turkey stock so I can make the gravy while the turkey is cooking. Gravy prep is one of Tom Hirschfeld’s tips along with how to keep a turkey warm. I’ve never met the guy, but he appears to give some very sound advice in the kitchen. It’s going to be a very relaxed Thanksgiving.

Update *Do not think you can be lazy and just pour boiling hot applesauce into a sterilized jar and call it a day. I did that and then because I “heard” the jars seal them selves (they make a little tink sound) thought I was fine and dandy. Silly me. A week later at Thanksgiving we opened a jar and there was mold on top. You must either refridgerate the applesauce (for up to 10 days), freeze, or process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes if you want to store it properly. Or you could just eat it all up then and there, in which case I would recommend making a smaller batch.

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Tagged as apple country, applesauce, thanksgiving

October 31, 2012 · 12:31 pm

Cut Me Up Some Sugar (Cookies)

It is a grey day and I am filled with both gratitude and sadness. Gratitude that my town was not on Hurricane Sandy’s hit list. Sadness for those people and places who were in her path.

This past weekend was a bit surreal as we battened down the hatches in anticipation for what we believed was coming. I thought back to Hurricane Irene last August and the devastation left in her path. My mind was also on the freak October snow storm which dumped two feet of snow over western Massachusetts. That storm resulted in local town officials cancelling trick or treating on Halloween due to downed power lines. We were without power for a week.

Old habits die hard and this past Sunday after hearing all the dire storm warnings I was busy bottling water and gathering candles. Shawn prepared by putting away the porch furniture and getting extra gas for the generator we bought as a result of last October’s snow storm. In eighteen years of marriage the generator may be the best early Christmas present ever.

Vintage polaroids (1980s) of Halloween sugar cookies

The threat of the storm also had me thinking back on how I was trying to bake for the Academy at Charlemont’s Cornucopia Auction with no power. Several friends who did have power offered their kitchens for me to use. The amount of baking I’d committed to however was a storm of the sugary kind and I didn’t want to inflict it on the unsuspecting. Our new generator allowed me to begin baking 48 hours before the auction started and all was well, though I did have to cut a few recipes which took more time. For this year’s auction I have the luxury of seven days to prepare so I’ve added iced sugar cookies to my list of baked goods I’m planning to donate.

I love making iced sugar cookies because they fit any holiday or occasion. Once the cookies have cooled the real fun begins. Icing sugar cookies is like entering the zone for me. I surround myself with bowls of frosting, a few toothpicks, some non parelis, and I’m off. You don’t need to be a food stylist, Martha or a pro baker to make fabulous sugar cookies. All you need are three things – awesome cookie cutters, food paste to tint your royal icing, and a great sugar cookie recipe. My go-to sugar cookie recipe is from Nancy Baggett.*

Over the years I’ve loved seeing what cookie ideas Martha’s minions come up with. I never miss an opportunity to stroll through Dean and Deluca when I’m in New York to see what their bakery buyers have sourced. And of course there is more sugar cookie inspiration to be found on dozens of blogs as well as on-line stores. My suggestion is to look around for ideas then go into your kitchen and cream your own butter and sugar together. Pull out a few cookie cutters, mix up some royal icing, and have a blast. I’m sure the results will be fantastic!

Basic Sugar Cookie Dough

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2-3 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

1 Tablespoon milk

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, milk, and lemon extract (if using) and blend together. The butter and sugar mix may break down at this point and become curdled looking – don’t worry the flour will bring it all back together. Add the dry ingredients and mix until they are completely incorporated. Divide the dough in half, smoosh each half flat, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º F for smaller cookies and 375º F for larger. You can work with either temperature, but I find little cookies burn quickly so I use a lower oven temp.

Now here’s the real trick to making great sugar cookies – do not add more flour to roll out the dough. Instead unwrap the dough but keep it on the plastic wrap. Add a second sheet of plastic wrap on top. This way the dough will not stick to your counter or rolling pin. You will need to peel back the plastic wrap every so often and reposition the dough. I also flip the dough over once or twice to make sure each side is smooth. I try to get my dough roughly 1/4″ thick, though it does often vary.

Cut out your cookies, place on a parchment or silpat covered cookie sheet and bake 7-10 minutes depending on size and oven temperature. I will often bake two sheets of cookies at a time so I rotate them top to bottom and back to front to ensure even baking. The bottoms should be lightly browned and perhaps the edges too, depending on how thin you rolled your dough. Carefully remove and place on a cooling rack.

Once the cookies have cooled you can either store them in an air-tight container or move on to frosting. I use a classic royal icing, which I’ve modified slightly to accommodate concerns about raw eggs.

Royal Icing

1/2 – 1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

pasteurized egg whites

paste food coloring

I cannot tell you how important it is to sift the powdered sugar. Yes, it may seem unnecessary. Yes, it will probably make a powdery mess. Do it anyway! If you decided despite this advice not to don’t complain to me when your royal icing is lumpy.

I haven’t given an amount for the egg whites because it can vary depending on the season or humidity as well as if you want runnier or stiffer icing. I generally start with a few Tablespoons worth along with the lemon juice and then just add dribbles more until I have my desired consistency. Then I divide the icing into bowls and add the paste food coloring (be aware a little goes a long way). If there is a color I don’t think I’ll use right away I lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to keep it from crusting over. Note – if you are really concerned about the raw egg thing (even pasteurized) you can use powdered version, just refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations for reconstituting.

Here are some frosted sugar cookies and cutters from my files:

Isabelle’s valentine sugar cookies.

Or sprinkle on colored sugars before baking.

New and vintage shamrock cookie cutters.

Basketball sugar cookies

Sugar cookie ball gown

*By the way Nancy has a new cookie cookbook out which you can read about here.

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Tagged as generator, halloween sugar cookies, iced sugar cookies, Nancy Baggatt, sugar cookies

September 22, 2012 · 9:36 am

Favorite Tool #7 My Wooden Stirring Stick

It’s curves are perfect. It is narrow enough at the tip to fit into the edges of pots and the handle flairs out to just-the-right size for my hand to grasp. This stirring stick has been in my kitchen tool pot forever. If I ever pare down my all the items in my kitchen (which, if I’m being honest, will probably never happen) this tool would always stay. I can’t remember where I picked it up or if someone gave it to me. Perhaps I’ve had it since the cradle or since I first started collecting kitchen gadgets.

Wooden spoons and stirrers can be so personal. If you want to see some amazing ones click here, they’re pricey but delicious. I look forward to seeing Herriott Grace’s new inventory every few months just so I can drool. You can often find a nice selection of wooden spoons at your local craft fair. My suggestion is to pick up one that catches your eye. See how it feels in your hand. Close your eyes and stir it in an imaginary pot. Is it a keeper or should you try others? You’ll know when you’ve found the one.

I would love to know what your favorite wooden spoon or stirring stick is. Send me an email 50recipes@gmail.com* with a picture attached and I’ll feature them all in a future post.

*Wordpress is trying to protect me from spammers by not making my email clickable. You’ll need to copy and paste it into your mail program if I’m not in your address book.

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September 14, 2012 · 7:52 am

A+ Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles were Grammy Caldwell’s signature cookie, the same way oatmeal bread was her signature bread. I remember making snickerdoodles with her in her kitchen on Strathmore Drive – rolling the dough between my hands into balls the size of small walnuts, coating them in cinnamon sugar, and then squashing them flat with the bottom of a tin measuring cup before popping them in the oven to cook. They were divine and we would devour them by the dozens.

Grammy Caldwell

It wasn’t until many years later that I learned why Gram’s snickerdoodles were so good. My sister and I were talking about Grammy and all the amazing things she used to make when Heather turned to me and asked, “You do know why her snickerdoodles were so incredible, don’t you?” Aside from all the butter, sugar, and cinnamon I couldn’t really say. Surprised at my ignorance she told me, “Grammy got an A+ for her snickerdoodles on her baking competency exam at Syracuse!” Grammy C. had been a 1925 home economics major at Syracuse University. A plus indeed.

When my sister got married this past weekend I couldn’t think of a better way to have Grammy with us in spirit than by having her snickerdoodles as part of desserts which I had offered to make as a wedding present. Heather and Paul had a fabulous wedding in Boston with their immediate family. Saturday saw everyone piling onto a Duck Boat tour followed by pizza and candlepin bowling.

Heather & Paul driving the duck boat

Heather wanted a traditional cake. Paul was up for something a little different. I made a lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd and lemon Italian buttercream for Heather. For Paul’s “groom’s cake” I made two different kinds of ice cream sandwiches. An informal ice cream sandwich taste testing with my friends and neighbors had proclaimed the top winner to be Grammy’s Snickerdoodles sandwiched around strawberry ice cream. We included a chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream for the chocloholics (and a brownie with Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food for my nephew Bennett).

Snickerdoodles with strawberry ice cream

Since my crew was running late (another Grammy Caldwell tradition*) I didn’t have time to make the ice cream sandwiches ahead. Instead I dropped off the cake and the cookies at Flatbread Pizza & Bowling and we dashed to the Duck Boat tour. We picked up ice cream on the way back and I crossed my fingers that the eleven kids (nephews, nieces, sons and daughters) would want to help me put everything together. They did and we all had a blast eating pizza, smooshing together ice cream sandwiches and bowling. Grammy would have been thrilled. I know Heather and Paul were.

Grammy Caldwell’s Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup (114 g total)butter mixed with shortening, I use 2:1 butter:shortening ratio

3/4 cup (160 g) sugar

1 egg

1 1/3 cup (176 g) flour

1 teaspoon (5 g) cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (66 g) sugar mixed with 2-3 (3-5 g) teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400º F. Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar (make sure your butter is softened to room temperature first). Beat in the egg, then add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt over, mixing as you go. Grammy would always sift her flour first which completely changes the amount of flour you use. I’ve done it both ways and your cookie dough will be a little less sticky if you spoon and level your flour rather than sifting first. If you decide to sift first you may need to pop the dough in the fridge for 15-10 minutes to make it stiff enough to roll. Roll dough into balls the size of small walnuts, then roll them into the cinnamon sugar mix. Place on parchment covered cookie sheet and smoosh flat with the bottom of a glass, which you occasionally dip into the cinnamon sugar to prevent sticking. The cookies spread so make sure they are spaced well apart from one another. Bake 8-10 minutes, reversing the baking pan once during baking. Cool cookies and store in an air tight container.

For ice cream sandwiches double the snickerdoodle recipe and when you are ready to serve sandwich a scoop of slightly softened premium strawberry ice cream (Hägen-Dazs is good) between two snickerdoodles. Make sure there is a generous amount of ice cream so the cookie to ice cream ratio is good.

* Grammy Caldwell was often referred to while she was alive as “The late Mrs. Caldwell”. Seems running late is genetic.

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Tagged as candlepin bowling, dessert, Grammy Caldwell, ice cream sandwiches, snickerdoodles

August 30, 2012 · 8:45 am

Bake a Batch of Thank You Biscotti

I love getting presents, but the reality is I have too much stuff. Way too much stuff. Jammed into a very small house. I joked at a party the other night that perhaps I’m part squirrel. This compulsion to hold onto things could stem from the fact that my mother was officially in the stuff business as I grew up. Well, actually she was in the house sale business, but really what she and her partner sold were dead people’s stuff. I love stuff. I get paid to have stuff for photo shoots. I guess I have a bit of a problem.

So if I have too many things where does that leave someone who wants to give me something? Up the creek is where it leaves them. What I do need is a good house purge. But how do you wrap that? Or I could try to do what my sister has disciplined herself to do. For every ten things that come into her house ten things have to go. Not sure I have her self-discipline, and what about all the cool stuff she has to get rid of when I give her a present?

If I don’t need more stuff other people probably don’t need more stuff either. Except what do you give someone when a present or gift is called for? Answer: Something that will go away. Here are some examples – my friend Phyllis’ hand dipped beeswax candles, some fabulous soap, a jug of local liquid gold aka maple syrup, a box of Florida honeybells in the middle of winter, or a bunch of chocolate biscotti. It’s so easy. If it burns, washes away or can be eaten it’s a perfect gift.

I love the milk chocolate biscotti from Maida Heatter. The recipe comes from her book Maida Heatter’s Brand-New Book of Great Cookies, which is unfortunately out of print. If you want to buy it so you can have all of the recipes you can get a used copy here.

I’ve tweaked the recipe (of course). First I always make a double batch of these biscotti, one with nuts and one without. Realize the recipe below is huge, though you don’t have to bake off all the biscotti at once. Also I don’t use blanched almonds, as she recommends. I can’t often find them in the stores around me and I don’t notice a difference. I did make my own skinned almonds once, but it wasn’t worth the effort.

The other thing I like to remind people about is you have to commit to being around the house for a while when you bake biscotti. Not that you have to hover over the biscotti themselves, but you can’t run out and get the kids from school or hit the gym. Biscotti, which literally means twice baked, require a fair amount of time in the oven. What you can do between switching the pans around is lie on the sofa and read several chapters of a book, answer a few emails, or hang some laundry on the line. Baking biscotti gives you an opportunity to putter. Once you slide a cookie sheet into your oven you need to stick around for 2+ hours. Just want you to know since you can’t stop half way through.

Maida’s Milk Chocolate Biscotti

1 1/3 cups almonds

3 4.25 ounce bars Hershey’s Symphony Milk Chocolate, divided into 1 1/2 bars + 1 1/2 bars

3 1/2 cups flour, divided into 1 3/4 cups + 1 3/4 cups

2 teaspoons baking soda, divided into 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon salt, divided into 1/8 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon

2/3 cup dutch processed cocoa, divided into 1/3 cup + 1/3 cup

2 cups sugar, divided into 1 cup + 1 cup

8 large eggs, divided into 4 + 4

2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided into 1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon

Spread the almonds on a jelly roll pan and toast in a 350º F oven for 12-15 minutes or until you start smelling toasted nuts. Remember to shake the pan every so often so the nuts don’t burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Place two large mixing bowls side by side. I find it easier to mix one batch then the other. Measure out the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda into each bowl. Get out your food processor and pulse the dry mix with the broken chunks of the chocolate bar until everything is very fine and you don’t see chunks of chocolate anymore. Dump that back into the first bowl and repeat for the second batch. Add the cooled nuts to one bowl. Add 4 eggs and the teaspoon of vanilla to each bowl. I usually start with the no-nuts batch. Mix with a rubber spatula until all the dry ingredients are moistened. This may take a while, but have faith. Once everything is incorporated it is very sticky.

Put two long pieces of plastic wrap on your counter and spread dough into each, forming a long “log”. When the logs are roughly equal grab the short sides of the plastic wrap and bring it together so the log can no longer spread. Each log will then be about 15″ x 3″. Place on a jelly roll pan and pop into the freezer. Repeat with the nut batch. Freeze the logs for 4+ hours. I usually do at least overnight.

Divide the shelves in your oven so one is in the top third and the other is in the bottom third. Preheat oven to 300º F. Put parchment paper on two large cookie sheets and unwrap one nut and one nutless biscotti log onto each sheet on the diagonal. These cookies spread so diagonal is important. I also place them so the seam side from the plastic wrap is down, but I’m not sure that would make a difference. Bake for 30 minutes then switch the sheets top to bottom and give each a 180º turn at the same time. Bake another 30 minutes.

Remove cookie sheets and decrease the oven to 275º F. Gently peel the biscotti loaf off the parchment and place on a cutting board. If you have asbestos fingers like me hold the biscotti in one hand and saw off slices with a bread knife into 3/4″ wide biscotti. If you don’t have asbestos fingers use an oven mitt or tea towel. The sawing motion is especially important on the nut loaves since the nuts are a different density than the biscotti. Place biscotti, sliced side down, back on cookie sheet. Repeat for other loaf. Return to oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove, flip biscotti to other cut side, reverse pans top to bottom and give them a 180º. Bake another 20 minutes. Remove and cool on cooling rack. Store in an airtight container so they stay crisp and crunchy. If you’re doing this on a muggy day try to get them into a container as soon as they are cool enough. Otherwise you’ll end up with soggy biscotti, which while edible, are not desirable.

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Tagged as chocolate biscotti, gifts that go away, Maida Heatter

50years50recipes

A Peck of Applesauce

Cut Me Up Some Sugar (Cookies)

Favorite Tool #7 My Wooden Stirring Stick

A+ Snickerdoodles

Bake a Batch of Thank You Biscotti

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