Last Taste of Summer

The first official day of Autumn is Sunday, and the weather lately has been feeling more fall-like! While it isn't 'chili for supper' weather yet, it is a good time to enjoy some of the flavors of summer before they're out of season. 

The Key Lime Bars were a hit at the neighborhood women's club I attend. I use the term 'neighborhood' loosely - the members live in 3 counties and distance between some of them could span a good 50 miles. This group has been organized since the late 1930's and has it's origins in KSU Extension. I worked with them professionally when I was County Extension FCS agent and it includes some of my favorite people, so it's been a pleasure to become a member. They, and many other clubs like them, started out as Home Demonstration Units in rural neighborhoods to give farm wives a chance to get together for visiting and education. They were later called Extension Homemaker Units and now our group is a Women's Educational Club (WEC). The programs and purpose have always been to improve the quality of the home through lessons on nutrition, food preparation, home maintenance, health, family life, financial management, and community involvement. In fact, the name of this group is Community Benefit. 

Key Lime Bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

½ cup powdered sugar

1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

¼ teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 ½ cups sugar

4 large eggs

¾ cup Key Lime juice

2 teaspoons grated lime zest

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup all-purpose flour

 (I added green food coloring to filling mixture for a more attractive ‘lime’ look)

Additional powdered sugar for dusting top

1 ounce white chocolate melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 13x9-inch-baking pan.

Combine flour, butter, powdered sugar, coconut, and salt in food processor and process until moist clumps form. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 20 minutes.

Whisk sugar, eggs Key Lime juice, lime zest, baking powder and flour in large bowl until well blended. Pour over hot crust. Bake until topping is set and lightly golden, about 25 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Cool in pan on rack slightly. Drizzle with white chocolate. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Makes one 9x13-inch pan (about 40 bar cookies).

 from “Cooking with Bonnie: Farm to France”, Bonnie Aeschliman

Tomato Galette

1 refrigerated pie crust (the rolled kind)

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled and divided

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

3-4 tomatoes (Roma or other pulpy tomatoes are best)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil, spray, or line with parchment paper a baking sheet. Unroll the pie crust and place it on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, stir together cream cheese, half of feta cheese, oregano, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread this mixture evenly onto the pie crust, leaving a 1-1 1/2-inch border. Layer tomatoes evenly on top of cheese mixture and top with remaining feta, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and pepper. Fold edges of pie crusts toward center, pressing gently to seal (tomatoes will be partially covered). Bake for 30 minutes or until crusts are browned. 

A Galette is a term in French cooking to describe various types of flat, round, freeform tarts with hand-folded edges. They are more rustic and less formal than the classic fluted French tart baked in a rigid tart pan. I had also tried this recipe with refrigerated crescent roll dough instead of pie crust, baking the dough partly before adding the cream cheese mixture and tomatoes, then completing the baking. That was also good and reminded me of the popular 'veggie pizza' with crescent roll dough, cream cheese and finely chopped raw vegetables. 

Apple Autumn - Easy as Apple Pie

Its a sure sign of fall/autumn - lots of apples in the store and lots of recipes to try. This juicy fruit is a  popular fruit, and one of the healthiest. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is an old saying, but one that reminds us of the healthy benefits included in this original fast food. Americans eat an average of about 20 pounds of apples a year, but our European friends do even better, about 46 pounds annually per person.
A couple of recipes I've tried and will file in the 'keeper' category are Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls and Skillet Apple Pie. The Cinnamon Roll recipe is an easy-to-work-with dough that I'll use for other rolls. This dough recipe includes eggs which help the dough rise. The fat in the yolk also helps tenderize the crumb and lighten the texture. The Skillet Apple Pie is absolutely the easiest pie I've ever made - and it uses my favorite crust recipe (pre-made, refrigerated)! I didn't use quite this many apples and it was still full.

 Easy Skillet Apple Pie
Ingredients:
2 pounds Granny Smith apples
2 pounds Braeburn apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1-oz) package refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.
Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 - 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour - 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients – rolls

4 ½ tsp (or 2 packages) active dry yeast

½ cup warm milk

3 eggs

2 teaspoons + ½ cup sugar, divided

1 ½ tsp. salt

3-4 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients – filling

½ cup butter, melted

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

1 ½ cup finely chopped apple (Granny Smith preferred)

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Caramel sauce for drizzling (I used ice cream topping sauce)

Ingredients – icing (or your usual icing/glaze with a bit of caramel sauce added)

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp salt

⅓ cup heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. vanilla

1 ⅓ cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

For the rolls: Mix together 2 tsp. sugar, warm milk, and yeast in a mixer bowl. Let stand for five minutes. Beat eggs, sugar, and salt until well combined. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Add 1 cup of flour and continue mixing until smooth. Pour in melted butter and mix well. Continue adding remaining flour ½ cup at a time until dough is stiff. Knead dough 20 times on a lightly floured surface. Move the dough to a greased bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in a warm area and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for the filling: combine sugar and cinnamon. Toss chopped apples with lemon juice and 1 Tbs of sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Once dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board. Punch down dough and roll out to approximately 12 x 16 inches. Spread with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Next sprinkle on the apples. Drizzle apples with caramel sauce.

Starting on a long side, roll up dough into a cylinder and pinch the edge to close. Slice (I use a piece of string or dental floss wrapped around the dough roll and tightened) into rolls (12 – 18 rolls). Place in a buttered jellyroll pan and allow to rise for another hour. (At this time the rolls could be placed in the refrigerator to bake later).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (If you’ve refrigerated roll dough, let it come to room temperature before baking) Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown in color.

Prepare caramel icing. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add brown sugar and salt and stir until combined. Continue cooking for another 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Add heavy whipping cream and stir to combine. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.

Remove rolls from oven and pour on icing immediately. Let cool slightly and serve. 

Cookie-ed Out - at the State Fair

I had what my husband thought was the ideal job yesterday. Judging cookies at the State Fair! And I was looking forward to it, getting new ideas and using my baking skills and knowledge. Besides, I always like going to the State Fair - see old friends, meet new people, catch up with Extension staff I haven't seen for a while, check out the 4-H exhibits, etc. Our State Fair is celebrating 100 years this year, and while I've gone many years, not nearly that many. Don and I met at the State Fair about 40 years ago, so that always holds a special memory.
We (there were 12 judges, 3 of us were doing cookies) judged for about 6 hours. I think I must have tasted about 70-80 cookies. And at least half of them were chocolate chip - conclusion: if you want to stand out in judging of your product, make it different. Of course it has to look good and taste good as well.
The criteria for a 'good cookie' and what we noted on the score card were:
Appearance - uniform shape, even contour, uniform color, ingredients evenly mixed.
Texture - characteristic of type - soft of crisp.
Tenderness - breaks apart easily when chewed, not crumbly orchard.
Flavor - pleasing, well blended, free of unpleasant or distracting flavors
Proper baking is important. Many cookies were dry and overbaked or doughy and under baked. It is also important for fair entries to follow the rules - the correct number of cookies, appropriate size (not too big, we're trying to teach portion control!), and attractive (nicely round or evenly square)

Here's the most unusual thing I saw. Sugar cookie dough made into shapes of hot dogs and buns. The 'mustard' and 'catsup' were icing gel, the 'onions' and 'pickle' bits were dried fruit candies. Unfortunately it had very little flavor, or else my taste buds were so confused by the appearance it didn't  taste right - a blue however, for originality.

 After so many chocolate chip cookie tastes, I vowed I wouldn't make chocolate chip cookies for weeks! This morning I remembered I needed to make cookies to take to a tailgate party. So, I pulled out a recipe I'd saved from yesterday's judging that seemed healthier with lots of oatmeal and I could use dried fruit.

Famous Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 cups oats (quick or old-fashioned)
Can add chopped nuts, raisins, coconut (I added 1/2 cup Craisins)
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream shortening and sugars. Add egg, water and vanilla extract and mix well. Blend baking soda, salt and flour and add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats. Drop by tablespoon on greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Several of the recipes called for shortening, as this one did. I was surprised at this, as most newer recipes in magazines, etc. now list margarine or butter for the fat. Shortening (or Crisco as some still list the brand name) is made from vegetable oil and is 100% fat. To make this fat solid at room temperature, it is hydrogenated which gives it the baking qualities necessary for many recipes and prolongs shelf life. Unfortunately, hydrogenating the vegetable oils transforms something that was nutritionally a 'good' fat into one that's not.
The purpose of fat in baked products is to make them more tender and help suspend the other ingredients in the mixture. Fat also gives a moistness and richness to the baked good. Different fats have different melting points and that makes the difference in how much the cookie spreads or how soft it is. Butter produces a softer and flatter (more spread) cookie because it has a lower melting point. I often use half butter and half margarine and put the dough in the refrigerator between batches.
Higher sugar content in cookies will also make them spread more. The next time I do this recipe I will decrease the sugar some and add a little more flour, hoping for a taller, less flat cookie. I do like the chewiness of the oats.

Off to the tailgate party, Go Cats!

Bon Appetit

"Enjoy your meal" - wonderful words from the ship's chef and maitre d' as we heard the promises of each evening's dinner. The words and the food lived up to expectations. As Julia Childs said "Its so beautifully arranged on the plate, you know someone's fingers have been all over it". Judging from my photos, as much 'sightseeing' was done at the table as in the countryside.
A joy of traveling is enjoying all the culture of a new area, including the food. We especially enjoyed the desserts, they were definately  the 'creme de la creme' (best of the best).

Couronne de Meringue au Fraises et sa Creme Chantilly
meringue crownwith strawberries and Chantilly cream

Fresh Raspberry - Lemon Cake

Hot Grand Marnier Souffle
orange - vanilla sauce

Dark Chocolate Brownie with Pistachio Ice Cream
white chocolate sauce

Austria - Sacher Torte (International Dinner)
classic chocolate cake with apricot marmalade

Hungary - Tokaji Wine Mousse (International Dinner)
with caramelized walnuts (and fig)

Profiteroles
vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate foam sauce
(this was my favorite - and in the shape of a swan!)

Classic Crepe Suzette
Expresso & Orange Panna Cotta
Chocolate Florentine

Traditional Paris-Brest
choux pastry filled with coffee butter cream

A French wish for all: "Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly".

"The French are Magnificent with Fish"

Julia Childs recognized the French cooking affair with fish, proclaiming it "magnificent". An earlier French author - Jean Anthelme Brillan-Savarin (1775-1826), who has been called "possibly the greatest food critic ever", said this about fish - "Fish in the hands of a skilled cook can become an inexhaustible source of gustatory pleasure".
I often order fish when eating out, but seldom cook and serve fish at home. So I enjoyed the many choices of fish on the menus of the Viking River Cruise we recently took through France. USDA's Choose My Plate dietary recommendations include the guideline to eat fish twice a week to help prevent heart disease. After several meals of fish this month, my healthy Omega-3's should be in good order!

Pan Seared Lemon Sole
mascarpone mousseline, broccoli, red wine butter sauce

Taste of Normandy lunch buffet

Crisp Sautéed Strip Bass
ricotta gnocchi, parmesan gremolata, basil sauce

(International Dinner - from Switzerland)
Sautéed Egli Fish Filet
glazed celery and carrots chateau potatoes, white wine sauce

Pan Seared Halibut
leeks, mashed potatoes, mushroom, bacon vinaigrette

Grilled Tiger Prawns, Crab and Saffron Risotto
with tender young greens

Maple-Glazed Fillet of Salmon, Beurre Blanc and Baby Corn

Now that we're home, I'm back to enjoying beef. But I may have to try some of the fish preparations from the inspirations!

French (food) Impressionists

We've been busy this month, traveling - and eating - so blogging has suffered jet lag. But now that we're back from a trip to France, there are lots of blog ideas rolling around in my head. But I've yet to get them organized so I'll start with some random and simple impressions.

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport" - Julia Child

One of the fun parts of traveling is trying new foods. Son-in-law Jay was up for the test, if there was anything on the menu he hadn't had before, he would order it. Thus he tried duck breast & Leg a l' orange, pan roasted frog legs with chive sauce, veal tenderloin, and Tournedo Rossini Grilled Filet Mignon & Pan Sautéed Foie Gras.

Cheese plates were offered at each dinner. We enjoyed them -
would have liked to have them as appetizers instead of at
the end of a filling meal!

Duck Breast & Leg a l'Orange

Frog legs with Chive sauce
Don offered to take Jay frog hunting next time
he comes to the farm

Jay enjoyed the filet mignon - but not so much the
Foie Gras (thats the liver of a duck that is fattened
by force feeding corn)

The evening of the International Dinner menu, when choices were Egli Fish, a vegetable and mushroom medley, or Veal Tenderloin, Sara had flash-back impressions of feeding bucket calves and rejected the veal for an American choice "always available" - Broiled New York Cut Sirloin Steak. To be accompanied by "fresh sautéed vegetables and baked potato". We'd frequently commented that the meals seemed quite short of vegetables. In fact, the best choice of vegetables were served at breakfast - its hard to face steamed broccoli, cauliflower or eggplant in a warming pan at 7:00 a.m. no matter how much we'd wanted a basic veggie. So Sara was set for a juicy remind-me-of-home steak - and vegetable - and baked potato! The meal came, and the steak looked good, but no sides. Sara questioned the waiter, he promptly brought her a large serving of..... spinach. Not even fresh salad spinach, but old-school-lunch type of spinach. Ahh, some things are best eaten at home.

More travels and tastes next blog.

Banana Bread for the Fair

 I usually make Blue - or even Purple ribbon Banana Bread! It is a favorite treat, fresh from the oven or one of the loaves I've tucked away in the freezer. EXCEPT - when trying to bake a loaf to take to the County Fair! Each batch wasn't up to my usual product, so after adding 4 loaves to the stash in the freezer, I just chose one. It turned out to be a Red ribbon, that's 2nd place in Open Class divisions.
Some of the special care I was taking seemed to be working against me, here's some of what I learned...One batch I made with all butter instead of the half butter,  half margarine I usually use. This batch browned much faster - too dark for the fair but good in the freezer! I am always careful not to over oil or spray too much Pam on the pan so the batter won't fry up the sides and make a crisp fried edge. So, I carefully blotted the excess out with a paper towel... too much. The bottom peeled off the first loaf I turned out of the pan - still stuck to the pan... into the freezer!
One tip I did try that was an improvement was to roast the bananas before using them in the batter. My recipe uses 4 bananas, I placed them (whole and unpeeled) on a foil lined baking pan, after pricking the skins with a fork at 1-inch intervals, in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. After they cooled it was simple to cut off one end and squeeze the banana into the batter. Almost like a tube of toothpaste. The flavor is sweeter as the natural sugar in the banana caramelizes. Of course this only works with fresh or slightly aged bananas. Usually I have a supply of previously aged bananas (thats ripened beyond eating stage) that I've peeled, mashed and bagged into 4-banana packets in the freezer. This frozen supply is great for making Banana Bread when bananas aren't setting on your counter. My other successful trick is fresh pecans. Every fall I buy several pounds of pecans from a KSU research farm in SE Kansas that we shell and store in the freezer. They really make a taste difference!
This recipe is the moistest, tastiest I've found. It is from Taste of Home 2008 recipes.

Special Banana Nut Bread

¾ cup butter, softened

1 package (8 0z) cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups chopped pecans, divided

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans.

Transfer to two greased 8 inch x 4 inch x 2 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients, drizzle over loaves.