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Monatsarchive: September 2011

Chocolate Orange Creamsicle Cookies

I originally titled these: Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Orange Cream and Chocolate Orange Ganache. Although that is much more descriptive, it was just too dang long. I wanted something to bring to the Los Angeles Food Bloggers Meeting, and this is how these things evolved in my brain:

I should try to make chocolate shortbread cookies, but I want to put something on top. I’ll make them like the Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts, but use orange. And Ganache instead of meringue. Orange ganache. Hope this works.

Chocolate Orange Creamsicle Cookies

For The Chocolate Shortbread:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For The  Orange Cream:

2 tbs orange zest

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup orange juice

5 tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For The Orange Ganache:

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tbs orange zest

1 tablespoon Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur

Preheat oven to 325.

Cream the butter and powdered sugar until well combined, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. In separate  bowl, whisk the cocoa and flour together until well combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture.

Put about 2 tbs of the dough into each well of a muffin tin (spray with butter flavored cooking spray before hand), forming the dough up onto the side to make a cup with a large well in the center.

Chill the dough in the muffin tin for at least an hour.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool

Make the orange cream. I love this, it’s based on my lemon curd recipe but the orange is awesome.

Add the orange zest, orange juice, sugar and yolks to a bowl and mix well. Add the orange mixture to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter.

Whisk until thickened, about 8 minutes. Once the mini tart shells are cooled, spoon in the orange cream.

Place the chocolate and the orange zest in a heat safe bowl. In a separate bowl, heat the cream and the orange-flavored liqueur until hot and steam, but not boiling (microwave is fine but you can also heat on the stove) and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Stir for about 3 minutes or until well combined. If you have never made ganache or chocolate sauce, you may get a bit concerned about half way through. It is completely normal for your sauce to look like chunky chocolate milk for the first few minutes, just keep stirring and it’ll all work out.

Allow the ganche to cool a bit, then add it to the top of the cookies.

Two Peas In A Pod: Twin Girl Baby Shower

(The above invitation was made by Kim Nelson)

My friend Lindsay is pretty amazing. I mean, how many people can say they got pregnant twice in the same week? Thats pretty efficient if you ask me. She is due with her twin girls pretty soon and I was one of the lucky ladies (along with my friend Emily, who is gorgeous, and her house is so beautiful it made any type of decorations borderline unnecessary) who got to throw this amazing Mom a baby shower.

Two Peas in a Pod was a fun theme, however, it was pretty hard to find adorable embellishments to go along with the party so I had to rely on Etsy and my own craft prowess to get me through.

I ordered stickers from Autumnleah On Etsy that said, "Two Peas In A Pod, Lefler Twin Girls." Adorable. I used them on mini takeout boxes for the candy buffet,

I also used the stickers to make take away cupcake bags using mini pink lunch bags and ribbon.

Of course, the candy buffet was pink and green and a big hit.

I made a sign for the candy buffet that said:

Two Peas in A Pod

Life is good, the Leflers  are blessed

With two little ladies, there will be no rest

Twice the dresses, twice the curls

Two beautiful, lovely, little girls

As we celebrate a gift so sweet,

Please enjoy a box of treats!

I made cupcake toppers with supplies from Paper Dozen on Etsy.

We also had people write down wishes and prayers for the Lefler family, easily my favorite activity of the day. I made the wish sign from chipboard letters, ribbon, brads, and scalloped circles from JCSkyline on Etsy. I heart Etsy and those crafting geniuses who sell their wares.


I also made my very first diaper cake. Tater picked out the frogs for the top, although I’m pretty sure she had no idea I would ask her to part with them. I did distract her with fresh strawberries and a juice box.

Now, no one really tells you this, but it turns out that photographing a 15 foot banner is actually harder than making a 15 foot banner. Here is my best attept. Although it’s hard to see, I was pretty dang proud of that banner. I use scrapbook paper, pink paper circle coaster from the Martha Stewart Crafts collection, sparkly chipboard letters, grosgrain ribbon and tiny little clothespins.

It says, "Welcome Sweet Peas." Anytime you have to actually explain what’s in a photo, it’s not a good photo. Sorry, Nikon, it wasn’t your fault.

I also made hanging paper lanterns, the green ones not the pink one. My crafting skills aren’t quite that good yet. I used the same techniques that I used in this hanging paper lantern tutorial. If you want to make super duper cheap lanterns for your own party, it is super duper easy.


We also had food. I know, we’re pretty crazy.

Mini quiches

Berry platter that was as much of a decoration as it was a food item, so beautiful.

I made two kinds of Salad Skewers, Goat cheese, Roasted Beet & Arugula as well as the ever popular Caprese Skewers.

We also had delicious mimosas, some made with real life champagne and others with pregnancy friendly sparkling cider.

And I made a cake! Shocking, I know. It was a white cake with a vanilla pastry cream filling and a brown sugar buttercream frosting. I used the same cake batter recipe I used for these cupcakes, the same  frosting as with these cupcakes (the NON-beer version) and I decided to post a How To on making pastry cream because that dang cream was so good it was the true star of the cake. I made the peas in a pod out of fondant and doughnut holes, and brushed them with luster dust.

Oh yeah, there were people there too, and some super cute babies.

For the Lefler Family, My wish to you:

I Wish You Well, By Bill Withers

I wish you flowers sunshine and smiles
I wish your children that grow to make you proud
I wish you pretty things to wear
Sweet things to smell

I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (well)

I wish you good friends that always treat you fair
Wanna wish you ribbons to tie around your hair
I wish you, truckloads of cheer
and many happy years

I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (well)

I wish you freedom to do the things you love
Wanna wish you blessings and kindness from above
Wanna wish you sunlight through the clouds
I hope you laugh out loud

I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (oh I wish you well)
I wish you well (well)

How To: Make Stuffed Cupcakes

If you are a cupcake person, learning to stuff them is just an essential skill. Really, ESSENTIAL. Slight exaggerations aside, stuffing cupcakes brings them to the next level, adding another flavor, another texture and another dimension.

I’m going to highlight three common cupcake stuffin' techniques today, each one  has advantages and it will largely depend on what you are stuffing with to decide which one to go with.

The first method is to stuff pre-cooking. This only works with a filling that can be baked. I use this a lot to stuff cupcakes with cheesecake. Yep, cheesecake stuffed cupcakes.

First, you will need your two components, the cupcake batter and the filling batter (like cheesecake, or cookie dough). These can be the same flavor of different flavors. For my Key LIme Pie cupcakes, I used a white cake batter and a key lime cheesecake batter.

First, fill your cupcakes only half way full

Using a spoon, make a well in the middle but pushing the batter up onto the sides of the cupcake papers.

Fill the well with about 1 tbs of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake until the cupcake batter is done, the cheesecake filling will cook at about the same rate. You want to make sure not to over cook your cupcake batter. 

The second method is to bake the cupcakes and fill them later. Once your cupcakes have baked and cooled, you can create a hole in the middle in two ways.

The first way is to use a paring knife to remove a cone shaped section of the middle of the cupcake.

Don’t remove the bottom of the cupcake.

The second method of stuffing pre-cooked cupcakes if to smash a hole in the middle with the handle of a wooden spoon.

This does create a denseness at the bottom of the cupcake, but that can work to your advantage if you are using a particularly moist filling, like jam.

Use a piping bag to fill the hole that you have created in your cupcake. If you don’t have a piping bag, you should get one, but in the mean time use a Ziplock bag with a bit of the bottom corner cut off.

Then, just frost as usual. I used chocolate ganache to frost these, but this also makes for a great filling.

Enjoy!

Do you have a How To that you want to see? Email it tome at [email protected] or leave it on my Facebook wall at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Domestic-Fits/230654216968376

Beer Braised Pulled Pork

There is nothing new about braising with beer. In fact,  it should be the standard. Beer, as with all alcohol, is a natural meat tenderizer but it’s the flavors of the beer that make for braise meat that has a truly special taste. Craft brews are known for more intense flavor profiles and will always produce a vastly superior product when cooking than a macro brew. Craft beer is truly that, a craft. I have had a soft spot for Rogue brewery for years. Rogue is beer lovers beer, and dedicated to the art of the craft. Actual real life people making really good beer. If you live on the West Coast, this Portland Oregon brewery’s beer is probably at your local grocery store. It’s one of the few great craft beers that I have a very easy time getting my hands on.

What does braising mean? What a good question. Braising just means to sear meat at a very high heat and then cook it slowly at a low heat until cooked through. I used another amazing craft beer for this recipe. Rogue’s Chipolte Ale:

 

Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs kosher salt
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tbs chili powder
  • 1 tbs ground cumin
  • 1 tbs black pepper
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp dry mustard powder
  • 3.5 lb Pork butt It’s acctually the pigs shoulder, and sometimes called that. The actual butt is called Ham.
  • 6 cloves of garlic peeled
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 cups Chipotle ale or smoked porter (I used Rogue’s Chipotle Ale)

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
  • Take out your pork and stab 6, 2 inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
  • Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
  • In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes.Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
  • Once the meat is finished, remove from the pot and allow to cool. Use two forks to shred into pieces. Return to the braising liquid and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and discard the liquid.

 

 

I used this meat in three ways, on italian bread as a delicious sandwich, over rice and beans, and in a burrito. Other ideas for pulled pork include:

Pulled pork nachos

Pulled pork sliders

Pulled pork tacos

Pulled pork enchiladas

Pulled pork flatbread pizza

Pulled pork hand pies

Seriously, you could go all Bubba Gump about this and it would be endless. There is no shortage of uses for Pulled Pork.

 


Oktoberfest Recipe: Beer Braised Pulled Pork

My favorite thing about pulled pork is that it takes a long time. You didn’t read that wrong, I LIKE that it takes hours. Probably because I tend to over-committ myself, double book myself, take on too much, then feel guilty that I am not able to give 100% to everything and I need to remember to slow down. I work full time, I have this blog that I love more that anyone will know, I write for Honest Cooking, and for the Glendale Examiner, AND I am a mom. When I have decided to make a recipe like pulled pork I HAVE to stay home, play in the backyard with Tater, ignore my phone and listen to excessive amounts of Led Zeppelin. I need to make pulled pork more often.

What does braising mean? What a good question. Braising just means to sear meat at a very high heat and then cook it slowly at a low heat until cooked through. I used another amazing craft beer for this recipe. Rouge’s Chipolte Ale:

I have had a soft spot for Rouge brewery for years. Rouge is beer lovers beer, and dedicated to the art of the craft. Actual real life people making really good beer. If you live on the West Coast, this Portland Oregon brewery’s beer is probably at your local grocery store. It’s one of the few great craft beers that I have a fairly easy time getting my hands on. In fact, the very first time I decided to cook with beer (I made a chocolate beer cake), I used Rouge’s Chocolate Stout. I do believe that I owe Rouge for my fascination with cooking with beer.

Thank you Rouge, you’re Pulled Pork thank you card is in the mail.

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

I used this meat in three ways, on italian bread as a delicious sandwich, over rice and beans, and in a burrito. Other ideas for pulled pork include:

Pulled pork nachos

Pulled pork sliders

Pulled pork tacos

Pulled pork enchiladas

Pulled pork flatbread pizza

Pulled pork hand pies

Seriously, you could go all Bubba Gump about this and it would be endless. There is no shortage of uses for Pulled Pork.

My message of the day is this:

Slow down, eat good SLOW food, Drink great beer and don’t forget to play in the back yard with your daughter while listening to Over The Hills an Far Away (OK, maybe that last one was just for me).

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

When you go about baking biscuits, beer is a great addition. Not only because beer is fantastic will every possible edible substance, but because the the carbonation is an amazing leavening agent that lends itself well to culinary beer usage.

For this recipe I used a Orange Wheat beer from Hangar 24, a Southern California based brewery. The beer was beautiful and the flavors where perfect for these biscuits. When I pick up a beer with fruit on the label, I am initially a touch apprehensive. I wait for the possibility of a Hard Cider like taste with the hesitation of a contused prostitute, before taking a sip. I am HAPPY to report that the natural orange was perfectly subtle and a well balanced citrus flavors, with a clean, crisp finish.

Even after cooking, the flavors stayed intact and complimented the white cheddar beautifully.

 

I also used Kerrygold cheese, although this has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, it’s just really great cheddar. The flavors are perfect for this recipe.

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

1 stick (8 tbs) butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup craft wheat beer (Orange Wheat from Hanger 24 preferred)

1/2 cup white cheddar (Kerrygold reserve preferred)

Preheat oven to 400.

Put the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in your food processor and pulse until combined. Add your butter cubes and  process until the butter is evenly distributed, about 1-2 minutes.

Move to a bowl and add the cheese and beer and stir until combined.

 

Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Squish together with your hands to form a ball and then flatten into a rectangle about 6  inches wide and 10 inches long and 2 inches high. Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuits into squares.

 

You can make them as big or small as you want, but this recipe will make 6-8 average sized biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with a bit of sea salt and pepper.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown.

 

Oktoberfest Beer Creme Brulee

I know that Oktoberfest started as the celebration of a royal wedding that would have put the recent William/Kate union to shame. I also know that it is not an actual proper Holiday.
But for those of us completly in love with all things Beer, it might as well be.
Oktoberfest, as in the one that takes place late September  to Early October in Munich, is about LOCAL beer. I love all beer, but I have a special affinity for beer brewed close to home. Although this beer isn’t actual German beer, being that I am in California, it is in line with the locavore spirit of Oktoberfest and their rule for never serving any beer at the official Oktoberfest Festival that is not brewed in their own backyard. And that backyard would be the Munich City limits.
For this recipe, which I loved SO much, I used another incredible local craft beer, this one came from  Bison Brewing. Honey Basil Beer. It’s local (to those of us in California), it’s organic and the flavors are amazing.

Beer Creme Brulee: Creme Beer-lee
  • 3/4 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup Bison Honey Basil Beer (can sub German style wheat beer)
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar, plus another 1/4 cup for the topping
  • Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream, and beer in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook just until its bubbly around the edges but not boiling. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisk until frothy, about 3 minutes.

While continuing to whisk, slowly add the cooled cream mixture until well combined.

Put 8 ceramic ramekins in a baking dish, filling the baking dish with about 1 inch of water (don’t get any water in the ramekins).

Pour your custard through a mesh strainer into ramekins.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle is still slightly wobbly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool, at room temp, in the water filled baking dish for 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate and allow to chill and set in the fridge for 4 hours. Right before serving, cover the top of your set custard with an even, thin layer of sugar (about 1/2-1 tsp). Then run a culinary torch over your sugar, slowly, until it melts and turns an amber color.

Notes

Cooking tip: Don’t brulee the sugar until you are ready to serve. After about an hour of sitting, the sugar will start to liquefy again.

Oktoberfest Recipe: Beer Creme Brulee

Beer Week Continues!
Germany is goregous. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit this amazing Country a few years ago. I even took a 7 hour train ride across the contry side on a beautiful day in September. And although tourist are flocking to Munich by the millions this month, and no offense to the Capitol City, my favorite place was Idar Oberstein.  I like to travel off the beaten path, although the Festival in Munich does sound like a helluva good time.
For this recipe, which I loved SO much, I used another incredible local craft beer, this one came from  Bison Brewing. Honey Basil Beer. It’s local (to those of us in California), it’s organic and the flavors are amazing.


Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Oktoberfest Beer Recipe: Cheddar Beer Biscuits

Oktoberfest started this past Saturday, September 17th, marking the 201st anniversary of this high holiday devoted to beer. In honor of the German festivities, I am declaring this week "Beer Week" on Domestic Fits.

I have a love and a passion for really fantastic craft beer that started while working as a waitress at a micro brewery when I was in college. I was able to get a tour of the brewery and a crash course in beer making from two very excited, self proclaimed "Beer Geeks." Up until this point the idea of a "Beer Guy" conjured up images of frat boys playing beer pong, but the Geeks changed all that for me. They were excited about the beer, the flavors, the process of it and the difference between an Ale and a Lager (FYI: there are several differences but the main difference is a Lager is brewed longer). I was hooked and a world of flavors opened up. Lucky for me, the West Coast has a fantastic, seemingly endless, supply of craft beers. If you are ever so lucky to visit us, and you love the art of beer, take a tour of a microbrewery. Beer guys are the nicest breed.

Although the true Oktoberfest celebrations won’t allow any beer to be served at the festival that aren’t brewed within the Munich City limits, I decided against using German beer. I love German beer, its lovely, but the locavore spirit of using what is close by is what I wanted to capture. For this recipe I used a Orange Wheat beer from Hanger 24, a Southern California based brewery. The beer was beautiful and the flavors where fantastic for these biscuits

I also used Kerrygold cheese, although this has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, it’s just really great cheddar. The flavors are perfect for this recipe.

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Miniature Apple Brown Sugar Galettes

I figured out how to pronounce Galette. This was becoming an issue for me. How can I go about baking, and writing about, such an amazing food that I can’t even mention in conversation? So I googled it. I found this lovely little website  that has a charming French man (just trust me on the charming part) who so beautifully pronounces the word Gal-Let. You’re gonna press play over and over just to make sure he really said Gal-Let and not Guh-Lay. Or maybe that’s just me.

Apple Brown Sugar (Gal-Let) Galettes 

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter

1/4 cup ice cold water

For The FIlling:

4 cups granny smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced

2 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tbs melted butter.

Make the crust:

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter (ice cold and cut into cubes) and process until combined. Add the remaining flour and process until combined. Move dough to a bowl and add the water with a wooden spoon (don’t add the water with the food processor or your dough will turn into a cracker). If your dough is too dry, or two wet, add a bit of water or flour to achieve the right consistency.

Form the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

Once your apples and peeled, cored and sliced, add to a bowl with the lemon juice and toss to combine. Add the brown sugar and butter and toss to combine. Let stand at room temp for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400.

Once your dough is chilled, roll out to an even thickness. Cut out 6 inch circles. Use whatever you have that is round and six inches, I used a small plastic bowl. This recipe will make 6-8 mini Galettes.

Arrange the apples in tight circle in the middle of your dough, leaving a one inch boarder around the edges.

Fold the edges over the filling, leaving the center open.

Brush the remaining brown sugar/butter mixture that your apples were sitting in all over the Galettes and the exposed crust.

Bake at 400 for 28-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Mushroom Pork Hand Pies


 

I could eat pie every day. I love it. It’s my First Love when it comes to desserts and cooking in general. I could have an All Pies blog ("Pie Fits"??) and be perfectly happy. When I was a kid, I didn’t want birthday cake (gasp!!!) I wanted birthday pie. Usually Apple. Not enough people eat savory pie and I want to change that. Hand pies, empanadas and anything else small, savory and portable, should be right there among the sandwich masses. This recipe is easy, and the dough is based off a pie dough, but with a few alterations to make it more like an empanada, and it really is easy and quick. Also, a prefect lunch to pack for a picnic or a hike.

Get moving, eat pie.

Mushroom Pork Hand Pies

For The Dough:

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

10 tbs butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 egg

1/3 cup ice water

For The Filling:

2 tbs olive oil (plus more as needed)

1/4 cup onioins, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 cup ground pork (you can sub turkey or chicken as well)

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chili powder

For The Top of Dough:

1/4 cup melted butter

pinch of salt

Put 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt in a food processor, pulse for a second to combine. Add the butter and process until combined. Add the remaining flour and process again. Move to a bowl. In a small bowl, beat the egg and water together until well combined then add the egg/water to the dough with a wooden spoon. If you add the water and egg with the food processor, your dough will turn out crispy and cracker like.

Form into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until opaque, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft, adding a little more oil if the pan gets dry. Add the remaining filling ingredients and cook until warm and combined, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool.

Once the dough is chilled, roll out on a flat surface and cut into sections that are 6 inches by 8 inches. Add 1/4 cup of the filling to one end of the strip, keeping at least an inch between the filling and the edges.

Fold the empty half over the filling and press the edges until secure.

Transfer to a baking sheet (sprayed with cooking spray or covered with parchment paper to prevent sticking).

Repeat until all the dough and filling are used. Brush the tops of the pies with melted butter and sprinkle with a little salt.

Should make between 8 and 10 pies.

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

How To: Make Sushi

Sushi making is an art. A beautiful, delicious art. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that one little post will ever get anyone near the magic that happens behind a real sushi counter, but I WILL tell you that making a simple roll is easy enough to do at home. If you dare.

Make The Rice

Sushi rice isn’t like your every day rice and isn’t cooked the same way. The cooking method is different, and it is finished with a shot of sake (optional) and a vinegar dressing.

Ingredients:

3 cups of short grain sushi or calrose rice

lots of water

1 shot of sake (totally optional)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbs sugar

Put the rice in a large bowl and cover with cold tap water.

Swirl with your hands to remove any debris.

Drain the water off, using your hand to keep the rice in the bowl

Repeat two more times. By the third time, the water should be much less cloudy.

Put rice in a colander and allow to drain and dry, about 30 minutes.

Now here is where things get a little wierd. By all accounts, in my previous rice-cookin past, the ratio is 1 part rice to 2 parts water, right? Well, not in sushi land. Put your 3 cups of rice in a large sauce pan and cover with 3 cups of water. Yep, thats 1 part to 1 part. Don’t worry, it all works out.

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Cover and allow to boil over high heat (resist the urge to turn the heat down) for three minutes.

Then turn the heat to medium and cook for an an additional 5 minutes (I sure hope you have a kitchen timer).

Then turn the heat to low and cook for another 8 minutes.

There should be no visible water left. If you have a shot of Sake, drizzle it over the rice at this point. If you don’t have any Sake, don’t worry about. Remove from heat.

Cover with a towel or a cheese cloth, put the lid back on and allow to rest for ten minutes.

While your rice is cooking, make the dressing. Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir until dissolved and allow to cool.

Once the rice has rested, transfer to a large, flat bottom bowl.

Pour the dressing over the rice.

Stir the rice with a wooden spoon to distribute the dressing evenly, while fanning with a fan to cool. If you don’t have a fan a piece of cardboard will work just fine.

Repeat until rice is at body temperature.

Make The Roll 

First, lets talk about fish. For this post I made two kinds of sushi, a basic Ahi Tuna Roll and a Spicy Crab roll. You can fill your sushi with just about anything you want, including other types of meat and vegetables. If you want to use raw fish, buy the best stuff you can find, really, this is no place to bargain shop. Go to the best fish market in your town and asked what they have that is Sashimi grade and of that, what is the freshest and highest quality. Don’t go in with your heart set on a certain kind of fish, you may not get the best quality. If you really want Ahi, but they just had a beautiful Yellow Tail come in, get that. You don’t need a lot, I was able to make 5 rolls from less than a half a pound of Ahi.

Cut your fish into long thin strips, the width of about your pinky. If you don’t have a long enough piece of fish to cover the entire length of the roll, you can use segments.

You’ll will need sheets of Nori and a bamboo rolling mat. Most large chain grocery stores carry both of those in their Asian sections. You can also try your local Japanese markets.

For the smaller, basic Ahi roll, use one sheet of Nori, cut in half width-wise.

Place this on your bamboo rolling mat.

You will NEED a small bowl of cold water. This is so that the very sticky rice doesn’t stick to your fingers. Dip your fingers, as needed, into the water and transfer enough rice to make a thin layer of rice over the sheet of Nori while leaving a small blank margin along all sides.

Place your thin strips of fish in the center. I also placed a long thin strip of cucumber for a little crunch.

Roll away from you, using the mat as a guide. Apply firm pressure to shape the roll.

While the roll is still in the bamboo mat, form into a square with firm pressure.

For the Spicy Crab FIlling:

This is much more accessible and easier to find in most of the United States, regardless of how far you are from the ocean.

This is a basic spicy crab recipe, with sour cream as a substitute for the more commonly used mayonaise. If you want to use mayo, it will work just fine as well. I just have a very strong aversion to mayo in general, store bough being at the top of my hit list.

1 six ounce can of lump crab meat, or claw meat (please don’t use the fake stuff Krab just doesn’t taste the same)

2 tbs of sour cream

1 tsp Nanami Togarashi (Don’t be scared, most grocery stores have it in the Asian section)

Pinch of salt

Squeeze the crab meat to remove as much water as you can. This will help your filling to stay together and not become a soupy mess.

Add the sour cream, nanami and salt and stir to combine.

Use a full sheet of Nori for this roll, but use the same steps as with the Ahi roll.

I used a thin strip of cucumber for this roll as well. Just because I had it already cut and I wanted to add a little crunch.

Roll the same as before, but there is no need to make the larger rolls square.

Use a very sharp knife to cut the rolls, you may need to run the knife under hot water in between cuts.

Whats up with Wasabi?? There are two kinds that are pretty readily available at most grocery stores. The squeeze tube kind and the powder kind that you mix with water. I find the squeeze tube kind to have an odd, over powering taste. I very much prefer the powder kind.

You now know how to make sushi. Go impress your friends.

Do you have a How To that you want to see? Email it to [email protected] or leave it on my Facebook wall at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Domestic-Fits/230654216968376

Fig and Goat Cheese Galette

Galettes are such an amazing food. Like a tart or a pizza, only much more elegant and easier to make. This dough came out so beautifully, with a buttery flakiness that could be eaten all on its own. There is a very good chance that this Fall will be filled with galettes, sweet and savory.

Fig and Goat Cheese Galette

CRUST

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1/3 cup ice cold water

FILLING

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

6 figs, sliced

1 tbs raw honey

2 tbs minced red onions

1/2 cup arugula

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1 oz prosciutto, chopped.

1 tbs melted butter

In a food processor, combine 1 1/3 cup flour, salt, sugar and butter, process until well combined. Add the remaining flour and process again until combined. Transfer to a bowl and add the water with a wooden spoon (don’t add the water while the dough is in the food processor or your dough will be brittle and cracker-like). If the dough isn’t moist enough, you can add more water, a tsp at a time until the consistency is right. Form dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Once the dough is chilled, roll into a "rustic" circle. The great thing about a Galette is that an odd shape looks charming, don’t worry about making it too perfect. Transfer to a baking sheet or a pizza stone covered with parchment paper. Spread the ricotta in the middle, leaving about 2-3 inches on all sides bare. Top with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the figs, honey and onions, toss to coat. Add the figs to the top of the ricotta, then add the arugula, goat cheese and prosciutto.

Fold the edges into the middle

Brush the crust with melted butter and bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. I added additional arugula and goat cheese to the top before serving, but this is completely optional.

Raspberry Peach Deep Dish Pie

I wrote another article for Honest Cooking. I wrote about this deep dish pie, because I love it so much. The crust is the best part, and making it deep dish adds more of the good stuff, oh, and the filling too. Also, deep dish pies are really impressive. They stand on their own, outside of a pie pan and look like a baked-goods force to be reckoned with. Next time you make a pie from scratch, forget the pie pan and reach for your spring form pan.

Deep Dish Raspberry Peach Pie:

For the Crust:

1 batch Perfect Pie Crust

For the Filling:

1/2 cup flour

2 tbs cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

6 cups peaches: peeled, pitted and sliced

4 cups fresh raspberries

Once your pie dough is completed, chilled and ready to go, roll out one disk (about half of the total recipe) so that it will sit in your spring form pan with about a 1 inch overhang. Fold in half, then in half again to form a triangle. Gently move to the pan with the point of the triangle in the dead center.

Unfold and smooth any rips or tears with your fingers. Set in the fridge to chill until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375.

In a separate bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar, then whisk to combine.

Add the peaches and raspberries and toss to coat.

Add the fruit to the spring form pan that is now lined with pie dough. Roll out your remaining dough and place it on the top of the pie, using the same method to move as you did with your bottom dough layer. Using your fingers, squeeze the top and bottom layers of the crust together around the edge of the pan. Make a few slits in the top of the pie dough to release steam. If you want to cut out a shape, as shown below, do so prior to moving your dough.

Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.

Somehow, in the course of my very rushed Deep Dish photo shoot, my peach slices went missing.
I’m not entirely sure who’s belly they ended up in, but either way, a pretty healthy snack.

Miniature Mango Rum Cakes

I couldn’t possible eat everything I make for this blog. As much as I love to bake, I love to give it away just as much. When I’m invited to someones house, I come bearing a tray of baked goods, requested or not. These cakes needed to leave my house as soon as I had the first bite. I had to find someone to take them off my hands and save me from eating a dozen Mango Rum Cakes with Lemon Butter cream. I made 6 in mini bundt cake pans and 8 in cupcake form. Dangerous.

This is how these cakes grew as an idea in my head:

I want to make a rum cake.

But, how do I make it different?

I have a gorgeous mango, I should use that.

And the frosting?

OOOOhhh…lemons!

Lemon buttercream. Mango, rum, lemon! It’ll be like a one of those umbrella drinks pool side at a resort.

OK, who do I give these to? I will eat them ALL if they stay in my house. The Movies and Bingo group.

I know a group of senior ladies that meet a few days a week to watch movies and play bingo. I dropped them off to them, as I did with the Caramel Cake I made a few weeks ago. Elena, at 68 years old is one of the younger, spunkier ladies. She took one look at these mini cakes and said, "Rum cake? Next time put my rum on the side and make it a double!"

Mini Mango Rum Cakes With Lemon Buttercream Frosting

For the Rum Cake:

1 stick of butter, softened

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup rum

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup of mango, diced

For the Lemon Buttercream:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup of whole milk

2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla and beat some more. In a sperate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, mix well. In another bowl, add the rum and the oil. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, add both the dry and wet ingredients to the stand mixer, a bit at a time, alternating between the two until all is combined in one bowl. Add the mango and stir until just combined.

Add your batter to either mini bundt cake pans (spray with butter flavored cooking spray), or muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Fill 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 18-25 minutes (depends on the size of your pan) or until top springs back when touched.

Allow to cool completely.

Combine all the ingredients for the lemon butter cream in a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until mostly combined, the raise to high speed and whip until light and fluffy.

Pipe on the top of the cakes.