Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Almonds

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Almonds (sans Toasted Almonds and with Heath Bar toffee bits instead) - made January 25, 2010 from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

Earlier this week I was feeling pretty crappy. Everyone around me seemed to be sick with some kind of flu or cold but apparently my mind decided to go one better and skip the sneezing stage and go straight to headache, the occasional hacking cough and general malaise. Monday was bad and by Tuesday, I'd been "nursing" a persistent pounding in my temples for almost 24 hours. Not to mention feeling rundown in general. Did I mention it was only Tuesday? I skipped my Tuesday night Zumba class since I couldn't imagine doing a salsa or merengue without my head flying off my shoulders. But as I was driving home that night, I decided I'd had enough. I was feeling bowed down from all the work pressure I was under and the belief of sickness that I didn't need to hold onto. It was time to kick that nonsense to the curb. I wanted no part of it. I literally could feel my spine straightening in my driver's seat. My original plans when I got home were to crawl into bed and try to end the day comatose to escape it all.

Instead, I got home, cracked open one of my baking books and fished out this recipe. It was simple and straightforward and is one of my comfort foods - chocolate chip cookies. I made the dough in no time, let it chill in the freezer while I cleaned myself up from the day, and did a heavy strength-training workout while they were chilling. Then I baked a batch and ate a cookie while I watched the Biggest Loser (I know, I know, that seems so wrong. But I do it all the time). I felt fine and I've felt fine since then because I claimed health for myself and wasn't going to accept anything less. BTW, the cookies were pretty good too. It's your standard chocolate chip cookie but the edges were crisp and the middles were chewy. Can't ask for anything more from a cookie. They didn't spread as much as some of my other CCC recipes which is always a plus. Instead of almonds I substitued chopped up Heath Bars and used milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet (my standard substitutions for nuts and chips). I'd consider this another hit from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book.


½ cup whole natural almonds, toasted
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces best-quality semisweet (58%) chocolate, coarsely chopped into ¼ - ½-inch chunks

1. Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Roughly chop the almonds into large pieces.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for another minute.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three batches, mixing until no flour is visible after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the almonds and chocolate. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 1 hour. (If you’re really impatient or hungry, spread out the dough on a tray or cookie sheet, lay a sheet of plastic wrap flush against the surface of the dough, and freeze so it chills up fast.)
7. Once the dough is chilled, turn it out onto a clean work surface and divide it in half. Roll each half into a log about 12 inches long. Refrigerate the logs for at least 30 minutes before slicing. (At this point, you can wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and freeze for up to 1 month.)
8. Cut the logs into 1-inch slides, and place them about 1 ½ inches apart on each cookie sheet. Bake for 13 to 14 minutes, or until the centers no longer have a glossy look of raw dough. They should be chewy, so do not overbake.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 weeks. Do not uncover before defrosting.

Asian-Style Country Ribs

Asian-Style Country Ribs - made January 24, 2010 from allrecipes.com

I took the liberty of making some changes to the recipe (3 1/2 weeks of cooking and look how bold I've gotten). I didn't have Sriracha (never even heard of it) so I substituted red pepper flakes instead. I didn't have limes so I used freshly squeezed lemon juice in its place. Lastly, I didn't want to make it in the crock pot as in my experience the food gets liquidy so I baked these for 3 hours in the oven instead.

The results of my changes were both good and only okay. I did marinate the ribs overnight, for almost 24 hours in fact, so they were pretty tasty. But because I baked them, they weren't as tender as if they'd been in the crock pot for hours. I started out the oven temp at 350 degrees and kept lowering the temp over the 3 hours as the ribs were cooking but also starting to dry out and I was running out of marinade to baste them with but they still weren't as tender as I would've wanted. Next time I'm going to cover the pan with foil and bake it at 325 degrees to start with and be ready to bake them for longer than 3 hours. Overall, these were pretty tasty but I think I prefer the American-Style ribs from Donna Hay's book as that had actual "sauce".

Here's the link to the recipe

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Asian-Style-Country-Ribs/Detail.aspx

Glazed Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts

Glazed Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts - made January 24, 2010 from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMosca and Mindy Fox

The first thing you're going to notice from the picture is that these doughnuts aren't glazed as the title would imply. I wanted to taste them without the glaze first to see how I liked them but once I did, I decided there was no point in making the glaze. These were just "okay". I actually think the first cake doughnut recipe I tried from Bread for Breakfast was better since those were crunchier on the outside. These weren't bad but if I'm going to eat fried food, it has to be spectacular to make the calories worthwhile. These didn't hit me as being in the spectacular category. I can't even put my finger on it as to why but they just weren't. In fairness to the recipe though, I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not a cake doughnut person overall. I'm not a big doughnut person to begin with and these didn't win me to a different point of view. It could be that I just prefer yeasted doughnuts more than cake doughnuts. I'll try a yeasted doughnut recipe sometime in the future but not likely in the near future as I think I've had more than my fill of doughnuts lately.

¾ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup grapeseed oil (I didn't have grapeseed oil so I just used canola oil)
3 ¾ cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Peanut oil, for frying

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, egg yolks and grapeseed oil. Sift 2 cups of the flour into another bowl and set it aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 ¾ cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and lemon zest. Mix on low speed just to combine. Add the buttermilk mixture and continue mixing just until the dough comes together. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and using a spatula, gently fold in the reserved flour. The dough will be very sticky.
3. Transfer the dough to a 12 x 14-inch sheet of waxed paper. Place a second sheet of waxed paper on top, and roll out the dough between the paper to an 8 x 10-inch oval, about 3/4-inch thick. Set the dough, still between the sheets of waxed paper, on a baking sheet and freeze until it is firm enough to cut, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the freezer and remove the top sheet of waxed paper. Dust the dough with flour and replace the waxed paper. Flip the dough over; remove and discard the bottom sheet of waxed paper. Now the dough is loosened from the waxed paper and is easy to cut.
5. Lightly coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Using a floured 3-inch round cutter or inverted drinking glass, cut out doughnuts. Cut out the centers with a floured 1-inch cutter. Transfer the doughnuts to the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps and repeat to make a total of 13 doughnuts and 13 holes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day (if making the dough ahead, bring it to room temperature before frying).
7. Just before frying the doughnuts and holes, prepare the glaze. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and ¼ cup hot water.
8. In a large high-sided skillet or a wide pot, heat 2 inches of oil to 350˚F. Working in batches of 3, fry the doughnuts, carefully turning them with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon halfway through until golden brown, about 1 ½ minutes per side. Transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain, and then immediately dip one side of each doughnut into the glaze. Transfer them, glaze side up, to a rack set over a baking sheet, and let sit until the glaze sets, about 3 minutes.
9. Fry the doughnut holes for 1 minute per batch. Drain, dip in the glaze, and transfer to the wire rack.
10. Serve the doughnuts warm or at room temperature on the day they are fried.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara - made January 23, 2010 from Modern Classics Book 1 by Donna Hay

Lest you think all I've been doing is baking, I have been doing some real cooking as well. This is one of the easiest recipes in Donna Hay's cookbook and bless her for making it so easy even I could make it. It's supposed to be Fettuccine Carbonara but since I'm prejudiced against fettuccine noodles, I used spaghetti instead.

The trick with carbonara is you have to have your mise en place ready because as soon as the noodles are done, you have to move fast. Carbonara uses egg yolks and they're cooked only from the heat of the noodles tossed in the yolks-cream-parmesan cheese mixture. Done correctly, you get a nice creamy coating of sauce on your pasta. Done incorrectly, you get bits of cooked egg mixed in with the noodles or raw egg. Fortunately, I did it correctly this time. I had the sauce ready and as soon as the noodles were drained, I dumped them in a bowl, covered them with the sauce mixture and started tossing (mixing) the noodles into the sauce. Steam was still rising from the bowl by the time I was satisfied and added the hot ham and green onion mixture.

Carbonara usually calls for bacon but I used extra-lean ham instead. I like bacon but it's a pain to cook (and all that grease makes me shudder) and I figure eating a pasta dish that already has egg yolks, heavy cream and cheese didn't need the added fat and calories of 6 rashers of bacon too. Needless to say, carbonara is not for the faint of heart (literally) or the calorie conscious. Which is probably why I like it but don't make it that often. If you do go for the bacon variety, reserve some of the crisp bacon and crumble it on top of each serving. Donna Hay says this recipe serves 4 but again, it seems more like 6 - 8 servings to me.

14 ounces fettuccine or pappardelle (I used spaghetti)
6 rashers bacon or 10 ounces smoked ham, cut into thin strips (I used extra-lean ham)
3 green onions (scallions), sliced
4 egg yolks
½ cup cream
½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese (I used shredded parmesan cheese)
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and keep hot.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the bacon and green onions for 3-4 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and golden.
3. Place the egg yolks, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk well to combine.
4. Toss the egg mixture through the hot pasta, coating it well, then toss with the bacon mixture and parsley and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Cinnamon Apple Cake - made January 23, 2010 from Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson

While I generally don't like fruity desserts, apples in baked goods are a notable exception. Apple pie, apple cobbler, apple crisp, apple tart, just to name a few. And now I'm going to add apple cake. I've had this recipe typed up for awhile and filed in my "Still Need to Make" folder. I finally made it today and my only regret is I didn't make it sooner. OMG, this is good cake. Moist, flavorful, perfect texture and crumb. You bake the cake then brush it with a glaze made of honey, apple juice, cinnamon and butter. OMG. The glaze is thicker than a soaking syrup but not quite as thick as a normal glaze. Doesn't matter because it adds moistness and flavor to an already moist and flavorful cake. Did I say OMG?

I probably shouldn't be surprised because this recipe came from one of my all-time favorite baking books. And with as many baking books as I have, that's saying something. If you only ever buy one baking book in your life, make it one by Lisa Yockelson. This woman rocks. 90% of the recipes I've made from her books not only turn out but they turn out really well. Baking by Flavor is one of my favorites because the recipes are pretty varied and they're just good recipes. I'd make this cake again in a heartbeat and probably will. Most of it is going to my parents' tomorrow and to my cousin's for my uncle's birthday lunch. (Sorry, work peeps, no leftovers for Monday.) The biggest pain was grating the apples but I only had to grate 3 so it wasn't too bad. Putting together the rest of it was extremely easy. It also came out of the Bundt pan fairly easily although a few bits got stuck to the pan so it didn't come out completely perfect. But close enough.

Oh and I do have to mention I omitted the walnuts (of course) and the cardamom, partly because I don't like cardamom and partly because I didn't have any. I also made a rookie mistake and forgot to add the salt to the batter. I had already poured the batter into the Bundt pan and was ready to put it in the oven when I realized it was missing the salt. I sprinkled the teaspoon of salt in the cake batter already in the pan and gave it a few stirs to mix it up. Yeah, don't try that at home. It still turned out pretty well though :).

3 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar, sieved if lumpy
3 large eggs
1 cup plain vegetable oil (such as soybean)
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 ¼ cups peeled and shredded apples, preferably Jonathan, Stayman, Empire, Gala, Paula Red, Rome Beauty, or Granny Smith, about 3 large or 1 1/3 pounds (for grating, use the large holes of a 4-sided box grater)
¾ cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted and cooled completely (optional)

Buttery cinnamon-apple juice syrup for brushing over the warm, baked cake
½ cup unsweetened, pasteurized apple juice
¼ cup honey
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Film the inside of a 10” Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom onto a sheet of waxed paper.
3. Place the granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and eggs in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer. Mix on moderately high speed for 2 minutes, or until lightened, creamy-textured, and slightly billowy. The mixture will be a creamy coffee color. Add the oil, butter, and vanilla extract, and continue beating for 2 minutes longer. The batter will be moderately thin.
4. On low speed, beat in the sifted mixture in two additions, blending until the particles of flour are completely absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to keep the batter even-textured. Stir in the shredded apples and walnuts, if you are using them.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Gently shake the pan (once or twice) from side to side to level the top.
6. Bake the cake for 55 minutes, or until a wooden pick withdraws clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. The baked cake will pull away slightly from the sides of the baking pan. Let the cake stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 5 to 8 minutes, then invert onto another rack. Place a sheet of waxed paper under the rack to catch any droplets of glazing syrup.
7. Stir the apple juice, honey and cinnamon in a small, heavy nonreactive saucepan (preferably enameled cast iron). Place over high heat and cool 1 minute to dissolve the honey. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, or until reduced to 5 tablespoons.
8. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add the softened butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until the butter has melted down completely.
9. Using a soft pastry brush, apply the hot glaze generously over the top and sides of the cake. Cool completely before slicing and serving. Use a serrated knife to cut neatly and cleanly.

Freshly baked, the cake keeps for 4 days.

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies - made January 22, 2010 from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMosca and Mindy Fox

One of my favorite bumper sticker-type sayings is "I'd give up chocolate but I'm no quitter." Darn right. Quitting is for the weak :). Or those trying to lose weight and eat healthier. Aka people I should emulate but don't. I got this baking book from my friend Terri for Christmas and, as always, I had to try out the brownie recipe in it.

This recipe had relatively little chocolate compared to the amount of butter so I wondered how chocolatey it actually would be. The directions said to bake it for only 20 minutes but at 20 minutes, there was still raw batter on the toothpick I inserted close to the center so I left it in for a total of 30 minutes. You can tell from the picture that it's still pretty fudgy. This is a straightforward, basic fudgy brownie. After the chocolate and butter have melted, mixing it up took less time than for the oven to preheat. I made this Friday before work and had it out of the oven and cooling before I even took my 8 am conference call. How's that for quick and efficient? If you're ever pressed for time and want to make a quick batch of brownies, this one's pretty good to make.

My friend Kendra asked if I had a brownie recipe made with cocoa and I thought I did but in checking around, most of them are either made with unsweetened or semisweet chocolate and some also added cocoa and some didn't but I don't have a recipe I use regularly that's just cocoa. I think it's because most of those recipes tend to be for cakey brownies while I prefer mine dense and fudgy. As I've said before, if I wanted cakey brownies, I'd make a chocolate cake. However, if you're ever inclined to do a substition, for every 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate that a recipe calls for, you can substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of shortening. I've never tried it since I'm never without unsweetened chocolate (seriously.....never) but that's what my baking books say.

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 heaping cup semisweet chocolate chip

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment.
2. Bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Put the butter and the unsweetened chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set it over (but not touching) the simmering water. Stir the mixture frequently with a rubber spatula until it is completely melted and combined. Remove the pan from the heat but keep the bowl over the water to keep the mixture warm.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Pour the warm chocolate mixture over the egg mixture and whisk together. With a rubber spatula, quickly fold in the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips and immediately pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan, spreading it evenly.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Then rotate the pan and bake until the brownies are shiny and cracked on top, 10 minutes more. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Then cut into 1 ½-inch squares.
5. Keep the brownies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.

The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies

The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies - made January 19, 2010 from Sticky, Messy, Chewy, Gooey

I'll have to rename this recipe because, once again, I went off the reservation with the add-ins - I used milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet and Heath Bar toffee bits instead of pecans. But everything else for the cookie dough I kept the same. This is just another variation on the standard chocolate chip cookie. The dough is nice to work with, not too sticky or soft although you do freeze the dough first before baking. But I do that anyway as standard procedure. The cookies did spread so they didn't stay thick but the taste was pretty good. Ten minutes out of the oven and the edges are crisp, the middle is chewy and the chocolate chips are melty. The toffee bits add a nice little crunch too. Even when these cookies are cool, the edges still retain some of the crispness.

2 cups pecan halves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups bleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place the pecans on a large baking sheet and toast in the oven until they are warm and fragrant, 6 to 9 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely.
2. Place the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave uncovered on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until completely melted. Using a large wooden spoon, stir both sugars into the melted butter. When combined, add the salt, vanilla and eggs. Stir until smooth. Stir the flour, baking soda and baking powder into the batter just until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Carefully fold in the chocolate chunks and cooled toasted pecans.
3. Use a 2-ounce self-releasing ice-cream scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup to measure out the cookie dough. Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, 45 to 60 minutes. Towards the end of the chilling time, return the oven to 350˚F.
4. Place the chilled dough balls on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. (I find 9 cookies per sheet to be about right to allow for a little spreading and for the cookies to bake evenly.)
5. Bake until the cookies are crisp and golden around the edges but still a little soft in the centers without being gooey, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool slightly. Using a large metal spatula, transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to the wire racks and let cool to room temperature.
6. Stored in self-sealing plastic bags, these cookies will keep for 2 days at room temperature. They can also be frozen for up to 2 weeks. You can prepare the cookie dough balls and, after they are chilled, store the unbaked cookies in the freezer for up to 1 month. The cookies can be baked straight from the freezer but will take a few minutes longer.

American-Style Pork Ribs

American-Style Pork Ribs - made January 18, 2010 from Modern Classics Book 1 by Donna Hay

Three dishes in one day, not counting the cookie dough I made today and will be baking tomorrow night - stay tuned. This was the easiest of the three. I only used 2 1/2 lbs of ribs instead of the 5 lbs the recipe called for since I couldn't imagine eating 5 lbs of ribs but I did make the full recipe of the sauce. I made the sauce first thing this morning and let the ribs marinate in it for about 8 hours. The recipe says to bake the ribs for 40 minutes but at 40 minutes, they still seemed pretty tough. My mom makes ribs that come out fork tender and I know she said she bakes them for a long time. I ended up baking these for about 2 hours. They're still not as tender as I could've wished but the sauce was really delicious. Next time I may try making these in a crock pot with boneless ribs and let them get tender that way.

I used my mom's trick of lining the roasting pan with foil. When you bake the ribs on the wire rack in the pan, some of the marinade/basting sauce drips into the pan and caramelizes then burns, especially when it's in the oven for 2 hours. But with the foil lining, all you have to do is peel it off and throw it away. Minimal scrubbing needed for the roasting pan. I basted this every 10-15 minutes. I probably could've left the ribs in the oven longer than 2 hours to tenderize them even more but I'd run out of marinade to keep basting with and I didn't want them to dry out.

5 lbs American pork ribs
2/3 cup tomato puree
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons smoky paprika
2 cloves garlic, crushed

1. Cut the lengths of ribs in half. Combine the tomato puree, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, chili powder, paprika and garlic in a large non-metallic bowl. Add the ribs and coat well with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Place the ribs on wire racks in two baking trays, reserving the marinade. Bake the ribs for 40 minutes, or until well browned, brushing frequently with the marinade. Serve with crispy roast potatoes and a green salad.

Serves 4

Cake Donuts

Cake Donuts - made January 18, 2010 from Bread for Breakfast

I hardly ever make doughnuts. I have nothing against them and they're generally not hard to make but they usually call for more time than I normally have. But Hildy was talking about doughnuts on Facebook yesterday and I had today off so suddenly I wanted a doughnut and had the time to make them. I never actually drive to go get doughnuts - while I'll eat them when they're in front of me, I don't love them enough to make an effort to go somewhere to get them. The first time I ever had a Krispy Kreme doughnut was when I walked by one in a Las Vegas casino and decided to see what all the fuss was about. Beyond that I never actually go to my neighborhood Krispy Kreme for a doughnut.

My earliest childhood memory of doughnut making was my mom taking the tube can of Pillsbury biscuits, cutting out the center with a small circular cookie cutter and deep frying the biscuit dough. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and you had instant doughnuts. My taste buds have matured (and become snobbier) since then but as a kid, I remember them being pretty good.

I've had this recipe typed up for awhile. What I do with my 200+ baking books is go through them, mark which ones I want to try and type them up in a Word doc so I have a soft copy that I can add pictures to as well as my notes of when I made the recipe, what I thought of it and what I would do differently next time. Whenever I have some time and when I'm in the mood, I type up all the recipes I want to try. I have file folders with the names of the recipe books and as soon as I try a recipe, I insert a picture that I took of the finished product into the recipe itself then file the Word doc in the file folder with the name of the cookbook I got it from. For the recipes I've typed up but haven't made yet, I file in a folder labeled (rightly enough) "Still Need to Make". That file folder has dozens of recipes and I can type them up faster than I can make them. Whenever I'm in the mood to bake and want to try something new, I check that file folder first to see what's appealing. So I was glad to finally get a chance to make this recipe since I typed it up several years ago and it's just been sitting in that folder.

The dough itself was easy to put together this morning. I did the substitions the recipe said were acceptable and used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour as well as half brown sugar and half granulated sugar. The recipe calls for chilling the dough for a couple of hours so it won't absorb too much oil when fried. I actually chilled it for longer than that because I was doing other stuff when the 2 hours were up. In any case, I found this dough really soft to work with. It wasn't even possible to knead it without adding too much flour, something the recipe cautions against. Given how soft the dough was, I didn't even bother with a rolling pin but floured a cutting board, grabbed a chunk of the dough and flattened it out with floured palms. I floured two round cookie cutters and cut out the doughnuts and doughnut holes. Because the dough was so soft, it was hard to unstick the cut out dough from the cookie cutter and still retain its round shape.

While I was dealing with the dough, I had the oil heating up in a large pot. When you fry doughnuts or anything similar, the temperature of your oil is critical. Too hot and it'll burn the outside while leaving the inside raw. Not hot enough and your doughnut (or whatever) will absorb too much oil while it's frying and take too long to cook. Also, be aware that the temperature of your oil will change - the more you add to be fried, the lower the temp goes. Don't add too many without waiting for the oil to heat back up. Don't overcrowd the doughnuts and it's best to add several at once so they get done around the same time and you don't have to worry about which one has been in the longest and needs to come out first. Just because your frying pan is big doesn't mean you have to cover every inch with something to be fried.
As an aside, while I was frying the doughnuts, I couldn't help thinking of the book "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Almanzo came in from doing his chores and his mother was frying doughnuts. She'd twist them, drop them in the hot oil (or fat/lard) and they'd rise to the top, turning over to cook on both sides without her "wasting time" turning them. I'd always found that fascinating and always pictured it in my mind's eye. Almanzo's mother didn't hold with the new-fangled concept of a round doughnut that didn't turn itself.

Anyway, back to these doughnuts. I made the cinnamon sugar for them, put it in a ziploc bag (since I didn't have a lunch bag) and dropped the newly fried doughnuts into the bag to shake and give them the cinnamon sugar coating. I have mixed feelings about the end results of this recipe. Because the dough was so fragile and difficult to work with, the fried doughnuts also didn't have much substance to them. I'm used to cake doughnuts being like the ones you buy in the store like the Entemann's brand - these were not as dense or cakey as those. They also weren't light like yeasted doughnuts but some cross inbetween. The cinnamon sugar coating was a mistake because it totally overwhelmed the doughnuts and you just got crunch with cinnamon sugar. I also tried a doughnut hole without the coating and it was better. The outer part was crunchy which was good. The inner part was somewhat cakey although the outer layer of the inner part (just beneath the crunchy exterior), while not greasy, looked like it had absorbed some oil. The flavor actually wasn't bad but these doughnuts tasted better cool or room temperature rather than warm. Not sure I'd make these again. If I had to eat something fried, I'd rather have zeppoles.

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (can be half whole wheat flour)
1 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cardamom
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 large whole egg plus 2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar (can be half light brown sugar, which is especially good if you are making whole wheat donuts)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup cultured buttermilk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 1 quart vegetable oil, for deep frying

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the all-purpose and cake flours, baking powder, vanilla powder, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt
2. In the workbowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer, cream the egg, yolks, and sugar on low speed until thick and lemon colored, about 1 minute. Add the melted butter and sour cream and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 separate additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla extract. The dough will be very soft. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours. This chilling before frying prevents the dough from absorbing too much oil while the donuts cook.
3. Using a large rubber spatula or a plastic dough card, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead a few times, like for biscuit dough, just until it holds together, and keeping it as soft as possible. With a rolling pin, quickly roll out the dough to a thickness of ½ inch (the donuts will puff during frying). Do not add too much flour or over-handle at this point or the donuts will be tough. Using a 2 ¾” donut cutter or two smooth-edged biscuit cutters, one large and one small (to make the hole) dipped in flour, cut out the donuts.
4. In a deep heavy 4-quart Dutch oven, wok or portable electric deep-fat fryer, pour the vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches. Using a deep-fry thermometer, heat to 375°F (I do this while I am rolling and cutting out the donuts so that the dough does not warm up). Place a clean brown paper bag or a few layers of paper towels on a baking sheet at the side of the stove for draining the donuts. Carefully test the oil by dropping in a leftover scrap of dough; the oil is hot enough when it puffs immediately. Carefully slide 2 or 3 pieces of dough (don’t forget the holes) off a metal pancake turner into the hot oil. It is important not to crowd them. Turn a few times with a large slotted metal spoon when the donut rises to the surface; cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side (1 minute for the holes). Remove with the slotted spoon to drain, and cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Glaze

Enough for 21 cake donuts

1 ½ ounces (1 ½ squares) unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of powdered espresso powder or instant coffee granules
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon boiling water

1. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water
2. In a small bowl, place the confectioners’ sugar and coffee. Pour in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Using a whisk, beat well until smooth. Adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding boiling water a few drops at a time, just enough to keep the glaze spreadable.
3. Using a small metal spatula, spread the glaze on the top of each donut, letting some run down the sides. Let stand until cool and the glaze harden.

Cinnamon Sugar

Enough for 1 bunch of cake donuts

1 cup granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, or to taste

1. Place the sugar and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process for 15 seconds.
2. Pour the cinnamon-sugar into a clean brown paper bag (a lunch sack is great). Drain the fried donuts for 1 minute, and then, while still warm, place one at a time while still warm in the paper bag and gently shake to coat with the mixture. Remove from the bag and cool.

Lemon and Parmesan Risotto

Lemon and Parmesan Risotto - made January 18, 2010 from Modern Classics Book 1 by Donna Hay

I love risotto (Asian --> rice = 'nuff said). I love it even more that it's relatively simple to make and even I can make good risotto. I got this recipe from Patricia, a friend of mine from eBay who introduced me to Donna Hay's cookbooks. I haven't made a lot from her books but the directions are pretty easy and there aren't a lot of ingredients to most of them, once again bringing this into my realm of possibility to make.

With this recipe, I find patience is the key. You have to add the chicken stock (I used Trader Joe's chicken broth) a cup at a time and wait until the rice absorbs most of it before adding the next cup. Don't cheat this step as the rice needs time to cook and absorb the liquid and you want to dry it out enough before adding the next cup or you'll end up with either rice porridge instead of risotto or clumpy risotto. This is a perfect dish to make when you're multi-tasking. Add the cup of broth, give it a few stirs and keep doing whatever else you need to do. Check it regularly and you'll know when to add the next cup of broth. I usually wait until the risotto is about the consistency I'd want to eat it before I add more broth.

I only used half an onion for this batch since I'm not overly fond of onions (although I will eat them in the risotto since they end up being the same consistency and texture as the rice) and added chunks of chicken breasts for protein. I added the raw chicken at the step when you stir the rice into the butter-olive oil-onion mixture and let it cook a bit with the rice before adding the first cup of chicken broth. The recipe says it serves 4 but that means pretty generous servings for 4 people. I'd estimate 6-8 servings is closer to reality.

20 g (¾ oz) butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 ½ cups (2 ¼ pints) chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups Arborio or other risotto rice
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
20 g (¾ oz) butter, extra
Sea salt and cracked black pepper

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, oil and onion and cook for 6-8 minutes or until soft and golden. Place the stock in a separate saucepan. Cover and bring to a slow simmer.
2. Add the rice and lemon rind to the onion mixture, stirring over medium heat for 2 minutes or until the rice is translucent.
3. Add the hot stock 1 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until each cup of stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente (around 25-30 minutes). To serve, stir through the parmesan, extra butter, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4