Thursday, December 12, 2013

"E" is for Eclairs

I worked as a pastry cook for Dessert Works Bakery when I came out of culinary school back when we lived in Boston, Massachusetts. Each week I was responsible for mini pastry. There were about 14 different types on the menu and everything was made from scratch - good stuff! Eclairs and cream puffs are made from pate a choux or choux paste (pronounced shoe). At the bakery, I would make this in large batches and then pipe out different shapes depending on what we needed that week. It's also used in a Gateau St. Honore - but that's a whole other blog of fantastically gorgeous, pastry beauty....I'll have to make one just to do a blog post!

The recipe here is a small batch and was one of the recipes we would have to know off the top of our heads - not just to be able to write down or recite, but able to execute properly. Yield all depends on how big or small you pipe the paste - about 12 large eclairs, or 30 small; or about 20 medium cream puffs.

For "E" day for our school project, we made small eclairs for the students, about 2-3 bites each. Perfect size the anyone.


Pate a Choux

Ingredients:

1 cup cold water
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs*

Directions:
Bring water, butter and salt to boil in saucepan over medium heat. Butter needs to be completely melted. Take off heat and add flour. Stir with wooden spoon and return to medium heat to "dry out". Stir constantly as you lift mix off bottom of pan so it does not stick and burn. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until paste starts to get shiny from small beads of butter.


Place in electric mixer bowl and allow to cool slightly (about 10 minutes at room temperature). Add eggs* one at a time and beat on high to incorporate. There will most likely be steam coming from your bowl because batter is still a little hot - that's okay. The mixing will cool it down. Pastry should a little thick and "flop" off spoon - not just fall off (then it is too wet and you added too many eggs). It should stick to spoon but come off when you tap spoon on side of bowl.






*Depending on humidity, you may need more or less eggs, but you will always need at least three. The best thing to do after you have added your 3rd egg, is crack the 4th egg into a small bowl and mix. Slowly add that to the batter because you may not need all of it. If, after the 4th egg, you find that you still need a little more, repeat process with a 5th egg. You should not need to add a 6th egg.

Place paste in pastry bag. I use a #9 pastry tip for small eclairs and medium cream puffs. Pipe onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. If you are making different sizes or shapes, you will need to use different cookie sheets because they will cook at different rates.

Eclairs - preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place cookie sheet of piped eclairs in oven and reduce oven to 375 degrees. Bake 15 minutes (do not open door) until puffed, slightly colored and firm to the touch. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes to dry out the insides.

Cream Puffs - preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place cookie sheet of piped cream puffs in oven and reduce oven to 375 degrees. Bake 30 minutes (do not open door) until puffed, slightly colored and firm to the touch. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes (15 minutes if larger sized) to dry out the insides.

Whatever you decide to make, you want to use an egg wash. I usually cut my egg wash with a little bit of water so it's not as thick when brushing on. Brush on lightly before putting in oven.

Allow pastry to cool completely before filling. Paste will keep up to 3 days in refrigerator before piping. Store in air tight container with saran wrap right on top of paste so it does not dry out. Bring to room temperature before piping.

Once eclairs or cream puffs are made, you can store in fridge for up to 4 days before filling, or up to 4 months in freezer. They need to be wrapped tightly (in refrigerator or freezer). Allow to thaw from freezer before filling (literally only takes a few minutes). You can put in oven for about 2 minutes at 350 degrees to crisp up, but you will want them to cool before filling.

Stayed tuned for blog post on pastry filling and ganache......


Monday, December 2, 2013

"D" is for Donuts

This gave us the perfect opportunity to finally open (and use) the deep fryer we bought about 3 years ago. We just had to have the fryer, but it has sat on a shelf since then, box perfectly sealed.

This is really a recipe for beignets but we told the students they were New Orleans donuts. This was a slightly selfish project - we wanted to make beignets and we wanted to use the deep fryer. And who doesn't like something deep fried, especially something sweet and covered in powdered sugar.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm tap water, about 105-115 degrees
1/4 cup sugar
1 (1/4oz) packet of active yeast
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
Oil to coat a bowl, and for frying
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Directions:
In small bowl, combine water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for ten minutes to activate yeast. Meanwhile, in another small bowl, lightly beat egg, and add vanilla. In a double boiler, warm evaporated milk, salt and butter. Once butter has melted, slowly add egg/vanilla mixture.

In large bowl suitable for use with a dough hook, add 2 cups of flour, yeast mixture, warm milk mixture. Slowly mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 cup of flour at time until incorporated and a soft dough comes together. You will add about another 2 to 2 1/2 cups, in 1/2 cup increments. Do not over work dough. Turn out dough into oiled bowl and cover bowl with cloth or plastic wrap. Refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours, preferably overnight.


Turn out dough onto well floured surface and knead 5 or 6 times. Depending on surface space, cut dough into 2 to 3 large pieces/balls. Roll dough balls out, one at a time, into 1/2 inch thick rectangle shape. Cut to desired sized squares, usually about 2 inches.




Pour oil into Dutch oven or fryer and heat to 375 degrees. Depending on size of oven or fryer add 4 to 6 pieces at a time. Leave space between pieces so that they are not hitting one another or overcrowded in the fryer. Cook one minute on each side, or until golden brown. Drain pieces and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Keep sprinkling. They will soak up a lot of sugar while they are hot, but you do want to do it while they are hot. The sugar won't stick once they have cooled. And then, just enjoy the deep fried goodness.

I remember going to Cafe du Monde in my former life when I worked for someone else and traveled all the time. Had many visits to New Orleans, and I remember the beignets being 3 for $1. Wonder how much they are now.






Monday, November 18, 2013

"C" is for Cookie

That's good enough for me! And are they good! Greg has spent quite a bit of time perfecting his chocolate chip cookie recipe and I am always happy to sample. The key to a great chocolate chip cookie, at least in our minds, is the chip. Our favorite is Guittard, but we can never find them. We used to find them at BJ's but they haven't carried them in years. So we wind up using Nestle or Hershey's because those are the easiest to find, but they're not the same. Ghiradelli are pretty good with a richer, darker flavor but if you're making cookies for kids, I say go with Nestle.

For "C" week at school, Greg got out the Nestle chips for a tasty batch of cookies for the little ones.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients until blended. Add chocolate chips and nuts (if desired). Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

The cookies come out more evenly shaped when you use an ice cream scoop. These were made with mini chocolate chips.


I like cookies a little chewier so I bake on the shorter side, but if you like crispy, go for 12 minutes.

And if anyone has leads on where to get Guittard chocolate chips, let us know. What I wouldn't do to find Guittard chips again!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

"B" is for Banana Bread

We're continuing on our mission of making weekly treats for the Pre-K class at one of our local schools and blogging out our recipes. Each week the class studies a letter of the alphabet, so for "B" week, Greg made banana bread muffins. This is a very easy recipe to make, but not my personal favorite when it comes to banana bread.

Here is the recipe we made for the students:

Ingredients for Banana Bread
Ingredients:
3 over-ripe bananas, cut into slices
6 Tbs butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda



Directions:
Butter & sugar with bananas.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add in sliced bananas and whip in electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla and salt and mix. Add one egg at a time and mix until each is incorporated. Add flour and baking soda and mix together. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes for mini muffins; 15 minutes for full size muffins.





Here's the recipe I prefer to use when making banana bread. It's not as simple and requires a lot more bowls, but I think the muffins are much lighter and more moist. And if you really want to jazz them up, toss in a handful of chocolate chips for Chocolate Banana Nut Bread.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup flour
2 large bananas mashed
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 egg whites
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar. Add yolks, salt and mix. Add flour and mix. In separate bowl, mash bananas with baking soda. In another bowl, whisk egg whites to stiff peak. Add bananas to flour mixture and mix until blended. Fold in egg whites. Do not over mix, but you do want to make sure you don't have any streaks of egg white. At this point, add nuts or chocolate chips if desired. Fill pans about 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees until dark brown - about 20 minutes if making loaves, and 10 minutes if making mini muffins. If you make loaves, the bread freezes well and you can defrost overnight. You can toast lightly and smear with a little butter - makes this person who really doesn't like bananas, like banana bread.

Try out the recipes and let us know which one you prefer. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

"A" is for Applesauce

We're doing a cookbook! Okay, don't get too excited…..Greg volunteered to do a cookbook for one of our local schools. Their Pre-K class studies a letter of the alphabet each week and the students have to bring in an item that starts with that letter. Greg's idea was to make foods with the letter of the week, and then at the end of the year the students would receive a cookbook with all the recipes. So we've been cooking and baking for the little ones and hopefully, exposing them to some fun foods.

Applesauce isn't that creative, but what Pre-K'r doesn't like applesauce?


Applesauce
4 lbs. apples - mix of Granny Smith, and something else, should be about 3 lbs peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash ground cloves
dash ground ginger


Peel, core and cut apples. Place in dutch oven or large stockpot, and cover with water and all dry ingredients. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce temperature to low, and cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. There will still be a fair amount of liquid in the bottom of the pan (it's perfectly fine). Mash with a potato masher until desired consistency. For finer, smoother consistency, process through a food mill.

Use a mix of different types of apples.
Cut up into chunks so they will cook down faster.



Cook down apples with water and dry ingredients.
Mash away until the desired consistency.


We recommend using at least 2 Granny Smith apples. They are firmer, don't release as much water, and add a great flavor when mixed with other apples. I know that MacIntosh are usually the least expensive to purchase, but they are also the mushiest (in our opinion). You would think you would want mushy for applesauce, but they don't really have much flavor when used for applesauce. We like Gala and Fuji, but there are so many great varieties out there. Use a mix!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

I may not have won the sweet potato pie contest, but this recipe rocks! You can make it as one large, thick cheesecake (8, 9, or 10 inch) in a springform pan, or you will have enough batter to make 2 pies. You will need to double the crust recipe if making pies. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Pie with Pecan Crust and Pecan Caramel Crust

Crust
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. pecan meal
1 c. graham cracker crumbs

Combine ingredients and press firmly into pie pan. Bake 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool before filling. Yields one crust.


Filling
3 -8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. + 2 Tbs. sugar
1/3 c. sour cream
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1 3/4 c. sweet potato puree
3 eggs
1 tsp. cinammon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add sugar and mix. Add sour cream and whipping cream and mix. Add sweet potato puree and mix. Add eggs one at a time and mix. Add spices and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Place mixture in cooled pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, turn oven off and prop oven door ajar and leave in oven for another 30 minutes. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Must be kept refrigerated.

*If you are making one cheesecake, bake for 1 hour.


Caramel Nut Sauce
1/2 c. water
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 c. chopped nuts

Place water and sugar in saucepan and bring to boil. Do not stir and allow to boil until amber color. Remove from heat and slowly add heavy cream (mixture will splatter so add slowly). Stir together and bring mixture back to boil. Add chopped nuts. Allow to cool slightly before pouring on top of pie. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Yields one cup and makes enough to cover 2 pies with thin layer of sauce.

*You can refrigerate caramel sauce, and reheat.









Monday, October 14, 2013

And the Winner Is......

Greg took first place in the sweet potato pie contest at the 2013 Cape Charles Fall Festival over the weekend. The week prior was fun with trying out different recipes, taste testing and having some friendly competition about who could make the better pie. So here is the winning recipe.....enjoy!

Roasted rum sweet potato pie with pecan streusel topping

Pie Filling:
2 eggs
1 yolk
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 Tbs. dark rum
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 1/4 c. sweet potato puree

Streusel Topping:
2 Tbs. margarine
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 c. + 1 Tbs. flour
1/4 c. pecans, chopped and roasted

Whisk together eggs and sugar until slightly thickened. Add rum, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, heavy cream and mix. Add sweet potato puree and mix. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare streusel topping. Mix together margarine, brown sugar and flour until crumbly. Add nuts.

After pie has baked 10 minutes, sprinkle Streusel Topping on top of pie. Bake for additional 35 to 45 minutes. Center may still be loose but toothpick inserted in middle should come out clean. Allow to cool before slicing.

Roasted rum sweet potato pie with pecan streusel topping

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

I love LOVE!

No matter where you are from, there are some travel slogans everyone knows - "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", "I LOVE NY", and "Virginia is for Lovers". Each of them have their own ways to communicate their message, but I am in love with what Virginia does.

L-O-V-E! Those 4 letters make up about 30 different art installations across the state. It's called LOVEworks and you'll see the letters in the most random, and not so random, places made up of unique materials and items - metal, canoes, wood, wine corks, hay stacks. The most common one you'll see is made up of white letters.


LOVE works in Culpepper, VA
LOVEworks in Culpepper, VA

LOVE works in Bristol, VA
LOVEworks in Bristol, VA


LOVE works at Veritas Winery in Afton, VA
LOVEworks at Veritas Winery in Afton, VA

Communities are encouraged to create their own permanent installation using materials "native" to or symbolic of that area. I say we need one here on the Eastern Shore made with oyster shells. I talked with our local tourism director about it a year ago but nothing ever came of that conversation. I still think it's a brilliant idea, and who knows…maybe one day you'll see me somewhere in Cape Charles laying out a bunch of shells to spell L-O-V-E.

But in the meantime, there is a traveling LOVEworks that can be brought to a Virginia town near you. And it's coming to Cape Charles! It's the first time we'll have it here on the Shore and I'm so excited to be a part of bringing it here. It will be placed at the "Point" on the corner of Mason & Bay Avenues from October 11-16 with the Chesapeake Bay in the background. Can you imagine all the great photo opps?


LOVE comes to Cape Charles, VA October 11-16, 2013

Come to Cape Charles and be part of this inaugural visit. Come fall in love with LOVE. Take pictures and #LOVEVA and #CAPECHARLES or upload to Facebook.

We want to spread the LOVE from Cape Charles across the globe. Maybe you'll love LOVE too!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

World's Ugliest Mug

Today is National Coffee Day and we thought, what better way to continue with the "World's Ugliest Mug" contest. It started about 3 years ago when our sister-in-law came to visit and brought us this mug:

Someone had given it to her saying it was the "World's Ugliest Mug" and she was passing it on to us - thanks! It's really not THAT bad, and it is really big which we think is key for coffee. Who wants a tiny teacup when you're having coffee!

So now, when we are out and about, we look for contenders. Here's the one we think holds the current top spot:

I was shopping with my mom in NYC and was in TJMaxx taking pics of "ugly mugs". Who knew there could be so many ugly mugs on one shelf. This one has to be the winner - with its shape, and colors, and who can resist those bedazzled pink sparkles in the hearts.

I stood there debating on whether or not to buy it and send to my sister-in-law. But then I thought, this thing is going to come back to me some day and I really don't want a collection of ugly mugs. It's fun to look for them - and even more fun to find a contender - but I do not need my own personal shelf of ugly mugs. Our guests at Fig Street Inn love our huge Buffalo China mugs for coffee but even I would be embarrassed to put these out for guests to use.

So the hunt continues.....