A Contessa's Backyard

hiatus

2009-08-21T12:07:00.002-04:00

the blog is on a short hiatus as I'm currently lacking internet at home as I've just moved. It should be up and running some time next week :-).

short and sweet

2009-07-28T11:05:00.005-04:00

image courtesy of flickr

So, I'll keep this entry short in sweet because otherwise I have a tendency to not ever post it or to save the draft for the rest of time (i actually have one draft saved right now - it is my goal to have it up by the end of tomorrow before I get my wisdom teeth removed!). On to the topic!

On the 17th of July, the library I work had a bake sale, part of the Great American Bake Sale campaign founded by Share our Strength. I was the organizer and was looking for a way to thank the individuals who worked the bake sale table with me on that hot July afternoon.

I know that all except one of the people seem to really liked baked goods/food. It seems my usual go to thank you baked gift is a rugelach cookie (though I use lingonberry preserves as the filling instead of the apricot, walnut, and raisin filling). And by go to gift I mean I've in for 2 times - for three people who wrote letters of recommendation for me. It seemed like it was time to do something different.

I wanted to make something that would hold up a couple days as we have some people who would not be there on the first day I baked them because we have some slighty different shifts to cover the library hours. So, the tried and true Alton Brown's Chewy Cookies recipe seemed the way to go. Unfortunately, I had to wait to later in the evening to make them and as it was closing in on bedtime when I put them in the refrigerate, I got a little impatience. I only let them chill for 45 minutes, then put them on the pan and put them in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the chilling process. You could say this wasn't that successful and you might be right. What I found was that underchilled cookies with cook too fast on the bottom - which means I was left with 16 burnnt bottom cookies. Half the dough was not enough to make the rest of the thank you cookies. Now what?

Necessity is the mother of invention. I'm not quite your what put it in my head, but the idea that came to me was for making a cookie cake out of it and then I could give them slices. Let's just say I cut a slice or two for myself and that I found them possibly delicious. Also, this post did not end up being very short, did it?

In conclusion, cookie cakes are awesome. I wish I could pretend they were one cookie and therefore rationalize eating the whole thing by myself. Alas, even I cannot delude myself into that. Happy Baking!

what you should be baking

2009-06-12T11:55:00.002-04:00

it's the weekend. or almost at least. what does that mean? that you should be baking. i came across this delicious looking creation and agree with her, you should be making it right now. I would but I'm having cupcakes at a new local cupcakery(?) on Saturday. Plus I'm already making rice krispy treats for the people at work who are mad that there wasn't enough of the raspberry buttermilk cake for the night crew in the library. What I usually do for rice krispy treats is go with the recipe on the box, but as I've used different brands of cereal, sometimes it comes out better than others depending on the recipe. So, this time I'm doing my research. I was considering (and am still) this particular recipe from David Lebovitz's blog. However, my distaste for white chocolate is pretty severe. Well, you'll know next week :-).

raspberry buttermilk cake (sort of)

2009-06-11T10:01:00.011-04:00

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Ok. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. Discuss. It's a great topic. What's your favorite kind? As much as I love chocolate, I think there's just something amazing about a good citrus cake.
While this isn't a citrus or chocolate cake, it is still good. It's super moist and would be great for breakfast with tea or coffee. I made it the night before. I believe it's even moist enough to be made a day or two earlier than that. Best of all, it's simple to make, which is why they call it an everyday cake. The recipe is from the blog Smitten Kitchen, which is quite good. Their version is made with just raspberries, but suggests that you can use any berry you like. If you want the prettier, more uniform presentation of smitten's blog, a berry like the raspberry or blackberry would be the way to go. I chose to use the rest of the bag of frozen mixed berries, which may not have looked as good, but still tasted great. The one qualm I have with the recipe is that it lists the lemon zest as optional. It is NOT optional. I might say up it from 1/2 tsp to a whole tsp. I left it out and regret it. Don't get me wrong, the cake was still good. It just would have been better.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.
Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.
Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.
Make your own buttermilk: No need to buy buttermilk especially for this or any recipe. Add one teaspoon tablespoon [updated, as an astute reader pointed out that the larger amount is more common] of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit until it clabbers, about 10 minutes. Voila, buttermilk!

This idea of everyday cake intrigues me. I usually relegate it to the weekend or a special occasion, partially because my idea of cake usually involves icing. Making it for just a weeknight just because sounds great to me. Do you guys have your own version of an everyday cake or a great everyday meal? My "everyday" meal is the super fast chicken quesadilla with precooked chicken and canned black beans and pre-diced tomatoes. Special trick: use low fat greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Seriously. I learned this one from some random website (probably from delish). It works. And it's waaaaaaaay less bad for you.

Leftovers turned into pancakes

2009-06-02T11:17:00.019-04:00

To open, I would to suggest I blog I came across this weekend called Joy the Baker. Not only do her recipes look great (I'm trying one out this weekend for a bridal shower), but her humor and personal honesty make her blog a really great read. Check it out. Now on to the food.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Saturday I made an eggplant parmesan recipe I'd been wanting to try (image and recipe to come later) and was left with leftover ricotta. Last time I made a lasagna recipe, I also ended up with leftover ricotta and not having anything to do with it, had to throw it out after a few days. So, I wanted to find someway to utilize it this time. That is when I stumbled - or googled - across this pancake recipe.

To be honest, I was searching for a pancake recipe because the previous unsuccessful attempt to use the leftover ricotta showed me a plethora of pancake recipes using ricotta. Unfortunely at the time, I didn't really have a great pantry with the ingredients that I have now come to use all the time so it wouldn't have been very beneficial to buy all the stuff just to make the pancakes. This time however I had everything on hand (for some reason I'm very proud of this fact :-).

Sunday morning, I google searched for recipes and came across this: Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. I contemplated adding berries directly into the batter, but never having tasted these pancakes before, I wanted to try them once with their original taste. I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer that I just decided to put on top instead. Frozen berries is the way to go with this recipe. I partially defrosted them in the microwave, then after all the pancakes were done, I
thrw them into the skill and let them get completely defrost and warm. Some of the juice from the berries melted into the cup/pan in both parts of the defrosting process and the berries + juice were great on top of pancakes! Surprisingly, I found the strawberries and raspberries were the best compliment to the pancakes. I expected it to be the blueberries.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons sugar

1 pinch kosher salt

Finely grated zest of 1 large Meyer lemon

1 cup homemade ricotta (store-bought works fine)

1/2 cup flour

Jam and/or maple syrup, for serving

Preparation:1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, salt, lemon zest, ricotta, and flour.
2. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, beat the egg whites to medium-stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.
3. Heat 2 non-stick or well-seasoned frying pans over medium heat. Add a bit of butter to the pans, enough to coat the bottom.
4. Dollop heaping tablespoonfuls of the pancake batter into the pans, leaving a bit of space in between each pancake. You should be able to fit 3 or 4 pancakes into each pan, depending upon how large your pan is.
5. Cook for about 1 minute, until the bottom is golden brown. Carefully flip the pancake to brown the other side, and cook until the pancake is cooked throughout, another minute or so.
6. Serve at once on warm plates with jam or maple syrup.

Notes:
I added a tsp of baking powder because I like my pancakes kinda fluffy. I honestly think from the picture on their blog that they did too and forgot to put it in the ingredient list.

DO NOT use a whisk to beat the egg whites unless you have wrists of steel. I have up after a while and just went with what I had because my wrists were too tired. Definitely use a mixer.

I had less than 1 cup ricotta left but I went with it anyway. Before adding the baking powder, I made one pancake and it was very crepelike and very good. I have a feeling -and it's something I will probably try out later- than the lemon ricotta crepe concoction + nutella + warm berries would be amazing.

chewy cookies

2009-05-29T16:44:00.012-04:00

Alton Brown's Chewy Cookies

Sorry I've been been such a bad blogger. I have been baking and taking pictures of it so I'll post that stuff later. To start you off, here is a recipe I made yesterday. I was searching the interwebs looking for cupcake blogs and cookie recipes when I came across this recipe that intrigued me. It received alot of good reviews so I wanted to test it out. I also was intrigued by the fact that this recipe called for bread flour instead of the usual all purpose. Also, now I have an excuse to make bread because I have the flour for it. Alton has three different recipes for his cookies: chewy, thin and puffy. If I remember correctly, the puffy cookies use cake flour to achieve their "puffy" shape. It's really interesting to compare the three recipes and see how the slight differences in ingredients, etc creates a different type of cookie. It seems like a good jumping off point for beginning your own experimentation. So....check them out! They were definitely delicious. These were made with semi-sweet and were great but I could see them being amazing with darker 60% or 70% cocoa chips that would really flourish against the amount of butter in the cookie dough.

Here's the recipe

Alton Brown's "The Chewy" chocolate chip cookies:

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Notes:

I just used a large spoon instead of an ice cream scooper and just rolled the pieces in my hands to form a ball.

If you don't feel like using your mixer/creating the added clean up, creaming the butter/sugar with a whisk worked fine for me.

I also made one batch at 375 degrees and another at 350. I like the slightly larger cookies that come out when you bake at a lower temp, plus my oven tends to bake pretty fast as these took 10 minutes instead of the suggested 14 min.

stand mixer

2009-04-20T11:45:00.003-04:00

so, i have wanted a stand mixer for as long as I can remember and have mentally schemed of ways to save up for one when today this beauty showed up: http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/x6.aspx?CatNum=780-2111&JSEnabled=false&hdnOnGo=true&cmResetCat=true&CmCatId=searchresults.

It is currently on sale for 99.88 and am trying to convince myself that dipping into my apartment deposit fund will be ok. I think it's working.

nothing in live is certain except for cooking and taxes

2009-04-10T12:48:00.002-04:00

Sorry that I've been such a bad blogger. I will be updating more this weekend. I've got a bunch of photos, etc. from cooking/backing `
Aaaaaaanyway, I'm looking forward to trying out a new recipe this weeked that I came across: Mock Risotto.
I was going to make this carrot soup recipe but since I'm just cooking for myself, it will have to wait till next week.

Cook book

2009-03-04T15:15:00.002-05:00

I ran across this book today where I work (in a University Library) and just had to mention it because it is interesting for a variety of reasons. The title is "Becoming a Chef" and has chapters from a variety of chefs including Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali along with a large selection of recipes. There are definitely some stand out recipes in the book in addition to the advice about becoming a chef, a pastry chef or a baker. I can't wait to try out some of the stuff in it including just the basic stuff like making your own tomato sauce.

baking vote!

2009-02-08T18:59:00.005-05:00

This coming friday we're having a sort of potluck thing this friday for valentine's day (we're having it the day before) and I can't quite decide what to make. I've narrowed it down to a few options but I definitely need help deciding. I keep going back and forth before between what is easy and wanting to make something completely from scratch. given that it is during the work week, easy keeps sounding better.

anyway, here are the options. so, if you'd comment with your vote it would be much appreciated. I'll make sure to post the pictures of the final choice later, thanks!

Lemon Tea Bread

Blondies

Chocolate Ganache Cookies

Strawberry Shortcak e

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (without the tuxedo effect)

Vote no longer needed.
This winner was decided as the Lemon Tea Bread!

I'm making it Thursday and will post pictures as soon as I get the chance (probably next week).

imminent return

2009-01-28T19:02:00.002-05:00

a contessa's backyard will officially return in mid-february, just in time for me to finish up my grad school applications.

advertising

2008-12-27T18:57:00.001-05:00

i know i still owe real posts but i had to stop by to advertise for a new etsy page started by my bff's mom: http://www.sallysunshine.etsy.com/. she does hand made glass jewelry. check it out!

2008-12-09T21:21:00.001-05:00

i apologize that it has been so long since my last blog. i have been taking pictures of new recipes i've tried and will upload them with comments forthwith (this word makes me smile). i'm also planning on making red velvet cupcakes and rice krispy treats for the office christmas party next week. if i can find a star shaped cookie cutter, i might make them rice krispies ala angela from the show the office which means put on a skewer with a ribbon tied on it so they look like fairy wands. i real post is coming soon.

2008-08-05T21:31:00.011-04:00

This post is made possible mainly in part to Meg, a friend and fellow blogger who is a fan of Heidi's cooking blog.
I have long admired the recipe for pea dumplings and finally got around to make them today and they were absolutely delicious! I think they are one of the best things I've ever eaten. I did mine differently than the directions because I didn't have a blender or food processor. So, I actually used a hand mixer and a potato smasher which seemed to work fine.

ingredients list:
2 cups (about 10 ounces) cups peas (freshly shelled or frozen)
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
scant 1/2 tea spoon fine grain sea salt
1 small shallot, minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
zest of one large lemon
and a package of wonton or round wrappers

one person note to this: the wonton wrappers may actually be in the vegetable section right next to the alphalpha sprouts as they are made by the same copy. at least this is how they were in publix.

I chose to fry them instead of steam them. I apologize for the slight fuziness in the images. My camera lens is a bit dirty.

the full recipe is available on her website.

here are some pictures of my process and how the final result came out:

the peas, ricotta, and olive oil pre mix

post mix and plus parmesan, shallots and lemon zest

filling the wonton wrappers with the pea dumpling mix

some of the wontons in their prepared shape. my package of wonton wrappers didn't include folding instructions, however I found a number of helpful videos on youtube, in particular this one. You'll need to skip forward to about a minute and 55 seconds into the video as he shows a recipe in the beginning for filling for dumplings.

dumplings in the frying pan

the finished product with a little of the filling for garnish in the center.

It was a tiring but fun process and I definitely feel very accomplished after making something like this.

More later

2008-08-03T08:54:00.002-04:00

I apologize for being so long between posts. I've had computer issues of late that the fabulous Apple Store in Orlando has kindly fixed/have also moved home from school for the summer.

I have recently decided to become a pescatarian which is basically a vegetarian who also eats seafood. I just like shrimp too much to give it up (though I do plan to cheat and very occasionally eat chicken). So, i will be going through a journey of finding new recipes that are more vegetable based. One of the man reasons I wanted to do the pescatarian thing is because I wanted to force myself to eat more fruits and vegetables. I'm not saying that as a vegetarian that is all you eat, but that I'm trying to make that my focus. So, I will be sharing the recipes that I've found and tried. I also welcome any suggested recipes.

Thanks!

Tea Party

2008-05-20T14:58:00.010-04:00

Two week ago on the 7th of May, I had a tea party in my university apartment for the other art history grad students as well as some of my neighbors. It was pretty successful and people were definitely surprised by the food. They said they were just expecting a few store bought cookies. It was more baking than I was used to doing in such a short time as I ended up doing everything that morning as I had just turned in my last final the day before and was pretty tired. Anyway, one of my bosses loaned me her french press to use as a strainer/tea pot which was really great as I'd never used loose leaf tea before and she also gave me this great loose leaf fruit tea that had a really nice woodsy flavor to it.

image courtesy of target.com

So, I thought it would be nice to post some of the recipes here as they were more or less simple to make, don't require speciality cookware (apart from an electric mixer)and make a good presentation.

Here's the menu:

1. flourless chocolate cupcakes.

2. victoria sandwiches.

3. Marinated shrimp with smoked gouda and proscuitto.
4. chocolate mousse filled chocolate dessert cups.
5. crostini bread with herb goat cheese.

1. Flourless chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache topping

I found the recipe for this cake just searching the internet several months ago and have used it 4 or 5 times since then. It takes delicious but doesn't take a lot of work.

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch round cake pan, and dust with cocoa powder.
In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slices can also be reheated for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-II/Detail.aspx

+I personally don't use a double boiler for this recipe as melting the chocolate in the bowl in the microwave means less time/dishware as I can just use that same bowl to mix the rest of the ingredients in.

+This is great served with vanilla icecream or with raspberry sauce in addition to or instead of the icecream. The raspberry sauce makes a great ice cream topping.

Raspberry sauce:
2 pints raspberry
1/4 sugar
(optional) 1 tsp. lemon juice

-Allow the raspberries and sugar to boil in a small sauce pan on the stove until the raspberries have broken down (10-15 minutes).

-Strain the sauce into a bowl or other container to remove the seeds (use may use a sifter for this as well but the seeds will most likely get stuff to the sifter and you may just ahve to use it only for your fruit saucues, buying a second one for flour,etc.)

And that's it! It's super simple yet super good.

+I tend to leave off the lemon juice in this recipe which is why I marked it optional. The raspberry sauce is tart enough without it and seems to maintain its color well.

This cake will have an inclination to stick to the bottom of the pan so dusting the bottom with cocoa and spraying not stick spray is very important. The liners for the cupcakes make this easier. For the topping

Chocolate ganache:
8 oz. semi sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream

melt chocolate into the heavy whipping cream in a small sauce pan on a low-medium heat.

If you want it to set, it will take around 2 or so hours. Refrigeration will cause it to lose its shine so make close to time of use so that refrigeration is not necessary. For the cake form, it is not really necessary to allow it to set as it can be poured out onto the cake. However, it is necessary for the cupcakes.

The image is a photo from someone else, but if I did actually take a photo of my cupcakes/when I have a personal computer, I will post mine.

+(optional) top cupcakes with edible flours. If you live in the midwest, you can find these at a Martin's Supermarket. I have also seen them as Whole Foods. They had a very nice touch.

I'll add the rest of the recipes later. hope you enjoy this one!

2008-05-20T14:49:00.000-04:00

Based on the inspiration of other friends starting newer/more interesting blogs, I decided to give a new one a try a well. Unlike the previous livejournal, I would like this one to focus on certain interests of mine. Mainly, it will focus on cooking/baking as well as hopefully some discussion of my museum internship this summer. In addition to this, I am wildly in love with movies. So, hopefully that will play a part as well. It might be a little light on the pictures at the beginning because my peronal labtop is currently broken. So, until then it will be picture limited/stock photos from the internet. I hope both you and I enjoy it!