Honey Blondies

Tomorrow's Kids Cook class is all about honey.  I searched for a dish that featured honey and would be appropriate for us to make and package as a Valentine gift.  Enter honey blondies.

Really a short dense cake, these treats are sweetened by honey alone.  They are delicious and super easy to make.  I baked them in a heart shaped silicone mold for this occasion, though they bake up just fine in an 8x8 inch pan as well.  Chocolate chips would be an tasty addition.

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Honey Blondies Makes: 16 small bites Time: 15 minutes preparation, 20 minutes baking

1/2 cup good quality honey 1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, softened 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 egg 1 1/2 cup white whole wheat or all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cream honey with butter until fluffy.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla.

4. Mix well and then gently fold in flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. Line 8x8 pan with butter and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Let cool, then cut into squares or pop out of molds.

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I received discounted honey for this recipe from the fine folks at Honey Health Farms at the Clintonville Winter Farmer's Market. Visit their detailed website to learn more about honey harvesting and benefits.

Mushroom Pie

A few readers asked about the mushroom pie listed on my Xmas Eve menu.  This pie is a full-flavored, nutrition-packed, attractive entree that I love to serve to meat lovers and vegetarians alike. I apologize for the lack of good pictures.  I was super busy hosting and neglected my blogging duties a bit.

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Mushroom Pie From the The Creative Vegetarian Cookbook by Jillian Stewart Makes: 8 entrée servings Time: 40 minutes preparation, 1 hour 20 minutes baking

Filling 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cups variety of mushrooms, cleaned and chopped 1 cup mixed nuts, finely chopped 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1 cup wholewheat bread crumbs 2 eggs, beaten 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried marjoram 1 tbsp soy sauce salt and pepper to taste

Dough 3 cups whole wheat flour pinch of salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 c water and extra as necessary beaten egg to glaze

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and ently fry the onion until soft. Add mushrooms and cook until juices run. Remove from heat and add remaining filling ingredients. Allow to cool.

This is where this recipe gets a little unbelievable. Just go for it.

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Cut the fat into pieces and melt in a saucepan. Add the cold water and bring to a fierce bubbling boil. Immediately pour this into the flour micture and stir vigorously until glossy. Knead into a ball when dough is cool enough to handle.

Divide dough into 1/3 and 2/3 portions, reserving smaller portion in a plastic bag to prevent from drying. Press the 2/3 portion to line the base and sides of a 7 inch springform pan. Spoon in the mushroom filling firmly, mounding in the center. Roll out the remaining dough and place on top of pie, pinching edges to seal.

Glaze generously with beaten egg. Cut of prick vents in the lid to allow steam to escape. Bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees F for 20 minutes. Reduce to 375 degrees F and bake for an hour longer.

Unmold and serve warm. Also tasty cold the next day!

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Confit Canard (Duck Confit)

So what do you do with all of the wonderful rendered fat from the roasted duck?  You didn't throw it away did you?  Rendered waterfowl fat is one of the most delicious cooking mediums out there.  One of the tastiest dishes that can be made with it is Confit Canard also known as Duck Confit.

Confit is a term that is usually applies to meat that is slowly cooked submerged in fat.  Is it healthy?  Absolutely not.  It is, however, delicious and not in the least bit greasy despite the cooking method used.

For duck confit you need the the leg, thighs, and fat of a duck.  You can buy whole ducks and butcher them, reserving the breast for other use or buy the legs on their own.  In Columbus, both whole, parts, and fat can usually be found at North Market Poultry and Game in the North Market.

Once you have the legs, trim of any excess skin and pat them dry.  Coat them in a mixture of kosher salt, chopped garlic and thyme and let them rest refrigerated for at least 12 hours.

After the resting period, rinse the legs in cold water and again pat them dry.  Place them in a shallow pan and fill the pan with enough rendered fat to cover the legs.  Michael Ruhlman advises that you can use a mixture of 50% fat (any combination of poultry fat) and 50% olive oil.  By our experience he is absolutely correct, and the end result is just as flavorful.

After covering the legs in the fat, place the roasting pan in the oven on 200 degrees and let it cook.  The process can take up to 12 hours and can be completed overnight if you wish.  You will know the cooking is finished when the meat pulls easily away from the bone of the leg.

Traditionally at this point you would let the meat cool underneath a layer of fat and store it refrigerated for many months as a preserved food product.  It is ideal to let confit rest for at least a week to fully develop its flavor but even a few days will do if you are in a time crunch.

After this fat nap, the meat can be used in many ways.  If you warm the fat back up, you can remove the legs easily, pat them dry and shred the meat from the bone.  This can then be used to top toast points, make a creamy spread or as a salad topper.

An alternate treatment is to reheat the leg whole in a saute pan and serve it as a main course.  The fat you cooked it and stored it in can be strained and re-used multiple times; there is no need to throw it away.

For a Rose Bowl party this evening, we served the confit pulled over cranberry sauce on toasted homemade bread.  Guests loved eating it and watching the Ohio State Buckeyes cook the Oregon Ducks!

This post was co-written with Alex.  In the interest of research, even vegetarian Rachel tasted and enjoyed the confit.

Make it Yourself: Fruitcake

Two years ago, my aunt brought fruitcake to our holiday celebration.  I can't say I had ever tried fruitcake before, but this was delicious!  Juicy, rich, alcoholic, and sweetened by real fruit not sugar or fluorescent candied stuff -  what could be wrong?

Last year, I made fruitcake myself.  I split the batter between one large and two small loaf pans.  Because of my unpredictable oven, the smaller ones burned on the bottom.  I was disappointed but planned to enjoy the larger loaf even more.

Sometime in the brandy basting process, the dastardly Food Hound struck again.  That's right, Devie consumed the entire large loaf.  A pound or more of dry fruit, alcohol, butter, all of it.  AGHHH!!!!  I hoped she would die of overeating but it never seems to bother her.

This year I am determined to bake and eat the fruitcake.  This year's attempt is currently aging in an upper cabinet. (Don't you wish you had opposable thumbs now, Devie?!)

I use a slightly modified version of Alton Brown's Free Range Fruitcake recipe, below.    I dare you to make it yourself - no one re-gifts this cake!

Ingredients

• 4 cups dried fruit (Choose your favorites. This year, I used golden raisins, cranberries, apricots, and a berry mix from Trader Joe's.)
• Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
• Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
• 1 cup bourbon (gold rum is traditional and called for in Alton's recipe but bourbon is my favorite)
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
• 1 cup unfiltered apple juice
• 4 whole cloves, ground
• 6 allspice berries, ground (if you are local and want some of these I have plenty to share)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, broken (Alton's recipe calls for pecans)
• Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Directions

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add bourbon and macerate overnight.

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch stoneware loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet.  Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.

When cake is completely cooled, seal in plastic wrap or a tight sealing, food safe container.  Store far away from evil dogs.

Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, baste with more brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks.

Make it Yourself: Cranberry Liqueur

I have made it no secret that I love cranberries.  Raw cranberries, snowy sugared cranberries, cranberry bread...  Transformed into an alcoholic additive is another delicious way to enjoy these little pearls of antioxidant goodness!

The cranberry liqueur recipe I use is adapted from Cooking Light, December 2003.  It makes a lovely gift packaged in a decorative bottle.  The Container Store has a wide selection of bottles.  Be sure to keep some for yourself!

2 cups honey 1 cup water 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries 3 cups vodka

Place cranberries in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until finely chopped. Combine honey, water, and cranberries in a half gallon jar; stir in vodka.

Secure the jar with a lid. Let stand for 1 - 2 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking every other day.

Discard solids by straining through a sieve into a large bowl. Then pour liqueur into clean jars through a cheesecloth-lined funnel.  Add a decorative tag or label to identify this potent potable.

My favorite way to enjoy cranberry liqueur is to pour an ounce into a champagne class and top with bubbly.  You could also use it for a cosmopolitan, cranberry martini, or for sipping on its on.  Enjoy!

Snowy Sugared Cranberries

Snowy cranberries are the most addicting winter dessert I make.  I eat these candies until my mouth turns raw from the sour acids.  I rationalize that they are healthy because raw cranberries are low calorie and high in antioxidants and vitamin C.  They look beautiful on a dessert table and are a breeze to make.

Mix 2 table spoons honey with 2 tablespoons hot water. (Alternative is to cook 1/4 cup sugar into 1 cup water for a simple syrup.) Optionally add orange zest, vanilla extract or cinnamon for flavor.

Soak 1 package (10 ounces) of raw cranberries in the honey/water mixture.

Sprinkle 1 - 2 cups white granulated or powdered sugar across a cookie sheet. I use a mixture because I like the dual purposes of coverage of the powdered sugar and the crunch of the granulated.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the wet cranberries to the sugar mix on the cookie sheet.

Stir until all the cranberries are covered and leave in the sugar mixture for 30 minutes or until sugar coating hardens.

Store in an airtight container for 3 - 4 days at room temperature if they don't disappear instantly!

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Love or hate the black and white photos?  I am just playing with my new Canon T1i Digital SLR and Flickr's Picnik editor.

Kids Cook Green Monster Smoothie and Kale Chips

This week's Kids Cook class was about greens. A great way to talk to kids about healthy eating is to compare foods to a rainbow.  What do you like to eat that is red?  yellow?  green?  Eating colorful foods means you are taking in all the vitamins you need.  We sang a song about the rainbow and shared our favorite colorful foods.

Kids are not known for enjoying deep leafy greens, so we made two easy and tasty recipes: green monster smoothies and kale chips.

First we tasted kale raw.  We pretended we were rabbits because bunnies love leafy greens.  Most kids did not love the flavor but they helped me tear off pieces of kale for the kale chips.

While the chips were roasting, we made green monster smoothies.  Really just a simple fruit and vegetable smoothie, adding the word 'monster' to anything makes kids enjoy it a little more.

Finally we read the beautifully illustrated engaging book In the Garden: Who's Been Here?.

More Kids Cook classes will be presented throughout the month.  Please come join us!

Green Monster Smoothie

1 cup ice

1 cup packed raw spinach

1/2 cup apple cider

1/2 banana

Combine in blender until smooth.  Add a little more cider if necessary to facilitate ice crushing.  Makes one adult or two kid size portions.

Kale Chips

1 large bunch fresh kale

salt, pepper, olive oil

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Remove the leaves from the stems and wash thoroughly.

Place the kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet drizzled with olive oil.

Put a bit more olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until kale is crispy and a tiny bit browned.

Cranberry Bread

Alex's relatives are from New England, Massachusetts specifically.  Lillian is named for his great grandmother who made annual trips to Cape Cod.  There's a connection with the ocean there that is unlike other places I know.  We visit the Cape area as often as we can.

The Baillieul clan loves Massachusetts cranberries and I am happy to share their enjoyment of this antioxidant packing fruit. These bright red gems scream 'holiday' to me!

I purchased our first fresh cranberries last week.  I nabbed eight bags of organic cranberries grown in Buzzard's Bay, the very place we visit in Massachusetts.  Cranberries freeze beautifully and that is the fate of most of my stock.

I will be sharing a few cranberry ideas over the next few weeks, starting with this traditional Baillieul recipe for cranberry bread.  It is delicate, delicious, and low fat.

The recipe starts with an unusual technique for a quick bread: squeeze juice of one orange (or lemon, which we used because we didn't have an orange) into measuring cup.  Add zest and enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup.  Melt 2 T butter into this mixture.

Chop 1 cup cranberries.

Beat 1 egg in a bowl.  Add 1 cup sugar (can be reduced to 3/4 if you wish) and beat well, until the sugar is almost dissolved.  Add 2 cup flour (I use King Arthur whole wheat white) 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg.  Mix all together gently.

Add the cranberries and stir to distribute evenly in the batter.  1/2 cup chopped walnuts are a great addition but Lil doesn't like them.

Transfer to a baking pan.  I bake in a stoneware loaf pan and it makes wonderfully crispy crusts.

Bake at 325 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a rack.  If you can wait til the next day, the bread slices better.

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Cranberry Bread from Alex's Great Great Aunt Mary Makes: one loaf Time: 20 minutes preparation, 1 hour baking

1 orange

2 Tbsp butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar (can be reduced to 3/4)

1 cup fresh cranberries, halved

1/2 cup walnuts, optional

2 cup flour (can use up to 100% whole wheat white)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Squeeze juice of one orange (or lemon, which we used because we didn't have an orange) into liquid measuring cup. Add zest and enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup. Melt butter into this mixture.

2. In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg. Add 1 cup sugar (can be reduced to 3/4 if you wish) and beat well, until the sugar is almost dissolved. Mix in orange juice mixture.

3. Add flour (I use King Arthur whole wheat white) salt, baking powder, baking soda, and grated nutmeg. Mix all together gently.

4. Stir in cranberries and (optionally) walnuts.

5. Spoon into a loaf pan. Bake at 325 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack. If you can wait til the next day, the bread slices better.

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