Cinnamon Sticky Buns & An Apology

A month passed without a posting?! Dear Heavens, what happened? Well, since no one else reads this, I'll apologize and explain to myself. Firstly, I got sick, and it took me a while to get over that. We've also got a lot of snow down here lately, in case you haven't noticed, which has actually kept me pretty busy. As a New England native, the snow doesn't bother me- but it does keep me busy at my second job. It's at a local store, so they often ask me to come in and take shifts when nobody else can get to the store. Also, I've been working many evenings and nights. So: I'll be bringing you those promised recipes over the next few weeks. Let's get down to brass tacks then, eh?

Today I did the cinnamon rolls from a recipe from the folks at King Arthur Flour: It is as follows:

The dough:

5-6 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

¼ cup dry milk

4 ½ tsp. instant yeast

2 tsp. salt

1 ½ cup warm water

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

N.B. (this recipe actually makes two servings of this dough, you only need half for one)

For the filling:

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 tbs. cinnamon

The sticky mixture:

½ cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 tbs. Light corn syrup

3 tbs. Chopped walnuts

Here's what I used (most of it anyway).

First, we mix three cups of the flour with all dry ingredients (sugar, dry milk, etc.) in a large bowl. I want to take a moment and plug for dry milk for this recipe. I had never used dry milk before this recipe, and have never tried it with liquid milk, but it does mix very well compared to my experiments with milk bread (from Joy of Cooking). Anyway, when all of these are mixed, add the butter (I softened by placing it on the stove while I let it pre-preheat, and then zapped it in the microwave a few seconds at a time), water and eggs and mix. If haven't noticed, I also am using a danish dough hook whisk. I was skeptical about this before I used for the first time, but after using on this recipe a few times, I am awfully happy I got one. They get through the dough, but also are heavy duty enough to move it. It's a good investment (or make it yourself, they're just wire and wood).

Anyhow, as you mix this and it turns into a sticky mass, you'll want to SLOWLY start adding the rest of the flour. I mean, as in an eighth or so a cup at a time. The recipe also gives you variable amounts of flour, and they mean it. I've done this recipe a few times, and it's varied every time. Tonight, it took about 5 to get the job done. Anyhow, keep adding the flour until it turns it what I'm told is called a “shaggy mass” (insert joke here), and pulls away from the sides well. This is what it should look like:

Then, you remove it from the bowl, and knead it on a floured surface for ten to fifteen. When formed into a ball, and pressed with the finger, it should spring back, and leave no trace of the finger. I have no pictures of this because my hands were messy. Then you place it a greased bowl in a warm place and cover for 45 minutes or until doubled. Then, punch it down. If you have a good oven, get it up 375 F ( I have a stone in mine, so I pre-preheat it, so it get back up to 375 when I want it to faster). Then let the dough rest for 10-15, so it will be nice and flexible for the next step. Take half the dough (you can make another batch with the rest, or other sweet bread recipes) Roll it out into a rectangular shape, as seen on the right.

And place the filling in the middle, and roll it as tightly as you can, so it looks like this:

The cut the roll into about one inch thick slices, and place in a pre-greased pan.

Now, start the sticky mixture. WARNING! I did not follow the recipe on this! My family makes maple syrup for ourselves back home, so I'm loathe to go buy corn syrup, when have something better on hand. So, here's MY own mix for this recipe: some butter, about three tablespoons. I used some that was going bad (gotta be frugal here), some brown sugar, and some maple sugar that at the bottom of the can. Be careful when heating it, as all sugars get hot, very, very fast. And they stay hot. Real hot. Burn-yourself-badly hot. So, careful out there. I took mine off the heat and set it aside after it started bubble heavily.

Then I slide the buns in the oven, and let them cook for about twenty minutes, then remove and add the sticky mixture. They look like when done. When you're ready to serve, actually turn them upside down, they serve easier that way. And enjoy heartily!

Also, I'll be posting the other recipe you can make with one- a mock braid with fruit filling. Here's a teaser:

Here's also a link to an article from the New York Times, regarding bread made without kneading. I'm interested in putting the theory into practice in my own kitchen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/dining/24curious.html

Next time, a meal in the ancient Roman style! Until then, a podcast I love.

http://thehistoryofrome.blogspot.com/

As Always- The Underfunded Epicure

Chanterelles, Corn and Goat Cheese with Linguine

So, my first post of actual cooking post! Exciting! As promised I am going to be blogging about a recipe I found in Cooking with Shelburne Farms : Food and Stories from Vermont by Melissa Pasanen and Rick Gencarelli (ISBN 067001835X). This dish in here is actually chanterelles, corn, and goat cheese with tagliatelle, but I made a few alterations to the recipe. First, here's the original recipe.

1 lbs. Tagliatelle

2 tbs. Olive oil

2 tbs. Unsalted butter

½ lbs. Fresh chanterelles, whole if small or cut in half

Kernels from 4 ears fresh corn (about 2 cups)

½ tsp. Coarse Kosher salt, more to taste

8 tender scallions, white and pale green parts only,

sliced into 1/2-inch lengths at an angle

1 cup crumbled fresh soft goat cheese

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil and butter in large skillet or sauté-pan until foamy. Add chanterelles and corn, stirring occasionally for 4-5 mins. Or until the mushrooms and corn are lightly colored. Then add salt and scallions, continue stirring occasionally, and cook 3-4 minutes.

3. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid from the pasta, then drain pasta and immediately add it to the pan. Sprinkle goat cheese and add about half reserved liquid to help coat the pasta while tossing it. Add more liquid as needed and season to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

So, firstly here a picture of the kitchen I work and all the ingredients except for the corn- that's still in the freezer.

Anyway, so I started the water, and added a little olive oil instead. I always think this tastes better than salt. Since I bought dehydrated chanterelles instead of fresh I soaked them for about 15 minutes after getting the water on. I actually

couldn't find fresh chanterelles for the life of me- despite living near (and looking in) Kennett Square, PA, mushroom capital of the world. So, dried chanterelles had to suffice. Here's them in with the water.

After getting those in the bowl with the water, I cut the scallions, like thus:

I also saved the upper portions of them- trying to be thrifty here.

I used linguine instead of tagliatelle. Why? Because the linguine was cheaper. The water was boiling at this point, so I added the pasta. I didn't break it, which actually proved to be a bit of a problem later.

Then I got the olive oil and the butter a pan, and got it foamy as instructed, looking like this.

I quickly drained the mushrooms and my girlfriend poured out the two cups of frozen corn I used. I used frozen because fresh corn at this time of year is exorbitantly expensive. The butter and oil combo was a bit hot, because it definitely spat as we poured in the mushrooms and frozen corn. I also would advise people in the future to let the corn thaw if they use frozen corn, as it took a little while to thaw in the pan.

I also set aside the water from rehydrating the chanterelles, as a stock for some future soup. How thrifty is that, eh? I cooked the corn and chanterelles until they looked like thus:

The pasta being done, thanks to my girlfriend watching it, I then drained it. I didn't bother adding it straight away. I did not think this was necessary, though looking back on it, this might have made mixing them easier. Before draining, my girlfriend did grab out the liquid I needed for the final mixing.

I then added the salt and the scallions, and started to let those cook. My lovely girlfriend also got the goat cheese measured out for me. While I minded the vegetables cooking, she al

so set the table. When the corn was just getting brown, she also helped put the pasta in as I added the goat cheese and liquid. The pan was a little small, so I mixed a portion of the pasta, goat cheese and vegetables in the pan, and then poured that into the pot with all the pasta in it and mixed it there. The long linguine, because it was unbroken and had been out of the water for a little while had taken on a starchy character and proved pretty hard to mix with the cheese and vegetables. I would suggest that anyone making this recipe to reserve a little more liquid, because I used all of it, and still could have used more. Or follow the recipe more closely make sure they can add the pasta straight from the colander into the mix.

The final product looked like this in the pot, however-

And this on the plate.

It turned out well, both my girlfriend and I enjoyed it quite a bit. She had water with it, and I had my usual- a tall glass of cold milk. We both quite liked it.

I would suggest that any one who tries this recipe make sure they do a few things:

1. Thaw corn first
2. Reserve plenty of liquid from the pasta
   
3. Make sure the pasta goes straight into the vegetable mix
   
4. Break up the pasta

I think I'll be trying this again soon, with some variations. My girlfriend and I think that trying it with fusili or penne might make it easier to mix and eat, and we might try it with oysters sometime ( The cook book suggested this, its not because we didn't love the chanterelles).

If anyone out there tries this recipe or had different results than mine, please do get say so. I'd love to see of it does. Also, I'm still playing the format of the blog, so you might see some changes here in the coming days.

As Always- The Underfunded Epicure

The first month's line up

After giving it some hard thought, I've come up with the first month's line up. I'm going to attempt to update this blog one or twice a week. So, here what I think I'll be attempting to create in the next few weeks-

1.Chanterelles, corn and goat cheese with linguine
2.Cinnamon rolls/ An Ancient Roman Meal
3.A nice meal for two for under $20 dollars/ Country Bread
4.A Catalan dinner/ Vanilla Crescents
5.Scottish Morning Rolls/ Turkish Pita Bread & Hummus

This schedule might prove to be a little ambitious, but we'll see what happens. I also hope to create an American Colonial-era meal and try my hand at some cakes soon.

Here's also to my first follower- an old friend of mine who has proved to be my inspiration for starting this thing. Here's a link to his blog, regarding restoring/modifying old video game systems (Yes- I too, am a fan of vintage video games).

Anyhow, with any luck there will be a post on here later this week.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

As Always- The Underfunded Epicure

An introduction; Or, why blog at all?

I've always thought that blogs were rather self-indulgent things to have. They always seemed to be a platform for the worst kind of narcissistic ramblings that my generation (and others) are capable of. However, as I got out of graduate school and leapt into this dazzling economy, I found myself at first unemployed, then underemployed. I live with my girlfriend who thankfully has a full-time job, so I'm often alone with the cat during the day. Thus, I started baking. I thought it'd be a good skill have. I've always been a cook, but not a baker. I thought I'd actually go culinary school for a little while when I was younger. Baking was never my strong point- but I was determined to change that. So, I just started reading recipes online, and went for it. I found out quickly that I could make non-rising sweetbreads just fine, but the typical bread eluded me. So I just kept baking until I found recipes and techniques that worked. Now, I try to cook every night and bake at least once a week. I talked to lot of friends about cooking and baking. We trade recipes, cookbooks, techniques and try to go out and try new restaurants. We're all foodies, to one degree or another. Hence the “Epicure” in the title.

As stated above, I'm underemployed. I work two jobs- one as a freelance consultant for museums (not as glamorous as it sounds), the other as a cashier at a drugstore (even less glamorous than it sounds). I started thinking as I sat around between my two jobs, neither of which have lots of hours at this point. Why not try and share my attempts at better baking and cooking with the wider world? I figured other people out there might be baking and cooking on a budget not dissimilar from mine- one that leaves me “Underfunded” as my title suggests.

I intended to use this blog as a way to share progress in baking and cooking, share recipes and maybe even post reviews of restaurants here in the Brandywine valley region if people desire. I hope anyone who reads this will be interested in sharing hints and recipes that they might have run across in their efforts at better eating.

Heck, if this goes well, I might even start another blog, one for my other passion: Historical reenacting and material culture.

As Always- The Underfunded Epicure