You can watch my best bread pudding recipe web story here. Why You Need to Make This Bread Pudding Subjectively (and even objectively), this really is the best bread pudding. The ratio of custard to bread is perfect so that it completely soaks into the bread without leaving any dry bits. Have you ever had a bread pudding where there is too much custard? So there is a layer of plain custard underneath the chunks of soaked bread? There is a time and a place for smooth custard (like my creme ... continue reading...
Search Results for: pound cake
Lemon Cooler Cookie Recipe (Copycat)
See my lemon coolers recipe web story here. These cookies are indeed seriously awesome! I made them yesterday. I cannot stop popping them in my mouth! They remind me of a childhood favorite. My parents were here yesterday. Mom said she could picture the green box as she was savoring them too. Reader and Lemon Cooler Lover Allison Lemon Coolers Vs. Lemon Cookies You may wonder, especially if you have never had one before, what makes lemon coolers different from regular lemon ... continue reading...
Monte Cristo Crepes (Two Ways)
The Disappointment of a Restaurant Monte Cristo When I was a kid, I thought the deep-fried Monte Cristo from Bennigan's was the height of Fancy. A sandwich, deep-fried, cut into fancy triangles and served with powdered sugar? And raspberry jam? So fancy! I have long wanted to put a Monte Cristo on the blog, but I have had a couple over the last couple of years--for research, mind you--that left me underwhelmed and sad. I'm not sure if Bennigan's were the best and the rest are just ... continue reading...
The Best Sausage Balls
Watch my sausage balls recipe web story here. Sausage Balls At A Glance ✔️Skill Level: Beginner✔️Skills: Grating, Mixing✔️Type: Individual appetizers✔️Number of Ingredients: 9✔️Prep Time: 10 minutes✔️Cook Time: 25 minutes✔️Yield: 24-48, depending on sizeJump Straight to the Recipe ...It's dark and cloudy outside but these certainly brightened my day...Seriously, these things are full of ... continue reading...
Thanksgiving Shepherd’s Pie | Leftover Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
Watch my turkey shepherd's pie web story here. My husband just said this is the best part of thanksgiving weekend for him. Reader Trisha NOTE: This post contains a long story about my family. If you prefer, you can skip straight to the recipe. Thanksgiving with Uncle Ray One year, we took an early Thanksgiving meal down to Pinehurst to enjoy with Uncle Ray. My mom made some of the food, and I made some of the food, and we all ate in Uncle Ray's room at the nursing home. One ... continue reading...
The Best Great Northern Beans Recipe (Vegan and Vegetarian Options)
See my best Great Northern Beans recipe web story here. We've tried the Cajun and Italian versions, and they're both delicious!Reader NG Why You Need to Make This Recipe This recipe is easy to make and has huge flavor. And it's just a bit of a twist on "standard" red beans and rice. The beans cook up super creamy, and served with rice it makes a filling meal, whether you make them vegan, vegetarian, or meaty. I'll also show you three different ways to make them, so depending on ... continue reading...
Honey Peanut Brittle Recipe
Watch my best peanut brittle web story here. ✔️Skill Level: Intermediate✔️Skills: Cooking Sugar, stirring a very hot mixture, pouring candy onto Silpat✔️Type: Candy✔️Number of Ingredients: 7✔️Prep Time: 5 minutes✔️Cook Time: 15 minutes✔️Yield: 2 pounds of peanut brittleJump Straight to the Recipe POC recipes are so clearly written and include such helpful tips - I'm so glad to have found you. ... continue reading...
Delicious Cherry Cobbler Recipe
Watch my easy sweet cherry cobbler web story here. Why You Should Make This Cobbler Recipe It's no secret that I'm a fan of the fruity dessert. I am partial to the NC-centric sonker like this blackberry cherry sonker, but there is almost nothing better than a fresh and bubbling cherry cobbler. Here's what makes this one so good, and why you should make one immediately. How to Make It This cobbler has two simple-to-make components: the fruit and the batter. Here's what you'll ... continue reading...
Chocolate Caramel Ice Cream (No Churn, Fig Swirl Optional)
This made a delicious, rich and not-too-sweet ice cream made with bittersweet chocolate. Loved it!Reader Jill Why You Should Make This Ice Cream At its heart, this very fancy sounding ice cream is chocolate caramel ice cream. Chocolate ice cream made with a caramel base. Just like with the best hot fudge sauce in the world, caramelizing the base lends tons of complexity you just can't get with a neutral or vanilla base. . We discovered this at the restaurant when I was playing ... continue reading...
Easy Mixed Berry Jam Recipe | No Added Pectin
More jam recipes to try: cran-raspberry jam, fig jam, and onion jam. This is my go-to jam recipe. It’s perfect every time. Not too sweet, just right. My husband and I really enjoy it on top of ice cream. Thanks for sharing an easy and yummy recipe!Reader Dahlia What Makes This a French-Style Jam? The short answer is that this jam is packed with fruit, is lower in sugar than a traditional American-style jam, and doesn't have extra pectin in it. It's thickened only with the natural ... continue reading...
What Does Yeast Do In Bread Baking?
What Is Yeast? Yeast are single-celled little fungi. Yeast live to eat sugar, make alcohol and produce gas. Oh, and reproduce. And that's pretty much their whole raison d'etre. Important Things to Know Please don't be intimidated by yeast. They are much smaller than you, and you have opposable thumbs and a forebrain. You are smarter than yeast, so fear not! There are a couple of Things to Know about yeast: 1)Like people, yeast doesn't like to be too hot or too cold. If ... continue reading...
The Best Sprouted English Muffins | Sprouted Whole Wheat Muffins
Lindley Mills Super Sprout™ Flour What do you think about when you hear "Whole Wheat English Muffins?" If you're anything like me, I'd think, "Ew. Dry. Quick, heap on the butter and drown it in jam!" Plus, store-bought English muffins are so thin that, by the time you split them, you can practically see through them, or one side is smaller than the other. I am here to tell you I have become a whole wheat English muffin convert thanks to Lindley Mills. They very kindly sent ... continue reading...
Easy Cheese Rolls Recipe with Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes
Watch my easy potato cheese rolls web story here. GREAT RECIPE!! I am a bread making addict and made this today, in a word “fantastic” soft fluffy sweet inside savoury top a real tear and share winner. Thank you <3Reader Long Varying the Flavor with Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes I am generally the girl who wants to make everything from scratch, including my mashed potatoes. I've made other dinner rolls using Idaho® Russet potatoes, cooked and mashed, in the recipe. You can see how ... continue reading...
Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
Watch my best mint buttercream web story here. Different Types of Buttercream The buttercream many Americans are familiar with is American buttercream. This is butter-based and contains a lot of powdered sugar and some flavorings. Maybe a touch of additional liquid to achieve a nice spreading consistency. French buttercream is made by cooking whole beaten eggs with a hot sugar syrup while whipping them. To that whipped base, you slowly add bits of softened butter until it comes together ... continue reading...
No Churn Peppermint Ice Cream
I am so happy to be able to bring you guys this peppermint ice cream recipe, friends. I love it, especially during the holidays, and since I couldn't find any at the store this year, I decided to make my own homemade peppermint ice cream. As a bonus, it's also a no-churn recipe for those of you who don't have an ice cream maker.You may also enjoy my Andes mint chip ice cream or my Junior Mint ice cream. Both of them are also no churn.For ease of browsing, here are all my ice cream recipes in one ... continue reading...
The Best Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies (Gluten-Free)
What Makes These The Best? I researched a lot of crinkle cookie recipes while developing this one. I wasn't concerned about the peppermint portion since all I needed for that was peppermint oil and my inspiration in the first place: the bars of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark I bought at the store the other day. I think I've hit on the perfect formula, too. Here's what's so great about these: How to Make These Guys These cookies truly are easy to make. There is a ... continue reading...
Savory Pumpkin Bread | A Beautiful Thanksgiving Bread
How This Bread Came About Sometimes I like to come up with a recipe out of whole cloth, and that's what I did with this pumpkin bread. Aside from coming up with the general flavor profile, I made this savory pumpkin bread up as I went along. Fortunately I took notes, because it's delicious. Since I wanted to use a bunch of butter for richness (the theme of Communion was abundance), the crumb is quite soft. What looks like rustic, crusty loaves on the outside are actually very ... continue reading...
Soft Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls| Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Rolls
I am proud to partner with the Idaho® Potato Commission to bring you this recipe for Thanksgiving dinner rolls, also known as Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Rolls. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It was a hit on Thanksgiving! A keeper for sure. Tasty, attractive, moist rolls everyone exclaimed how good they were! I baked them on a pizza tin, measured them out so to be uniform. I will be making more for sure.Reader Mike Watch my Thanksgiving dinner roll web story here. Why You Need to ... continue reading...
The Best Soft Pumpkin Dinner Rolls | Perfect for Thanksgiving
Bread Matters I love a good, crusty bread. One you practically have to snap your head back away from in order to tear off a bite. I love to dip that kind of bread in oil. But when it comes to gravy--brown, turkey, chicken or beef gravy and not the Italian version of gravy--I want a soft roll. I want a squishy roll, and while we're at it, I want it to be rich, too. I want it to soak up gravy or let me make tiny sandwiches of parts of my meal. A bit of turkey. A bit of stuffing. ... continue reading...
The Best Boston Brown Bread Recipe
Watch my best brown bread recipe web story here. Reader Rave Holy Moly this is good! Great recipe. Turned out perfectly. I did not let it cool for 2 hours. Are you kidding me with that one? Next time I will make it early in the day so I have the patience to let it cool. Perfection, JenniReader Susan I have long wanted to make a Boston brown bread for the blog. When I was little, my mom tells me I used to put on dress up clothes, grab a pocket book, and then tell my mom I was ... continue reading...
Vinegar Pie, or Good Lord I Need Pie! What’s in the Pantry?
Watch my vinegar pie web story here. Vinegar Pie, At a Glance ✔️Skill Level: Beginner✔️Skills: Lining a pie tin with dough, whisking✔️Type: Pie✔️Number of Ingredients: 6✔️Prep Time: 10 minutes✔️Cook Time: 35 minutes✔️Yield: 8 servingsRelated Recipe: Pate BriseeJump Straight to the Recipe Freaking awesome pie! Good thing Pioneer days included lots of hard manual labor or else everyone would ... continue reading...
Epic Breakfast Burger for #BurgerMonth
This epic burger is part of a burgertastic month-long event hosted by Girl Carnivore. All opinions and this burger are my own (but I hope you make one, too!) Why This is the Best Breakfast Burger I love to pull out all the stops for Burger Month, and this year is no exception. Here's why this burger Rules: Homemade buns made with cooked grits. That recipe is coming soon, I promise.Pepper jelly. Pepper jelly makes everything better, and I'm using some from a local jam maker, Mrs. ... continue reading...
Sweet Potato Sonker Recipe | #SpringSweetsWeek
What Does Sonker Taste Like? I wanted to get this out of the way right at the beginning. This sweet potato guy really tastes like pure, unadulterated sweet potato pudding in a brown sugar crust. The flavor is very simple and straightforward. Very approachable and comforting. And the texture is soft and yielding. It's really very good. You can up the flavor factor a bit if you want by adding some ground spices or even some minced crystallized ginger to the filling. But what I like ... continue reading...
Pumpkin Babka with Pecan Streusel | No Refined Sugar
Inspiration for Pumpkin Babka My idea started with pumpkin. Initially, I was going to make pumpkin sweet rolls. Sort of like cinnamon rolls but pumpkiny. I've already done that with the espresso pumpkin sticky buns and sweet rolls, and then I remembered a gorgeous cake Denise from Chez Us posted, a Krantz Cake or Babka. This was her version of an Ottolenghi beauty, personalized with cherries and pistachios. I loved the look and resolved to make something similar happen as ... continue reading...
Soft Garlic Chive Potato Rolls
What Do Potatoes Do In a Dinner Roll Recipe? Potatoes, especially starchy potatoes like Idaho® Russet Potatoes, soak up liquid once they reach a certain temperature, and they don't let go. This keeps your breads and rolls softer longer and is very similar to the way Tangzhong method works. Rather than cooking a portion of the flour and liquid together, you just replace a portion of the flour with cooked potato. As a bonus, you do get a bit more nutritional bang for you buck as well. ... continue reading...
Soft and Gooey Cinnamon Rolls Stay Fresh for Days!
I am honored to partner with the Idaho® Potato Commission to bring you these soft gooey cinnamon rolls. Baking with Potatoes Potatoes are almost endlessly versatile. You love 'em in soup, in stew, stuffed to overflowing, roasted, spiralized, baked in wedges and on and on. I do, too. But you know what else I love? Cinnamon rolls. Soft cinnamon rolls. I am in seriously, long-lasting, deep-and-abiding love with gooey cinnamon buns. So when I had the opportunity to work with ... continue reading...
Apple Butter Vs Applesauce | Similarities and Differences, Recipes, and More!
As I was making apple butter for the second time in recent days, I wondered to myself, "What is the difference between applesauce and apple butter?" I figured if I was asking that question, maybe some of you were, too. What Is the Difference Between Applesauce and Apple Butter? After reading copious numbers of applesauce and apple butter recipes, I think I can narrow down the difference between applesauce and apple butter, at least a little bit. I think it's safe to say that applesauce ... continue reading...
Honey Apple Butter Recipe (And What To Do with It)
Shoutout to Wild Hibiscus Flower Company and Honey Ridge Farms for making such amazing products. What Does This Apple Butter Taste Like? Since The Burrell Group generously sent me Fun Things (thank you, Ronnie), I decided to make something delicious with what they sent. What I came up with is a fairly unorthodox apple butter. One sweetened with honey and accented with hints of hibiscus and lavender. This butter is less sweet than some, and if you taste it at the beginning of ... continue reading...
Gluten-Free Chocolate Yule Log with Cran-Raspberry Filling
Watch my chocolate yule log web story here. A Brief History of the Yule Log The Yule log originally comes from Nordic tradition and was an entire tree that was burned during the winter solstice. And since some Scandinavians were Vikings who traveled far and wide to trade and to raid and eventually to settle down and farm, the Yule log tradition traveled with them. The history of the actual yule log cake--or buche de Noel in French--is a bit murky, but since hearths where the Yule ... continue reading...
What Is the Difference Between Butterscotch and Caramel?
Before we look at the difference between butterscotch and caramel, I'll take a minute to define butterscotch and caramel. Feel free to use the table of contents to jump down to sections you are most interested in. What is Butterscotch? Butterscotch in its purest form--candy--is similar to caramel but differs in three main ways. It does not have contain dairy (except for the small amount of milk solids in butter),it contains more butter than caramel does, which strictly speaking ... continue reading...
Homemade Butter Mints | A Must Have for Showers!
Are Butter Mints Hard to Make? In a word, no. If you can make "regular frosting" with butter and powdered sugar (American Buttercream), you can make butter mints, no problem. The only special skill you might need is "rolling dough into snakes," and I think most of us mastered that particular skill in kindergarten. How To Make Them: Okay, here's the rundown. Mix butter and powdered sugar until creamy.Add mint flavoring and a bit of milk.Roll into snakes (refrigerate before slicing ... continue reading...
Traditional Christmas Stollen with Idaho® Potatoes
It's always a delicious honor to work with my friends at the Idaho Potato Commission. Thanks for sponsoring this post, and thank you for supporting my brand partners. You're gonna love this Traditional Christmas Stollen with Idaho® Potatoes! A traditional Christmas Stollen has a very long history. They date back hundreds of years, to the mid-15th century. Packed with dried and candies fruits and nuts and then rolled in sugar after they come out of the oven, these treats are made year round. ... continue reading...
Glazed Raspberry Filled Donuts | Fabulous Krispy Kreme Copycat
I don't know about you, but next to a straight up original glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut, my favorite are the glazed raspberry filled donuts. And today I am sharing my copycat recipe for these delicious and addictive little babies. Are you ready for this?For ease of browsing, here are all of my sweet yeast bread recipes in one place. Thanks for stopping by! If you are a Super Fan of yeast-raised doughnuts, you may also want to check out my key lime pie doughnuts, glazed donuts, or these ... continue reading...
Soft Potato Rolls | Delicious Sandwich Rolls
I'm proud to be working with Idaho® Potatoes to bring you this recipe for Soft Sandwich Buns. These rolls have perfect texture and taste. Extremely happy with the results!REader Angela Why Make This Recipe? I love a good, hearty grain bread. Shove as many seeds and nuts and whatnot into a crusty loaf, and I'm a happy girl. But man. Sometimes you just want a soft roll. One that has great flavor, but that is content to take a back seat to whatever you choose to put on it. A ... continue reading...
Ballymaloe Irish Stew for Two (or Four)
Ballymaloe House Ballymaloe Irish Stew is named for the Ballymaloe Country House Hotel in County Cork, Ireland. The Allen family has lovingly run the inn, restaurant, and cooking school since 1964, and their guiding principal is use what you have on hand, get the rest locally, and let the ingredients shine. I'm not sure if they're the original farm to fork restaurant, but they certainly could have helped pioneer the idea. Ballymaloe Irish Stew: Simple Goodness Look up recipes for ... continue reading...
Champagne Yeast Brioche Bread | Progressive Eats
Friends, hi! It's Progressive Eats day, and this month, Jane from The Heritage Cook is hosting! Come see what we have going on for a New Year's Eve Blowout Celebration! (Spoiler Alert: I made champagne yeast brioche bread.) A New Year's Eve Extravaganza Welcome to another edition of Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party where each course is held at a different home. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious ... continue reading...
Sweet and Spicy Marinated Grass Fed London Broil | #GotToBeNCBeef
Friends, have I got a treat for you today! I visited one of North Carolina's (surprisingly) many beef farms a couple of weeks ago, and I am here to tell you all about it in this sponsored post and offer you a wonderful, holiday meal recipe featuring NC Beef: Sweet and Spicy Marinated Grass Fed London Broil! Let's get on with it, shall we? Another beef recipe you might like are my beef carnitas. For ease of browsing, here are all of my meat recipes in one place. Thanks for stopping ... continue reading...
Finally, Cauliflower Pizza You Can Pick Up, Reheat or Eat Cold the Next Day
You Have To Be Able To Pick It Up! I really am very new to cauliflower pizza crust, but I've been dabbling in eating a bit lower carb these days to make it possible to eat reasonable portions of all the desserts I make for the blog. So, after hearing a lot about cauliflower pizza, and knowing first-hand how versatile and delicious cauliflower is (hello, sausage and peppers with cauliflower rice), I went out onto the Hinternets to see about this crust. Lots of the recipes out there are ... continue reading...
The Best Port Wine Cheese Ball Recipe
Consider serving your cheese ball with homemade Ritz crackers. Port Wine Cheese Ball, At a Glance ✔️Skill Level: Beginner✔️Skills: Reducing a liquid on the stove, using a food processor, cooking nuts on the stove top✔️Type: Appetizer ✔️Number of Ingredients: 5 for the cheese ball and 4 for the pecans✔️Prep Time: 20 minutes✔️Cook Time: 18 minutes to reduce the port✔️Yield: 1 cheeseball ... continue reading...
Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative The Silk Non-Dairy Yogurt Alternative truly is fruity--the base of the blueberry flavor, is blue-berry-y, plus there are bits of blueberries in the mix. Double blueberry--fine with me! Plus, it's very smooth and creamy. It's made with cultured soy and packs 6 grams of protein per serving. As well, it's gluten-free, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, non-GMO certified, and did I mention smooth, creamy bright blueberry flavor? Silk is the first yogurt ... continue reading...
Soft Buttery Dinner Rolls and More
As promised, here's a cheat sheet of ingredients you can steep in scalded milk to add flavor, and I've also included some ideas for what to make with your infused dairy. This cheat sheet is what I promised, but I have some more BONUS stuff for you, too! As an extra thank you for being here, I'm over-delivering! I really hope you love these dinner rolls. There's not much better than soft, buttery rolls. Enjoy! I am a firm believer in owning a scale and an instant-read thermometer. Click ... continue reading...
Bucatini Pie | Rich, Decadent, Delicious
Love at First Sight I first encountered spaghetti pie on Martha Stewart's cooking show years ago. It was a recipe ostensibly developed by Martha's friend Eleanora. Martha told us Eleanora came up with it as a way to use up leftovers, but I don't know anyone who calls 12 oz of sopressata "leftovers." Regardless, I dreamed about making this pie for years. I have no idea what took me so long to finally get around to making it. It's not hard to make. In fact, it's really easy, but ... continue reading...
How to Pair Flavors: A Comprehensive Flavor Pairing Guide
The Question I have had this post on my mind for some time, now. Thanks to friend, neighbor and reader Roberta for asking: "How do you know what flavors will go together?" I'm paraphrasing, but that's pretty much the gist of it. I'd even broaden this to ask why do some flavors go so well together while others don't? I'm going to try to answer these huge questions in this Very Long Post. Here's what we'll be examining: Along the way, I'll highlight some additional ... continue reading...
Cuban Sandwich Stuffed Cuban Bread | #BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to [email protected]. Cuban Sandwich Stuffed Cuban Bread When I love a flavor combination, ... continue reading...
Sweet and Spicy Pork Egg Rolls | Progressive Eats
Hello, friends! I hope you enjoy thiese sweet and spicy pork egg rolls! They are really flavorful and a nice twist on an Asian-American classic egg rolls. You may also find these pineapple ham skewers a good fit if you're looking for a lighter take on pork. I missed last month's Soup Extravaganza, and I was so sad. I had a plan and everything, but then I forgot that last February is really short and ended up on vacation the weekend I was supposed to be cooking and writing my post. ... continue reading...
Old Neighborhood Oatmeal Porter Oatmeal Beer Bread
I made this with coffee porter and it turned out just scrumptious. Soft, springy, aromatic, and perfect for a thick slice with dinner or afternoon coffee. Second batch is already bulking.Reader Jessica Oatmeal Beer Bread The Beloved and I stopped by the Crafty Beer Shop when we were at Lafayette Village this weekend. I was looking for some beer to bake with, and as soon as I saw the Old Neighborhood Oatmeal Porter from Mother Earth Brewing in Kinston, this whole post ... continue reading...
Southern Chicken and Dumplings with Flat Dumplings
NOTE: There is a long section of this post devoted to a friend's funeral. If you'd rather not read all of that, please use the Jump to Recipe button or use the Table of Contents below the first photo. Or just click here. Thank you. Watch my Southern chicken and flat dumplings web story here. Saying Goodbye Recently, the Beloved and I attended a dear friend's older brother's memorial service. Rich was one of a kind. His family requested that his favorite song, The Wheel by The ... continue reading...
How Do I Choose The Right Kind of Flour for #Fundamental Friday
How Do I Choose the Right Kind of Flour? Susan of Olives and Figs Chronicles asked me this question the other day on the fan page. I gave her a brief answer and said I would go into more detail for Fundamental Friday. So here I am. First, let me share the short answer I gave Susan on Wednesday: In short...the finer and more tender you want your end product to be, the "softer" (less gluten) and the finer mill you want in your flour. From highest protein bread flour for hearty and/or chewy breads ... continue reading...
Church Supper Cherry Yum Yum for Throwback Thursday #tbtfood
I grew up going to church every Sunday morning for Sunday School and "big church," every Sunday evening for youth group and every Wednesday evening for Wednesday night suppers and youth choir or bell choir practice. Even back then, Wednesdays were the highlight for me. Not because of bell practice, where we would annoy our director, Jim, to the point of apoplexy (although that was fulfilling in its own way), but because of the supper. Talk about a groaning board. Foods were jumbled together on ... continue reading...
Honeyed Pear and Walnut Ice Cream for Ice Cream Tuesday
Honeyed Pear and Walnut Ice Cream is juicy and sophisticated. Oh, and it's also delicious. A great ice cream option for the fall and a fun way to pair up pears and walnuts that isn't a salad! Don't miss the round up of all my ice cream recipes. Hello, and Happy Ice Cream Tuesday! I have never been a huge fan of vegetables, and as a kid, I don't think I ever ate anything other than starchy vegetables: corn, lima beans, peas, potatoes. I'm pretty sure it was a textural thing, because something ... continue reading...
Easy Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce | Hearty, Versatile, Delicious
Why Make a Sauce with Italian Sausage? Many slow-cooked Italian pasta sauces start with ground beef or pork, and then you add seasoning to them. Italian sausage already packs a ton of bold flavor. A quick look at the ingredient list of a recipe for hot Italian sausage includes: pork shoulderkosher salttoasted fennel seedblack peppercayenne pepperpaprikasmoked paprikacrushed red pepper flakesgarlicred wine As you can see, that's a ton of flavor. So by starting with sausage rather than ... continue reading...
Savory Apple Onion Tart or Channeling That Skinny Chick
Jump straight to the recipe. I have never been big on crafting. My best friend Julie used to make me participate in one obligatory Christmas craft per year, and as a result, I am the proud owner of an okra pod Santa, a wee snowman made out of an ice cream spoon and a Christmas tree with button ornaments. They are cute, but man was it a messy process. Not for Julie. No--she works clean and is generally not messy. Me on the other hand? It's inevitable that I end up with hot glue on my fingers, ... continue reading...
Melt Organic Buttery Spread: There Might Be a Place for it in Your Fridge
Disclosure: I was compensated to write this post. The Melt Folks sent me coupons to try Melt Organic Buttery Spread on them. They also sent me a wee spreader and a thin, flexible cutting board. Thanks, Melt folks. Any text in block quotes comes from the folks at Prosperity Organics (Melt Makers). Photos, unless otherwise noted, are from Prosperity Organics. What Fats I Usually Use I like butter. Love it, even. And I am also a huge fan of coconut oil. When I saute, I generally use ... continue reading...
Fig Jam with Vanilla and Black Pepper
Making Fig Jam is More a Procedure Than a Recipe The first post I ever read of my friend Stacy's blog, Food Lust People Love was about her Gram's fig preserves. The rules are simple: Two parts figsone part sugarCook and cookBe gentle so you don't break up the figsCan. NOTE 1: I am not gentle, so I knew I'd be making jam and not preserves. Speaking of which... What is the Difference Between Jam and Preserves? Both jam and preserves involve cooking fruit with sugar, some acid, ... continue reading...
Glazed Donut Recipe | Krispy Kreme Copycat
Friends, are you ready to make the best glazed donuts? I hope so, because today we're making a copycat version of my beloved Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts! They have that crackly-thin glaze that shatters satisfyingly when you bite into them, and they are just all-around excellent. If you're a filled donut fan, you may enjoy my key lime pie donuts or my raspberry-filled donuts. For ease of browsing, you can find all my sweet yeast bread recipes in one place. Glazed Donuts, At a ... continue reading...
Baking Tips from a Professional Pastry Chef
Whipping Cream Cream whips best when cold. I usually whip cream in a stainless steel bowl set in a larger bowl filled with ice and a little water. (Read more about water baths and ice baths) I really like this set of nesting bowls. Read more about how to whip cream by hand. Meringue Egg whites whip faster at room temperature and tend to be more stable when heated and then whipped. Separate eggs when cold and then allow whites to come to room temperature before ... continue reading...
What Does a Pastry Chef Do?
I no longer work in a pastry kitchen full time, but this is an accurate representation of my day when I worked production at a fine dining restaurant. I didn't feel like changing all of this to the past tense, so just go with it! If you're considering becoming a pastry chef, chef or cook and you have never cooked professionally, you should probably give this a read. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure policy. Many people have asked me: what does a pastry ... continue reading...
Genoise
This recipe is from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible. It rocks. The genoise and the book. If you're unfamiliar with genoise, it is a very light, very dry French type of sponge cake. As you'll notice in the recipe, there is very little fat in a genoise (and even the beurre noisette is not strictly called for, so you can leave that out if you'd like). It absolutely needs to be soaked with a soaking syrup/simple syrup to make it moist. Once you soak it, you'll be really happy you made a ... continue reading...
Pastry Variations
In this section, I don't want to give a lot of recipes. I'd rather stand back and let you be creative. Don't forget that baking is a science, so don't mess around with your structural elements, unless you have a lot of time for experimentation. You can, however, play around with additions such as fruit (toss some frozen blueberries with a bit of flour and mix them gently in to your white cake--there's an idea), chocolate (chips, maybe), spices, extracts and liqueurs. I'm also a big fan of citrus ... continue reading...
Paillete Feuilletine
What Is Feuilletine? Usually only seen in the professional kitchen, paillete feuilletine (foo-ye-teen, more-or-less, from the French "feuille," meaning "leaves") tastes like crispy, thin little shards of sugar cone. You can mix it into mousses to add some crunch. Feuilletine is made of crushed crêpes Dentelle. I had never heard of crêpe Dentelles before until someone emailed to ask me if I could make a video to show how to make it. So, I did some research, made a few errors--which are ... continue reading...
Spent Grain Bread for Sandwiches
How To Use Spent Grains in Bread Bread and beer are closely related and share almost the same ingredients. And this Particular bread has even more in common with beer than most since I used the spent grains from The Beloved's latest Brewing Escapade in the dough. To brew beer, you can either use a malt extract, which is an evaporated form of what you'd get if you boiled cracked whole grains. Or, you can start with the cracked grains and boil them to extract a lot of the flavor. The ... continue reading...
String Theory, Or Ropa Vieja
When I was in my Must-Get-Every-Niche-Cookbook-Known-to-Man phase, I acquired a wonderful little book called The Chili Cookbook, by Norman Kolpas. Between its unpretentious soft covers, I discovered such gems as Day-After-Thanksgiving Chili, a chile-fied take on Cioppino and Ropa Vieja-Style Chili. The Beloved and I made the latter a couple of times several years ago. Maybe even as long ago as the Last Century. Anyhow, it was a delight, and I've dreamed about revisiting ropa vieja ever ... continue reading...
Your Friendly Baking Troubleshooting Guide
Common Baking Questions Answered Even folks who bake on a regular basis have questions pop up sometimes about ingredient function or mixing methods. Here's a sampling of these baking-related questions along with as complete an answer as I can give in a list as well as links to more thorough explanations. And there you have it friends, answers to your baking troubleshooting questions. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to get in touch. I am happy to help. Just shoot me ... continue reading...
Sugar: How Sweet It Is!
Well, I'm back from the family Thanksgiving extravaganza! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday; The Beloved and I certainly did. I think it's time to pull back and focus on an ingredient that is often maligned: sugar. I spoke a lot about caramel in a few posts awhile back; now let's look at sugar in its uncooked state. Sugar is one of the Big Four when it comes to baking. On the toughening side of the baking equation, we have flour and eggs, and on the tenderizing side, we have fat and sugar. ... continue reading...
Frangipane (Almond Cream) | A Staple in the French Pastry Kitchen
If you live in America, you might not have heard of Frangipane (or frangipani in Italian.) Frangipane, also known as almond cream, is a sweetened almond filling, and it is super versatile component of the classic pastry kitchen. This almond filling is easy to make and adds rich almond flavor to any dessert you use it in. What is the Difference Between Frangipane and Marzipan? Both frangipane and marzipan are based on almond meal. Marzipan, which is similar to almond paste, is ... continue reading...