Tag Archives: Baking

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

Posted on January 8, 2012 | 6 Comments

Choosing a recipe can sometimes feel like putting together a baseball team.  It is the home chef as general manager.

In each field, the objective is the same — to please the folks at home by offering them a winning dish while remaining within the allotted budget.  The objective is straightforward.  As is the theory behind it:  acquire the best ingredients, assemble, and serve warm.

But this process is never as straight forward as it seems.  Expensive ingredients, like high-priced free agents, may Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees

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Blondie Layer Cake with White Chocolate Icing

Posted on December 9, 2011 | 6 Comments

Caitlin celebrated her birthday last week.  And in preparation of the big day, I scanned my collection of recipes and cookbooks, searching for the perfect layer cake.  Last year I made her the pumpkin crepe cake.  The year before that, the butternut squash layer cake.

This year, I decided, it was time to stray from the harvest theme.  I was looking through my cookbooks, feeling uninspired, when I resolved to make my own cake.  No recipe.  No guide.  I would just with it. Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 6 Comments

You have to applaud the marketing efforts of Nutella.  Nutella is, as the box proudly proclaims, little more than sugar and a mix of hazelnuts and cocoa.  Indeed, the first ingredient listed is sugar.  Owing to its healthy mix of hazelnuts, the spread also has its share of fat.  And yet, Nutella is branded as a necessary component of a balanced breakfast – as if it contained some vital, indispensable nutrients.  In almost all of its marketing literature, Nutella is featured at the breakfast table.

In fairness, Nutella does not advocate downing spoonful after spoonful of its spread.  Instead, the company notes that without Nutella, you might forego that piece of otherwise boring whole wheat toast.  In that respect, Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Baked Macaroni and Cheese with a Kick

Posted on July 23, 2011 | 9 Comments

The other day, I noticed that there were three unopened boxes of elbow macaroni, sitting peacefully in my cabinet.  And I know what happened.  Every trip to the Kroger leads me through the pasta section.  And I think, “Hmmm.  I wonder if I have any macaroni at home?”  Better safe than sorry, I pick up a box and add it to the cart.

Tired of pushing those boxes out of the way Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees

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Homemade Cinnamon Twists

Posted on June 5, 2011 | 4 Comments

If you’ve seen my camera after I’ve been in the kitchen, you might think that it doubles as my sous chef.  The shutter button is a little greasy and there’s flour dusted along the hand grip and on the aperture dial.  There may even be a little sugar along the shoulder strap.  Even the tripod may bear some semblance of kitchen work.  Cinnamon or nutmeg may be sliding down its leg.

One of my favorite parts about creating my blog entries is assembling the collage, putting together the step-by-step tasks that create the final product.  But to do so requires shuffling my floured hands back and forth, from the cutting board to the shutter, and then, possibly, to the white balance meter and the focus arrows.

Once the shot looks good, it’s back to the board, Continue reading →

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Posted in Appetizers, Breakfast

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Cheese Straws

Posted on June 5, 2011 | 2 Comments

A savory alternative to cinnamon twists is cheese straws.  The preparation and process is much the same, but instead of cinnamon and sugar, try gruyere, parmesan,  Continue reading →

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Posted in Appetizers

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Whole Wheat Banana Oat Yeast Bread

Posted on May 28, 2011 | 4 Comments

Over the last few days, I’ve watched my bananas go from a bright yellow, worthy of wearing the leader’s jersey in the Tour de France, to a soft brown, like a tattered and mud-splashed elementary school bus.

Banana bread and banana muffins are always easy options for an overripe bunch.  But banana bread is – let’s be honest – closer to cake than either bread or a trip to the bottom of the food pyramid.  For that reason, I took my overripe bananas and turned them into real banana bread – not the quick kind.  Indeed, if you know me, you know that I often enjoy taking the long and meandering route, passing through several culinary steps and preparation detours over what might have otherwise been a one-step, ten-minute trip, down the intercity highway (see curried couscous).

While this banana bread requires kneading and resting, rather than mixing and pouring, it is Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads

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Warm Lemon Souffle

Posted on May 3, 2011 | 3 Comments

Whenever I’m in a sour mood or feeling down, I reach into my fruit drawer, and pull out my lemons.  For me, lemons are not synonymous with problems – lemons are the solution.

I had been wanting to make a lemon soufflé for several weeks now.  The first recipe I tried had a good lemon flavor, but did not puff as much as I would have liked.  It also had a faint taste of the corn starch that figured prominently among the ingredient list.

I scrapped that recipe, and created my own, Continue reading →

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Posted in Souffle

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Mint Chocolate Brownies

Posted on April 11, 2011 | 5 Comments

As I’ve noted before, it’s important to have a food gameplan when picking Caitlin up from the airport.  That means having a restaurant and itinerary picked out in advance of pick-up.

In addition, I also like to have a snack waiting for Caitlin when she arrives – a little something to tide her over during the drive back into the city.  Often, the snack is home-made, something sweet that I’ve made either that day, or the day before.  Occasionally, though, time gets ahead of me, and I have to settle on something from the store.

But whether it was store-bought or home-made, I had, apparently, developed a steady habit of having a snack in the car on those airport trips.  To the point where I had created a nearly Pavlovian connection between the airport and baked goods.

Sure enough, Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Classic Gingerbread Cake

Posted on March 29, 2011 | 3 Comments

When I’m in the supermarket checkout line, I often look longingly at the Cook’s Illustrated in the magazine racks.  The magazine always looks so informative and helpful.  The sleek black and white drawings, the hands-on, practical tips, and the absence of advertisements.  But at $5.95, it always gives me that moment of pause.

So I was particularly excited Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads, Desserts

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