Guacamole

Leaving one avocado pit in the mixture is supposed to help keep the guacamole from browning. I can't really attest to this because we never let the guacamole sit around long enough to brown.






Guacamole

2 avocados
juice of 1 lime (or to your taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients
1 T finely chopped red onions or green onions
1 t finely chopped garlic
1 T finely chopped cilantro
1 tomato finely chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mash together.

Guinness Stout Cake with Bailey's Whipped Cream

Here a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dessert. It's one of my bestsellers at the restaurant right now.

Guinness Stout Cake with Bailey's Whipped Cream

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1 1/3 c Guinness

10 oz butter (2 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c molasses
3 eggs

1 c chocolate chips

Ganache glaze
Bailey's Whipped Cream

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Using the paddle attachment of a standing mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the molasses while the mixer is running on medium speed. Mix until incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Add 1/3 the flour mixture to the mixer. Mix in low speed then add 1/3 of the Guinness. Continue to add the flour and beer alternately, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter onto well-greased mini bundt pans. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. The recipe makes 12 of these mini bundt cakes; since I only have one of these pans, I bake them in two batches. The batter can sit at room temp while waiting for the first batch to finish baking. .



Let cool for a few minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before glazing.

Glaze with ganache.

Ganache for Glazing Cakes

When I attended cooking school, it was impressed upon us to keep chocolate away from any water contamination or it would bloom and/or seize up. It was only a few years ago that I learned that chocolate and water can mix. It just has to be the right amount of liquid for the chocolate not to seize.

Sure, I have made ganache tons of times before, but just with cream. I thought that the "fat-in- water-emulsion" characteristic of heavy cream gives it a special affinity with chocolate. But alas, chocolate is not as selective as I had thought. Ganache is a mixture of chocolate and a water-containing ingredient (and not just cream). Pretty much any liquid would do: hot coffee, hot tea, even just hot water. What is important is the ratio.

The end products differ in flavor and consistency. This new and exciting insight (that in making ganache, I can go beyond heavy cream and butter) opened up all possibilities for experimentation for me.

But to start with, here is the ratio for a traditional cream-based ganache I use to glaze cakes.

Ganache for Glazing Cakes

8 oz dark chocolate
1 1/4 cups cream

Chop up the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat cream over the stove top or microwave until simmering. Pour over the chocolate.


Let rest for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to absorb the heat and the mixture to cool a little before agitating. Whisk until smooth or stir with a spatula or wooden spoon if you don't want air bubbles (it's just a lot quicker with a whisk).




Tap the bowl a few times on the counter to get rid of some of the air bubbles.

Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is fun. It dresses up many desserts. It mellows out strong flavors or adds another dimension of flavor to sweets. Whip in powdered sugar, granulated sugar or caramel with the cream to sweeten it. Add liquor or extracts to flavor it.

Whipped Cream

1 cup cream
2 T powdered sugar

To flavor the cream, use either
2 T liquor (Bailey's, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, etc.)
or
1/2 t extract (vanilla, lemon, mint, coconut, etc.)

Combine the cream, sugar, and flavoring in a bowl.

Whisk (using a standing mixer or by hand) until stiff peaks form.

We Are Moving

You can find us now at sweetandsavorytidbits.com. I purchased the domain on a whim. Hopefully, the transition goes smoothly and that everything will be back to normal soon!

Our next post will be Guinness stout cake with Bailey's cream.

Whole Wheat Soda Bread

There was a domino effect with the last three posts. While making buttermilk cheese, Rosalind remembered making butter at school so she decided to make butter and post about it. And after seeing Rosalind's fresh creamy butter, I couldn't help but want to slather it on a steaming slice of homemade bread.

Soda bread came first to mind because it is fast and easy make, one that Rosalind and Nina can make all by themselves. This recipe is based (very closely) on the Brown Soda Bread recipe from the March issue of Cooking Light magazine.

The technique used to mix this soda bread batter is called "muffin method." The dry ingredients are combined in a bowl. Then the liquid ingredients are mixed together in another container. Lastly, the two are folded together just until combined. The batter doesn't need to be mixed until smooth (just moistened). Since the recipe has low fat and sugar content, it's easy to overmix, which results in toughness.

Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2 c white whole wheat flour

1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 c steel-cut oats

2 T brown sugar

1 T wheat germ

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

"Liquid" Ingredients

2 c buttermilk

1 egg

Line a springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the sides.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Measure out the buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup (4 cup capacity). Add the egg and mix together.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Place the mixture in the prepared pan.

Bake in a 400F oven for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

The Butter Ball

Posted by Rosalind




This is a recipe for homemade butter.

All you need is heavy cream and a jar. Pour 1/2 cup heavy cream into a jar. Tightly close the lid.

Shake the jar until the heavy cream turns to butter.

It's fun but it takes forever to turn the cream into butter, so you can read to pass the time while you shake the jar.

The heavy cream turns into whipped cream after a while. Keep shaking!


This is a close up version of the whipped cream.

Finally, it is butter!

This is a close up picture of the butter and the buttermilk.



Strain the buttermilk from the butter.

Now it's ready to spread on french toast!

My Cheese Ball

Becky has nicknamed Rosalind "goof ball" because she is one. "Cheese ball" also suits her very well -- with her cheesy jokes, her bent toward the dramatic and her love of cheese. She eats pretty much any cheese: cottage cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese, and even most types of blue cheese. Gorgonzola tops her list of favorites, just like Wallace (Wallace and Gromit), one of her favorite movie characters who is also a great cheese enthusiast.

So I thought it would be fun for us to make cheese. Buttermilk cheese is the simplest recipe I can find. We don't need any special tools, the ingredients are common kitchen staples, and it's very quick to make. I've never made buttermilk cheese before, but there seems to be a standard formula scattered all over the internet so I was pretty hopeful of its success.

And successful and fun it was! The process made such an impression on Rosalind that she declared she's going to make butter tomorrow and post a blog about it.

The buttermilk cheese was simply delicious, by the way. We spread it on crackers topped with pecans. Maybe next time, I can flavor the cheese with roasted garlic puree and roll the ball in chopped chives. For now, I need to figure out what to do with all this whey.


Buttermilk Cheese

4 c milk
1 1/2 c lowfat buttermilk
2 t salt

Line a strainer or a colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth. Put over a bowl.

Place all ingredients in a heavy bottom saucepan.

Heat the mixture on the stove, using medium high-heat, until the white curds separate from the whey (180F, around 8 minutes).

Ladle the mixture on the strainer and let drain for a few of minutes

Gather the edges of the cheesecloth and twist to press out the whey. Let sit for about 10 minutes to cool.

Unwrap. It can be served slightly warm, room temperature or cold. For firmer cheese, refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. The shelf life of the cheese is supposed to be 2 days.