Archive | March, 2012

Crispy Pork and Hot & Sour Rhubarb Sauce with Noodles

30 Mar

I usually think of rhubarb as a really great companion to strawberries in a pie or crisp, but its slightly acidic, slightly sweet flavour lends itself well to applications other than dessert. I have a freezer full of rhubarb from last year, and seeing as rhubarb season is almost upon us once again, I figured I had better use some of it up. Inspired by the rhubarb meatballs in Kate’s weekly meal plan at Venison for Dinner, I did a Google search for a sweet and sour sauce made with rhubarb and came across a recipe by Jamie Oliver for “My Favorite Hot and Sour Rhubarb with Crispy Pork and Noodles”. Being at home sick for a few days last week, I ended up watching a lot of Jamie on the Food Network, which cemented my gigantic crush on him and made me only too happy to try this recipe. Pieces of pork are baked in a sauce of pureed rhubarb, chilis, honey, and Asian flavours, then the pork is shallow-fried until crispy and served with the sauce over noodles, topped with what Jamie calls “interesting cresses”. I think what he means by this is micro greens, however my local grocery store isn’t so posh, so I ended up using bean sprouts and sunflower sprouts.

Look at those interesting cresses!

Jamie uses pork belly in his recipe, but I used pork shoulder instead (pork butt would work too). This was SO GOOD! The rhubarb sauce is tangy and flavourful, the pork is tender yet crisp, and the “interesting cresses” add a good dose of freshness and crunchy texture. It requires a bit of foresight to make because the pork takes at least an hour in the oven, but it’s definitely going on the “make again” list!

Crispy Pork and Hot & Sour Rhubarb Sauce with Noodles

Adapted from Jamie Oliver. Serves 2.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. In an 8-inch square roasting pan, place:

500 grams boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a food processor, combine:

200 grams chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen and thawed)

2 tbsp liquid honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1/2-inch chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 fresh red chili, de-seeded and chopped, OR 1 tsp chili paste (such as sambal oelek)

heaping 1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder

Process until smooth (or as Jamie says, “wazz it up!”).

Pour the rhubarb mixture over the pork and cover the pan with foil.

Pretty unattractive but delicious anyway!

Bake in a 350˚F oven for 60-90 minutes, until the pork is tender.

Remove the pork from the pan and scrape off as much rhubarb sauce as you can.

Place the rhubarb sauce in a pot and bring to a simmer to thicken if needed. Adjust the seasoning to taste – I added a little more honey and soy sauce and a dab of chili paste.

For the crispy pork, pour enough vegetable oil in the bottom of a wok or large pan to cover it 1/4-inch deep, and heat it over medium. When the oil is hot, add the pork pieces (I did this in two batches so as not to crowd the pan). Fry on both sides until brown and crispy, then set aside on paper towels to drain.

For the noodles, put a large pot of water on to boil while the oil heats. When you fry the pork, place about 175 grams of dry Asian egg noodles in the boiling water and cook until al dente.

To serve, divide the noodles between two bowls and spoon over the rhubarb sauce and crispy pork.

Top each bowl with:

a handful of “interesting cresses” such as bean sprouts and sunflower sprouts

sliced green onions (I forgot these)

seeded and chopped red chili

cilantro leaves

lime wedge

Mix it all up and dig in!

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Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Rolls

27 Mar

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Despite the fact that I was really hoping for a ridiculous, elaborate, sugary baking project for this month’s challenge, these Dutch Crunch Rolls are pretty fantastic. I had never heard of Dutch Crunch bread, but it turns out that it’s a San Francisco local specialty that originated in the Netherlands (hence the name). In Dutch, it’s called tijgerbrood, or “tiger bread” because of the way the topping cracks to look like tiger stripes (although there’s a growing consensus that it looks more like a giraffe’s spots!). “Dutch crunch” refers to the yeasted rice flour topping that is applied to the bread before baking, rather than to the bread itself, which can be any kind of soft-ish sandwich-style bread.

Going into this challenge, I was a bit apprehensive after seeing on the Daring Bakers forum that some people were having troubles with getting the topping to crackle and brown properly, so when I took these out of the oven, I was pretty happy about it!

I was really impressed with the bread recipe that Sara and Erica provided, and I may have found my new “go-to” white sandwich bread! Nice and soft but still with a good texture and great flavour. The Dutch Crunch topping added a really interesting texture contrast and was very tasty, and was a really easy way to add a little something extra to plain bread.

For the second part of the challenge, it definitely made delicious sandwiches! I made a grilled turkey, bacon, and avocado club sandwich with homemade mayonnaise for dinner the day I made the rolls.

For breakfast the next morning, I toasted the buns and made breakfast sandwiches with egg, cheese, ham, and avocado. Yum!

Thanks Sara and Erica for showing us this tasty way to make bread! I always get such a feeling of pride when I take bread out of the oven, and these rolls were very satisfying to make :) Check out the Daring Kitchen for the other Bakers’ gorgeous tijgerbrood!

Dutch Crunch Rolls

Soft White Rolls

Recipe provided by Sara and Erica, adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible and Baking Bites. I made only half of the following recipe to make 4 decent-sized rolls. The full recipe as written would yield 6 large rolls or 8 more reasonable ones.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine:

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

1 1/2 tbsp granulated white sugar (I might try 1 tbsp honey next time)

Stir to dissolve and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until foamy.

Add:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

With the dough hook attachment, stir on medium speed to combine.

With the mixer still going, add up to 2 additional cups of flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl but is still sticky.

At this point, add a few tablespoons more flour, then let the mixer knead the dough for about 4 minutes, until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and is soft, elastic, and not too sticky to the touch. (Alternately, you can knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 4 minutes).

Take the dough out of the bowl, grease the bowl lightly with vegetable oil, and place the dough back in it, turning to coat it in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

(I could have sworn that I read in the instructions to punch the dough down after it rose double, but apparently I was making it up! Anyway, I punched it down and let it rise a little while longer at room temperature and then in the fridge, and it didn’t seem to hurt the final product at all!)

Turn the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in two. Divide each half into three or four pieces (keep in mind that I made half the recipe, hence only four pieces total).

Shape each piece into a roll by holding it in your palm, pulling/pinching the edges into the middle, and then patting down the pinched bits.

Place the rolls seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Turn on the oven to 350˚F, and let the rolls rise for about 15 minutes while you make the Dutch crunch topping.

Dutch Crunch Topping

Recipe adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible. A few Daring Bakers used sesame oil in place of the vegetable oil and added Marmite to the topping, both of which sound like delicious variations to try. Makes enough to cover 6-8 rolls from the above recipe.

In a bowl, whisk together:

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups rice flour (white or brown – I used brown. Make sure it’s NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour)

At first the mixture will be quite pasty, but with vigorous stirring it will liquidify a bit. Add a few drops of water or a sprinkle of rice flour as needed to adjust the consistency – it should be drippy but spreadable, like stiff royal icing

Let the batter stand for 15 minutes while the rolls finish their rise. The rice flour batter will also puff up and rise a bit because of the yeast.

Spoon the rice flour batter over top of each roll and spread it out in a thick layer.

Bake in the preheated 350˚F oven for 25-30 minutes, until the topping is crackled and well-browned and the bottom of the rolls sound hollow when tapped. I baked the rolls with steam to encourage browning, but I’m not sure if it actually made a difference. To do this, place a roasting pan in the bottom of the oven when you turn it on. When you put the rolls in, pour about half a mug of hot tap water in the roasting pan, which will provide steam while the rolls bake.

Let the rolls cool completely on a rack. The rolls are best the day they are made, but if you want to keep them a day longer, I found they were fine left out over night – just don’t put them in a plastic bag or they will soften and lose their crunch. These rolls make a mean sandwich!

Cross section of a delicious sandwich - you can also see the crumb of the roll.

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White Chocolate Orange Thinsees

23 Mar

When I was growing up, my Mum and I baked a lot of cookies together, and one of my favorites was the Chocolate Thinsees from a cookbook called Golde’s Homemade Cookies. These were a dark chocolate cookie made of a soft batter and topped with chopped nuts, and during baking they spread out thin and became satisfyingly chewy, yet soft, with a texture almost more like cake than cookie. Sounds odd, but I loved them and as soon as I was old enough to use the oven by myself, I made them all the time – they were totally addictive.

A few weeks ago I had some mandarin oranges languishing in my fruit bowl, and I decided that orange-flavoured cookies would be the best way to use them up. I pulled out my copy of Golde’s cookbook, and came across the Chocolate Thinsees recipe. Chocolate and orange is a tried and true combination, but I didn’t have any of the semi-sweet chocolate that the recipe called for. I did, however, have some white chocolate, so I decided to make White Chocolate Orange Thinsees and top them with Brazil nuts. It was a good call.

These thin, crisp cookies are sort of like French tuiles, but with a chewier texture. They weren’t quite as cake-like as I remember, but they were just as addictive – they barely lasted a whole day, and by the time the last batch came out of the oven, I had already eaten so many that I have no idea how many I actually made. Golde suggests that these make a great tea cookie. I suggest that you make them immediately and just try to stop yourself from eating them by the handful!

White Chocolate Orange Thinsees

Adapted from Golde’s Homemade Cookies by Golde Hoffman Soloway

Preheat oven to 300˚F.

In the microwave or over a double boiler, melt:

2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped

Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, cream together:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp orange zest

When light and fluffy, stir in the melted white chocolate, then add:

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix until well blended, then stir in:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

dash salt

Mix well. The batter will be quite soft.

Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. The cookies will spread a lot in the oven, so leave a few inches of room between them – I found six per sheet to be plenty. Sprinkle the cookies with chopped nuts (about 3/4 cup total) – I used Brazil nuts.

Bake in the 300˚F oven for 15-18 minutes, until light brown at the edges and set in the middle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack with a thin spatula. If they have all run into each other to form one giant cookie, cut them apart with a sharp knife before removing them from the baking sheet.

I dare you not to eat them all in one day!

PS – It was brought to my attention that I’ve been nominated for the “Kreativ Blogger Award” by Sibella of Baking with Sibella. Thank you Sibella, I’m very flattered! However rather than listing seven things about myself and nominating seven other blogs, I would encourage you to visit Sibella’s lovely blog and check out her gorgeous baking – I’m especially taken with her Non Plus Ultra cookies.

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Posh Mayonnaise

20 Mar

In general, one of the draws of cooking and baking at home is that whatever you make usually ends up being less expensive than if you’d bought it at the store. Unfortunately, this mayonnaise, made with avocado oil and Meyer lemons, turned out to be exactly the opposite of that: much much more expensive than any mayonnaise I would ever buy at the store.

Quite a while ago, I got it into my head to make mayonnaise with avocado oil and Meyer lemon after my uncle posted about it on his blog – it just sounded so good – and then when I finally got around to making it and discovered that a little bottle of avocado oil is fifteen dollars (!!), I was already committed. Sometimes I get overly gung-ho about a project.

Luckily, avocado oil is not a compulsory ingredient, and you could make this mayonnaise with any kind of mildly-flavoured vegetable oil. Next time I will probably use grape seed oil, and I anticipate that the results will be just as good. For that matter, any variety of lemon – Meyer or otherwise – would also work, but in this case, Meyer lemons add a nice light perfume to the mayonnaise. Regardless of the ingredients you use, homemade mayo is super easy to make and is great on a sandwich, wonderful for dipping roast potatoes, and makes awesome egg or chicken salad.

Homemade Mayonnaise

In a blender jar (immersion blender or otherwise), combine the following in order:

2 egg yolks

1 whole egg

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (2 tbsp if using Meyer lemons)

1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 cup mildly-flavoured vegetable oil (avocado oil if you’re feeling extravagant)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Blend until thick and creamy.

Stir in:

1-2 tsp lemon zest (optional)

Store in an airtight jar in the fridge. Slather on anything you want to make more delicious.

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6-Strand Braided Challah Loaf

16 Mar

This is, sadly, the final installment of my challah dough series. I wasn’t going to do a plain challah loaf – I was going to continue in the vein of sticky buns with unique fillings – but then I found a video demonstrating a six-strand challah braid that I got all excited about and had to try. The dough was easy to work with, and I was really pleased at how the braid turned out.

When it came to eating it, I was reminded that along with being a great base for sticky buns and such, this dough makes a really really good loaf of bread – soft yet firm with a nice fine crumb and great favour. It also makes amazing toast, and if it had lasted long enough, probably would have made wonderful french toast too.

While this loaf may look or sound complicated, it’s really not – a six-strand braid is simply two steps repeated over and over again. For the sake of this tutorial, I made it into four steps, because first you do the two steps on the right, then repeat them on the left. But however you look at it, if you can do a regular three-strand braid, this should be no problem. And no matter how your braid turns out, you’ll have a loaf of delicious challah bread in the end, which is the important part!

6-Strand Braided Challah Loaf

To make this braid, you will need one 1 1/2 lb portion of chilled challah dough.

Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal pieces.

With your palms, shape and roll each piece into a tapered log about 10 inches long. Try to use a minimal amount of flour when doing this – just enough to stop it from sticking.

Line your 6 tapered logs up vertically side by side and pinch them together at the end facing away from you. Keep hold of this pinched end with one hand.

Now start braiding:

Step 1: Take the strand that is second from the right and move it all the way over to the far left, like so:

Step 2: Take the strand that is on the far right and move it to the middle, like so:

Step 3: This is the mirror image of Step 1, done on the left side. Take the strand that is second from the left and move it to the far right:

Step 4: Again, this is a mirror image of Step 2 but on the left. Take the strand that is on the far left and move it to the middle:

Now you are back at Step 1. Repeat Steps 1 through 4 several times. You will start to see a pattern emerging:

Don’t pull on the strands or stretch them too much when you are braiding – you want to keep the braid loose so that the dough has room to expand when it bakes. If the braid is too tight, it will “explode” in the oven.

When you get to the end, pinch the ends together. You should have a tapered, slightly foot ball-shaped loaf.

You can gently “bump” the tapered ends with your palms to shorten up the loaf and give it a higher cross section.

The bottom of the braid will look like this. Cool, hey?

Place the braid on a piece of parchment paper, cover it lightly with plastic, and let it rest for about an hour and a half.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Brush the challah with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water) and, if desired, sprinkle it with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until shiny and dark golden brown.

Cool completely before slicing.

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Fennel & Chili Spiced Ribs

12 Mar

I was reading Heidi Swanson’s beautiful blog 101 Cookbooks a while back, and she mentioned that her newest cookbook was a contestant in The Piglet at Food 52. I had never heard of either of these, so I clicked over to find out more. Turns out that Food 52 is a fairly awesome online foodie community, and The Piglet is a cookbook tournament hosted by the site. The tournament pits 16 cookbooks against each other in a bracket, and well-known foodie types (and a few non-foodie types) review them to decide who makes it to the next round. Heidi’s cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, was up against a cookbook called Cooking in the Moment, and Nigella Lawson was the judge. She wrote a wonderfully informative review of both cookbooks and spoke so highly of these spareribs with crushed fennel and red chilis from Cooking in the Moment that I immediately Googled the recipe.

I did a bit of tweaking, but this is pretty much the simplest recipe I’ve ever seen for ribs and also one of the tastiest. I usually like ribs slathered in some kind of sauce, but I’ve made this dry-rub version about four times now, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite way to make ribs. Fennel can be a fairly strong flavour, but the roasting it gets in the oven mellows it out and melds it really well with the heat of the chilis. My one piece of advice would be to be sure to use a dedicated coffee grinder just for spices, as I’m pretty sure mine will never not smell like fennel from now on! (Good thing I’m not a coffee drinker!)

Fennel & Chili Spiced Ribs

Adapted from Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing

Preheat the oven to 450˚F while you prepare the ribs.

Spice Rub

In a coffee or spice grinder, pulverise:

2 tbsp whole fennel seeds

1 tbsp dried chili flakes (use more or less to adjust the heat to your preference)

(A word of caution: hold your breath when taking the lid off the grinder, unless you want to inhale fennel-chili dust and then sneeze for 10 minutes straight!)

Mix the pulverised spices with:

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

scant 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Set aside.

Ribs

2 lbs pork spareribs (I used slightly less than this)

Turn the ribs over, bone-side up, and peel off the thin membrane. Rub the ribs on both sides with 1 tbsp vegetable oil, then cover both sides with the spice rub.

Place the ribs on a rack over a roasting pan and roast at 450˚F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375˚F and roast for another hour or so, until the meat comes away from the bones easily.

Cut into individual ribs by cutting between the bones.

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Lemon Rosemary Sticky Bun Twists

9 Mar

Lemon and rosemary might not be a flavour combination you’re familiar with in a sweet context, but man oh man, does it ever work! I stumbled across a recipe for Meyer Lemon Rosemary Sticky Buns and bookmarked it immediately because it sounded so intriguing, and I planned to make them using one portion of challah dough. Then I saw Sawsan’s beautiful cinnamon twists and decided to use her technique instead of just making plain old spirals.

The result is these very tasty, very pretty Lemon Rosemary Sticky Bun Twists.

I used Meyer lemons for these, and it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten my hands on them. I’ve been hearing about Meyer lemons for quite a while, but had never seen them in any grocery stores – until a week ago, when they started popping up everywhere! A Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, and has a sweeter, tart taste and thinner skin than a regular lemon. Quite honestly, I’m still not sure what all the fuss is about. They are tasty, but they don’t quite have the tang that a regular lemon does, and I think a good, ripe, organic lemon would give you just as much (maybe better?) lemon flavour. If you love Meyer lemons, go ahead and use them here, but don’t worry if you can’t find them – regular lemons will be just fine!

These smelled AMAZING coming out of the oven, and once I’d smothered them in a lemon-cream cheese glaze, they were pretty irresistible. The first sweet bite revealed subtle lemon and floral rosemary, the combination of which somehow reminded me of rosewater. Really unique, and really delicious. I found the flavour to be even better the next day (if they last that long, that is!).

Lemon Rosemary Sticky Bun Twists

Filling and glaze adapted from Eats Well With Others; twist technique from Chef in Disguise. This recipe uses one approximately 1 1/2 -pound portion of challah dough. Makes 8 twists.

When handling the dough, DO NOT knead it. While a certain amount of man-handling is necessary to roll and twist the dough, try to be as gentle as possible and use only a minimal amount of extra flour to keep it from sticking. If you feel you’ve over-worked the dough, let it have a longer rest before baking.

On a lightly floured surface, place:

approximately 1 1/2 lbs of chilled challah dough

Divide the dough into three roughly equal pieces, and gently shape/roll each piece into a 10-inch circle, using just enough flour to stop it from sticking. If the dough resists rolling, let it rest for a few minutes, then come back to it. Set the rounds aside while you make the filling.

Filling

In a bowl, combine:

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

zest of 2 lemons

1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

Mix together with your fingers until it resembles damp sand, then stir in:

2 tbsp lemon juice

Have ready:

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Assembly

Place one round of dough on your lightly floured work surface. Spread it with about 1 tbsp softened butter, then with half of the lemon-rosemary-sugar filling.

Top it with a second round and spread it with 1 tbsp butter and the other half of the filling. Place the final round on top and spread it with the last 1 tbsp butter. With a large, sharp knife, cut the round into 8 wedges. Flour the knife blade if needed, and make single downward cuts to keep things as neat as possible. With the tip of the knife, cut a ~1-inch slit in the middle of each triangular piece.

Pull on the sides of the triangle to widen the hole, then tuck the point of the triangle into the hole. Gently pull it through to form the twist.

Arrange the 8 pieces in a circle with their sides touching on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pinch together the two points at the base of each triangle.

Cover the twists lightly with plastic wrap and let rest for about 1 hour at room temperature (or refrigerate for several hours or overnight). It’s OK if some of the sugar-lemon mixture seeps out while the twists are resting.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F and bake the twists for 20-30 minutes, until nicely browned and baked through in the middle.

While the twists are baking, prepare the glaze.

Glaze

In a small bowl, cream until light and fluffy:

2 oz cream cheese

With a whisk, beat in:

1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix until smooth.

Add:

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

The glaze should be about the consistency of honey. Drizzle the glaze over the warm twists.

These are fantastic warm from the oven, and if you happen to have any leftover, the lemon-rosemary flavour is even better the next day.

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Turkey Pie with Parmesan & Black Pepper Biscuits

6 Mar

I know it’s about three months late to be posting a recipe for using up Christmas turkey, but I’ve had some turkey leftovers languishing in my freezer just begging to be made into a pie. Who am I to refuse such a request? This pie will not only make your house smell fantastic, but its comfort food mix of turkey, roasted root vegetables, and biscuits will make a dreary mid-winter day seem less so!

I chose to top this pie with biscuits because they are easy and good for soaking up gravy, but it would be equally tasty with your favorite pie crust in place of the biscuits (make it a single or double crust – your choice). If you go the pie crust route, I recommend working some parmesan and black pepper into it – it’s a great combination.

Turkey Pie with Parmesan & Black Pepper Biscuits

Biscuits

In a medium bowl, stir together:

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

large pinch of salt

With a pastry cutter, cut it:

5 tbsp cold unsalted butter

Blend until the butter is in pea-sized chunks. Add:

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Toss the parmesan into the butter-flour mixture, then make a well in the center and add:

3/4 cup cold milk

With a fork, stir in the milk with as few strokes as possible, using a folding motion to blend in the flour from the bottom of the bowl. It should just come together in a shaggy, sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it gently 2 – 3 times to gather it all together. Pat it out into a rectangular shape and fold it in thirds like a letter.

Pat it down again into a rectangle and repeat. After the second fold, shape the dough into a circle and pat it out into a 7-inch round. Cut it into 8 wedges with a sharp knife, using a straight downward cutting motion (this will help the cut edge rise up and be flaky).

Transfer the wedges to a lightly floured plate, cover them with plastic, and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Turkey & Roasted Vegetable Filling

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Chop the following into 1/2 inch chunks:

2 medium carrots (about 1 cup)

2 medium parsnips (about 1 cup)

4 – 5 button mushrooms (about 1 cup)

1 large or 2 small leeks, white part only (about 1 1/2 cups – wash them very well!)

Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and toss with:

a few tablespoons of olive oil

generous salt and pepper

Roast the vegetables for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring halfway through, until softened and starting to brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the gravy. In a large pan over medium heat, melt:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

When it foams, add:

2 heaping tbsp all purpose flour

Whisk and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to smell nutty.

While whisking constantly, slowly pour in:

2 cups chicken or turkey stock

It will seem very thin and watery but will thicken up when it reaches a boil. Raise the heat to medium-high to bring it to a boil and thicken, then reduce back down to medium-low.

Season to taste with:

a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce

~ 1 tbsp soy sauce (less if using salted stock)

~ 1 – 2 tsp Marmite

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper

Worchestershire, soy sauce, and Marmite are my fail-safe ingredients for awesome gravy. They add great umami taste as well as saltiness, and they give the gravy a beautiful rich, dark colour. Marmite weirds some people out, but it is killer in gravy.

Remove the gravy from the heat. To make it a bit creamy (totally optional), stir in:

2 tbsp sour cream or cream cheese

Mix into the gravy:

the roasted vegetables (straight from the oven, preferably)

3 – 4 cups of chopped cooked turkey

Pour the whole thing into a 9-inch pie plate.

Top it with the chilled biscuits and brush them with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water).

Bake the pie at 425˚F for 20-25 minutes, until the gravy is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown and puffed. Let it cool for just a few minutes before serving.

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Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns

2 Mar

Here they are… the caramel pecan sticky buns that started my obsession with making bread the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day way. They are so good that I am sure they will also start your obsession.

This is one way to use up a portion of this challah dough. Roll it out, spread it with cinnamon-sugar-butter and sprinkle it with pecans, sit it on a bed of brown sugar-butter-pecan goodness, let it rest, let it bake, and then you will be in caramel pecan sticky bun heaven.

I’m telling you, these are GOOD, and although they require some waiting time, they don’t require a lot of physical effort. They don’t even have to be particularly pretty or neat looking to still taste out-of-this-world amazing. There is a TON of butter and sugar in this recipe, so if you’re looking for something diet-friendly, you might want to pass on this one… but I wouldn’t recommend it ;) .

The pecans are calling your name. Make these sticky buns. You know you want to…

Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns

From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Makes 8 buns. This recipe uses one 1 1/2-ish lb portion of challah dough.

Caramel-Pecan Topping

In a medium bowl, cream together:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, soft

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9″ round cake pan. Sprinkle it with:

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans (you can leave them whole if you prefer)

Set aside.

Filling

In a small bowl, cream together:

4 tbsp unsalted butter, soft

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Set aside.

In a 375˚F oven, toast:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Toasting the pecans keeps them from getting soggy inside the rolls. They should take about 20-25 minutes – watch them carefully and stir several times. Set aside to cool.

Assembly

Place a 1 1/2-ish lb portion of chilled challah dough on a lightly floured surface. Using your hands and a rolling pin, roll and stretch it into an 18″ x 9″ rectangle. Keep the dough lightly floured to prevent it from sticking, but try not to over-flour it.

Spread the rectangle of dough evenly with the filling, then sprinkle it with the toasted pecans. From one of the long edges, roll up the dough securely to enclose the filling.

With a sharp serrated knife, cut the roll into 8 pieces. Arrange them over the caramel-pecan topping mixture in the baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for about 1 hour.

After an hour, the buns should have expanded quite a bit. With a few minutes left in the rest period, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Remove the plastic wrap, place the pan on a cookie sheet to protect against bubbling-over caramel (I didn’t do this and my oven was a mess of melted butter and molten caramel!), and bake at 350˚F for about 40 minutes, until golden brown and cooked all the way to the center of the pan.

Place the pan on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes, until the bubbling caramel subsides. While still hot, run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the buns and invert them onto a plate (if you wait for them to cool they will stick to the pan). Scrape out any caramel and pecans left behind.

Devour!

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