Twelfth Night by Austin Shakespeare at Zilker Hillside Theatre – May 26, 2012

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

Yet again, the Daring Kitchen forces me to cross another item off of my list! Making challah was on there because braiding dough seemed like it would be somewhat tricky, but this was totally not the case. Way easier than French-braiding your own hair, that’s for sure.

Ruth provided a few recipes with the challenge, and I went with the first which was for a wheat challah. The dough seemed strange: it was almost cookie dough-like and kept sticking to everything! Since I had never made challah, I didn’t know if this was normal or if it was an issue with the yeast or measurements (used my scale), but persisted. I ended up adding what seemed to be quite a lot of flour, but maybe it wasn’t more than 1 cup. For the first rise, I put the bowl of dough on the front porch in hopes that the almost 90F heat would encourage it to rise. It did!

Shaping was of course the most fun part of making challah. As a lady of 30 years, I can do three strand braids in my sleep, so I wanted to give four and six strand braids a go. These were super easy to accomplish after watching Ruth’s video tutorials! They both came out pretty, but I love the look of the four strand loaf.

My oven seems to run hot, so I checked the loaves at 20 minutes even though the recipe said 30-40. They looked done! I always wonder about how one is to tap the bottoms of loaves without burning their knuckles off. Cutting into them once cool, they were definitely done and so soft! The flavor was both lightly wheat-y and sweet. I think I’ve found my new favorite bread to bake.

I made a savory leek and mushroom bread pudding with some of the leftover challah the other day using this recipe. It was pretty good, but I wish I had used a stronger/sharper cheese maybe instead of or addition to the swiss and parmesan. It was my first time making bread pudding and my first time having a savory version.

Thanks for such a fun challenge along with the braiding videos, Ruth! You can find the recipes in her write-up.

Now, if I were to send a note with some challah, could it be called a challahgram?

That’s what they call it at CIA San Antonio. How could I choose a better title?

We had a couple nights with heavy storms last week, and both mornings all these little mushrooms had popped up next to my car. By the afternoon they had shriveled away. Anyone know what kind they are? (coughEmmacough)

Kale (r) feat. its pal, Basil (l)

Nothing quite makes one want to hide in a corner with a heaping plateful of healthy greens like seeing an ad for nacho cheese-drowned Cheetos on a gas station window right after yoga class. But maybe that’s just me.

Either way, you’re getting a post jam-packed with leafy goodness.

I’m sure most people have gotten on the kale train by now, but if you’re still intimidated by it, I’m here to hold your hand. Not literally…that would be weird. Instead, I will share/remind you of some recipes I’ve posted in which kale is featured, but isn’t the tough, bitter thing that haunts you in your sleep. But you really don’t have nightmares about it, right?

I might recommend a smoothie to those most freaked out by kale, which may be ironic since green drinks could potentially seem the most repulsive. But you can’t even taste it in this TropiKale Smoothie, I promise! Just pretend it’s green from the kiwi.

Kale Chips are quite popular with first-timers as they’re very similar to potato chips, though with a delicate crispness that is pretty addictive. (I tell you how to make them at the end of the linked post.)

If you’d like to try something a little more substantial, Kale and Leek White Bean Soup is a good way to utilize those leeks and the bunch of kale in your CSA box right now. Spiced with cumin, the beans are great for protein and the orzo helps make it more filling.

It’s getting a little warm for soup here, but a light, lemony pasta sounds perfect! Say yes to bowties and make Farfalle with Braised Kale. Braising makes the kale tender while it absorbs all the yummy flavors from the onion and garlic.

Speaking of pasta, you can make a great pesto with kale! If you use basil in it like I did, it tastes like regular pesto, but it’s packed with way more goodness.

Kale Basil Cashew Pesto
adapted from Epicurious

I bought similarly-sized bunches of basil and kale at the farmers’ market, so naturally my mind wanted to toss them in a food processor.  Cashews are cheaper than pine nuts (wait…right?), but you really can use any kind of nut. I’ve got some super weird pesto ideas in my head after this venture…

4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup toasted cashews
2 ounces Parmesan cheese (it’s going in a food processor – no need to grate!)
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
about 3 cups of kale and basil leaves (I had a little more kale than basil)
juice of half a lemon
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, pulse together the garlic, cashews, cheese, salt, and pepper until finely chopped. Add the kale, basil, and lemon juice and pulse until finely chopped again. With the processor running, pour in the olive oil in a slow stream.

So, now what?

I made a pizza!

After I thawed and rolled out my frozen left over pizza dough, I spread on a layer of pesto, sprinkled it with freshly-grated mozzarella, then finished it off with chopped sauteed leeks (also from the farmers’ market) and campari tomato slices. So very delicious!

I had some pesto left over and so later that week I tossed it with capellini and tomatoes which was also tasty.  There may have been a day when this happened:

Oops. But there’s kale all over the place!

What are some of your favorite recipes involving kale and other greens? I need help unseeing that Cheetos catastrophe.

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

So Jason said we could make the nazook and/or the nutmeg cake for this challenge, and when given the choice of yeasty vs. cakey, I will always go with yeast. The nazook also had a fun name, though it kept making me think of the Nazgûl from Lord of the Rings. These are the Ringwraiths, or the nine semi-dead/alive king servants of Sauron, also known as Dementors in Harry Potter. (For all of the hardcore LotR and HP fans, that was a joke.)

Making the nazook was much like making cinnamon rolls, only they’re baked on their sides aren’t topped with icing in the end. Mine also did not have cinnamon, but some of the other bakers included it in the filling.

The finished product is not at all like cinnamon rolls, particularly texture-wise. Mine were almost cookie-like, in that they were on the dry side and almost crisp. Shortbread was the closest thing that came to mind with the flavor, but the nazook were much lighter and flaky. I was expecting something a little more doughy with the yeast, but the outcome was definitely addictive in a different way. They are fantastic with tea or coffee (I’ve tried both…for science!) and since they last for a couple weeks in an airtight container, I think they would make perfect additions to one’s holiday gift baking repertoire!

If you would like to make a batch of nazook, rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m going to refer you to Jason’s write-up. His directions are very clear and easy to follow along with his step-by-step photos. He even included a video of his aunt making the recipe!

The only change I made was to the filling: I started by rubbing the zest of a lemon into the sugar, then mixed in the flour and butter and added only 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Reason? My vanilla is life-threateningly low and I had a lemon. Voila! It’s very subtly lemony, so if you want a more pronounced flavor, then zest two lemons and maybe nix the vanilla. Some ground ginger might be a nice addition!

Thanks to Jason for one of my favorite Daring Baker challenges so far! I hadn’t experienced any sort of Armenian food until now and would like to try the nutmeg cake along with all sorts of other dishes, too.

An epic battle in my parents’ backyard.

So here I go from posting about pizza made with local strawberries to a dessert made with biscuits from over 4000 miles away. I made this pie two weeks ago for Easter and for some reason have been struggling to write about it ever since. Was it gross? No, quite the opposite! Was it complicated to make? No way! Do I want to keep it all to myself? Well, it’s not like I made it up…

Basically, I wanted to address my Anglophilia along with this pie since it’s partly my preoccupation with the British that led me to the recipe. It’s just that I have so much to say about the subject (Doctor Who! castles! moors! Jane Austen! Radiohead! Benedict Cumberbatch! tea! Hot Fuzz! the BBC! Harry Potter! accents! humo(u)r! Irn Bru! Monty Python! etc.), but not in a very coherent way. Indecision and procrastination, I shake my fist at you!

Ironically, I’ve never been to the UK even though I have a small handful of friends scattered throughout, from London to Glasgow. Whenever I do go, I’m making a beeline to the Royal Albert Hall for a photo op. It’s a name thing that makes me feel like we’re related.

If you’re unfamiliar with banoffee pie, chances are that you’ve heard of it before, but maybe without realizing it. In Love Actually (yes, I love it), it’s the kind of pie that Juliet (Keira Knightley) offers to Mark (Andrew Lincoln) as a bit of a bribe to get him to show her the video that he took of her wedding.

It features one of my favorite combinations: bananas and caramel. That’s right – those cheeky Brits named it by combining ‘banana’ and ‘toffee’. Oh, how I love a good portmanteau! If I had a food version of a soul mate, I think this would be it.

It’s so simple to make too, and could almost fall into the no-bake category, though I baked the dulce de leche and the crust. By the way, there’s a story of how this pie evolved in 1972 and the chef responsible claims to hate biscuit crumb crusts. I happen to prefer them with creamy pies which is why I made one!

Banoffee (Banoffi) Pie

If you want to make a pie more true to the original, you can find the recipe here. Aside from making a traditional pie crust, the main differences are that he pours the toffee into the crust first, then arranges lengthwise-sliced bananas over it, and whips instant espresso into the cream. My family isn’t into coffee like I am, so I just dusted cocoa powder on top.

crust*
3 bananas, peeled and sliced into coins
dulce de leche*
whipped cream*
optional: cocoa powder or instant espresso for dusting

*see below

Layer the bananas in the crust. Evenly pour the dulce de leche over the bananas, smoothing around if needed. Spread whipped cream over the top, then dust with cocoa powder or instant espresso. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

To make the crust:

1 package Hobnobs or digestives
1 stick butter, melted (I used unsalted, then added a few pinches of salt)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, pulse the Hobnobs into crumbs. Pour in the melted butter, then pulse until incorporated. The mixture should resemble sand. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie dish, then bake for about 15 minutes. The crust will puff up while baking but will settle back down as it cools. Let cool completely.

To make the toffee/dulce de leche:

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 425F. Pour the condensed milk into a pie plate or other similar-sized, oven-safe dish and cover with foil. Set this dish in a larger one or roasting pan. Pour water in the larger dish/pan until it reaches halfway up the smaller dish. Bake for 45 minutes, replenish the water, then bake for another 45 minutes, or until the condensed milk has turned a toffee color. Let cool, then refrigerate.

Alternately, you can boil cans of sweetened condensed milk! If that sounds scary, see another method here.

To make the whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
splash of vanilla

In a mixer with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or even with a whisk and elbow grease), beat the cream on high. When it starts getting lighter, add the sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until soft peaks form.

I assembled the pie right after we ate Easter lunch, so it only had about 20 minutes in the fridge. This means it didn’t get to set all the way which is why there aren’t any photos of pretty pie slices. Mess Fest 2012. Pretty or not, this pie was addictive and was well-received by the fam!