Crepes (with Nutella)

I can't get enough of crepes lately.  They are easy to make and a great addition to brunch menus.  I love that I can fill them with both savory and sweet, I love how easy the batter is to make, and I like that you can make a stack ahead of time and either serve them at room temperature, or heat them back up.  Nutella is my choice of sweet, with a dusting of powdered sugar, and if you decide to make these braised short ribs, I highly recommend filling crepes with the sauce the next morning.  Highly recommend.  This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, Jan/Feb issue of this year, and there are some great ideas in there of what to do with crepes: wrap them around veggies, bake an egg in them, and even roll them into a peanut butter and jelly crepe as a snack.   

Crepes, courtesy Everyday Food Magazine

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 T sugar

1/4 t coarse salt

1 1/2 c whole milk

4 eggs

3 T melted butter

Combine all ingredients in a blender, let rest in fridge for 15 minutes, or overnight.  Heat a 10inch non-stick pan over medium heat.  I like to lightly brush the pan with a silicone brush dipped in melted butter after every other crepe.  Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 measuring cup and pour batter into pan (lift pan and swirl until batter coats entire pan).  Cook for about 1 minute, gently lift the edge with a spatula and flip over, cooking on other side for a minute. This recipe makes about 16 crepes, if I'm remembering correctly.  I like to spread Nutella on half the round crepe, fold in half and then half again, and dust with powdered sugar.    

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This cake has become one of my favorites.  I love the concept of a bundt cake, but often they are too dry or lacking something  (icing, perhaps?).  This cake is moist and sweet, but not overly sweet.  It's chocolately, but not too chocolately.  You don't miss anything.  You could scoop some ice cream or whipped cream, but it's great by itself, warmed up, with a cup of espresso perhaps.  Now would you believe I've never baked this cake?  I don't even own a bundt pan.  I first tried this cake last Spring, at a party my neighbor had thrown. My neighbor, my friend, baked this up last Sunday evening because I happened to have mentioned the cake was on my mind of late.  Our neighborly friendship goes well beyond picking up papers or keeping and eye on each other's homes; our pups are best friends, we hit the gym everyday together, we cook together or discuss recipes together and when we cook, we often share.  I braise her short ribs when she and her husband are returning home from a trip, she bakes me bread when she knows my husband and I are having a light dinner, and she baked this cake because she knew I'd love it.  I am so grateful for our friendship.....and, this cake.  This recipe is adapted from Southern Living (she leaves out the nut topping which doesn't work well in her bundt pan).

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake, adapted from Southern Living, May 2010

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Other: 2 hours

Yield: Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

2 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon  baking soda

1  teaspoon  salt

1  cup  butter, softened

1  cup  firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2  cup  granulated sugar

1  tablespoon  vanilla extract

4  large eggs

1  cup  buttermilk

1  (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate mini-morsel

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 3 to 5 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Beat in chocolate mini-morsels. (Mixture will be thick.) Spoon batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour). Garnish, if desired.      

Mac and Cheese

No truffle butter, no lobster, no fancy cheese, just good 'ol classic mac and cheese.  This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman, the all-knowing of comfort food recipes, and was shared by my friend.  I love the creaminess the mustard powder adds.  I never would have thought of that.  This recipe is a true classic, and would please all ages.  See link below for the original recipe with tons of photos and step-by-step instructions

Macaroni and Cheese, courtesy The Pioneer Woman

4 cups macaroni

1 egg, beaten

1/2 stick or 4 T butter

¼ cups flour

2-½ cups whole milk

2 teaspoons (heaping) dry mustard

1 pound cheddar cheese, grated

1 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper

Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.  In a small bowl, beat egg. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn. Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low. Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth. Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth. Add in cheese and stir to melt.Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed. Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Provençal Fougasse

This lovely bread recipe comes from my neighbor, who baked some up and shared the bounty with me.  It's divine; chewy, savory, full of body with herbs and amazing dipped in olive oil or slathered with a bit of goat cheese.  Pair it with some hot tomato soup and you've got dinner.

Provençal Fougasse

courtesy of Williams Sonoma "Essentials of Baking"

Makes 2 large flatbreads

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano 

1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 package (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast 

1 3/4 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp salt

Semolina flour for dusting

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the garlic, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and olive oil. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

*BY STAND MIXER: In the 5-qt bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the oil mixture, flour, and salt. Place the bowl on the mixer, attach the dough hook, and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes.Remove the dough from the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, 1 1/2-2 hours. 

Punch down the dough and turn it onto a clean work surface. Cut the dough in half with a sharp knife or a bench scraper. Shape each piece into a loose ball, cover with a dry kitchen towel, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Liberally dust 2 half-sheet pans or rimless baking sheets with semolina flour. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each portion of the dough into a rectangle with about the same dimensions as the prepared pan. Transfer each rectangle to the prepared pan, spreading it out with your hands if it shrinks when you pick up. Facing the narrow end of a rectangle, and eyeing the vertical center of it, use a sharp knife or a pizza wheel to cut 3 slits at an angle down the left side of the center, and 3 slits down the right side of the center. Gently pull on the dough to open the slits up slightly so that they widen into ovals. 

Cover the dough loosely with a dry kitchen towel and let the breads rise again until they double in size, 20-30 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees. Bake the breads until they are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely in the pans. Store tightly wrapped in aluminum foil at room temperature for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 2 weeks. Reheat at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pie

This chocolate chip pie recipe comes from my childhood, somewhere, somehow, my mother found this recipe and would always throw it together last minute for dessert.  It's the perfect recipe for guests coming over for coffee or tea, or a dinner where you just don't have time to make an elaborate dessert.  It basically tastes like a big chocolate chip cookie, but sometimes you need something a bit more presentable to slice into.  Top it with some ice cream or whipped cream and kids and adults are in heaven.  It's great served warm. This is easy, as pie.  You could, of course, make your pie dough from scratch and make things a little less easy.

6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

½ cup flour

6 oz choc chip

¾ chopped pecan

½ cup flaked coconut

1 unbaked pie shell

In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla and beat well; add eggs, beat, stir in flour, chocolate, pecans, coconut and a pinch of salt.  Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Leek Fried Rice

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Mark Bittman's The Minimalist (published in The New York Times) and was adapted from Jean Georges.  I had made a simple leek fried rice for a dinner party and had decided to prepare this recipe with the leftovers as I had watched the podcast and was looking forward to making it ever since.  It's absolutely divine.  The creamy yolk mixes into the rice, and the crunch from the ginger and garlic is sweet and warm.  It's brilliant, and a perfect weekend lunch.      

Leek Fried Rice, adapted from The Minimalist

~ 2 cups leftover basmati rice

1 T minced ginger

1 T minced garlic

1 c thinly sliced leeks, washed and trimmed

1 T soy sauce

1 T sesame oil

salt, pepper

~ 1/4 c grape seed oil

In a pan over medium heat, heat oil and add garlic and ginger and cook until crisp and brown.  With a mesh spoon, remove from pan and place onto plate with a paper towel.  Salt.  Toss leeks into pan and cook for about 8 minutes, until tender.  Add rice.  Salt and pepper.  Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil, turn off heat.  Fry up two eggs meanwhile in a separate pan, with a little butter.  Serve rice onto two plates, top with fried egg and sprinkle ginger and garlic.