Lemon Curd

Posted on February 19, 2024 by angelamara

I can’t remember why I first made lemon curd, but I do remember being surprised at how easy it is to make, and how delicious it is. Millie and I made a Victoria Sponge Cake filled with lemon curd and whipped cream; we were inspired by The Great British Baking Show. Maybe that was the first time I made lemon curd?

This is one very fancy sandwich!

You can also bake up a short crust and whip up a lemon curd tart – easy and delicious!

Extra fancy!

But really, you will probably just want to eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon. This is what my mother-in-law Barb likes to do. I’m totally blabbing her secret, but she won’t mind. It is just that good. Or you can spread it on scones or flaky buttermilk biscuits. We almost do this weekly with Barb! And the best part is that it’s quick to make, and pretty easy. You don’t need a lot of ingredients… just two to three lemons, sugar, eggs, butter…

Barb snuggling with our cat Togy on a chilly February day.

I tried a couple of different recipes, to find that most were way too sweet for me until I found this one from Epicurious. This is the one; really lemony and tangy. One time I made it with Meyer lemons, and I was disappointed because the curd didn’t have the same zip to it. So yes, I like my curd very tart! And if you do too, you will love this recipe.

Lemon Curd

(from Epicurious)

  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from two to three lemons)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs*
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (use a microplane grater)
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into pats
  1. Wash the lemons and dry well. Using a microplane grater, grate the lemon zest into a small bowl until you have 2 teaspoons worth; set aside.
  2. Juice the lemons until you have 1/2 cup of juice. Strain the juice and pour into a heavy 2-quart saucepan.
  3. Add the sugar, eggs, and lemon zest to the juice and cook over a medium-low heat, whisking constantly while adding the butter pieces a little bit at a time.
  4. Continue to whisk and heat the curd until the curd holds the line of the whisk, and you see the first bubble or two of a simmer appear at the top. The curd should reach 170°F. This can take up to twenty minutes! Don’t rush the process by turning up the heat, otherwise you might end up with scrambled eggs.
  5. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl, covering the top of the curd with plastic wrap… yes, the wrap should be touching the curd. It keeps the curd from developing a skin. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes:

*I recommend removing the little white stringy things (chalaza) that are attached to the egg yolks before using the eggs. The chalaza, once cooked, will look like white lumps in your lemon zest. No thank you. On that note, some like to strain the curd after it is made, but I do not. Too much work! Plus, I like the teeny bits of zest, but if you prefer, go ahead and strain it. Also, the microplane zester zests so finely that you can hardly tell that there are bits of zest in the curd, but you do get all of the flavor.

All the necessary ingredients, plus my favorite flexible whisk.

Just zest the rind, not the white pith, which can be bitter.

Oops! I put all the butter in at once, but it still came out fine!

Butter melting.

This flexible whisk bends, allowing it to get into the cornery edges of the pan.

End product will be a bit gelatinous and will leave trails. It thickens quite a bit once chilled.

Enjoy!

And just for fun:

The girls, me, and Barb at Mount Rainier, October 2022.

Posted in Desserts, Fun in the kitchen! | 4 Comments

Millie’s Swiss Roll

Posted on January 23, 2024 by angelamara

My daughter Millie made this amazing Swiss Roll a few days ago. She knew I was going out, and she was happy to have the kitchen all to herself for a fun baking project.

I was gone all day at the 5th Avenue Theater with my friend Sheryl; she invited me to The Sound of Music “sing along” for my birthday. It was kind of like seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show, except for older folks, haha. There was swag, and at the beginning they had a costume contest, and then they coached us on things to say and do during the movie. There were, of course, those that took the liberty of coming up with their own hysterical things to shout at the screen.

Swag for audience participation

When I got home, Millie was still working on her Swiss Roll. She had tried to make a substitution for whipping cream with milk and butter, which did NOT work, so Matthew and Mara ran off to the grocery store to get the real thing. Millie took it all in stride. In the end, her Swiss Roll was amazing. She used the recipe from Preppy Kitchen. The chocolate sponge was tender and flavorful, the whipped cream had just the right hint of sweetness, and the chocolate ganache added the perfect pop of intense chocolate flavor, as well as a beautiful sheen.

The perfect roll, worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake

I’m sure if I tried to make it, I would have been a nervous wreck. Millie says I worry too much about these kinds of things, and she’s probably right. The only time I ever attempted to make a rolled cake (Bûche de Noël), was back when I was in college, and I made the dessert for a Christmas celebration with family and friends. The cake cracked, making it difficult to spread the chocolate mousse filling, and impossible to roll. It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t stop me, and everyone loved it. So fast forward to this evening, speaking of things not going well.

My favorite split pea soup, mid process

I was making split pea soup for dinner. It had been a long day. I was tired and hungry. This split pea soup recipe is absolutely one of my favorites, and I was looking forward to having it for dinner. The finishing touch is taking an immersion blender (I love my immersion blender) and blending the simmering peas and sauteed veggies into a velvety purée. So good. So I took my immersion blender and got it going, when suddenly it made a horrible noise. And I noticed something big and gray floating in the soup. I had forgotten to remove the safety guard from the blade end of the blender, and part of it got shredded into the soup! Millie ran into the kitchen to see what all the commotion and noise was; I was practically in tears. She helped me fish out pieces of plastic from the soup. I was so disheartened, and felt way too tired to put a Plan B into action. And here’s the craziest part: Matthew and I ate the soup. Don’t judge us. I watched in disbelief as Matthew picked out a few little pieces of shredded plastic that Millie and I had missed. It reminded me of a story Matthew told at a dinner party, way back in the days before we were dating.

Our first date was a hike to the top of Mount Si.

The story went something like this: His grandmother made biscuits for his grandfather, back when they were newlyweds, and the biscuits came out so hard that the two of them went outside and threw them at the passing-by train cars, laughing all the while. I will never forget hearing Matthew tell this story, and if you know Matthew, you will know that he told it much more eloquently and with many more interesting details than I just did. Hearing him tell that story, something touched my heart, and that was when I started falling in love with him. Tonight, we both laughed at the shredded plastic soup fiasco, and I told him that it would be a story to rival the old one of his grandparents and the tough biscuits. We laughed again. And then to put everything right, we sat down and had a piece of Millie’s Amazing Swiss Roll.

Posted in Desserts, Musings | 12 Comments

Potato Kale Soup (Soupe de Legumes)

Posted on December 19, 2023 by angelamara

I brought home some kale the other day. I was planning on either making a kale salad, or maybe sauteed kale for a side dish. But somehow I got the craving for soup instead, so I looked up “potato kale soup”, and found this recipe from Pinch of Yum. It seemed easy and pretty quick to make, so I got started.

Simple and comforting.

I decided to skip the milk altogether, and also decided to use my handy immersion blender instead of transferring the soup to a blender… way too much work. Once I got the soup to the puréed stage, it was just so so good! It reminded me of a summer I spent in France. I was staying with a French family, and the mother loved to make soupe de legumes for a simple supper. She would serve it with crusty bread, and put a little pitcher of milk on the table in case anyone wanted to add it to their soup.

Leftovers can be reheated with a little more broth.

There have been a couple of times over the years that I have accidentally made a soup like this, so I decided I better write it down. The thing is, if you don’t like kale, you can use carrots instead (start sautéing when you sauté the potatoes), or some other veggies, but keep it simple. Potatoes and onions are always the base. I think this soup is absolutely dreamy and delicious. Maybe it’s because it’s linked to a food memory? Or maybe it’s just really good. You decide.

Potato Kale Soup

(Adapted from Pinch of Yum’s recipe)

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (homemade if possible)
  • 3 cups chopped kale, stems removed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups milk, heated (optional)
  1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt the butter on medium heat.
  2. Sauté the onions until translucent, about ten minutes.
  3. Add the potatoes and sauté for ten to fifteen minutes, or until the potatoes begin to brown.
  4. Add 4 cups of broth and the chopped kale, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about ten minutes more.
  5. Blend soup in the pot with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth. Now add in the remaining two cups of broth and bring back to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Serve with a good crusty bread and offer extra cracked pepper, and if you like, have a pitcher of heated milk on the table for stirring into the soup. Enjoy!

Posted in Comfort Food, Soups | 2 Comments

Berliner Brot

Posted on December 7, 2023 by angelamara

As we head into the holiday season, I start to think about all the different special holiday cookies I like to make. This year I have a new addition; Berliner Brot! These chewy cookies are unlike American treats; they are fragrant with candied citrus peel, allspice and cinnamon, toasted almonds, and shaved dark chocolate, and have a lovely rum glaze!

I learned about this cookie from my friend Ruth. She and I met during the early days of the Covid lockdown. We are both in our neighborhood Buy Nothing group, and we began to give things to each other. I actually just looked back on our history, and it was back in 2017! I gave Ruth a set of dishes, and then later she gave me a set of beautiful beaded napkin rings, which we use every Thanksgiving.

Ruth’s napkin rings

But we didn’t meet in person until Covid. It was at that point that we started giving each other all sorts of things, and found out we had a lot of common interests, including gardening, knitting, and…. baking!!! Ruth was a new mom in 2020. Here is a photo of her reading to her sweet baby boy a Dr. Seuss book that we gave to her.

Ruth with Rhys

On one of our exchanges during Christmas 2020, Ruth included a little bag of cookies. At first bite I became thoroughly obsessed! I grilled her with questions, only to find out that one of the ingredients her mother mailed to her from Germany! I have never forgotten how wonderful those cookies were, and have been wanting to recreate them ever since.

They are fun to make, and lovely to give during the holidays.

Just recently, Ruth gave me the recipe, which was in German haha… Millie and I tried to figure it all out, which was a challenge! There were also some ingredients that I didn’t think I could find here. Luckily another friend of mine was going to Germany and asked if she could bring anything back for me. Well, yes! She brought me back some candied citrus peel, and that’s all I needed to get started!

Orangeat and Zitronat… the real deal!

I know you can find candied citrus peel here, but Ruth said it wasn’t the same, and I believe her. So back to the recipe. I felt a little intimidated by it being in German, so I did some research, and found a recipe for Berliner Brot online that was in English, and basically had the same ingredient list as Ruth’s. Bingo! I made it a couple of times following the new recipe which had less sugar. Of course I had to drop some off to Ruth so she could try them. She thought they were a little dry (due to less sugar, and maybe over-baking?), and I agreed. So I used a combination of Ruth’s recipe and the new one, baked for less time, and I love the results! Maybe these will become part of your holiday cookie list too.

Berliner Brot

(Adapted from Ruth’s recipe and this one!)

Makes about 6 dozen

  • 1 cup raw almonds
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 1 1/4 cup (250 grams) dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (70 grams) maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) candied lemon or orange peel*
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 grams) chopped/shaved dark chocolate**
  • Butter or margarine for greasing the pan

For the glaze:

  • 1 cup (100 grams) powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon dark rum
  • 2 tablespoons water (you may not need all of it)
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place almonds on cookie sheet and bake in 350° oven for ten minutes. Remove and let cool.
  2. While the almonds are baking, chop the chocolate with a sharp knife and set aside. When I do this, most of it ends up being shaved pieces, but there are also some bigger pieces. It’s nice that way!
  3. Increase oven temperature to 400°.
  4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs with the warm water, then add the brown sugar little by little. Beat until light in color and nice and thick.
  5. Beat in the maple syrup and dark rum.
  6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice.
  7. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended.
  8. Roughly chop the cooled almonds. Stir in the chopped almonds, chocolate, and candied peel, using a wooden spoon.
  9. Butter a large (13″ x 18″) cookie sheet. If you use something like Earth Balance to grease the sheet, these cookies are completely dairy-free.
  10. Take a sheet of aluminum foil that is a little longer than the width of the cookie sheet, and fold until you have a one inch strip. Butter the foil strip. Stay with me here.
  11. Pour the cookie batter (it will be thick!) onto the cookie sheet, and spread it to a 1/2″ thickness. You will not fill your cookie sheet completely. For me, it ends up being about 13″ x 11″. Take the buttered foil strip and press it against the edge of the batter to keep it from spreading. (see photos!)
  12. Bake on center rack of preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes.
  13. While cookies are baking, make the glaze. Mix together the powdered sugar, rum, and 1 tablespoon water. If it’s too thick, continue to add water a few drops at a time until it is a glaze consistency, thick and glossy.
  14. When cookies are done baking (they will be firm to the touch), remove from oven and glaze while still hot. Let cookies cool a little bit, then cut into 1 1/2″ squares while still warm, using a sharp knife. Let the cookies continue to cool on the cookie sheet. When completely cool, you can store in an airtight container, or if you would like them a little dryer, you can separate the cookies and leave on the cookie sheet a little longer to dry out, and then store them in an airtight container. If you find that the cookies seem too moist (i.e. sticky on the bottom), you can put them back in a 350° oven for ten more minutes. They might even get crunchy on the edges while still remaining chewy inside. It all depends on how you like them. These cookies get better with age, which I appreciate in a holiday cookie***. Enjoy!

Notes:

*Of course I used up my German candied peel during my practice batches, so I ended up using some candied orange peel that I got at a fancy grocery store, and in the absence of the real deal, this works just fine.

**I use Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bar, and 6 little squares end up being about 75 grams. See pictures! And don’t even think about using chocolate chips. They don’t behave the same way in baked good as shaved or chopped chocolate.

***Like many spiced holiday cookies, these really benefit from a day or two or three of rest to let the flavors mingle and the texture settle down a bit. They are perfect for gift giving or sending in the mail, because they just keep getting better!

****If you want to side-step the whole aluminum foil thing, just make a batch and a half of the recipe, and that fits nicely into a standard cookie sheet (13″ x 18″). Or, you could halve the recipe and use an 8″ x 8″ pan.

Here are a few pictures of the process that might be helpful. I might add more pictures later, so check back in.

Go get a dark chocolate bar.

Mostly shaved, with some slightly bigger pieces.

Roughly chopped almonds.

Orangeat and Zitronat

Eggs, water, and dark brown sugar. Not mixed enough!!!

Now it’s mixed enough.

Smooth and glossy after adding maple syrup and rum.

Sprinkle add-ins on top and fold in.

Spread on buttered cookie sheet.

You’re looking for about a 1/2 inch thickness.

Press buttered foil up against edge of batter.

This looks done!

Glazed and cut, and sampled, apparently…

Separated on cookie sheet to dry out a bit.

Store in a tupperware container.

Or store in an airtight jar. They look so pretty!

This is a batch and a half – it fits the cookie sheet perfectly!

Posted in Cookies, Dairy-free, Fun in the kitchen! | Leave a comment

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

Posted on October 27, 2023 by angelamara

I was tempted to call this post: Things My Family Doesn’t Like, but then that wouldn’t be very descriptive, would it? I just got back from St. Louis. My daughters and I went there to spend some special time with my sister Linda’s kids. Linda passed away in May, and although we all went to St. Louis in June for services, we really wanted to go back.

Here we are, together again.

I cherish every moment we spent together, and am so grateful. When I got back to Seattle, I was hit by a fresh wave of grief. I am not surprised. How could I spend such wonderful time with Linda’s kids, her living legacy, and not just miss her all the more? So I needed to take extra good care of myself. Get good rest, drink plenty of water, and eat well. I did a grocery run and picked up a head of cauliflower… something my family does not like! But this is about self care.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower – so good!

I’ve made oven roasted cauliflower before, but this time I paid more attention. I got the recipe from the  allrecipes website. I followed the baking instructions, but changed the seasoning. Remember, this is things my family doesn’t like, right? So I tossed the cauliflower florets in olive oil, added a big pinch of salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a bunch of dashes of Chinese Five Spice – so dreamy!! But my family can detect that spice mix from a mile away, and they don’t approve. Or at least the girls don’t. But this is for me! Chinese Five Spice is a blend of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel. It gives everything an amazing, exotic flavor that I adore.

Look at that crispy golden brown caramelization!

Of course you can use any seasoning you like, but since it will just be me eating this cauliflower, I’m going for the Five Spice!

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into 1 1/2″ florets
  • 1/4 cup olive oil or avocado oil
  • Goodly pinch kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
  • Couple dashes (1/2 teaspoon?) Chinese Five Spice
  1. Preheat oven to 450°
  2. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower florets with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Chinese Five Spice. Toss well.
  3. Spread cauliflower evenly on a cookie sheet. Make sure the pieces are spread apart for better roasting. If the pieces are too close together, they will steam.
  4. Bake on center rack of preheated 450° oven for 15 minutes. Using two spoons or a spatula, toss the pieces of cauliflower around to flip them over. Bake for ten more minutes.
  5. Serve and enjoy! Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, and are delicious hot or cold.

Posted in Side Dishes | 2 Comments

All Things Pie

Posted on September 20, 2023 by angelamara

I am getting ready to teach some pie crust workshops in my home… In a lot of ways I’ve been preparing for this for years. Always in the back of my mind I imagine sharing the joy of making a flaky, delicious, all-butter pie crust with everyone I know. I have slowly been collecting equipment.

Getting the table ready!

I’ve been reflecting (read: obsessing) on all the details, and it occurs to me that it might be a good idea to write about my favorite kitchen tools for pie making. So here it goes.

4 quart Pyrex glass bowl (11 3/4″ across the top)

I love this 4 quart Pyrex bowl for mixing pie dough. It is large and shallow; easy to get my hands into. I throw it in the freezer about ten minutes before I want to make my dough; the glass stays cold the entire time I am working, keeping the butter from melting. I can always find one of these at Goodwill.

High quality stainless steel measuring cups and spoons

Maybe I’m spoiled, but I love these measuring cups and spoons. They were given to us as a house warming gift, and they come from Williams-Sonoma. I use them every day for one thing or another, and I love the way they feel in my hand.

KitchenAid pastry blender

I love this KitchenAid pastry blender. The handle is easy on my hands (important!), and I like the red color. I have many pastry blenders (for the workshops!), but my favorite is the KitchenAid. Find one with a soft handle!

Williams-Sonoma spatula

This may seem obvious, but having a good favorite spatula is important! Here’s that red again – so pretty! I also like the wooden handle. I’ve had this one for so long now that the handle is warped, but it’s still the first one I reach for.

OXO brand sifter

I use this sifter all the time for pie and bread making. It makes a nice dusting of flour when I need it. It is always on my counter at the ready. If you are in Seattle, you can get one of these at Cookin’ at Madison Park.

Plastic Wrap Dispenser

For the record, I really don’t like plastic wrap, but I still have to use it every now and then, and especially for wrapping discs of pie dough. In the past I have struggled and wrangled with the kind of plastic wrap you get at the grocery store, but never again. This awesome dispenser you can get at the King Arthur Baking website, along with refills for plastic wrap. It works like a charm. Because I am not wasting the wrap by tearing it in the wrong place, etc, I only use what I need, and no more swearing and gnashing of teeth.

My favorite rolling pin

This is my absolute favorite rolling pin. It is heavy duty, and the chrome handles have a….. wait for it….. RED accent stripe. This rolling pin is vintage and belonged to my mom. I love it. A good rolling pin is heavy, but not too heavy, and rolls smoothly and easily. Check your local thrift stores, but be patient. Don’t get a lightweight one. A good one is worth waiting for.

My other favorite rolling pin

This beautiful, versatile rolling pin is nice and long; perfect for rolling out larger doughs, while still being a good option for pie crust. I got this from Home Cake Decorating in Seattle. This store is a local gem, serving Seattle bakers since 1960. The new owner, Dave, is always there, ready to answer all of your baking questions. Don’t miss any opportunity to drop by and browse. I bet you won’t leave empty handed.

Bench scraper

It may seem strange for me to have a strong opinion about bench scrapers, but I do. This is my very favorite one, made by Progressive. I actually have two of these, since I use them so often. They are great for maneuvering pie dough, scooping up chopped fruit or veggies, and even doing clean up. The Progressive brand has a slightly sharp edge to it, making it my first choice for cubing cold butter. I got mine at our local Maple Leaf Ace Hardware in Seattle.

9″ USA Pan pie pan

Although I have a ridiculous number of pie pans, my 9″ USA Pan pie pans are the ones I prefer. The metal transfers heat quickly, making for a solid bake and crispy crust. If you prefer a decorative ceramic pie plate, you can always bake in the metal pie pan, and then once cooled, slide the pie into your decorative pie plate. You can get these from the King Arthur Baking catalog or website. Warning: deep dish pie plates, although pretty, really cause problems with baking pies. Stick with the shallow ones for best results.

Pastry cutter is behind, pizza wheel in front

If you are just wanting to trim away excess pie dough, a sharp pizza wheel works nicely. I got mine at a thrift shop. For doing more detailed work, or for a fancy fluted edge, you might want an actual pastry cutter. I got mine at Cookin’ at Madison Park. Actually, I should say that my husband and kids got it there; my Christmas wish list is usually all kitchen tools… surprise! In the absence of a pastry cutter, a sharp knife will do.

Pastry brushes – OXO silicone pastry brush in front, bristle brush behind

I never thought I would like a silicone pastry brush, but now I can’t live without one. I use it to brush cream or milk onto pastries and pies before baking, to brush egg wash on breads and rolls before they go into the oven, brush toast with olive oil before topping with other goodies…. and this brush goes in the dishwasher! So you might want to know what I use the bristle brush for? I use it to brush away excess flour from pie dough before it goes into the pie pan; for this job, only a bristle brush will do. I also have a second bristle brush that is reserved for seasoning my pizzelle iron :). I get the bristle brushes from the grocery store, and the OXO silicone brush came from the beloved Mrs. Cook’s that graced the University Village in Seattle for 42 years before closing their doors. I’m not sure where you can get these brushes now, but I would recommend the OXO brand.

The picture says it all

I used to struggle to make the perfect little ring of foil to protect the edges of my pie crusts from burning. It was always so tricky to get the foil just right so that it fit properly, and also so that it didn’t touch the filling and get stuck. This pie crust shield is a life saver! I just plop it on the crust as soon as the edges are golden brown, and then let the pie finish baking. Perfection. Easy to clean and store. Pretty sure I’ve seen these at Home Cake Decorating as well as Cookin’ at Madison Park.

Oven thermometer!

I think everyone should have an oven thermometer. Mine lives permanently in my oven. All ovens are not created equal… some run hot, some run cold; why take any chances? Your masterpieces will bake up beautifully at the right temperature, so better safe than sorry. You can usually find these at the grocery store in the baking section. I got this particular one at a yard sale, and I’m rather obsessed with it, as it is easy to read, and hasn’t discolored like some others I have had. Apparently you can get this at Sur La Table.

Kitchen scale!

I never used to weigh my ingredients, but I also never had consistent results when it came to pie crust. Now I weigh my flour every time! My kitchen scale was given to me by my lovely neighbor Susy, and I cherish it. It hangs on my kitchen wall sometimes, but most of the time it is sitting on my kitchen counter because it gets used so often. If you don’t have a kitchen scale yet, I highly recommend it! You can get the flat, slim kind that stores easily in a kitchen drawer. Although I don’t have a specific one to recommend, I do suggest getting a good one (read all the reviews), because you don’t want to end up frustrated with a model that doesn’t work well. Mine is a Soehnle, and I know that they do still make kitchen scales, including the flat kind. Let me know if you have one that you love!

Citrus Juicer

And because I often use freshly squeezed lemon juice for my apple pies and galettes, among other things, I must recommend this stainless steel citrus juicer made by Endurance. I love that it has a strainer, that the top comes off for easy pouring, and that it goes in the dishwasher for easy cleaning. My glass one got chipped in my gadget drawer, so I had to replace it. I didn’t know I could love a juicer until I owned this one. I got it at Cookin’ at Madison Park.

How could I not mention my marble pastry board?

My marble pastry board has a permanent place of honor in the corner of my kitchen where I spend so much time. This is definitely a luxury; I did fine before I had it, but oh, how I love it. I use it for kneading, cutting, and shaping breads, and of course, for rolling out doughs of all kinds; pie dough, croissant dough, kouign amann dough, cinnamon roll dough… you name it. The marble stays cool, which is a huge bonus when rolling out any pastry dough, since you don’t want the butter to get warm. This one is 18″ x 18″, which is pretty much perfect for all of my kitchen projects. It has some dings and chips on the edges where things have knocked into it, but it is still my sturdy workhorse. This one came from Mrs. Cook’s, but you can most likely find them at fancier kitchen stores. Also, keep an eye out when you go thrifting. Like I said, this is a luxury, not a necessity, but it sure has made my pie life a whole lot easier.

If you are still reading at this point, wow. There were lots of things to write about. Hopefully most of these things are standard kitchen items, and I hope the list is helpful. Happy Pie Making!!!

Posted in Pie! | 4 Comments

Peach Nectarine Galette

Posted on September 12, 2023 by angelamara

I am getting ready to teach some pie crust workshops for folks in my neighborhood – so exciting!! You know I get really excited about pie crust. I struggled for decades to be able to make a consistently good, tender, flaky, all-butter pie crust, and now that I feel like I can, I want to share my passion with everyone I know! Except for yesterday, suddenly I wasn’t feeling confident (this happens with pie crust), so I decided to whip one up to reassure myself.

A close up of the flaky crust. It’s the last bite, hehe.

I looked for a galette recipe that would be simple, and that I could make with what I had on hand, which was one large peach and one nectarine. I decided to go with The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. I can always count on her recipes to be good, straightforward, and easy. I halved the recipe, made my crust from scratch (I mean, that’s what this is about, right?), and only used the one giant peach and one nectarine. Galettes are very forgiving, and this galette was no exception; it was absolutely divine. At first I thought there was too much cinnamon, but after everything baked, it was perfection. And here’s something great about galettes: unlike pies, a galette is pretty quick to make*, and you only have to let it cool for about an hour before enjoying. This is a make-and-eat-the-same-day recipe. I hope you try it.

Peach Nectarine Galette

(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe)

  • 1 disc favorite pie dough (enough for a single crust)
  • 1 large peach (or 2 medium peaches) and 1 nectarine**, pitted and sliced
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • cream and sugar for brushing on crust
  1. Prepare your pie dough and place well wrapped disc in fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Turn oven to 425°.
  3. While dough is chilling and oven is preheating, do a little clean up, then mix the sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. Pit and slice the peach and nectarine. Set aside.
  5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  6. After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, roll out your dough to a 13″ circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You want the dough to be somewhere around 1/8″ thick, or maybe just a tad thicker. Transfer rolled out dough to prepared cookie sheet.
  7. Toss the peach and nectarine in the cinnamon/sugar/cornstarch mixture until well coated.
  8. Place the peach and nectarine slices on the crust, slightly overlapping, leaving a 1 1/2″ border all around. Fold the edges of the crust in around the fruit, then brush the crust with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
  9. Bake galette on middle rack of preheated 425° oven for ten minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes or longer, until crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling in the center***.
  10. Let galette cool on cookie sheet on a cooling rack for about an hour.
  11. Enjoy! Serves 6.

Notes:

*When I say this is pretty quick to make, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to make the pie dough. Then it takes another 30 minutes to prepare the filling and let the dough chill. Add another 10 minutes to assemble the galette, and then another 50 minutes to an hour to bake the galette. So that’s about 2 hours total, and then about another hour to let the galette cool – this is essential. If you eat the galette before it has cooled, the crust will be chewy and you will think you’ve done something wrong. So, count about 3 hours from beginning to end. And if this is the first time you are making this recipe and you are like me, tack on another 30 minutes just because. I know I said it was quick to make, and in my defense, it is a lot quicker than making a double crust fruit pie. That is all.

**Taste your fruit! If you fruit is delicious, your galette will be delicious. If your fruit is ho-hum, your galette will be ho-hum. Sorry.

***Don’t be afraid of a dark crust. It is worth the extra time to get to that deep golden brown stage. And make sure the fruit is bubbling in the middle of the galette. Your galette will bake from the outside first, then toward the inside, so if the middle is not actively bubbling, your galette hasn’t cooked all the way through. Trust me.

This galette has cooked all the way! Crust is sturdy enough to pick up, but still tender and flaky.

Bon Appétit!

Posted in Desserts | Leave a comment

Pasta Fagioli (Emergency Soup)

Posted on August 24, 2023 by angelamara

I need an armory of quick dinner ideas for those days when I am feeling like a zombie. I sometimes look at Matthew and say, “What do I usually make for dinner every night?”. I go through cooking phases, often with the seasons, and when the seasons change, I somehow forget what my repertoire is for the coming months.

My dahlias enjoying the sweetness of late summer.

I always tend to feel a twinge of melancholy in August, when the light changes and the cooler air hints at fall on its way. It’s as if everything relaxes after the big burst of energy and effort put forth in spring and summer, and says, “We’ll try again next year”. And I relax too. So here is a soup I like to make when it’s already past dinnertime and I need something simple and quick. And no guilt for not taking advantage of late summer’s harvest of fresh vegetables*. This soup is just pantry items. It is delicious and comforting.

Pasta Fagioli

(adapted from Jacques Pépin’s recipe)

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion**
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes*** (14.5 oz)
  • 1 cup dry pasta, such as penne noodles
  • 1 can cannellini beans (15.5 oz)
  • grated parmesan cheese (optional)
  1. Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat.
  2. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes or so, until softened.
  3. Add the broth and the tomatoes with their juices. Bring to a boil.
  4. Add the pasta, bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow boil. Cover and cook until pasta is al dente.
  5. Add the beans along with their liquid (no need to rinse and drain) and bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer until soup has thickened, maybe 5 minutes.
  6. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and a good crusty bread. Makes 4 modest servings, or 2 hearty servings with a bit left over.

Notes:

*This soup is easily amended. So if you’ve got lots of zucchini or other veggies from your summer harvest, throw some in if you must. But then it’s not really pasta fagioli anymore, is it? Remember, this is an emergency soup!

**Every time I chop onions, I throw some of them into a freezer bag in my freezer. That way, when I need to make a quick and easy soup, and don’t feel like fiddling with an onion, I always have some at the ready.

***I sometimes like to use “fire roasted” diced tomatoes for extra flavor. So good!

Posted in Busy-day meals, Dinner, Soups | 2 Comments

Carrot Cake

Posted on July 2, 2023 by angelamara

It has been a while since I have written here; I have been in deep mourning for the loss of my beloved oldest sister, Linda.

With Linda (on the right), from her visit to Seattle. We were on our way to see the Space Needle.

Amidst the pain and shock, I found the last birthday card she sent to me. She said it reminded her of all the wonderful things that I bake in my kitchen, and she wished me a year full of all the “sweet” things.

Linda was a big fan of my culinary endeavors; in fact, she cheered me on and encouraged me in all of my pursuits and in every aspect of my life. And she would often tell me about how she remembered the day I was born, and how excited she and my sister Jane were. I came a month early, and she said that made it that much more exciting!

I love the look of joy on my sisters’ faces (Linda in the middle, Jane on the right).

I know that Linda is encouraging me still, as I try to navigate this world without her physical presence. We have had some big events in our lives since her passing. Our daughter Mara graduated from high school.

We are so proud of her!

And our daughter Millie turned 13.

She’s a teenager now!

Millie requested a carrot cake this year. I had a new recipe to try out, and it behaved really well. The cake came out perfectly even, which made it easy to frost, decorate, and slice.

A well-behaved cake.

Everyone liked it, but I found myself missing the carrot cake I knew from my college days and beyond: a messy, chock-full-of-stuff, luscious, melt-in-your-mouth cake, topped with copious amounts of billowy cream cheese frosting. And yes, the cake had crushed pineapple in it.

This is more like it.

So I felt the need to nail down the perfect carrot cake recipe once and for all. Millie suggested I make the carrot cake we normally make. I found that a little challenging, because we kind of make it differently every time, kind of winging it; it’s a tweaked Silver Palate recipe. This time I wrote down all of the changes, and even made a few more changes. When I took the first bite, I said out loud, “Oh yes, this is my carrot cake!”, to which Millie replied, “This is my carrot cake!”. It was, after all, her idea to go back to the Silver Palate recipe, and she has made it several times. So really, it is our carrot cake. I think I can rest easy now, and I think Linda would love it.

Carrot Cake

(Adapted from The Silver Palate cookbook)

For the cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce*
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots, packed
  • 1/3 cup drained crushed pineapple (drain first, then measure)

For the frosting:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, straight from fridge
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Grease two 8″ round pans, place parchment round in bottom of each, then butter the parchment round. Lightly flour the pans.
  3. In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients.
  4. Add apple sauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well.
  5. Fold in walnuts, carrots, and pineapple.
  6. Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans (I like to weigh mine to make sure the cakes come out even) and spread to edges of pans.
  7. Bang pans once on counter by lifting and dropping (gets rid of any large air bubbles), then spin each pan on the counter… batter will climb up the edge of the pans. This helps avoid a domed cake.
  8. Bake on middle rack of preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. If your oven runs hot, you might want to do a toothpick check at 25 minutes, and then check every 5 minutes after that.
  9. When toothpick comes out clean (it’s okay if it has a crumb or two, just nothing wet), let cakes rest in pans on cooling rack for ten minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edge of the cakes and remove from pans. Remove parchment paper from cakes and let cakes cool upright on cooling rack.
  10. To make frosting, beat the cold cream cheese and room temperature butter together until well blended. Add the powdered sugar little by little – one cup at a time. Beat until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla after all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated. Do not over mix! Over mixing will result in a grainy frosting. You are looking for smooth, billowy, and spreadable.
  11. Once cakes have completely cooled, fill and frost as desired. This cake tastes great on the first day, and every day after, and in my opinion, tastes best when chilled. Serves 12, depending on how you slice it***.

Notes:

*If you don’t have apple sauce, you can add 1/4 cup of additional oil in its place.

**Even though I reduced the oil of the original recipe by a small amount (I subbed a bit of apple sauce), the cake does appear a bit oily when removing from pans. Don’t worry about that! The cake does not taste oily, and is perfectly moist and delicious. But feel free to experiment and use more apple sauce/less oil.

***If you would like a larger cake, you can increase all ingredients by 50%, and use three 8″ round pans. This will make a taller, more impressive triple layer cake.

And just because…. one of my favorite pictures of me and my sisters.

Me on the left, Jane in the middle, holding our dog Tammy, and Linda on the right.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Desserts | 6 Comments

Monster Cookies

Posted on April 28, 2023 by angelamara

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter Mara asked if we could make something special for a friend of hers that was not feeling well. I acted casual and of course the answer was yes, while inside, my heart did a flip, because I don’t get to do much with Mara these days – she is busy being a senior in high school, you know. And it meant a lot to me that she wanted to bake something special with me.

My baking companion.

So we found out that her friend likes monster cookies. I had never heard of them before, but once I looked up recipes for them, I realized that I had seen them at bake sales and at the grocery store… you know, those craggy, crispy-chewy cookies with M&M’s? I have always liked them when I tried one, but they don’t ever come to mind when I think of what kind of cookie to make. Maybe it’s because I don’t normally have M&M’s in my cupboard. And maybe it’s because I don’t usually make cookies that have candy in them.

The “share size” is perfect for one batch of cookies!

So we got to work. Turns out that in addition to M&M’s, these cookies have oats and peanut butter in them, as well as regular chocolate chips… they are filled with all the things. We did a little research, and decided to use this recipe. Mara suggested we put some M&M’s on top of each cookie before we bake them, to make them look extra pretty, which I thought was a great idea. They were a big hit with Mara’s friend, so it was perfect.

Slightly flattened, decorated, and ready to bake.

The next day, my daughter Millie asked me if these monster cookies were going to be my next phase (meaning a recipe that I tweak over and over again to get it just right). I told her absolutely not. But the truth was, I did feel like making them again, because there were things that I thought just weren’t right. Like, they were way too sweet! And they were a little dry, too. So after several more batches, here is my version. I upped the salt, reduced the oats a bit, increased the peanut butter, added more semi-sweet chocolate chips, and reserved the M&M’s just for decorating the tops of the cookies. I actually tried making a few without M&M’s because they are so sweet, but found that the crunch of the candy coated chocolate is essential to the character of these cookies. Maybe you’ll need to run to the corner grocery store and get some M&M’s?

Monster Cookies

(Adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch)

  • 1 cup (120 grams*) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (100 grams) old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt (Reduce to 3/4 tsp if using salted butter or if you are concerned about the cookies being too salty. I like the salt to balance out the sweetness.)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (~150 grams) lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (160 grams) peanut butter (I use chunky, Jif or Skippy)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups (260 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ~ 3/4 cup (89 grams) M&Ms – one “share size” package does the trick
  1. Preheat oven to 360° (yes, that’s right, 360°)
  2. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy, then add the sugars and beat again until light and fluffy… a minute or two.
  5. Add the peanut butter to the butter/sugar mixture and beat well, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
  6. Turn mixer to slow and add the flour/oat mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
  7. Scoop the cookie dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon balls (a cookie scoop makes quick work of this) and place them on prepared cookie sheets two inches apart. Flatten the balls a tiny bit with your hands, making chubby discs. Top each cookie with three M&Ms, pressing them in firmly**.
  8. Bake on center rack in preheated oven, one sheet at a time, until the edges are starting to brown and the tops are still light in color. In my oven, this takes about 11 minutes. If your oven runs hotter, it will take less time. Keep an eye on those cookies because if they are over-baked they will be dry.
  9. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for a solid 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. If you try to transfer them too soon they will fall apart. Let cookies cool completely. These cookies are best at room temperature, and are NOT good straight out of the oven; trust me.  Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Notes:

*I have included weights for just about all of the ingredients, and here is why: there were very mixed reviews for the original recipe, with lots of complaints about the cookies being dry, not spreading, being too sweet, etc. So I’m hoping you will not have that experience. If you are careful about how you measure your ingredients, and if you do not over-bake your cookies, they should come out perfectly!

**You may have noticed in the pictures that many of the M&Ms have cracked during baking. If you would like your M&Ms to look perfect, wait until after the cookies are baked before you add the M&Ms. When the cookies come out of the oven and are still very hot, carefully press in the M&Ms.

***Tip: if you end up with the last of the dough that is not enough to make another decent sized cookie, divvy it up into small bits and tuck one bit underneath each of the scooped out cookies. Waste nothing! I know, you might just want to eat that extra bit, but for those of you that don’t like eating raw cookie dough…

****I did some additional experiments, which included not pressing down some of the cookies. You can see below that the three on the left I didn’t flatten, and the six on the right I flattened slightly.

The three on the left not flattened before baking.

And here is how they looked, straight out of the oven. The three on the left are more dome-like.

Three on the left are more dome-like, straight out of the oven.

I then gently pressed M&M’s into the tops of the cookies while they were hot. They were very soft and fluffy, so this was easy to do. The cookies do end up sinking back down a bit, and the end result is very good! This might be my preferred way to do this, as I believe the cookies bake up nicely without the M&M’s on top. Also, I just might like the taller cookies better, as they are more gooey inside. But either way, these cookies are slightly crispy on the outside, and gooey chewy on the inside, with a little M&M crunch for the final touch.

The ones on the left are taller, but still spread enough to look like cookies.

All of them are good!!! If you make these, please let me know how you like them.

Posted in Cookies, Fun in the kitchen! | 4 Comments