Mulling It Over

Today, being the type of drizzly and dreary day only found in mid-winter, was leaving me desperate for a little flavor. I spied some mulling spices collecting dust in the cabinet and thought those would do nicely, however since it is generally considered bad taste to begin drinking at 11 am with only your children present, l figured making mulled wine was out. Feeling curious, I looked through the little recipe booklet that had accompanied the can, and not expecting to find much, stumbled upon the the greatest thing to happen to milk since the cow- Mulled Spice Ice Cream. A simple and strait forward recipe, that while still requiring the process of making a custard, was deliciously simple. After surveying the pantry for accompaniment possibilities, I become immensely glad that I am the type of person who just happens to have several pounds of apples on hand, just in case. Nothing would be more warming, or go better, than hot apple pie, and since I happened to have a jar of homemade caramel sauce left over from a few days prior, what better way to use it up than to incorporate it into the filling. Being that it was Sunday and all, it was nice to know I was creating a combination of flavors likely to bring on a religious experience. After churning up the ice cream, I worked on the pastry portion, while the girls peeled and helped slice apples. Samuel made himself useful making scrap soup. Granted, the whole process took a few hours, but it was worth it, and it was much cheaper than my other favorite dreary day diversion- shopping.


Caramel Apple Pie

Pie Crust of Choice

Filling

4 lbs granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 slices each
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 TBS lemon juice
1 1/2 TBS flour
1 1/2 cups of caramel sauce, recipe follows

1. In a large pot, stir together the apples, sugar, spices, and lemon juice, and cook uncovered over medium heat, until just tender, about 15 to 20 minutes (you do NOT want them too tender or you will end up with applesauce pie).

2. Remove from heat, stir in the flour and caramel, and allow to cool slightly.

3. Roll out your pie crusts with at least a one inch overhang from your pie plate, and pour in the filling, and top with second piece, pinching closed, creating a fluted edge. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, spread on the eggwash, and sand with extra sugar if you like.

4. Bake at 400 for an hour (check half way through-if the crust is getting too dark, cover the top with a little foil), and allow to cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing.



Caramel Sauce (make ahead)

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup cream

1. Combine the butter and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently, about 6 or 7 minutes

2. Add cream, bring to a boil, stirring constantly and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (it will thicken as it cools). Can be stored in the fridge for 1 week.



Mulled Spice Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup mulling spices
3/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

1. In a saucepan bring the milk, cream, and mulling spices to a simmer over medium high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand 30 minutes. Pour the mixture through a sieve and into a bowl.

2. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.

3. Return the cream mixture to the saucepan and bring back to a simmer. Slowly pour the mixture into the yolks and sugar, stirring constantly. Then pour all of it back into the pan and cook over medium low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes (do NOT allow to boil).

4. Pour the custard through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla.

5. You can either nestle this bowl into another one filled with ice to cool it down to room temp before putting it into the refrigerator, or pop it in the fridge or freezer immediately (to speed up the process), stirring frequently. Either way it will need to be good and cold before churning in the ice cream maker. Churn for about 20 to 25 minutes and place in freezer to firm up.

An Empty Space

During family movie night, while watching The King and I, I was startled by a squeal of excitement louder than Deborah Kerr's crescendo. Immediately I knew- after months of wiggling around, Isabella's loose tooth decided it was time to move on, and where there was a tooth a moment ago, there now was not! The empty space now occupying her smile left me with one of my own; Loosing your first tooth is an exciting right of passage to be sure, but it is also a painful reminder that children, that my children, continue to grow up. Having nursed her (literally and figuratively) though the painful processes of acquiring those baby teeth, it is a doubly painful affront for them to be now rendered obsolete and already be coming back out! I did though, to my credit, jump up and down right along with her.

For a household that does not carry out the nearly universal tradition of Santa (which is a WHOLE other blog entry), I was insistent to allow the tooth fairy to visit, lest I kill all the magic of childhood. I conferred with Wes as to whether or not the tooth fairy should adjust for inflation- I mean, I received a dollar a tooth, and that was 20 years ago! But (surprise, surprise) Wes decided a dollar was a fair amount, even now. The morning was met with even more squeals, as an overjoyed Isabella announced, with perfect youthful logic, "I doubted if the tooth fairy was even real, but she left me money, so now I KNOW it isn't just a story! She IS real!". I sometimes forget just how innocent they are- it's so beautiful really. An entire toothy conversation ensued, with Josephine's question, "What does the tooth fairy do with the teeth? Does she throw them in the trash?". Isabella interjected her own line of questioning by asking "Where do you suppose she lives?" Unwilling to allow the innocence of the moment escape, I preserved the fiction that much further by creating an entire vision for the girls of a fairy land built with the treasured teeth, because of course, the tooth fairy regards the pearly whites she collects as precious and, like us, is always looking for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

In addition to the boon left by the tooth fairy, Isabella was doubly treated, as we made our own snowballs to compensate for the lack of snow that actually fell during "the big storm" this past week. It was a delightful next-best-thing, and much tastier!

Snowballs

very vanilla ice cream, or non-fortified nastiness store bough ice cream

sweetened shredded coconut, such as Baker's

1. Using a spring loaded ice cream scoop, make as many round balls as you would like, place on a plate, and let set in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up and retain their shape. Spread a good amount of coconut on another plate, remove the ice cream balls from the freezer, and roll in the coconut (or allow the little ones to do it).

You can make these ahead of time and place back in the freezer uncovered for an hour until completely firm, then wrap in wax paper or plastic until ready to serve.

Try getting creative with making various sized balls and creating your own dessert snowman!

Challahback Girl

In preparation to cater the New Years Eve shabbat service at my mother's synagogue, it was necessary for me to (gulp) , prepare two loaves of traditional Jewish challah bread (pronounced 'holla'). My original plan was to simply purchase the bread from Central Market (which has spectacular artisan breads), while I spent my time preparing everything else- fennel and chrevré stuffed mushrooms, vegetarian black eyed pea cakes, blue cheese gourgéres, caramel coated brie, spiced meringue pecans, espresso and walnut toffee, stone fruit and chocolate truffles, and snowflake linzer cookies. My mom was taken aghast when I relayed my intention to cheat with store bought challah, and informed me that I could show up serving Sam's deli trays and be better off than to not prepare the bread myself. Ahem, "Are you kidding me!? Have you seen my menu?" was my first thought. All belief systems being equal, however, I decided to investigate the options. After a quick online search, I decided the task at hand was more manageable than previously assumed, and, what the hell, homemade challah it would be.

I grossly underestimated, however, exactly how sticky of a situation I was getting myself into. Once the eggs and honey were added into the mix, the dough transformed into the blob, preparing to envelop everything in sight; Even my trusty KitchenAid mixer, armed with its dough hook, could not handle the mass. In a panic reserved for the most dire of emergencies, my entire kitchen rapidly degenerated into a a scene resembling that of an I Love Lucy episode. The counters, and floor, and I, took on an powdery coat from flour being flung near and far, as I began violently punching the yeasty beat in effort to coerce it into a kneadable consistency. Smelling defeat in the air, I began shouting orders to the defiant concoction it in some bazaar drill sergeant tone that up until that point I was completely unaware that I possessed (was I possessed?). Finally, through shear will and determination (and a few more one-two punches), I had a happy little loaf, quite calmed down, and ready to go about the process- not unlike an unruly child after receiving a hum-dinger of a spanking. After a restful rise (for only bread unfortunately, not for me), it behaved beautifully, and after being divided and braided, it baked up golden, soft, and sweet. In a first rate compliment to perseverance, one member of the temple remarked that it was one of the best challahs she had ever tasted, proving that when all hope is lost, well... just keep punching. Shalom ya'll!

As promised to several at the temple, here is the black eyed pea recipe that proved to be most popular. While these take on a whole new life with the addition of bacon (which obviously wouldn't be kosher), they are absolutely delicious in this meat-free form.

I regrettably have no photos to offer of these dishes as I did not have the opportunity amongst the chaos that is catering to pull out my camera and snap away (You can imagine the impropriety- "Um, excuse me ma'am, would you mind putting that mushroom back so that I may finish taking photos?"). If I did not live it, I would never believe that someone did not have enough time to snap a photo, but (sigh), it is true.


Vegetarian Black Eyed Pea Cakes

4 cups fresh black eyed peas
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs*
1 red onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 TBS chopped fresh oregano (if you must, use 1 tsp dried, but they will not be the same)
1 cup grated Parmesan (for all that is sacred and holy, do NOT use Kraft from a green can)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TBS flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

*to make fresh bread crumbs, simply remove the crusts from a good loaf of white bread and pulse for a few seconds in a food processor

1. Place the peas in a large pot and cover with enough water to come up the sides by about 2 inches, bring to a boil, reduce to medium low, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes or so, until they are tender but still retain shape.

2. Dump everything into a large bowl and mix thoroughly

3. Place half of the mixture in a food processor and pulse a few seconds until coarsely ground, then mix it all back together again in the mixing bowl, and form the mix into patties (you can make tiny bite sized patties, 3 inch patties, or hamburger sized patties, depending on how you would like to serve them).

4. Heat about 1/3 cup of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (when a drop of water or batter spatters, it is ready), and fry for 4 or 5 minutes per side until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels

5. You can keep the cooked cakes warm in a 275 degree oven while you finish frying the rest if necessary. You can garnish with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt, with a snippet of green onion and/or roasted red pepper for color.

NOTE
This recipe doubles very well for large parties, and the mix can be made up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.



CLICK HERE FOR THE ONLINE CHALLAH RECIPE

Butter Days Ahead

Oh where to begin... It is undoubted that I have all but fallen out of favor with the ever and urgently updated blogospere, as it has been an unprecedented 2 (almost 3 months) since my last posting. Unfortunately, this has not been due to a lack of material... For all things missed, a quick recap: Isabella had a 6th birthday party fit for a princess, complete with handmade vintage party hats and homemade marshmallow goodie bags; Thanksgiving was spent with all of my family, with me spending three blissful days doing nothing but cooking for 15 people; My annual Gingerbread Day was a success- consuming 16 lbs of flour, 10 lbs of powdered sugar, 8 jars of molasses, 1 jar of ginger, and, a partridge in a pear tree.

Also in there, occurred 3 cooking classes, 2 small catering events, and one woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown (me). We barely averted disaster twice in one week when Josephine (3) and I had the most expensive "slumber party" on record when she was held at the hospital for observation for what was thought to be appendicitis (thankfully she did not undergo any surgery and is completely fine now), and when, 3 days later, I was making an hysterical phone call to 911 after Samuel (1) turned blue and went unconscious after choking on a piece of bread (he is also fine now, thanks to my husband who knows how to maintain calm in a crisis). Needless to say, it was necessary for me to take a personal hiatus from certain worldly pursuits, such as bathing and blogging, during the perpetual panic attack that was the "holiday season" of 2010. My biggest regret would be that, as a one woman show, I was too busy serving up confections to actually pick up a camera for most of it (which is not only a regret, but a down right shame).

But, alas, it is a new year, and I am ready for it! Already on the books is a brand new homeschool curriculum (it's sad the things we become excited over once becoming a parent), and Wes' and my first trip to NYC for our birthdays in February. And for my dearly neglected C&C readership, I have two fun new things to offer in 2011 (one being more for my delight, the other for yours):

No. 1 The Butter Tally
Wes had the brilliant suggestion back in the summer to tally up my butter supply over the course of a year. I have anxiously awaited New Years day for this very reason.

No. 2 (and far more engaging than the first) Cooking Videos!
Armed with my new Flip camera, I will soon be posting cooking demos right here on the blog, so please, stay tuned!

Here is a rather rough video shot just for fun over Thanksgiving that Isabella wanted me to share ;)