It's Alive!! It's Alive!!

Isn't that what Gene Wilder screamed in the movie "Young Frankenstein"?  OK, this is not as dramatic or noteworthy!!

AND this is not the BEST picture (OK I am not the world's best photographer!!).  BUT, see those tiny dots - those are actually bubbles - a very good sign - you want bubbles - lots of bubbles.  And you want your sourdough to have an odor . . .  sort like beer.

I am going to feed these babies for a day or two, then put them back in my refrigerator until next week when I am ready to start baking.  Normally, I will take my chosen starter out a day or two before I bake and feed it (sort of waking it up - hello darling, time to go to work!)

Until next week . . .

It's Sourdough Time!!!

Fall is in the air - I can feel it!  The leaves on the trees are starting to turn their pretty shades of burnt orange and gold.  Even though the calendar still shows August, I can feel Autumn coming.  And with the coming of the Fall season, my heart turns to baking and baking means bringing out my sourdough containers from hibernation in the refrigerator.  Wake up sleepy heads . . . time to go to work!!

You open up your mason jar and look in dismay at some brownish liquid floating atop of your starter - OH NO!!

How can this be??  What have I done?  All is lost!!  Oh despair!! 

First of all, all this means that you need to feed your starter - it is hungry -VERY hungry.  So feed the poor dear.  There are two schools of thought - one says to stir the hooch back into the starter and the other school says to pour it off.  I have tried both - I have seen no difference in my starters.  So it is up to you how you want to proceed.

NOW if your starter looks pinkish or orange - sorry folks, it is going bad and you need to throw it out and start fresh.

So this afternoon, I took my four jars of starters out of the refrigerator - hello children!!  Two of the jars had hooch and the other two didn't.  What I did is to discard about half of the starter in each of the jars and feed them my usual feeding ration - 4 T of all purpose flour and 3 T water.  I am going to leave the jars out on my kitchen counter and feed them twice a day to make sure they are alive and kicking.  I should see bubbles within the next 24 to 36 hours.  Here's hoping for signs of life!!  Stay tuned!

MY Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

If you will remember last week, we "accepted" the challenge from Alice Currah in her book Savory Sweet Life with her recipe titled "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever."   I am sure there are a million and a half Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes residing on the Internet and each one better than the last. 

There are 3 things that my husband loves (besides me!) . . . Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup and my Chocolate Chip Cookies!  I normally don't give out my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but since Alice offered up the "CHALLENGE",  I think I have to.

For variations, sometimes I will use M & M's or Butterscotch Chips in place of the Chocolate Chips in the recipes.  The M & M's make the cookies look more festive and the Butterscotch Chips give the cookies a whole new taste!  Haven't tried the Reese Peanut Butter Chips yet - now that would be interesting!!

Anyway, here is my recipe . . .

Diane's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Shortening
2 Large Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Chocolate Chips (see note above about substitutions)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Cream sugars together with shortening.
Add vanilla and eggs one at a time and mix to blend
Add dry ingredients and mix
Add chocolate chips

I used a soup spoon, rolled the dough into small balls and placed them onto the cookie sheet (dough will be sticky).   You don't have to do that.  You can just drop them onto the cookie sheet - it is your choice. 

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes.

Cool on rack.

Enjoy!!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever? OK!

We have a new challenge!!  Don't you just love a challenge!!  If you have been following this blog, you KNOW I love a challenge.  Well, I picked up a book yesterday at my local library.  I will review a cookbook through the library before I buy it so I can see if it is worthwhile before spending my precious money.  We don't have a lot of money and I don't want to waste it on a useless cookbook. 

Yesterday I picked up a copy of Savory Sweet Life by Alice Currah.  I have read a lot about the book and I do follow her blog.  AND she does get glowing reviews from Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman).  So I figured the cookbook has got to be good.  Well, the very last recipe is titled "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever."  Kind of a bold statement, if you ask me!  But, it is a free country and we do allow freedom of speech.  I have nothing pressing to do today so . . .  I accept your challenge Alice.  Let's see if these are in fact the BEST chocolate chip cookie known to mankind!

The recipe . . . (fortunately you should have all the ingredients in your kitchen)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt (if you don't have sea salt, just use regular salt)
2 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, gradulated sugar and brown sugar togeter on medium high for 3 minutes, until nice and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Add the vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes.
Reduce the mixer to medium low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
When the dough has absorb the dry ingredients, stir in the chocolate chip and mix until they have been distributed pretty evenly.
Drop 2 tablespoons of dough onto the cookie sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are nice and golden brown. 
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool for 2 minutes. 
Slide the parchment paper with the cookie still on top onto a rack to cool completely.

SO, now the test . . . are these the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever had in the whole wide world??? Now be honest!!

I will let my chocolate chip "expert" (aka my husband) decide.  Supposedly he married me because of my chocolate chip cookies.  So we will see what he thinks.  Stay tuned!!

My Verdict:

Disappointing.  Very crunchy.  My husband is not going to like these at all - he doesn't like crunchy cookies.  The best chocolate chip cookie EVER - I doubt it!  I think the 360 degree temperature is too high.  The cookies come out looking overcooked.  If I tried this recipe again, I will bake them at 350 instead of 360.  I think my chocolate chip recipe is much better than this one.  I have a feeling the chickens will be having chocolate chip cookies for dinner tonight!

Update

My husband didn't like them.  He doesn't like "crunchy" cookies.  So if I bake these again, I think I will bake them at 350 and maybe move the rack down to the middle of the oven.  I do think my recipe is a lot better than hers. Sorry Alice, you lose!

Julia Child's Brownies

I am on a Julie Child kick!  Ever since I found out that her birthday was last week, I have been baking "Julia."  So today I am making her "famous" brownies which have been titled "the best brownies ever made."  Ok - that sounds like a challenge!  So let's see how good these actually are!  To be honest, I am not even sure which one of her cookbooks this recipe is found in - it is certainly not in her earlier books.

You will probably have to run to the store to get a few of the ingredients - sorry about that!  But, supposedly these brownies are worth it.

Here is the recipe:

Julia Child's Brownies

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
8 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped*
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs at room temperature

* you can find these where they have the chocolate chips

Directions:

Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and chocolates together in a microwave in a large bowl or over a double boiler.

Add one cup of sugar to the butter/chocolate mixture and stir for 30 seconds.  Stir in the vanilla.

Mix the remaining sugar and the four eggs in an electric mixer for a few seconds until just combined.

Pour half of the sugar/egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, stirring with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.

Whip the remaining sugar and eggs in the electric mixer for an additional 3 minutes.

Using the rubber spatula, gently fold the remaining eggs into the chocolate mixture.

After the eggs have been completely mixed in, fold in the flour.

Pour the batter into a non-buttered 9 inch square baking pan.

Bake the brownies for 22 to 26 minutes.  They should rise a little and the top will look dark and dry. 

Make a small cut in the center of the brownies after 22 minutes to check for doneness.  They will be perfect if they are just barely set and still gooey.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack.

ENJOY!! I bet these would be excellent with ice cream!!

Bon Appetit!

VERDICT

My husband hasn't tried them yet.  They are very moist, almost to the point of being crumbly.  Being the best brownie I have ever tasted  . . . well, I won't go that far!!  But, they are good.  Whether or not I would make them again, not sure.  I am not entirely pleased with the texture, almost too moist for me,  I will let you know what my husband thinks.

Julia Child's Chocolate and Almond Cake

Or as Julia would called it Reine de Saba.  Since I don't speak French - Chocolate and Almond Cake.  I am making this today in honor of her 100th Birthday.  Happy Birthday Julia!! 

This recipe comes from her very first published AND most famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  According to her description, it is supposed to be slightly underdone.  It has a "creamy" center - OH MY!!  It is covered with chocolate butter icing and is supposed to be decorated with almonds. 

Please note that this does not rise a lot and makes a cake that is about an inch or an inch and a half tall!

Here is the recipe . . . and don't forget to put on your pearls, girls!!

Reine de Saba  (Chocolate and Almond Cake)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake pan.

Melt 4 ounces or squares of Semi-sweet chocolate with 2 T of rum or coffee (I didn't have rum - so coffee it is!!).  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl:
cream 1 stick of softened butter with 2/3 cup sugar
until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.
Beat in 3 egg yolks until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the 3 egg whites and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. 
Sprinkle on 1 T sugar and beak until stiff peaks form.

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in 1/4 tsp almond extract  and 1/3 cup chopped almonds
Immediately stir in 1/4 of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. 
Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, slowly add 1/2 cup cake flour* and continue folding until all egg whites and flour are mixed.

Pour batter into cake pan.  Bake in middle level of the oven for 25 minutes.  Cake is done when it has puffed and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the edge and when a needle plunged into the area comes out clean.  The center should move slightly if the pan is shakened.  Do not be shocked when the cake sinks after being taken out of the oven - that is normal!!!  So do not panic!!

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan and reverse the pan on the rack.  Alllow it to cool for an hour to two.  It must be thoroughly cold before it is to be iced.
*Just in case you don't have cake flour - don't make a wild dash to the grocery store!!  If you have all purpose flour and cornstarch - you are in luck.  For every cup of flour, remove 2 T of flour and replace them with 2 T of cornstarch.  Now sift the heck out of it - I usually sift it about 5 times.  Eureka!! You have now made cake flour - pat yourself on the back!

Chocolate Icing - Glacage Au Chocolat

This is so easy it is sinful and it is DELICIOUS!!

You will need:

2 ounces or squares of semi-sweet chocolate
2 T rum or coffee (again I didn't have rum, so coffee it is!)
5 or 6 T unsalted butter

Melt the chocolate with the coffee.  Add 1 T of butter at a time, mixing until the butter has melted.
I put then put the icing into the refrigerator to cool down and until it was "spreadable."
In the meantime, I chopped up a handful of almonds to sprinkle on top of the cake.
Once the icing has cooled down, spread a thin layer on top and on the sides and sprinkle the chopped almonds on top.

VERDICT!

OH MY!!!  Want to talk about a decadent dessert!!  I won't classify this as a cake, it is more like a very moist and rich brownie!  My husband loved it and thought it would be wonderful with ice cream.  I would probaby make it again but not soon because my waist line doesn't need it! 

You definitely have to try this recipe!!  As Julia would say, Bon Appetit!!

Happy 100th Birthday Julia Child!!

Today Julia Child would be 100 years old!  What an impressive lady!!  Just think where we would be without her?  We would probably all be eating TV dinner - shudder!!!  Julia brought us back into the kitchen and taught us how to cook and I thank you Julia!!  I wish I had known you!  I think you would have been a lot of fun!

So today to honor Julia, get out your copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (or go to the library and borrow a copy), and pick out a recipe. 

As Julia would say, Bon Appetit!!

Goat's Milk Yogurt

FINALLY, I have made goat's milk yogurt!!  Yippee!  If you only knew how long I have been working at this!  Well, it hasn't been THAT long - just a month or two, but it seems like ages!  Let's just say that my chickens have been eating a lot of failed yogurt batches!!  The funny thing is they seemed to be enjoying it!!

This recipe should work with whole cow's milk.  I haven't tried it yet with pasteurized store bought milk yet. That is the next step.  BUT it actually tastes and has the consistency of yogust - WOO HOO!!  I did it!! 
\

And here is the "award-winning" recipe . . . (ok, not award winning but the one that worked!!)

**for the first batch, I bought commercial yogurt (Chobani) and used that as my starter.  After that, I saved 2 T from the current batch to use in the next batch.

Homemade Yogurt

1 quart whole milk either goat or cow or sheep (if you have one!)
2 T yogurt ** (see above!)
1/2 cup powdered milk (for goat's milk only!!)

Heat the milk to 185 degrees in a medium size pan
Remove pan from heat and let milk cool down to 115 degrees.
Pour milk into a separate container - I used a small casserole dish with a glass cover
Add yogurt (and powdered milk if using goat's milk - this makes a "thicker" yogurt) and cover
Place in a warm spot where the milk should stay at an even 115 degrees for the next 6 to 8 hours.
After 6 to 8 hours, the milk should have a custard like consistency.  this is the "curd".
Put the container in the refrigerator for 12 hours.  The curd will harden up.
After 12 hours, line a colander with two layers of cheese cloth and pour the curd into the colander, let drain for several hours.
You now have yogurt - it's a miracle!!

I added 1 T spoon of honey and some fruit - YUM!! 

REMEMBER save 2 T for your next batch!!

Now wasn't that simple!!  And is it every good!!  You will never go back to store bought again!!

Enjoy!

Peaches!!!

I am so excited!  Look what I found yesterday on my way home from doing errands!!  Locally grown peaches!!  I felt like I died and went to Heaven!  Aren't they pretty?  I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.  It doesn't take much to get me excited!  And the best thing is they are only a mile from my home!!  Life just doesn't get any better than this!!

Of course, I almost had an accident pulling into their driveway.  I swear the road I live on is the practice road for the Indianapolis 500!!  You really take your life into your hands when you pull out on the road!!

But, I got my peaches and they only wanted $3 a basket!!  Guess where I am going back today. 

I see peach jam, peach butter, peach pie and maybe peach struesel muffins in my future!!  Looks like I am going to be a busy lady!!

Neapolitan Bundt Cake

OH Boy does this cake ever look good - well, the picture of this cake looks good, so that is why I am baking it!!  This adventure comes from Betty Crocker.  Somehow I got on their mailing list and . . . well,  it is a long story . . . but they sent me something wrong by accident so to make up for their mistake, they sent me a Dessert "eBook" and this recipe was included in it.   Reading the instructions, it looked pretty simple and required a quick dash to the grocery store.  So a new adventure was born!

Ingredients:

1 box Moist White Cake Mix (don't tell them I used Pillsbury!!)
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp almond extract
10 drops red food color
1/4 cup chocolate flavored syrup
1/2 cup Chocolate Frosting (again don't tell them I used Pillsbury!!)

Heat oven to 325F.  Grease and lightly flour 12 cup bundt cake pan or spray with baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl, mix cake mix, water, oil and egg whites with electric mixer until combined.  Pour about 1 2/3 cups of batter into cake pan.

In a small bowl, pour 1 1/3 cups batter, stir in almond extract and 10 drops of red food color - mix.  Isn't that a pretty color!!

Carefully spoon the pink batter over the white batter in the pan.

Stir the chocolate syrup into the remaining batter.  Carefully spoon the chocolate batter over the pink batter.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Turn the pan upside down onto a cooling rack or a serving plate.  Cool completely for about 1 hour.

In a microwavable bowl, heat the frosting uncovered on HIGH for about 15 seconds or until the frosting can be stirred smooth and is thin enough to be drizzled.  Spread the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing some to drizzle down the side of the cake.
When you cut this cake, it will have 3 different layers with 3 different flavors - the white cake, the pink with the almond extract and the chocolate layer - how cool is this!!

 YUM!!  ENJOY!!